Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Marshall Goldsmith: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

By Patsi Krakoff in Buying Content, Coaching/Personal Development, Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics

If you are an executive coach or a consultant, you’re familiar with the books, articles, and prolific work of Marshall Goldsmith. And there’s a reason. In my view, he is quickly becoming this century’s leadership development expert, with a stature reminiscent of Peter Drucker.

But I gush. If you’ve heard Goldsmith present at a conference, you’ll recognize some of his stories and humor in his books. He is down-to-earth, funny, clear and authentic. I won’t go on and on; this is after all a blog post, so here’s my point:

Buy and read Goldsmith’s latest book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (Hyperion, 2007).

It doesn’t matter if you work in a different field or you’re not an executive. If you have a pulse, you will recognize yourself as participating in at least one of his "20 Habits That Hold You Back from the Top (p. 40)."

Goldsmith has an uncanny ability to recognize the challenges of interpersonal behavior, often leadership behavior. They are egregious everyday annoyances, that on the surface, appear to be normal; some of them even contribute to our success in getting ahead. But in the long run, they make the workplace more noxious than it needs to be.

And these bad habits, at higher levels of responsibility, will actually deter us from having continued success.

If you want to learn more about these bad habits and what you can do about them, order the book today on Amazon. I’m making it easy for you to order by including the link here, yes, right here; and yes, it includes my affiliate link so that I can profit greatly, at least a few pennies. But you will be far, far richer after reading the book and applying a few steps.

P.S. If you are working in the field of executive coaching or consulting and need material for your ezine, you can purchase an article based on Goldsmith’s principles of coaching and other research about bad bosses here from www.CustomizedNewsletterArticles.com:
Good Boss, Bad Boss: 20 Bad Habits Leaders Should Stop Doing Now.

Recipe for an Ezine: The Call to Action Trap

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing, Writing Better Ezines

Ingredient #5: What do you want your reader to do?

This is a big challenge for most ezine writers. Either the ezine is all marketing hype, with a BIG Call to Action splashed throughout the content (BUY NOW! BUY NOW!), or they are all relationship-focused and information without ANY call to action.

The truth is the Call to Action part of an ezine is a big trap for many professionals, especially those not used to selling, or not comfortable with marketing. Why? Because for many people it’s all or nothing. Too much, or completely missing in action!

It doesn’t have to be that way. The more you think of your ezine and your email messages as a conversation with a friend, the more likely you will resonate with readers. Let’s face it, they know you’re in business. They expect you to sell something to them. Just do it nicely. Remember the value you are giving them.

If you read your ezine or email message aloud, it should sound like a conversation – not a commercial!

Recipe For an Ezine: Find Ideas for Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines

Here are a few ideas on where to find ideas for writing content for your ezine:

1. Burning desires: what rocks your boat, gets you steamed up, energizes you?
2. What are your readers’ pain points?
3. What are others talking/writing about?
4. Any good resources you’ve found that can help readers?
5. Use Google Alerts for key topics
6. Interview experts
7. Review a book you’re reading
8. Common questions your clients ask you
9. Emails clients send you; include both positive and negative ones
10. Share a big mistake you’ve made and how others can avoid it
11. Share a personal story and then relate it to your readers’ and clients’ situations
12. Definitions of words or terms
13. Run a poll and report on results (good list builder)
14. Run a contest (also a good list builder)

What are other content ideas? I like to think of growing “content antennae:” by being aware and sensitive to my environment, I can pick up ideas for writing every few minutes. However, you need a clear, receptive state of mind to do this.

Hit the comment link below and share other ways to spark your writing.

Related posts:
Ingredient #4: Writing Useful Content, part 1
Ingredient #3: Writing Email Subject Lines
Ingredient#2: Clarity of Purpose
Ingredient #1: Naming Your Ezine
Main Article: Recipe for An Ezine- Should You Publish an Ezine?

Ezine Formats: How do you like your ezine?

By Patsi Krakoff in Getting Read

We’ve posted a new poll over on Next Level Biz Tips about ezine formatting. Which do you prefer to RECEIVE: plain text or HTML (graphic images like a web page)? It’ll take you about 5 seconds so please let us know how you like your ezines delivered. Thanks!

Recipe For an Ezine: Write Useful Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines

Ingredient #4: Write Valuable Information Readers Can Use (part 1)

Content is King AND Queen on the Web. Your first contact with Internet visitors is most likely when they land on your website, blog, one of your articles, or a landing page you’ve written. Your words act as doorman, receptionist, host, and sales team.

