Effective Blogging: Conversational Writing

Bloggers need to write in a conversational tone in order to be effective. They must write as though speaking to a friend. Marketese and business speak do not work in blogs. "If you ever went to business school ignore everything you learned about writing while there," is very popular advice that lots of people give and not far off the mark.

If you have trouble writing conversationally, try saying your thoughts out loud as if speaking to someone before writing them down. As silly as it may sound, some people find holding a telephone to their head helps.

One gentleman I mentored had such trouble initially, even though he is a great writer. He is a better writer than I am or will ever be, but he had such enormous trouble writing conversationally initially. He would speak into his phone to a secretary's voice mail and she'd then transcribe his words into a draft message which he would then take a quick look at, make sure she'd transcribed it right, perhaps make some minor changes and publish. In fact we found that if he didn't take just a quick look, he'd sometimes edit it back to business speak.

Most people don't have this much trouble writing conversationally, although many new bloggers find it difficult at first. Conversational writing is simply much different than the traditional business communications you may be familiar with, but most new bloggers quickly get the hang of it as it's not difficult at all. For example, after a couple of weeks this gentleman was writing conversationally and very effectively. A good way to see a lot of conversational writing is just to read some blogs because blogs of course, the popular ones, the well done ones, are all full of conversational writing.

Effective blogging requires a writing style closer to speaking to a good friend than the business writing you may be familiar with. It is fairly easy to learn although it may seem difficult to learn. Once you master the basics of conversational writing, you will find you can write faster and easier than ever before!

And for over 100 more tips on successful blogging, I invite you to grab your free copy of my ebook Secrets of Successful Blogging at http://www.secretsofsuccessfulblogging.com

Blogger Relations: PR folks take note

Dianne Huff's post on Blogger Relations: How to Pitch Me is right on!

Hmmm, I received 5 press releases today so far (and it's not even 9AM!) on things I have zero interest in. Anyone who reads my blog, even a cursory glance, would know that.

I hate press releases anyways -- don't send them to me!

You can send a personal email, especially if you've initiated a relationship, perhaps by leaving the occasional intelligent comment.

Personal email -- that means USE MY NAME, not "Dear Blogger" or anything else inane.

Dianna puts it all far more intelligently, and doesn't ramble like I'm doing; click here to check out her thoughts.

Ohh, another thing -- I'm busy, probably busier than you (3 little kids, etc.). Even the perfect pitch doesn't always score. Nothing personal . . .

Local Blogging Tips: Blogging to Support Local Businesses

An Effective Internet Presence is becoming more important for local businesses, as fewer people even consider using the "yellow pages" these days. Blogs are wonderful for building a local business' internet presence. Basic good blogging practice works well for local blogs, for example writing good content, but there are a few additional things to consider that can make a big difference for local businesses

1) Pieces of Paper and Signs

If you are a Brick-and-Mortar store, you've got some great resources to advertise your blog. You might mention your blog on your invoices, fliers, your sign, etc. If you hand out any promotional literature, e.g. fliers or a sheet of current events in the store, not only mention your blog, but mention recent post topics, which are presumably about things of local interest.

2) Press Releases

The local media loves local news. Writing a press release is well the scope of this article (there are plenty of good resources on line), but a title starting with the word "Local" and stressing benefits (i.e. why people will care) can get the attention of local media. Hand-addressing envelopes to the local media makes them stand out and stressing the local angle can do wonders. You can also send out the press release for free or cheap using an online service like PR Web.

3) Search Engines

Almost everyday I look up a local business - today it was my Cleaner and a Chinese restaurant.

I always look on line first, before defaulting to the phone book. Younger people are even more likely to look on line.

Search engine optimization is critical for your blog and Web site, so that people looking for local services online can find you easily. The basics are simple.

The number one rule -- mention location. I'm tempted to say mention "location location location" because you will want to repeat yourself as we outline below.

