Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

10 Snappy Content Creation Strategies

2009-11-22T06:11:06-06:00

The prospect of writing on the web is daunting for some professionals, especially those that have years of graduate school indoctrination with theses, dissertations, and academic writing.

It's because writing short and snappy is better on the Web than long, convoluted, and detailed. Doctors and lawyers and other highly educated people like to be correct; sometimes that takes more than one sentence.

The problem is too much information distracts a writer from getting to point quickly and clearly. I'm preparing materials for a class I'm teaching to lawyers who want to master online marketing with content such as blogs, articles and ebooks.

I'd say it's a challenge for lawyers to be fast and to the point about most things, for fear of being wrong. But maybe that's stereotyping and I'm making assumptions. I usually do.

Nevertheless, I've made a list of 10 content creating strategies to help them write blog posts and articles for the Web, with an emphasis on being short and snappy.

Here are 10 steps that I'm sharing with them, to help anyone write faster, clearer, better.

Patsi’s Magic Time-Saving Content Creation Strategies

Get clear on what your expertise is.
Figure out which keywords you want to be found for.
Make a list of topics and subtopics. Topics would be the same as the categories on your blog, and if you have a book or thinking about creating one, think in terms of a table of contents.
For each chapter, or category, make another list of key points or how-to tips. Each tip would constitute one blog post, which could be expanded into an article. Generally, you'll have a lot to say about each key point, which is how you'll create many blog posts on each topic or tip. Use client stories to illustrate each unique blog post or tip.
Make a list of key resources you’ve found that have helped you develop your expertise in each sub-topic or chapter or category. Use the list to inspire new content ideas. These can be books, other blogs, websites. You’ll want to refer to them and cite them, link to them. These resources will inspire you with additional content that may be parallel yet different to your own approach. This makes you a go-to resource for your readers. If you’re using books, you can go deeper into the topic, and provide a historical perspective. You can also use a photo to illustrate a concept. There are excellent sites that provide compelling photos and illustrations like Shutterstock.com or iStockphoto.com.
Make a list of challenges your readers face. Ask your readers questions about this problem. This focuses the reader on the topic at hand and gets your readers engaged immediately.
What makes you mad about this topic? What makes your readers mad? (Make a list of these and use it as inspiration.) Going on a rant, when done respectfully, especially with humor, makes for a compelling read. Get tough, go out on a limb, stir things up. Don’t be boring, be controversial. (No one’s going to sue you…)
Use bulleted lists generously in your writing. This makes it easy for you to organize your thoughts, and makes it easy for readers in a hurry to scan.
Start your piece with a question. This will get you to the point right away, and more importantly, it will engage your reader to think.
End your piece with a question. This leaves your reader with something to think about, something to respond to, leave a comment about, or, you can ask them to share their experiences and ideas.

Since my content creation strategy involves making a lot of lists, you will begin to see everything in terms of 1-2-3 steps or key points. This is an important step in learning to become a more concise writer. (Secret: it’s a key factor in saving time in writing.)

What would you add to this list of lists? What are your tips for saving time when it comes to writing blog posts, articles, ebooks?

Making Readers Feel at Home: 10 Comfy Blogging Tips

2009-11-20T05:40:59-06:00

How long do readers stay on your blog? A minute? Two or three? Your site meter will tell you. It doesn't take long to read a blog post. And it's not the length of time that matters, it's what they do while they're there.

Do they read more than one post, more than one page? Do they check out your bio, easily find related info? Do they see your subscription form and sign up to get email updates to your blog?

Greet visitors to your blog as if they were visiting your home, welcome them in, offer them a comfortable chair, a cup of coffee, and ask them to stay a while. Ask them questions, ask them what they need.

Or do your blog readers whip through your site like they were at a 7-11 store just buying coffee? Here's a few tips for making your readers feel at home so they wanna curl up, stay awhile and keep coming back.