How you write and what you say is responsible for first and lasting impressions with a prospect. So how do you write valuable content for your ezine?

Marketing Sherpa, a leading email and web analytics firm, has done tests on email effectiveness. Here’s what President Anne Holland reports on one such test: “My favorite result — copy writing really, really matters. The top three best ROI tests were more to do with words (copy, offer, subject line) than they were with design or graphics.”

Here are 10 short tips for writing good content:

1. The reader comes first; address their pain, their wants, their challenges.
2. Break your writing into short sentences, make shorter paragraphs, and use subtitles.
3. Use simple words in place of longer, more sophisticated words; avoid technical jargon and insider phrases and acronyms; don’t be afraid to use emotionally strong words.
(NOTE: Use the test for readability in Microsoft Word under [Spelling and Grammar] [Options] [Show readability statistics] and make sure you are writing at a about an 8th grade level.)

Blogging and Beyond: Email is Dead. Long Live Email!

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Teleclasses & Seminars

Blogging and Beyond: Episode 5
Email is Dead. Long Live Email!
with guest expert Chris Baggott of ExactTarget.com

Links to sites referenced in the show:
ExactTarget.com
ChrisBaggott.com
WheretoFindParkingBlog.com
SalesForce.com

Recipe for an Ezine: Email Subject Lines

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Getting Read, How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines

Ingredient #3: Email Subject Line: Clear, Clever, and Compelling

Creating a good ezine article title or email subject line is probably more important than the actual content, given that so few readers (11%) actually read the entire content of emailed newsletters. Most readers scan, making the headline and subheadings very important. In the context of an ezine, the headline can be both the email subject line and the title of your articles. In both cases, you want to compel the reader to first open your email and second, read your article.

The best headlines are those that start a story, make a shocking statement, tease a bit, offer a benefit or prepare the reader for what’s to come.

Experienced copywriters are extremely good at writing headlines and titles that pull in readers. One such expert is Michel Fortin, who uses his “3 X 3 Rule:”

That is, your headline should cater to:

1. The three greatest human goals to make or save:
a. time
b. effort
c. money
2. The three greatest human desires:
a. lust
b. greed
c. comfort
3. The three greatest human teasers:
a. curiosity
b. scarcity
c. controversy

Recipe for an Ezine: Get Clear on Purpose

By Patsi Krakoff in How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines

Ingredient #2: Clarity of Audience & Purpose

What do you want your newsletter to do?
Who is your targeted audience?
What’s in it for them?

Addressing these questions before starting your ezine will serve your objectives in the long run. The better you are able to articulate the answers, the easier it will be for you to write relevant content, grow your subscriber list, and measure results.

Not being clear will result in an ezine that stagnates, meanders and loses subscribers over time. Being laser-focused will result in subscribers who want to hear what you have to say, and who come to trust you over time can lead to sales of your products and services.

Your ideal reader will most likely mirror your ideal client. Once you clarify who your targeted readers are, then list what benefits they will get from being a regular reader of your newsletter.

When you are clear, write a 25 word statement explaining your newsletter:

1. Who it is for
2. What benefits they will get from reading it
3. Who you are as the author an expert

Example:

CAN-SPAM Compliance, a Review

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, How to...Tips, List Building Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks

Anyone doing business online and using email for marketing needs to know about the CAN-SPAM laws.

Smart online marketers use “permission” marketing: you invite potential customers to join your email list, and offer a newsletter, a special report, or a sequential series of messages to form an e-course. The recipient “opts-in” to the list by replying to an invitation and subscribing. By "opting in", your subscriber is telling you it’s OK to send email. They’ve given you permission and your email messages are not considered spam.

But most people don’t really understand what constitutes spam. If you’re in business for any length of time on the Internet, you may encounter false accusations of spam simply because people forget they opted in receive your message. To many people spam is simply an unwanted message.

This can cause problems for you with your email service provider. You should be able to prove that you haven’t been sending unsolicited email. Your proof lies with the list management system you use that tracks invitations and opt in responses.

Here’s what you need to know about the law is so you can rest assured that you aren’t breaking it.

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.

Simply put, here’s a rundown of the law’s main provisions:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email’s "From," "To," and routing information must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.

• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message. Subject and content must match.

• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or an automated way for your subscriber to opt out. You must honor the requests. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor’s email address.

• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender’s valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.