Author Archive for Patsi Krakoff – Page 87

Seeking Transformation: What Is It That You Really Do for Your Clients?

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Denise and I had a session with a mentor this week about our upcoming speaking gigs. I don’t want to tell you who he is just yet, or what his real expertise is. But we worked with him for over an hour to flush out the core outcomes our clients derive from working with us and buying our services and products.

This is one of the most important pieces of work you must do when writing speeches, sales copy or other content that persuades people to want to do business with you.

What are the truly transformative benefits that your clients experience? What services do you provide to your clients that are profoundly meaningful to them?

When it comes to our blogging expertise and products, of course, our clients benefit from having a professionally customized business blog that is optimized for business and branding. There’s no doubt about that. But what else?

But what are the outcomes they experience as a result of working with us? Now that’s a much harder question to answer. It differs from client to client…but there’s no doubt that asking the question and exploring possible answers leads to writing better speeches, better sales copy, better marketing.

What are the benefits that are truly transformative and extend deeply into making our clients’ lives and work better, faster, more efficient, more meaningful and more enjoyable?

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3 Things to Write (or Speak) About…

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Here are 3 things to write about if you want to attract readers, showcase your expertise, and get clients:

  1. Problem
  2. Solution
  3. Action steps

I know this is really simplified, but anytime you have to write a blog post, article, newsletter, email promotion, or speech, you can’t go wrong if you follow these three points.

Most of us try to include the kitchen sink. We go into all the problems, the history of the problems, and all of the manifestations possible. Keep it simple: Problem – solution – action.

This is a great outline to follow if you’ve got to write a speech or presentation. Denise and I are using this outline for our speech about The Blog Squad’s expertise in business blogging. This week we’re in Manhattan Beach at the Ayres Hotel, addressing a group of professionals at the Speak Your Way to Wealth conference.

Problem – Solution – Action: Now, for those readers who are more experienced in making presentations, this may seem like a no-brainer. The problem is that when you’re an expert in a particular niche, you want to teach everything you know to your audience.

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Building a Freelance Business on the Side

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As I got on the freeway at 8 this morning a noticed the guy next to me, a car with a surf board on top. And I thought this is a great life and a great place to be. Here I am off to the tennis courts and this fellow is going to ride a few waves. Where were you going in your car this morning?

I used to be in a suit and heels driving off to a job at 8 in the mornings. Well, to be truthful, most of my life I’ve worked for myself, but I had a brief period of driving and working for companies in an office somewhere, sometimes commuting as far as 70 miles each way.

What drove me crazy about working for someone else in an office was the amount of wasted time. I like to be productive, not waiting for someone to ‘get back to me,’ or sitting through mindless meetings.

If you’re still working at a job and would like to be freelance or self-employed, start like I did. Start your Internet business while you’re still getting a salary and build it up until you can afford to become independent.

You can be creating content and blogging or at least working on some parts of your side business during some of those meetings or in the time after you’ve done your regular work. This is important because if you’re like many entrepreneurs, you have more ideas than brains, and you probably can’t tell which idea will end up being worth it.

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Marketing on a Budget: An open letter to entrepreneurs

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Recently I was contacted by a client who was frustrated that her marketing efforts were not producing results like she expected. In an attempt to address her concerns, I realized how many other professionals are in the same boat. What follows is an open letter to professionals everywhere who are struggling to attract new clients and make money online.

Dear Entrepreneur and Professional:

First, let’s address the issue of finances. I understand fully what it is like to invest in your own business, work hard, and see little income.

Sometimes it seems as if you work for pleasure, and indeed there is much pleasure involved. It’s not unusual for entrepreneurs to be passionate about their business and services and many would do what they love for free.

But it can’t work that way, and you must see the money or your business will perish. After a couple of years of trickle income, Denise and I are now seeing great results in our own online business, and are making a very comfortable living solely from information and services sold over the Internet.

So let me offer some advice about the process…

It takes time. And it involves having lots of digital information products people can download instantly.

You must have a powerful web presence and be easily findable to the millions of people who search on the Web for solutions to their problems.

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3 Must-Do Business Keys: Marketing, Speaking & Success Principles

We’ve got an opportunity for you to spend an hour with
the fantastically successful speaker and Internet marketer Tom Antion
on Thursday, August 14, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Can’t make it? Register anyway and we’ll email you a link to the recording.

Tom, our marketing mentor, will be discussing his new concept
seminar "Fusion" where he is mixing Internet Marketing, professional
level speaking and timeless success principles.

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This
interview will NOT be just a sales pitch for Tom’s seminar. Tom is
known for his high content. We’re sure he wants you to attend his
event, but we’ve known him for years and there is no way he’ll get on a
call without giving you great tips.

