Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Goals for Online Content Marketing

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Coaching/Personal Development, Content Marketing, Getting Read

What do you want your content marketing to do for you?

When I was a freelance journalist in Paris, I wrote some outrageous things. The point was to get read and remembered by as many people as possible. I figured if I was going to spend my time writing, I wanted to be read. I made up things. That was allowed because I was writing humorous essays for Vogue Homme. The goal was to be edgy and outrageous.

Writing on the Web for marketing purposes is different in some ways, similar in others. But the key is knowing what your goals are for your content pieces.

Do you want to collect email addresses so you have a list to marketing to? Do you want people to subscribe? To download, to buy? Or is your goal to get people to think seriously about a few concepts? Establish yourself as a thought leader? Maybe sell your books, or get consulting gigs?

In any case, I’ll bet there is an underlying — or is it overarching?– goal of wanting to be happily successful.

Lame Excuses for No Online Content Marketing

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Coaching/Personal Development, Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

Are you ready to grow your business? It's a serious question and before you answer, think about it a little bit more.

Who isn't ready to make more money, drive more traffic to their sites, grow their marketing database numbers? I mean, you'd be a little crazy to say "no, thanks" to that, wouldn't you?

And yet, people do it all the time. People make excuses all the time for why they're not using content marketing and writing on the web. Here's how:

"I'll start a business blog when my new website gets up."
"I've got a blog; I'll write on it soon."
"I just want to get a new photo done, then I'll be ready."
"I'm getting some triple fold brochures printed first." (OMG, do people still do that?)
"Just as soon as I finish my Famous Guru Internet Millionaire Course, then I'll start."

I'm exaggerating, and I'm serious. I've heard some really solid reasons people put off content marketing. Some of the smartest professionals I know have really great looking websites that have been done at considerable expense.

Work Better, Write Better: How to Make More Mojo

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, Ethics & Writing, How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better

Do you believe you can change? I mean, seriously change your behaviors and habits? You know, like stop doing some things and start doing others? How do you improve your work habits so you are more productive and effective?

For example, if you've been struggling with blog writing, can you decide you're going to stop struggling, get on that beast and ride it to glory? How do you become a better writer? …and get better blog results?

Last year, I noticed my blog traffic was getting better, but I didn't think it was enough. So I decided to double my blog publishing frequency. I started posting every day instead of every other day.

It worked. Traffic has actually more than doubled since then. The behavioral change, i.e. writing twice as often, wasn't too hard since I enjoy it.

The secret key was a tip I read somewhere: always have one post "in the hopper," saved as a draft for the next day. I think I might have got that from Sonia Simone of Third Tribe and Copyblogger. This writing tip works for other projects as well. If you just get something started, it's easier to get back and continue working on it.

What Is Intelligent Content Marketing?

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Books, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Good question, similar to "what's a great restaurant" or "what makes for a beautiful woman?" No one right answer and it depends on who the "consumer" is.

My recent post on books for intelligent content marketing shows my preference for psychology and how people think. Obviously, when it comes to writing on the Web for business purposes, you've got to consider the preferences of your readers/clients/prospective buyers.

I'm reading a book called Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead. This is an unbelievably intelligent book that will fascinate your socks off and give you a barrel full of ideas for content marketing.

Fascinate explains the triggers behind viral marketing campaigns. I've never read anything quite like it before. Although many of the stories are familiar to me, Ms. Hogshead puts them into a marketing context.

Whether the book talks about fascinating personalities or products, it's enlightening and useful from a marketing viewpoint.

Here are the 7 triggers that cause us to be fascinated by people and stuff:

9 Must-Read Books for Intelligent Content Marketing

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

What are you reading? You may not have much time to keep up with the latest biz books in your field. But some of us (me) spend a lot of time reading. Let me share with you what I'm reading now that I think is really worthwhile.

You may wonder how these relate to writing on the web, or marketing, but trust me, they do. Psychology is the meaningful connection linking marketing to people in any field or profession.

