Archive for On Writing Better – Page 13

Phony Testimonials and Dumb Social Proof

How do you get good client testimonials for your sales copy, for example, content for a landing page, when you don’t have a lot of previous clients?

There’s no doubt that social proof is one of the key ways people decide to buy or try your products or services.

I get asked about this by some of my consulting clients who are starting a new business or product launch. Nothing can back fire and destroy trust and credibility more quickly than phony testimonials, as well as vague or anonymous comments.

I’ve been working with an old client who’s been working hard to master blogging so he can have a strong online presence. He’s just about ready to start offering products and services for sale.

He’s got a solid reputation as an expert in his field, but up until now, he’s been working for someone else. He doesn’t feel comfortable using testimonials or positive comments acquired when he was a part of a team effort.

I don’t blame him. Not only will he not feel authentic and sincere, but depending on what the old clients say, it might not ring true for his new company, products or services. Readers can smell a phony testimonial a mile away from the computer screen.

There are a couple key persuasion triggers to remember when composing sales content: Read More→

Is the Social Web Changing How We Write?
How to Write Like You Talk

This week’s guest post is by Barb Sawyers, Sticky Communications who recently published a great ebook on how you can write better for the web.

Hello, Patsi’s readers. I’m Barb Sawyers, a blogger who shares her interest in encouraging people to write like they talk.

Patsi was telling me how some of you don’t find writing for the web to be as natural or fun as talking. Sometimes you don’t think you’re connecting with your readers.

Seeing as we’ve all been talking since we were toddlers, and go back to what sounds right when we’re not certain, you’d think writing like you talk would be easier.

But something happened at school and at work that turned the pleasure of communication into hard labor, for both writers and readers.

Then along came the Internet, blogs, Twitter and Facebook: Overnight, it seems, our online social lives and writing was pulled back into conversational mode.

But how do you reverse years of conditioning about what writing should be? Read More→

Blog Content: Are you personal… or all business?

Do you stay on track with your blog content and business goals, or do you share personal stories and events that are peripheral?

I got an interesting comment on a post I did beginning of June and I can’t stop thinking about it. The post was about staying on target with your business goals when you create content for your blog. Don’t Jerk Readers Around: 5 Tips for Staying on Track.

First Eileen said she didn’t agree with my premise that you might be jerking readers around if you’re not staying on track with your content:

“I’m not sure I agree with this. My blog niche is arts and crafts. Most of my favorite other artsy blogs do this routinely. One day they blog about what happening at home. The next they may share a tutorial or run a contest or review a book.”

Then Keenan said, “I agree with Eileen. Although you don’t want to be completely all over the map, changing up your subject matter is critical.

“Blogs represent people. They create connections to their readers through their personalities. When a blog stays on topic all the time, it begins to feel white-washed like any on or off-line newspaper or magazine.

“Personality plays a huge role in a blog. Blogging about those things that are part of the authors passions, likes, dislikes, opinions etc. allows followers to connect with the blog. It’s what makes blogging different than reading commercial news. Read More→

Blog Boredom: Renew and Refresh

One important key to effective blog marketing is to keep your brain clean and fresh. By that I mean, it’s easy to fall into ruts and become bored and boring.

While routine and structure keep us on track, we need to “get out of our own yard” and get out of the office for renewal and regeneration. I’m reading Tony Schwartz new book “The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working.”

He talks about four areas essential to over all success: physical, emotional,  mental and spiritual. He argues that nothing is gained—and much is lost—by constantly pushing to achieve more and more in less time and with fewer resources. Rejuvenation and rest are necessary for creative breakthroughs and broader perspectives.

With that in mind, and armed with my Kindle, my yoga mat, and a few friends, I’m taking off to Melaque beach for a yoga retreat. This blog and gmail will be doing a Savasana – corpse pose – of complete relaxation. I’ll be back next week.

Namaste…

7 Ways to Grab Blog Readers’ Attention
and Engage their Brains

What’s the first thing you need to do to grab readers’ attention when writing a fresh blog post?

1. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I always say, “Start with a question!” Ask the reader the problem you’re going to solve for them in your post. The brain is hard wired to seek out answers to unsolved questions or riddles.

That will engage them to think and create a desire to know more.

…But it’s not the first sentence that blog readers see. It’s not the first opportunity readers’ have to decide if they’re going to read your post or not.

2. The headline is. It is THE most important part of your blog post, and I recommend writing it last. There’s a whole bunch of tips you need to know about writing great headlines, but because it’s written AFTER you finish your post, I’m going to talk about it later. Tips 4, 5, and 6 apply to headline writing. Read More→

6 Ways Blog Formatting Engages the Reader’s Brain

What are the two most important parts of your business blog post? Most experts will tell you this:

  1. The headline
  2. The call to action

The headline is what gets read and spread. It’s your “shout-out” on social media sites, in feed readers, email updates. It’s the bait on your fishing hook which draws people over to your blog site to read your stuff.