Looks matter. Go easy on the eyes. Blog design doesn't have to be hired out to an expert, although you can't go wrong if you do. While looking good is a matter of personal tastes, be wise. Don't clutter up your blog home with unnecessary stuff that distracts and confuses people.
Use photos to illustrate posts. You'll notice I make use of great photos and illustrations for every post, thanks to services like Shutterstock. A good photo says a lot, and makes your posts more compelling. It only takes a couple of extra minutes to find a good illustration for even the most abstract concepts. The reason this is important is that long blocks of text are daunting. You need to draw readers in with compelling photos that make the reader curious to find out more.
Start and finish your posts with questions. This puts the focus on the reader, what's in it for them. It will also help you get right to the point. No "I've been thinking about xyz..." Ask the reader what they've been doing about xyz.
Edit your posts before you publish to clean up errors in typing and grammar, and while you're doing this, link keywords to other related posts you've written about, link to other people and sites on the web, and include a few links to your website products pages, like your "how to hire me" page.
Vary the length of your blog posts. Sometimes give short snippets of information, with links to read more, other times, give readers an in-depth examination of a problem they have.
Use categories well, 2-3 for each post, no more. Make it easy for readers to find a specific subtopic of their choice.
Suggest related posts. Before you finish your post with a question or several questions to get them to think and leave a comment, give them a list of 2-3 related posts to read more on the topic.
Use bulleted lists and bolded subtitles to break up longer posts. Make it easy for readers to scan. Even though you want them to stay, give them information that's easy and quick to read.
Remind them how they can get more of you. You can suggest they read your bio, your how to hire you page, use your subscription form, refer to your other web pages. Just like a visitor to your home, you'll want to make sure they want to come back and stay for dinner sometime soon.

What else can you do to make readers feel at home? Last week I talked about creating a "here's my typical client, is this you?" page. Make it easy for readers to know they're in the right place, among people just like themselves.

Oh! Almost forgot tip #10, most important:

10. Get personal. You don't have to reveal much about your personal life, but people do business with other people, not with brands, not with companies. So you'll need to add the right amount of really authentic YOU into the mix. Just like a conversation. Some personal stories about how you can relate to the problems and challenges of your visitors/readers/people...

What else am I forgetting? A lot of these tips are available in the Content Marketing with Blogs ebook, which you can download for free from this page here, or download to your Amazon Kindle for $1.

I'm writing daily on this blog about how to use your blog for quality content marketing, so be sure to use the subscription form in the upper right hand corner to get email updates.

Attract Clients: Publish Your Ebooks on Kindle

2009-11-19T08:15:10-06:00

Do you have a book on Kindle? Why not? Did you know you can publish your books on Kindle for free, and sell them there?

This is another great way to attract clients, get known, gain visibility and credibility.

My husband has transformed himself into a novelist (Die Laughing, Future Schlock: 2047, and his 3rd novel will be Azteca) and while searching for publishing options, put his first book for sale through Amazon's Kindle store. It costs nothing to do this, it's great marketing, and so far he's sold several copies.

So I wondered if it would be possible to make my ebook Content Marketing with Blogs available on Kindle. It is, but you have to charge a fee.

You can buy it here for $1 and take it with you on your Kindle:

Content Marketing with Blogs: 4 Keys for Getting Spectacular Results

So my ebook, available here for free, costs $1 if you buy it through Amazon to download to your Kindle. Why would anyone spend $1 for a free ebook? Well, you can put it on your Kindle and read it while traveling.

Which got me to thinking, why can't other marketers with cornerstone content make their ebooks available as a Kindle book?

Each book submission is reviewed for acceptance, so I'm not sure you can have a lot of marketing in your book. To be safe, I took out any overt marketing pitches for the Kindle edition, but left in my company contact info.

It takes about 5 days to get the content reviewed and transformed into Kindle coding. Of course, just having it there doesn't do much, unless you promote it. But having a book on Kindle does lend visibility, credibility and provides a seamless selling platform. You keep half the revenues, Amazon keeps the other half.

Go over to Amazon Kindle and do searches for books in your field, see what you come up with. This may be another way to get viewers to read your stuff.

Don't have a Kindle yet? The price is much lower now, and the features on the new versions are really great. Go here to get more info on the new Kindle.

What Can You Stop Doing? 6 Steps to Becoming More Profitable

2009-11-18T09:38:00-06:00

What can you stop doing in your business? There's always too much to do, and if you're smart and ambitious, you're always on the look-out for new marketing tactics that will bring big results.

But you can't possibly use anything new if you're overbooked, overworked, and out of time.

Part of thriving in business has to do with keeping more of the money you make. How can you make your business more profitable?

The best tools and tactics can't make you more profitable if you don't have time to learn and use them.

You've probably already got too much to do. So what can you stop doing? How can you free up time to do what matters and focus on the things that count, that bring in results?

