Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

7 Keys to Content Marketing on a Business Blog:
Why a blog is not a newsletter

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

Content Marketing is the Buzz-du-Jour among marketers everywhere, both on and offline. I have encouraged you over the last five years to write relevant content on your business blogs that provides good information, builds relationships, entertains and converts readers to clients.

But here's the thing: how do you do all that when you write a blog post? Many business bloggers are using their blogs like e-newsletters. They write an article on a topic and post. Your blog isn't a newsletter, it's different.

In fact, some of the smart clients I've worked with to set up their blogs and train them tell me, "Oh, content isn't a problem for me. I've written dozens of articles. I'll just copy and paste them into my blog."

Wrong. Blog posts are meant to be conversations, not one-way information vehicles. It's not a lecture, or a newsletter. It's somewhere in between.

The Spaghetti Content Marketing Plan: 14 Questions to Ask

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing

You know the old saying about throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks? I've never understood why you would throw it in the first place, or what you do with it afterwards, yet some very smart professionals are using this as their content marketing strategy.

They've got a Facebook page, they Twitter for hours, they post on their blog (but not often enough), they're collecting subscribers with a form on their website (but they haven't actually sent out a newsletter just yet.)

You know what else I see people doing? They follow certain people on the Web they admire, take their teleseminars, but never act on the very advice they've paid too much money to listen to. After a year they get burned out and disenchanted with their gurus, find new ones, and start throwing spaghetti against the wall again.

I don't mean to be negative, and I really do feel bad when I see this happen. Probably because I've done it myself. I know what it feels like to know you "should" be doing something for your marketing but you never get around to it.

For myself, having lived with my quirks for a few decades, I know what gets me into action and what can trigger procrastination. I don't know what works for you, but you need to figure out what will get you over your humps. For me, having a clear plan and a schedule works.

Why Content Marketing Online Isn’t Actually Free

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing

Independent professionals who use the Web for marketing their services can learn a lot from bigger businesses with big budgets. Take a look at where the guys with money are spending their marketing dollars and efforts. Then figure out the cheaper way to do what they're doing.

In a way, the Web is ideal for people who must work with little advertising budgets. Social sites like Facebook and Twitter are completely free. Time is the biggest constraining factor. Even so, you want the best return for your investment of time, energy and money.

Joe Pulizzi of Junta 42 wrote a post a couple of weeks ago that got me thinking. His information is directed towards companies who spend money advertising. Now many of them want to use content marketing to build business, and some expect it to be free. Read his post The Decline of Advertising and the Rise of Content Spending.

Here's an excerpt worth considering:

Conquer the “What Do I Write Next” Conundrum…

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, How to...Tips, Online Marketing

My hubby asked me the other day, "How do you keep coming up with ideas to blog about?" I'm going to be gone the last week in July for a writers conference, and just finished pre-publishing 8 blog posts which will appear during my absence. (I'll tell you a secret trick for doing this at the end of the post…)

One of the reasons blog authors get stuck for content marketing ideas is that they start blogging without any forethought or plan. I know this because I did this myself. But it's never too late to stop and make a plan for your business blog, including an editorial calendar.

At the very least make a list of keywords that your readers would use if they were searching for solutions to their problems.
Make a list of categories that define the topics you write about. It's smart if these are focused on solving problems and helping your readers.
Then make sure your blog posts cover all these categories and that you use the keywords in titles and in the body of your posts.

Lee Odden is a favorite search engine optimization expert (even though I only understand half of what he says! 😉 He's got a great post called 5 Tips for Successful Blog Optimization. I particularly appreciate his tip #3:

3. Plan editorial and source content. Unlike traditional publications, blogs do not typically have editorial calendars, but why not? Use categories as an indication for the topics the blog should be posting about. Category keywords should support the business goals defined in the blog’s objectives.

How Do You Know If Your Content Marketing Is Working?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing

How do you know if your content is working
for you? Everybody says they want more traffic, but quite frankly,
traffic stats leave me scratching my head and saying "Okay, that's nice…and?"

Maybe it's because I'm not an analytical type, I prefer big picture
thinking and gut feelings and intuition. But if I had a metric I could
look at and be able to tell if my content is working, then maybe I'd
become more analytical.

You know how those yearly physical exams give you a print out of
your lab test and tell you if you're in the "normal" range or not? Why
can't they have those for blogs? Or for ezines? Or for overall Web
content marketing?

On Monday mornings, for example, you log into your Content Marketing
Analytical Account and get a print out of how well your content has
been doing:

Ezine: …75%
Blog: …82%
Articles…56%
Landing pages…
White Paper…
Free Report… etc. etc.

This software would compile all the results from your content
including sales, referrals, downloads, subscriptions, and inquiries and
give you an overall success rating. It would also tell you where you
needed to make improvements.

Transparency & Trust: New Article Available for Coaches

By Patsi Krakoff in Buying Content, Content Marketing, Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics

Part of what I do as a Content Marketing specialist is write articles for executive coaches and consultants (www.ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com). These can be up to 4,000 words in length and customized for a person, as in a recent white paper I did for a client.

