Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Online Persuasion: Seeing Through the Eyes of Customers

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, How to...Tips, Online Marketing, Online Persuasion

There’s an important shift in content marketing tactics that affects professionals who want to get found, get known and get clients online. And that shift means a different mindset.

Not too long ago I came across a great blog post. There was a picture of a pair of glasses lying on a bench with this caption: Don’t you wish you could see through your customers’ glasses?

What if you could live in their shoes for a day? Or, track their brains as they go online to your website? What makes them click? What makes them take action?

Here’s where you should start thinking a little differently when writing content for the Web:

Smart content marketers are using persuasion tactics that appeal to emotions rather than reasons. They know that emotions not only guide our decisions and actions, they determine whether or not we buy. Read More→

Tags : content marketing with blogs, neuromarketing, persuasion, persuasion triggers

Business Blogs and the Parisbas Tennis Open

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Getting Read, Writing Great Blog Content

Is your blog like my tennis, a hit or a miss? Are you writing posts that are clear winners for your readers? Are you serving valuable, relevant content within the lines of your readers’ needs?

This week I’m watching the world’s best players battle it out on the courts at the Parisbas Tennis Open in Indian Wells, California. I’ve noticed a few things that applies to content marketing.

Persistence and control is the name of the game. With me, I get impatient in a rally, and with a burst of aggression I’ll end the point with a whopping drive… clear out of the court.

I know people who blog like that. They write 600-900 words every few weeks, then wonder why they aren’t getting search traffic.

Blogging for your business doesn’t work that way. Steady as you go, writing at least twice a week, at least 350 words, focusing on the key words that drive results for your business, mixing information with stories, always keeping the reader in mind.

Business blogging is like tennis: you want to keep the ball in play. The “ball” is the conversation you have with your ideal clients, your readers. What problems can you solve for them? Keep the dialogue alive. You can’t do that when your blogging is inconsistent.

If you want to get found on the Web, you need plenty of content that’s relevant to your readers. The more you create new content, and publish on your blog, the better the possibilities your ideal clients will find you.

Get found, then get known by your readers. You are priming the pump towards getting new clients. Persistence pays.

If you’re an executive coach or leadership consultant who’s too busy with clients to manage your blog and content marketing tasks, consider outsourcing. Click here for information over on my site, Content for Coaches. I can help make your newsletters, blog, and Web pages rank high with both search engines AND your clients.

Tags : Attracting Clients, content marketing with blogs, executive coach blogs

The Ladder of Emotional Values: Pleasure Reigns

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Brain Based Content Marketing, Online Persuasion, Writing for the Web, Writing Great Blog Content

What emotions are people seeking to satisfy online? What can we understand about human motivations and values in order for content marketing to work?

Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs tells us we are motivated to satisfy our basic needs first (food, shelter, clothing), before we seek to obtain satisfaction for social, intellectual and spiritual needs.

A similar hierarchy of emotional values exists. As incoming information from web and blog pages enters the brain and is processed, our emotional centers assign values to offers.

Brain science, along with studies on decision making from behavioral economics, has shown that people often don’t use logical reasoning. Instead they go with their gut reactions. They make decisions based on feelings.

Later, when that leads to a buying decision, people justify their actions with rational logic and intellectual “alibis.”

At the lowest level, people have a desire for security. The next thing they seek is comfort. At the top of the ladder, people will pay the most to satisfy a desire to experience pleasure.

Although these values are all emotional, rationality plays a part. Online, an offer must work properly for consumers to feel secure. A marketing offer also provides comfort through ease of purchase, and also by providing reasons to defend the purchase to friends and family. But rationality is never the deciding factor. Read More→

Tags : brain science, converting readers to clients, neuromarketing, persuasion triggers

The Naked Blog: Dress Up Your Words

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Writing Great Blog Content

What can you learn about blog writing and content marketing from the theater?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve attended local theater productions, including performances on The Naked Stage. (Photos courtesy Stuart Miles)

If you’re not familiar with this kind of theater format, the actors read their lines, sitting on stools, dressed in black, without benefit of costumes, scenery, makeup, or movement. Hence the name, Naked Stage: the presentation is devoid of any of the usual visual aids.

