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Three Tips for Better Blogs

Posted on by Linda Anger

Sharon looked me straight in the eye and said: “I hate blogging. I don’t know what to say. It takes me forever to write two paragraphs and they end up being nothing but a bunch of blah-blah marketing statements. But I know I have to do it to stay competitive.”

Owner of a small consulting business and responsible for “everything,” Sharon echoed a sentiment I hear almost daily: Blogging is a piece of the success pie, and it has become a huge challenge for those not trained as communicators.

What can you do to make your blog better for your readers AND better for you as the producer?

Here are three tips to get you back on track:

1)  Focus on the Goal of your Blog.  Is your intent simply to keep your name Top of Mind with your customers and prospects?  Are you focused on Lead Generation, website traffic, or building your reputation as an information hub?

2)  Remember What Drew You to Your Industry.  Way back when, on the day you started your company or made the decision to take a job in your current industry, you were excited about it. There was something that thrilled you, that satisfied you beyond just the paycheck. What was it? What emotion did it trigger? Find that energy again, and write from that place. It might be helpful to create a list of the reasons you started and the dreams you had about your career.

3) Tell Stories. Stories pull the reader into an experience, and the more they see themselves in that experience, the more willing they will be to keep reading and remember you when they need your product or service.

 

Why LinkedIn Groups are Good for your Business

Posted on by Linda Anger

LinkedIn—it’s the quiet member of the Social Media triplets, longer-winded than Twitter, less social than Facebook. Yet, as is often the case with the less noisy sibling, from a business-building standpoint, LinkedIn is the golden child.

Nestled within LinkedIn’s powerhouse of tools is the Group function. Here we can connect professionally with the like-minded on topics as diverse as cooking and aerospace engineering, and engage in useful discussion.

Over the years, I’ve made some great connections through LinkedIn Groups. One of my favorites is the WM Freelance Writers Connection, where I joined a discussion started by Vincent Frogameni, a freelancer in Springfield, Massachusetts, on the Top 3 Freelancing Mistakes.

Because of my responses in that forum, Vincent asked to interview me—a request to which I quickly, and gladly responded. The interview is posted on his blog.

This is good for Vincent’s business because every interview he does with other writers and marketers drives traffic to his website and links him, via perception or reality, to the experts in his field. This is good for my business because being interviewed adds to the perception that I am an expert in my field, and also drives traffic to my website.

Get started with LI groups, if you haven’t already. Jump into existing discussions, or start one of your own. Then be proactive, like Vincent, using the relationships you build to boost someone’s business – and at the same time, your own.

My father used to say, “Still waters run deep.” In the Big 3 of Social Media, LinkedIn is the “still waters,” and the Groups function one of the gems beneath the surface. Dive in!

 

Four Tips for Effective Copywriting

Posted on by Linda Anger

1.  Don’t waste money on internet copy writing courses. Find the writers whose work resonates with you and follow them.

2.  Don’t waste a reader’s time with 6-page long letters full of highlighted text and screamingly large headlines.

3.  Do follow the advice of Joseph Pulitzer, one of the greatest journalists of all time. He said: “Put it before them briefly, so they will read it, clearly, so they will appreciate it, picturesquely, so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.”

4.  Learn to be a ruthless editor, and don’t stop until every unnecessary word is eliminated.

 

Twitter Tip: S&H Greenstamps

Posted on by Linda Anger

Way back in the day — that is, when I was a child — mothers across America paid cash for groceries and came home with a supply of tiny green stamps. We kids would fight for the right to lick the stamps and put them in the S&H Green Stamp books.

Yes, boys and girls, there was a time when stamps had to be licked.

Green Stamps were the first “trading stamp” rewards program offered in America. Wikipedia says that in the 1960s, The Sperry & Hutchinson Company (S&H) issued more stamps than the U.S. Post Office, and they were available everywhere. In those long ago days, there were no credit cards or computerized cash registers, either. How ever did we survive?

It would take months to fill a book… longer to fill 10 or 30. And every month, Mom went  through the catalog to pick out her reward. When she made it, when she had the 10 or 30 books she needed to “win,” she’d take that stack of stamp books to the post office. Many weeks later, her prize—a breadbox, a carving knife, or a supply of 100% cotton kitchen towels—would arrive in our mailbox.

