Blogging

How to Solve Your Customer's Problems and Make Money Doing It

Emma Ruehl — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 19:51:54 +0000

How to Solve Your Customer's Problems and Make Money Doing It

Emma Ruehl Mon, 07/31/2017 - 2:51pm

You’ve invested the time and effort to craft a solid sales message and marketing campaign. The offer is great, the price is right, and people should be flocking in your doors and email inboxes to purchase. You’ve even paid a company to help get your website to rank in the top five of Google’s search results page, and your site’s traffic has soared as a result. But somehow, the sales aren’t rolling in.

Turns out, ranking #1 in Google doesn’t directly get you sales. Helping people does.

Back to the Drawing Board

At the heart of every potential sale is a person with a problem. Is your business the right solution to the problem? Does your prospect feel understood, cared for, and compelled to partner with you to work towards a solution? Before you sell, it’s imperative that you understand the person and the problem. Otherwise, you’re marketing blindly. Here’s where to start.

1. Stop Trying to Think For Your Customer

Instead of developing products and messaging around inferences and feelings, ask the consumer directly. Start with a simple survey asking about their pain points (there are a ton of great chat bots and survey tools out there right now), interview people as they use your site to uncover frustrations, and read through your reviews and testimonials.

Photo via Olark.

Uncover why your prospect went looking for a solution and other approaches they’ve tried. Why have your customers chosen you? What almost stopped them from choosing you? Before you prescribe the solution, flush out the problem, and observe it from multiple angles. It’s your goal, as the Master of the Solution, to better understand the problem than your prospects and customers.

2. Build Content that Resonates with Solution-Seekers

Your prospects and customers don’t want content shoved down their throat. They want to encounter messaging that speaks to them and their problems. Have a conversation that brings them to the conclusion that you are the right fit and worth their dollars.

Screenshot via Hubspot

Much of the best content comes directly from the mouths of your customers, which is another reason why surveys and interviews are critical. There is no better way to help someone feel understood than to translate their very own thoughts and feelings into helpful messaging. Did a prospect express frustration around cost? Include messaging about value, or offer a free trial. Even better: when you know their pain points, include a list of features that directly addresses those pain points.

3. Rid Design of Disruption and Trend

So many brands are latched on the heels of the latest design trends. Heard of parallax? Ghost buttons? Hero rotator images? Perhaps you’re not familiar with the terminology, but no doubt you and your competitors have toyed with one or all of these design trends.

Look familiar? Screenshot via ABC.

It’s rare that businesses choose design elements based on actual research; typically, design is dictated by a template you purchased, or someone on your sales team saw an effect on a competitor’s site and thought it would be “cool” to implement on yours. If everyone else is doing it, you should be too, right?

The problem with trend is that it’s often broken from its original context and applied to a million different projects, despite relevance and suitability. When design dictates development and content, you end up with a pretty portfolio site that is irrelevant to your target audience. And all your money goes to making a piece of art that no one buys.

The best design adds to, and doesn’t detract from, user experience. It’s a supporting player that should be the last thing people notice. It should help logically guide users through your site architecture, keeping interest up and building trust in your brand.

Easy to digest and navigate site via Ted.

At the end of the day, your content is the star of the show. It is what resonates with your customers at their core, communicating that you can solve their problem and solidifying the connection that supports a lasting, mutually-beneficial relationship.

4. Invest In an SEO Strategy that Seeks to First Answer a Query

At the heart of SEO is simply being the best answer to a particular query; it’s inherently about solving problems. No doubt, you’ve searched yourself for product or service pricing, clicked on one of the top search results that you expected to contain pricing information, and much to your disappointment found no pricing but a barrage of CTA popups and contact forms.

Screenshot via Google

What happens when people don’t find what they’re looking for? They’ll exit your site. They’ll delete your email. They’ll go somewhere else because there will always be someone else who is actually solving their problem.

Be a smart marketer and lead your team to new thinking. If your business has been stuck in a rut of one-sided communication and has no idea what your customers and prospects actually want, be the voice for them. Seek to understand pain points and solve the problem; don’t add to a million other voices trying to tell consumers what they want. If you put in the effort to understand your prospects, they will reward you.

