Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Tell a Story in Your Ezine or Blog

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

Michael Pollack tells a good story, about his child’s birth. And we love stories, and can’t help but read the intimate details. He makes a good point. People expect to get to know you through your ezine, newsletters and blogs.

How personal do you get? I suppose it depends on your personality, the kind of business you’re in, and how comfortable you are about being transparent.

In some circles, I am an open book; but somehow I am reluctant to share too much of my story online. I guess I don’t want to take up your time unless there’s something in it for you.

Michael writes for the Savvy Solo-preneur, a term he’s coined that fits many of us in the online world who are leveraging the Internet to do business. Read his blog about stories here.

He’s excited about being part of the revolution that blogs play a major part of. (I know, I know, it’s a dangling participle. But hey, it’s my blog, it’s Sunday afternoon, the tennis finals just finished, and I’m too lazy to change that last sentence.)

I’m so grateful for being a part of that world too, in my own small way, and for being able to earn my living doing what I love: reading, writing and blogging. I love playing tennis too, but nobody’s going to pay me for the way I play… And that’s my story.

What’s yours? What do you notice about the world or your industry? Are you telling a story about that? What excites you about your work and how can you tell your readers your story?

Insights from Fred Gleek

By Patsi Krakoff in List Building Tips

Fred Gleek writes a good newsletter, even if it is in plain text and a mile long. It’s enjoyable and, more importantly, full of valuable common sense on Internet marketing. To get on his ezine list, send a blank email to tips@seminarexpert.com.

Here’s what Fred has to say about visitors to your web site. Imagine that your site is really good, has valuable content, and some informational products for sale. It’s so good that 5% of them actually buy and download something from you. What about the 95% that don’t?

Remember, if you have a great site, it will close 5% or so.
This means that 95% of the people who come to your site
will leave without buying. What will you do with them? In fact,
the answer to that question is almost more important that
learning how to close a greater number of people.

How do you get them to stop and say: "OK, I’ll give you a
chance. If you claim that you have some good stuff I’ll give
you my email address, but don’t take advantage of me and start
sending me loads of crap."

If you can get 20% of those 95% who aren’t buying to let you
continue the conversation, you’re in good shape. They are
willing to give you another shot if you first prove yourself.

I believe strongly in giving visitors a chance. Not everybody’s ready to buy after one visit. But many want to sample you and your stuff a little more, they are willing to give you another chance.

Give them your newsletter to subscribe to, give them a valuable report ("6 secrets about X that they won’t tell you"), or, like Fred, give them 5 free books!

Also, please feel free to share the following link
with people to get 5 copies of my most popular
books for FREE!

http://www.FredGleeck.com/ebooks

People love free, especially when it’s packed with value. But remember, as Fred says, be respectful of your visitors’ time and intelligence: Don’t start sending them a load of crap! (That’s a quote from Fred, not my words!)

Beware of Internet Marketing Gurus

By Patsi Krakoff in Ethics & Writing

There are some very clever expert Internet Marketing gurus on the Web. They are great copywriters. They send out compelling emails that draw you into their realms, promising you will get rich quick online.

Yesterday, we had the privelege of consulting with a smart woman who had invested a lot of money in learning online marketing strategies. She had bought the package of, let’s say, Gerry Guru, only it wasn’t working. She had her web site, her long sales/landing page, her opt-in form with free bonuses, an autoresponder system set up to ‘manage’ her database…only there wasn’t much to manage. She built it, only they didn’t come!

The problem was it was the wrong strategy for her. This system might have worked for Gerry Guru, after all, he was one of the first to implement these internet techniques. He got rich, so now you can too? All you have to do is copy his system, and you will be rich? I don’t think so.

Be sure you talk to the right people with a few years of Internet marketing experience before you invest your money. Not all systems work for all people, and the truth is, if your marketing plan looks like everybody else’s, you can’t expect the world to beat a path to you.

The same applies to blogs. While there is no doubt that just putting up a blog and posting 2-3 times a week will increease traffic to your web site, and more than likely bring in new clients, nothing is guaranteed. You have to post quality articles, link frequently to build up traffic, give away valuable information, and create a community of readers who love your stuff. Oh, and the technology must be up and running correctly so you can use trackbacks, record your traffic with a site meter, gather subscriber’s email addresses, etc.

