Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Denise Wakeman- New Author on Coach Ezines

In July, Denise Wakeman and I merged our two companies to form one: Krakoff Wakeman Associates, Inc. The Blog Squad and Customized Newsletter Services are both divisions of the new company.

In an effort to clearly target our niche audiences, we’re going to co-author our three primary public blogs which means both Denise and I will be writing on all three, depending on the topic.

CoachEzines is focused on writing…writing great ezines, great blog posts, sales letters, press releases and copywriting. Subscribe here.

Build a Better Blog is pretty self explanatory…all about blogs, blogging, the blogosphere. Subscribe here.

The blog Next Level Biz Tips, focuses on Internet marketing tips and how to leverage the Internet to grow your business online. Subscribe here.

Read them all. Read one. Subscribe to get updates so you don’t miss a thing. We are passionate about our business and helping you Attract, Sell and Profit from the Internet.

Let us know of topics you want to explore, and how we can help you grow your biz online. For an overview of all the services and products we now offer, please visit The Blog Squad hub site.

New Social Media – What Is It?

By Patsi Krakoff in Ethics & Writing

If you read about blogs and Internet marketing, you’ve probably heard the term social media, and in particular, the "new social media." Here is a great post by Chris Heuer that describes a little bit of history and the future of our changing connectivity online.

His post is a little long, but worth the read, even if you aren’t familiar with some of the players involved. Pay attention to these concepts, they could impact the future of your business with regards to how you work and how you communicate.

As we have seen with reality television, the hybrid of overly produced “barely based on reality” does not hold sway with people for long. The deep human desire for genuine connections with the hero’s journey via Joseph Campbell will not tolerate gimmicks or fools for long. Genuine human drama, ‘How To’ content, insightful commentary, truly funny comedy, emotionally charged entertainment, engaging conversations, factual news of the world and stories well told will rule the day.

Boost Your Business with Blogs: Free TeleClass

By Patsi Krakoff in Teleclasses & Seminars

Denise and I have been invited to be guest presenters at Kelly O’Neil’s annual 3-day UpLevel Intensive in October. This is a great 3-day event to learn what you need to know about running a successful business, on and off line. It is not a pitch-a-thon, but information packed with plenty of action-based learning.

To prepare for the event, Kelly is hosting a series of teleseminars featuring each of the speakers. The Blog Squad will be featured on Wednesday, September 27 and you’re invited to attend.

Boost Your Business with Blogs: How to be Findable on the Web
September 27, 2006, 8:00 p.m. ET

The teleseminar on Wednesday is free, sign up here to get the call-in number:
http://www.uplevelintensive.com

Here’s a message from Kelly about the UpLevel Intensive…

Writing by the Numbers- 3 Ways to Be Sure Your Article Gets Read

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

Rich Brooks of Flyteblog tells us that using numbers in your articles will guarantee your readers read your email, article, ezine, or blog post. Here’s what he shared on his blog this week:

"Whenever I’m talking to clients about creating compelling email bait I always recommend writing an article that includes three things:

A number. People are way too busy and suffering from information overload to learn everything about search engine marketing, automotive maintenance or how to keep their garden green. However, a number implies that you’ve boiled it down to just a few salient points that will get them through the day and give them something they can walk away with.
A negative. Evidence shows (don’t ask me to show it, just trust me on this one), that people are more driven to avoid pain than gain pleasure. Don’t believe me? Which is a more compelling headline: "The Importance of Healthy School Lunches" or "School Lunches: Are They Killing Your Children?"
A point of interest. Obviously this negative list of attributes needs to be targeted to your best prospects and customers."

Research Your Field on Google: How to Determine Your Findability

By Patsi Krakoff in How to...Tips, Online Marketing, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

When is the last time you researched your area of expertise on the major search engines like Google or Technorati? This week I did a little web searching using the key words and phrases that people use when searching for information on ezine publishing. I was pleased that this blog, CoachEzines, came up 1st and 2nd for some terms in Technorati, and in the top 10 for some terms in Google.

Technorati is a good way to search for other blogs in your field, but it also can search article directories and other sites.

Instant Articles: Buy, Rewrite, Add Your Name

By Patsi Krakoff in Article Ideas, Buying Content, Coaching/Personal Development, Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Better Ezines, Writing Great Blog Content

Do you ever wish you could buy a good article, add your own stories, and publish it as your own in your newsletters or blogs? Sort of like those vitamin powders you pour into water, shake up and drink?

I just launched an article directory site called www.CustomizedNNewsletterArticles.com. When you buy an article for your newsletters, you get to use it as your own. That means you can blend your own stories into them to personalize them and make them work for getting clients and spreading your expertise.

You can read the press release here.

Blog Publicity – 6 Tips Need to Know BEFORE You Pitch a Blogger

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Teleclasses & Seminars

News Flash: You can get huge traffic and sales by getting bloggers to talk about you and your products or books. But there’s a few things you need to know first.

Denise posted about this over on Build a Better Blog, and she created this neat little audio file…

Get 6 tips you need to know BEFORE you pitch bloggers … Get your audio tips here.

If you haven’t registered yet for the teleseminar How to Pitch Bloggers and Get a Publicity Explosion, do so now by visiting www.howtopictchbloggers.com.

Press Releases: the New Social Media Template

By Patsi Krakoff in Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Writing Great Press Releases

Here’s a totally new format for your press releases that takes into account all the new social and multi-media possibilities. It has been formulated by the good folks over at PRSquared.com.

This week has been press release immersion for us…in preparing for our teleclass, How to Pitch Bloggers, next Wednesday with Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, I’ve been learning all about the new, new ways to use press releases to get bloggers’ attention.

Denise mentioned this new press release template yesterday on BuildaBetterBlog, and I don’t want readers here to miss this important evolution. Things are changing, and so there is no reason for you to write your press releases the old-fashioned way.

After reading Denise’s post, download the PDF of the press release template. To make it easy for you to use it, I translated it into a word doc. And, by the way, the folks over at PRSquared.com have made this copyright-free and encourage you to use it. Thank you very much.

Download NewPRsmprtemplate.pdf

Download social_media_press_release_template.doc

How to Pitch Bloggers: Save the Date

By Patsi Krakoff in Blogs We Love, Teleclasses & Seminars, Writing Great Press Releases

How to Get Blog Attention
learn how tonight…
Join The Blog Squad and The Publicity Hound for an important teleseminar:

How to Pitch the Best Bloggers to Create a Publicity Explosion
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Get the details and register here.

Getting Blogger Relations Right – PR Becomes BR

By Patsi Krakoff in Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

You know how marketing and Public Relations (PR) work together? You get a little media attention and the world beats a path to your door. One quote or article in the Wall Street Journal can be huge to your business.

Now pay attention to BR – Blogger Relations. Smart marketers are turning to blogs to get the spotlight on their products and people. And apparently there is a whole new science and art to getting "BR" right.

There are quite a few articles online about how to pitch to blogs: http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?pagename=Resources.PitchingBlogs

And now The Blog Squad and the Publicity Hound Joan Stewart are joining forces to teach a class next week:

How to Pitch the Best Bloggers and Get a Publicity Explosion: Save the date Sept. 20…

Join The Blog Squad and The Publicity Hound for an important teleseminar:

How to Pitch the Best Bloggers to Create a Publicity Explosion
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Get the details and register here.

(The official announcement will be going out later this week; the first 50 registrants get a free CD of the audio program!)

So how do you know which blogs to contact, and how do you go about wooing bloggers without looking like you are pitching or going for the kiss too soon? Stay tuned…!