Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Top 10 Tips for Creative Blog Writing

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Getting Read, On Writing Better

What creative writing tips would you offer to budding writers?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of introducing my husband (aka Attila the Honey) at the Lake Chapala Society, our local gringo gathering place and library. We were having a book signing party to celebrate the publication of Rob’s first two novels, Die Laughing and Future Schlock.

I’m sharing with you here my speech, because there are some tips for writing creative content not only for novels and fiction. These tips also apply to blog writing.

Content marketing ideas come from many sources, and sometimes you have to go against conventional wisdom and standard trends.

My speech was called:

Rob Krakoff’s Top 10 Tips for Writing 3 Novels in 18 Months…

Don’t follow your wife’s (or partner’s) advice. Sometimes I call an idea stupid just because it’s too far-fetched to be believable. Wild, crazy ideas will certainly get people’s attention and avoid boredom. If someone says it’s stupid, it just might work…
Don’t follow your writer’s group advice: Other authors will tell you to only write what you know about. If that were true, then all mystery writers would be murderers. Don’t squelch your imagination.
Don’t follow your English teachers’ rules: Don’t get hung up on grammar. Write and worry later about the rules, or get someone else to do that. So what if you don’t believe in commas.
Don’t study how others write, or how books should be written: It’s more important to just get started, get your stories going.
Don’t worry, be happy: feed your creativity by squelching anxiety and fear. If you’re not happy, then use that energy to write like hell. Either way, you’ve got no excuse.
Don’t do any housework, just spend time writing. (That’s not entirely true, but it helps not to worry about the ‘other things’ in life.) Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog writing, Content Marketing, Writing for the Web

Attractive Content: Speak to the brains

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Getting Read, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

How do you write content that attracts readers to your products and services?

I read somewhere that most of what goes into our brains never reaches our conscious mind:

Our five senses are processing 11 million pieces of info per second. Of these only 40 enter our conscious awareness.

Which means our subconscious mind does a terrific job of filtering what we need to pay attention to.

And…which is why there is new research about how to reach consumers based on how the brain works: neuromarketing.

The brain is made up of three parts, the old brain, the mid-brain, and the new brain. The first two are operating out of our conscious awareness, and they help decide what we need to become aware of.

What this means is that most of the time, we’re operating on auto-pilot. Especially when it comes to TV, but maybe we’re cruising when we’re online and even reading. We scan while thinking of other things. Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog content, blog writing, content marketing with blogs, converting readers to clients, Online Marketing, Writing for the Web

Top 100 Women Creating Online Income Streams

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, In the News..., Online Marketing, Pathway to Profits

Thank you Milana Leshinsky. You’ve been an inspiration to me for the last few years. And now this comes as a special honor, to be included on your list of Top 100 Multiple Income Streams Women.

Here’s what Milana tells us about why she created this list:

Although Internet marketing and information marketing is still dominated by men, there are many women who are building their multiple income streams empires. In the next few posts I’ll be featuring some of the most successful women entrepreneurs who turned their passion into a multiple income streams business online!

First, here are the criteria I used to identify them:

Content-rich blog

High quality web site

Clear strong personal brand

Prominent free giveaway

Book or signature product

Information products

Coaching programs

Live events

Membership programs

Use of audio and video

Active community

I can’t say I currently participate in all of these income streams, but I have at one time. And please note that Milana doesn’t say “Passive Streams of Income” here.

None of these income sources are passive, although many are automatic. All require work, promotion, and constant “minding the store.” Don’t let anybody tell you online income products are “passive.”

I am very honored to be among such a strong list of creative women, who are pioneers in each of their own ways. Be sure to check out these women on the list.

Milana herself has forged the way for many independent women and work-at-home moms. She has a talented ability to create and sell popular information products, membership programs and telesummits. If you don’t know her yet, be sure to visit Milana.com.

Milana came to this country from the Ukraine, to study music. Even though English is her second language (or maybe 3rd or 4th?), she communicates to others with clarity and passion.

As her tag line says, she helps “awaken your fortune within.” She brands herself as “your multiple income streams business coach.” Who wouldn’t want to work with a coach like Milana who certainly walks the talk?

Quality stands out and leaves a memorable mark. Listen to her speak and tell her story about how she quadrupled her income in one year and now works less to have more time with her family.

Tags : Milana Leshinsky, multiple streams of income, online income, Online Marketing, women entrepreneurs

Content Creating Processes: Do you know too much?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Writing Speeches

Have you ever felt like a secret agent who knows too much? Hopefully, you’ve learned what to share and what not.

Most educated professionals I know will tell you they struggle when it comes to preparing speeches and writing content.

