I Write The Words

Focusing on Focus

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:15:34 +0000

One of the problems people have when they write is focus. A lot of people are great at putting words on the page, but they lack a central idea, a purpose. In fact, without determining our focus, we frequently miss the point.

Here are ways to help you focus your writing:

Think about the central point. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to sell something, change an opinion, express a thought?
Find three things that support your point. For example, if I’m writing an article about a great seminar that you should attend, I need to give you three solid reasons about why this seminar will help you.
Make sure that your supporting ideas benefit your reader. For the seminar, I can tell you that you’ll learn to make your writing clear and concise, but I need to point out that concise writing connects you with your readers more effectively.
Next, start writing. This is not the time to edit. Allow writing to be a creative process. Even with your focus and three supporting ideas, you may find yourself wandering. This can be good. You may discover better supporting ideas or ways to strengthen your central point through the creative process.
Take what you’ve written and read it. Does it make sense? Are your ideas cohesive? Do you keep jumping from one thing to another?
Edit it. Move sentences, paragraphs, even entire sections around. Find your most compelling points, your strongest sentences, and your best words. Use these to create and support your point.
Take out two-thirds of what you’ve written. Okay, maybe not two-thirds, but be merciless. Good writing is clear and concise.
If you don’t have quite the right word, use a thesaurus. The goal isn’t to use “big” words; the goal is to use clear words. A thesaurus is the place to find synonyms that provide a slightly different meaning when a word doesn’t quite fit.
Always understand and focus on your central point.
Read what you’ve written out loud. If it still needs work, keep editing.
If you can, set it aside for a while, then reread it. You’ll find that typos and problems you didn’t notice before will jump right out at you.

Now, take a look. Isn’t that better?

The Universe Delivers

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:06:15 +0000

For the past several years, I’ve been hearing a common cry: “Focus on what you want, and the universe will deliver.” I think this is a little simplistic. Instead of assuming that the universe simply delivers, could it be that by focusing on what we want, we actually move ourselves in that direction?

We start thinking about what we want. Talking about what we’re doing. People start hearing about us, about our business. And amazingly, opportunities start to appear. And since we’re ready, we can take advantage of the opportunities. We gain direction, momentum; all of the wonderful things that we need to move us toward our goals and make us successful in our business.

Yes, the universe has delivered. But the universe is out there ready to deliver at any time. We just need to be listening.

Be notorious about what you want, then be watchful. The universe is the best connector of all time. You just need to be prepared when it throws something your way.

Writing For Others

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:52:50 +0000

In my business, I write for others – web content, marketing materials. Whatever it is, I’m writing up information to get the word out about my clients.

So, when someone else writes for you, how much disclosure do you need?

Most people don’t expect business owners to write all of their own website content or marketing material. Boilerplate templates, website designers and marketing people do that. But as a business owner, you are certainly responsible for the content that is on your site – whether it’s marketing material or not.

But what about your blog? If you have a blog are you required to write your own material? Or if you have a ghost blogger, do you need to disclose that to your readers?

As the fight for search engine ranking continues, blogs appear to be a great way to get there. So the idea of hiring others to write your business blog for you really isn’t much of a leap.

But what about our readers? Do blog readers actually expect that business owners write all of their own blog entries?

In a world that’s pretty much driven by marketing, it’s scary if you believe that people are that naive. But regardless of what readers believe, the ultimate burden of content needs to be on the blog owner. The material you provide should have value for your readers and it shouldn’t misrepresent what your business is capable of doing.

Facebook – The Posts That Matter

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:30:47 +0000

What’s the future of Facebook. I don’t mean: “Will it be here in five years”? It probably will. Of course, it might not. But if it is here, it won’t be the way it is today, or even what it is today. It will be something completely different that’s still trying to grab our attention. But whether it’s here or not, what’s going to happen to all of our posts and comments?

Since most of what I post on Facebook is for my business, many of my posts are forwarding information or commenting about what’s going on in the big wide wonderful world. Not stuff that I’ll actually care about in five years. Probably not even stuff that I’ll care about next week.

What I’m really wondering about is the posts where people are documenting their lives or their children’s lives on Facebook. Maybe without even realizing it.

I know one new mother who is frequently posting about her newborn son. It’s beautiful, and I love to hear about his progress and see the pictures of him with different friends and family members. But what is going to happen to all of this information? Will it be on Facebook when he’s 10, 15, 20? Will his mother be able to take all of her posts, all of the comments, and put together a DVD showing him how much he is loved?