The Best Writing Tips for Engaging Your Audience

Amy Peveto — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:23:37 +0000

The Best Writing Tips for Engaging Your Audience

Amy Peveto Tue, 12/23/2014 - 9:23am

I love writing, but it’s a tough gig. Relying on blogging “inspiration” is a terrible strategy, so you have to get used to knuckling down and just getting it done — and getting it done right.

Few writers and marketers did it better than David Ogilvy, a Manhattan advertising executive many called “The Father of Advertising.” He changed advertising and marketing the way the wheel changed long-distance travel.

Writing tips from David Ogilvy

In September 1982, Ogilvy sent the following memo to everyone on staff at his agency:

“The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well.

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
Write the way you talk. Naturally.
Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
Never use jargon words like reconceptualize,demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
Never write more than two pages on any subject.
Check your quotations.
Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.”

These rules are solid gold, and should be painted in gigantic letters on the wall in every marketer’s office.

Think well, write well

Writing is just as much science as art; I rely on Ogilvy’s memo to provide the science and the story of what I’m writing to provide the art.

Great writing makes marketing better, consumers happier, and the world a better place.

The Impotence of Proofreading

Amy Peveto — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:54:35 +0000

The Impotence of Proofreading

Amy Peveto Tue, 10/21/2014 - 11:54am

I think I’ve spent more time editing than I have with my husband. Such is the lot of a person who dedicates her career to stamping out crappy content. In the rush to produce the content “they” say we have to, I worry that we’re skimping on making sure that content is correct.

Has this ever happened to you?

The inspiration for this article comes from Taylor Mali, a teacher and slam poet known for his grammar- and word-inspired poems. (Warning: Some NSFW language.)

Mali’s poem goes over-the-top, but the point holds true: proofreading is critical to creating successful content.

Why proofreading matters

Crappy content makes your business (and by extension, you) look crappy.

Visually pleasing, well-researched, grammatically correct content, on the other hand, indicates your professionalism and close attention to detail — not to mention your subject matter expertise.

Creating excellent content is one of the best ways you have to establish a trustworthy online reputation. Don’t blow it by not checking your work.

4 rules of proofreading

In his poem Mali lists two rules to keep in mind while proofreading — let’s break those down a little and throw in my favorites for good measure.

There is no substitute for careful editing

Drafting your content on a computer with spellcheck is a great way to catch the easy mistakes, but as noted in Mali’s poem, they’re not infallible. Double- and triple-check your content for repeated words, synonyms, and grammatical issues your computer can’t see.

Protip: Ask someone else to proofread your work. It’s amazing what a fresh pair of eyes can catch even after you’ve read through something multiple times.

The red pen is your friend

Another way to catch errors you might miss staring at your content on a screen is to print out your text and go through it “manually.” The new medium will give you a fresh perspective and help your brain spot issues you might not have before.

Put together a style guide

The purpose of a style guide is to help those writing content for your business to do so in a consistent way over time.

It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just an easily accessible document that provides rules like:

Whether or not to use the Oxford comma
Whether content should be in first or third person
Whether percentages should be 20% or 20 percent

This document makes it easy for you to keep your own writing consistent, and gives guest bloggers or freelancers creating content for you a guide to follow so that all your content is consistent.

It’s all about the reader

Wanna know a dirty secret about editing? Rules matter less than readability. If a grammatically incorrect sentence makes sense and clearly gets your point across to the reader, you can chuck any editing out the window.

This idea is sacrilegious to many editors — myself included — but it actually makes life easier. Instead of obsessing over semicolons and Should there be a comma here? all I have to do is ask, “Does this confuse the reader?” and let my intuition lead the way.

Resources for editors (and writers)

No matter how long you’ve been writing and editing, there’s always room for improvement. Here’s a few books I’ve found helpful in that process.

Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business (3rd edition, Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson)
The Subversive Copy Editor; or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself (Carol Fisher Saller)
The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications (3rd edition, Amy Einsohn)

Need help developing content?

Whether you need website content or blog posts, whitepapers or other advanced content, Digett can help.

We are experienced writers and experts in digital media, dedicated to creating content that is tailored for and speaks directly to your specific audience.

Contact us now to discuss your content needs.

Protecting Your Photos & Images Online

Amy Peveto — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 14:42:20 +0000

Protecting Your Photos & Images Online

Amy Peveto Wed, 10/08/2014 - 9:42am

Recently a client discovered some of their photos on a competitor’s website. The situation prompted some great questions: Isn’t our entire website copyrighted? Isn’t stealing photos illegal? What can we do about this?

