Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Niche Discovery: Wagging Your Long Tail

Finding a niche for yourself that works (one that works for business purposes and makes money) is hard work. But thanks to the Internet, and Long Tail marketing strategies, (read Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail, and sign up for HitTail.com, for example) you have more chances for success today of finding customers for your narrow niche than ever before.

Here’s a good article written by Jane Genova on Wagging My Long Tail.

Jane makes a good point: finding your niche is not something you can do in your head or at your desk. Read her post on this to find out how she discovered her own long tail by getting out there and wagging it around.

How’s your long tail, found it yet?

Email vs Blogs: the Debate Continues

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

There’s an interesting article by Jeanne Jennings, email expert over at ClickZNetwork, worth the read:

E-Mail vs. Blogs

Jeanne assumes some very common misperceptions about what a business blog should do, probably because she is an email expert and very knowledgeable about this area of expertise.

I suggest you read it and make up your own mind.

My opinion is this: The point is moot. Blogs are here to stay. Ezines and email is here to stay.

The smart professional will harness the power of both.

What’s your opinion?

Writer’s Block Declared Dead

By Patsi Krakoff in Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy, Writing Great Press Releases

Great post over at the ezinearticles.com blog. Jeff Herring, the Article Guy, proclaims writer’s block doesn’t exist.

He says, "My position is that writer’s block does not exist. I believe people get caught up in it because it sounds so cool, and makes you sound like a writer. ‘Oh, I have writer’s block’ etc. Do you know anyone that runs? Have they ever had runner’s block? They might not have felt like running, but they ran any way.”

And Chris Knight responds, "For me, I have so many articles or writing ideas floating in my head at any given moment that all it usually takes is for me to stop, sit down at the keyboard and release my ideas. Usually, I’ll have a core idea or theme that has been brewing in my head before I even sit down to write the next article, blog entry or email newsletter issue.

"I know that writers who fail to plan or fail to setup an environement that supports their article writing goals (if they have them) are more prone to feelings of writers block.

"Perhaps if EzineArticles were Nike, instead of JUST DO IT, our slogan would be, JUST WRITE IT! "

I suggest the slogan proposed by Andy Wibbels: "Shut up and write!"

Writing Better: 5 Negative Mind Games

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy

This article was written by Daphne Gray-Grant, the Publication Coach, and is worth the read over on her website. Although Daphne doesn’t have a blog (yet), she frequently updates her website with fresh articles about writing. I recommend you go there to read the full article.

Can you identify with any of these negative thoughts when you go to write something?

1) I’m a lousy writer; I don’t have the talent to do this- (If you discover that you’re constantly bad-mouthing yourself as you write, replace the inner negative chatter with the following statement: “Writing is about practice. The more I do, the better I’ll get.")

2) I don’t have the time to write- (When you’re planning your writing time, think in small increments, not big chunks. Remember: If you write 300-350 words a day, you’ll have written a decent-length book by the end of a year.)

3) I’d better do a really good job on this (article, report, letter) because my reputation/sales results hinge on it- (When you’re writing, you need to shut down the tiny yet persistent voice that tells you how much you have riding on this job. Instead, do what the athletes do. Focus on the ball –- in your case that means: focus on what you’re writing.)

4) I need to write about this topic- (Instead, choose a topic that excites you and has you fairly bursting to write.)

5) Writing is too hard- (Lifting bricks is hard; waiting tables is hard; telling someone they have cancer is hard. Writing is not hard. Writing is just writing.)

My favorite, most frequent pesky voice says this: "As soon as I get caught up with (email, ezines, blogging…fill in the blanks) I’ll write that article…"

What’s yours?

Remember, the gremlin you share is a gremlin you squash…

Blog Writing Guidelines

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Great Blog Content

While surfing around last week, I came across Blogs for Companies and a post called My guidelines about blog writing. The author, Roland Piquepaille, has some great guidelines for writing blog posts. Briefly they are:

Choose an interesting subject
Find references and pictures
Check all the facts
Pay attention to presentation
Always think about the potential reader

These guidelines can easily be applied to your ezine as well and frankly, I think the last point is the most important. Who is your reader? What do they care about? What is your purpose for writing for this reader?

Check out Piquepaille’s guidelines and then review your blog posts and ezine articles. Are you writing for you or your reader?

Writing Better: 5 Positive Thought Tips

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy, Writing Great Press Releases

This is article is worth reading, if you struggle whenever you sit down to the computer screen to write:

Five Positive Thoughts That Will Turbocharge Your Writing (and How to Channel Them)
by Daphne Gray-Grant (From MarketingProfs.com, November 14, 2006)

1. Writing is simply talking on paper

2. Writing can be done quickly, in little bits of time

3. Writing is easy to change

4. Writing always gets better and easier with practice

5. Your writing "voice" is unique

I find the thought of writing 2000 words makes it harder for me to get started, so I tell myself, I’m writing 200-300 words, or, I’m writing just the introductory paragraph. That usually gets me going, and gets me to set onto paper the main concept. Once the main concept is stated, then it becomes clearer what supporting evidence must follow in the next paragraphs.

