Tag Archives: Copywriting

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The 7 Biggest Business Blogging Barriers

April 30, 2012 – 6:36 pm
Challenges to Your Blogging Success

No flashing detour sign here...

So, this week being my birthday week, I like to spend it reflecting on my successes and challenges. It can be harrowing and humbling, but I do find it valuable.

Of our successes, the growth of our business has been joyous and exciting. The support from our clients and our network has been nothing short of amazing.

But I have one “challenge” that needs work, and I am setting the record straight, up front, for all to see.

The truth is, I haven’t been working hard enough on my blog, and it shows.

It’s not as if I don’t have enough to say. It’s not like I don’t already post blog content and social media messages for our clients. In fact, we have more blog content subscribers than ever. We find ourselves pushing 3-4 posts a day, which might seem a challenge, were it not for having a good editorial calendar to work from.

But this inconsistency on our blog has done some damage. Our traffic has dropped noticeably. The page views, the number of phone calls and email contact forms are not what they once were—even from a few weeks ago. Though we are still working hard on the more “personal” sales, we haven’t concentrated on the one thing on our website that moves people through our sales process—that magical point where they say to themselves, “We want Red Paper Clip!”

Last week, I had a conversation with a new client about their challenges with starting and running their blog. They have suffered similar consistency issues, but those were moreso focused on them not knowing what their audience wants to read.

It’s especially important for busy businesspeople to get results from every activity they perform, and blogging, when done effectively, is one of the best means of converting visitors to buyers and buyers to ambassadors.

So here is my gift to you. The seven snags that can stagnate a new or established blog. These quotes were taken from clients of ours (and our own team), so enjoy!

1. “My Writing Sucks.”

Few of us are James Joyce or Anne Rice, and frankly, the web doesn’t need them. Your posts don’t need to be perfect. They need to be relevant. They need to be clear, and they need to sound like a person is on the other end of them.

Getting some help from a professional is a definite possibility (in fact we encourage it), but technology can help if budgets or timelines are tight. Consider recording your posts using a speech to text app like Dragon Dictation. You can clean up the writing after the fact, but talking into your smartphone for 3 minutes would yield an ample sized blog post, and the art of blogging, whether spoken or written, improves with practice. More is better!

2. “I have nothing to offer an audience,” AKA: “This stuff wouldn’t interest people”.

We understand that sometimes people work in highly specialized fields. Engineering, architecture, parts manufacturing, software development…. Clients coming from these endeavours often complain that no one wants to learn the inner workings of their industry. Sadly, they couldn’t be more wrong. People are generally curious, and any opportunity to explore how things work tantalizes that curiosity. Share those human-interest insights in your business, and reveal how things come together. Just be sure that it remains focused on what your buyers want to know.

Also, building and maintaining an editorial calendar will help you to narrow the topics that matter, and keep you on top of deadlines.

3. “I’m writing regularly, but it’s not getting me results.”

Blogs are one of the easiest ways for people to find out quick information and move ahead with whatever they were doing before they clicked. This is why tips-and-tricks blogs are so bloody effective.

That said, we need to know what people are seeking to do when they come to visit, and at that point, you can set goals for how many of those people you want doing things. Set measurable goals that you can track and make them timely goals (consider page ranking in search, conversions, audience interaction or social media sharing). It gets easier to attract more page views and conversions if you’re setting goals, analyzing the results and making changes.

4. “I know it’s inconsistent, but I don’t always have time for it.”

Investing in your blog can be highly profitable if you do adequate research, track and measure movement and post content regularly. This last item is what we’ve struggled with recently, and frankly, it will be the last time we do so. Seeing the irregular dates and blog posts makes a website look unkempt, like having a shabby storefront. Those lovely souls who made the trek to come see our blog are suddenly unwelcomed by the sloppy site of it.

One post a week is enough to keep it looking fresh, and it is the minimum for maintaining a solid business blog, in my opinion. And yes, it’s a commitment that we’re making to our blog. :)

5. “I don’t know who’s reading it…”

One of the most important measurables to study when looking at your blog data is your actual readership. Google analytics is helpful in determining where they are and where they click, and your comments section is a great way to learn about the sites they represent, as most comment threads require readers to list their websites before they comment. Thank them for participating, check them out and add them on Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn (if possible). Comments are open invitations for introduction; embrace them.

