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- Hate to Write? 3 Ways to Start Enjoying It
- What to Write When an Employee Dies
- 5 Ways to Get Your Email Read, Remembered and Responded To
- Six Tips for Writing in Easy Reading Season
- 12 Ways to Plug the Email Productivity Drain
- Two Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing
- 6 Ways to Aim Your Arrow for the Heart
- 6 Ways to Become an Idea Machine
- 3 Reasons Why You Need to Improve Your Writing Skills
- Get Personal With Your Holiday Greetings: 3 Tips
Posts Tagged ‘content marketing’
Those people who drive you crazy with big words and long emails are not my reading my book, Write Like You Talk Only Better. If they were, it would be on all the best-seller lists.
I expect many are not motivated enough to read a book that will smooth the writing process, from routine emails to complex business plans, let alone to practice with the worksheets. But some of the employers I’ve talked to would like that to change now that engagement and collaboration have become serious issues beyond the communication department. That’s why I call my new e-learning program Writing is Serious Business.
To collaborate, their people need to pull out ideas and express them clearly. To engage, they need their writing to bring them closer to people. To look smart, they need to stop making the common mistakes that spell check does not catch. To improve productivity, they need to write faster and tighter.
The 14 five-minute segments each continue with an assignment based on what they’re writing that day. This way, busy people can fit learning into their schedule and immediately understand how it applies.
To track their progress, they are encouraged to run their writing through standard reading ease tests and evaluate their improvement against specific benchmarks. Every time they complete an assignment or show improvement, they can award themselves an iWrite star.
Here’s what Writing is Serious Business entails:
Think first
Who’s talking to who?
What about?
Write like you talk
Hook your reader
Big finish
Just write
Write better
Memorable
Concise
Look smart
The two common flubs
Professional, consistent
Stand out
Tell your story
More Hollywood techniques
More media
Keep improving
After learners have consumed the bite-sized pieces, they can return to the segments they’d like to review. Or they can practice with the worksheets that go with the book.
Some of this could change, for the better, as I’m testing the program with two organizations before the big launch. I’m also working with adult educator Lee Weisser, previously with the Canadian Society for Training and Development.
For more feedback, I’ll post the introduction here soon. Stay tuned.
I’ve decided to repost some hits from the past occasionally, because someone commented or wrote about the issue and I felt inspired to reply, but I had already, so why not open the vaults, though not like Disney, who used this approach to get away with exhoribant prices for movies my kids just had to watch, then whine about movie piracy. This is free.
Do not read this if, like me, you suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome, which presents as too many ideas and trouble picking and sticking with the best.
This is for all the people who have trouble coming up with ideas. Here are six easy steps to become an idea machine.
Enjoy and prosper.
Thanks for the photo, Jason Bechtel.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I can still hear you, ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi, even though I’m hundreds of miles into my ebook journey.
As I’ve learned, an ebook demands a lolapalooza investment of time and expertise. If you too have dreamed about writing a nonfiction book, your first step is to determine whether you’re prepared for the long haul and sore feet.
If you are planning to self-publish, you will have to take on many of the editorial and publicity responsibilities once assumed by traditional publishers. So in addition to having the expertise to base your book on, you’ll need to assess other skills. Although many of these can be outsourced, budget constraints and quality control may encourage to handle some yourself. Besides, the more you know, the better you can evaluate and work with service providers.
Depending on your comfort with writing and the learning preference of your market, you may decide to abandon the book in favor of another medium or approach. You may decide it’s not worth the time. Or, map in hand and suitcase packed, you may be raring to go.
Here are the questions to ask yourself. I’m using them to create an assessment tool for smart people who are ready to move from dreaming to planning their book.
Note that I said “smart” people. People who are intelligent enough to have the expertise to write a book know that they can’t accomplish it in one of those “write-your-book-this-weekend” sessions that too many wannabes are falling for.
Questions
What are you an expert in?
Who would be interested in learning about this?
Which specific aspect or angle of your expertise would most appeal to them?
How would they prefer to absorb that knowledge?
- Paperback
- E-reader
- Video
- Online course
- Website
- Other
What would you suggest as a working title?
What is the competition? How can you do it better?
Why do you want to publish a book? You can pick more than one, but you should prioritize.
