As a writer, I would love to say to you that all it takes to get your customer to buy is to use the right words. Of course, there is an element of truth in this; the right words do make an impact.

But…

The words are immaterial if the customer does not READ them.

In today’s over saturated media-rich world, everyone knows a little bit about marketing. And anyone who’s watched the hit TV show, Mad Men, runs the risk of becoming an instant marketing guru. I’m kidding about the guru, of course. I do want to ask you to think for a moment about what it takes to get YOUR attention. Think about the last time a magazine ad stopped you from turning the page, or better yet, caused you to turn back to that page for a second look.

Was it a burst of color or your favorite color? Was it a picture? Was it a graphic? Was it a really cool or unusual effect with text?

I can tell you what it was not. It wasn’t the actual content on the page. The written word must be read, absorbed, and comprehended before it grabs attention. So why is it that some people think that a plain-text e-mail marketing campaign is effective?

The professional Mad Men know better. All of those snazzy and downright pretty emails that show up in your e-mail box from the ‘big boys’ resemble a magazine page for a reason.

• Directed communication.
• Graphically Appealing.
• Easily understood.

Are your marketing e-mails fitting that description? With HTML, your email can look great and deliver results measurable in dollars gained. And HTML e-mail will still likely be the smallest expense in your marketing budget.

“Four out of 10 marketers reported that their email budgets in 2010 would increase” according to a December 2009 survey. A survey of retailers found that 88 percent list “e-mail as a high priority” for their marketing. Studies from the Direct Marketing Association predicted that spending on e-mail marketing in the USA would increase to $700 million in 2009.

If you are in business and you are not using the graphic enhancements that HTML e-mail gives to your e-mail marketing campaigns, then you are missing out on a truly cost-effective and potentially profitable tool.

One of the services WritingBytes offers is to create and implement HTML e-mail marketing campaigns. The package rate for HTML E-mail is $997 and I’ve been told by clients who value their time highly that it’s a bargain. And yet, I get questions—lots of questions—from other clients. Smaller clients. Start-up clients. Clients who also value their time highly but can’t yet afford to pay a professional to do what they can do themselves—with a bit of training.

Your questions have led to the creation of a course. It’s in two parts, the first for free. The Sexy HTML E-Mail Teleseminar will be held on Sept 29, Wednesday at 2 pm (Eastern US Time). It is free to all and I encourage anyone who is interested to register even if the time is inconvenient. I will be sending out the recording to anyone who registers. Following the tele-seminar there will be 8 hours of webinar delivered e-course learning available to a limited number of participants.

To learn more about using HTML to get the results you need and want from your e-mail marketing, click here to register today for this FREE tele-seminar. And if you don’t think the tele-seminar is for you, then please share the link with someone you know who can benefit.

What do you do when the well runs dry?

When you write for a living, whether it’s as a blogger, copywriter, novelist, screenwriter, or what-have-you, there’s not the luxury of being able to wait until the Muse happens to strike.

At least not if you like eating, drinking, wearing the socially acceptable amount of clothing, and having a roof over your head.

As writers, we’ve all had those blessed moments of being in The Zone. The words flow freely, almost tumbling over each other in their haste to come out into this world. Those moments when the work takes on a life of its own and ‘begins to write itself’.

Which is great when you are there. But what about the other times? The times when you’re being screamed at, put upon, and generally harassed by everyone to do/be everything? The times when The Zone seems a million-gajillion miles away.

What do you do then?

Let me suggest a few things.

1.  Change of scene

In her earlier post, What Do Dolphins Have to Do with Great Writing?, CaZ talks about receiving inspiration and replenishment from a walk at the beach, pacing a pod of dolphins while marveling in the uniqueness of every day.

You can do this too.

It may not be the beach, but relocating to wherever you find uplifting and restorative can be a great way of replenishing yourself. Where that place is – that’s up to you. Some find replenishing at the water’s edge, whether beach or riverside. Some find it walking in the woods, while still others find it in the hustle and bustle of the city.

It’s all good.

For myself, I go to the river with my husband and my dog. There, we walk and explore and have new experiences and meet new people, all of which serve to prime the writing pump wondrously well. The peace of the outdoors serves me well also, and I find some of my best work coming to me when I’m outside in Nature.

But what if I can’t go there right now, I can hear you say. The kids, dog, deadlines….

Don’t worry about it, I’d reply. If you can’t go there in person, go there in your mind. If it works for athletes-of-the-body, there’s no reason it can’t work for athletes-of-the-mind as well.

Take a moment, sit back, picture yourself in your replenishing-spot. Use as many of your senses as you can to set the scene. What do you see? What are the scents in the air? What sounds are in the background? Is there a tang in the air? What do you feel? How do you feel?

Take a few moments and just rest there. I think you’ll be amazed at how restoring even such a short trip  can be.

2. Change of media

If you normally write things out longhand, try using a computer. If you normally use a computer, try writing things out in longhand. If you normally type your pieces in, try using voice recognition software, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Change your paper. Change your pen. Stand instead of sit as you write. The key is change.

Change up how you do your work; do something different. Ruts are extremely non-replenishing.

