Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

Blog Banners: Looking good is everything…

It’s all about Blink and Trust, according to an article I wrote earlier this year.

Blink means the impression you make in the first few seconds; Trust is everything else that is consistent and builds up the impression that you know what you’re talking about and can be relied on to do what you say.

So it’s worth every penny to invest in getting a professionally designed banner for your blog. Denise and I use Heidi Frieder of ArtHead.com to create all our Blog Squad banners, graphic images, and other design work.

We recommend her highly. Denise tells me she works almost exclusively by word-of-mouth referrals, so please tell her we sent you.

Patsi Got a Brand New Blog… and a vicious virus

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

Well, it looks like a brand new blog, doesn’t it? I have to say, it’s all due to an extraordinary graphic designer we use occasionally to do banner and graphic image work. I’m going to tell you about Heidi as soon as she gives me permission.

After our recent teleseminar about the importance of good blog design, we had to walk our talk and get this blog a makeover. Our students with our Better Business Blogging course are learning and so are we.
(Info about this sold-out class, in case you want to join our next one: www.boostyourbusinessblog.com.)

Is this why I haven’t posted in 5 days? No. I was attacked by a vicious virus. No, not my computer, it’s safe! That would also be really painful…

I’ve been sick with Shingles! So painful, I was not able to work, or even write. If any of you have had a bout of this Chicken Pox virus, let me know what to expect…

I considered chewing my right leg off to get rid of the pain, it got that bad. Thank goodness for pain meds… it took 3 doctors, 8 needle pricks, a cat scan, an xray, and 10 days until finally getting the right diagnosis and treatment.

Denise, my wonderful partner was ready to sell me off on eBay, I’ve been totally non-responsive and foggy-brained. But she didn’t think she could get much for me…

Social Media: Paradise for Introverts and Writers…

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Online Marketing

Like most writers, I consider myself a card-carrying introvert. When they invented work-at-home from your computer, I felt like I’d gone to Heaven.

Now along comes "Social Media" … and to tell the truth, it’s still an introvert’s paradise! What a great way to network. Besides the fact there are no breakfasts to eat and business cards to exchange with insurance agents and car salesmen, it’s really a fun way to connect with other people and get your business known.

Quite frankly, I was a big smirker when people talked about Facebook. But I’ve come to love it… here’s why…

Social Media and Social Networking are no longer considered fads. To
have a successful business in this day and age, you must be
willing and able to leverage online tools like blogs, video,
podcasting, and social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace.

If this feels a tad overwhelming, I don’t blame you. There’s a lot
of information to keep up with. How do you make an intelligent
decision about what tools to use for YOUR business?

That’s why the Social Media Telesummit is going to be an important event to attend on your telephone.

Writing Rituals: 5 Ways to Be More Productive

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

Do you ever get ebook envy? Have you ever had this great idea for an ebook, only you didn’t write it down, you just thought about it, and put it off until "one day?"

Well, it’s too late! Nick Usborne just brought out the best writing productivity tips you can download and read immediately:

Writing Rituals: A productivity guide for commercial writers and copywriters.
5 Rituals to help you write faster and smarter – and make more money.

This is a great book on how to write faster, better, and be more focused. Anyone using their creativity to make a living recognizes how hard it is to write for deadlines. And how easy it is to allow distraction to take over the brain. Find out the anti-dote and banish distractions. You won’t want to miss out on this gem.

Valentine’s Day: Gimme some love…no? Okay then, show me the money!

By Patsi Krakoff in Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

It’s amazing how many Valentine’s Day email promotions I’ve been getting this week. I guess the marketers must really love me.

Not that they’re copying The Blog Squad, but we are having our 3rd annual V-Day sale… and this time Denise really went a little nuts, offering 81% off our library of 8 teleseminars.

And if that weren’t enough, she said just in case some people already had the teleseminars or attended them already, then let’s throw in some bonuses that are too good to pass up!

If you remember last year, we had the same fight…she wanted to offer 50% off our products and I accused her of giving away the store. She won out. In the end, everybody won ‘cuz people got some incredible deals and we got a little extra cash.