Or, I also write non-exclusive content that can be used in newsletters and blogs about leadership development and issues of concern in organizations. I've just finished an article about transparency and trust, and it's available for purchase and use in company newsletters.

What's Needed Next: Transparency & Trust

An issue all organizations are facing now days is that of trust and transparency. A January 2009 Harvard Business Review survey revealed that, over the last year, readers reported having 76% less trust in U.S. companies’ senior management and 51% less trust in non-U.S. companies. (Of the 1,000+ respondents, 60% were based outside the United States.) That’s a significant drop in confidence levels.

Roughly half of all managers don’t trust their leaders. Exact figures and study results vary, but no data compiled over the last 7 years have shown more than 50% trust for company leaders.

Without trust and transparency inside a company, you won't get customers to trust and buy products.

What can you do to improve the quality of trust and transparency in your organization? There are seven steps you can take towards a culture of transparency and trust.

If you're an executive coach or consultant, you can use this article in your newsletters or blog by buying a subscription to ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com. Read the full synopsis here…

What's Needed Next: Transparency and Trust

Mid-Summer Review: Content Marketing Check List for 2009

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

We're smack dab in the middle of 2009…and I'm wondering how you're doing with your content marketing efforts? I know I'm reviewing mine and what I see is a glaring lack of posted video clips to augment all the written content on my blogs, Twitter and Facebook updates.

Here's what I predicted at the end of 2008, along with some words of wisdom from Joe Pulizzi, Junta42:

"If 2008 was the year social media went
mainstream, 2009 should be the year of content marketing, the
corporation as media company, the brand as publisher and broadcaster,"
says Junta 42 publisher Joe Pulizzi.

It's
true that much of what you read these days about online marketing is
about using Twitter, Facebook and social sites effectively. And most of
what experts are saying about using these sites has to do with the
quality of your content marketing and how to tie into building your brand and
relationships.

If you haven't been keeping up with all this,
don't worry. Some of us just aren't early adopters. What is becoming crucial is
that we can no longer afford to NOT pay attention to content marketing,
be it on a blog, email newsletters, or on Twitter.

It doesn't
matter if you're part of a big corporation trying to brand and market
your products and services, or a solo professional or small business
owner.

Creating content that engages readers is the challenge.
You can forget going out and buying an ad. You've got to write – or
hire someone to write for you.

Big Mistakes in Content Marketing…
6 Tips on What to Avoid

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

Every month Click Docs asks content marketing experts a key question. I'm always learning something from these experts. Here's the question they ask today: What's the Biggest Mistake to Avoid in B2B Content Marketing?

Be sure to read the post. I'm in good company with Ardath Albee, Brian Carroll, Rebel Brown, Maria Pergolino, and Mac McIntosh.

Here's my tip:

Everyone knows this joke: A celebrity runs into a friend who politely asks, “How are you?” The star takes off on a 5 minute monologue all about his success and his last film. Not completely insensitive, the star stops himself and asks the friend, “Oh, enough about me! How did YOU like my movie?”

How to Start a Company Using “How-To” Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

An article in the NY Times tells us How to Start a Company (and Kiss Like Angelina). It's well written by Julie Creswell, but it wasn't what I expected.

It's all about a media company called Howcast.com. They have a library of over 10,000 videos on how to do anything – put on suntan lotion, kiss like Angelina, how to survive a bear attack – you name it, they've video cast it.

Big companies place ads or products into these clips that can be posted on YouTube, or all over the Net. This translates into a good media marketing service on many levels. But there's a big lesson here for everyone who wants to do business online.

Here's the content marketing take-away: the number one reason people use the Internet is to get information. Second reason is to be entertained. If you want to start a company, really, figure out what problems you can solve.

Then go onto the Web and produce content everywhere designed to help people. It doesn't matter how you do it, but do it several ways in several places: blog posts, website pages, articles, e-newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, AND video clips.

But the first thing to do is discover the need that you can fulfill for your customers. Next would be to brand it, find a clever name that is clear. Then go online to build massive visibility. Become findable.

The biggest item on my to-do list this week is to do 3 video clips explaining how to write content that markets your services and products on the Web. Not how to write copy that sells. How to write copy that helps readers and viewers solve their customers' problems.

What Bugs You About Writing?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Barb Sawyer makes a good point. She says this: "Everyone has become a writer, thanks to computers. Often not by choice. Frequently not by training.

"Many people have never been taught how to write with the skill, speed and grace required for the staggering amount of writing they are expected to do.

"Some agonize over choosing the right words. Others become upset when people don’t get what they mean.

"As readers, we get frustrated too, ploughing through long-winded, nonstop emails or scratching our heads in bewilderment."

Barb's doing some research on what bugs you about writing. Please go contribute to her research so she can create a useful ebook to help us all to improve the quality of our content marketing writing. You can post your challenges on her blog post here.