Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

A Kick in the Internet Butt…

What, You Still Don’t Have a Great Ezine or Blog?

I can’t believe it. I told you to do it. I wrote an ebook to show you how. And there you are, reading this blog, complaining that all I do is nag, nag, nag…

Okay, okay. I know, I know. You have too much work to do, too many clients, and you just keep putting it off. Besides, all those tech tasks are just so annoying.

So here’s the deal: we are going to walk you through the steps to create a regular, professional ezine and/or blog (why not do both!). We’ll teach you, coach you, hold your hand, and if that doesn’t work…I’ve got a long stick with a couple of nails.

Denise Wakeman and I realize that in order to get results with your marketing tasks, you have to schedule some time, sit down and do some writing, formatting and publishing. Some of you may be resistent, confused, just plain brilliant but stuck.

Join us for a telecoaching program that will extend over 8 Tuesdays for 4 months and provide you with information, tips, tools, motivation, inspiration, and a long whip if you don’t produce your ezine/blog during that time.

Heck, I’ll even charge you double if you don’t produce your ezine/blog, how’s that?!! What, I should refund your money if you don’t do what I tell you to???

Here’s the info on this new class:

Better Blogs and Ezines TeleCoaching Program
For an integrated approach to your Internet Marketing plan…

BETTER EZINES & BLOGS Telecoaching Program
Led by Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D., CBC and Denise Wakeman
Tuesdays, March 1 – June 7, 2005
7:30 PM EST 1 hour
$149.00
This class is limited to 8 participants.

Still struggling with your ezine or blog? Let us walk you through the tasks in an environment where your peers and experts can motivate you. This is an action based workshop. Participants will write, format, post and produce an effective ezine or blog. Knowing is different than doing. Class meets every other Tuesday for 8 sessions with homework in between. You will have your ezine or blog up and running by end of class.

You get:

8 hours of coaching on blog and/or ezine writing, set up and content with 2 internet marketing experts

Access to private class blog with tons of "how-to" tutorials and resources
5 hours of audio from the Blog Revolution Class ($97 value)

Complimentary copy of Secrets of Successful Ezines ($87 value)

Complimentary copy of Secrets of Successful Blogs (when published – $87 value)

30 minute one-on-one consultation with the instructor of your choice for feedback, editing and reviews ($75 value)

Information: www.customizednewsletters.com

Come to the intro class, it’s free, next Tuesday March 15, 8:45 p.m. ET.
Register Here

Patsi

Big Blogging Expert Reads This Blog!

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Last summer, I kept hearing about business blogs from Debbie Weil over at WordBiz.com. She inspired me so much, I actually went out and started my own blog. Now, for a non-techie gal like myself, that is really some courage.

Yesterday, when I mentioned her blog for CEOs, she responded in an email to thank me. Now, I had only posted a few minutes before, so I was really impressed. Somebody reads this blog, and it’s none other than the blogging diva, Debbie Weil! So I can’t resist her suggestion that I plug her upcoming event in the Beltway area Feb. 17. Here’s what she says:

…mention my Feb. 17 Blogging & RSS Workshop in Washington DC. I’m trying to get the word out to as many folks as possible who might be able to attend. It’s for corporate & non-profit marketing and communications types who are not familiar yet with blogging and RSS and want to get up to speed quickly! – Debbie Weil

http://www.wordbiz.com/blog_rss_jumpstart.html

So if you’re lucky enough to be in the areas, don’t miss this knock-out event. It is sure to be worth it.

Blogging Voted #10 Breakthrough Idea by HBR

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Harvard Business Review on Blogs…

You know you’ve hit mainstream when this big business magazine votes blogging to be #10 in a list of 20 breakthrough ideas for 2005. The February edition has a one-page article about the blogosphere, which they call a "grassroots ecosystem comprising millions of Web logs." Of course, they look at blogs from a marketing point of view:

When…and how… are advertisers going to use blogs for marketing purposes. Here is what they say:

"In the blogosphere, as in the open-source movement, social recognition matters more than financial gain. Bloggers are driven by a desire to share their ideas and opinions with anyone who cares to tune in. That enhances their credibility, making them more attractive to marketers."

…"But they will find it difficult to navigate this complex blend of advertising, content, dialogues and publish relations."

"The grassroots media will not replace big media anymore than online commerce destroyed brick and mortar businesses…Markets are conversations…Blogs are the most conversational of all the forms of media, and marketers can’t afford to be left out of the talk." (p. 39)

Perhaps, but for the independent professional, it is precisely the non-commercialization that makes it ideal for establishing and maintaining credibility. Some are already using their side-bar space for ads, nothing wrong with providing resources for readers. But it’s still the content that counts.

