Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Mega Speaking Event gets Patsi out from behind her computer…

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars, Writing Speeches

Road Trip! I’m driving to L.A. on Thursday to attend Mark Victor Hansen’s 3 day Mega Speaking Event at the Westin LAX. If you’re going, please let me know and let’s meet up.

Yes, I’m going to vacate my cozy home office, abandon my tennis matches, and appear at a LIVE event. It’s okay, I’m taking my trusty laptop and will be hiding in the back of the room.

I know, I know…I just did the L.A. drive and live-person workshop last week. What’s wrong with me? Have I flipped my introverted wig? Or am I just tallying up tax deductions before the end of the year?

Apparently I’m in a learning mode: copywriting last week, speaking this week. Next week it’s off to Las Vegas for the BlogWorld and New Media Expo! I’ll be fried and ready for a year in a library after all this.

The Blog Squad is splitting up to soak up as much professional development as possible. Denise is attending Ken McCarthy’s System Intensive Saturday in Los Angeles at the very same Westin hotel at the airport. So if you can join us for lunch or dinner, let us know.

And, by the way, if you want to go to the BIG BlogWorld and New Media Expo you can get a 15% discount on your registration as a Blog Squad VIP.
Use promo code BSVIP to get your discount.

Hey, it’s a good excuse to go to Las Vegas, and The Hubby is joining me for a naughty weekend!

16 Copywriting Steps: How to write a sales letter

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Copy

Last week I joined colleagues at Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s one day copywriting workshop in Burbank. If you are selling information products online, or giving teleseminars, you will need to learn the basics of copywriting sales letters for landing pages.

Pictured here are Lorrie and I, and Lisa Manyon, Creative Writing Services, LouAnn Savage, and me.

Here’s Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s copywriting steps for a sales letter:

Research first – Identify the problem, agitate, solve
Openings – open with stories- Stories are relationship building, lowers resistance, engages readers and connects with them
Copy should be scannable, use subheadings and lists
List the facts with bullets, features and benefits – State a feature, then say "so that…" and give the benefit of that feature to customers

Protecting Your Assets- Teleseminar on Web Legal Issues

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

Not all disasters are natural. Some are intentional, such as content theft on the Web, and trademark infringements. That’s why our upcoming teleseminar on protecting your intellectual property is so important.

Without being disrespectful or insensitive to those affected by the fires, I want to urge you to take precautions to protect your business by being informed of legal issues.

I urge you to learn more about protecting your creative assets. If you do any kind of publishing online, whether it’s your website brochure, or you’re blogging about your business, or you have content online to spotlight your expertise, please, don’t be casual about this.

You spend a lot of time writing your content, designing your materials, and creating documents and programs. Don’t let yourself and your business be vulnerable and open to content theft.

Also at risk is your brand: have you taken the necessary steps to protect yourself with trademarks? Just registering a domain name isn’t enough.

There’s a lot to know and worry about when you’re running a business. I like to take precautions so I don’t have to worry.

That’s why Denise and I have invited attorney Jay Hollander, Esq. to inform our listeners about protecting your intellectual assets on the Web on a teleseminar this Tuesday October 30th.

Getting Back to “Normal”…

By Patsi Krakoff in In the News...

Thanks so much for all your kind emails all week asking if we’re safe from the fires. Fortunately, I was only evacuated one night and the fires only came within 5 miles of our neighborhood in Del Mar Heights.

But it has been a week full of fear and anxiety, horrific stories on the TV, and sadness for all the families who lost so much.

To be truthful, like so many others, I’m struggling to get back to work.

Some thing’s just don’t seem urgent or vital after a major disruption to your life like evacuating because of fire danger.

I just want to sit and count my blessings. I am so grateful I can get back to my home, my hubby and my two kitties.

I’m grateful I don’t have to reconstruct my computer files, that I have all my books next to me, and that I can continue to work this week uninterrupted, almost as if nothing happened.

But something did happen. And we’ll not be the same again. You can’t experience an evacuation like this and not be forever marked by the memory, by the anxiety, by the sadness.

In an effort to get back to "normal," whatever that is, I am reminding myself that I’ve promised you the following blog posts coming up soon:

Continue with the Pathway to Profits series about making money with content online
Continue posting my notes from Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s Red Hot Copywriting Workshop
Continue updates about our upcoming teleseminar on legal issues and protecting your business’ intellectual property and creative assets

There you go! I know once I put it in writing, I’m committed to doing it…

Teaching, Writing, and Making Money Online

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

Teaching Sells Free Report

Have you read Brian Clark’s Teaching Sells free report yet? Do it now. Brian says what I want to say, only better, way better. Read it and look at what he does by writing this significant report:

Brian creates a mindset for learning by linking historical events to what is going on right now with
Internet businesses trying to make money the wrong ways, and putting events into perspective. He wakes you up to opportunities right under your noses you might not be seeing. And he creates a desire to learn more. He demonstrates clearly that teaching does sell, and offers you that opportunity to learn more.