There are very expensive lessons to be learned by throwing money at a problem. Make sure you invest wisely with people you can trust. Got questions? Ask.

P.S. Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership and BizTips Blog and I are teamed up to provide consulting for small businesses and professionals who want to leverage the Internet to grow business and get more clients. If you struggle with your newsletter, blog, autoresponders, e-commerce, or need to implement an Internet marketing strategy, give us an email.

The Blog Squad to the Rescue!

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Beware of breeches of Blog Etiquette or best practices…the Blog Squad is roaming the Blogosphere and your blog could be the next designated "loser blog!"

The Blog Squad (Denise Wakeman and myself, Patsi Krakoff) has officially launched their blog improvement program today; you can read the press release here.

Suzanne Falter-Barns with her characteristic good humor and savoir-faire for publicity is undergoing a blog makeover month during August. She has even put up the Blog Squad ‘loser blog’ logo on her Painless Self Promotion Blog.

You can visit her blog and read about her blog improvement progress all month. Will she pass the Blog Squad inspection? Will she earn the right to display the Blog Squad Seal of Approval? Stay tuned…

How to Get Found on the ‘Net

By Patsi Krakoff in Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

Here’s a conundrum for ezine and blog writers: Do you go for clever, eye-catching, curiosity-piqueing titles that make people want to read your article or post? Or, do you make sure your title has your keywords in it so that search engines can index your stuff and people can find you easily?

Darren Rowse has an interesting post on his Problogger blog that says it makes sense to use keywords in your titles. Read what he has to say in his article "Use Keywords in Titles", and there are some good comments as well.

So I guess the challenge is, How do you make your title interesting and appealing to readers, AND use your keywords that people would use when doing a google search?

Your thoughts? Examples?

Practice What I Preach Department

By Patsi Krakoff in List Building Tips

I have high respect for people who have built their newsletter subscriber lists to the thousands, not so much because as the Internet marketing gurus proclaim, "thar’s gold in them thar lists," but because of the diligence it takes.

First of all you have to have something of value to say, or people won’t sign up, or they won’t stay signed up. If you bother people with useless information or excess promotion, they will unsubscribe. But if you give them valuable tips they can apply in their lives and work, they will love you for it, and recommend your newsletter to others.

I struggle with self-promotion, like many other professionals. I hate to bother people. I know how crowded our inboxes can get, and there are many ezines that just aren’t worth it, or they are too long and I don’t have time to read them all. So I’ve decided to practice what I preach:

I am revising my ezine Newsletter Nuggets, merging it with BizBook Nuggets, and starting to build the subscriber list once again. I intend to make it shorter and more valuable by giving a brief marketing nugget, a list of articles posted on my blogs, and an announcement of what’s new.

Want to see how list building can work? This week marks the start of week 1 for building a new subscriber list for my ezine Newsletter Nuggets. I’m hoping to model good list building tactics and grow subscribership quickly. You can help by letting colleagues know how to sign up on my website.

To sign up, go to my home page at www.customizednewsletters.com, and put in your name and email address in the upper left hand corner of the web page. You will automatically be subscribed and you will get Newsletter Nuggets delivered to your inbox.

When you sign up, I will donate $.50 to my favorite charity, the I AM Foundation. For every two new subscribers, the I AM Foundation will get $1 and a child will get a book to read. This is a great charity and I recommend checking them out and donating to their worthy cause to promote books to children.

As always, your feedback and suggestions on building this subscriber base for Newsletter Nuggets are most welcome.

Two Book Classes in 1 Week?

By Patsi Krakoff in Teleclasses & Seminars

What ever possessed us to schedule two teleclasses on books this week? You guys are going to be sick of us…

Today at 8 p.m. ET, we are teaching about how to use your blog to write your book through the www.teledevelop.com system. It’s a freebie, and you can register there to get the phone number.

Then tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET is our regular Wednesday teleseries through www.conversationswithexperts.com and we are featuring Yvonne Divita, of Windsor Media Enterprises. Yvonne’s speaking on how to avoid publishing pitfalls. Also free, have to register.

