Monthly Archives: January 2012

Business Writing

Wow, My Blog Sucks: 6 Ways to Get Over It and Get Better

January 29, 2012 – 9:20 pm
Your blog sucks and it's ok that your blog sucks!

Don't worry, this is just a prop! Your blog will be fine.

We’ve had a really fun-filled week. We met with a few clients of our good friends at Paper Leaf Designs, and we spoke candidly about business blogging and what it can do for them. One of them complained about their blog saying it wasn’t fresh and they thought it sucked when they looked around at others in their field. It can sometimes seem daunting or painful when people scope out top drawing business blogs with dozens of weekly entries and a warm basket of fresh comments beneath each post. I wish I had an extra 30 minutes to tell them what they really needed to hear, but time wasn’t on our side, so I asked if I could blog about it.

So here are six simple ways to get over your sucky blog.

1. No Original Content

This is by far the most dangerous play you can make on the blogging pitch. Syndicated content moves around the internet because it is created and promoted by content farms. These are the Monsantos of website content. They drown the world with drivel of low nutritioonal value. Don’t be a part of the problem. Prove yourself valueable. Use your blog to bring your expertise and understanding to your readers.

2. Self Centred and Self Promoting Blogs

I like to follow the Golden Rule of Blogging: Love thy reader as you would have them love unto your blog. Don’t get caught up with telling too much of your story and miss out on sharing your customers’ perspectives. They deserve to hear about themselves as much as they deserve to learn about who you are and why you do what you do.

3. Poor SEO and a Lack of Traffic Because of It

There are very simple steps to take to make sure that people can find you. SEO can seem like a complicated realm to navigate, but it doesn’t have to be. Label the tags for your photos and use appropriate keywords in the description and title tags for each blog post. Be sure to use links for websites you cite and link previous blog posts (that are relevant to the current post). This will go far in helping new visitors find your blog. Read our post about blog optimization here.

4. Poor Blog Organization

This is problem that we often encounter when we first visit a newly launched blog. They might have useful information, but if the blog isn’t properly organized, we can’t shop around. I simply refuse to revisit poorly set up blogs. I am far too impatient to deal with it. Keep an archive handy for people to click through, and have well managed categories, topics and search tools. Using your keywords will be a good start point for how you might want to label your content.

5. Lack of Frequency, Lack of Consistency

Frequency is the mother of relevancy. The world will only want to frequent your website if you have new content for them to digest on a regular basis. Also, people will shop through your archive, so if you don’t post consistently, you might look unreliable. Imagine if your favourite monthly magazine suddenly decided that it was too busy and published bi-monthly to take a break… Not acceptable. It’s good to treat your blog with the same reverence. Your people should matter that much. An editorial content calendar and schedule will help prevent you from such pitfalls.

6. You Only Suck Because You Think You Suck!

Our beloved coach, Mike Mack from X5 Management recently shared a quote from Henry Ford, and he keeps it framed on his wall. “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” The fact is that every blog sucks, since every blog starts from the same place, the beginning. The world’s best and most heavily read blogs began with one post, and even the most seasoned blogger knows that the biggest room in their house is the room for improvement. Don’t fret about your social media promotion. Don’t frown because your post lacks comments. Don’t complain about your design or cry about not having crazy apps that make everything look more professional. It gets better if you work at it, but it takes time to master anything, especially blogging. All of those other factors will work their way in if the focus is in the right place.

Remember the Blogging Golden Rule, and if necessary, follow Mike Mack’s lead and get in up on your wall.

And since that’s such a fine idea, we’re doing it too.

Have a great week!

Idris

If you are ready to have a serious conversation about your business blog (or lack thereof), get in touch with us. We’d love to help you out!

Idris Fashan

Idris Fashan is a content strategist, percussionist, writer, marketer, vegan, political junkie and cat lover. He used to love walks on the beach, but being a Prairie boy now, he's gotten used to freshwater. He is also the Managing Partner at Red Paper Clip.