3. Change of Attitude

Attitude can be your biggest asset or your worst liability. When you are closed in, freaking out, or otherwise possessed of a lousy attitude, it is very difficult to reach that space of creativity so necessary for truly good writing. (Regrettably, I speak from experience here.)

The good news-bad news of it is that your attitude is completely up to you.

Take a few moments for yourself; de-stress in whatever way works best for you. Meditation, aromatherapy, visualization, a few moments of simple silence, whatever you’ve found that helps you hit the ‘reset’ button on your thoughts and emotions. The time spent will be more than made up for by the increased productivity and creativity thereafter.

4. Change of task

There is a principle in psychology called sensory adaptation, which says that repeated stimuli tend to become unnoticeable after a while.

This is one of the many good reasons to work on more than one project at a time, so that you can switch back and forth between your projects to keep things fresh and moving forward. If you get to a place-of-stuck on one piece, switch it out for another.

Another way of switching things up, as the ever-Awesome Catherine Caine writes in her article titled Getting It Done – Heads or Tails, is to change genres altogether. Do some of the behind-the-biz things you’ve put off. Do a household task, like dishes, clothes, or clutter-removal. Do something that requires more physical than mental energy and watch yourself recharge.

Keep moving. Keep up the momentum. Action is All. Right Actions doubly so.

Again, the time you take will be more than repaid. Truly a well-made investment in yourself and your work.

5. Be Open to Possibility

This relates back to #3 – ‘Change Your Attitude’. If you are stuck in one place, allowing for the possibility of change makes it considerably more likely that change will, in fact, occur. Otherwise, you frequently find yourself in the bizarre place-of-stuck called ‘doing the same things the same way and somehow expecting a different result’.

Not at all replenishing, that place.

6. Change Your Perspective

There is a technique in the energy-working world where you tie yourself to your desired result and let go of the details of how you will get there. See the result; feel the result, act ‘as-if’ the result were a truth already, bringing it to life in your mind as clearly as you can.

This can be a good way of replenishing yourself as well. Picture your article, post, novel, script both done and done well. What does that look like? Sound like? Feel like?

Take a few moments to enjoy the fruits of your victory in advance – then get back to working to make them real.

That last bit is critically important, especially when you get really rocking and rolling with the visualization. I’ve had a few times where I’ve done my visualization work a bit too well and forgotten that I wasn’t actually there yet!

And finally…

7. Remember why you do this

I believe that writing can be a joy, whether you get paid in warm fuzzies or cold cash.

As CaZ said to me in the e-mail confirming this gig, “For us, the chance to take that walk on the beach with the dolphins and bring it into the business world is what makes this all worth pursuing.”

She goes to the beach.

I go to the river.

Where do you go?

Birdy Diamond blogs about inspiration, encouragement, and ‘positive, productive feather-ruffling’ at An Encouraging Bird. Along with her husband, Mike Diamond, she blogs about life as a channel and some of the interesting beings they meet along the way at CrowTarot Tours .

A Surprise Beginning to My Writing Day…

One of many reasons I love living on a beach is being able to start my day by walking a couple of miles in the surf. Yes. Surf. None of this loose sand for me. I want the hard pack with the waves lapping at my ankles and knees.

Today was special. A bit foggy; enough so that only the barest sliver of sunrise poked through at the horizon and everything else was coated in a light misty gray. I walked to my usual halfway point and stopped for a moment to admire the waves before beginning the return jaunt. And right in front of me this magnificent (longer than I am tall!) dolphin crested the surface and rolled back with a tiny splash into the water. And right behind him were two more; side-by-side arching out of the water and back in; gracefully gliding in a trolling undulation that anyone who has ever seen swimming dolphin recognizes.

I clapped my hands in glee and laughed aloud like a 5-year-old.

Of course, now that I had spotted them, I kept watching for each to re-emerge. I was not disappointed. In fact, I walked the entire mile back to my home in pace with the dolphin pod.

Today, I walked with dolphins.

Writing can be a similar experience. When communication is your business, putting words together can too easily become routine—and routine is not good when applied to writing. Routine writing is boring and ineffective. Good writing is like returning from a walk on the beach without a treasured new sea shell or piece of driftwood—that is as routine as writing should ever get.

Good writing is as fluid and changeable as the ocean. I never walk the same beach twice even though I traverse the same sand every day. The ocean’s never ending waves berating the shore make new patterns out of old every day.

Great writing is like taking a walk with the dolphins. It doesn’t happen every day, but when it does, it’s a natural and healthy high—it’s the reason most writers continue to write. Once you’ve walked with the dolphins, you want that experience again.

The day is young. I can’t wait to find the next great phrase waiting to reveal itself like a dolphin cresting the water and dipping back in only to reappear again and again…

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” –Isaac Asimov

In a perfect world, every writer would be as talented and prolific as Isaac Asimov. In reality and contrary to widely-held opinion, it takes more than typing skills to write. Not very person is meant to be an author. Fortunately, even in a less than perfect world, many are.

