Archive for On Writing Better – Page 7

Are Your Content Readers Thinkers or Feelers?

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Have you ever read an e-newsletter or blog post and got a feeling of disappointment? Maybe it was just too subjective, airy-fairy and touchy-feely? If so, then you may be like me, a thought-processing person who wants facts and data when reading content online, an e-newsletter or blog post.

Several years ago, my friend John Agno published this review of personality types in his newsletter.  It contains important information to consider when writing your blog, e-newsletter or content marketing to attract clients, and it still applies today.

The Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory is a method for helping people match their communication styles to others’ personalities.  Understanding Myers-Briggs allows you to foster the kind of interpersonal climate that paves the way toward better understanding.

One of the four Myers-Briggs dichotomies is Thinking/Feeling — that people use to assess their preferred ways of communicating, processing information, analyzing that information, and coming to a decision.

The population is evenly divided between thinkers and feelers. Two-thirds of men are thinkers and two-thirds of women are feelers, but 70% to 90% of businesspeople are thinkers, regardless of gender. The name of this dimension is slightly misleading. Thinkers aren’t unfeeling, and feelers aren’t fuzzy-headed. Both process information carefully. The difference is in what facts each group considers to be most salient. Read More→

Categories : Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, On Writing Better, Writing for the Web, Writing Great Blog Content
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How to Start a Blog Serial Writing Project

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, June 27th, 2011

Check_boxes
If you’ve been reading my blogs for any length of time, you know about my problem with writing:  I love to write, and I can write too much.  Anyone with a doctorate suffers from the same disease. Dissertation-itis. Nobody has time to read all those words anymore, especially not online.

Then, at some point in my writing career I got lazy. Or maybe I got smart. I started skipping the long research on a topic and reading up on its history. I just started making a list of main points and then writing out a couple of sentences on each item.

I think I got the idea from Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, who said if you can write a 7 item grocery list, you can write a good article. Now Jeff teaches article writing for people who struggle with writing and have a hard time coming up with stuff.

I fell in love with the “Make a List” writing school. Their theory is anything worth reading can be written in a list of bulleted points.

And now for my real confession:  I’ve taken the list building approach to an extreme. I’ve become a serial writer.

I wish I could say that it’s the cure for writer’s block, or that it’ll turn your work into Internet gold. I will proclaim it to be a rousing success for saving you time and energy whenever you’re faced with writing for your ezine, blog, web pages, press releases, and even white papers.

Here’s how to start a serial writing project (in list form, of course):

  1. Find an idea your readers want to know more about that will benefit them
  2. Make a list of 5 main points
  3. Write an overview of the idea with the 5 points listed and post it on your blog
  4. Each day for the next 5 days write a blog post about each of the 5 points
  5. Write a summary of the 5 points, reviewing them and reminding readers why this is important
  6. Edit each blog post into a stand alone article
  7. Compile the 7 articles into one full article. Read More→
Categories : Article Ideas, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better, Writing for the Web, Writing Great Blog Content
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How to Write with Your Right Brain: 5 Tips

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, June 20th, 2011

Ist1_2776388_coffee_cupOne of the smartest things you can do to keep up with blog writing is to use your brain well. Use your right brain to tap into your creativity.

The third thing I do in the morning when I get up is write on one of my blogs. (First, brew a pot of Cafe de Olla; second, feed Huey and Dewey, our kitties.) When clients ask, “How do you find time to post on all your blogs?” it’s kind of a non-problem, since I’m fueled by coffee and love…!

One of my favorite posts is here, because two writers (John Jantsch and Sean D’Souza) who really understand content marketing explain this further in The Right Brain/Left Brain Tango: How to Get Your Creative Mojo Back.

Here are 5 tips for being more creative and productive with your writing tasks.

  1. Write first before you open email or your list of things to do. Any writing task should have priority over other tasks in the morning. Why? Writing uses mostly your right brain, and you need clarity, without those little gnawing distractions.Beware the left brain that wants to spoil your creativity by reminding you of things “to-do.” When you first wake up, you’re functioning in your right brain. Use it immediately for improved creativity.
  2. Before you go to bed and fall asleep, remind yourself which writing tasks you want to work on in the morning. Your right brain will think about them as you go to sleep, and probably as you wake up. As a result, you’ll wake up with those writing jobs in mind and can start right in on them – as soon as the coffee’s ready and the pets are fed.
  3. Leave your desk relatively uncluttered when you stop working at night so that in the morning you can start writing without distractions. It helps to have a safe place to set your coffee, where the kitties won’t knock it over when they come to lie in front of your computer screen. (If you have dogs, you won’t understand this part, but I’m sure there’s similar arrangement for those little darlings.)Img_0053 Read More→
Categories : Brain Based Content Marketing, Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better
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Why You Should Be Happy Before You Blog

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Three Keys to Blogging When you Are Happy
A guest post by Erica Nelson

You know how your smile is written all over your face? Your emotions are imbedded in your words and how you write.