Blogs by CEOs

Evidently a few CEOs are using blogs for communication, both on a personal and professional level. Debbie Weil of WordBiz.com has a new blog: http://blogwrite.blogs.com/ for CEOs. She lists several CEO Thought Leadership Blogs and other Corporate Blogs.

I’m still wondering why there aren’t more coaches and consultants blogging.

Here’s a great new blog by consultant Dr. Bud Bilanich, the common sense guy. Bud uses his blog for ranting and raving, and says it allows him to be more informal and spontaneous. Check out www.commonsenseguy.com.

Patsi

Spam Now Estimated at 80% of Emails

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Emails Are Now Estimated to Be 80% Spam…

You are probably aware of Can-Spam laws and take care to not send promotional emails to people who have not asked to be on your database list. The law is clear…but totally ineffective with the spammers.

Email spam messages are up from 50 percent before passing the law to now 80 percent!

Here’s the full article in the New York Times yesterday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/technology/01spam.html?oref=login&adxnnl=1&oref=login&adxnnlx=1107291699-RzsMq0ji0PK9rSIjIVRofA

(Requires a free registration, but worth it anyway.)

This is another reason I am switching my ezines over to a blog format. Email inboxes are too crowded and people delete too quickly without reading my very important articles <grin>.

When they come to one of my blogs (see new one at http://coachezines.typepad.com/bizbook_nuggets/) readers are there by choice, and the messages have a bigger impact. Plus, readers can respond, contribute and interact.

I’ll still offer my free ezines, but will now only promote my blogs.

For some of my content-rich articles, with plenty of research in them, I will then offer a premium edition for a small fee.

What are your thoughts about sending out email newsletters vs blogging? Maybe both are wise, as the more fishing poles in the pond, the more fish you can catch!

Patsi

I’m Still a Techno-Weanie

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

My face is still red…

I used to say the world was divided into bankers and artists. I’ll revise that. It’s divided into techies and artists. People who know HTML coding and those that don’t. Only thing is, in today’s world it really counts to be a little of both!

So one day I decided to learn how to do a little HTML coding. After all, I can update my web site using Dreamweaver, and I can design a blog and make it look nifty, but I really don’t know what I’m doing. The software makes it easy.

My associate Garland Holt, a veteran geeky and founder of Graphiquest, gave me a tutorial in basic html coding last Sunday. And a homework assignment using basic bolding, italics, and bulleted lists.

Turns out, it’s really not that complicated, and I did it! So I wrote a smart-alecky paragraph in which I proclaimed I was no longer a techno-weanie, using bolded words, italics and bulleted lists. I told him he could no longer kick sand in my face.

Then, I used my shopping cart system to send him my homework message and told him he’d better watch out now, I was armed with HTML and dangerous.

Whoops! I pressed the wrong button and sent it out to my entire database. Oh yes, my clients, my affiliates, my potential clients, everybody.

I got messages that ranged from What the heck is this? Are you nuts? …and unsubscribe.

Got about 6 unsubscribes, unusual for my list.

Then I sent an apology, and got about 40 responses that were amazing: people forgave me, laughed out loud, told me I flunked, sent me back to dummy land, and shared their stories of similar goofs.

Turns out, people sort of like it when you mess up. They can relate, or they are just glad it was me not them.

One guy told me he thought it was a cleverly disguised marketing message and I should do it again.

One person told me he was glad that I finally made a mistake…what does that mean?

Happy ending…

Go figure. I sold 10 e-books and got two new annual subscriptions to my newsletter services.

Do you think they felt sorry for me? Have I stumbled across a secret marketing ploy? Is this really good advertising for my business?

Have you even goofed like this, and were people annoyed, mad, or pleased? I’d like to hear your stories so I don’t feel like such a techno-weanie again.

My friend Garland continues to send me HTML homework, but I think I’ll just study it for a while before sending it over to him…

Just an artist at heart,

Patsi

How to Write for Your Blog

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Marketing expert Denise Wakeman recently posted this link to an excellent article on writing for your blog. The article, posted by BL Ochman of www.whatsnextblog.com, is great advice for writing for any blog, ezine, or web based platform. Here’s what Denise posted over on www.biztipsblog.com:

BL Ochman of Whatsnextblog.com has written a fantastic post on writing blog posts and comments. Not only are the tips for better writing applicable to blogs, but I would say you could apply them to most writing, especially on the web and in email.

