Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Newsletters, Social Media, Blogs:
What’s Best?

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Newsletter Nuggets Ezine

Have blogs and social media replaced e-newsletters? In a poll I did with professionals who publish a newsletter, people shared that they still send out regular e-newsletters, and told me why their subscribers like getting news:

“It helps me stay connected and it provides me with thought provoking ideas, and useful tools to be successful in life.”

Ask other professionals if they’re getting results from an e-newsletter, and then judge for yourself if it’s worth the time and effort (and money). Here are other comments I received:

“I just met with the COO at a company where I’ve been coaching. He told me that the employees (the ones I coach) forward him my newsletter. He said, ‘They want me to read it because they feel the content is often pertinent to what’s going on at the company.’ There are over 100 employees at this company and I’ll soon be asking if I can send everyone my newsletter.”

“The newsletter is an intimate way to stay in contact with clients and a non- threatening resource for potential clients to learn more about me and how my coaching can help meet their needs.”

“It has heightened awareness, helped build our brand and brought in inquiries, referrals and requests for information.”

“… when it goes out, I always receive emails from people I don’t usually hear from, telling me how much they enjoyed reading it, found my information timely and applicable, and in general, thanking me because they look forward to receiving it.”

“… when at business functions, I will often have someone say to me ‘I know who you are, I get your newsletter.’ I believe it keeps my name and what I do ‘out there.’ I see my newsletter as contributing to
my success. It makes a statement that speaks to my brand.”

Tags : Attracting Clients, Content Marketing, e-newsletters, newsletters, Online Marketing

5 Goals for Your Blog & Website…
and One Big Challenge

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

What goals have you identified for your blog and website? What do you want your blog to do for your business? No really, it’s not as obvious a question as it might at first appear.

I’ve been working with executive coaches and consultants for well over fourteen years now, helping them improve how they show up on the Web. In that time, I’ve seen a number of changes to the way websites look and function. It doesn’t matter if you use a traditional website, or a blog, or a blog as a website, the principles are the same.

Yet many professionals aren’t clear about their content marketing goals; their website and blog goals and expectations are vague. I made some notes for one client and thought I’d share them with you here. I came up with 5 goals your site should strive to accomplish in the first minute or two. One of them is a big challenge… Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog content, blog traffic, content marketing with blogs, search engine savvy, web traffic search traffic

Simplify Your Blog Writing:
Shortcuts to Publishing a Leadership Blog

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

How’s your blog writing going? Snap, crackle and publish? Or are you a little blocked, maybe even constipated?

Do you feel dread and overwhelm when it’s time to post on your blog?

You may offer great solutions and services for your clients, but if you don’t simplify your blog writing tasks and publish frequent, compelling content, you won’t get great content marketing results.

In a blog post last week I shared that the two most common statements I hear about blogging are: Read More→

Tags : blog content, blog marketing, blog writing, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, Shortcuts

Blog Goals: 5 Tips to Keep Your Blog
Focused and on Track

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, How to...Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Writing Great Blog Content

Is your blog focused and on track? Do you find yourself saying, “I don’t have enough time to blog,” or “I don’t know what to write about?”

Guess what? These two questions are related to the same problem: not enough clarity about blog goals. Here’s how I help my clients solve this problem of clarity:

Define your business Ps & Q – (3Ps + 1Q):
=> What Problem do you solve?
=> Who are the People you serve?
=> What Products and services do you offer?
=> What makes you uniQue??
Create a course outline or a table of contents as if you were writing a book or teaching a class on this problem, i.e., your expertise.
Make a list of keywords, categories and topics you’re qualified to write about and that must be addressed to solve the problems of your readers.
Make an editorial calendar for each day of the week you’re going to be blogging. Make sure you cover all the topics and categories, and that your keywords are repeated frequently in posts and titles (search engine optimization).
Make a weekly blog schedule to include writing the content, sharing it on social sites, researching and commenting on other blogs, and formatting, editing, linking, etc.

Don’t underestimate the time it takes for all the peripheral upkeep of blogging. Maintaining a successful blog takes more time than just writing a post. And it almost always takes longer than the 30 minutes required for writing.

Are you focusing on client needs?

Tags : blog content, blog writing, how to start blogging

Content Marketing Graphic:
What’s Missing in this Visual?

