Archive for Writing Great Blog Content – Page 12

Dumb Excuses for Not Blogging…

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Big-head What do you tell yourself when you skip posting on your blog? Here are a few dumb excuses I've heard lately…

  • "I don't have time, I'll just use Twitter…it's faster."
  • "I'll do it as soon as I [fill in blank, get caught up with email, finish this project, make a phone call, clean out the cat litter box…]
  • "I'll blog as soon as I come up with a brilliant idea."
  • "Why bother, no one's commented in ages…"
  • "I'll blog as soon as I finish up my to-do list and get my desk organized…"
  • "I've got to eat first."
  • "I should work out first."

The reason these are lame excuses is because you and I both know they're all lies, lies, lies. I can say this because I've got a Ph.D. in making excuses and putting off things I don't like to do.

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Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars, Writing Great Blog Content

How to Save Time with Blog Writing

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, January 4th, 2010

Time_is_money_passes How can you avoid time-sucking traps when it comes to blog writing? Here's what often happens to me…

I sit down with my coffee, open email, and an hour later still haven't posted on my blog. I decide I need inspiration for what to blog about, so I go over to my feed reader, or to my Alltop.com. I start reading my favorite blogs.

Ninety minutes later, I still haven't started a new blog post. I've read some great stuff over on Copyblogger, Ittybiz, Seth's Blog, and Problogger… only now I feel like my writing sucks. I've got serious blog envy and feel like crap.

It's now time to get started on a client project, but I've got a tennis match so I'll have to come back later.

Sound familiar? Change a few details and I bet this is your story. Yesterday I wrote about two ways to find your blog writing genius, going outside and going inside.

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

2 Ways to Access Your Genius for Better Blog Writing

By Patsi Krakoff
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Boy-genius The biggest blogging challenge is never lack of time, it’s lack of inspiration.

Lack of inspiration comes from not being sure you’re doing it right, or doing it well, and lack of confidence that it will be worth it… in other words, fear and doubt.

Fear and doubt go away when you know what you’re doing, and have a system that will allow you to move forward confidently. How do you sit down to write a blog post so that you side-step Mr. Fear and Mr. Doubt?

Here’s how to proceed to write frequently and consistently so that you acquire a blogging habit that will grow your abilities over time. Nobody starts out writing well. Everybody’s got a piece of genius within them, it’s a question of finding it and putting it on paper, quickly, before any demons get in the way.

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

Writing Is Hard…Writing Is Simple

By Patsi Krakoff
Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Writer_s_desk What’s stopping you from being a brilliant writer?

Time and again, readers and clients tell me they don’t have enough time to post on their blogs, that finding the time to write is a huge challenge.

I don’t doubt that. I encounter this myself.

And when we drill down to the reasons, it usually turns out to be something other than lack of time. It’s lack of inspiration, lack of confidence, lack of desire to face a task that brings up fear of exposure.

…Because writing is hard. Nobody has time for tough tasks that make you feel inadequate.

Writing, either for your blog or website, or for articles or ebooks, is a tough assignment. 

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

10+ Questions to Create Cornerstone Content

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Building_houses I got a couple of emails from people in Europe this week, other Americans living abroad like I am. You never know what detail of your life will resonate so that people reach out.

Both of the emails were similar. First, they thanked me for writing blog posts that were so helpful. One said she was trying to find a brand name so my posts this week seemed to be written for her. (That really makes my day!)

Both these people struggle with similar issues: they follow a lot of Internet marketers and they feel overwhelmed by all there is to do to have a strong online visibility.

Here's my advice to both: Narrow it down to three things you can do this week. Above all, actively participate on two sites: your own business blog and Twitter.

The third thing you should be working on are cornerstone content pieces. You can publish one or two key pieces on your blog, and they should be featured on stand-alone pages. This is the first thing you want visitors to your blog to read. 

  1. Post on your blog (where you communicate your expertise)
  2. Tweet something, ask a question on Twitter (where you connect with others)
  3. Create cornerstone content (where you build your business and get readers to take action)

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Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, Writing Great Blog Content

18 Lessons I Learned from Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Blogsign
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…

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

“Double Your Blog Frequency” Week

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, October 16th, 2009

VerticalBlogVerticalBlog
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:

  1. Publish a post to your blog, today, right now.
  2. Then immediately start another post and save it as a draft.
  3. You have 24 hours to finish it and publish it.
  4. But once you do, start another draft.
  5. Repeat for 7 days, until you "get it"
  6. 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

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.]

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

How to Become a Daily Blogger

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

DailyPlanner Should you start blogging daily? This is a question every professional should consider. Maybe the question is better phrased like this, "Should I increase the number of posts I'm writing?" (Photo credit: Shutterstock.)

I'm experimenting. In the few months since I started posting on this blog almost daily, I've more than doubled my traffic stats.

I don't mean the same visitors are coming back more often, although that's happening too, I mean there are twice the number of people visiting, and twice the number of pages being read.

Here's the kicker: I'm finding it's easier to write daily posts than it is writing 2-3 times a week. I'm spending less time writing posts. And I'm learning more tricks and tips about content marketing and blogging strategies that are paying off.

Results matter, traffic is only an indicator.

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Categories : About Blogs, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing, Writing Great Blog Content

Most People Never Read the Instruction Manuals

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, October 12th, 2009

UserManualI can remember about 20 years ago I was recovering from an illness and to avoid being bored, I took up needle work, you know, cross-stitching designs on canvas with yarn. One day as I was completing a big canvas, I was listening to a motivational speaker.

All of a sudden, I heard these words: "Most people just start doing things without reading the instruction manual." Loud and clear. I looked down at my needle work and like a shock, it hit me. I'd been doing them all backwards.

Sure enough, a quick reference back to the user manual clearly showed that I was inserting the needle backwards, not producing the right effect. I put down my work and never went back to that hobby ever again.

My point is that I see many professionals who are pretty smart at what they do, but they start blogging without reading any instructions at all. Later, when they get stuck, they complain about not having "enough time" to blog.

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