Content creation, whether for speeches, classes, articles, or web pages, should produce a clear message to influence people. One clear message, that leads to an action, a shift in thinking. Write to teach and persuade.

We know too much! We want to explain everything. When I teach a simple thing like how to write a blog post, I’ve got slides and paragraphs that go back to the invention of the printing press!

When I finally come to the main teaching points … it’s an hour too late and people have gone to sleep.

My solution is to flow chart everything, put it into a PowerPoint and rush through the slides. Not good, and I know better, but my same brain that loves blogging in 350 words goes hog-wild with an hour-long presentation.

Every speech should have only one intention. You’re supposed to build your content around this intention. You may want to educate or entertain, but truth be told, you want to persuade your audience to do something. Read More→

Tags : content creation, Content Marketing, persuasion, writing speeches

Content Marketing Ideas: Rethinking Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

There was a time I was in love with blogging… I had already been in the business of content marketing for 5 years on the Web, using an old-fashioned website platform.

In 2004, I started blogging. It changed my life and opened doors and filled a few piggy banks. But my lover wasn’t really “the blog.” It was being able to speak with a world-wide audience. It was like magic.

Writing on my blog is my way of reaching out to people looking for ways to write content on the Web so that they can get found, get known and get new business.

A blog is still “The best darn content marketing tool on the planet!” But it’s not about “the blog…”

This year I switched from Typepad to WordPress, and I’m creating a new banner to reflect the changes.

When’s the last time you reviewed your site or blog banner?

For a while now I’ve been playing with some ideas. The name will remain the same, but the tag line will read,

“How to Use Online Content Marketing to Get Found, Get Known, and Get Clients.”

I wrote about these three big marketing challenges a few days ago, and I’ve blogged about them over the past five years.

Without doubt, people who use the Internet to market their services must find ways to solve these three issues, or they won’t stay in business long.

You might notice there’s nothing in my new tag line that mentions blogs, blogging, or WordPress. Because, just as I predicted a few years ago, it doesn’t matter if you’re blogging or not. What matters are results.

(I predicted the buzz about blogs would die down simply because everyone would be using a blog platform, such as WordPress, to build and manage their websites as well as blogs. The blur between the two has already merged.)

We’ve been told that world-wide, there are a billion people online, and we can reach a global audience for free. So it doesn’t matter if you’re using a traditional website platform or WordPress, or even Blogger (well, why not?), if that’s working to get you found, get people to know, like and trust you, and you’re converting readers to clients.

It’s not the messenger, it’s your message. It’s not how you do it, what matters is that you do it effectively.

For myself, I’m constantly learning, reading, and evolving (hopefully!)… I’m not sure where I’m going to be in 5 or 10 years, but I am intuitively following a direction. I’m sharing these ideas here with you, about changes to how we process Web content and marketing, and would love to hear your thoughts. Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog marketing, blog writing, brain science on Web, business blogging, Content Marketing, converting readers to clients, neuro-marketing, Online Marketing, writing on the web

Blog Checklist: 10 Items BEFORE You Publish…

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Getting Read, How to...Tips

What is a good checklist before you publish on your blog? I’m preparing some learning modules for a content marketing presentation and came up with this checklist of 10 items. Tell me what you think.

Here’s what happens, usually. You’re in a hurry, you write up a short post (300 words), hit publish, and then realize you’ve forgotten to write the headline… or select tags… or add any links or images!

Well, it’s easy to go back in and update your post… but what if the phone rings, you have a crises, you get distracted (this is my world)… and you’re stuck with an incomplete blog post.

Reminds me of going out of the house with your zipper undone…

So here’s my handy-dandy checklist to whip out before you hit publish…

Pick the topic, find a hook, tip, trend
Write 350-600 words (educate, entertain, engage, enrich readers)
Format post (bulleted lists, etc.)
Write headline (compelling yet clear, keywords)
Add image
Add links, including to your own previous posts
Check grammar, typos
Identify tags, categories
Search Optimization, (use Scribe SEO, All-in-One SEO Pack, YARPP)
Connect with social sites (use Sexy Bookmarks, etc.) Read More→

Tags : blog content, blog formatting, blog marketing, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, Online Marketing, SEO, web marketing

3 Biggest Challenges for Online Content Marketing?

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Pathway to Profits

What are the three biggest challenges to marketing your business? I know, I know, there are so many, but if you could distill them into the most crucial for online content marketing, how would you do it?

(I’m always asking you, because some of my readers are very smart and think of things I don’t. So please feel free to add to this by leaving a comment…)

To me, it’s these three that count more than anything:

How do I get found by the people who need my solutions?
How do I get them to know me, like me, and trust me to do business with?
How do I get clients? Convert readers to buyers?