Link: How to Write Killer Blog Posts and More Compelling Comments.

This is a post that deserves to be read, printed out and taped to your computer when you begin your writing.

Special Deal on Secrets

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

Special Deal on Secrets for Only 4 More Days!

"I hate to bother you but…"

I would start off all my marketing and promotions with that little polite introduction. The truth is I really hate tooting my own horn. It is so bad I hired a marketing coach, Denise Wakeman. She does a much better job of it than I do.

Here is what Denise wrote about the fact that you guys have only 4 more days to buy my ebook, Secrets of Successful Ezines, at the $47 price with the 3 bonuses:

Don’t wait until Monday!

There are only 4 more days to get your copy of "Secrets of Successful Ezines" for only $47. On February 1 the ebook goes up to $87.

This ebook is full of resources on content, formatting, and distribution. It features 35 samples of excellent ezines. In addition you get 12 sample Welcome messages, how NOT to do a welcome message, sample of a closing message, a "please forward" message, and a sample e-course message.

Finally, you can learn how 55 successful professionals have grown their ezine lists from 50 to over 50,000 in only 3-4 years.

Here is What You Will Get with this Guide:

• We’ll tell you how you can do it all for free or the lowest cost.

• We’ll tell you what and where and when you can outsource.

• You get hundreds of resources, tips, tools, and trade secrets.

• We’ll give you the questions to determine which parts of the ezine tasks you need to outsource.

• We’ll also tell you which questions you need to ask service providers so you can make your decisions wisely.

• We’ll tell you how to avoid the mistakes others have made with their ezines.

• You get 34 interviews with successful ezine publishers and we’ll tell you the secrets that grew their ezine subscription numbers to tens of thousands of readers!

• We’ll show you what makes an effective ezine.

• You get a step-by-step workbook to guide your ezine planning and purpose, connecting you with your values which will sustain your energy.

• You get content ideas and writing tips.

• You get several templates for formatting your own ezine.

• You get sample ezines others have created.

• We’ll explain the tech stuff like formatting, distribution services, avoiding spam triggers, autoresponders

• We’ll show you how your ezine ties in with your overall marketing plan

• We’ll show you how to make money from your ezine (even automatically).

We don’t want you to miss this steal of a deal. For 4 more days you can get this comprehensive resource for only $47. On Tuesday, February 1, the price goes up to $87.

Use this link to get your copy of Secrets of Successful Ezines ebook with Interviews and Sample Ezines for only $47:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=120915

And to entice you further, you get these three great bonuses:

Free Bonus #1: Coaching session with Patsi about your marketing efforts and ezines. This includes a professional ezine review. Value: $150.

Free Bonus #2: $47 Coupon discount to apply to any ezine article, editing, formatting or marketing services offered by Patsi Krakoff at www.CustomizedNewsletters.com. Value $47 off price of article or service.

Free Bonus #3: Emotional Intelligence and the Executive Coach, a five-article PDF file with over 10,000 words of information on how E.I. impacts coaching with executive and personal coaching clients. Value: 5 articles at $69 each, $345.

My apologies…

If you hate being marketed to, hate bonuses, hate the whole selling process, you are not alone. That’s why I create ezines for professionals in the first place. Ezines are a great way for you to show people what you are all about without having to "sell yourself."

If you need help with publishing your ezine, help is available. Hire someone, take a course, read a book. This ebook, for example, is a great start.

Make no mistakes, however, there are a lot of secrets that go into making a good ezine. Get this book and learn before you make all those mistakes others have made before you.

Patsi

P.S. If you want to learn more about the book, go here.

P.S.S. If you want to get the free minicourse, go here.

Finding Coaches in Blogland…

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Just when I was beginning to wonder if anybody was out there…!

Thanks to Des Walsh, Kathy Mallary, Kimberly Black and Michael Pollack for having their eyes open and being awake at the wheel. They all wrote in to say yes, they have blogs. And do they ever! I highly recommend a visit to see what they have to say.

While not all of these professionals are coaches in the strict sense of the word, they do coach their clients on issues such as running small businesses. And that’s always a good thing to know about, right?