- Money
- Reputation
- Marketing tool
- Help specific individuals
- Save the world
- Share your specialized knowledge
- Other
Do you have existing content that could be edited or repurposed for the book? What form is it in?
- Blog posts
- Academic papers
- Curriculum
- Other
How do you best express your ideas?
- Writing
- Talking
- Visually
- Other
Describe your networks, including
- Organizations you’re active in
- Social media sites
- Well-connected people you know
- Other places you could find people who would know people who might be interested in your book.
Do you have experience with type and print production?
Are you familiar with Mobi, ePub or other e-book formatting tools?
Do you have skill in design, photography, video production, webinars, e-learning or other areas that can help you produce or promote your book?
If you have dreamed about publishing a book, what has prevented you from doing it? Include psychological, family, time and all other hurdles.
How are you prepared to overcome these obstacles?
What kinds of outside help do you expect to need most?
Do you have an adequate budget for these activities?
How much time could you devote to the book in a typical week?
Do you have additional chunks of time available, for example a teacher with the summer off?
If you’d like to discuss these questions, shoot me an email with your phone number and suggested times to call for a free consultation.
If you’re already on the journey, please add questions that you asked yourself or wished you had asked.
Thanks for the photo, Salendron.
I know how Rip Van Winkle felt when he woke up after 20 years to find the world had changed.
Recently I decided to send out a news release to promote my book Write Like You Talk—Only Better. Sure, I had written news releases in the past couple of decades. But, increasingly, they had become marketing hype posted on companies’ web sites, of little interest to reporters.
Different kinds of front pages
When I researched press release distribution sites, I discovered that they have become more about search engine optimization, splattering your links and keywords across the web. Even though I had been thinking about the more traditional approach of actually meeting reporters’ needs, I saw the value in this.
The trouble was there are so many sites. Most claim to offer “free” services, though few actually do. I asked my LinkedIn groups in my field to recommend specific ones. Nobody did, though some favoured the traditional one-to-one journalist approach.
Seeing as Google has its hooks in everywhere, I decided to pay a small fee to Google News, which should be filling up search engines and news services as we speak. I was astounded that Google will write the news, I mean press, release for you for just $20. I know I can do a better job than someone who could make more flipping burgers.
Free stuff
Then I randomly picked a few of the free services, nothing to lose: Briefing Wire, Press King and Newswire Today. I also tried a new service from Ezinearticles.com that I happened to discover when I was posting an article there.
One of the clues that these sites were more for search engines than journalists came from their insistence that titles be capitalized, contrary to the requirements of Canadian Press and many similar news agencies. The Ezinearticle service had a word-length requirement, even though I know from experience that short how-to releases are often welcomed by editors who have awkward spaces to fill. And let’s not forget how tiny those snippets are on the home pages of news sites.
No journalists have called, though I did pick up some incoming links. These sites serve a purpose, but it’s not reaching reporters.
Back to traditional media basics
I’m lucky to have started my career in government, with veteran journalist mentors, teaching me how to attract coverage on the front page of major dailies and television networks. It made my parents so proud to open their morning newspaper and see me quoted as “ministry spokesperson.”
I was flattered when busy reporters would add their byline to part or most of my media release or kit. I laughed when a major daily put my photo on the front page of their business section, instead of the dark-suited bankers I was trying to hype, simply because I was wearing a red suit and they were shooting in colour.
I didn’t pursue media relations because I didn’t enjoy following up with reporters, as the private sector demands. I also lacked the chess-like skills of my colleagues who knew how to leak strategically or brief off the record. I bristled at suggestions I “spin” the news, knowing full well that media relations is about honestly telling your client’s side of the story, not distorting it.
Changed, yet the same
Although the web has changed media relations dramatically, many of the same skills still apply. As the French more elegantly say: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”
My press release to the online news services was just a warm up. The best results will come from identifying the reporters who might be interested in my book and tailoring a news release that meets their individual needs.
The question is: can I still fit into that red suit?
Thanks for the photo, Roy Prasad.
For the next couple weeks, you can download a free e-copy, any format, of Write Like You Talk–Only Better, the secret to pulling ideas out of your head and onto the page. Click here and use coupon code BC25Q.
The catch? I’d really appreciate you sharing the link, writing reviews and creating a buzz on Amazon, Smashwords. Goodreads, your site, Facebook, the library, the ice rink or other places you hang out.