6. “People are reading our blog, but our sales/calls/inquiries aren’t really growing.”

This is a consistent problem that we see with established blogs. They have great content, and they have a following, but the inquiries are just not coming in.

At this point, it’s important to learn what people are coming to your pages to do. Are they researching possible providers of your product/service? Are they looking for tips, tricks and ways to solve their problem immediately? Are they friends or clients just popping by to support you?

More importantly, do your buyers know what you want them to do once they get to your website?

Calls to action play an important role here, and offering easy ways for people to go where they want to comes into play as well. But meeting your readers’ expectations comes first. How are you asking them to move forward? Have you enquired about what people want to see (or see more of)? Surveys, polls and other interactive touch points are useful for learning this, but be careful not to overdo it.

7. “I need to get my posts to stay out there for longer. They die the day I post them.”

I hate the thought of my posts being published only to fade into oblivion hours later. This is where social media sharing can minimize that possibility. I use Buffer  to load up my future tweets (you can use hootsuite or tweetdeck as well), and this guarantees that my posts (as well as our clients’ posts) get in front of people without annoying anyone. I also use SocialBro [link] to determine the best times to post, marking which days in the week would get the best exposure.

We also like to post comments on LinkedIn groups, on other blogs, and on popular Facebook pages. This is a great way to expose your blog to new audiences. Remember that your comments need to have perspective and not just be you shouting about your stuff on high; otherwise, you run the risk of looking like a spammer, and your credibility goes out the window. Also, for those souls with the time and chutzpa, guest blogging on relevant (and more famous) websites can bring even more eager eyes to your blog. It’s a greater investment, but guest posts immediately boost your credibility with new audiences, simplifying the equation for those ready to read your work or buy from you.

So there is my confession. At the end of my birthday week, I pledge to do more for our blog, and arrest the neglect that has plagued it these many weeks. When I consider what it’s done for us, it makes sense that I ask you to join me on this journey, and consider what things you can do to make your blog work better for you.

Oh, and remember, you can ask us anything. Just leave a comment below with your question or send us an email and we’ll get back to you.

Here’s to your blogging success!

Id

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 Business Writing

The Everywhereist’s 16 Tips for Beginning Bloggers

March 19, 2012 – 6:06 pm

16 Tips for Beginning BloggersThis week, Dana Ditomaso posted a fabulous link on Twitter (if you don’t already follow her, you should now), and it led to the Everywhereist, a fun travel blog written by Geraldine, a colourful storyteller.

In this post, she lays out her 16 tips for beginning bloggers. Although she runs a travel-focused blog, her writing is great and her understanding of blogging is based in experience.

No amount of money could meet the value of that.

For people who recognize the power of business blogging, you will find Geraldine’s tips brilliant. She spares the usual, “you can do it” preciousness that plagues bloggers who try to make life easier for newbies.

For experienced bloggers, her rules may seem familiar, but they are written with a personal flare that deserves to be shared. I actually found numbers 5, 6 and 10 worthy of separate posts in their own way.

Enjoy!

If you would rather visit the website yourself, here it is. It’s pretty. And she travels a lot.

Idris

http://www.everywhereist.com/my-16-tips-for-beginning-bloggers/

————————–

My 16 Tips for Beginning Bloggers

 

I don’t profess to know very much about anything, desserts and the career of Jeff Goldblum excluded (what? I have my passions). Other than being an authority on these two very important topics, I consider myself a rather middling resource. And yet, time and again, I get emails in my inbox from new bloggers who want me to share my “wisdom” with them.

I, personally, find this equal parts hilarious and misguided. You might as well ask me for driving directions or financial advice (other topics of which I am uniquely unqualified to discuss). When it comes to blogging, I honestly and truly don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still figuring things out for myself. I still make tons of mistakes.

But I have kept at it for two and half long years and for six-hundred-fifty-five posts (including this one). So for those of you who are literally asking for it, here are my tips for new bloggers.

