Rather than repeat what Denise Wakeman has posted over at Build a Better Blog, just go there and read the three-part article we wrote on the 17 Mistakes Professionals Make with Their Blogs…
Rather than repeat what Denise Wakeman has posted over at Build a Better Blog, just go there and read the three-part article we wrote on the 17 Mistakes Professionals Make with Their Blogs…
If you’d like to see what Denise and I are up to these days, check out Suzanne Falter-Barns’ Painless Self-Promotion Blog. We are giving her a blog makeover, with a goal of increased traffic to her blog and other sites.
For the complete story, read Denise’s post on www.buildabetterblog.com, then visit Suzanne.
Is your blog languishing, not getting results? Try the Blog Squad at www.fixmyblog.com.
Just a note if you are living around Orange county in California: if you like early breakfast and would like to hear me reveal key marketing tips over ham and eggs, don’t miss the Institute of Management Consultants monthly meeting Thursday Aug. 4.
Here’s what I’m talking about: Three Keys for Thriving Solo, Newsletters, Blogs & Autoresponders.
You can read about it here.
I don’t want to be negative, BUT! I am leery of emails announcing "how I made 50K in one month, and you can too!" I’m very happy for anyone who sells their products for an appropriate fee and makes money online doing what they are very good at. I don’t doubt they did make that much. That’s not my point.
There are so many online marketing gurus who don’t hesitate to "tell all their secrets" if only you’ll give them $1000, $5000, or more. We’ve all fallen for something and then been disappointed.
Recently, a couple of book publishing experts were on a call promising that if you signed up for their program they would guarantee you would become a best-selling author on Amazon, or your money back!
Now I have a client who already took their program. He’s meticulous. And he has a reasonably good book, very entertaining, fast moving political/military novel. He did everything this program required. (I know how detailed he is). He did not become a best seller. When he tried to get his money-back guarantee, he was pointed to some fine print and told no refund.
I think I would respond better to someone who was brutally honest and realistic. If you said, "I made $10,000 my first year online, and now I’m making 7 times that much in my 3rd year online," I would believe you. If you told me that there is hard work involved and not everybody gets rich quick online, I would believe you. If you told me you work hard for the money, I would believe you.
Maybe I would make much more if I exaggerated some numbers and told everybody how easy it is… Maybe I would grow my database list to hundreds of thousands if I did start painting a rosy picture and made outrageous promises.
Truth is, it is hard to make money online when you are running a solo business providing services. Ask others who are doing it, they’ll all tell you. We work hard for the money.
Be wary of those people who are overcharging you what you can get from other providers for a reasonable fee. Everything really valuable I’ve learned about online marketing I’ve only paid a small fee for. Except for one time. I bit the bullet and laid out big cash for one person’s entire library of writing secrets.
Was it worth it? No, quite frankly, I have learned the same things from other people lesser known for 1/10 the fee.
Learning is important if you want to grow your business. But that knowledge can be acquired without falling into the "50K in one month" marketing net of sharks.
Need knowledge to grow your business? You bet. Just ask around to find out who is really knowledgeable and how you can get that information without a huge investment. Learning takes time, it shouldn’t take all your money too.
Denise and I are thrilled to help other professionals improve their blogs. So when Suzanne Falter-Barns of How Much Joy fame asked us to lend a helping hand, we jumped at the occassion.
Check out her Painless Self Promotion blog. All during the month of August, Denise and I are patrolling her blog, cracking our whip, and beefing up her blogging skills.
In fact, spurred on by the creative juices of the talented Suzanne, we brainstormed a whole new identity: We’re the Blog Squad!
Stay tuned for more on how to get help for your own business blogs.
Check out Suzanne’s blog, and while you’re there, subscribe via her Bloglet subscription form. This is a great way to keep updated on tips on marketing and self-promotion, something we all struggle with. Suzanne makes promotion fun!
Book Experts Share Secrets of Successful Publishing Every Wednesday in August
The book business is thriving as more professionals and small business owners are writing books to build business on and offline; Now they get access to book experts through the weekly teleseminar series, "Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Offline" Wednesday s at 8:30 pm ET.
(PRWEB) July 28, 2005 – What do Kim Dushinski, Brian Taylor, Bob Bly, Dan Poynter, Yvonne DiVita, Arielle Ford, Jacob LeWinter and Jerrold Jenkins have in common? They’re all book publishing experts. And they are all featured guest speakers during the upcoming Conversations with Experts teleseminar series Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET. Registration is free at www.converstationswithexperts.com.