Here's what's on my night table, my desk, my lounge chair out by the pool, and next to my stationary exercise bike:

Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith
Rules of Thumb, by Alan M. Webber
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The Healthiest Meals on Earth, by Jonny Bowden
The Mature Mind: the Positive Power of the Aging Brain, by Gene D. Cohen
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works, by Janice Redish
Drive: the Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink
Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices, by Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria

What's on your reading list?

The Outline – 3 Questions to Ask for Content Marketing

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Article Ideas, How to...Tips, On Writing Better

(This is a guest post by Linda Dessau, You Talk, I'll Write, and it's great advice for article, newsletter and blog writing.)

"I know we all hated them in school but outlines really can be helpful and worth your time." – Lynne Klippel, March 27, 2010 on Twitter

Last week one of the students in my group program (Content Creation Capsule) proclaimed, "This is exactly what I needed!" What had her so excited? An article outline.

An outline can be as simple as a set of questions. In fact, I often provide questions to prospective newsletter contributors to make it easier for them to draft their article. I simply tell them what I'm curious about in terms of the topic. I do the same thing when I'm interviewing guests for teleseminars.

Let me use this article to demonstrate a really simple set of outline questions:

3 Big Reasons to Survey Your People

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

When did you last survey your clients and prospects? Are you asking your people good questions?

There are 3 big reasons you need to be asking your potential and current clients questions:

You need to find out who they are: demographics and psychographics.
You need to find out what they want: what are their challenges, what products would they like, what kinds of services they'd pay money for.
You also want to get their feedback, especially from those who have used your products and services.

Yesterday we had a fantastic Webinar with Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert of MySurveyExpert.com. Jeanne is the go-to person when you want to create surveys and quizzes that work to grow your business. As a Ph.D. sociologist and professor, she's worked with some big name companies as well as some entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins.

Creative Blogger Award from Judy King & Mexico-Insights Blog

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Blogs We Love, Content Marketing

Okay, I'm outta here. I'm going to the beach with my gal pals this week. I'll be back in time for the Survey Webinar with Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert Thursday March 25 at 4 p.m. EDT. (If you're not already registered from last week, you'll need to sign up here: How to Use Surveys to Attract, Sell & Profit.)

Before I go, I'd like to share a Creative Blogger Award I got from Judy King, editor of the Lake Chapala Review and blog writer extraordinaire at Mexico-Insights.com:

"While I’d been thinking about returning to blogging, it was Patsi, with all her Writing on the Web expertise and coaching and marketing enthusiasm that gave me the nudge I needed to make the commitment. … Patsi maintains a pair of daily blogs and several websites, conducts webinars and has Ebooks out there to help others."

Judy had burned out on blogging a few months prior and I was able to give her some tips to make her blogging tasks easier, faster, better. Judy writes a fabulous blog about Mexico and Ajijic, where I live, and is a top-notch writer, editor and Mexico expert.

If you're curious about Mexico, subscribe to Mexico-Insights.com, Judy's blog. Then come visit us! You'll love it… both the blog and the places Judy writes about.

If you want tips to save you time and energy with your own blog, get the Time-Saving Tips for Smart Blogging program here.

Time Saving Tips for Smart Blogging – a Tutorial

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, E-Books, On Writing Better, Online Marketing, Pathway to Profits, Writing Great Blog Content

Just finished this new video clip from iFlashVideo. If you want a quick way to upgrade your business blogging skills to get better results, this program's for you: Time Saving Tips for Smart Blogging.

Webinars Rock, except when they don’t…

By Patsi Krakoff in Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

We had a GotoWebinar system malfunction yesterday, and are rescheduling the Survey Webinar with Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert for next Thursday, March 25, 2010, 4 p.m. EDT (will be recorded.)

If you've already registered, no need to do anything; you'll get notification of the event access codes.

These things are so frustrating when they happen, and I feel bad for those of you who patiently waited on the call and on the Web. To make it up, Jeanne is offering access to some really great videos on surveys, as well as a $100 discount coupon for her survey creation wizard. We promise to make up for the inconvenience and annoyance this may have caused.

To register, go here: How to Use Surveys & Quizzes to Attract, Sell & Profit. (I'm an affiliate of MySurveyExpert.com and proud of it.)