  1. Choose the right topic. Pick one that you can write about every morning, day in and day out, until the sunset of your life. Make it something for which you are passionate, something that you love, that you can distill into one sentence. I write about travel and love. Every post on this site is about one of those topics. Usually it’s about both.And I hope I’ll never run out of material.
  2. Throw perfectionism out the window. If I waited until every blog post I wrote was perfect, I’d never put anything up. Perfectionism is paralyzing. My blog is riddled with typos and misspellings and the occasional broken link. But it exists. A truly perfect blog does not.
  3. Be yourself. There is no way you can maintain a blog if you aren’t true to who you are. I get distracted by desserts. I owe up to when I screw up and get lost. And I once wrote an entire post about John Stamos and cupcakes. I’m able to keep it up because it’s who I am.I ate one of these for breakfast. And the other one five minutes later.

    Travel Blogging Master, the Everywhereist

    Be Yourself, like she does, er—is...

  4. Be consistent. This is the most valuable piece of advice I can give to anyone who is considering blogging: you must post regularly. It doesn’t have to be daily (though it’s great if you can). It doesn’t even have to be weekly. But it must be updated at roughly the same time of day, at regular intervals. It gives readers something to count on, something to keep them coming back.
  5. Find a role model. Read lots of blogs (they don’t have to be in your topic area, but it’s better if they are); find a few that you are passionate about. Analyze what you like and don’t like. Try to emulate (but don’t copy) the good, and try to improve upon the bad. (Personally, I love the Fug Girls. I want to blog just like them when I grow up.)No, I am NOT surfing reddit while high on coca tea. I AM DOING RESEARCH … while slightly high on coca tea.
  6. Don’t do it for the money, because there isn’t any. The sad truth is, most blogs aren’t very profitable – definitely not enough to live on. And if you aren’t willing to put ads on your site (presently, I am not) or do sponsored posts (nope!), then it’s hard to monetize. Save for a few freelance gigs, I’ve never made any income off my blog. Between design, development, and hosting, I’ve actually spent thousands. But I keep doing it because I love it. And because life – and my husband – have been gracious enough to let me keep doing it.
  7. Pretend you have an audience, even when you don’t. I wrote regularly, knowing that no one save for my husband and a guy named Philip were reading it. But I pretended my audience was bigger than that. I’d joke about the hate mail I was going to receive for writing a post. I’d tease them. I’d write to them, as though they were a real, living group of people. And pretty soon, that audience I kept pretending was there appeared.For years, my blog was read by these guys. And no one else.
  8. Be patient. I once got an email from a reader who wanted to know how long before she could “expect success” (which, to be fair, is totally subjective). At the time, she had been blogging for two months. She had written eight posts. I gently told her what my husband told me, years ago: it takes years to make a name for yourself in blogging. I’ve been doing it for two and half years, and I’m still a tiny little grain of sand on the beach. Sit down. Relax. And keep typing.
  9. Guest blog. It seems hypocritical of me to write this, because my blog is now closed to guest bloggers (I got too many requests from shady folks who wanted to do spammy blackhat stuff), but guest blogging is a great way to get your work out there, make some connections, and bring more traffic to your own blog. Just be sure to bring your A-game. If it’s so good you are almost sad that you can’t post it on your own blog, then it’s good enough to be on someone else’s site.
  10. Love the haters. Oscar Wilde said: “To be popular one must be a mediocrity.” If someone hates you enough to send you a letter or leave a rude comment about it, you are above mediocrity. Congratulations. You’ve made it.
  11. Add photos. It doesn’t matter how clever or brilliant your words are – you need to break up your text with the occasional image (one that you’ve taken, or one that you can legally use). You’ll likely find that photos will make your blog much richer. Or, at the very least, they’ll provide a visual sorbet for your readers.In this case, said sorbet is actually a puppy.
  12. Tell your friends about your blog. This is one of the hardest things to do, but if you expect people to read your blog, you will need to be okay with telling them about it. Iknow. It sounds tortuous, right? But I promise, it will be less embarrassing and awkward than you think. Especially if you follow rule #13.They probably won’t make fun of you, given all the dirt you have on them.
  13. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t say to someone’s face. Fortunately, for me, that’s not very limiting. But I’m kind of an asshole. I say awful things to people’s faces. Still, this is a good rule (even for non-assholes).
  14. For the love of Pete, get on Twitter. You should be on it already. If you aren’t, get on it. Talk to and follow people in your industry. Tweet to famous folks. Tweet interesting links. Tweet your own posts. Tweet like your traffic depends on it, because it does.On twitter, you can pretend that famous people care about you.
  15. Don’t be afraid to change your mind. Perhaps a mindful commenter has said something that made you see things differently. Maybe time has caused you to reflect on your earlier beliefs, and you now see the folly of your ways. Or maybe you’ve just sobered up. Whatever the case, don’t be afraid to write another post, explaining your change of heart. Admitting that you were wrong, or changing your point of a view is a sign of maturity – both as a person and as a writer.
  16. Don’t hesitate to kill your darlings. In other words, don’t be afraid to hit delete. Whether it’s a few brilliant lines that aren’t working, or an entire post that doesn’t feel right, don’t hesitate to put the whole thing in the trash. If the idea of that makes you cringe, try cutting or pasting the content into another doc for a later day. But trust me: you’ll probably just end up deleting that, too.At a second glance, you might find it was all crap, anyway.

