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Time to rev up your blog

Promote your blog? How exactly? It’s not that hard to write an engaging blog. What people need to know is what to do with the blog.

The writer was clearly frustrated. He or she wanted a formula. A magic bullet. A wave of the wand that had not been delivered during a 30-minute webinar. The problem, of course, is that there is no simple way to attract and hold a reader’s attention when technology has packed our devices with more instant information, education and entertainment options than even Jules Verne’s time traveler could imagine as he zipped into the future from Victorian England.

But let’s not overlook the premise. Not hard to write an engaging blog? Simply not true. Given the clutter and competition, writers face a daunting challenge as they struggle to be relevant and relatable. So:

Get to it. Don’t make readers struggle to get your point. As a trusted colleague likes to say, The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Get with it. be relevant. Give yourself 75 words or less to answer every reader’s first question: Why should I care?

Get over it: Sure, be creative. Also be sure to respect people’s time. Helpful, charming and funny are good. Writing long because self-editing is tough? Bad.

Once you indeed qualify as engaging, the trick is to switch from creative writer to creative marketer. These days, that requires a mix of social media and old school soft skills. While technology and all those apps fluster many, this is really the easier piece. You will need to:

Focus: Define your goals. Are you out to start a movement? Influence young minds? Win fame? Whatever it is, each post should move the ball an inch or two down the field.

Be selective: Just as with writing, more isn’t better. Running too many social media sites diffuses your message, plus they’re tricky to maintain. Identify your target audiences, determine where and when they hang out, and pick your apps accordingly.

Look within: Find your unique voice. Make it resonate in every post, and use it in response to each reader comment. When it comes to word choice, you’ll also want to appeal to the search engines, meaning use common words and phrases.

Stay on the field: Ever love a TV show and then they killed it? You thought nothing could replace it and then something else did, and fast. Post once or twice a week, using all the above strategies, or forget about getting noticed, let alone followed.

Problem is, Twitter and the rest only get you so far. The time has arrived to add a handshake to your cyber-shake. This is where body language, smiling, eye contact, and the ability to deliver a short, compelling pitch enter the equation. It is also where many fall woefully short. Some tips to help when you SPEAK in person:

S (Start Strong) You’re a storyteller; start with an intriguing story. Or a provocative question. Or some amazing statistic.

P (Prepare) Practice aloud until you know your lines cold. Delivering with confidence will make you more memorable.

E (Energize) Like your stuff? Show it, and the audience will respond. This includes positive body language and smiling as appropriate.

A (Adjust) Everyone feels anxious. The trick is to channel your anxiety down the right alley. See yourself wowing the crowd, not messing up. Practice helps. So does deep breathing, visualizing success, and warming up beforehand. Did I mention practice?

K (Keep Steady) Make sure you know your main point, and that you deliver it with precision and clarity, both when you open and close.

The reality is that even great writers have trouble getting noticed. You have to be good on your feet as well as on the keyboard. These tips should get you going, but, sorry, there is no magic wand. Unless you’ve discovered one. In that case, please share.

Robert De Niro got lots of attention last May when he told graduates of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts they were screwed.

The verb he used was actually harsher, and followed by the suggestion that they would have done better majoring in law, medicine or nursing. The grads responded with peals of laughter. Perhaps they were acting.

While acting jobs may be scarce, De Niro could easily have been talking to journalism grads. Layoffs in Philadelphia, Boston, and elsewhere do not bode well for the college student laboring today at media internships or the school paper in hopes of building up some clips and covering city hall for a major daily.

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Twitter: don’t fix what ain’t broke

Some argue that social media has set back our writing and speaking skills and blasted our attention spans back to the Stone Age. Grammar? Punctuation? Proper abbreviations? Who cares, right?

Maybe. But communication coaches, writing instructors, and others who deal daily with clients and students who can’t find the point, let alone get to it, have a secret appreciation for Twitter.

Twitter forces the issue. Get out your message, and do it fast. Since 2006, Twitter has provided a platform for those who possess enough mastery of the language to make a point or pitch in a mere 140 characters. It has also outed those who can’t, or who don’t really have much to say.

Now comes word that Twitter might be rethinking its iconic character count. First reported by the tech outlet Re / code, word has spread fast about possible plans to allow longer tweets. This is a bad idea, like lowering the rims for those who can’t dunk.

The Chicago Tribune reminds us of how Twitter evolved and where the character count originated, while Slate adds more about the new direction the company may be considering.

Hopefully the watchword will continue to be brevity. Adept Twitter users have learned what editors have drilled into young reporters since news was carved on stone tablets. People are harried and in a rush. The kids, the car, the house and the dog all demand attention. And oh, yes, there’s also the boss.

There’s a time for a writer to build anticipation and ease into a story, and a time to deliver fast.

A good tweet is like the opening paragraph of a good news story. It delivers useful or interesting information, is timely and credible, and, above all, gets to the point quickly.

