We keep getting emails and phone calls from people who are almost ready to start blogging for their businesses. And, there is some confusion about how to start.
So Denise posted a good summary of several options to you, all the way from do-it-yourself, to custom-built for you. Take a look at this post here about blogging services and what’s right for you.
I’ve been studying how some newsletters get read… or not. And I notice the ones that attract me have the right combination of personal stories and valuable information and content on topic.
And some, yikes! Well, let’s just say I’m easily bored and not interested in too much personal info. Well, unless it’s juicy…or funny. For example, I really admire Michael J. Katz from Blue Penguin. Every week he tells a mundane story about something and turns it into a learning point about newsletters.
I’m also overly suspicious of people who brag about themselves too obviously. Don’t hype me or I’ll delete you faster than you can send me another email with a phony subject line designed to hook me into opening it. (You know who you are…)
So while I’m continuing my studying of writing great emails, ezines, and blog posts with that right combination of personal and important info, I decided it would be easier for me to group the personal stuff into its own category.
So people who like knowing more about me can just go to that category and read there. All the rest of you can just ignore postings in this category. I’ll name it Fun Things About Patsi, or some such thing, and it’ll just be my way of sharing stuff going on which is totally off the topic of writing.
Help me out here. I get a little scattered in the afternoons and have a hard time staying focused. At least this will let me channel other stuff into this side category and I won’t have to worry about it being irrelevant and boring. Which it totally is. And there’s nothing wrong with that, is there.
…and I’m writing you to tell you how to get your email newsletters opened and read. I want you to get good at this because it is the best way you can build relationships one-on-one with the people on your list. And when you do that they will get to know you, like you, and trust you.
And, well, we all know what that means! They will eventually buy something from you, or hire you for your services.
Now, why did I start this post with my name? It’s an experiment in getting up close and personal. Some internet experts stress the need to get real friendly, even though you are writing online to people at the other end of a computer screen.
In fact, Nick Usbourne of excessive voice has this to say about that:
Whatever the purpose of your email, whether it’s promotional, customer service or just an automated email response – try to include a salutation followed by a few lines of personal, conversational text.
Why?
Because there is tremendous power in connecting with your reader on a personal level. Opening with a personal voice signals that the email comes not just from a corporation, but from an individual person.
When you do this well, each email you send slowly builds and reinforces a one-to-one relationship with the reader.
That personal relationship, however slight, will help get your emails opened each time you send one.
Conversations with Experts presents…
Name Your Niche Now
Wednesday, February 1, 2006,8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert: Molly Gordon, Authentic Promotion
Yes, you CAN have a narrow niche without cramping your style. Molly Gordon, Master Certified Coach and author of Authentic Promotion: Grow Your Business and Feed Your Soul, has shown hundreds of professionals how to name a niche that works for them, a niche narrow enough to make their products and services stand out without cramping their style or limiting their creativity.
In Authentic Promotion, Molly explains that a niche does not have to be cold, dark, and cramped (yuck). Using the ecological model, she shows that each individual occupies a unique niche, a place in which they give and receive the greatest benefit, a place where they belong. Find this niche and you will find that your confidence and conviction about marketing your business goes WAY up. You will be able to make simple, memorable statements about your work that will connect with your “just-right” client without struggle or hype.
Molly Gordon is an internationally recognized Master Certified Coach, who has shown hundreds of men and women worldwide how marketing can lead to both material and spiritual fulfillment. In her book and audio program, Authentic Promotion, Grow Your Business, Feed Your Soul, Molly explains the approach she used to create a thriving business. Her e-zine, Authentic Promotion®, has over 10,000 readers, and her articles are reprinted widely. She has recently launched a blog at www.shaboominc.com/blog .
Register: www.ConversationsWithExperts.com
If you cannot attend the Conversation, you can pre-order the audio program for $4.95. After the Conversation the price will be $9.95. Use this link to order now.
Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.
Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.
Just read a great article by Nick Usborne in his weekly Excess Voice newsletter. You know how marketers are always saying "your list is gold?" Well, Nick says treat it with care and respect. Here’s his article, well worth reading.
Email Subscriber Lists are Very Delicate Things
Every time you send an email or newsletter to your list, one of two things happens.
1. Your email makes a positive impression, and your readers feel you are worthy of their attention and continued interest. Or,
2. Your email is disappointing in some way, and your readers view the next email you send with a little less enthusiasm.
Put another way, every email or newsletter you send will either build on or diminish the relationship you have with your readers.
My guess is that most retailers and publishers don’t think like this.
I have a feeling that most list-owners view their list as an asset, to do with as they wish. There’s money to be made from that list, and they’ll do what it takes to maximize revenues.
An email list is a very delicate thing…
It’s not the list that’s delicate, of course. It’s the attention and respect of your readers.