So that’s it: the grand total of my wisdom as it pertains to blogging. I’ll be the first to note that I only spoke to style, voice, and tone. If you are looking for something more technical, I strongly suggest you check out my husband Rand’s tips for not-just-travel bloggers and my pal John Doherty’s blog post about SEO.

And if any of my fellow bloggers have any other useful tips for beginners, please feel free to share them in the comments.

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 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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Business Strategy Writing

Write Optimized Blog Posts in One Hour

December 19, 2011 – 10:32 am
Write optimized Blog Posts: Four Tips

"This wouldn't be a bad time to think about my blog... where's my notepad?"

I know we tend to go on and on about blogging and content optimization, but it’s so hard for us not to! Blogs are great for providing fresh, relevant content and they can dramatically improve your  search rankings, customer base, community and brand.

But blogs can be brutal for busy people, and the time required to build an effective blog can seem daunting. For those few who take the plunge, coming up with strong, strategic blogs that speak to your audience and fulfill your website goals becomes too much to bear. Stale, dusty or rusty business blogs are commonplace.

It’s not a novel. It’s a blog.

What most people don’t realize is that blog writing isn’t like writing fiction. As most professional writers will tell you, web writing is more design, planning and adjusting than it is idea generation, language or prose .

And since most people don’t have a handle on the tricks that we use to stay on top of our blogs, here are some short tips that you can use today that will get you writing optimized blog posts in an hour, not an afternoon.

Keep a notepad (or maybe an iPad)

Having a way to talk about what you know is critical to writing good content, especially for blogs. I always find that my best ideas come at those times when I am finishing up with a client or am just hanging out with friends. Keep a notebook handy so you can record your thoughts, other people’s questions or opinions. You can tighten these ideas later, but building the list is a huge advantage. Flip through it once a week to…

Write in mind before writing on the page

Give yourself time to create a picture for how you want your blog to be structured. The more time you spend on this, the stronger the flow of your blog will be, and the shorter the time you will need to assemble your ideas as you…

Outline the blog

Create a short list of the central parts of your blog post. You’ll need an introduction, a few short points and way to get out quickly that hits the spot. Take those elements and simply fill them in. Remember that Google, as well as readers, love short, snappy content with headlines, sub headlines and lists. No need to wax poetic. Simply state what’s on order and finish up, but…

Remember the most important trick: Put Your Reader First

Putting the reader first to most means keeping the blog focused on the reader’s frame of mind. We agree, but just as important is thinking about how your reader will find your post. Think about the search terms they use and how they could fit in the blog content, headlines and subheads. Be sure not to neglect your blog tags, meta information and image tags (if you are using WordPress or other blog content platforms, this is easy to do). We’re big fans of Yoast SEO for WordPress for helping us to manage meta information (get it here).