Take a look at your income: what brings in the best revenues? What are the sources of those client leads? How can you improve either the number of leads, or the conversion rates of leads to clients? How can you create more of those products or services that earn the most?
Take a look at your clients. Which ones could use other services or products? It's a well-known fact: it's easier to sell to someone who already knows, like, and trusts you. Think about including some upsell offers in your autoresponder messages.
Take a look at your work load and schedule. Which projects take up the most amount of time, yet bring in relatively small revenues? Which project takes little time, yet brings in good money? Do more of the latter, and cut down the time and energy on the former.
What can you delegate or outsource? Free up your time to do projects that produce income. Outsource tasks that won't cost a lot in freelance fees. Use low-cost yet dependable VA's such as those found in India. If you don't have someone you can count on, use a reputable VA; it's worth the higher fees to get a job done right the first time. (See MyFastype.com)
What should you learn to do because it's simple, fast, and would save a lot in fees? Some software has become so easy, it's worth your time to learn them. For example, I recently spent money learning a system for teleconferencing bridge lines and AudioAcrobat, and now I won't have to rely on someone else. The same goes for my KickStartCart: once you learn to use it, you can save a ton in fees by running it yourself. (Caution: first time users beware: it's worth hiring a great VA service like Terry Green's MyFastype.com if you are unfamiliar with these programs.)
Stop wasting time with social sites like Twitter and Facebook. I'm not saying social media is a waste of time, far from it. I'm just saying learn to use it wisely, for business, use feeds, aggregate the people you need to stay in touch with. Be smart, not just social. Limit your time.

I have a feeling that some of you spend too much time tweeting, emailing, telephoning, and not enough time posting quality blogs posts or creating cornerstone content.

And some of you are spending a lot of time preparing, learning, studying, taking teleseminars, listening to podcasts, getting ready for business.

You already know enough. You have expertise in your field. Hone in on creating products and services people can buy. Then communicate your core message to those people who have the problems you can solve.

Attract. Let people know you, like you, learn to trust you on your blog. Offer generous free content for download. Build up a list of interested people. Stay in touch with them.

Sell to them. Always overdeliver. Make your products and services small-medium-large. Be impeccable.

Profit. Keep on doing what's needed for your clients, to solve their problems, to help them.

If something you're doing in your business takes up your time, and it isn't falling into one of these three functions: Attract, Sell, Profit... then stop it. Stop doing it. Use the time for something that counts.

What can you stop doing?

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2009-11-18T07:22:56-06:00

How to Turn Your Blog Into a Content Genie...

2009-11-17T06:07:46-06:00

What's the difference between a blog and MyKnowledgeGenie? This turned out to be a great question yesterday in the interview with Milo Sindell, founder of the content-creating wizard.

Think about it...visitors arrive at your blog everyday, and they read whatever you've posted that day. If they aren't in a hurry, they'll scroll down the page and scan a few other recent posts.

Maybe what you've written this week is critical to your core message... or maybe not. Maybe you've gone off on a tangent and written something off the wall. Click...and bye-bye. (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

First impressions count, so you absolutely must have a key piece of content they can download before they go. This should be prominently displayed on your blog. (Look at this blog for a good example of this, at the top of the middle column you'll see a graphic image of an ebook Content Marketing with Blogs.)

MyKnowledgeGenie provides an easy way to quickly create cornerstone content that communicates your core message, educates your readers, and also markets your products and services.

Your blog is written in chronological order, with older posts scrolling down until they disappear into your archives. You can classify each post into a category, and this helps readers find the information they need. However, most don't search for information.

Other than your About page where your author information is posted, readers usually view 1 or 2 pages at the most. They are in a hurry and probably aren't going to spend a lot of time looking for what they need, trying to find your best stuff.

My Knowledge Genie helps you create the key piece of information you want your readers to know, and it does that in a logical order. Your blog doesn't do that.

I can't think of a better marriage than your blog and MyKnowledgeGenie.

MyKnowledgeGenie can be used to create cornerstone content for free. You only pay for the service if you're selling a "genie." When you do sell your content, they offer payment processing through Google or Paypal, and you keep all the revenues, there's no profit sharing. The fee for the service is either $5 or $25 depending on how many 'genies' you create.

There's also a feature that allows you to grant access to the 'genie' for a limited time, for example, a 3-month membership.

One of the things I like about MyKnowledgeGenie is the logical order. When you set up your table of contents, you decide what makes sense for your readers to know, and what order they need to know it in. This helps you organize your writing, and makes it easy and quick.

As Milo Sindell, the founder, says, "Everybody has a large body of knowledge they need to share with others."

