Patsi Krakoff | Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Author Archive for Patsi Krakoff – Page 83

10 Ways to Write to Make Readers Think

By Patsi Krakoff

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

When it comes to content marketing, there are ways to write content so
it actively markets you and your business without being “in-your-face”
sales copy or boring product reviews or press releases.

I’m reminded of an excellent book on creating effective website design called Don’t Make Me Think.
The premise is that a customer searching for products and services
online shouldn’t have to figure out how to find what they’re looking
for on your website.

When it comes to reading your blog, however, please, please DO make me
think! Your blog posts should have meaty content that stimulates
readers to ask questions, to comment, to agree wholeheartedly, or
disagree vociferously.

How can you do that? Ahhh, let me think about that a minute here… Wait! I’ve got an idea. I’ll build a list of ideas to make readers think. And, YOU can contribute to the list!

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, On Writing Better, Writing Great Blog Content

Content Marketing at Its Finest: Pronouns!

By Patsi Krakoff

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

I + YOU –When it comes to content marketing, there’s a fine line between good writing and great writing. The difference is in the 1% nuances…

If I could put my finger on one element of great content marketing and blog writing, it would be in the simple use of ‘I’ and ‘you’ pronouns. This is the mark of a good conversation and you can do the same thing with your writing style to create conversational marketing in your blog posts.

Here’s an email review of one of our client’s blogs that I wrote that explains what I mean:

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Alltop Aggregates Content Marketing Blogs

By Patsi Krakoff

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Do you know about Alltop.com? It’s Guy Kawasaki’s creation, and according to the site, is an “online magazine rack” of popular topics. Pick a topic by searching, news category, or name, and they’ll deliver it to you 24 x 7.

Here’s a great way to research content published on other blogs dedicated to content marketing: Go to http://contentmarketing.alltop.com/

They’ve aggregated Joe Pulizzi’s Top 42 Content Marketing blogs. Since we’ve been honored to make this list twice now, you’ll find us there. More importantly, all the other great content writing blogs are there, from a variety of perspectives and angles.

The association between Kawasaki and Pulizzi came about through their connection on Twitter. So you see, this social networking stuff does work for business. Want to follow me?

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, Online Marketing

Content Marketing Magic: Buy Some Content, or Write Your Own, or Both?

By Patsi Krakoff

Friday, October 24th, 2008

John Agno is a content marketing wizard. He writes a great blog called Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog. Part of the reason for his success is that his business blog is content rich. He knows how to use content for marketing. He uses quality information from a variety of resources.

And he doesn’t spend a lot of time writing one post. In fact, John writes several blogs for his consulting business, so he’s found ways to save time and make content marketing as easy as magic.

I should know, because he is a client of my Content for Coaches and Consultants service. John is astute because he buys content from me and then blends a couple of paragraphs of mine with information and resources of his own and others. This makes his site unique and personalized with his own philosophies and experiences. John writes in the service of his clients, providing what they need to know.

Example: I recently wrote and made available for purchase an article called Narcissistic Leaders in Times of Uncertainty. John has already posted twice using a couple of paragraphs of the article I wrote, along with other resources he wrote. It’s a great example of blended content:

Categories : About Blogs, Buying Content, Content Marketing

Are You Visible? Are You Massively Visible Online?

By Patsi Krakoff

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

What’s your online visibility strategy?

Whoops, you say, you don’t have one? Didn’t know you even needed one?

Think about it: Many of your ideal clients go online every day, and
some have problems that only you can solve …but sadly, most of them
can’t find you.

With more than 1 billion people connected to the Internet, you can bet a few of them are ideal clients for your business.

There were 61 billion searches done last month alone on the Web. Some of them were for your services…

Can they find you?

Denise and I know how hard it is to get new clients when you’re invisible.We’d like to teach you how to reverse the client chase…

Categories : Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

Social Media Simplified: A Web 2.0 Workshop for Business Owners

By Patsi Krakoff

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

I’m hittin’ the road again. I’m joining Denise on the podium, this time we’re speaking at Tom Antion’s Fusion event. If you’re in L.A., come join us! (Info here: www.theblogsquad.net/fusion)

I’d like to say this is our last biz trip for the year, but no, something special just came up and we’ll be appearing at a TV studio filming on Social Media Simplified, Monday October 27, 2008 in Ventura, California. That’s just north of LA, so if you’re in the greater Los Angeles area, please join us.