What about you? What sort of positive thoughts get you started when you have a writing task?

Marketing with Content: What They Don’t Teach You in School

By Patsi Krakoff in Newsletter Nuggets Ezine

Newsletter Nuggets – November 16, 2006
…tips and tricks for writing great ezines and blogs

Table of Contents

1. A Note from Patsi – Marketing with Content
2. Featured article for December: Human Relationships at Work: The New Frontier
3. What’s New on the Blogs?

A note from Patsi –

Thanks to all of you who read my blog at www.CoachEzines.com. I recently put in some extra finger tapping time and upped the number of blog posts about ezines and writing. As a result, traffic to my blog has doubled, and several other blogs gave me a mention, further boosting readership.

If you haven’t been over there, please visit and read some of my writing tips. I have dedicated this blog to delivering information and tips for writing great ezines, blogs and other web content.

As you know, the best way to market your services and products on the Internet is with content. You establish yourself as a credible expert by writing articles and getting them into directories. You write a newsletter, a blog, and other web pages. Then there are press releases, sales letters, landing pages and squeeze pages. This isn’t what you learned in English 101. See the article in this weeks issue of Savvy eBiz Tips: http://www.blogsquad.biz/savvy-ebiz-tips/

Writing content as a marketing vehicle on the Web is different from the way we were taught to write way back in the dark ages of the typewriter. And even if you were brought up with computers, they still don’t teach how to write for the Web in school. It’s evolving too rapidly.

Ezine Tip: Go to www.CoachEzines.com and sign up to get regular blog updates delivered to your inbox. Just about every day I write a 200-300 word nugget to help you write better Web content, plus I’ll keep you informed with links to other valuable resources and experts.

Gratitude Sale: We’re grateful that you’re part of our network of savvy professionals (offer good until Nov. 26.)

==> 25 Proven Ways to Grow Your Ezine List: multimedia package with audio, ebook, tons of tips and resource links.

Save $25: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=273220

——————————–

Featured Article for December: Human Relationships at Work: The Untapped Frontier

Categories: Communications, Emotional Intelligence, Managing

“Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships.”
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1945

Leaders and managers can study, train and be coached. But if they fail to work on their interpersonal skills, they will not succeed when given more complex responsibilities. The ability to relate to and connect with others helps confer influence and leadership success.

Boring Emails: Are Yours Getting Past the Snooze Filters?

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Copy

Nick Usborne is a great writer, and offers great advice about email and web writing. His recent Excess Voice ezine talks about the lack of imagination in commercial email, and is worth the read…

Where is Email 2.0? And why is commercial email so boring?

"Web 2.0 is in full swing. The dollars are flowing, and more and more social network sites are being launched every week.

"Word of mouth marketing is hot. The customer-empowered marketplace is finally coming of age.

"On the web, people can feel more connected with each other, with communities of people who share their interests and passions. They can personalize their online experiences more than ever before. They can express themselves through blogs, photo sites, MySpace pages and lenses at Squidoo.

"But in my email inbox, I’m still reading emails that are as passive, as bland and as unimaginative as they were two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago…"

He concludes, "Just imagine…if there were social networks devoted to email and e-newsletters, companies would find themselves under pressure to deliver interesting content.

They only get away with sending boring emails right now, because each email is received in isolation, rather than being shared as part of a passionate community."

Good points. Anybody got any idea how email can be taken to the next level, to Email 2.0, as Nick suggests?

Writing Better & Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content, Writing Great Copy, Writing Great Press Releases

You know the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. How do you become a better writer? Write, write and write some more. How do you get readers to come to your blog? Write more.

Now here is scientific proof from Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that writing more and posting more to your blog will get better just because of the increase in quantity. I may be exaggerating a little, but I’m serious. I knew my undergraduate degree in biology would come in handy one day, and I also recently read this in a book. So bear with me as I explain:

Excerpt from the book 111/2 Weird Ideas that Work, by Professor Robert I. Sutton of Stanford: "Research by Dean Keith Simonton shows that the success of individual geniuses like Mozart, Shakespeare, Picasso, Einstein annd Darwin himself, is best understood from an evolutionary perspective, where excellence results from "a range of differences." These famous creators generated a wider range of ideas and completed more products than their contemporaries. They didn’t succeed at a higher rate than others. They simply did more. So they had both more successes and more failures.

"The great artist Vermeer created fewer than 50 paintings in his lifetime, all in a similar style. He achieved a singular excellence that, despite the stunning beauty of his art, adds something less than Picasso’s astonishing range and history-changing influence."

This makes sense, doesn’t it? You don’t have to be a biologist to understand the concept that more is better, based on the fact that the more you produce, the better are the chances that you will produce something excellent.

You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket. So, in the words of Andy Wibbels, "Shut up and write!"