It has to, as the writer only gets so much space. At least for now.

No more delivery

If the words sound familiar, it’s because newspapers have been failing for a while. In Tucson, the Citizen is gone. Same for the Examiner in Baltimore, the Post in Kentucky, and the Tribune in Albuquerque, to name but a few.

For the full, depressing list, visit newspaperdeathwatch.com, which since 2007 has recorded the final breath of papers across the nation. Newspaper print ad revenues haven’t dipped this low since 1950, Slate.com reported last year.

The final edition of The Gazette hit our driveways in mid-June. Since then, life has gone on and no one seems too upset. But it would be a mistake to think nothing’s changed or been lost.

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Save 4/26 for Day of the Book!

Ten years ago a simple sidewalk literary event debuted in Kensington, MD, with a handful of authors and barely enough visitors to fill a subway car.

On April 26, more than 80 authors and a record crowd of 5,000 will be on hand to celebrate the International Day of the Book Festival’s 10^th anniversary.

I look forward as this year’s emcee to honoring the talent and tenacity of our authors and performers, and to rejoicing with all who still cherish the profound pleasure of reading.

The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Howard Avenue in Historic Kensington and will feature appearances by:

– Tim Tobin, author of, Your Leadership Story. Tobin explains how, by thinking of your career as a narrative – with a plot, characters, and an arc – you can become a more effective, insightful, and inspiring leader.

– Martin Goldsmith, author of Alex’s Wake: The Tragic Story of the St. Louis to Flee Nazi Germany and a Grandson’s Journey of Love and Remembrance.

– Chef Jonathan Bardzik, a Washington, D.C. cook and author whose culinary passion is exploring ingredients, techniques and flavors and sharing those adventures to help others find joy in their own kitchens.

– Major General Oleg Danilovich Kalugin, KGB (ret.), who will discuss his book: Spymaster: My Thirty-Two Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West.

Live music will fill the air courtesy of: The Nighthawks (root rock and blues); the Rock-A-Sonics (rockabilly, classic country, vintage rock ’n roll); and by Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings (chamber folk).

Festival founder Elisenda Sola-Sole says the celebration will include author readings, an open mic, activities for kids and adults, and “books, books books!”

All activities are free and will take place rivotril 2mg rain or shine along Howard Avenue in historic Old Town Kensington.

Come join us, and stay up to speed on the latest announcements here. 

What items define us in 2015?

What were Paul Revere and Sam Adams thinking 220 years ago when they packed a time capsule that would sit beneath the new Massachusetts State House? What clues about their state of mind should we take away from the newspapers, coins and other trinkets they placed in the little box?

In 1795, the U.S. was still a teenager struggling on many fronts. It would be nice to think Revere, Adams and William Scollay, a colonel in the Revolutionary War, made choices they felt represented hope, confidence and solidarity.

What would we put in a time capsule today? Peer 220 years into the future. What would we want the people of 2234 to know about us? What should they know?

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World Bank Group’s Marcelo Giugale talks TED

When it was over, the staff wanted to celebrate. Marcelo Giugale, however, wanted to debrief. After all, it isn’t every day that someone from the World Bank Group gives a TED talk.

On the other hand, Giugale, senior director of the WBG Global Practice on Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management, always likes to debrief.

It’s hard to calculate the time and effort that went into Giugale’s 10-and-a-half minute: “Putting a Face on Poverty.” Do you count the time he wrote and rewrote his remarks, sometimes agonizing over single words? Was “stupid” too much? Would “salivating” be misinterpreted?

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Join me Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Know one paying attention? Maybe it’s not your book; maybe it’s your pitch. Join me Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. EST for a free webinar on how to move toward the perfect pitch. You’ll leave with actionable steps you can put to immediate use, plus a few things to think about before you create – or recreate – your pitch. Oh, and don’t forget to bring your questions.

The webinar is free. Sign up here.

See you online Tuesday.

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Use news and seasons to push sales

If people spoke about your book the way they spoke about the news and seasons, you’d be high atop the bestseller lists laughing down at the rest of us.

Put that last part aside and think about how much conversation takes place about headlines, weather and holidays.

Why not leverage all that chatter in your marketing? As a former newspaperman, I’m constantly trying to link my novels to the hottest front-page stories. For instance, when the political scene heats up, I tell readers that Bootlicker will take readers “where C-SPAN is never invited – to back rooms where deals are cut, futures are plotted, and where right and wrong are not so easily defined.”

Maybe your story ties in to a desperate health crisis, or looks at life from the point of view of an oppressed people.  Does your novel include a horrific weather event? An oppressive regime? An official charged with driving drunk? A construction accident? A gay marriage? All of these scenarios come from current headlines.

I’ve also got an eye on the calendar, and a forthcoming tag line I hope will attract some attention: Stick a boot in someone’s stocking this holiday season.”

Try this. It’s fun and effective. And if you’re already at it, please share your top hits.

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