All these years later, I mention S&H Green Stamps to a pair of 30-somethings, and they look at me like I’m some sort of dinosaur speaking an alien tongue. Being that I am a generation above them, that may very well be true, and there’s a lesson in that for me, I’m sure.

I Tweet this experience, and the next thing I know I’m being followed by @S&HGreenpoints… the 21st century incarnation of the company founded in 1896.

Here’s the Point:

S&HGreenpoints is a 19th Century company with a 21st Century marketing mind, using social media to monitor what is being said about them and their products, good or bad.

We should all be doing the same. Set your dashboard (TweetDeck or Hootsuite) to show whenever your Twitter name is mentioned. Pay close attention, and follow up on everything. Thanks to the people that mention you favorably, and find out what you can do to change the dynamics with those whose mentions are not so good.

Then tweet about it, please.

Your Words are Your Reputation

Posted on by Linda Anger

It used to be that reputations were ruined by pencil scrawls on public bathroom walls, or derogatory notes passed in class. A single word or phrase could destroy your life – but that is ancient history, right?

Not so.

Every post on your websites, blogs, or social networking sites impacts your personal and business life.

Now, I am a writer by trade, so maybe I’m hypersensitive. But from my perspective, messages containing spelling or uncommon usage errors cause me to question whether the writer pays attention to quality in other aspects of their business — particularly when I see similar errors across multiple messages.

Here are three examples I’ve seen in the last week. The improperly used/spelled words are in red:

More homeowners choose us to market there properties then any other agency.

… those of you that have been apart of the community…

… few our harnessing the true power…

Maybe the people who wrote these posts were in a hurry. Or, maybe they don’t care if their message is misconstrued or they look foolish. But the world is watching, and judging.

Double check your emails – even your Tweets – before you hit “send.” Have someone else proofread your web content and articles before they go live.

Your reputation is at stake.

Make No Little Plans

Posted on by Linda Anger

I receive an inspirational email every day from the Napoleon Hill Foundation. This one really spoke to me. I hope it brings you encouragement as well:

YOUR JOB WILL NEVER BE ANY BIGGER THAN YOUR IMAGINATION MAKES IT.

(Napoleon Hill)

Daniel Burnham, the turn-of-the-century architect and civic planner whose plan for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair had an enormous influence on contemporary civic design, was quoted as saying,  “Make no little plans.”  He knew that to achieve great things we must have grand ideas. If you can imagine it, you can create it. And if you can create in your imagination the job that you would like to have, it is possible to create it in the real world.

How grand are your ideas? Are you re-creating your job or your business, with a better future in mind, or trudging through the year hoping someone else will do something to improve your situation?

There wouldn’t have been an 8-cylinder engine if Henry Ford had given up on his dream when his engineers said it couldn’t be done. How long might it have taken NASA to get to the moon if John Kennedy hadn’t insisted that it be done in a certain time frame, even though the technology didn’t exist at the time?

Make No Little Plans. Dream – Dream BIG. Your job—or your business—will never be any bigger than your imagination makes it.

 

How to Write More in Less Time

Posted on by Linda Anger

The real “art” of writing compelling copy—words that matter and draw people into the story—is in knowing what goes where and how to edit for story potency.

A hint from Copywriting 101: Your first draft will never be your best draft, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be full of great fodder for the finished piece, whether it is a short story or a magazine article, blog post, or the concept for a full-length novel. Your first intention should be only to get words on paper, or on screen, if you prefer. Just get your thoughts down as if you were talking to a friend, and try to do it in ten minutes or less. Then walk away for at least two hours.

When you come back, it’s time to organize and edit. For a 300-word article or post, give yourself no more than 30 minutes. Read it out loud to yourself, note changes needed, then walk away again.  I know some will argue this point, but in my writing, I rarely sit for more than an hour before I need a mental and physical break, and I do edit as I go along.

The final round of the practice is to read your piece out loud to someone you trust to tell you the truth. If you stumble over words or phrases, change them. If your sentences are too long, break them in half. If you’ve used industry jargon or ten-dollar words, clean things up. If you’ve wasted too much space with unnecessary introductory material—a common error for new or untrained writers—your friend should tell you. Get rid of it. Make it worth your reader’s while.

My very first copy writing instructor drilled in into our heads to look for the parts of what we had written that we really loved—the sentences or phrases to which we were emotionally attached—and cut them out completely. This is the “kill your darlings” process, a challenging exercise in non-attachment and journalistic excellence that, in the end, will make your writing stronger.