If you want to understand what’s going on with the Web and how you can take advantage of easy, free tools to grow your business, I urge you to attend this all-day workshop event. You’ll hear six well-known experts in Social Media on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other interactive and free tools for business.

Social Media Simplified: A Web 2.0 Master Class for Small Business Owners and Non-Profit Organizations

You’ll hear and see Mari Smith, Deb Micek, Linda Taylor, Nancy Marmalejo and yours truly The Blog Squad:

Categories : Teleclasses & Seminars

Writing on the Web: A few “what if’s” to consider…

By Patsi Krakoff

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

What if you could spend 20-30 minutes a day writing 200-300 words on your blog and bring in hordes of first time visitors and regular subscribers?

What if your words happen to resonate with someone who at that particular moment in time was really suffering. .. and what if your words saved them from despair? Gave them hope? Offered solutions?

And what if you were able to offer solutions, products and services that could change the lives of 5-7 times as many people as you did last year?

What if people came to you, read what you have to say, then felt instant connection with you? These people might pick up the phone and call you, already convinced they want to work with you.

All this is possible when you write on the Web. I am living proof.

Along with my partner Denise Wakeman, we’ve started a new Facebook group called Massive Visibility Mastermind to gather together like-minded professionals who want to learn how this works.

Please join if you’re interested by going here: Massive Visibility Mastermind.

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

4 Paths to Massive Visibility on the Web

By Patsi Krakoff

Monday, October 13th, 2008

The truth is, it’s not about having a website anymore, is it? No, you can’t get massive visibility online with just a website.

You need a website and a blog, of course. All Internet marketing gurus will insist: you must write and publish a blog. And, they’ll tell you, you must write frequently on your blog, at least 3-4 times a week to generate search engine traffic.

As The Blog Squad™, you’d expect us to join this chorus: "Gotta have a blog, gotta have a blog…" But there’s more to it than that.

We’ll tell you, from our own personal experience and those of our clients, you need the following four elements in order to gain massive visibility and win the trust of readers in your niche:

1. A business blog (where you communicate in a conversational tone)
2. A brand (where you use design to help people remember you)
3. Valuable, relevant content (to educate and engage with readers)
4. Participation in Social Networking sites (where you become easily accessible)

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, Online Marketing

Content Marketing and the Economic Recession: Rising Trend

By Patsi Krakoff

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

I talk a lot about ‘content marketing’ because the term encapsulates so well how most independent service providers can attract ideal clients and gain rapid visibility on the Web. Most coaches, consultants, authors, and speakers don’t have large marketing budgets, but the Internet is accessible to all.

These days, any professional can use the Internet to market their services, with very little funds and no tech skills. A business blog is the fastest way to build an online reputation and gain visibility. Then there is Facebook and Twitter, all completely free and easy to use.

What counts are your words. How you write is very important. Your content – be it blog posts, articles, white papers, special reports, even audio and video clips – all contribute to readers getting to know, like and trust you.

I expect more people and even big companies will increase their use of content to market their businesses as the economy is more difficult simply because it’s practically free.

Big businesses are often slow to recognize a good thing. But even huge companies are beginning to realize the best marketing may be free, in the form of content. Really effective content isn’t written by the advertising department but is crafted by writers to educate, engage and enrich the lives of customers.

Here’s an interesting article about trends in content marketing and budgets during the economic recession as it affects big companies, by Joe Pulizzi of Junta42Blog:

The Trickle Out of Traditional Media into Content Marketing Turns to Flood Starting Now

The economic "crisis" (or whatever you want to call it) will fundamentally change where marketing dollars go. Frankly, I’ve been surprised that more companies haven’t taken this on sooner.

Yes, companies spend between 27 and 30% of their budgets on their own content, but that number should be more like 50%. The case for content – engagement, search engine optimization, lead generation – it’s there, no doubt about it.

Categories : Content Marketing, Online Marketing