Quick disclaimer

Copyright law is a massive subject, and no one at Digett is a lawyer. Consult an attorney if you have questions or issues that go beyond the occasional instance of image “borrowing.”

Isn’t our entire website copyrighted?

Once you hit the “Publish” button, drop the flyer in the mailbox, or otherwise make your idea public, it’s considered copyrighted — even if you don’t put the © symbol anywhere.

This automatic copyright gives you the power to send cease and desist letters, file Digital Media Copyright Act (DMCA) notices, and otherwise demand that those using your content (photos, text, videos, etc.) either give you proper credit or stop using it.

It gets more complicated if you decide to take someone to court — in the U.S. you have to register your content before you can sue anyone over it.

Want to learn more? Here’s some more details on copyright myths.

Isn’t stealing photos illegal?

According to what I’ve read, yes and no. It’s a violation of copyright, but successfully prosecuting someone for committing theft is unlikely if you don’t register your work.

What I am certain of is that “borrowing” someone’s photos without permission is unethical, and makes you look bad. Even more so when you consider how easy it is to find images for your content, many thousands of them for free.

What can we do about this?

Fortunately situations like the one experienced by our client are generally solved with a simple phone call informing the other party that they’re using images without permission.

Depending on who actually makes the changes to a website — like a marketing agency or freelancer hired by the company — it’s possible the owner might not be aware that the images were borrowed. Sometimes all it takes is a quick, “Did you know…?” to resolve the issue.

For an extra level of protection, consider putting a watermark or small logo on all the images you publish to the web. This can add quite a bit of time to your normal publishing routine, though, so don’t leap right in without doing some cost/benefit analysis.

You have the right to protect what’s yours

You don’t have to be rude about it or immediately escalate to having an attorney draft a cease and desist letter, but you should feel empowered to give the “borrower” a call.

Your images and other content are yours; you have the right to require that others get your permission before using them, and don’t pass them off as theirs.

Stop Looking for Blogging "Inspiration"

Amy Peveto — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:45:01 +0000

Stop Looking for Blogging "Inspiration"

Amy Peveto Tue, 08/26/2014 - 9:45am

Consistently creating excellent content for your business is daunting no matter your skill level; this task falls on the shoulders of non-writers more often than not, and recently I’ve noticed an uptick in articles claiming to provide ideas for “inspiration.”

I’m not surprised, but I’m definitely a little chagrined. Inspiration is all well and good, but what many of the articles I’ve seen forget to mention is perspiration.

Excuse me for a moment while I put on my Grouchy Managing Editor hat.

“Inspiration” is for cowards

Why? Because it attributes the thrill of victory (or agony of defeat) to some ethereal, unpredictable, unknowable thing, instead of where it belongs: on your shoulders.

Inspiration lets you off the hook, gives you an excuse for missing deadlines, for giving up on your strategy, for not writing.

Blogging isn’t about being “inspired,” or “finding fun ways to motivate yourself,” or “freeing your mind,” or any of those other touchy-feely phrases.

It’s about constantly making an effort. To paraphrase Hemingway, you have to sit down at your computer and bleed.

“I just wasn’t inspired” was not a legitimate excuse for not writing your final paper for a class, and it’s not legitimate now that that you work for or own a business.

If you didn’t write the paper then, you failed; if you don’t create content now, your content marketing strategy will never make it off the ground.

I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for inspiration in your content — I simply want to emphasize that it can’t be the only pillar on which you build your marketing strategies.

Time to put on your big girl/boy britches

If inspiration is a shaky cornerstone, on which tactics can you rely to keep you creating?

Here’s a couple things I keep in mind when it comes to writing.

Never stop learning

The more you know — about anything and everything — the more you can bring to the table when it comes to creating content. Become a subject matter expert in your field, but don’t forget that you can pull ideas from music, movies, news stories, history, science, photography, people you’ve met, places you’ve been or want to go, your sordid past, your family, My Little Pony episodes, conversations on which you eavesdropped, etc.

Take in every piece of information you can and use it to augment what you create.

Less whining, more writing

Inspiration is nice when it strikes, isn’t it? The words flow so easily, and you can slam out great stuff quickly and smoothly.