Here’s my updated list of coach blogs alive in the blogosphere…

GottaGettaBlog http://www.ggci.com/blog/ Barry Zweibel

www.bergerblog.com Michael Berger

http://lifecoaching-alternativehealing.blogspot.com/ William Wittman

http://business-coaching.blogspot.com/ Unknown, last post July 04

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/TerriLevine Terri Levine

http://theseductionofthemind.typepad.com/ Bea Fields

http://www.howtobecomeahero.com/ C.J. Hayden

http://www.realgoalgetter.com/blog.html Al Smith

http://weblog.kimberlyblack.com Kimberly Black

http://www.thinkinghomebusiness.com Des Walsh

http://spiritspring.typepad.com/cafe_la_coach/ Kathy Mallary

http://smallbusinessbranding.typepad.com/ Michael D. Pollack

Multiple Streams of Income: http://www2.cicada.com/internetbizwhiz/ Andrea Lee

One of the things I like about these blogs are there titles. Catchy, and they say what they are.

There are a couple of blogs here that I won’t comment on, suffice to say they haven’t been posted in a while and there is no information on the author profile to know who is writing…(or not!) them. But it’s always worth seeing what not to do…

Subscribe through Bloglet

Bloglet offers a great service that I really prefer over getting an RSS feed. When a blog site offers a way for you to subscribe, type in your email address and you will get an email message each time there is a new posting, right in your inbox.

I have a Bloglet service, so does Denise Wakeman, and Michael Pollack. Sign up now (upper left hand corner).

Patsi Krakoff

Where are the Great Coach Blogs?

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs

Are You There?

As Denise Wakeman and I make our last minute preparations for our flight into the blogosphere (Tuesdays, 8:45 p.m. ET) I am searching for great coach/consultant blogs.

I am surprised! There aren’t that many! Sure, there were some created last year…and then their owners just stopped posting. I don’t know about you, but I am just not that excited about reading a blog with a last entry date six months ago.

This is good news and bad news. It means that many independent professionals aren’t taking advantage of this easy tool to create a web presence, establish credibility and expertise, and set up dynamic client interaction. Too bad for them!

Good news for you, if you are a coach, consultant or any other independent professional in the personal development field. Why? Because you can get into the forefront. You can create a blog and be right up there with the few stars that know about this great creative tool. And, if you have anything to say, and have a knack for saying it, you will get yourself known. And, because search engines love blogs and pick up easily on their key word-rich format, your rankings will go up. Even if your web site is static, just an online brochure, you can start to get more visits to both your web site and blog.

Here are some coach blogs we’ve found so far. Please let me know of any others you come across. Denise and I are writing a book and would like to include as many interviews and sample blogs as possible.

http://www.ggci.com/blog/

www.bergerblog.com

http://lifecoaching-alternativehealing.blogspot.com/

http://business-coaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/TerriLevine

http://theseductionofthemind.typepad.com/

http://www.howtobecomeahero.com/

If you would like to set up your own business blog, Denise and I will show you how. Class still has 5 places left, and you can attend for $47. Even if you can’t attend, that’s worth the price of the ebook and audio files.

http://www.ecomincs.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=50408&ProductID=2146414

Hope to see you Tuesday Jan. 18, 8:45 p.m. ET, and for all four Tuesdays!

Patsi

The Highs & Lows of Ezine Publishing

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

Secrets of Successful Ezines
Minicourse # 7

The Highs and Lows of Ezine Publishing

Today’s lesson from Secrets of Successful Ezines is a chronicle from Suzanne Falter-Barnes, www.howmuchjoy.com and www.selfhelpsalon.com. She shares with us the history of her internet business and the ups and downs of her ezine.

It is a little long, but worth reading it.

This is a sample of the many interviews from people who successfully publish ezines that are included in the ebook, Secrets of Successful Ezines. You can buy the full ebook by clicking here.

But first, don’t miss out on this delightful tale of Suzanne’s ezine!

Suzanne Falter-Barnes
The Joy Letter [info@howmuchjoy.com]
The Joy Letter # 108 — Highs & Lows of Building a Net Business

Highs & Lows of Building a Net Business

In our recent survey to Joy readers, we were asked to provide a timeline of our ups and downs in building this joyful business at www.howmuchjoy.com. There have been definite highs and lows in my small business’s 5 year history. Here are some of them, plus lessons I learned along the way.

August, 1999. Launched site with trepidation, despite ‘gut feeling’ that it would succeed. Had no idea what I was doing. Hired fancy author’s web site creator/promoter at vast expense. But people came.

October-December, 1999. Went on 15-city book tour that I booked and paid for; met lots of people and signed ’em up for ezine, one at a time. Joy Letter list at about 1000.

June, 2000. Major publisher edition of ‘How Much Joy’ book comes out, and book is a dual main selection of One Spirit Book Club. Lots of publicity, more speaking gigs. Joy Letter list up to about 2000-2500.

