On Writing Better | 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

Archive for On Writing Better – Page 17

3 Key Content Questions You Must Answer

By Patsi Krakoff

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

To paraphrase Doug Kessler, Velocity Marketing:

While there’s a lot of craft in the practice of content marketing, the core of the discipline is very, very simple: you have to be able to answer three questions quickly, clearly and compellingly:

Who the hell are you?
Why should I care?
Why should I believe you?

If you can answer these three questions well, you’ll have done the hardest and most important part of your content marketing job. You'll also make the other parts of your job a lot easier.

While Doug writes this as part of his Holy Trinity of Technology Marketing, these questions are foundational for writing any kind of marketing content.

The devil is in the nuances, of course. I'll give you a bad email marketing sample of how NOT to do this:

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

How to Craft an ‘About’ Page:
5 Keys to Telling Your Story

By Patsi Krakoff

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

When's the last time you updated your bio on your blog's About page? Or your About Us page on your website? Did you know that this is one of the most visited pages? People want to know who's behind a business. Personalities count.

Yet many blogs and sites have a standard resume written in the third person, boring as all get-out. Certainly client lists are important. But so are you. This page is an important content marketing opportunity. Tell your story, your real story. If you are the sole author of your blog, write it in the first person.

Every story has some basic elements to it that make it really compelling. Personally, I think everyone has a good story to tell about themselves, only most don’t know how to tell it well so that readers are enchanted and moved.

When I work with clients to improve their blog, I don’t often see them telling their story well, if at all.

Many bloggers copy and paste their bio or resume onto their About page, written in the 3rd person: “John Smith is a consultant with 20 years experience working with Fortune 500 companies on their strategic development plans.”

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

18 Lessons I Learned from Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Every once in a while I think about scrapping this blog and starting over. There's way too much good content to do that, but I'd like it to be more organized and easily accessible to you.

For example, I have way too many categories of stuff I don't write about much anymore, and a few new ones I really should start.

There's no category for Twitter and the other networking sites. But I hate to create another category because the list is way too long. Too many choices for readers is confusing. I may have to do that anyway, instead of lumping everything under Content Marketing.

I read a great post by Adam Singer over on the Future Buzz Blog: 50 lessons for starting a blog. Here's a few key things I've adapted for my own lessons I've learned from my five years of blogging. Maybe they will help you if you're starting a blog, or maybe they will trigger other tips that you can share here…

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Writing Great Blog Content

“Double Your Blog Frequency” Week

By Patsi Krakoff

Friday, October 16th, 2009

I hereby declare this to be "Double Your Blogging Frequency Week."

Mark it on your calendars.

For those of you who know you're not blogging enough to get good marketing results, I'm throwing out the gauntlet.

Will you take up my challenge to you? (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

All you have to do is this:

Publish a post to your blog, today, right now.
Then immediately start another post and save it as a draft.
You have 24 hours to finish it and publish it.
But once you do, start another draft.
Repeat for 7 days, until you "get it"
Keep on keeping on…

It's not hard. It's not even a trick. Even if your schedule interferes with the 24 hour accomplishment, it's okay.

The reason this works, is psychological, having to do with our brains are wired. The brain doesn't like unfinished business. Even if you're forgetful like me, you'll have a signal going off inside your head that encourages you to get back to finish what you started.

I am a psychologist, by training, and I read a lot of books about the brain. So trust me, this works on both a theoretical level and in real life.

I'm curious to find out what you experience once you try this for a week or so. Please hit the comment button and tell me, and don't worry, I'm going to remind you next week.

(I already have a blog post saved as a draft to remind you!)

Question: Do you have an opinion about whether or not a daily blogging habit should include the weekends, or not?

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

Secret Daily Blogging Habit Revealed…
(I promise this will get you going!)

By Patsi Krakoff

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Want to know the key to becoming a daily blogger, to increasing the frequency of your blogging? Do this:

Always write one post ahead of time. Publish one, start another immediately, save it.

That's it, all there is to it. (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

This one tip is guaranteed to get you blogging more often.

Here's how it works: once you've got a post published, start another one right away and save it as a draft. Then you always have one "in the hopper." You can go in and finish it up later.

Then, as soon as it's published or scheduled to publish, go in and start a draft of your next post. Don't finish it, just start it.

This "one-in-the-hopper" tip is the biggest reason my blogging frequency has doubled without that much increase in blogging time or effort.

Try it, you'll like it!

The reason it works is because your mind continues to work on it even when it's only just started and saved as a draft. The brain doesn't like unfinished business. When you do go and finish it up, you'll find that it's easier, faster, better.

[Action Tip: Go do this now, or mark a time in your calendar (1/2 hour?) you will publish a post and immediately start another. Try it for 2-3 days in a row and get back to me how it works for you.]

[Alternative: Need more background information? Download Content Marketing with Blogs ebook, and study what else you need to know to get results from your blogging efforts.]