But it’s not going to happen for you every time — or even most of the time. Be willing to turn off email notifications, go to a different room, ignore your loved ones, grind your teeth, and sweat bullets to finish a piece of content.

If it’s daunting, you’re doing it right

Does the prospect of writing a blog article make you sweat a little? Does tackling that controversial industry topic give you the shakes? Good!

If you’re never uncomfortable, it means you’ve stopped growing. Don’t be afraid to experiment, try new things (creating videos, anyone?), get messy, and make mistakes.

Parting shots

Inspiration can be beneficial to content creation, but don’t leave yourself at its mercy. Empower yourself to take on the challenge of blogging, inspiration be damned.

Dig in. Focus your passion and expertise into creating content that speaks to your audience. It won’t always be easy, but it will always be important.

Letting Someone Copy Your Online Content? Read This.

Amy Peveto — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:56:53 +0000

Letting Someone Copy Your Online Content? Read This.

Amy Peveto Wed, 07/02/2014 - 9:56am

Recently I stumbled across what I thought was a case of plagiarism: one of our client’s blog articles was posted verbatim on someone else’s site. While we quickly discovered that our client knows the other party and gave permission to repost, it was not done properly and brought up some potential duplicate content and SEO concerns.

What is duplicate content?

According to Google, “Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”

Duplicate content is most often a by-product of having a website with similar content sprinkled around, but it can also be malicious and/or spammy — something for which Google could punish our client or the other party if the search engine suspects foul play.

Generally one occurrence of a situation like this doesn’t spell doom for a website, but letting it go unchecked is tempting the fates.

How to share content the right way

This situation prompted a conversation with the client about the potential dangers of making this distribution too big a habit, as well as the sharing of the Google-approved way to do this, called syndicating.

Eric Enge at Search Engine Land has a great article on syndicating content that highlights the best way to syndicate safely: the rel=canonical tag.

Adding this tag to the page that links back to your original content tells Google that your content came first and is therefore authoritative — minimizing the chances of the syndicated content showing up higher in search results than yours, as well as the likelihood that Google will ding you for spammy tactics.

Take control of your content

It is your responsibility as a business to make sure that anyone syndicating your content is doing so properly.

In our client’s case it was as simple as sending a link with a rel=canonical tag to their acquaintance and asking they use it to link back to the original content. The client will also need to do this every time they allow someone else to syndicate their content in the future.

What if you don’t know who is syndicating your content, or — worse — know someone who is doing so without your permission?

Is someone stealing my content?

Also known as “scraping,” this occurs when another website uses part or all of your content in their own digital space.

There are a few ways to find out if anyone is stealing your content; take note of any major occurrences and get in touch with the offender with your request they use a rel=canonical tag.

Someone is ignoring my request

If you have tried contacting a website or company about their use of your content and gotten no response, it may be possible to file an infringement complaint with Google.

This can be a lengthy and red tape-choked process, though, so research carefully before submitting a complaint.

Final thoughts

There’s no need to panic if you come across the occasional incidence of scraping, or worry too much about duplicate content problems if you syndicate the occasional blog post.

Google has gotten a lot smarter in recent years, and often interprets duplicate content problems correctly without assistance.

That said, if you’re serious about protecting your content and getting the benefits of strategic syndication, it’s better to plan ahead than be caught unawares.

[Image: David Goehring, cropped/resized]

Background noise: Turn up the volume or whisper something significant?

JD Collier — Tue, 06 May 2014 13:54:44 +0000

Background noise: Turn up the volume or whisper something significant?

JD Collier Tue, 05/06/2014 - 8:54am

The time of internet firsts is over. I don't remember the first email, the first web page, the first email newsletter, the first tweet, the first Facebook post, the first, the first ... and the list goes on and on. I just don't remember any of them.

This weekend, I was reading a fun non-fiction book titled The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England. This history book reads like a travel guide to a foreign destination. The book describes medieval life through the lens of our modern experience.

This got me thinking about the reverse: What would a fourteenth century traveler find in our work life? I suggest the first thing they would point out is information overload.

Too much information

There is so much information in my life that I have been on a quest to declutter. Over the years, I have curated a list of resources that helps me answer questions, that teaches me what I didn't know I needed to know, that guides me and creates good habits and patterns in my work and personal life.

Lately, however, this has changed.

There is too much—too many emails, too many newsletters, too many websites, too much Facebook, too many great people to follow on Twitter. There is too much.