It’s like we always tell people (who will listen): Writing is a process that gets better as you practice and refine your process. The writing becomes easier, faster, and normally better. We’ve seen blogs improve their ranking with a dozen posts of optimized blog content, and there is no reason why any business cannot have a successful blog. By using these 4 tips and following through on them, you’ll build a solid, optimized blog archive that will help the right people find you and make the right decisions on your website.

If time is an issue for you making your blog or website content work, please visit our Contact Page, fill our the form, and we’ll get in touch with you.

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 Marketing Strategy Writing

4 Tips to Choose a Content Writer

September 25, 2011 – 12:07 am
Content Writers: 4 Tips to choose the right one

Keyboards: The Quill of our century—at least until iPads take over.

We don’t want to come off like jerks.

But we know that there are scores of content writers out there, and there are even more writers eager to dabble in content creation for clients.

The world of copy and content writing is flourishing. In Edmonton and Alberta, we’ve grown into a community of vibrant professionals with differing skill sets and specializations.

But this is also a caveat. Being a great writing company doesn’t make us the best choice for all companies, and this can be said of every other copy or content writer out there.

We have those days when we talk to prospective clients who simply didn’t get what they were hoping for in their past content writer, or worse, they don’t get any results from their online marketing efforts. They are disappointed, nervous and out of some money.

We all know that content is the central component of any successful online presence, so we decided to create a list of tips to help you make an educated decision when considering a content provider.

1. Content Marketing is Still Marketing: Watch for Whiz-bangs.

You’ve likely seen Death of a Salesman, TV’s Madmen or other shows that reveals dark characters pulling the wool over the eyes of audiences and clients. Marketing can be seen as a dark art, and sometimes specialized service providers make the error of trying to razzle and dazzle buyers and clients with whiz-bang terminology. Don’t fall for it. Overuse of flashy words and phrases at best turns your website into adjective soup that doesn’t help your search ranking and at worst costs you more money for pay-per-click marketing.

2. Marketers First or Writers First: Know the Difference.

Many content writers assert that the key to good marketing content is to understand the Internet tools people are using to connect with each other, which might include web, blog, or social media marketing. We agree with this point, but it’s also important to know who is using which of these tools. Why should you pay anyone to beef up your company’s Facebook page if your best clients are on LinkedIn and Twitter. You’ll be trying to connect with people that may not even be there.

One other thing to watch for: Many journalists are veering to digital content marketing, and their skills in story craft is very useful. But watch out. Content has a specific need to be useful, and it requires a unique set of tools and strategies to be profitable. Revealing story is only one component of that, so beware of journalists who lack internet marketing experience.

3. Business Knowledge and Passion

This is hard to say, but many great writers are just that, writers. Content specialists need to be more than writers. They need to understand search, research and strategy to know how people find you and who those people are. They need to know how to build audience, attract the right attention and persuade people to act. They do not need to know your industry specifically, but knowing your people and what compels them to buy will make the difference between success and failure.

4. Clients, Followers and Proofs

One of the advantages of content is that it ends up online. You will forever be able to find it… somewhere. Use this to your advantage. Search their blogs, websites and social media accounts. Look through their client lists and testimonials and if they don’t have any, walk away. Also scour the followers and fans on social media. If there are marketing VPs on their LinkedIn account and you are a marketing VP, your needs will likely be better understood than someone with a network of solopreneurs—or vice versa. Don’t make this the big decision, though. Ask for their list of clients first, then snoop.

Searching for a solid content writer/content strategist can be daunting, but the risks of doing it incorrectly can be costly. Follow your possible provider’s posts and social media to get a feel for them, and use the list above to get a sense of their knowledge and skill. Your content and your strategy will be what you hoped for, and you will save on time and cost as you move toward your goals.

Good Hunting!

Idris Fashan

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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Marketing Writing

Features vs. Benefits

September 2, 2011 – 5:41 am
Knowing the Difference can change your bottom line.

How does what you do change your clients' lives?

I have to be completely honest.

We had a bit of a strange encounter recently.