What's your expertise? What's your cornerstone content? I suggest you go to the site and sign up for a free account. Start playing with it. I noticed that most of my content was already published on my blog, and it was a matter of pulling things out and putting them in an order that made sense.

If you've tried MyKnowledgeGenie, leave me a comment, and let me know if I can "test" it when it's ready.

Know Your Business Strengths: SWOT Your A-S-Ps

2009-11-16T06:14:33-06:00

The way I see it, being in business is hard. And fun. Even when you're working for yourself, you gotta do what you don't like doing. And you gotta have fun, or find a way to make it seem like fun.

Maybe that's true when you're working a job, working for someone else. When you're employed you have the right to bitch and moan, or think you do. Working for yourself, you expect it to be more fun, which of course, it isn't always.

You must attract, sell AND profit. For some, attracting prospects is the fun part. That's the blogging and social media part. Getting found, getting known, getting leads. Marketing, content marketing involves writing, branding, looking good and being everywhere on the Web.

For others, selling is fun. That's where you look at your product funnel, calls to action, the sales, the numbers, how many leads convert to clients, how much money, honey...

Making money is a big driving force for going into business, if not the biggest. Even when you love your work, if you'd do what you do for free, you can't do it for long if you're not making money.

Still for others, profits are the fun part. How much do you keep at the end of the day, how much do you invest back into the business, how much can you invest in learning, attending seminars, hiring a coach or mentor. Without profits, you'll have a good time, but won't stay operational for long.

Having fun is highly underated and devalued when it comes to business strategies and planning. If you're not enjoying yourself, you won't last at any endeavor.

This is why so many business coaches stress you should really know yourself well. I recently ran across this reminder, when I was reading Naomi Dunsford's Marketing School. If you haven't bought a copy of this funny yet smart ebook, do so now.

Naomi reminds us about the SWOT analysis, used for getting clarity about your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your business.

Strengths and Weaknesses are internal. They’re about you and your biz.

Opportunities and Threats are external. They’re about the outside world.

Strengths and Opportunities are the things going for you. Weaknesses and Threats are the things working against you.

When you know your strengths and weaknesses and you know the situational opportunities and threats you can make really smart decisions. When you don’t, you’re trying to make marketing decisions while knowing nuthin’ about nuthin’.

Take out a blank piece of paper and write down some things for each quadrant in a square table, strengths, weakensses, opportunities and threats.

Then, put each of these words into the four squares:

Attract
Sell
Profit

Which of your business attraction strategies are a strength? A weakness? Where are the opportunities? Threats?

What about your selling strategies? Profit strategies, take a look at each of these three business essentials and where you are strong, where you aren't.

Chances are, you're strong in the areas where you have fun, weak in the areas you don't have fun doing.

In any case, before you can take action where it is needed, you have to know where it is needed. This exercise will help you get clarity on where to spend your time, money and energy.

Want to actually DO this? Here's a SWOT analysis worksheet...Download SWOT Analysis Assignment

What Drives You? Your Business? Weekend musings...

2009-11-14T07:27:31-06:00

Have you spent a lot of time and money over your lifetime learning how to do something, like in your career or professon? In your sports? I sure have. I am driven.

Why do you do what you do? What drives you in your work?

I've studied a lot about what drives people to do what they do. Why do they keep on keeping on, in spite of mistakes, in spite of obstacles, in spite of a never-ending list of tasks and responsibilities and only so many hours in a day? Why do you? Here's why I persist...

Some days I feel disjointed and scattered. I play tennis and work on my forehand. I blog and work on finding interesting posts to share with my people. I research, read, and write about the brain and psychology, and how to keep healthy in spite of the aging process.

I do the food shopping for fresh veggies and fruit at low prices. I'm not a good cook but I try to put together healthy lunches and dinner for the hubby and I. I keep loose tabs on the family finances, and try to be mindful of the economy as well as the ecology in our world.

I feed our two lovely Maine Coon cats, Hewey and Dewey, and try to keep them purring. I outsource a lot of the cleaning and gardening, but still, it has to be monitored.

I stay in touch with a few friends and organize our social events, and plan our vacation to the beach at Thanksgiving. I'm learning Spanish, and figuring out Mexican laws and rules...

I'm spending most of my working hours online, on the computer, either communicating or learning about things.

Some days I feel like the teacher, other days I feel like it's my first day at school and I got here late. With all the different interests and responsibilities in my life, it's easy to feel like a split personality.