That opportunity to learn is in the form of a Teaching Sells 3-month training course, only open to charter members until next Wednesday October 31, 2007. If you’re in any business and want to learn how to make money online the right way, register for this course presented by Brian and his partner Tony Clark.

For example, you probably realized this already, but do you recognize this huge significance to your business?

From page 18:

A Personal Story Backfires…

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

In trying to be more personal and share my own experiences, I goofed. Yesterday, I wrote about the San Diego fires in an email promotion. I said I thought the reason there weren’t more deaths is that people were more prepared to evacuate early – much earlier than they were in 2003.

In that fire, there were more deaths because people waited until the last minute to evacuate. In my email message, I meant to express that preparation and caution were good things in times of disasters. Even though packing up and evacuating was a real pain for our household, being prepared is worth it.

Then I made an error in using this story. Here’s my mistake: I went on to say that you need to be prepared and cautious about protecting your online business too.

Fires Continue in San Diego

By Patsi Krakoff in In the News...

I’m back home and safe with Hubby and 2 kitties. The skies are back to blue with hazy clouds in the distance. But for ~~750~~ 1,300 home owners in San Diego, things aren’t so safe or happy.

(photo Sean M Hafffey/San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press) For more photos visit SignOnSanDiego.com.

Fires, Smoke & 2 Scared Kitties

By Patsi Krakoff in In the News...

We got the "reverse 911" call at 9 p.m. last night: an automated voice announced mandatory evacuation for our neighborhood. We’d already packed up a bag of kitty food and essentials, but since the fires were still 8-9 miles away, we didn’t have a clue where to go.

So we went to the beach and sat on a bench with our kitties, Huey and Dewey. At least the air was cooler and not as smoky. We finally got on the I-5 freeway north and went to Hubby’s office in Carlsbad where we slept on the floor with our 2 unhappy boys.

We’re back home now, in spite of the mandatory order. We called a couple of friends who are also staying in their houses until the fires get closer. The wind is died down, at least here, but not where the fires are still raging – inland from us.

Now I understand more about how people get caught in Hurricane regions – you always think it’s safer at home and put off leaving until the last minute.

We’re staying informed by TV and Google earth on the Internet. While Google earth pictures are interesting, we haven’t been able to discern any burning fires. Maybe the pictures are delayed.

As I write this from my home office, I can see blue sky for the first time in 2 days, mixed with soot and smoke. That’s good news, right? That and the fact that the kitties and Hubby are sleeping soundly…

Copywriting Workshop: Red Hot Stories from San Diego

By Patsi Krakoff in On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Writing Great Copy

Note: It’s ironic in a sad way that this post on Red Hot Copywriting tips is being published in Southern California on a weekend of horrific wildfires whipped by winds. The air is full of ash.

People in East San Diego county have been forced to evacuate their homes. The winds haven’t died down and fires are spreading rapidly in the direction of the Wild Animal Park. Many residents have fled with their horses, and of course other pets.

Here in my home office, my desk and papers are covered with soot. We put the air conditioning on to close up the house. My nose is running and sneezing. But for the ~~21,000~~ 500,000 people who have to flee their homes, it’s much worse. The fires are spreading. The morning TV news is not good.

Red Hot Copywriting Workshop Notes

It’s hard for me to concentrate with the view outside of red skies and smoke. Here’s what I wrote before the fires broke out…

Pathway to Profits: A general plan for making money with content

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Pathway to Profits

Let me ask you… What do you want your content marketing efforts to accomplish for you?

Here’s a general plan, what we call our "Pathway to Profits…" It starts like this:

• Communicate with prospects and customers
• Build relationships with both prospects, customers, and strategic partners
• Create informational products
• Give information away and sell some
• Up-sell current customers to higher ticket products
• Attract more people to your business through useful content
• Keep building your list of prospects by providing more useful, relevant content to readers

Soak, wash, rinse… and repeat.

We think that a blog is the best way to provide content to people who need solutions to problems. But there are other important elements necessary to make the pathway go from content to marketing to sales and profit.

Next up – The second most important step: using a great shopping cart and database management tool.