Freelance web and seo copywriting from Mud Creative

Did it work? Tips on measuring the success of your online press release.

louise — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:02:51 +0000

Last week, I tuned into another valuable webinar hosted by PRWeb with Greg Jarboe, President and CEO of SEO-PR.

As we all know the Internet has changed the face of the press release. But what’s more, the web has changed the way we measure the effectiveness of it.

Back in the day, PR pros would use “clip books,” which contained clippings from publications that picked up the story, to prove success. But how many people read it and acted on it? Those numbers were simply not available. As Greg says, you can’t take the “clip book” to the bank.

The web gives us the tools to prove the true worth of a release.

• PRWeb reports – If you use PRWeb to distribute your release, you will have access to a host of reports including Headline Impressions and Full Reads. You’ll be able to see how many people actually read your release, clicked on a link or printed it out. (PRWeb will be introducing some new reports in the new future including reports of sites where your release appeared and actions taken from the release such as downloading a pdf or forwarding the release.)

• Connect the dots – If you have more than one property or brand, Greg recommends using your analytics to compare the number of queries (searches) of the promoted site or product against the unpromoted property.

• Were there conversions? – Embed a unique tracking link in your release and point it to a unique action-oriented landing page asking the visitor to fill out a form, download a pdf or buy a product.

• How do you measure the value of a “tweet?” –A Twitter search for your keywords will show you if your release is a topic of conversation as well as offer clues as to who may have blogged or will be blogging about your story. Greg says “Tweets are early morning radar to blogs that may show up later in the day.”

Greg points out that there is still value in the traditional press release, but with fewer and fewer journalists out there, it is harder to get coverage through these channels. “When you get it, it is precious and rare.”

You can view the PRWeb webinar with Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR here.

My new mantra – I want copywriting work that makes me feel good

louise — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:21:44 +0000

“So, what kind of writing do you like to do?”

I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked this question in a meeting with a potential client. And in more than twenty years in the business, I have always given a very similar pat answer.

“Well, I have experience writing for ”

I guess I never really listened to the question. The operative word being “like.”

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people at a Calgary marketing studio. The conversation was easy and comfortable. We were chatting about the usual stuff and “the question” came up.

Without hesitation, I said, “I want to write about things that make me feel good. I like to write for businesses that are serving people, not trying to sell them things they don’t need. I want to feel that I’m contributing to something bigger and better.”

Whoa! Where did that come from?

It’s not that I just made it up. It’s just that I’ve never verbalized it before. For much of my writing career, I was accepting any and all work because I had to, never really questioning whether I liked what I was writing.

After all these years, I’ve earned the right to choose work that gives me joy and purpose. That intention must be simmering inside of me, because my current workload is reflective of this.

For example, I’m working with Gerrianne Clare of Clare Consulting who has created a unique online tool for helping people live their best lives, moment by moment.

I’m doing PR work for Melody Murphy of Jagorb International, a single mom whose bold idea for a new round nail file has resulted in an offer to include her product in the gift bags at the Golden Globe Awards!

I’m a volunteer working with Doug Lacombe of Communicatto on a social media campaign for Calgary Reads, an organization that brings reading tutors into Calgary schools.

These days I’m up and at my desk earlier. I feel energized and happy.

Why? Because I’m doing what makes me feel good.

Mud Creative hears a WHO

5 toys to make your blog more sexy

louise — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:33:33 +0000

A blog can be an endless sea of words or an alluring spot where readers want to lose themselves for a little while. In my own efforts to turn my blog into something of a guilty pleasure for visitors (not that I’m there yet!), I’ve found some fun toys that I’d like to share:

1. Have “Bruce” read to you – slowly

Proofreading is great – and absolutely necessary. But you know how it is. When you write something, you get very close to it. Sometimes, even the most eagle-eyed of us will overlook an obvious spelling or grammar mistake. However, if you have your computer read your post back to you, your keen ears might pick up things your eagle eyes have missed!

This is easy to set up on a MAC. Go to Apple > System Preferences > Speech and choose your preferred voice (such as Bruce or Viki) and the speed at which you want it read. Then set your key command (I use “command shift s”).

When you want to hear your text, highlight it in your document and press your command.

2. Catch the eye of search engines

It’s no secret that the right keywords can help your blog get noticed by the search engines, hence sending more traffic your way. However, when writing a blog post, working in popular keywords related to your topic isn’t always in the forefront of your mind. If you’re on a roll, you just want to write and publish, right?

SEO Blogger is a Firefox add-on created by Wordtracker that actually suggests the right keywords to use while you’re writing your blog.

This free tool provides real-world search data. It opens in a sidebar panel where you enter a keyword or keyphrase and SEO Blogger gives you keyword suggestions ranked by popularity. You decide which to use in your post.

I have a Wordpress blog, but according to Wordtracker, SEO Blogger works with whatever blog publishing software you’re using.