Tom has been our mentor for the past two years and he’s helped us bring in well over $300,000.00 since we’ve met him.

Don’t miss listening to him Thursday, August 14. We’ll be discussing with him what it takes to be successful on the Internet and in your business.

Visit http://www.blogsquadteleseminars.com/fusion/ to register for the call. There’s no charge and you’ll get a copy of the audio program if you cannot attend the live event.

P.S.
Tom is in the top 1 percent of speaker income in the world and only
speaks 5 or 6 times a year. We’re going to make sure he tells you the
exact methods he’s used to get and stay there.

Check out Denise’ video about how Tom Antion has helped The Blog Squad

Press Release: Expert Click.com

What Do Readers Really Want? Some personal musings…

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I am writing this off the top of my head and from the depths of my heart. The truth is I’m not sure where I’m going with this post, but I know I have some worthwhile nugget for you.

Yesterday when I wrote the post about blog ideas, it’s true, I’d been struggling with finding good topics for this blog, and for keeping my focus on how to write good content on the Web that informs and markets for you.

This morning, I was still struggling. My blockage is coming from an interview we did last week with Yvonne DiVita of Lip-Sticking Blog. I wrote about her ideas for writing quality posts over on BuildaBetterBlog.com, Blog Content Ideas, What’s the best source? Yvonne has had tremendous success with her blog, and it’s established her as an expert and thought leader when it comes to marketing to women online.

She says her success is due to always writing what readers want.

And that’s my problem. I’m never sure what readers want. Oh, I’m very grateful for the lovely comments and feedback, especially since most readers seem to agree with me (;-0)…

But let’s face it: there aren’t a whole bunch of comments or emails flooding in. And people aren’t in dire pain, begging me to please – oh please, tell me how to write a blog post, or an email promo…!

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Blog Post Idea Farm…

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How many different kinds of blog posts are there? If you’re wondering how you can spice up your postings, think about these:

There are:

  1. The link and bait, the ‘me-too’ copy and paste post
  2. The ‘stir-up-the-pot’ post (also known as ‘outrageously oppositional and intentionally contrarian’ post)
  3. The ‘how-many-ways-can-I-repeat-my-core-message’ post
  4. There are email questions from clients
  5. Tutorials & how-to’s
  6. Toot-my-own-horn
  7. Piggy-back post off of current affairs, politics & celebrity gossip
  8. Sports analogies
  9. Outrageous tabloid headlines reworded for your niche

What else? Give me some ideas here… hit the comment link and tell me your favorite short cuts to creating blog content.

Press Release: How to Jazz Up Your Announcements

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Are you using the power of online press releases to promote your events, products or services? Anyone who uses the Internet to market should be posting as many press releases online as possible. They’re easy to write, and they contribute to getting found on the Web. You also benefit from links back to your site.

I recently posted about all the different kinds of writing tasks required when you promote an event or product. These include sales pages, email promotional messages, survey questions, video clip scripts, curriculum and messages on Facebook and Twitter.

Press releases are essential. The more you announce your event or product in different ways the better.

For example, we posted three different press release in the two weeks prior to an event start date. We didn’t just write an announcement about what we were doing. A press release to say we’re doing a teleseminar is boring. Who cares?

The focus of all three press releases was on the problems our audience faced.

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Build a Better Blog: Going out of print…

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In 2005 we published the first edition our premier blogging ebook: Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog. Later in 2005 the 2nd edition was introduced.  And now, we’re taking the ebook off the market. Gone. No more copies available…

Build a Better Blog (BaBB for short), and it’s companion of 25 Interviews with Successful Bloggers, has become one of the best known guides for setting up and optimizing a business blog with TypePad.

The current edition will be updated soon with new material. After Thursday, July 31, Edition 2 will not be available for sale. We suggest you get it now. Essentially you can pre-order the 3rd edition, because when you buy the BaBB ebook at the old price, you’re entitled to free lifetime upgrades.

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Writers Wanted: You can’t do it all yourself

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"Where can I find someone to write and edit my blog posts?" a colleague asked me this morning. That’s a smart question. You can’t do it all yourself. You can, but there’s probably not enough time to service clients, make money, run a business and write on your blog. Get help.

The colleague who asked me this question is a great and prolific writer. He has more ideas and content than he has time to write up. A professional editor could turn his articles into dynamic blog posts that would make a huge difference in his search engine traffic.

But this takes time and energy. You have to look at keywords and be strategic with headlines.

Get someone who:

  • Knows blogging (your platform system, whatever that is)
  • Knows how to write
  • Knows something about content marketing and writing to persuade
  • Knows what a good headline is
  • Is keyword savvy
  • Knows something about your niche
  • Has impeccable grammar and editing knowledge
  • Has a journalist’s nose for news
  • Has personality and can be conversational in writing

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