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

I ran across this great slide share about how content marketing works on Vizedu from Sandeep Arora, but there’s something missing. Don’t get me wrong, I love this explanation of what content marketing is, how it works, and the difference from traditional marketing.

In order for your readers to find you, read your content, and remember you, you’ve got to grab their attention, spark an emotional engagement, and get them to take action.

How do you do this? Read More→

Tags : Content Marketing, content marketing graphics, content marketing tips

How Winning the French Open is like Writing a Business Blog

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, How to...Tips

Success, whether it is winning the French Open or writing a business blog, is half persistence, half-sweat.

Rafael Nadal dominates on clay courts and has the world record number of wins: the last eight of nine French Opens. Earlier this season Nadal was struggling, and some are saying that he won’t be successful with a win this year. But consider this:

Nadal has a superb serve: 177 aces and 83 double faults in the last nine years.
He is quick on the clay and can get ahead of the best shots.
Nadal was trained early in life on clay courts and knows how to use the slow speed and the unpredictability to surprise his opponent.
He has a winning fore-handed topspin.

This is very similar to writing a successful business blog. You’ve got to:

Start with a strong serve –Include a keyword in the title and first sentence of your blog post, and make it compelling. Your title and first sentence may be the only thing a reader sees in a feed.
Be agile and quick – Anticipate when it’s time to move on to a new topic. If you don’t, your readers already have.
Mix it up – Write with a different voice or perspective. If you’re always positive and cheery, write a negative post and criticize some commonly held practices or beliefs. People won’t keep reading if you don’t surprise them.
Deliver winning shots –Stay on topic, be relevant, and always keep your reader and their needs in mind.

When it comes to winning the open or writing a successful blog, the most important thing is to never give up – stay in the game. Your ability to refocus your writing and get back on track even when you don’t feel like it, will pay off in the long run.

Nadal knows this. He won’t let his past struggle undermine his current focus.

Tags : blog content, blog writing, business blogging

Content Marketing by Blogging: Consistency is the Name of the Game

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

Content marketing through blogging is like playing tennis. You get results through consistency, practice and persistence.

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 quality, relevant content within the lines of your readers’ needs?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently returned from tennis camp in Texas. It was great: I played good tennis, and all the players that were there were good. As my playing improved through the week, I thought of how it applies to content marketing– specifically, blogging.

Persistence and control is the name of the game. My weak spot can be impatience: if I get impatient in a rally, my energy turns to aggression, and 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 keywords that drive results for your business, mixing information with stories, always keeping the reader in mind. Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog writing, content marketing with blogs

6 Easy Blog Posts You Can Write to Attract Readers

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Attracting Clients, Writing Great Blog Content

One universal truth about blog readers is that fresh content will keep them coming back and reading your blog again and again. But there are so many kinds of blog posts that attract readers that it’s hard to choose. Too many choices lead to blog blocks. Here are six types of blog posts you can write easily and quickly.

We’ve talked endlessly about what to do when you’re in a blogging slump and how to come up with new content. So now, let’s talk about some types of blog posts that your readers might like to see: Read More→

Tags : Attracting Clients, blog content, blog writing

Success Secrets of a Writing Career:
WOOT & WOOF

By Patsi Krakoff in About Expert Ebooks, Content Marketing, E-Books, On Writing Better, Writing for Others, Freelancing, Writing for the Web

Some say success for a writing career is a question of attitude. You simply put on your super-hero cape and think positively… I say ‘hogwash!’ Thinking doesn’t drive results.

There is no secret ‘law of attraction’ for achieving a writing career. A success mindset helps you tap into energy, but unless you get into action, all you’ve got are dreams.

Dreams come easy for writers, too easy. Take any writing assignment, either for yourself, your own business, blog, or ebook, or one for a paying client. Chances are, you’ll spend as much time dreaming about the piece as you will actually writing it.

Recently I read a good post about “The 5 Qualities You Need to Successfully Self-Publish Your Book,” by Nina Amir on The Future of Ink blog. She suggests adopting an “author attitude” of WOOT, from The Author Training Manual.

This clever acronym suggests five attitudes for successful writers: Read More→

Tags : blog content, blog writing, Content Marketing, content marketing with blogs, expert ebooks