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blogging Editing Grammar Writing

Why It’s Time to Retire the Grammar Police

January 23, 2012 – 10:11 am
Grammar Police: To Serve and Correct

End police brutality!

We at Red Paper Clip hear it all the time: “I’d love to start blogging, but I’ve just never been that good at grammar, and I don’t want to look like an idiot.”

And such fears aren’t unfounded. There’s no shortage of Grammar Police patrolling the Internet, ready to chase down any opportunity to show off just how much they know.

Now, I’m no Fowler or Grammar Girl, but I suppose one could call me a grammarian of sorts. When I worked at MacEwan, I had to teach grammar, among other things, and nothing gets your grammar butt in gear faster than having to explain errors and teach new skills (as opposed to just making corrections as a copyeditor would).

I get the whole Grammar Police thing. I really do. I’ve been known to post the odd “Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling” article on Facebook or to lean over and share a giggle with Idris as we pass a billboard with a non-deliberate error. Sometimes, laughter is the only way to scratch the brain itch that comes with seeing a misspelled word, misused term, or misplaced comma.

But I am sick to death of seeing the posturing that critics use to elevate themselves while hurting and belittling the writer. I’m talking about people who comment on Facebook walls or novice bloggers’ entries just to show the writers how little they know and how unworthy they are of posting on the Internet. I’m talking about people who go into the Remedy Café bathroom with a pen just to correct people’s graffiti and make them feel awful for having dared wield a Sharpie without having perfect command of the English language.

I’m talking about people who probably aren’t even good writers themselves.

You see, teaching grammar forced me to strengthen my own technical knowledge of writing, but it also taught me to appreciate what people are up against when it comes to developing writing skills (which is another blog post altogether!). It taught me that people should never be afraid to express their amazing ideas and use writing to engage people because they still struggle with to, two, and too.

It taught me that good grammar doesn’t always equal good writing.

Here are my reasons for thinking it’s time for everyone to put down their red pens and lighten up on each other:

1). We All Make Mistakes

Sure, you may make fewer mistakes than the average person, but you still make them. We all do, no matter how knowledgeable or experienced we are as writers or how good we are at editing our own work.

And frankly, there’s nothing funnier to an actual writer than seeing self-professed grammar nerds picking on others while using less-than-perfect grammar, punctuation and syntax themselves.

2). There Never Really Was a Golden Age of Writing

Well, at least not in the sense that the majority of people never struggled from time to time with mechanics. Before curricula moved away from strict grammar instruction in favour of less-formal writing instruction, students did learn how to parse sentences in grade school, but studies have shown that the link between that specific kind of formal grammar instruction and consistent application of these rules is highly debatable. (Note: I’m not saying all forms of grammar instruction are ineffective!) True, most written communication had fewer errors, but also keep in mind that CEOs and managers had secretaries and assistants who handled many of these pieces.

3). Good Grammar Is Not Synonymous With Good Writing

The two aren’t mutually exclusive, of course, but having flawless blog pieces hardly guarantees you followers. If you fancy yourself a grammarian, take a few minutes to scan a few blogs from the first ten of the Top 100 Blogs. I’m willing to bet you’ll find more than a mere handful of errors. Readership in the blogging realm has far more to do with your ability to engage readers with relevant content than it does with flawlessness.

So, if your fear of blogging (or any other form of writing) stems from your concern that the self-appointed Grammar Police are going ticket you for every error in grammar or punctuation, remember that most real writers don’t behave that way. Why? Because they’re too busy working on their own stuff to troll others’ work for errors, and they’re thanking their lucky stars for the editors and copyeditors that have their back for anything formally published.

And if your fear of writing for your business comes from not knowing what to write or having to add yet another item to the task list, contact us to see how we can help.

Geneve

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Business Marketing Writing

Business Blogging: 7 Quick Tips, 7 Absolute Truths

January 16, 2012 – 7:13 am
Businesses, get ahead using your blog!