Writing magnetic headlines is crucial. And you know yourself that a well-crafted headline gets more traffic than a bland one.

The call to action is what gets you business results and turns readers into clients. Even when it’s not a direct “go-buy-click-here” request, it’s part of your funnel process. It starts the participation process.

But hold on there, wait a minute. There are 6 ways to format your blog posts that will  help prime your readers for action. It happens before you ask readers to do something. It must happen, otherwise your readers won’t even read your complete post, they won’t get to the call to action part.

You must engage their brains. You must get inside their heads by triggering unconscious desires and thoughts.

Okay, that sounds a bit oowy-woowy and sneaky, maybe even dangerous. I’m not talking hypnotic suggestions or even tapping into Freudian drives of sex or fear…(although, heck, that sure works, too!)

But if your blog content doesn’t appeal to one of several persuasion triggers (reciprocity, social proof, etc.) then you’re not doing enough with your posts. Your readers may scan your post, without getting their thought processes going, and move on.

It’s not complicated. You’re probably already doing it (unconsciously)! How?

1. Every time you tell a story, you’re tapping into primitive drives to listen and pay attention. As humans, we’re wired to sit up, pay attention, and become alert when someone says, “Let me tell you a story…” Read More→

How is Playing Tennis Like Blog Writing?

One of the concerns professionals ask me about when they’re starting a new blog is this: “What if I run out of things to write about?” They’re concerned that they’ll start repeating themselves and become boring or bored.

This is not something to worry about and I’m going to prove it this week. There are 1,001 ways to write the same thing over and over again, and have fun with it!

For example, as I write this post it’s 6 a.m. and I’ve got the French Open on TV. I’ve set out to write another post about… how to write better blog posts. This is something I’ve written a million times. How can I make it different or compelling?

A quick search of previous posts and I’ve found a couple of other blog posts about blog writing and tennis:

  • 5 Blog Writing Lessons from the French Open Tennis Championships
  • French Open Tennis: More Business Lessons
  • Writing Better – Lessons from Tennis

Maybe I’ve said it all using tennis metaphors, but I don’t think so. The point I’d like you to take-away is that no matter what your main message is, there are many ways to frame it using different themes and analogies.

What sports or hobbies do you know that ties in with the business blog you’re writing? Use your imagination. Have fun with it. Chances are, your readers will enjoy it also.

Smart Professionals with Dumb Blogs

Help me please. If I read one more organizational change blog full of corporate speak and business jargon, I’m going to fall off my chair and hit my head on the desk on the way down. At least that will wake me up.

Listen, I know some of these blog authors are smart. They’ve got Ph.D.s. I know they can write, after all, they’ve written dissertations. Maybe like those people who work for government agencies, the problem is “they know too much.”

I also happen to know from having a few personal conversations with them, they have personalities and actually come across as bright, interesting, and down to earth people.

What happens when they go blogging? They pack too much into a sentence. Here are several blogging blunders smart people make with their blog writing. Read More→

8 Tips for Content Marketing on Your Blog,
One Conversation at a Time

If a blog writing is “like having a conversation,” then how should I write it? How can I possibly have a conversation when I don’t know who’s reading it? And…if it’s one-way, then it’s really not a conversation, but a monologue…

Okay, let’s not get so literal here that you talk yourself into writer’s block. All I’m saying is when writing on a business blog, forget what they taught you in school about writing an essay or an article or a report.

My point is this: on your blog, write more like you talk, and write sentences like you would use in a conversation with a favorite client.

You can even make up a typical response like I did in the opening paragraph. Invent a conversation.

Direct marketers and copywriters are expert at doing this. They are the ones making a fortune writing sales letters that persuade people to pick up the phone or click the buy button with their credit cards in hand. Read More→

The Nuances of Writing About Yourself on the Web:
10 Content Marketing Tips

What’s the most difficult thing about marketing your services to people on the Web? If you’re someone who sells your expertise, like a doctor, lawyer, an executive coach, any kind of consultant, it’s probably hard for you to toot your own horn.

Unless you’re a raving narcissist, you probably struggle to publish a blog where your goal is to look like the smartest in your niche. And yet you must, if you want to get found, get known and get clients.

You can write about what you’re an expert in, share your knowledge, and talk about your work with the people you’re helping. But even if you’re the world’s number 1 best at what you do, this challenge is one of the most difficult:

How do you build trust with readers who land on your blog or website in 25 seconds?

(Because that may be all you have to impress them. Studies show that people usually spend 25-35 seconds on a web page.)

One of my clients is a successful coach. She helps high-achieving executives become better at what they do. And  she’d love for other people to know how good she is at doing what she does, because she’d love to help more people.

She hasn’t started her blog yet, because she’s not clear how she would convey her message. She knows she’s good at what she does, but doesn’t want to come across as a “know-it-all,” when it comes to coaching people to make lasting improvements in their lives.

Here are 10 tips professionals in any field can use to write about themselves on the Web and get marketing results. Read More→