Archive for Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks – Page 15

Blog Writing Goals for 2007

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, December 20th, 2006

I’m a bit early on the New Year’s goals thing, but I was thinking after writing a post over on Build a Better Blog about Gartner’s predictions that the numbers of blogs will peak and fizzle at 100 million in 2007.

Paul Chaney commented to the original post over at Business Blog Consulting that these numbers don’t have meaning for businesses who are just waking up to the effectiveness of blogs, and he predicts that 2007 will be the year that blogs "go deep."

Then I asked readers what that might mean: If you’ve started blogging, what does this mean for you and your business…how will you "go deep?"

To me, it means writing more, revealing more about myself and my business, and getting more interactions from and conversations with readers/clients/customers/peers.

I realize that this blog is specialized to the point of being very trendily entrenched in the Long Tail… it will never have large numbers of readers. I try to focus on writing issues as they pertain to newsletters and blogs, and we all know that people don’t wake up craving that.

But I will try to write more frequently about the issues of writing and publishing ezines and blogs, so that readers can learn more, and maybe even use this blog as a forum or place they can ask their burning questions about email marketing and ezines. If I don’t know the answer, I probably know where you can go to find what you need.

And the other thing I could do is to share more personally, about my own processes while working. This is still a business blog… although I can’t resist sharing humor like the elf yesterday, I’m not going to tell you stupid personal stuff. It’s all so very fascinating, I know, but you’ll just have to use your imaginations…

How will  use your ezines and blogs to "go deep?" What does this mean to  you?

Categories : In the News..., Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Great Blog Content

American Idol of the Internet Could Be You!

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, December 14th, 2006

I’ll admit it: I stole this idea from Ellen Britt, of Marketing Qi. She made this announcement to her people when The Blog Squad was on her teleseminar series. It goes like this:

Have you ever had secret desires… illicit thoughts about wanting to be the winner of one of those TV shows like American Idol or Survivor? Oh, come on now, admit it! I won’t tell anyone…

Imagine what it would be like to have fame, fortune and your face plastered on all the TV networks…why you probably couldn’t even go to the grocery store without people asking for your autograph.

Well, now’s your chance…

You could be the next Idol, the next Star, the new Americal Idol of the Internet!

The BlogSquad is undertaking an international search for…their Ideal Internet Marketing Client!

Only two days left to apply, get national radio exposure, and 13 weeks of free marketing mentoring.

Details here: www.blogsquadcontest.com.

Categories : Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Teleclasses & Seminars

Customized Newsletters Hacked! What Are You Doing About Your Passwords?

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, December 11th, 2006

Our brand new article directory site, www.CustomizedNewsletterArticles.com was hacked last week and destroyed. Visitors got a 404 redirect page, with a nice obscene four-letter word on the tab.

There is a back-up copy up there now, but all the category listings have to be restored. So if you are looking to buy article content for your newsletters or ezines, bear with us while we work feverishly to restore the categorized articles. Some articles are already listed on the home page, but not all.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time: Denise and I were ready to launch a price-slashing sale on all articles before the end of the year. We will still do this, so just will wait for total restoration on the site so you can look for topics that interest you.

Two questions for you: how can hackers be so malicious? How can you protect your passwords?

Let this be a word of caution to all you people who use general, easy to remember passwords like, "Admin"… Do not do this! I never thought that this was a real danger until now! Best passwords are a combination of nonsensical words and numbers. And keep your passwords written down where only you can find them.

If you’d like to share your own horror stories about hackers, please do so; it will make me feel a little better…

Categories : Buying Content, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks

Ezine Trend? A Blog-zine Launched by Debbie Weil

By Patsi Krakoff
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006

Corporateblogging I think of Debbie Weil as a sort of "fairy blog mother," since I started my first blog due to her persistent blog evangelism way back when. She is a champion of corporate blogging and author of the book The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right (Penguin Portfolio 2006). 

So when Debbie Weil writes about a something new, I pay attention. Now Debbie has killed her newsletter. Or rather, transformed it into a blog. She saves time and energy, and can get instant feedback from readers through comments. Subscribers get an email update and are directed to the blog. She also sends out a short text-only version of WordBiz Report.

She writes about her reasons why she decided to combine her e-newsletter with a blog, and it’s an interesting read.

If you struggle with writing and formatting (not to mention email delivery problems), then you want to read her post and gets the details on how she is doing this.

What do you think? Is this going to be a trend? Are more newsletters going to be published and delivered onto blogs, avoiding crowded inboxes? Let me know your thoughts.

Categories : About Blogs, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks

Ezine Publishing: Everything You Need to Know

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, November 23rd, 2006

I recently sat down to write an introduction to an article, Ten New Rules for E-Newsletters. but it turned into a definitive special report, all about what goes into writing, formatting, and distributing an ezine, the four components of an ezine, 8 reasons to do one, and then the 10 new rules. If you want to learn all about ezine publishing, you should get this special report.

Denise and I are using this special report over on our sales page for the All-in-One Ezine Publishing System. The report is free to download and at the moment the only place to get it is on the sales page for our Ezine Publishing System.

Even if you don’t need to learn how to do an ezine right now, the special report is a good review of what you should be doing. May I suggest you go over there now and sign up to get this free report sent to you?  There is no obligation to buy the All-in-One Ezine Publishing System, although if you did, you would really have everything you need to publish an ezine that gets results for you.