Obviously, we are seeing a trend for savvy solopreneurs and professionals to get a book published as part of their informational portfolio that builds credibility. More than that, it is one more way potential clients can sample you, your beliefs, and your experiences, before contracting with you for services.

Let’s face it, we all have a story, and we all have a book that we could/should write. Hopefully, these telecalls will clear up some of the cobwebs, bring clarity, and valuable information on how/why/when to write and get published.

Today there are many options for publishing: self-publishing and print-on-demand and e-books are all easily accessible. But make no mistake, there are all sorts of ‘things not to do’…

But the thing most of all ‘not to do’, would be to stand around thinking about it and not do anything at all.

Here’s the Skinny on Keywords

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Great Copy

I couldn’t have said it any better than Nick Usborne over on his Excess Voice blog. Rather than repeat what he says, go over there right now and read what you shouldn’t try to do when it comes to keywords and writing online copy.

It’s really just common sense, if you are writing on your core topic, you will naturally use your key words. You don’t have to do anything else. You can’t trick the search engines, and you really don’t even need to try. Just stay on topic and if you do stray, just tie it all together. There is a reason you are writing, and a reason your readers will read. Just repeat that in your posts, your newsletters, and on your web pages.

So you can get a little clever in your article and blog titles, but just make sure the title says what it delivers.

Now’s the Time to Write that Book!

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

Yvonne Divita says there has never been a better time to write a book and get it published. For sure, authors have more options today to get a book into print. Learn what you need to know on Wed. Aug. 10, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Conversations with Experts is featuring Yvonne Divita. Here is what she is presenting:

Every day at WMEBooks (Windsor Media Enterprises) we meet another budding author. These are people just like you. Creative men and women who have a great story to tell, but aren’t sure how to tell it. They’re business professionals with years of experience and a desire to share their expertise with a growing demographic of entrepreneurs. Dreamers who dare to dream of becoming the next nationally recognized author.

Even those who simply want to feel the elation of personal accomplishment by writing, publishing and marketing something that is their very own.

If you have a story to tell or if you know of someone who does, learn how to do it — cost-effectively, and successfully, without losing the rights to your work, or being led down the garden path, which happens to too many talented people when they approach publishing the old Dick and Jane way — by asking a traditional publisher to handle their manuscript.

Yvonne DiVita is the president and founder of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC, which includes WME Books, an author services company to help writers produce, print and sell their work and Smart Marketing to Women Online, which helps online merchants reach the largest, most wealthy demographic in the world – women.

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.

Newsletter Nuggets – An Invitation to Donate a Book to a Child

By Patsi Krakoff in Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

I know how hard it can be to build a list of subscribers to a newsletter, having done it several times in the last few years.

I am experimenting with my own free ezines by consolidating two of them: BizBook Nuggets ezine will merge into Newsletter Nuggets ezine as of Monday August 8.

In order to do this, I am asking everyone in my database to re-opt in, using a new subscription form on my website home page, www.customizednewsletters.com.

Instead of offering a free bonus report or informational product, I found something that could benefit both subscribers and children who read. For each new subscriber that signs up by entering their email and name on the subscription form on my home page, I will donate $.50 to the I AM Foundation. They will donate a book to a child for each $1 donation.

So, for every two new subscribers, a child gets a book to read. You can also go to their web site and make a donation: www.IAMFoundation.org. It’s a San Diego organization, and I found them through a tennis partner, Greg Scott Reid.

Greg has a great forehand, but more importantly, a big heart. His Millionaire Mentors site is promoting a big event in San Diego in November with proceeds going to the I AM Foundation.

So this is one of those win-win-win situations: You get weekly marketing nuggets about newsletters and blogs to grow your business, the I AM Foundation get a little cash, and children get books! How can you resist?

Stay tuned for more about the Millionaire Mentor’s It’s Who You Know event in November. Why not sign up and come see me here in sunny San Diego?

Don’t forget to sign up for Newsletter Nuggets on my home page www.customizednewsletters.com, and help us contribute books to children.