Hosted by Denise Wakeman, www.biztipsblog.com, and Patsi Krakoff, www.customizednewsletters.com, the TeleSeries features experts who are authorities in helping independent professionals and small businesses to grow and prosper, both on and offline.
Ms. Wakeman and Dr. Krakoff are behind the successful Blog to Book Project, www.blogtobook.com, which features 30 participants from 6 countries who are writing their books through their blogs. To answer the need of first-time authors, they invited book experts to share what’s needed for successful writing, designing, marketing and publishing.
Non-fiction writing of all kinds is represented in the group, including many from the self-help and consulting fields. The book experts will include publicists, designers, publishers, book coaches, and marketers.
Among the experts being interviewed are:
8/3/2005 Kim Dushinski: Marketing Your Book the Easy Way
Choosing the right path for promoting your book will not only help you sell more books it will make your whole marketing experience that much easier.
8/10/2005 Yvonne DiVita: Ever Wanted to Write a Book? There Has Never Been A Better Time to Realize that Dream than Now!
If you have a story to tell, 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 way — by asking a traditional publisher to handle their manuscript.
8/17/2005 Brian Taylor: Book Design and Development: The Secrets of Award-Winning Books
Do YOU want to publish an award-winning book? Get the secrets of successful book development and marketing from Pneuma Books CEO and Creative Director, Brian Taylor. Learn 5 ways to build a book better than your competition and the 5 biggest book design mistakes publishers make.
8/24/2005 Bob Bly: Using Direct Marketing Techniques to Sell Thousands of Copies of Your Book
One out of three hardcover books distributed to bookstores is returned to the publisher unsold, but you can still make your book a best-seller by selling it through ads, direct mail, and the Internet. In this interview, author and direct response copywriter Bob Bly shows you marketing techniques that can boost your book sales.
8/31/2005 Dan Poynter: Wringing More Value out of your Work
Write it once, sell it forever. Dan will describe how to publish, promote and sell eBooks, pBooks (printed), eDocuments, LARGE print books, aBooks (CDs), audio downloads and podcasting. If you don’t make your information available in multiple formats, some hungry customers will not be able to use it
September book experts are Arielle Ford, Jacob LeWinter and Jerrold Jenkins.
"We think it is important that professionals learn from these experts who have success in various niches of the book industry," says Dr. Krakoff, of www.CustomizedNewsletters.com. "Today there is so much going on in book publishing that first time authors can get lost, or worse, spend a lot of money without getting results."
Small business owners and professionals are realizing the credibility that having authored and published a book can bring. With self-publishing, print-on-demand and electronic means, book publishing is now easy for everyone… but it’s also a lot more complicated.
All that is required to attend is registration so the telephone number can be emailed. There are no costs involved other than the long distance charges for the call. Interested parties can get more information at www.conversationswithexperts.com
The Blog to Book Project is open to enrollment and information on participation is at www.blogtobook.com.
Krakoff and Wakeman publish a companion blog at http://www.buildabetterblog.com and offer blog design and marketing services for those professionals who don’t want to set up a blog themselves (www.buildabetterblogservices.com). Between them, they have 6 blogs they post to on a regular basis covering topics from Internet marketing, blogs, ezine marketing and business book reviews.
For more information contact:
Patsi Krakoff,
E-mail: Patsi at customizednewsletters.com
Denise Wakeman,
E-mail: denise at nextlevelpartnership.com
A great post over on Yvonne Brown’s JAD Women Talk blog. She highlights her own funny experiences with cliches in corporate America, and a new book from an Australian Author, Don Watson, on "weasel words." I like her post so much I reprint it here, but don’t miss out on visiting her blog for other good stuff.
Attack of the Wesel Words – Reminds me of my Buzzword Bingo days
Enough with the corporate speak already! Just say what you mean for Christ’s sake. Many years ago while a technology officer at a top 10 U.S. bank I noticed that there were a group of words that were consistently used in conversations by staff members. It got so bad that we devised a game to use during meetings. We called it "Buzzword Bingo."
The way Buzzword Bingo worked is each meeting attendee would keep track of words and phrases such as, "at the end of the day", "when the rubber meets the road", "net, net" and so on. The person who reached bingo first would simly make a coughing sound (ahem) to indicate that they won. The manglers of the English langauge never caught on and we had lots of fun at their expense. Over the years this corporate speak has reached the point where one can hardly understand what is being said.
