Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Blogging: Fame, Fortune or Fans? Don’t Be a Cameron Diaz

By Patsi Krakoff in Getting Read, Online Marketing, Writing Great Copy

Brian Clark writes about celebs and their attitude towards their public, and how this relates to you as a blogger in his post, "Don’t be a Cameron Diaz."

"Can blogging really build you a fan club? In other words, can it make you a celebrity?

"The answer, of course, is yes. And you don’t need to be anywhere near the so-called blogging A-List for it to happen."

…But the more important message in his post, is that as a blogger, you must remain respectful of your readers and why they read your blog. Stay on target with your core message to them. Do not get distracted by ego, and desires to get high web traffic by diluting your message.

Brian concludes:

"I don’t care if you’re an actor, singer, blogger (or all three) — building a fan club is hard. You’ve got to figure out what you possess that has value to others, and then never forget the fact that unless you’re continuing to give people something that’s important to them, you’re destined for the “where are they now” category."

5 Time Robbers: Ruth Klein, the De-Stress Diva

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

We had a great conversation with Ruth Klein, author and time management expert last Wednesday, on our Converstations with Experts teleseries. Here are some important highlights:

Ruth gave some smart tips about the 5 biggest time robbers:

1. Checking email first thing in the morning. If you want to stay on track, do not check for at least the first hour. Do your more important and creative work before getting distracted by email.
2. Work from a priority list to help keep you focused on what matters most. (See below for the “Rule of Two.”)
3. Keep your phone on answering mode. Only make calls during set business development times. Use email instead of calling people when you only want to ask a question to get information.
4. If you are stuck, walk away. Taking a walk, and breathing deeply, will get the blood flowing to your brain. Do not work against your natural energy flow. If you are at your creative peak during the morning, do not use that time for meetings. Use it to create.
5. Do not get lost web surfing. File newsletters for reading during set reading times.

Time Management with Ruth Klein

By Patsi Krakoff in Teleclasses & Seminars

Time Management: Learn productivity tips from Ruth Klein
Conversations with Experts presents…

How to Make Time to Get your Work Done Without Going In Circles or Insane
Wednesday, June 21, 2006, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert: Ruth Klein, www.ruthklein.com

What do you, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Katy Couric have in common? You all have 24 hours in one day. Ruth Klein will share with you how to turn insanity into clarity, overwhelm into focus, and energy into productivity. What you will hear in this interview:

The five biggest time robbers in your work day
Three ways to increase your daily energy for more accurate and focused productivity
The most effective way to prioritize calls, emails, tasks and errands
Finding the time to blog, create products, market your business and still have a life
How to identify your lifestyle motivation to exceed your business goals

Ruth Klein is a results-oriented Performance Strategist and "Action" Coach for small business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, speakers and consultants in the areas of Time Management and Productivity; Personality-Based Online/Offline Marketing and National Publicity.

Ruth has penned five books, the most recent can be found in bookstores and will be a PBS special in Spring 2007 – Time Management Secrets for Working Women (Sourcebooks). The Everything Sales Rep book (Adams) will be coming out in the Fall 2006.

Ruth as well as several of her clients have been in the Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, Larry King Live and other top publicity venues.

If you cannot attend the Conversation, you can pre-order the audio program for only $4.95. The audio will be $9.95 after the Conversation. Save 50% and pre-order now.

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

Tips Booklets: The Smart Way to Get Your Message Out to Clients

By Patsi Krakoff in How to...Tips, Writing Great Copy

Three things I love about Paulette Ensign, the Booklet Queen:

She found a niche for her talents and filled it, then carved it to make it unique
She gives practical, no nonsense steps for how you can easily create your own tips booklet
She has a great sense of humor, coupled with wisdom – a great combination

If you missed Paulette on our Conversations with Experts last Wednesday, get the audio recording. Learn how to do a short tips booklet. This makes sense for all you consultants, speakers, and authors who are working on a book. Go ahead and get a tips booklet out to your prospects while you are working on that book. It will do the marketing job for you while you are doing other things.

Some points covered:

1. Booklets are typically 3.5" x 8.5", fit in a #10 envelope, are 16-24 interior pages, saddle stitched, have minimal graphics with a cover printed on glossy cover stock.

2. Tips booklets should run 3000 to 5000 words. There’s no magic formula for the number of tips to include. Best to go by word count.

Seth Godin: Learning at the foot of the Great Bald One

By Patsi Krakoff in Teleclasses & Seminars

I can’t resist posting, as I just sat down for the Seth Godin viral marketing seminar in NYC. Looking forward to learning from one of the "horse’s mouths" in effective buzz….More later!

Blog Squad Teleclass Tuesday June 13th

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Teleclasses & Seminars

The next blogging teleclass in the "Small Business Website Development" series is tomorrow:

Tuesday June 13, 1pm EST: Introduction to Blogging, with Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of the Blog Squad

– Why every business needs a blog (or, why blogs are taking the business world by storm)
– Best blogging tools, and how to get started
– Blog-to-book projects
– And more…

Tip Booklets Expert Paulette Ensign Wednesday, June 14

By Patsi Krakoff in E-Books, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

Paulette Ensign is an expert in marketing with Tips Booklets. Don’t miss our Conversation with Expert Teleseries this Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. ET, and learn how you can write and publish a tips booklet and boost your business.

Paulette is well known in the marketing arena with tips booklets; she is known as the Booklets Queen, having sold over a million of these clever publications. She wrote an interesting post on her blog this week, called "I Wanna Publish a Book, I Wanna Be On Oprah, I Wanna…"

I agree with Paulette: far too many professionals know they need to get a book published, but never find the time to do it. Truth is, publishing a book is extremely time consuming and not always worth it. Writing a shorter version in the form of a tips booklet may get the job of marketing done without wasting time, money and energy. But you need to learn how to do it right.

French Open, Mexican Style

By Patsi Krakoff in Patsi's Story

Hola! Just a note to say I’m down in Ajijic, Mexico playing tennis this week with the Hubby and friends. That’s near Guadalajara, on Lake Chapala.

Lucky for me, my trusty Blog Squad partner, Denise Wakeman is covering biz things, another good reason to have a partner.

With DSL and satelite TV, this is a far cry from an Adobe casa…it’s more like the best of both worlds. So I’ll be back in a week. Keep connected, be healthy, and share some love today.