Archive for Writing for the Web – Page 7

The Practice of Writing: Are You Publishing, Too?

Cat-computer Are you taking notes? Whenever I speak somewhere, people in the audience are furiously scribbling. For myself, I always take notes, mainly because if I don't write it down it goes through my two ears like the wind.

Most writers I know love to take notes, heck, even non-writers do. Everyone's taking notes. Here's my question, what do you do with your notes?

Are you publishing what you write? Here's what I find incredible: only a tiny percentage of writers are actually publishing on the Internet. Most writers, even serious ones, aren't publishing their work on a blog.

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Social Skills: What’s Needed for Social Media

Groups "Getting or giving anything is about social skills. The world is about being comfortable where you are and making people feel comfortable, and that’s what social skills are.

"What’s important is to be kind, and be gracious and do it in ways that make people want to do that for someone else." ~ Penelope Trunk, founder of BrazenCareerist.com. Her blog is blog.penelopetrunk.com.

I read this on page 75 of Seth Godin's new ebook, What Really Matters. There's even more wisdom in these words of Penelope Trunk when you realize she's got Asperger's Syndrome, a brain disorder. Penelope Trunk says she's had to learn to mimic socially appropriate responses because it's not a natural skill for her. Her brain doesn't pick up on things like that.

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

Blog+pencilWant 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.]

A Story Teller’s Mindset:
Key to Great Content Marketing

Chat-community  The hardest thing about writing good content for marketing is coming up with stories to tell. There's no lack of knowledge, or research, or interesting concepts to blog about, or to write white papers about.

I read one or two books a week, full of interesting information I can share with you here. But it's dry without my telling you a story of how that information comes to life in the real world.

What's needed is a story-teller's mindset. I'm working on that, but it's not something that comes naturally to me. I'm observing people who have that already.

Like Eric, Tall Eric, down at the tennis courts. If I mention coffee, he's got a story. Okay, so that can be a bit annoying if you're in a hurry, but he's usually got my attention for a couple of minutes. There may be a point to his story…or not.

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12 Steps to Creating Web-Savvy Content for Marketing

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How do you make sure your ebook has good content for marketing purposes? How do you write web-savvy content that works for the Web, that markets your business, gets you found, and is link-friendly?

I mean, it's all good to say you're going to get on the Content Marketing bandwagon… but how exactly do you do that? Here are 12 steps you need to think about:

Before you write that ebook, or blog post, or other content on your website, think about your audience. Once you've defined who you're writing for, then define the problem you're going to solve. Then figure out how people would be using keyword phrases to find their solutions if they were doing a web search.

Write a list of 3-5 keyword phrases and keep those in mind as you write your content.

Once you've defined your audience, the problem, the solution, and the keyword phrases. you should be able to make a list of subtopics or steps you need to cover. With a list, you can expand on each point to create a logical progression to solving the problem.

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How to Decide What to Write, What to Read…

Sway
 I'm immersing myself in a slew of Amazon Kindle books on decision-making that I recently downloaded:

Apparently, it doesn't matter what field you're in, everyone wants to know how come smart people make dumb decisions. To help, some very smart authors reveal the interplay between instincts, emotions, and our rational logical brains. These authors are very astute in translating the brain research along with fascinating stories.

Recently we've seen plenty of irrational behavior, whether in politics or the world of finance. And in these times of uncertainty, it's harder for everyone to make decisions. None of us can rationally predict just how hard hit we will be.

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Recession-proof Your Business: Listen to What the Experts Do

(Please note: the following blog post is a promotional announcement about our January 09 CD sale. The CDs are offered at a 61% discount. The sale ends when supplies end, or when February comes around…)

Problems
"Every single money-sucking business problem you have is going to be resolved, one way or the other."

That's
what I heard the other day, and it's true. Whatever your problems, with
your business or your blog, things either solve themselves…or you
aren't in business any more!

No business, no problem! I know, that's rather grim, but maybe you could use a little help so this doesn't happen…

Do what smart professionals do:  Get immediate
professional advice and learn what you need to do differently:

  • Get a healthy Reality Check on your situation…
  • Fix the profit-leaks in your business, for your blog and all your content marketing efforts…
  • Learn how the smart pros like Tom Antion, Joan Stewart and The Blog
    Squad are still reeling in leads and converting them to customers…
  • And quickly get busy making your business work like crazy

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How to Write for the Web – Copywriting Intensive

Sign_up
 Here's an opportunity to immerse yourself for three days and learn how to write great content for the Web. This is important for any small business professional, even if you hire a copywriter for your big projects.

Why? Because everything you write on the Web, your blog posts, your Twitter messages, your email broadcasts, should do all of these things:

  1. Grab the attention of your ideal prospects
  2. Keep them interested to read your entire message
  3. Connect with them on a human level
  4. Provide useful information that appeals to learning styles
  5. Move your readers to some sort of action

Otherwise, your content will not market you, or build your brand, it won't attract the right people, and your business won't grow using the magnetic power of the Internet.

No other skill is as important than writing for the Web. Okay, delivering your products and services is important, but if your writing doesn't interest prospects, you won't have customers!

The American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI) is teaching what you need to know about web writing:

AWAI Web Copywriting Intensive:
Words That Work – Converting Your Web Traffic to Cash!
Austin, Texas, February 15-18, 2009

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2009: The Year of the Personality?

Paper_bag_series
I just responded to a request for a prediction for 2009 from Joe Pulizzi, founder of Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs. His question, which I throw out to you, is this:

"What is your prediction for how brand marketers will create and distribute their own content in 2009?" How would you answer this question?

My answer follows here:

In 2009 we'll see more brands developing a personality or a persona to represent the core values of the company. This 'persona' will be responsible for most of the brand's blog content and social media messages.

Cutting edge companies like Razer, the computer gaming hardware developer, have been using their founder, RazerGuy, as spokesperson for years. Other brands will find or create a persona to embody the spirit of their company. How else can companies connect and build relationships unless there is a person with a real personality?

As The Blog Squad, my partner Denise Wakeman and I have realized the importance of a 'persona' to connect with people and to represent what our company does. Fortunately, we're real people. I pity those companies that are going to have to invent a persona – that will never work as well as authenticity.

Rohit Bhargava hit the nail on the head with his book Personality Not Included. I predict that 2009 will be the Year of the Personality!

This may be one of the instances where a solo professional has an edge over big companies. At least you don't have to worry about choosing a person to blog for the company and do Twitter tweets and Facebook notes.

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Writing for the Web Resources: Ask the English Teacher

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I got a Google alert today to say my name appeared on a blog site. I was delighted to discover this blog: Ask the English Teacher. Crawford Kilian is a retired professor who's an avid blogger.

This Ask the English Teacher blog came about when he corresponded with an English teacher in China over common confusions in English grammar.

The blog is full of great resources on writing. I recommend you visit. The list of other blogs comprise some of the most useful resources on the Web when it comes to Internet usage.

Crawford "gets it:" using good grammar isn't about being perfect. It's all about the readers and making it easy for them to understand you.

"I've taught my students that the writer's job is to make the reader's job effortless. Anything that makes the reader wonder what I really mean is a distraction and a burden. That includes mistakes in spelling (their or they're?), punctuation, and anything else that slows down understanding."

I've known about Crawford for some time and bought his book Writing for the Web 3.0. His other blog is similar in name to this blog, Writing for the Web.com. One more resource you can use for better writing…