I don’t know what Facebook’s plans are for archiving everything, and I’m not such a prolific poster that I’ve tested that envelope or have any plans to. But I find it hard to believe that Facebook will keep an infinite record of everything that’s posted.

After all, a lot of things on Facebook are throw aways. There will be records and commentary about today’s economy, politics and deficits years from now. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the ability to capture the posts that actually matter? Anniversaries, pictures, events – things about friends and family. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to separate the special from the boring things that we all post every day.

Creating Your Unique Value Proposition

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:28:03 +0000

For years, people have talked about the idea of a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) or a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). But it’s hard to be unique since we compete against so many others who are offering similar services. Instead, I’d encourage you to think about what you do for clients that’s different and better than your competition.
Ask yourself this simple question: “What do your clients like about you?” In other words, what do they value?
Of course, most of us get this wrong. We believe that our client’s appreciate us because we’re honest with them, we are better at getting through the red tape, we listen to them. But this isn’t what they value. They value the benefits that these behaviors give them.
Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about what you give to your clients.
If you’re honest with your client, if you give it to them straight, what’s their benefit? It’s learning the truth. Knowing what’s really going on. If you’re better at getting through the red tape, then they get an advocate who will work hard to push their project through. If you listen to what they say, your client gets the outcome they want.
If you can figure out what you do that your clients appreciate and how it benefits them, then you’ll know what your Value Proposition is. Now you just need to figure out how to get that message to everyone who can use your products and services.
And remember, it’s not about being unique. It’s about getting the word out on what you deliver. Think about this: M&Ms isn’t the only candy that “melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” It’s just the candy that said it first and so often that we believe that they are the only one.
Copyright 2010 by I Write The Words

How to Write Web Content – Part 2

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:21:18 +0000

Keep it Short, Be Direct
To get your readers attention, you need to tell them what’s on the page within the first 15 seconds. If you don’t, they’re on to the next webpage. So what do you do? You write clearly and directly. In other words, you keep it short.
Know exactly what message you’re trying to get to your reader. You can brainstorm or write pages of thoughts to help you find your focus, but on the webpage, the focus needs to be clear, direct and immediate. Don’t start with a story. Start with your point.
Once you have a strong draft, shorten it. Then, shorten it again. Throw out at least one third, and as much as two thirds, of what you write. If you can leave a word out, do it. If you can shorten a sentence, shorten it.
Use the right words to add clarity. Don’t dig in your thesaurus for college level words, instead, use the language we speak, and think about the meaning of every word you use. When things are shortened down, every word becomes important. Use the right ones.
Use contractions, slang, sentence fragments, and conjunctions at the beginning of sentences. These common speech patterns keep your reader moving down the page.
White space on the page tells your reader that you’ll get them the information they need quickly without wasting their time. Short paragraphs, made up of two or three sentences, make the writing look short.
Your word count should be between 300 to 500 words. Search engines aren’t interested in pages that contain less than 300 words, and 500 words is about the most you can expect your audience to read.
If you can’t say it in 500 words, don’t scare off your reader with a text-covered page. Instead add additional pages with links from your initial page.
And whatever you do, make your content clear, concise and direct. Then you’ll have a chance at getting your reader to the end of your page.
Judy Kane is a writer and editor at I Write The Words. When not working on her novel, she’s working on web content and blogging for her clients.
Copyright 2010 – I Write The Words

How to Write Web Content – Part 1

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:21:09 +0000

Know Your Audience and How You Can Benefit Them.

Writing web content requires focus. You need to get the message across to your audience – fast. But how?

The first step is to know your audience. Who are you trying to reach and how will they benefit by connecting with you? Sure, you’ll benefit too, but your audience isn’t concerned about what you need, they’re concerned with what they need.

The more clearly you can define your audience – income level, education level, type of business, geographic location, etc. – the better you’ll understand them, and the better you can target your message.

The second step is to explain the benefit of your product or service. The easiest and best way to do this is to think about the features of your product or service and how this benefits your clients.

Always focus on the benefits. If you don’t show your audience the benefits to them, why would they hire you or buy your product?

For example, I can write web content for you, freeing up your time to focus on your business. But I can, and should, push this even further. By hiring me to write web content that is Search Engine Optimized, I can improve your position on search engines, provide your website with more hits, and generate more business for you.

You know how your product or service helps your clients. But if you can’t focus your message and explain the benefits clearly, how can you expect your audience, your potential future clients, to understand it.