Blog Names:

A descriptive blog name that includes location is great! For example a name which includes location keywords such as the name of your town/city, state or other geographical info, for example "Twin-Cities" for Minneapolis/Saint Paul. The name of the service or product you provide is also great, like "Bowling" or "Chinese Food" or "Window Washing."

"Great Bay Bowling" is an OK blog name, but "Great Bay Bowling, Newmarket NH" is much better. The more location specific a name, the more local traffic it will get from the search engines.

Post Titles:

Many of your post titles can benefit from including location.

If you're a fishing tackle shop posting a fishing report, "Fishing Report" is not a good blog post title. "New Hampshire Fishing Report" or "Everglades Florida Fishing Report" or "Cape Cod Fishing Report" is infinitely better! More specific, where appropriate, is even better, for example "New Hampshire Coastal Fishing Report" or "Outer Cape Cod Fishing Report."

For a cooking and food supply shop, "Big Bob's BBQ Restaurant Review" doesn't cut it as a title. "Portsmouth New Hampshire: Big Bob's BBQ Restaurant Review" or similar is the way to go.

Body Text:

Mention geographical location (yes again) and what you provide (again) in the body text also, preferably several times in a natural way if you can. Don't write garbage text to include keywords over and over again, but if you are writing about "Vegetarian Dog Food," it makes sense that you might write "vegetarian dog food" several times in your post. Search engines like that.

The Title Tag

Web pages, which include blog pages, have a "title," and search engines care very much about the title. This is the title of the webpage that shows up in the top of browsers' windows. Most blog software automatically sets the title tag to something at least semi-intelligent, for example your blog's name, and it's usually easily modified.

Web pages are written in HTML, and this HTML contains the title. We can modify a Blog's basic HTML by modifying its "template" (sometimes called a "theme"). For example, we could modify this not over search engine friendly name:

to this much more search engine friendly name:

Blogs actually have several types of pages, including the main page, archive pages, post pages, etc. The details depend on the actual blogging software used.

Local Links

Links are incredibly important for getting search engine traffic, especially relevant links. They raise your site's worth significantly in the search engine's opinion, and will result in higher search engine rankings and more online traffic - which can result in more offline traffic and customers and sales. For a restaurant, relevant links would include "food" related links, as well as "local" related links, for example from local directories, local newspaper Web sites, chambers of commerce, etc.

More of your potential customers are looking online. Good blogging can help catapult a local business' Internet presence and bring in more customers. These are a few ideas to make your local blog really tick!

And for over 100 more tips on successful blogging, I invite you to grab your free copy of my ebook Secrets of Successful Blogging at http://www.secretsofsuccessfulblogging.com

Great Short Blogging Videos

Here are a great set of short blogging videos at by my friend Yaro Starek and Gideon Shalwick:

Become a Blogger

Some great information! Nice job guys.

I especially like video 2 on selecting a Domain name - valuable whether you ever blog or not.

Remember you can and should use your own Domain regardless of the Blogging Software you use, either
their suggestion, WordPress.org, or my slightly preferred choice for most people, TypePad.

The videos are short, informative, and fun to watch.

I'd also signup for the "The Roadmap To Become A Blogger" which I'll review soon.

The videos are at: Become a Blogger

Check them out!

#1 Rule For A Successful Blog

So, what is your #1 Rule For A Successful Blog?

Mitch Joel asks that question at his blog.

His answer is simple:

Finding your passion is one thing. Uncovering a unique niche is another. Attempting to turn a six-figure income from your Blog might be what drives you, but what will really keep the momentum going and your readers engaged is if you create a platform to not only share your own insights and personal thoughts, but use it as a place to really connect with those readers and enable that to turn the entire Blog into a thriving community.

Mine is simple too:

My #1 -- goals. If you don't have goals, how do you know if your succeeding (or just having fun which is fine too). Goals can be as fine grained or coarse as you want. You can have regular goals, and "stretch" or "home run" -- if everything goes perfectly goals.