Just like when you walk into a restaurant, the waiter immediately communicates without saying one word what your service experience might be like, the opening phrases of your blog or website are going to speak volumes about how you are thinking and what you are feeling.

What I’m asking is that you pause before you write for your audience. Get a picture of the person reading your blog, in your mind’s eye. Who is your audience? How do you want to reach them? Get clarity, and then go into the right mindset before writing a word.

I look back on my career as a journalist and author, and I recognized at one point I had written more than 5,000 articles that were published – articles that I was paid to write.  Now I have a daily blog on Facebook where I post original happiness quotations with over 4,700 fans. I know that people can tell a lot more about me than the words will allow.

Being in a positive state of mind will change our results. So, I’ve come up with three keys for you – in case you want to shift the energy behind your words – to blog when you are happy. Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better
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A Tale of Two Websites: Good/Bad Content

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, May 9th, 2011

How do you sell something that people don’t know they want or need? Or, maybe they know they need it, but don’t want to admit it? And how do you do that through your online content? What you write on your site has to be compelling.

As I was reviewing two clients’ online content marketing this week, I was struck by how few professionals have well-written content that engages readers.

These two sites were both from successful business coaches. Part of the problems coach websites have is that they are selling services that aren’t clearly defined.

Most people know when they need a dentist: they’ve got a tooth ache. With a back ache, they may search for a doctor, a chiropractor, acupuncturist, or a massage therapist. They may not know which is best so your online site has to do some convincing and comparing.

But what if Joe Schmoe is an budding entrepreneur with ADD and procrastination problems and an online business that’s starting to take off. He needs help, but doesn’t know who to turn to. Does he need a business coach, a psychologist, a personal assistant, a mastermind group, or internet marketing training?

Let’s say you’re a professional coach with experience that matches Joe’s needs. Your online content has to convince Joe that he needs you first and foremost. You have to grab his attention by speaking to his most pressing and compelling desires.

Joe wants to be more effective in his work and in his life. He’s tired of doing the same things over and over and not getting anywhere fast enough. He wants what others seem to have: success and peace of mind.

Yet many of the coach websites and blogs I review talk about themselves:

“We provide top-shelf strengths-based coaching and consulting to entrepreneurs.”

“Visit our Leadership Coaching page to learn more about how coaching helps leaders maximize potential for themselves and their team.”

“Visit our page to find out how we can help you create a more productive organization.”

Compare those bland statements with this:

“After a bout with cancer four and half years ago, John saw his recovery as a second chance at success, and he was determined to make it happen. After Coach X’s assessment testing, John knew he had found the right business coach.”

““Coach X is there to make me better at work. He’s not a psychologist. He’s courteous and friendly, but he’s demanding because he wants me to grow in value to my company.’”

One is personal: it talks about a real person and what he reports. The other site is vague and non-personal. It doesn’t draw you in to want to know more.

I think too few professionals do a good job of using client stories and case studies to show what they do and what kind of results they get. What do you think?

Categories : Coaching/Personal Development, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing
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What’s Missing in Content Marketing: Who and Why

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, April 25th, 2011

Storytelling and personalization is the biggest missing piece in content marketing as I see it. People are good at writing about what they know. They aren’t as good about expressing who they are and why they do what they do.

If you’re not writing real stories, your content – on your blog, in your newsletter, on your web pages – runs the risk of being boring. You may be excited about what you do as a professional, but your clients will get bored or overwhelmed if you just throw information at them.

In the Content Marketing Webinar last week, I talked about communicating your back-story… the background about the why and who of your business. It’s especially important in service businesses where people hire you to help them solve a problem.

I once asked a guy who founded an online training service what his back-story was, and he didn’t know what I meant.

He thought I would see the obvious, that there was a gap in what was available online and an opportunity to make money. Okay, that’s exciting… to you and your spouse for sure.

But there’s always more to the story than that: Why did he personally spend considerable time, energy and money creating what he did?

There has to be drive, passion and love. He had to care. That’s the story people need to know. Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Brain Based Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Teleclasses & Seminars
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Content Marketing Tips: Find Your Online Voice

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

How do you find your voice and create your brand story so that readers are inspired and emotionally triggered? How do you get content marketing results?

This and other key tips will be discussed Wednesday April 20, 2011 on an open webinar I’m giving:

Time-Saving Tips for Content Marketing Results

Register to get the recording if you can’t come at 5 pm ET, plus I’ll send you handouts, a list of outsourcing resources, a marketing road map and discount coupons for services.

“Before you can truly understand your customers, you have to understand yourself,” says author and content-marketing evangelist Joe Pulizzi.

If you are a coach, doctor, lawyer, any professional, you are trying to differentiate yourself in a crowded market. There are a gazillion websites in your field. To succeed, you need to forge a separate and unique identity and create an enduring and memorable brand.

You need a brand story. You need a brand personality. You need to stop sounding like everyone else.