So it was with great glee that I read the article "Attack of the Weasel Words" at the MSNBS website written for Newsweek by Susanna Schrobsdorff about a new book by Australian author Don Watson. Like many of us, Mr. Watson is so fed up with this mealy mouth style of communication that he has written a book called “Death Sentences: How Clichés, Weasel Words and Management-Speak are Strangling Public Language,” a surprise bestseller in Australia last year which prompted a flood of mail from other frustrated language lovers like yours truly.
Some of Mr. Watson’s examples are beyond comical and border on the ridiculous. For example, He laments the fact that librarians are now referred to as: “information needs identifiers,” and that his 12-year-old granddaughter’s report card said that she had “developed a variety of products” in history class. He cites a John Deere tractor safety notice that warns customers to lock the brake or “unexpected non-powered tractor movement may occur.”
When asked what are some of the words he detests most Mr. Watson replied "Implemented." You’ll see implemented everywhere. In this language, you “implement” rather than speak or do. And then there is enhanced. Everything is being enhanced. That word is being used in place of other more precise and descriptive words. You can enhance your marriage or your job. You can even implement your enhancements. And "input" is another good one. Companies talk about “input into our people.” This reflects technology and accounting [ideas]. It all has to do with input and outcomes.
But wait, there’s more. In my opinion, the worst example of this mangling of the language is this one from a high-school [evaluation]: “Just as the skill and processes are not compartmentalized in the creation process, the evaluation of outcomes will occur against a background of understanding that separation of outcomes into discrete components is subordinate to the evaluation of the total process as a comprehensive outcome.” Nobody has any idea what that means.
Mr. Watson has collected examples that people have sent to him and they are posted on the Web site www.weaselwords.com.au. The site is filled with great cartoons and even a confessions section. My favorite is by Barry Carter who writes "I’m a weaselwordholic." Check it out and let me know what you think. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to buy the book if only for levity during stressful moments.
Thank you Mr. Watson. You’ve ripped the mask off the weaselbeast and left it standing naked before us. Readers, are you as sick as I am about this corporate speak? Share some of your examples here and let’s see how creative you can get.
Posted by Yvonne Brown, on Sunday July 24, 2005.
PS: Yvonne writes a great blog, but unfortunately, it is hosted by Blogger. I say this is unfortunate, because there is no permalink or trackback features like you find with Typepad. So I have no way of linking to this post and for people to find it once it goes into the archives and is no longer a current post, and no way to let her know I’ve written about her, except by private email.
This just in from the Blog Squad: Blog violation 06.49: Yvonne didn’t link to the original source of her information, the MSN website article. Fines will be forthcoming.
In case you didn’t know, there is a new Blog Squad roaming the blogosphere keeping tabs on blog faux pas…more on this coming later.
This is a great article written by fellow savvy solopreneur Michael Pollack on his blog. In fact it’s so good, that I’m just going to reprint it here. But visit Michael’s SmallBusinessBranding.com blog for other great tips.
10 Tips For Writing Better Articles
Writing articles is a great way to create exposure for yourself and your business. In fact, I’d suggest it’s one of the best marketing tools you can use. Webmasters and newsletter publishers are always looking for good content. Further, aside from your time investment, it’s completely free advertising.
Here are 10 practical tips to ensure your articles get published and read by others.
1. Write to serve.
Before writing an article, ask yourself what problem it will help others solve. Some of the more common issues people deal with revolve around a lack of something, whether it’s time, money, self-confidence or just joy in life. How will your article help with these issues.
2. Grab their attention early.
If possible, intend to "hook" your reader right from the get-go. Ideally, your title should be the hook. When creating the title, ask yourself if it would make you want to read the article. Your first paragraph should also serve as a hook , as well as a general introduction to the article content.
3. Write to one person only.
Forget the fact your article will be read by many people and write to only one person, just like I’m doing with you now.
4. Keep the flow logical.
Don’t bounce around from one idea to the next. Each paragraph should logically follow the next. Although there may be different ideas expressed in each paragraph, they should dovetail off each other.
5. Use quotes to support your main idea.
Quotes from famous people are a great method to reinforce your ideas. They help you make your point and add credibility to your overall message. I use the quote library found at Motivation Mecca http://www.joshhinds.com or Uinspire at http://www.uinspire.com
6. Keep your paragraphs short.
Ideally, 4-6 lines per paragraph is what you want to shoot for. It looks and feels much more appealing to the reader to see "bite-sized" paragraphs.