 

Networking Shortage Predicted

Posted on by Linda Anger

Saturday morning, 6 a.m., I’m scanning news articles in my email box. The first headline to catch my attention reads:

Networking Skills Shortage To Continue Through 2014.

“Hhhmmm… that’s curious,” I thought. Networking training is everywhere, and most people I meet are at least reasonably good at expressing the essence of their business. So, how can a number cruncher predict the world would be “short” of networking skills for another three years?

I read the opening paragraph three times before I looked at the news digest banner, and realized the article was about computer networking – routers and switchers and those other mysterious things I simply don’t comprehend.

I admit I was sleepy, and still in my pajamas. Still, this laughable moment had a point.

The headline of the article was appropriate for the venue in which it was published and the article fully proved the author’s point. The disconnect was in my brain. I translated the headline and opening words relative to my own life and experience, and it was a totally silly misinterpretation.

The Moral of the Story?

Miscommunication happens even with what you might think are the most innocent words and phrases. As you write your next article, email, or letter, be mindful of the various ways in which even common words could be interpreted – or misinterpreted. Choose your words carefully, make clarity your primary focus, and take misinterpretation in stride.

And never read the news in your pajamas.

The Death of Traditional Publishing

Posted on by Linda Anger

“I am very happy not to be sitting as the CEO of Harper Collins,” Jane Friedman said in an interview with NPR about her new company, Open Road Integrated Media. “Because as the CEO of a legacy publishing company, you are the CEO of basically two companies: one is physical and one is digital.”

The phrase, “legacy publishing company” twisted in my brain.

Way back at the turn of century, we talked about “legacy” systems —those dinosaur systems that were the grandfather of modern technology but are no longer taught in schools or used in the business world.

Are traditional publishers — those with venerable New York offices and impossible-to-penetrate-without-an-agent walls — the new dinosaurs, teetering on the brink of extinction, slowly being outshone and outsold by their upstart digital children?

Not completely, says Friedman, who once was the CEO of HarperCollins, and now sits at the helm of a company focused on e-publishing. They’ve started off with e-versions of backlist books (I’ve just purchased the uncensored version of James Jones WWII novel, From Here to Eternity, for my Sony Reader), but is moving into what they call “e-riginals,” which are books appearing only in digital format.

I responded to Friedman’s interview with delight and trepidation. Delight, because in my business I turn manuscripts into e-books through editing and page compositing. Trepidation, because while I carry my Sony Reader with me everywhere, I still have shelves full of “dead tree” books that I love to hold, that carry a certain scent, and that I can flip through without pushing buttons or tapping screens. I find that I retain information from print books much more than I retain from e-books, so I read novels in e-format, but reference books, business books, important books, I want in hard copy.

I love technology, and at the same time, hate to see the old ways disappear.

Maybe I’m half dinosaur myself.

The Core of All Things

Posted on by Linda Anger

“Building relationships is the core of all things,” my friend’s Facebook post said.

She’s so right.

And sometimes tearing them down is the only way to move forward.

Like when you switch off the broadcast stations that promote dissonance and spew grossly distorted stories, or leave the abusive boss or spouse, no matter what happens next. Like refusing to listen to the voice in your head that beats you bloody for insignificant things, or closing the book on those who say they are your “friend” but do more to take you down than lift you up.

Everything revolves around our ability – or lack thereof – to create, nurture and transform our relationships.

Transformation isn’t easy. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it’s downright ugly. And sometimes, unless you are a Marine, you have to leave the casualties behind.

We grow and shift and change every day. The things and the people that once “fit” no longer do. So we have to choose: stay stuck in what is comfortable because we know it so well, or step out with courage into the unknown.

I’ve made some pretty noisy exits in my life – and I’d wager you have, too. The good news is I’ve learned to forgive myself for being human, and commit to staying on the high road next time.  Here is the formula as presented by one of my teachers, Burt Goldman, “The American Monk.”

Burt’s Five Steps to Happiness:

  1. If you like a thing, enjoy it.
  2. If you don’t like a thing, avoid it.
  3. If you don’t like a thing and you cannot avoid it, change it.
  4. If you don’t like a thing, cannot avoid it, and cannot or will not change it, accept it.
  5. You accept a thing by changing your attitude toward it.

Pretty simple, don’t you think?