And of course I’d love your feedback. Just as the new edition, now also available in print, was revised with feedback from readers and students, so this one will be too. It’s a living book.
So get yours today, before the free offer expires. And what about one for that colleague whose long-winded prose or embarrassing flubs is driving you crazy? Work would be so much easier if everyone would simply write like they talk–only better.
Thanks for the photo, Tonx.
Remember when gurus insisted that email would be killed by RRS feeds, Facebook and other innovations? Turns out they were wrong. The contact lists you compile from your newsletter and other sources are now touted as solid marketing gold.
You are your lists. You need to grow yours. But how? Here are eight simple ways:
- Offer high-value content, a discount on your product or some other incentive in exchange for a new subscriber’s email. Ask yourself what your customers or community would most like from you.
- Promote your blog and newsletter subscriptions in as many places as possible, for example prominently displayed samples of past newsletters on your site accompanied by a signup form or a link in your email signature.
- If you blog, compile your posts into a newsletter. If you publish a newsletter only, revise and publish the content as a blog. This will give you more ways to meet people and fit your readers’ medium of choice.
- Ask people you meet if they’d be interested in your newsletter and sign them up. Don’t wait for them to act. But make sure you have their permission. Email them a past issue and ask if you’re not absolutely certain.
- Promote your newsletter through social media. Don’t fire to every site automatically. For example, I don’t always update to Facebook, because my personal friends who hang out there don’t give a fig about some of my business or professional interests.
- Make sure your email content is valued by your readers. If you only push products or services, people will stop reading and clicking. They might unsubscribe. If they love your content, they will pass it along. Give them terrific content all of the time so you can sell to them some of the time.
- Remember that email is the mother of social media. To keep the personal touch with long lists, offer different versions so content matches different groups’ interests. Ask questions, give prizes and think of other ways you can encourage interaction.
- Keep the design simple, following the F pattern of online reading, so your content can be easily read on mobile devices.
Thanks to Geoffery Kehring for the photo.
Planning how you’re going to share your expertise this year may be almost as important as those promises about getting in better shape.
To make those content resolutions, ask yourself how often, what topics, how to manage crazy times and how to improve.
1. How often?
Be realistic. Bloggers who vow to post every day or newsletter publishers who aim to distribute weekly can end up like those dieters who give up because they didn’t lose 10 pounds every month.
Decide what you can commit to while maintaining high quality and your sanity.
Allow some flexibility. While it’s wise to have a schedule, don’t be tempted to pass off inferior quality because you haven’t posted in a few days. Your readers should notice if you fall off the map for a while, but will probably not care if you miss the odd slot or veer off course.
2. What will I write about?
Just like you’ve signed up for zumba classes or a marathon and set times you plan to hit the gym, you need to draw up an editorial calendar.
If pressing issues come up, feel free to switch topics. But if you don’t start with a plan for about three-quarters of your content, you’ll end up missing commitments or staring at a blank screen.
Start your calendar with seasonal issues. I almost always discuss planning in January. Accountants may want to talk about tax preparation next month. Gardening experts will soon offer tips on seed germination.
For the times you don’t have seasonal issues, plan topics that are important to your community and will further your business objectives. For example, real estate agents will talk about the top renovations to boost your price, while specialty bakers will explain why you get different results from gluten-free flours.
3. What can I prepare in advance?
Expect that you’ll have times when you’re unable to write much, just as you’ll have sniffly days when you can almost see the muscle wither.
While you’re planning, go through your archives and see what you can dust off and update. Draft content on new topics, so you can quickly edit and publish when you’re in a pinch.
Because you have a calendar, you’ll know what to save for later use from your routine and random reading, listening and viewing. Collect and mull as you go. The writing process will become so much easier.
4. What do I need to improve?
Just as January is a popular for fitness assessments, it can be the best time to review your content vehicles.
How you can you improve them? How can you get better results? How can you reflect changes such as mobile communication and new social media? What’s new with your audience?
If you need to upgrade you writing skill, or speed up the process, this is the time to read my book Write Like You Talk–Only Better, now available in print from Amazon or here.
Like fitness, preparing quality content can be hard work–and fun. Get a jump start in January and you’ll establish a routine that will develop strength, speed and the right curves throughout 2012.
Thanks for the photo, Daniel Moyle.