I've been on a crusade over the last few months to quiet the noise. I'm switching from push to pull. Instead of allowing anything to push in front of me. I'm muting everything and switching to a system where I know where to go when I have a question.

I have unsubscribed from newsletters, unfollowed people on Twitter, hidden Facebook feeds from distant acquaintances—I'm working to reduce the overload.

Conclusion?

As I work with clients, my goal is to help them break through this noise and clutter. Every message needs to be provided with laser focus, every message has a disadvantage—it needs to overcome background noise to be received.

I like to stay positive. I don't like when things get preachy. I don't have the answers ... I'm just seeking the balance for myself.

I would love to hear from you. What do you do, especially in the world of websites and marketing to declutter and to be heard over the noise in our culture?

[Image: Michal Dočekal]

Blogging Every Day Does Not Make You Successful

Amy Peveto — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:29:20 +0000

Blogging Every Day Does Not Make You Successful

Amy Peveto Tue, 04/22/2014 - 9:29am

The pressure on businesses to blog as frequently as possible has reached a new high. There are scads of statistics showing the value of daily blogging, but I’m not sure the cost makes it worthwhile. A heavy focus on quantity can often lead to ignoring quality, which makes everyone suffer.

Numbers don’t tell the whole story

The web is filled with “30 day blog challenges” and success stories of those who tried them.

Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors
92% of companies who blog multiple times a day gain a customer through their blog
Customers who write three to four blog posts per month have 60 more Twitter followers and 50 more Facebook Likes

We share this data so often because it’s evidence that blogging has the potential to benefit your bottom line — what most people never talk about is how challenging it truly is.

Blogging is hard

It’s easier for a company with dozens of contributors to create good content daily — the smaller your company gets, the harder this becomes.

Small business employees wear many hats, and sometimes they must choose between writing a blog post and paying bills or meeting with a new customer or any of the other two dozen things they need to do that day.

Even when you’re passionate about your topic, the blogging process can feel like a grind. Brainstorming topics, writing, editing, finding photos, and promoting the content takes a long time.

And it’s never finished.

Blogging routinely and well is even harder

I can pump out a halfway decent blog post in about an hour, but we’re not interested in halfway decent content— and our potential customers aren’t interested in reading it.

No one at Digett has the time to create daily the great content for which we strive to produce — and I bet most of you reading this are in the same boat.

For many companies, the effort it takes and the stress incurred blogging more frequently than is ideal for them may not be worth the increase in visits or sales.

Don’t try to blog every day

Or at whatever rate the latest “expert” says is best. You have to take on what’s best for you.

If you are able to blog every single day, that’s fantastic! And there’s plenty of evidence that doing so grows your business (assuming you do it right).

But if you can’t, you just can’t. Trying to force yourself to results in frustration and sub-par content.

(Warning: Just because you can blog every day, doesn’t mean you should. In other words, don’t just grow rapidly for growth’s sake. A recent Inc. study found that, “...the only statistically significant predictor of a company’s future success is steady growth; short- and even long-term bursts mean almost nothing.”)

What should I do instead?

Before you breathe too heavy a sigh of relief, remember that blogging once a week or once every two weeks is only marginally easier than blogging daily.

Knowing your audience and their needs helps you focus your efforts and make your less-frequent content go farther.

Do your research

What questions does your audience have that you can answer?
With which keywords are they searching?

Answering these and other strategy-related questions are important, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Your strategy bends with audience and industry changes — don’t wait til that’s “done” to start creating content.

Set up an editorial calendar

Creating an editorial calendar may not save your life, but it certainly preserves your sanity.

Plan your blog articles as far out as possible, and stick to your plan!

It’s slow going at first, but the more you step through your routine, the easier the work becomes. Speaking of which…

Practice makes perfect

Write every day, even if it’s not something you plan to post.

You say you’re not a writer? You write a lot more than you think — for example, the average number of words you send via email alone every year is over 40,000.

If you can read, you can write. It takes practice to get into the flow of brainstorming, writing, and editing.

It doesn’t come easy — and you can never be too good at it — but persistence pays.

Stop comparing yourself to the “big boys”

There are companies out there right now producing multiple articles per day. They’re constantly putting out new whitepapers and case studies.

They’ve got 15 employees whose main job — day in and day out — is writing; of course they’re able to create more content.