Categories : About Blogs, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing for the Web, Writing Great Blog Content

3 Problems with Content Marketing with Blogs
…& 1 Problem with Polls

By Patsi Krakoff

Friday, October 9th, 2009

In the Vizu poll I've been running on this blog, I asked you to vote your three biggest challenges with Content Marketing with Blogs. Here are the voting results so far, for the top three challenges:

Finding time to frequently post
Content – finding what to write about
Content – creating compelling content

Lower on the list, at only 10%, is getting readers to website product pages. Now that's the problem with polls, isn't it. I can't tell if you voters find that getting readers to product pages is easy, not a challenge, or if you're not even trying to do this at all.

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Content Marketing with Blogs:
When Blogging is Like a Toothache

By Patsi Krakoff

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Is writing on your blog a pleasant and easy task for you? Or is it sometimes worse than getting a tooth pulled? If so, I'm thinking of you this week.

The tooth fairy turned into a wicked witch and sent me to the dentist's for two root canals over the weekend. I don't write well on pain meds and antibiotics. I forgot a friend's birthday party. And I'm barely getting my work done. Fortunately, two root canals in Mexico cost under $250, a far cry from US prices. But even so, it hurts!

Here's what's new: If you haven't downloaded Content Marketing with Blogs, do so now. I've added a bonus report 5 Questions for Writing Web Content that Gets Results. Here's what this free ebook provides:

4 reasons blogs fail
Why good content isn't enough
4 keys to having a great blog
7 step formula for online marketing success
The new shift in content marketing focus
What's required for the 21st century

If you want your blog to work as the most powerful marketing tool on the planet, (which it is, or should be!), then you need to know a few things. This report is the latest information and summarizes it all into simple steps.

Don't struggle with your blog any more. Make your content marketing writing tasks easy. No more pain.

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

5 Content Marketing Questions:
Getting readers to take action

By Patsi Krakoff

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Here's a final note in my blog post series about writing good content on the Web that gets results. In Maria Velosa's 2009 edition of Web Copy that Sells, she suggests 5 questions your copy should answer: (Photo Credit: Shutterstock)

What is the problem (pain, predicament)?
Why hasn't this problem been solved?
What is possible?
What is different now?
What should you do now?

As you answer these questions, you lead readers down a path towards action. Good content on the Web, when it's well written, should:

Educate
Entertain
Engage readers
Enrich lives

If at all possible, you should strive to enrich the lives of your readers as well. Try to make their lives better by showing them how they can save time, energy or money.

Question #4: What is different now?

How will your product or service make your readers' lives different? This is where you explain who you are, how you know what you're talking about, how your product or service can help them, and what's different about your product or service that will eliminate their problem.

Categories : Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy

Content Marketing Questions: What’s Possible?

By Patsi Krakoff

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Question #3: What is possible?

In Maria Velosa's Web Copy That Sells book, there is a 5-step blueprint for writing on the Web. This is really what content marketing is all about. When you answer the following 5 questions, your writing tasks are simplified and your copy becomes clear.

What is the problem (pain, predicament)?
Why hasn't this problem been solved?
What is possible?
What is different now?
What should you do now?

First answer question #1, what's the problem. Then, answer questions
#2, why hasn't the problem been solved? Then answer question #3, what's
possible?

As you write out several sentences to answer these questions, you'll lead your readers through a path that leads to action. Action is the goal for all good content designed to market your business on the Web.

Categories : Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Copy

Content Marketing Question #2:
Why Hasn’t This Problem Been Solved?

By Patsi Krakoff

Friday, September 25th, 2009

I'm reviewing Maria Velosa's Web Copy that Sells, 2nd Edition, recently released. Her 5 simple steps for writing on the web are:

What is the problem (pain, predicament)?
Why hasn't this problem been solved?
What is possible?
What is different now?
What should you do now?

Question #2, Why hasn't this problem been solved? This is a great opportunity to address the challenges your readers and potential customers face.

You have a chance to show you understand your readers well, and you have an expert's understanding of the subject matter. You can delve into the history of the problem, providing insights they may have never thought of.

Categories : Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy

Archive for On Writing Better – Page 17

3 Key Content Questions You Must Answer

How to Craft an ‘About’ Page:
5 Keys to Telling Your Story

18 Lessons I Learned from Blogging

“Double Your Blog Frequency” Week

Secret Daily Blogging Habit Revealed…
(I promise this will get you going!)

3 Problems with Content Marketing with Blogs
…& 1 Problem with Polls

Content Marketing with Blogs:
When Blogging is Like a Toothache

5 Content Marketing Questions:
Getting readers to take action

Content Marketing Questions: What’s Possible?

Content Marketing Question #2:
Why Hasn’t This Problem Been Solved?

Content for Coaches and Consultants

Serenity Virtual Assistant Services

Social Buzz Club