This week’s Conversations with Experts teleseminar is really special. We’ve invited our mentor, Tom Antion to come speak with our group of professionals. If you’ve never heard Tom speak, and aren’t familiar with his work, don’t miss this call at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Denise and I attend a lot of seminars, both on and off line, and we’ve heard many of the Internet marketing experts. They are all pretty good, but Tom is really special. He’s got a great sense of humor, cuts through all the hype and tells it like it is.
So we hired him for a year long mentorship program. We wouldn’t spend that kind of big bucks on anybody not worth their salt. Here’s the skinny:
Tom Antion, Antion & Associates
Wake ‘em Up: How Any Professional can Use Public Speaking to Skyrocket Their Career . . . and make a ton of money too.
Being able to stand up in front of a crowd and WOW! them can make you more money than you could ever imagine. WOWING a crowd doesn’t mean you are juggling ten bowling balls or doing a fire eating and sword swallowing act. It means giving the audience members great information that will help them and delivering it with an appropriate amount of humor and involvement.
The master at not only doing this, but teaching it as well is our guest on this week’s call, Tom Antion. Tom will be sharing the secrets, tips and techniques used by top level professional speakers who must “knock ‘em dead” every time they speak.
Conversations with Experts is sponsored by The Blog Squad and the Build a Better Blog System.
The calls are free, but you must register here.
Here’s a great article which describes why submitting your articles to online article directories is the thing to do for any small biz owner or professional.
It’s a post by Soni Pitts over on Squidoo and you can read it by going here.
Article Marketing is the web-based crossroads where content-hungry demand meets information-rich supply. Whether you’re a writer, a solopreneur, a regular office joe or just someone with a headful of useful knowledge, article marketing is a great way to trade information for public credit and recognition through a process that has the potential to provide amazing returns.
Don’t miss reading the full article, it’s worth it.
Here’s a synopsis of an article on Leadership Power Stress available for purchase and use in your newsletters and blogs through my Customized Newsletter Services.
Effective executives often find themselves caught in a cycle of stress and sacrifice, without any possibility or time for recovery or renewal. Most of those who make it to the top have proven track records for influencing others, getting teams to work together and achieving results.
Such leaders are what organizational psychologists Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee call “resonant leaders”: They are in tune with others and have high degrees of emotional intelligence and motivation for power and achievement.
“Yet even the most resonant leaders—whose ability to deftly manage their own and others’ emotions to drive their companies to great results—end up spiraling into dissonance,” the authors write. (Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, Resonant Leadership, Harvard Business School Press, 2005)
Leaders are especially prone to “power stress,” which can drive talented leaders into a cycle of dissonance with themselves, the people they lead and their organizations. To counter it, leaders must learn to manage themselves effectively.
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This is a synopsis of an article available for purchase and use in your newsletters, blogs and web sites at www.customizednewsletters.com/featured/index.html.
The full article contains the following concepts:
What Is Power Stress?
Sources of Leadership Power Stress
The Cycle of Sacrifice and Renewal
Renewal: A Holistic Process
The Leadership Paradox
Three Keys in the Renewal Process:
Awareness
Hope
Compassion
The Brain and New-Age RhetoricArticles are available in three lengths: 2,000 words, 1,000 words and 600 words with full reprint rights.
Writing good articles serves several purposes: establishes you as an expert, builds credibility, and creates a connection with your readers. And getting your articles submitted to article directories is an important step to getting more traffic and getting better known on the web.
This is important if you want to increase your chances of being found on the web. When a person sits down to their computer and types in something they need to know into a Google search, you want as many possible ways for them to find you.
Here is a list of article directories to submit your articles to.
Here’s a list of some the most popular article directories:
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://thewhir.com/find/articlecentral/
http://goarticles.com/
http://ezinearticles.com/add_url.html
http://amazines.com
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://bpubs.com/
http://businessknowhow.com/
http://www.certificate.net/wwio/ideas.shtml
http://www.promotionworld.com/
http://promotenewz.com/
Overcoming the Fear of Self-Promotion
Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert: C.J. Hayden, author, Get Clients Now
What is it that makes you hesitate to broadcast your accomplishments and capabilities? Reluctance to promote yourself holds you back from achieving personal fulfillment and financial success. You can vanquish this fear and learn to promote yourself effectively! Here’s what you will learn:
C.J. Hayden is the best-selling author of Get Clients Now! and the new Get Hired Now! C.J. is a Master Certified Coach who has taught thousands of coaches and other self-employed professionals to make a better living doing what they love. She works with clients one-on-one, and leads workshops and teleclasses internationally. You can read her articles on marketing in more magazines and web sites than she can keep track of. Find out more about C.J. Hayden.
Register Now: ConversationsWithExperts.com
Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.
Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.