November, 2000. List disappears! Guy who broadcasts it goes on vacation in Bangkok where he gets sick and is stuck for three months. Never bothers to tell me. I get police involved. High drama. Guy and Joy Letter list eventually turn up again. List up to about 3750.

February, 2001. I sign on with major ezine broadcast service and shopping cart. Launch my first e-products, which do OK, not great. I learn that people don’t really want e-courses as much as they want live contact of teleclasses… at least for my work.

May, 2001. I discover joint ventures with other websites, and begin swapping blurbs, offering teleclasses and more with partners. Jennifer Louden and I team up on what is now an annual event, The Writer’s Spa. It’s clear that two are more powerful together than apart. I continue to develop products and free items for the site.

January, 2002. I sign on with an Opt In list building service, which provides Opt-in names by promoting your ezine. Joy Letter quickly becomes most popular ezine and I regularly add 3500 double opt in names per month. This is great!

May, 2002. I notice that lots of those new names are suddenly strange numerical addresses and IP’s. I start getting flame emails from unhappy people saying things like ‘What is this #@%$*# Joy Letter and where did it come from??!!" Even though I’ve gotten close to 15,000 new subscribers, I pull the plug on the formerly great, now highly suspicious Opt In service.

June, 2002. Joy Letter list hits 25,000 and I have to pay a much higher fee to broadcast/shopping cart company. I get requests for a shippable binder version of the How Much Joy Facilitator’s work, which I launch. It’s an immediate hit.

February, 2003. One year after I begin selling e-commerce products, I find I can almost make a modest living from my profits. I’ve racked up some debt running this company, but it all still feels ‘right in my gut’. Joy Letter list has naturally grown, but broadcast company institutes their new ‘List Hygiene’ program and gets rid of all the addresses that are no good. Suddenly Joy Letter list gets whittled to around 15,000.

February, 2004. CAN-SPAM laws, new SPAM filters, and other obstacles conspire to keep Joy Letter readers from opening their emails from me. I study how to follow the law and still deliver the ezine to those who opt in to receive it. I get less email than I used to, in response to articles, and it’s a new world in email-land. Meanwhile, my e-commerce business continues to grow steadily and I now make a viable living from the website … oh yeah, and I’m still in debt, which I’m working hard to get out of.

June, 2004. I launch a new website, www.selfhelpsalon.com, which I spend the entire winter developing. At the last minute, my advisors make me get rid of the ‘zany New Age guru’ who was gracing the site’s pages, and stick to the topic at hand. We do an entire re-design in 10 grueling days, and I still launch on schedule. As usual, the advisors were right. (But believe me, the zany guru was really fun.)

October, 2004. Still in debt … sigh. Probably will be for a while, but boy am I learning A LOT about how to run a business. I’ve incorporated and become an LLC. Some months I get lots of sales, excited emails from customers, speaking invitations, and great windfalls of all kinds. Other months, I get a whole lot less. But isn’t that just like life?

Downsides are that I have ‘Internet Butt’ from being parked in a chair 8-10 hours per day. And that I find myself getting up at 5AM to tackle the big pile up in the office… but still, even after the creeping waves of overwhelm, and the frequent sense that I don’t know what I’m doing, I STILL feel like I’m on the right path. Above all, I’m grateful for you, my readers, that I get to do what I’m called to in this life. It’s all just evidence of my work’s primary principle: if you’re called to do something, just trust it. The work really will guide you every step of the way.

Additional Fodder:

Some helpful lessons I’ve learned:

Learning how to do things you’re afraid of, like html coding, can only be avoided for so long. But by then, there’s usually a more user-friendly way to deal with it. So, a little avoidance isn’t altogether bad.

Get up and stretch every few hours. You’ll be a nicer person for it.

Don’t refuse to delegate tasks. On the other hand, don’t become wildly dependent on your support staff either. You, too, need to do some of the basic work on your site.

If you want to deliver a quality product, use quality services … not, say, a sketchy broadcaster with plans to leave the country for an indefinite period of time (even if the price is right.)

You’ll always make typos. So proofread. Again.

Nothing is glorious all the time – not even your dream. Expect a little down time now and then, and use it to clean out your desk.

Don’t let the kids use your computer while eating popsicles.

___________

Thanks, Suzanne, for sharing your interesting experiences with us!

If you find this interesting and helpful, you will get a lot out of reading Secrets of Successful Ezines. Don’t miss out, click here to buy.

If you like this ebook and know of other colleagues or friends that would like it, become an affiliate and earn $25 on each copy you sell. Go here to sign up as an affiliate.

Patsi Krakoff