We received a call on the phone from a gentle chap who was pricing proofreading services for his new company’s website text. The design was complete, and he simply wanted a steady hand and eye to be sure that what he had was clear, complete and error free.

We were happy to take a look and put together a quote, but what I found scared me, and it made it hard to give a basic quote (for the record, we cannot be one thing when we have specialization in several services).

So we decided to talk about it here—gently, in the hopes that the price checker checks our website for some cheap but very useful tips.

This is what we found in his work:

The web writing was all about the business (features) and not
about the clients (benefits).

One of the most important elements of web writing, and marketing writing, is this:

You must focus on the client’s benefits first and talk about your features last.

CLIENT’S BENEFITS FIRST.

YOUR. FEATURES. LAST.

The average website has about 6-10 seconds to make its case before the reader makes a beeline for the address bar. Don’t tell them what you have, tell them the benefits quickly, then work on to what it is. One of the easiest ways to do this is to pose a scenario or question. You can use the most common scenario of your target client. Something like:

Are you a [target client] who is [client scenario] while still [secondary scenario]?

We can help you [client benefit] through [your system/technique name or process]

Our [features] can give you the edge on [secondary client benefit], and get your business/customers [client solution].

This might sound a bit choppy at first, but try plugging your benefits and features into the spaces. You can rework the sentences to better highlight them and watch your client benefits rise in the writing. You can even further emphasize them by using bold letters or larger fonts, but be careful not to overdo it.

Keep working the text until you have something that sounds and feels smooth. Test it on some current clients and see if they “feel” the difference compared to what you had before. You might be surprised with the outcome.

Oh, and as for the curious shopper? He ended up choosing someone cheaper, but let’s hope he still pops by! We’d hate for him to miss this…

Cheers,
Idris

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Design Strategy Writing

Content and Design: The Halcyon Twins

August 4, 2011 – 1:46 am
Content and Design can work together

Courtesy GetWebDesign, Australia

I once attended a design lecture that featured a well-known Canadian thought leader in industrial design. He waxed on about the hallmark of great design—and he opened the question up to the room: “What constitutes good design?”

The room was silent. Then a few voices mumbled. In the following two minutes, the group gathered the answer.

“The hallmark of great design is a product that compels the user to use it in the way it was intended with ease and simplicity. The form of the product and the details of that product help users to clarify the function of that product for the user.”

An everyday example is the standard milk carton. The form protects the contents from warming up or sun damage. The plastic twist spout allows the contents to be poured easily and keeps the content fresh.

As we left, I wondered about how universal this truth in design was for people in communications, content development and print. It boils down to creating standards that are created with the reader in mind—standards that we as content creators and readers can be comfortable with. And in the case of business, print, and web writing creating and maintaining these standards can mean the difference between readers understanding you and readers not understanding what’s in front of them.

When we talked about it, a few relevant design considerations for content writers emerged:

  • Website design follows a grid in a similar way that newspapers and magazines follow their own specific grid templates
  • The hierarchy of information puts the broader information at the top of the grid and the deeper details and supporting information within the grid
  • In news journalism, disseminating news content from broad to narrow is referred to as the upside-down pyramid
  • This gives people the ability to scan the information, if they lack the time to read further, but it allows them to gather what they need
  • The principles of this are mirrored online, where people’s eyes work from the top left point of the page to the main header area (where the headlines are). People’s eyes then scan downward and toward the right of the page, much like an “F” pattern
  • For newspapers, magazines and websites: Headlines, bylines (the name of the writer), subheadlines, and introductory paragraphs give scanners a chance to gather what they need to move forward
  • Those who have the time to read further can feel free to do so without losing a sense of where they are going
  • White space keeps the readers’ eyes from getting tired, and it keeps readers from losing their place while they read longer pieces. They are more than a simple convenience.

So with this information in mind, we took a look at our client’s materials, and this included proposals, business plans, website copy, blogs and landing pages. Some jobs needed a short review, but keeping up on design principles in the medium we write for keeps us up to date, and our readers will not get confused or fatigued.

If you want to look further into the elements of content design, a great primer is Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think.