You’re not those companies, and why should you want to be? You get to be you!

Stop comparing yourself to the big boys; instead, focus on creating the content your audience wants to read at a frequency you can handle.

Consider hiring outside help

If you’re having trouble creating content routinely, consider whether it could be a good use of your resources to find outside assistance.

You can hire a content agency or a freelance writer, but keep in mind that outsourcing content creation isn’t any easier than writing it yourself.

Need help creating content?

The value of frequently posting helpful, well-written content is enormous and challenging.

If you need help creating a content strategy, editorial calendar, or your content itself, we’re here to help. Get in touch with us to learn how our team can help you grow your business with content marketing.

Contact Digett

[Image: Kabedi Fernando, cropped/resized]

Submitted by Bert on Thu, 05/01/2014 - 4:01am

Truer words have never been spoken on this topic. It is so easy to get burnt out. You have to take time off for something totally unrelated or burnout sets in. Learned this lesson the hard way.

Submitted by Amy Peveto on Thu, 05/01/2014 - 9:36am

Thanks, Bert. I've been seeing a lot of articles about burnout recently; must be something in the air.

It's about taking breaks when necessary, but it's also about not taking on too much to begin with. Why stress unnecessarily, you know?

Submitted by Bert on Thu, 05/01/2014 - 12:08pm

Exactly, too much stress about things to can't control, so why stress about things you can?

The Blog Manager's Guide to Getting Sh*t Done

Amy Peveto — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 16:16:54 +0000

The Blog Manager's Guide to Getting Sh*t Done

Amy Peveto Tue, 01/28/2014 - 10:16am

Managing an effective blog is a long-term effort, and a challenge. It requires the patience of Job, the ability to plan flexibly, and more dedication on day 1,000 than on day one. If you’re ever going to get your team on board and build a successful blog, there are five things you must do.

Create an editorial calendar

It doesn’t matter if it’s an Excel spreadsheet or a handwritten document taped to the office fridge, a detailed list of assigned topics, or just a name and due date; creating an editorial calendar is crucial to a blog’s success.

Having this schedule is particularly important when — as with Digett — there are multiple writers contributing. It’s easy for you to keep track of who is posting when, and having the calendar available to the team promotes individual accountability.

Pro tip: I always send email reminders to writers the week before their article is due. No one is ever able to say they forgot about their deadline. This may feel like micromanaging, but it can be the only thing that prevents blogging from being pushed to the bottom of everyone’s to-do lists.

Develop a style guide

A style guide is a way to ensure consistency across articles without destroying individual writers’ personal voices.

Use the style guide to lay out your rules on article structure and tone, including:

Whether or not writers should use the Oxford comma
Whether blog titles should be title case or follow regular punctuation rules
Preferred spelling of common words (e-mail or email, for example)
Whether article tone should be formal or informal, humorous or serious

Making the style guide available to writers means you don’t have to answer the same style questions or make the same edits over and over again; when a writer is in doubt, they should visit the style guide.

Edit mercilessly and fairly

There’s enough garbage content out there to last eons; make sure the content your company puts out is of the highest possible quality.

Cut the fluff - There’s always extraneous content — find and eradicate it.
Triple-check spelling - Spell check doesn’t catch everything.
Provide value - If the article doesn’t make sense or is fundamentally flawed, send the writer back to the drawing board.

It’s not enough to tear a writer’s article apart, however — you must work together to improve it. Not only does this result in a stronger single article, it creates stronger writers.

Explain your reasoning - “Change this because…” instead of “Change this.”
Force writers to defend their writing - If they’re not proud of it, why should it be posted?

If you’re doing this right you should over time see a decrease in the amount of edits you make to writers’ articles.

Lead by example

Do just as much — if not more — writing than everyone else, and hold your writing to the same standards.

Share successes

Getting a team to write regularly without hating it is difficult. It takes time to build up a blog’s reputation and readership, and for the first few months it can feel like you’re sending your content into a black hole.

As blog manager, it is your responsibility to share the results of writers’ labors with them. Was an article shared more than usual, or did a prospect contact you because of a particular piece of content you published? Share these successes with the writer and the team — show them that their efforts are bearing fruit.

This lesson is one I’ve learned but have yet to act upon; from now on I’m going to do a better job of letting the team know their efforts are valuable and appreciated.