You need to clearly point out the benefits of what you do. Show people who visit your site that you can provide them with a service or product that will benefit them. Connect with them, so that they’ll take the next step.

Give them a reason to pick up the phone or click a button and connect with you. Then your web content has done its job, and now, it’s up to you to close the deal.

Gmail Signature Setup

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:51:24 +0000

Setting up a Signature on Gmail

Your signature is an important part of who you are and gives you a great opportunity to promote your business.

Here’s how to setup your signature in Gmail.

In Gmail:
• Select Settings.
• Under General, the first item on the Settings menu.
• Scroll down the page until you find Signature.
• No signature is checked by default, choose the other button, next to the blank box.
• Setup your signature:
o This should include your name, phone number, and email
o It can include your website, Facebook Page or LinkedIn site
• Click Save Changes.
You’ll now be returned to your inbox page.
Click Compose Mail.
Your email signature should be there.

GoDaddy Email “Forwarding”

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:54:55 +0000

One of the best ways to promote your own domain name is through your email address. People are much more inclined to remember the name if they use it when they email you.

If your domain is with GoDaddy, creating this email address and having it forward directly into existing email box is easy.

Although your domain name does come with an optional mailbox, if you create a mailbox on GoDaddy, you can’t forward your mail.

You can only forward your mail by using one of GoDaddy’s Email Forwarding Plans. GoDaddy allows you 100 forwarding plans for each domain name. This means that you can use separate email address for individual promotions and track the response.

To setup your Email Forwarding Plan, log into your GoDaddy account. Then click on Domains.
On the right side, under My Products, choose Free Products.

In the center of the screen, choose Email Account List. Under the Yellow Box, choose Email Forwarding Plans.
 Go Daddy will then ask if you want to “Use Credit” for the forwarding. Click Use Credit.

It will then ask which Domain Name you want to associate with the email forwarding.
Choose the correct domain name and click Continue.
A box will appear saying “Thank you!” Close this box.

Now, if necessary using the above info, get back to Email Forwarding Plans, It should now show a New Account. Click “Setup Account”.

You have 100 Available forwarding accounts. Click Add, and setup the first account:
MyName@MyDomainName.com
Fill in the email address where you want this email name to forward.

Decide if you want this to be a “Catchall” mailbox. A catchall mailbox will accept anything from ?????@MyDomainName.com.

If you’re planning on creating multiple email accounts for the domain name, you don’t want the catchall box.

If you change your mind about this, you can change it later.

Click OK.
Continue to add additional email forwarding names.

To test that this is working, send yourself an email to the email address you just setup. It should be delivered to the email box you indicated.

Adding an Email address to Yahoo! Mail

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:06:45 +0000

So you’ve found the perfect domain name, and you’ve setup an email address using that domain name. Now you want to be able to send emails from Yahoo! Mail using that address.

Here’s how to add email accounts to use to send emails in Yahoo! Mail.

In Yahoo! Mail:
Select Options then Mail Options (near the top right corner of your Yahoo! Mail screen)
On the menu on the left, click Accounts.
Click on Add or Edit Accounts
Click on Add.
• Step 1: Account Name, enter
your name for this account. This is what you will see in the drop down menu of your available email addresses.
• Step 2: Enter Email Address

Name

Email

• Step 3: Setup Mail Server – in most cases, this isn’t necessary and you can skip this step.

You will then see a notice about Yahoo! Mail’s requirement to verify your account.

Click on Send Verification and Yahoo! Mail will send you the verification number needed to complete this process for the email address you are setting up.

Open a new browser window to check your emails for the Confirmation Code. If you’ve already setup forwarding of the email account to Yahoo! Mail, then the notice will arrive in your Yahoo! Mailbox. If not, you will need to go to the mailbox where the email account’s mail is received.

Enter the Confirmation Code in the box and click Verify Account.

Yahoo! Mail will then have you log into your existing email account.

In order to use this email address, in Yahoo! Mail, click New to start a new email. Then click on the arrow next to the From box. You should have a drop down menu showing your available email addresses.

Now you’re ready to use that email address from Yahoo! Mail.

If you wish to setup a default email address:
In Yahoo! Mail:
Select Options then Mail Options (near the top right corner of your Yahoo! Mail screen)
On the menu on the Left, choose Accounts.
Choose on the account you want as the default.

Click on Make Default in blue at the top of the adjacent box.

When replying to existing emails, by default, Yahoo! Mail will reply using the email name that was used by the original sender.