3. Get personal with a Gravatar

Your Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar) is an image that follows you from site to site, appearing beside your name when you comment or post on a blog other than your own. It could be your photo or an image that represents your business. I use my pink rubber boots for mine.

Mud Creative gravatar

The nice thing about the Gravatar is that it gives you control over the image that is used. Otherwise, your comment will be accompanied by a generic symbol or gray silhouette. Your Gravatar shows a little bit more of who you are, and can even encourage people to click through to your site. Readers are more apt to connect to a face rather than a name.

Go to www.gravatar.com to add some personality to the comments you leave on other blogs.

Note, though, that if you’re leaving a comment on a blog that does not have the “Show Avatar” setting selected, your Gravatar won’t show up. But the use of Gravatars is catching on across the blogging community, so it’s only a matter of time!

4. Share the luv

One day I was leaving a comment on another blog, and when I hit “submit,” a link to the last post I’d written on my own blog at Mud Creative was added to the bottom of my comment. That means that anyone who reads my comment can click on the link and visit my blog!

Always a wealth of information, Tzaddi over at Thrivewire informed me that it was a WordPress Plugin called Comment Luv.

Comment Luv is a great way to “share the luv” by promoting other people’s blogs. Plus, it encourages them to visit the Mud Creative blog and leave me a comment when they want to contribute to the conversation.
Luv luv luv it!

5. Be Social-able

OK, this may a no-brainer for many bloggers, but it is worthy of repeating.

Add a social bookmarking widget plugin to make it easy for readers to bookmark and share your posts on their favorite social media channel like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. The more people you have sharing the news about your posts, the more your audience will grow.

My blog uses the AddThis plugin, (One of the many helpful nuggets from Glenn Murray of Divine Write in his terrific book, SEO Secrets) which adds a globally recognized button at the bottom of each post. Readers simply click on it and a box of social media choices comes up, enabling them to spread the word.

It’s always nice to share, and even better when you make it so easy to do.

What toys have you discovered to make your blog more sexy and attractive to others?

Tools to improve your social media listening skills

louise — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:09:41 +0000

With so many avenues of communication available online now, how in the cyberworld do you keep tabs on what is being said about your company, products and services, competitors and your industry in general? In her latest blog post, Mhairi Petrovic of Out-Smarts Marketing offers some suggestions for free and paid tools that will help you stay “in the know” online. Check out “Are you listening?”

At a loss for words when blogging?

louise — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:24:10 +0000

Poor Sue Horner of Red Jacket Diaries has lost her blogging mojo. I enjoy Sue’s lighthearted style. She’s witty, insightful and always gives me something interesting to think about. Sue’s latest post is no exception. And since I wouldn’t want Sue to stop blogging due to a case of misplaced mojo, I wanted to share some tips that I’ve picked up along the way:

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you’ve fallen off the wagon. If you’re used to blogging three times a week, don’t sweat it because you haven’t blogged for three weeks. Give yourself permission to take that break, and work back up to your usual pace. It’s OK…really.
Write a guest post for another blog that you follow and respect. Writing for a whole different audience stretches the mind and pushes you to come at a subject from a fresh angle. Plus, it exposes your work to new readers and can grow your own blog audience.
Invite bloggers in other areas related to your business to do a guest post on your blog. It will start a whole new conversation on which you can build.
Start a blog idea file on your computer. Fill it with headline ideas, quotes, links to interesting articles, quick thoughts on books you’re reading etc. When you’re stuck, there’s always starter fuel there just waiting to help you burn up your keyboard.
Re-purpose older blog posts. New readers are continually coming on board, and if you’ve been blogging for several months or years, you’ve got quite an inventory built up. Go back to the beginning to find posts that are still relevant that you may be able to put a new spin on.

Smart tips from article writers

Coincidentally, I was just reading a post by Chris Knight on the ezine articles blog called “Turn Someday into Today.” He talks about ways to overcome procrastination in article writing, but the lessons are just as relevant for blogging. There are a number of worthwhile comments on Chris’ article, but in particular I liked the response from Kevin Dervin of the Marketing Action Club. Here it is:

Start with brainstorming. Great brainstorming isn’t judging the ideas or trying to figure out what the article will actually say. It’s just cranking out a bunch of possibilities.

* Write down 10 questions you get asked by clients over and over again

* Write down 5 questions you get asked by prospects over and over again

* Write down 3 things you wish every one of your customers would do because it make a difference in their current situation (Author’s note: love this one!)

* Write down 4 books everyone in your industry should know about and read.

The numbers above aren’t important. It’s just about filling up a sheet of paper with ideas you could write about.

Inspiration is all around us

At one time or another, we’re all faced with blogger’s block. But there are sources of inspiration all over the web and in our lives every day. You just have to look for them. I did – and this post is proof. Thanks Sue!