Is your business searching for the right professional to deliver the right words? Sometimes a business needs a professional to write, other times it doesn’t. How do you know when to hire? How do you know who to hire? And how do you recognize a good writer?

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Clearly, you do not want a bug when lightning is needed. Your first task is to recognize when you need a writer.

When to hire…

Is this you?

Your business is not writing. In fact, you find it tedious and troublesome to write. You would rather go to the dentist every day for a month than have to produce the kind of good, effective words your business needs.

…then you know the answer to when to hire a professional to write. It’s now.

Or maybe this is you?

Time is money. You can write. You know the topic. You don’t even mind writing and actually enjoy it. It is the hours that it takes that you mind. There are already too few hours in a day.

…then ask yourself what your time is worth and recognize that it is time to hire a professional to write for you.

Does this ring a bell?

Clarity and action are what you need writing to deliver for your business. You can write. You know the business inside and out. You know how to get the message out. But is it enough? Your business competes for your customer’s time and attention against your competitors and also against a vast media-saturated world.

…then it is time to hire a writer. Your stuff has to grab the reader’s attention, hold it, and get action.

Once you recognize that a writer’s skill is needed, it is time to consider what you expect from a writer.

Features of a Good Writer…

“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne

Technical skills (spelling, punctuation, grammar) play a minor role in identifying a good writer and good writing. Pay more attention to the soft skills. These subtle indicators are infinitely more valuable to you.

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” –Elmore Leonard

Does the writer’s writing engage you? Bored readers will click to another site in a nanosecond. Good writers know they must hook your readers from the first sentence and not allow distractions along the way.

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne

Is there a logical flow to the concepts being discussed? Is there a story that can be followed? A good writer has an organized mind and is able to convey clarity through order and logical progression—all the while keeping readers engaged.

“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” –James Michener

Is the prose succinct? Less is more. Good writing isn’t written, it’s rewritten; it’s edited. Good writers prune their prose to cut extra words and phrases. Good writers deliver one word when one word will do.

“Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.” –Sharon O’Brien

Does the writer have experience in the type of writing you need? Good writers are versatile. Yet writing effective marketing collateral is not the same as writing a product page. Experience counts. Good writers will deliver quality writing in many topics, formats, and genres and are not one-trick street performers.

Hire this writer…

Of course, WritingBytes is the obvious choice. We truly hope that you will consider our services and that we are a good fit for your needs.

However, this article is about helping YOU know when, how, and who to hire for your business writing projects. Who should you hire? The writer who can demonstrate ability to deliver in all of the ways we’ve discussed here. And who can deliver in one more critical area—as a person you connect with.

Your writer is going to interpret your message for the rest of the world. It is important that you be comfortable sharing that message with your writer and that your writer be able to understand and internalize your message.

And remember what Enrique Jardiel Poncela said so clearly, “When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.” When you need a writer, please hire a writer. Good writing is not a DIY project.

Words and Music Lead to Bookings

“My gig is music. Me and my band work six months a year on cruise ships. It’s good work, but all that travel keeps us out of circulation shore side. Before CaZ came along, I spent 2 or 3 months of my shore time looking for work. I need to manage bookings for my band, even if we’re sailing around the world.” –Jerry, Professional Musician

My Side of the Story

Jerry is a hoot to work with. He has a unique world view and loads of talent. Results are important to him, not the how. That is why he came to WritingBytes. Jerry knows that we care about the details.

I knew right away we needed to get him online with a website. We created a travel blog for Jerry. He called and told me a different story every week about his travels. I wrote it up as an article. He sent pictures of his band playing music all over the world.

Words and music created exactly the connection Jerry wanted with his fans and clients back home. When he left the ship for six months living shore side, Jerry had five of those months already booked with work.

WritingBytes knows that words are the vehicle that exposes your business interests in the online world. And yet, making viewers aware of your web presence is only the first step. WritingBytes provides the words to turn website viewers into customers.

Our services target effective communication solutions to your online business challenges.

Jerry

“CaZ knows her stuff. We were fully booked for our shore side season two months before we left the ship. CaZ made that happen and boosted band revenue by 40%.” –Jerry

Creating a Secure Online Employee Resource

“I came out of the meeting ready to take on the world. Everything was coming together and I was already counting the money this project would put into my bank account. There was one hitch that I had to sort out. I can’t write myself out of a wet tissue. So I sent a text to CaZ at WritingBytes and booked her right away.” –David, Human Resources Consultant

My Side of the Story…

David is articulate and busy and values good writing. When he described the project, creating an online learning environment for one of his big business clients, I was immediately caught in his enthusiasm.

Of course, enthusiasm aside, there were challenges. Biggest one? We had to rewrite several really boring training manuals into the fresh and lively voice the client wanted for their new online employee resource. What did the client say they liked best about the finished product? The writing and the interactive, multi-media features we added.

WritingBytes will always write it for you-in your voice. You provide the ideas. We’ll do the research, the writing, the editing, and if necessary, even the website. We help you make the connection between where your business is and where you want it to go.

“That money I was counting? Came through. My take was five figures AND the client signed on for another 80K contract. Thanks, CaZ!” –David