Get found, get known, get clients… there’s a lot that goes into creating content on the Web that leads to results, and each marketing task, each piece of content, each program you offer, falls into one of these categories or challenges.

I did a survey on this in April, 2010: Readers say that getting traffic, building a list, and converting readers to clients are their biggest challenges. It’s still a matter of findability, creating trust and getting people to take action.

Get found: What does this mean?

You’ve got to be easily found when an ideal client sits down to the screen and looks for solutions to their problem: Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog content, blog marketing, blog writing, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, converting readers to clients, Online Marketing, web marketing

Content Marketing Results: Landing Pages Rule

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Pathway to Profits

How do you get readers to take action? Short answer: a landing page. (Also known as a sales page, squeeze page)

You can’t get results from all the content you’re creating and publishing on your blog, e-newsletter, social media sites, unless eventually you send people to a landing page and ask them to take action.

Otherwise, you may be creating a great brand, great thought leadership, great content… and so what? Sooner or later, you need to ask your readers to actually do something. You need a landing page to do that.

Landing page definition: An attractive, compelling page:

Published on the Internet that is
Optimized for search engines and
Designed to persuade a defined group of readers
To take one specific action Read More→

Tags : Content Marketing, content marketing tips, content marketing with blogs, converting readers to clients, Online Marketing, web marketing, Wordpress sales pages

Online Reputation? 4 Tips

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Media Stuff

Friday’s guest post is by Robert Stretch, author of VA Mortgage Center blog:

For business people, few things are more important than reputation. Thanks to the worldwide web — which sometimes feels as vast as a universe-wide web — monitoring your online reputation demands serious attention.

Only a few belittling remarks can spread like wildfire online, and damage your online image in no time.

By taking some simple precautionary steps, you can not only reduce invalid criticisms about you, but you can also promote yourself. In fact, having a good online reputation is essential to branding yourself or your business.

Just last week, BtoB Magazine Online reported that Dow Jones hired an online marketing company. The company, Marchex Inc., will work with Dow Jones Local Media Group to make an exclusive online reputation management plan.

By doing so, Dow Jones’ customers get the privilege of responding to blog posts, news and any mention of DJ in social networks.

Not everybody or every company has the resources to hire a third-party that monitors their online rep. Dow Jones is several steps ahead of where some small businesses are. For one thing, the company already owns dowjones.com, dowjones.net and dowjones.org.

Why? Well, it wouldn’t look great if one of those got bought by an angry customer whose goal is to take down the company.

Here are the 4 things you should be doing at a minimum to protect and improve your online reputation, no matter how big or how small your company is. Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog marketing, business blogging, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, online reputation, social media marketing, web marketing

Online Content Marketing Results: Poll Says 50% Dissatisfied

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

In a recent poll, I asked readers if their marketing tasks were easier, faster, more effective since publishing a website or blog…

Half of respondents said yes, significantly better results since doing web marketing
One-third said yes, but still needs improvement
16.7% say, not much difference

My conclusion: half of you are getting results with your Web content marketing, the other half still struggles to see the kinds of results you want. This is a liberal interpretation to a poll that doesn’t lend itself to participants explaining their answers.

This brief poll was hosted on here on this blog, so only my readers would have responded. I don’t reach significantly large numbers to be able to say half of all people using the Web to publish content are dissatisfied.

Based on what I hear from clients and colleagues, I’m going to speculate some of the reasons this may be so:

Web marketing is complicated: Although tools (blogs, sales pages, shopping carts, audio and video, email marketing) have become more user-friendly in the last few years, there’s a lot more to do (social sites)
Web marketing is crowded: Ten years ago there weren’t as many businesses in your field competing for readers’ attention online. Competition is fierce.
Web marketing is confusing: There are so many ways to publish content online, it’s hard to know what to do first and most.

I’m thinking about this a lot. And, I’d love to hear from you in the comments about what you think the challenges are, for using the Internet to grow business.

One possibility that comes to mind is that some professionals are unclear about their goals for their Web presence. They may be measuring the wrong things. Sales isn’t the only measurement, nor is traffic.

And when it comes to things like thought leadership, reputation, credibility and trust, it’s hard to measure in terms of numbers. Branding is another key element that gets reinforced through web marketing, but it’s also hard to measure.

What do you think about the reasons why many entrepreneurs, small businesses and professionals may be dissatisfied with their online content marketing? What have been your own experiences?

Tags : blog marketing, business blogging, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, converting readers to clients, Online Marketing, online traffic, web marketing