More blogging resources

[Image: Beth Scupham, cropped/resized]

Blogging is Your Marketing Foundation

Jeff Lamboy — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:13:38 +0000

Blogging is Your Marketing Foundation

Jeff Lamboy Thu, 01/31/2013 - 11:13am

The past couple of years have been dominated by businesses emphasizing their social media presence; but in a recent New York Times article, author Melinda Emerson reminds us that it's blogging that builds your business.

The ROI battle

While it is true that social media can drive traffic, a blog is essential to building your content platform. Debate continues over the ROI for the amount of time spent on social media, and tracking performance can feel like trying to nail Jello to a tree.

The metrics and measures around blogging are precise. You can easily measure and evaluate unique visitors, comments, interactions, and time spent on your site. These metrics also give great insight into your customers’ interests and their needs.

Industry expert, industry advantage

The power of blog content for your business is measurable and can do more to engage consumers than just social media. Blogs indicate a level of dedication and commitment to your customers. Blogging showcases you as an industry expert and boosts SEO.

There are far fewer regularly updated blogs on the Internet than there are regularly updated Twitter feeds or Facebook pages. Use this to your advantage.

Having an informative and current blog indicates that your business has invested heavily in its field. While those businesses recognize this, most importantly, customers recognize this. Social media is a great way to promote the content that you write on your blog. It’s a great way to engage with your customers. It just shouldn’t be the center of your strategy.

Your blog is branded in strategy

While blogging has an established history, it is constantly evolving. Looking to the future, there is now more emphasis on brand focus. Companies have produced branded content—volumes of it—but the results have lacked a clear and evident strategy.

Taking the time to develop a clear content plan and editorial calendar based on defined objectives will deliver a long-term benefit for those companies that plan and execute accordingly.

By establishing the primary content and writing tone of your blog, you will be less tempted by hot topics and current trends. While these subjects are temporarily engaging, you want to attract a larger audience, one that will utilize your blog as a resource over and over again.

Meet the challenge

Blogging consistently is challenging, and developing a focused strategy and sticking to it isn’t easy — which is why there are so many company blogs that haven’t been updated since 2009.

Content is critical to online marketing success. It takes practice and continued dedication, but can bring your business big rewards.

To help you build your blog, we’d like to share the following:

[Image: Nicki-G]

Blogging

How to Solve Your Customer's Problems and Make Money Doing It

Back to the Drawing Board

1. Stop Trying to Think For Your Customer

2. Build Content that Resonates with Solution-Seekers

3. Rid Design of Disruption and Trend

4. Invest In an SEO Strategy that Seeks to First Answer a Query

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The Best Writing Tips for Engaging Your Audience

Writing tips from David Ogilvy

Think well, write well

More on writing

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The Impotence of Proofreading

Has this ever happened to you?

Why proofreading matters

4 rules of proofreading

There is no substitute for careful editing

The red pen is your friend

Put together a style guide

It’s all about the reader

Resources for editors (and writers)

Need help developing content?

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Protecting Your Photos & Images Online

Quick disclaimer

Isn’t our entire website copyrighted?

Isn’t stealing photos illegal?

What can we do about this?

You have the right to protect what’s yours

More on protecting your content

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Stop Looking for Blogging "Inspiration"

“Inspiration” is for cowards

Time to put on your big girl/boy britches

Never stop learning

Less whining, more writing

If it’s daunting, you’re doing it right

Parting shots

More on content development

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Letting Someone Copy Your Online Content? Read This.

What is duplicate content?

How to share content the right way

Take control of your content

Is someone stealing my content?

Someone is ignoring my request

Final thoughts

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Background noise: Turn up the volume or whisper something significant?

Too much information

Conclusion?

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Blogging Every Day Does Not Make You Successful

Numbers don’t tell the whole story

Blogging is hard

Blogging routinely and well is even harder

Don’t try to blog every day

What should I do instead?

Do your research

Set up an editorial calendar

Practice makes perfect

Stop comparing yourself to the “big boys”

Consider hiring outside help

Need help creating content?

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The Blog Manager's Guide to Getting Sh*t Done

Create an editorial calendar

Develop a style guide

Edit mercilessly and fairly

Lead by example

Share successes

More blogging resources

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Blogging is Your Marketing Foundation

The ROI battle

Industry expert, industry advantage

Your blog is branded in strategy

Meet the challenge

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