I suggest that it all ties together for everybody. All of your work tasks, family roles, hobbies, education, and skills all tie together to make you who you are, unique and different, and yes, special. You have to find out what makes you special. And tie that into your business, what makes your business special and unique.

Tennis has taught me a lot about managing anger and reactivity and focus and concentration. Working with computers and Internet marketing has taught me how to see details and examine my assumptions about how things work.

Writing has helped me organize thoughts and get to the point. Even organizing a teleseminar and using the shopping cart for broadcasting has taught me to slow down and double check numbers and links.

On the days when I have doubts about myself, I acknowledge this as normal, annoying, but necessary. It allows me to slow down and ask myself these questions:

Is what I'm doing worthwhile?
Am I learning something?
Will this allow me to have fun, now or at a later date?
Am I possibly helping someone who might struggle with similar things?

These questions always help me evaluate and tie together for me what really matters. It explains why I persist.

One of my favorite books is Driven, How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices, by Lawrence and Nohria. It says all humans are driven by these four basic drives:

The drive to acquire
The drive to bond
The drive to learn
The drive to defend

It's an interesting book using research from evolution, sociology, biology, psychology. Which of these drives is stronger for you?

My Knowledge Genie Teleseminar Update

2009-11-13T06:06:04-06:00

I type fast, really fast. I double check most links and numbers before hitting send or broadcast. Except yesterday...oops.

...sigh. I'm wiping the mud off my face. I'm rescheduling the call for Monday, November 16 at 4 p.m. ET with Milo Sindell. You can still register and get the recording. Heck, you can even come to the call and ask questions...this time I mean it... honest.

How to Make Your Readers Feel at Home...

2009-11-12T07:35:13-06:00

Do first-time visitors to your blog feel at home? How can your site visitors know if your stuff is for them?

Without wading through a lot of blog posts, it needs to be clear in the blink of an eye that your blog or website is written specifically for them.

How can you do that? A good tag line after the title of your blog helps.

Another way is to create a page listing your typical readers and clients.

Is This YOU?

I just added a page to this blog and you can see it in the navigation bar: Is This YOU? On the page, I describe some of the typical clients I've helped over the years.

The idea is to make it easy for readers to know if they're in the right place. Once they can identify with your typical person, offer them a seat and a cup of coffee... Let them know how they can stay in touch.

For example, many of my best customers have been doctors and lawyers, or other highly educated professionals, but there are also many coaches, consultants, artists and speakers.

The key is to identify their common needs or problems that attracted them to you.

Every Internet marketer will teach you to clearly identify your target audience of readers and buyers. But until you've been in business for a while, it's hard, really hard to know exactly who these ideal clients are.

What really matters to your readers?

You need to know what clients and readers value, what they really care about, and what keeps them up at night.

I struggled with knowing this for years and still do. I'm going over a list of clients this week, to see if I can identify patterns and common threads. What was it that attracted them to me and my services? I may do a client survey or send some emails...

The problem lies in the fact that clients are people and they're all different. Trying to figure out their patterns and emotional triggers and general demographics is harder than teaching a cat to sit up and beg for a bone.

Here's a tip... based on my intuition.

Your ideal clients are probably like you. You struggled with some things, learned how to solve a few problems, and one day you started helping others with similar things. You became an expert. You opened a business or accepted a job because you're passionate about these things.

I've worked with highly educated people with years of experience and walls full of achievement awards. They're pretty smart people, and they know their fields well.

None of them become stupid when they put up a website or blog and start to try to create an online business. It may seem that way at times, because the online world is a little quirky ...

Why Do You Do What You Do?

Some days I ask myself why I get up at 4 or 5 a.m. and write on my blog. No one pays me to do this.

I do this because I want to attract people who want to learn more about online marketing tips and tools and the value of content marketing. Some of them hire me, but most don't. Some of them get free information or inspiration and go on their merry way.

But a few contact me and ask for help. Most of them remind me of how I struggled with technology before it became more user-friendly. I know I can help save people time, energy and money with content marketing.

I do it because I know how much I struggled myself to learn how to market online. I found a few people who were really helpful to me. Some of them I paid a lot of money to, to learn from them, to be coached and mentored by them.

Every dollar I spent was an investment in myself. I earned it back because I learned to save time, energy and money in my business.

I learned how to attract, sell and profit online. I hope I can do the same for you. Subscribe to this blog by filling out the form in the upper right corner, and stay informed. More good stuff coming...

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