The #1 goal for my first blog was simply to experiment with blogs and see if they had any business value. The #2 goal was to reposition myself not just as a techie, but as a business dude with strong technical skills. Oh, I had fun along the way too.

It's worth it to Click Here and read the whole discussion

Blog Success: Your Blog Goals

In order to have a successful blog, it's important to have blogging goals.

What are your goals with blogging? If you don't have any goals, how can you know if you're succeeding, if your blog is working?

Ask yourself where do you want to end up with blogging? You are never going to get there if there isn't any "there."  How do you know you've achieved your goals if you don't have them?

I suggest going beyond merely listing goals and choosing a primary goal. Your primary goal may certainly shift over time, as may all your goals.

Goals for a business blog might include establishing thought leadership, engaging customers in dialogue -- Microsoft has been extremely effective in that with their 4,000 plus bloggers, increasing awareness of your company and its offerings, or perhaps just becoming a better writer -- writing is a critical business skill.

For example, my primary goal with my first blog was simply to experiment and become familiar with blogs and blogging. Once that was accomplished, my primary goal became to reposition myself as a consultant. Traditionally, I was a technical guy and many of my older clients used me for my technical acumen only. However I'd been in business for myself for a good 15 years including a number of startups and a lot of consulting, and I learned quite a bit about business.  Some of my newer clients used me for my business acumen. I used my blog to help position myself as a consultant with a lot of business experience and a strong technical background.

I strongly suggest you write down your blogging goals, preferably on paper! Schedule a review date on your calendar a few months out and revisit your blog goals then.

Have you made progress towards achieving them? Has your primary goal shifted?

Just the simple practice of documenting your blogging goals and periodically reviewing them can have an enormous impact on the success of your blog.

And for over 100 more tips on successful blogging, I invite you to grab your free copy of my ebook Secrets of Successful Blogging at http://www.secretsofsuccessfulblogging.com

Blog Marketing: Massive Visibility through Blogging

Ted Demopoulos(that's me) asks the Blog Squad's Denise Wakeman's:

What's the one thing entrepreneurs and business people need to know about blogs?

I pounced on an unsuspecting Denise Wakeman of the Blog Squad at Tom Antion's Fusion event last week, and got this great unplanned short video. I wish I came off so well on video when totally unplanned!

Shot with my new Flip Camera -- about $150, stupidly simply to use, and so small you can put it and even lose it in your pocket! Seriously -- I even put my first one through the washing machine.

Halloween Costumes, Blogs, and Authenticity

Halloween is coming up in a few weeks, and my kids are planning their Halloween costumes, which has me thinking about blogs and authenticity.

To be effective, you need to blog as your real self, transparently and authentically. If you try to "change" yourself for your blog, well, it just doesn't work long term. Writing in a conversational manner on a regular basis, as bloggers do, make it difficult to disguise your real self.

For example, I doubt I could pull off the "I'm a 100% serious business type with no sense of humor who confirms to established lines of thought" for very long -- it's just not me.

But can bloggers disguise their real selves for the occasional post, just like wearing a costume for Halloween or perhaps a costume party?

For example:

• Could I do a fake guest post as a female, just as I once wore a dress on Halloween(and I make an ugly woman!)?
• How about a satirical post about a topic you normally blog on?
• Maybe a mock post as Fred Flintstone? (famous cartoon character)

Well, I say why not? If it's fun and not harmful, who cares?

Just as on Halloween I might disguise myself for the fun of it, there is nothing wrong with an occasional non-authentic blog post. Even if it might be technically dishonest, as long as you are just "lying recreationally," as in a practical joke, I say it's OK.

Stand by for a string of posts by Hannah Montana next :)

Oh, and Halloween? My kids will be dressed as Jesters, and I'll either be a ghost (sheet over my head) or perhaps buy a great commercial Halloween costume.

Hmmm, maybe an un-authentic yet appropriate post on Halloween :)

Reporter vs Expert - Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck Reporting

There are basically two types of bloggers in the world - reporters and experts - and some people perform both roles (usually the experts, it’s hard for reporters to become experts, but it’s easy for experts to report).