I think we all want our ezines to work, to get clients, to get results; otherwise you are working for your ezine and that’s just not right.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving! Even if you aren’t in the U.S. I hope you take some time to tell your loved ones how grateful you are for them. I’m grateful you are reading this, thanks!

Categories : Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks

Writer’s Block Declared Dead

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, November 20th, 2006

Great post over at the ezinearticles.com blog. Jeff Herring, the Article Guy, proclaims writer’s block doesn’t exist.

He says, "My position is that writer’s block does not exist. I believe people get caught up in it because it sounds so cool, and makes you sound like a writer. ‘Oh, I have writer’s block’ etc. Do you know anyone that runs? Have they ever had runner’s block? They might not have felt like running, but they ran any way.”

And Chris Knight responds, "For me, I have so many articles or writing ideas floating in my head at any given moment that all it usually takes is for me to stop, sit down at the keyboard and release my ideas. Usually, I’ll have a core idea or theme that has been brewing in my head before I even sit down to write the next article, blog entry or email newsletter issue.

"I know that writers who fail to plan or fail to setup an environement that supports their article writing goals (if they have them) are more prone to feelings of writers block.

"Perhaps if EzineArticles were Nike, instead of JUST DO IT, our slogan would be, JUST WRITE IT! "

I suggest the slogan proposed by Andy Wibbels: "Shut up and write!"

Categories : Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy, Writing Great Press Releases

Resource Boxes & Bios

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, November 10th, 2006

Do you need to update your resource box on articles you submit to directories, as well as your bio/marketing blurb for your newsletters and press releases? I am still reading many bios that read like an abridged resume: a history of the writer’s education, job experiences, and hobbies. I can’t help myself from saying, "Who cares!"

First tell readers what you can do for them. What problem do you solve for them? Then tell them why you are qualified to help them. It is still and always will be a ‘what’s in it for them’ world out there. Readers first, then you get to tell them something about you.

Here’s some more advice on resource boxes from Jinger Jarret, from an article "4 Article Writing Mistakes Every Writer Makes," posted on the Ezine Articles blog:

"’I have children. Now I have grandchildren. I don’t have any pets, but one day I may just buy a couple of Rottweilers as pets because I love them.’

Are you bored yet? Although you may find these facts about your life interesting, readers don’t. When I read a resource box about a 34 year old car enthusiast who owns her own auto parts shop, I yawn and then click away.

The bottom line is: readers don’t care about the details of your life. They want to know what you have to offer, and what you offer in your resource box had better be the next logical step in your article. Your article gives readers a taste; your resource box had better contain the next course. If it doesn’t, readers will click away and you’ve lost them."

Categories : Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing, Writing Great Press Releases

Instant Articles: Buy, Rewrite, Add Your Name

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006

Do you ever wish you could buy a good article, add your own stories, and publish it as your own in your newsletters or blogs? Sort of like those vitamin powders you pour into water, shake up and drink?

I just launched an article directory site called www.CustomizedNNewsletterArticles.com. When you buy an article for your newsletters, you get to use it as your own. That means you can blend your own stories into them to personalize them and make them work for getting clients and spreading your expertise.

You can read the press release here.

Read More→

Categories : Article Ideas, Buying Content, Coaching/Personal Development, Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content

The Blog to Email Connection: We [Heart] Feedblitz

By Patsi Krakoff
Saturday, September 2nd, 2006

If you get uncomfortable whenever someone mentions "RSS Feeds," you’re not alone. Only 9-12% of online users understands how blog, website and newsletter information can be delivered using RSS technology.

Phil_hollows_small Never fear, Feedblitz is here! As long as Phil Hollows is around, you can rest easy. Phil is CEO and founder of Feedblitz, a service that automatically delivers your blog (or other web info) to subscribers’ inboxes.

He recently shared his knowledge and innovative ideas with our listeners on our weekly teleseminar Conversations with Experts. If you missed the interview, you can grab a copy of the audio file here. Denise posted about the interview over on Build a Better Blog.

Phil explains that not only is his Feedblitz service a great way to keep readers coming back to your blog, it can be used to deliver your ezines. Just create your ezine on a blogging platform, and then use Feedblitz to broadcast it in email form. Of course. How elegantly simple. Did I mention it is free? The company also provides excellent customer service, even for users at the free service level, unheard of with many Internet companies.

Feedblitz announced early today that in the month of August their active circulation grew a whopping 17.5%, from 700,000 to 822,000. Congratulations, but this is only a fraction of how big Feedblitz will become.

The Blog Squad Heart1

Feedblitz!

Categories : How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Teleclasses & Seminars

Your Best Year Yet? Why not!

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, August 18th, 2006

This week The Blog Squad held a Conversation with Sylva Leduc, leadership coach, about committing to goals, and programs you can use to track and achieve your goals.

Even if you are already an avid goal setter, or especially if you are not a fan of goals, it may be time to stand back and assess where you are at, and where you want to be. Only so many months left in this year, you know.

Bestyearyet What I like about Sylva is that she is super-organized and logical, very clear. She shared with us some great tools for keeping focused on your goals. She is a big fan of Your Best Year Yet program based on the book by Jinny Ditzler.

I’m attaching my notes here. Be sure to read the notes, because she offers a free goal setting assessment at www.desktopgoals.com, but you need the code.

We had one of those techno-demons descend upon the recording line, leaving a white noise instead of an audio file you can download. So here are my notes, enjoy:

Download notes_from_sylva_leduc.doc

Categories : Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks
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