There’s a narrator to explain the scenes and movements, including sounds, which in this case consisted of a gun going off. In one of these performances, the narrator yelled, “GUN SHOT!” Not “BANG” but “GUN SHOT!” It is truly minimalist and much depends on the actors’ voices. Everything, perhaps. They don’t even look at each other, they are reading their lines. Read More→

Tags : blog content, blog writing, content marketing with blogs, Writing for the Web

5 Ways to Get Readers to Respond

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, Online Marketing

You spend a lot of time writing content on your blog but if the only comments you get are from people looking for free marketing, maybe it’s time to revise your content strategies. Here’s a guest post from Chris Peterson at Straight North integrated marketing services in Chicago.

1. Your Blog as an Interactive Tool

When it comes to effective Web content, it’s no longer enough to post simple text with a graphic. Online newspapers learned that the hard way, but bloggers are discovering ways to use the Web as a means for two-way interaction – increasing the relevance of a blog while boosting Search Engine Optimization efforts to drive traffic. Below, read about some of the techniques you can use to engage your readers.

2. Polls

Your poll might not be scientific; in fact, the results could actually mean very little. But by providing a simple way for your readers to voice an opinion, you’ve given them an easy way to communicate with you. Ask them how they feel about something you’ve posted, or survey regular readers about what they’d like to see on your blog. Make them feel as if they are a part of the blog. They’ll reciprocate by returning and spreading the word.

Likewise, surveys include options for interaction. For example, a simple poll might allow a reader to click one of several poll responses, while a detailed survey could provide an option for submitting a personalized response.

3. External Links

Embedded links are an easy way to encourage people to use your blog as a resource. This also can help to lower your blog’s “bounce rate” as calculated by Google Analytics. Bounce rate simply refers to how your site is used – a quick in-and-out versus user interaction, with a lower bounce rate indicating greater interaction. Read More→

Tags : blog content, blog writing, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, Writing for the Web

4 Content Marketing Goals for a Coach Website

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Writing for the Web

How should content marketing be used on the home page of your website? What makes good website copy? More specifically, if you’re a professional service provider, like an executive coach, a consultant, a lawyer, health care or financial adviser… how do you create a website that attracts clients and gets potential new leads?

No matter what business you’re in, your content must achieve four things. Here are four goals for your online content:

Connect immediately (by speaking to your readers’ challenges or problems)
Answer questions and educate (by suggesting solutions)
Provide choices without confusion (by providing 3-4 places to read more)
Compel readers to take action (simple sign-up form or contact link)

That’s a basic outline that you could follow, not just for websites, but for your blog and other content marketing pieces. Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Writing for the Web

A Checklist for 2012 Content Marketing Plans

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, On Writing Better

2012 Content Marketing – how did we get here so fast? I’ve been reviewing my 2011 blog posts, email broadcasts, videos, and taking stock. I hope you’re doing the same, so you’ll get an idea of what’s needed for your own business in 2012. (Photo courtesy Rawich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Here’s a checklist for reviewing your 2011 content marketing results so you can know where to spend your time and energy in 2012:

What were your most effective blog posts in terms of numbers of page views?
Which posts generated the most comments?
What email promotional subject lines got the best open rates? (Checkout this previous blog post for Subject Line Tips)
Which email newsletters titles got better open rates?
Which white paper or special report got good download rates?
Where did your most qualified leads come from?
Which teleseminar topics got the most registrations?
What were the press releases that got the most clicks?

You should also be taking a look at the quality of your writing, especially for your blog. Although it’s a bit dated, a tried and true review of some sophisticated blog writing concepts is Sonia Simone’s review of the best of Copyblogger for 2008. (I warned you, it’s a bit dated, but the concepts are proven and stand the test of time.)

What about you? What are your favorites? Most importantly, how did you do in 2011, and what are your plans for 2012?

If you’re still having trouble, check out my recent post on ready to publish articles. Content marketing is easier when you can outsource some of the writing and researching to qualified writers. A great way to short-cut the time needed to research, write and publish quality online content is to find a good writer to supply articles.

Now, I’ve got to get back to my own review. 2011 was a great year, let’s see how much better we can do in 2012. Happy writing!

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog content, Content Marketing, review and planning, subject lines