"A blog-blog-blog..."

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Mack D. Male, one of Edmonton, Alberta’s blogging elite will be hosting a seminar downtown at the Alberta Business Link. For those who can make it, there is no need to RSVP. Just show up with some business cards and GET YOUR LEARN ON.

In honour of Mr. Male’s upcoming session, I would like to share some perspective on business blogging and where the Red Paper Clip team sees it going.

Tip 1: Growth does not equal saturation

The consistent growth of business blogging over the last few years is impressive. Email marketing and social media promotion of business blogs are new but essential methods to build leads, authority and community. Their flexibility through the use of platforms and services like WordPress, MailChimp and Aweber makes it easy for even the most novice of content creators.

But the continued growth of business blogs hasn’t slowed down the readership. In fact, it continues to blossom in ways that puzzle even the craziest economists. The readership resource is far from extinguished. For new bloggers, the water’s still warm.

Tip 2: Let your data be your guide—er, DRIVER

Don’t ever let a content strategist, social media person, or anyone who has a job on the Interwebz tell you that data doesn’t matter. One of the greatest advantages of the internet is that everything is trackable. Use this to your business blog’s advantage. Track clicks through Google Analytics, search socially trending topics on Twitter trends and Google Alerts, and get a sense of what people really want to know. Your relevance to them—and your popularity—will skyrocket within a few posts.

Tip 3: Treat your business blog more like a moving magazine

We’ve entered a really interesting time in content creation and management. Today, it’s easy to post images, diagrams, client testimonials, comments, questions, videos, clickable links and audio conversations. Take advantage of these content possibilities by looking at your business blog more like a magazine and less like a sidebar newspaper column. I’ve seen industrial business blogs that look more like climbing magazines (by design, of course), and they earn a much higher yield of leads and traffic than their more conservative counterparts.

Tip 4: RSS is D-E-D: Stick to email marketing for leads and business

The fact that I have to further explain so-called Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds to new and established clients is proof that they are never going to catch on. I can’t be bothered to tome on their history (since I predict that their death knell might be in 2012), but here is a great explanation. I always suggest that companies keep their email lists close to their hearts, because it’s where some of your best leads will always come from.

Tip 5: Mobility isn’t the it-girl, but she’s about to be!

I like imagining mobile and smartphone communication like I imagine Zooey Dechanel’s  recent explosion on television. Dechanel’s been in film for a few years, and she’s been working her skills on the big screen just fine. But since earning the lead role in The New Girl, she has been surrounded by a crack team of comedy writers and producers that has really shaken the industry up. Mobile phone use is the same. We’re sitting in a perfect storm of mobile market advantages (ease, cheap prices, easy applications, ubiquity) and the world has thus responded. Keep mobile users in mind when preparing your blog topics. Avoid anything that might not translate well to mobile users, and they will continue to visit.

Tip 6: There will always be bloggers who know more, but only YOU can tell your story.

The proliferation of business blogs has created one problem: There is so damn much information out there, readers often don’t know who best to follow. Many of us in the same profession may have similar views on best practices. So how do you keep those lucky few who visit? Tell your story and keep it up top in your messaging. Readers like to connect with people more than information. Be human. Be courteous. Be professional. Be yourself.

Tip 7: Use SEO blogging best practices to stay visible.

People will read only what they can find. Using simple and effective search engine optimization practices will ensure that you rank where you need to, captivating the right audience to build those leads. Great content is invisible without good SEO. We’ve a few good articles on the matter here.

So for those of you in Edmonton, I look forward to meeting you at the Business Link seminar tomorrow!

Bests,

Idris

Idris Fashan

Idris Fashan is a content strategist, percussionist, writer, marketer, vegan, political junkie and cat lover. He used to love walks on the beach, but being a Prairie boy now, he's gotten used to freshwater. He is also the Managing Partner at Red Paper Clip.