So we’re offering to show you a little love AND save you some money with this one day only sale:
Get 8 Teleseminars with Online Marketing Experts, 2 Bonuses, 2 Chances to Win plus $568 in savings

P.S. You get a chance to win a free blog makeover too!

Are You Famous Yet?

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

Are you the only one doing business in your niche? I didn’t think so. So how do you get the attention of your ideal clients and the media?

If you’re in a niche that is crowded — for example, life coaches, health and wellness experts, or financial advisors — it’s getting harder to differentiate yourself.

The solution? Get "slightly" famous!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 we’re interviewing Steven Van Yoder, author of Get Slightly Famous,
for our Blogging and Beyond Mentor Program. The program has a ton of learning materials for small businesses and professionals who want to use the Internet to get known and make money.

Each month we present experts who reveal things you need to know to grow your business.

This program is about how to
create and manage your online reputation and is for members only: anyone can join and attend this important class with our $9.95 30-day trial.

Biz Blog Writing: 6 Questions you should answer before you write a word…

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

Many of The Blog Squad’s clients are enthusiastic to get started blogging. But we tell them to slow down and think before they write.

Just because you’ve got a new pair of shoes doesn’t mean you can go out on the dance floor and hip-hop with the Stars…

Before you write a word on your blog, sit down and write out your answers to these questions:

Be really clear about why you’re blogging, who your ideal reader is, and what your core message and/or theme is. This will help you stay on target and not meander off topic.

Why are you blogging?
Who is your ideal reader?
What is your core message/theme/philosophy?

Blog Squad Events: What we’re teaching in February

By Patsi Krakoff in Online Marketing, Teleclasses & Seminars

Ever feel like you don’t know what month it is, let alone what day? I have to write these things down otherwise I’ll miss showing up! Good thing these are all delivered by phone so I can still be in my tennis clothes…Here’s a quick tour of what you can learn with us in February…

Today, February 7, our mentor, Tom Antion is hosting a teleseminar on how to create video landing pages.
He’s presenting this timely program with Mike Stewart The Audio Video
Guy. You always get more than you pay for on Tom’s classes and I’m sure
this will be no exception. You also get a free CD of the class when you register
so if you can’t make the live event, you won’t miss a thing. We’ll
definitely be there since video continues to be all the rage and it’s a
medium we’re working on mastering.

February 13: We’re interviewing Steven Van Yoder, author of Get Slightly Famous,
for our Blogging and Beyond Mentor Program. This program about how to
create and manage your online reputation is for members only and anyone can join and attend this important class with our $9.95 30-day trial.

February 21: Social Media TeleSummit.
This is an 8 day event featuring 26 sessions all about social media and
how you can use it for your business.

Healthy Hearts for Women…

By Patsi Krakoff in Fun and Irrelevant Things About Patsi, In the News..., Patsi's Story

It’s American Heart Month in February. I normally don’t post about such things here, but being aware of how fragile the heart can be is crucial. Here’s why…

In April 2005 I just got back from a trip with my husband to Singapore. The return trip was grueling and took 22 hours. I noticed I couldn’t sleep but marked it off to insomnia. The next day at home I woke up with a severe headache and vomiting. Thinking I had picked up some sort of Asian bug, I took a taxi to the doctor’s.

The doctor put a stethoscope to my heart and immediately called an ambulance. My heart had gone into fibrillation, a kind of spasm. I spent 18 hours in the Emergency room at the hospital.

Here I was a healthy, athletic woman with low to average blood pressure and no weight problem or history of heart problems. I never had a clue that this was a serious sign of heart failure. I thought I had just eaten something funny.

Women experience different heart symptoms than men when having a heart attack. If I had just waited it out at home, it could have been a very different story.

Be sure your heart is healthy with regular check ups, a healthy diet and good exercise! Mama Patsi says so…;-)

If you’d like to contribute to the American Heart Association, here’s a cute red dress pin they’ve created to celebrate the 5th year of their Heart Awareness program for women… The Heart Truth for Women Campaign…

Email Marketing: a list of resources

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks

I don’t publish much anymore about ezines and email marketing. Not that they aren’t important; they are. It’s hard to keep up with the tech side of this knowledge base. I’d like to direct you to a list of resources for newsletter and email marketing, everything from testing, deliverability, design, spam, etc.