7. Inspire action in your article.
If your article is, in fact, intended to solve a common problem, give people practical suggestions for taking action. Remember the formula "insight + action = growth."
8. When possible, tie your message to everyday activities.
A good example of this is "life is like a box of chocolates." Make it easy for your reader to relate to your ideas. That will also make it easier for your reader to apply your ideas in their life.
9. Summarize the article in the final 1-2 paragraphs.
Briefly summarize the main points of your article, how people can take action from the information and what results they can achieve.
10. Don’t forget the resource box.
Provide a brief resource box following your article. It should tell a little about you, your business, how you serve others and how to contact you. Be sure to include your URL and email address with an invitation to contact you or visit your site.
Using these 10 tips should help you write powerful articles that get published and read. Above all else, remember this. A writer writes. So – first – be a writer in your own mind.
Thanks, Michael, for reminding us of these important points when writing for a newsletter, blog, or other website copy.
Normally I love writing. That is, when it’s about something I love. Then I usually have plenty to say and can’t wait to put fingers to keyboard.
But just between you and I, I really don’t like writing copy that is designed to sell. And I hate writing press releases! It’s funny when you think about it, because I love telling people what to do, especially family members. But when it comes to trying to get a reader to do something, I get icky feelings and the word ‘manipulation’ comes creeping into my psyche.
So yesterday when my dear associate Denise Wakeman reminded me that it was time to do our monthly PR web release on Conversations with Experts, I cringed. I started to procrastinate. Then it hit me. If I procrastinated one more hour on this task, it really would be too late to get it out to the media tomorrow. And I’d feel even worse.
Of course, one of the reasons I work with a partner, is that it’s easier for me to complete tasks for someone else. If it were for myself alone, I’d find excuses and skip the darn thing. But, I couldn’t let her down.
Funny thing is that once I decided to start writing it, with much grumbling and whining, it took me all of 1/2 hour or so. And you know, that just wouldn’t have been worth putting it off.
I’m lazy and stubborn. So how did I get it done? I plagarized myself. I just went to the last PR release I did on a similar topic, and changed all the details.
So if you’re confronted with similar issues when you sit down to write your newsletter or blog, try plagarizing yourself. Take an old issue, old copy, and just change the key words. You may end up writing something entirely different, or just slightly different. Chances are your readers won’t remember, and you’ll put a fresh spin on it.
Go ahead and copy yourself. I’m sure you’ve got some excellent articles that could be spun off a little differently.
Hope this helps!
If you’re like me you’re lucky to be able to work from home, thanks to technology. Yet you’ve probably experienced the dance we call "shaving the yak!" That’s when everything else at home looks more inviting that sitting down and doing your work.
Seth Godin used it in a blog post long ago. First you decide to clean up your desk, then before you know it you’re down at the zoo shaving yaks!
Well, we may have some answers to the home-based business blues. Listen in Wed. July 27, at 8:30 p.m. ET to our teleseries Conversations with Experts. Our friend and fellow blogger Des Walsh of Thinking Home Business blog is our featured guest. It’s free, but you do have to register to get the call in number.
Here’s what Des will share:
Are You Running a Business, or Running Around?
Wednesday, July 27, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET – FREE
Guest Expert: Des Walsh of Thinking Home Business and featured in the Build a Better Blog System
Home based business will in the not too distant future be the preferred model for providing the income to achieve an abundant, fully self-actualised life. For many of us it is already just that or fast becoming so. However, a lot of people who work from home do not feel the sort of pride and exuberance you might expect if home based business is that great a model.
A real business owner thinks strategically, not just responding to crises, and is hungry for profit (some home based ‘business owners’ find this a shocking phrase). A real business owner understands that consistency and service will be rewarded. (I am not talking about people whose ‘home business’ is actually just a hobby and they’re happy with that.)
Des Walsh is a business coach and blogging evangelist. A former senior executive in the Australian government service and a home based consultant and training adviser for business and government since 1988, Des helps business owners and entrepreneurs excel in playing the ‘inner game’ on their path to success.
In his popular blog – Thinking Home Business – Des shares experience and practical tips for the thinking home business owner. He is writing a guide for first time business bloggers. Home is Australia’s Gold Coast.
Register: www.ConversationsWithExperts.com
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.
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