I think this is one of the hardest things for busy professionals to communicate in writing content for the Web.

Why? Because it involves personal creativity. It’s one thing to write what you know. You can type 350 words of knowledge into your blog post in about 10 minutes or less. That’s the easy piece.

Don’t believe me? Come on, you explain stuff on the phone to clients all the time. Read More→

Categories : Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars, Writing for the Web
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Content Curation: How to Become a Thought Leader

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Here’s an important post from Joe Pulizzi’s Junta42 blog, Content Curation Grows Up, Original Content Still Key . I share these key points with anyone who struggles with writing online for their business and needs ideas for what to write.

I first heard the term content curation is this post by Rohit Bhargava back in 2009.

Rohit positioned that, as more corporations and individuals create content, the role of the content curator is needed.  Rohit describes this position as:

Someone whose job it is not to create more content, but to make sense of all the content that others are creating. To find the best and most relevant content and bring it forward.

I know many of my readers and clients who want to become thought leaders in their field. The thing is, Joe and Rohit are absolutely right: you don’t have to be the one with all the ideas. But you do need to gather all that’s relevant and being said in your field and summarize the key points that are most important to your audience.

And, you do need to add your point of view. That’s what makes you unique and a thought leader.

Here’s what else Joe says in his post: Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Blog Content
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Punk Chihuahua Reveals 4 Secrets to Better Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, March 10th, 2011

How’s your content marketing with blogs? Are you brilliantly blogging several times a week?

There comes a time when we all run out of things to say (or at least most of us!). The blog must be fed anyway. Treat your blog like a prized chihuahua… feed it well and it will do wonders to attract readers…

But if you don’t feed it and take care of it, it will turn nasty, and bark and growl for attention. All of which will end up biting you in your traffic stats.

It’s not that we run out of things to say. I’ve got plenty to say about most things. It’s that it’s hard to perform on queue. It’s hard to be creatively brilliant when you want to be, in the time you’ve got available.

But I’ve got a lot of cheat cards up my sleeve. Here are my favorite tips for coming up with a blog post when you’d rather be out playing tennis:

  1. Start with a picture. iStockPhoto.com has some amazingly creative photos and drawings you can use for just about any topic. An unusual photo, like a punk chihuahua, can be used as bait to draw readers’ eye into your blog post. Just be sure you can follow up with good tips or content that’s relevant to your readers.
  2. Start with a shocking title. Use the checkout stand at the grocery store to review the latest National Enquirer or other tabloid headlines: “5,000 Year-old Man Frozen in Ice Had Affair with Palin.” The idea is to use shock and humor and turn it into valuable content for your readers.
  3. Start with a video. Turn on your web cam and talk to your readers from the heart. Sometimes this comes spontaneously, other times it might require a little thought and scripting. Some people are better at this than others. (For myself, by the time I get my hair and makeup and the lighting right, I’ve forgotten what was so important to say…)
  4. Start with OPC… other people’s content. Go find a brilliant post by one of your favorite authors, say for example, one you can easily find on AllTop.com. Use excerpts but add your own opinion and perspective.
Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, On Writing Better, Writing Great Blog Content
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Business Blog Writing and Content Marketing:
Come on, light my fire!

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, February 14th, 2011

Why is content marketing and persuasion so difficult, and what can you do to set people on fire? When it comes to writing content for a business blog, most professionals start from their point of view. Of course, who wouldn’t?

“We’ve got a state-of-the-art 128-bit secure site, offering the best rates on the Web.”

While this business understands that its customers want security and low prices when ordering services online, they fail to ignite passion or spark action in readers.

Stories of real people connect with readers in a way that data and words on a screen can’t. In his best-selling book Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, published in 1997 by Harper-Collins, master screenwriter Robert McKee argues that stories “fulfill a profound human need to grasp the patterns of living—not merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience.”

There are two ways to persuade people.

The first is by using conventional marketing rhetoric, which is what most professionals use. It’s an intellectual process  in which you write, “Here’s our company’s biggest advantage, and here is what you need to do.” You build your case by giving statistics and facts and quotes from authorities. But there are two problems with this rational approach.

First, the people you’re talking to have their own set of experiences. While you’re trying to persuade them, they are arguing with you in their heads. Second, if you do succeed in persuading them, you’ve done so only on an intellectual basis. That’s not good enough, because people are inspired to act by emotions.

The other way to persuade people—a more powerful way—is by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way to do that is by telling a compelling story.

In a story, you not only weave in a lot of information, but you also arouse your reader’s emotions and energy.

Persuading with a story is hard. It demands vivid insight and storytelling skill to present an idea that packs enough emotional power to be memorable.

In the sample quote I used about a “128-bit secure site,” wouldn’t it be more interesting if the business blogged about a client who had a bad experience using an unsecured website? Or, better yet, what if they featured a video clip of a client who saved “X” amount of dollars by coming to them instead?

Stories connect us to what really matters most in ways that rhetoric and facts can’t.

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