Forever choosing his words carefully,

Idris

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Marketing Strategy Writing

Good Professional Writing Pays for Itself

July 29, 2011 – 1:37 am
Photo Credit buy-seo.com

Professional Writing Pays for Itself

Now,
I don’t mean to start off sounding like a bad infomercial for produce-saving tupperware, but many writers find that it’s difficult to explain to prospective clients why paying for a professional writer is worth what may seem like another burden on an already-stretched budget. For one thing, many companies already employ at least a few proficient writers who are often assumed to be capable of taking on writing projects on an as-needed basis. For another thing, our society continues to stress the importance of visual images, and it has become increasingly difficult to wrap our heads around the fact that the writing that goes into an annual report, sales letter, brochure or website is just as important as its design and its effectiveness in showcasing the company’s visual identity. After all, recent studies have reported that the typical visitor to a web page scans only one or two pages—if that—before deciding to purchase what is being offered or to move on to a competitor’s site. Couple that with cliché sayings such as, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” which, to its credit, is backed up with numerous studies that demonstrate the power of visual media, and it’s no surprise that writing is often overlooked.

So why does the work of a good professional writer pay for itself? Many copywriting blogs have exhausted this very topic, but those that I’ve read have all said the same thing: Good copywriters know how to write leads that translate into sales, generating more revenue than what was paid out for the writing itself. Some writers have likened their role to that of a Don Juan-esque character artfully seducing a potential buyer into a sale, while others proclaim to know how to wield the time-tested sales copy formulas that have worked like magic for generations.

And you know what? They’re right.

While I take personal issue with likening a potential buyer to an unsuspecting woman that must be lured into the sack (I’m not making this example up, I swear!), one can’t argue with the fact that sales copy that generates a profit is always worth the cost.

But…

…there are other forms of professional writing whose efficacy may not be as immediately evident or as easily trackable as sales copy but that can have just as much an impact on a company’s bottom line as a swanky mailout package.

Take, for instance, a business plan. Any medium- to large-sized company should be investing in a new business plan at least every 3-5 years, particularly if the company has external shareholders who need to see more than just an annual report to know whether they wish to continue to support the company. Business plans, in conjunction with documents such as annual and fiscal reports, have the power to attract new investors and to maintain the support of existing ones. And while it’s not likely that you’ll ever hear a shareholder say that he or she invested in your company because last year’s business plan had some killer writing, you’ll certainly notice it if that plan fails to convince readers that your company’s management and marketing strategies, projections, and corporate profile make it a worthwhile investment. The same applies when you’re talking about strategic plans, proposals, and annual reports. In these cases, you’re not selling your product; you’re selling your company.

Jim’s a pretty solid writer. Let’s get him to do it!

Now that we have established that there is a direct monetary gain to be made from forms of professional writing other than sales copy, let’s examine other, less tangible reasons for which it’s important to not simply entrust the task of writing, say, an annual report to the marketing team or to the summer intern. First of all, professional writing is just that—a profession. There’s more to it than being a “good writer,” just as there’s more to being a mechanic than being “good with your hands.” You may think that the honor-roll summer students or the marketing gurus who are never stumped to find a good tagline may be perfect for the job, but you’ve got to be quite the writing expert yourself to know whether they’re really on par with the pros or whether they’re just better at writing than you (sorry!).

The marketing team can handle it. It’s not that busy these days!

Second, let’s suppose that there are oodles of top-notch writers in your office—yourself included—and that all of them really are capable of meeting your writing needs. Who will be doing their (or your) job in the meantime? Will you be bringing in other people to take over your “writers’” regular duties, or are you just piling the responsibilities onto the staff and setting the stage for future workload issues and grievances?

Stay tuned for upcoming blogs in which I will expand upon some of the ideas discussed in this post. In particular, I will soon share some tips to help you determine when it’s really worth it to invest in a copywriter (after all—not all writing projects need to be done by a pro); how to determine which copywriters are actually good (many aren’t), and of those that are good, how to choose the one that best suits your company’s specific needs; and why “lower-order” writing concerns such as grammar and punctuation can have a huge impact on readers’ responses to your written documents.

Toodles,

Geneve

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