Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

2009: The Year of the Personality?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing, Writing for the Web

I just responded to a request for a prediction for 2009 from Joe Pulizzi, founder of Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs. His question, which I throw out to you, is this:

"What is your prediction for how brand marketers will create and distribute their own content in 2009?" How would you answer this question?

My answer follows here:

In 2009 we'll see more brands developing a personality or a persona to represent the core values of the company. This 'persona' will be responsible for most of the brand's blog content and social media messages.

Cutting edge companies like Razer, the computer gaming hardware developer, have been using their founder, RazerGuy, as spokesperson for years. Other brands will find or create a persona to embody the spirit of their company. How else can companies connect and build relationships unless there is a person with a real personality?

As The Blog Squad, my partner Denise Wakeman and I have realized the importance of a 'persona' to connect with people and to represent what our company does. Fortunately, we're real people. I pity those companies that are going to have to invent a persona – that will never work as well as authenticity.

Rohit Bhargava hit the nail on the head with his book Personality Not Included. I predict that 2009 will be the Year of the Personality!

This may be one of the instances where a solo professional has an edge over big companies. At least you don't have to worry about choosing a person to blog for the company and do Twitter tweets and Facebook notes.

Writing for the Web Resources: Ask the English Teacher

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Writing for the Web

I got a Google alert today to say my name appeared on a blog site. I was delighted to discover this blog: Ask the English Teacher. Crawford Kilian is a retired professor who's an avid blogger.

This Ask the English Teacher blog came about when he corresponded with an English teacher in China over common confusions in English grammar.

The blog is full of great resources on writing. I recommend you visit. The list of other blogs comprise some of the most useful resources on the Web when it comes to Internet usage.

Crawford "gets it:" using good grammar isn't about being perfect. It's all about the readers and making it easy for them to understand you.

"I've taught my students that the writer's job is to make the reader's job effortless. Anything that makes the reader wonder what I really mean is a distraction and a burden. That includes mistakes in spelling (their or they're?), punctuation, and anything else that slows down understanding."

I've known about Crawford for some time and bought his book Writing for the Web 3.0. His other blog is similar in name to this blog, Writing for the Web.com. One more resource you can use for better writing…

8 + 2 Classic Writing Keys for Better Business Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, On Writing Better, Writing Great Blog Content

If you want good advice, refer to the classics. There's no better writing advice than The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White. Here's a post that adapts Strunk and White's advice to blog writing.

This post comes from Dean Rieck over on Copyblogger and is titled The Ultimate Blogger Writing Guide

Put the reader first
Organize your thoughts
Use short paragraphs
Use short sentences
Use simple words
Be specific
Write in a conversational style
Be clear

The number 1 error I see professionals make when it comes to business blog writing is that they are frequently ego-centric. And this isn't necessarily in a bad way, it simply doesn't bring the results they expect.

They are so passionate about their message and their expertise, they preach. They shout. They proclaim. They implore. They explain. They document and support their logic.

But they forget about that old background tune that repeats in the head of all readers: "What's in this for me?" They assume that their readers are like them and interested in the same things.

2009 Will Be the Year of Content Marketing…are you prepared?

By Patsi Krakoff in Buying Content, Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

"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 messages 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. We can wait for the dust to settle and just learn from the mistakes of others, after the best practices are ironed out. But get prepared because much of this will become as mainstream as email.

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.

Joe Pulizzi writes from a corporate perspective and gives 10 Content Marketing Tips to Start Now for 2009.

Marketing with Meaning Blog Author Bob Gilbreath Shows How to Market with Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

I never knew about Bob Gilbreath and his fabulous blog www.MarketingwithMeaning.com before Joe Pulizzi's list of Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs singled him out. I interviewed Bob recently about how he uses content to market his business.

Here's what Bob has to say about sharing personal stories on a business blog:

"I believe it is important to share as much of my personality as possible. I learned from my favorite blogs that the key to keep readers returning is to bring your own stories forward as much as possible.

"Readers don’t just want a factual white paper from a talking head, they want to smile and see things from your individual perspective.

"I often end up talking about everything from my children to my love for Guitar Hero, both to make key points and share who I am."

And here are other questions Bob generously responded to…

Personal Stories on Your Business Blogs: the fine line

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

James Chartrand writes a great post on Copyblogger about Why You Need to Transform Your Website Into a Story. He says,

"Effective web writers are moving away from bland, factual information. Readers won’t settle for that anymore.

It isn’t interesting. It isn’t compelling.

Facts don’t stir emotions and encourage people to take action. Facts don’t sell until people look to rationalize the buying decision they’ve made at an emotional level."

I agree. People do business with people, not companies.

So when I left on vacation I wrote a post in which I expressed gratitude, shared some personal information, and explained I would be re-publishing an important series about better business blog writing.

But I got a critical email from a reader who thought this was inappropriate. Here's what happened:

5 Ways to Enrich Your Blog Posts

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

Business
blog authors love writing on blogs since it’s so quick and easy. You
can usually post in 20-30 minutes and be done with it. That’s a great
use of your marketing time, and you provide readers with valuable
content to market your business.

But while ‘quick and easy’ is great, sometimes it’s not enough. Denise
and I recommend you write at least one rich and meaty post a week.
Stimulate your readers to think. Be profound. Go deep.

“Oh no,” you might be saying. “More time to spend on blogging!”

It gets even worse: here’s another “E” writing tip! Enrich your blog posts! First it was the 3E’s – Educate, Entertain and Engage readers.

Now there are 4 E’s! Educate, Entertain, Engage and Enrich with your blog posts!

How do you enrichen your post? Here are 5 ways. But don’t expect to
be writing and posting in 20 minutes. This takes time to read,
research, find quotes, and to link back to sources.

Content Marketing: How do you write to entertain readers?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

Part of content marketing involves good, entertaining writing, no doubt. Creating valuable content for your blog is easy when you follow the 4 E's of better business blog writing:

Educate your readers generously, without solely focusing on your own products and services
Entertain them, by sharing stories or video clips
Engage them by getting them involved and participating
Enrich their lives by saving them time, energy, or money or by adding value

How do you entertain readers of your business blog? One client of ours emailed to say:

"I'm in the financial services business. I recognize the value of business blogging to educate people, but how the heck do I entertain them, especially now?"

Good point. Let's redefine what entertainment means to the average business blog reader. You have an opportunity to entertain your readers anytime you:

4 Questions a Business Blog Post Should ask and Answer

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

(Note: This is a follow up to a previous post Educate Your Readers, about the four different learning styles of blog readers. Since I'm on vacation this week, I'm republishing a series on better business blog writing.)

Why this is important: Because you want your blog posts to educate, entertain, and engage readers of your business blog. What do you need to remember when writing a post that's designed to educate?

According to the 4MAT system on www.aboutlearning.com, when you are educating people you need to appeal to four different kinds of learning styles:

Imaginative learners
Analytic learners
Common sense learners
Dynamic learners

How does this translate into blog writing for your business?

Content Marketing Goals: Educate

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing

4 ways people learn

Remember the 3 E’s
of Better Business Blogging? It's my short hand memory checklist before
publishing a blog post: Educate, Entertain, & Engage readers.

You write to educate, entertain and engage readers when you want to build readerships and get great results with your blogging.

When it comes to educating readers, it’s important to take a page
out of teachers’ notebooks. Teachers know that not all people learn the
same way.

Most of us teach in the style we’re most familiar with: our own
learning styles. If you’re analytical, you’ll teach using data. Your
blog readers will understand and learn well if they’re like you.

But not all readers are the same. Denise is an active experimenter. She wants to know how to do something and needs to try it out before she learns something.