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Business Writing

Create Your Editorial Content Calendar

January 2, 2012 – 11:48 pm

.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got 50+ emails, phone calls, to-dos and miscellanea that was supposed to get handled in the onslaught that was Christmas break.

Well, now that we’ve come out from under that pile (not by having finished it, but by having it brushed aside for two weeks), I have laid my New Year’s resolutions on the table.

Unfortunately, the 2012 to-do pile just overtakes them.

If you’re anything like me, you probably sat down with your team. You’ve probably talked about those outstanding things your business should have completed this year. This might have included upgrading your website content or writing X number of blog posts a month, and you may have felt pressured to push those closer-than-future regrets into business resolutions.

And you may have even coupled this with the obvious business disclaimer, “We don’t have time to write/complete/edit these web pages/blog posts/ebooks/reports.”

It might hurt to hear this, but your content for 2012 looks a lot like your content for 2011.

Take control of your content

Don’t let your content slide. We can help you take control of your content.

This is normally the part where I get into a diatribe about how we do it. But we have web pages for that. Instead, I want to give you a leg up on fulfilling your own content requirements.

And this all begins with an editorial calendar.

This is your chance to do what magazines, newspapers, research institutes and professional writers do. We all rely on editorial calendars to clarify the roles of our team, the themes, topics and ideas for the content, and (most importantly), the deadlines for each part of the content. It gives you a chance to plan a process for delivering your content in a timely way so it doesn’t have to infringe on your other work or your peace of mind.

For those of us in the writing industry, editorial calendars can be complicated project architectures separating the roles of contributors, editors, and even typesetters and publishers.

That said, we don’t need to use anything complicated, and neither do you. But we all deserve to have the tools to stop saying, “There’s no time to get this done.”

Editorial Content Calendar Rule 1 – Use a calendar that your team will use

We’re a Mac-outfitted office, but we tend to use Google Calendar. Apple’s Calendar is painfully elementary, and Outlook (as clean as it is for PC networks) isn’t as clean for us. Many people prefer to use shared spreadsheets. What you prefer doesn’t matter as much as picking the method that others can use comfortably.

Editorial Content Calendar Rule 2 – Mark time for research

I like to leave time at the beginning of the month to gather ideas about my industry, pulling favourited tweets, emails from my subscriptions, magazine articles I clipped, notes from websites, etc. The timing of this isn’t important. Just make sure you leave one hour a month to gather or assemble these things and collate them into possible ideas. Believe me: It gets easier as you go, and you can move along whatever doesn’t get used the month before (assuming it’s still current).

Editorial Content Calendar Rule 3 – Don’t talk about it. Lay it out and fight about it later

Most people get stuck here. They get the calendar started and they get the team on board. They gather materials, and then they get caught in committee purgatory. That lifeless place is where good ideas go to die.

Don’t do it. Don’t share everything. Instead, take the agreed-upon ideas and assign them outward. If you have a team of one or two, it gets pretty easy. If you have a team of three or more, don’t share who will do what. Assign tasks and allow them to trade. They can see what might be due when. Allow them the chance to update the responsible parties and move on. A great example is assigning a website content rewriting. You might find that people fear writing the home page or the about page. Don’t let that slow you down. Assign it to who you think the best candidate might be and move on. People can broker their good deeds as trade without committee-style conversations slowing the calendar down.

Now you have a calendar that lays out who is responsible for what content and when it is due. You now have a tool that saves time, effort, and most importantly, backtalk and quips about there being no time to see it through.

As I am often told by one of our architecture clients, “Planning IS execution. Do it right and the labour becomes the easiest part.”

If pulling together a working editorial calendar still feels like an impossible task among your 2012 to-dos, CLICK HERE and we’ll get in touch with you directly. We’re happy to help.

Good luck,

Idris

Idris Fashan

Idris Fashan is a content strategist, percussionist, writer, marketer, vegan, political junkie and cat lover. He used to love walks on the beach, but being a Prairie boy now, he's gotten used to freshwater. He is also the Managing Partner at Red Paper Clip.

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