If you have ever taken an Internet marketing course or attended a seminar specifically for beginners, you have probably heard about the two different methodologies. Whenever the business model is based on content, and if you blog for money then the model is based on content, people are taught to either start as reporters, or if possible step up as experts.

I’ll be frank; you want to be the expert.

Reporters leverage the content of the experts and in most cases people start off as reporters because they haven’t established expertise. Experts enjoy the perks of preeminence, higher conversion rates because of perceived value, it’s easier to get publicity, people are more likely to seek you out rather than you having to seek others out, joint ventures come easier, etc… experts in most cases simply make more money and attract more attention.

Most Bloggers Are Reporters

The thing with expertise is that it requires something - experience. No person becomes an expert without doing things and learning. Bloggers usually start out without expertise and as a result begin their blogging journey by talking about everything going on in their niche (reporting) and by interviewing and talking about other experts (reporting again).

There’s nothing wrong with reporting of course and for many people it’s a necessity at first until you build up some expertise. Unfortunately the ratios are pretty skewed when it comes to reporters and experts - there are a lot more reporters than there are experts, hence reporters tend to struggle to gain attention and when they do, they often just enhance the reputation of the expert they are reporting on.

Don’t Replicate Your Teacher

If you have ever spent some time browsing products in the learn Internet marketing niche you will notice a pattern. Many people first study Internet marketing from a “guru” (for lack of a better term). The guru teaches how he or she is able to make money online, and very often the view that the student gleams is that in order to make money online you have to teach others how to make money online.

The end result of this process is a huge army of amateurs attempting to replicate what their teacher does in the same industry - the Internet marketing industry - not realizing that without expert status based on a proven record and all the perks that come with it, it’s next to impossible to succeed.

Even people, who enjoy marginal success, say for example growing an email list of 1,000 people, then go out and launch a product about how to grow an email list of 1,000 people. Now I have no problems with that, I think it’s fine to teach beginners and leverage whatever achievements you have, the problem is that people gravitate to the same niche - Internet marketing - and rarely have any key points of differentiation.

How many products out there do you know of that all claim to teach the same things - email marketing, SEO, pay per click, affiliate marketing, and all the sub-niches that fall under the category of Internet marketing. It’s a saturated market, yet when you see your teachers and other gurus making money teaching others how to make money (and let’s face it - making money as a subject is one of the most compelling) - your natural inclination is to follow in their footsteps.

If the key is to become an expert and you haven’t spent the last 5-10 years making money online, I suggest you look for another niche to establish expertise in.

Report on Your Process, Not Others

The secret to progress from reporter to expert is not to focus on other experts and instead report on your own journey. When you are learning how to do something and implementing things day by day, or studying other people’s work, you need to take your process and what you do as a result of what you learn, and use it as content for your blog.

It’s okay to talk about experts when you learn something from them, but always relate it to what you are doing. If you learn a technique from an expert it’s fine to state you learned it from them (and affiliate link to their product too!) but you should then take that technique, apply it to what you are doing and then report back YOUR results, not there’s. Frame things using your opinion - your stories - and don’t regurgitate what the expert said. The key is differentiation and personality, not replication.

Expertise comes from doing things most people don’t do and then talking about it. If you do this often enough you wake up one day as an expert, possibly without even realizing how it happened, simply because you were so good at reporting what you did.

You Are Already An Expert

Most people fail to become experts (or perceived as experts) because they don’t leverage what they already know. Every person who lives a life learns things as they go, takes action every day and knows something about something. The reason why they never become an expert is because they choose not to (which is fine for some, not everyone wants to be an expert), but if your goal is to blog your way to expertise and leave the world of reporting behind you have to start teaching and doing so by leveraging real experience.

Experience can come from what you do today and what you have done previously; you just need to take enough steps to demonstrate what you already know and what you are presently learning along your journey. I know so many people in my life, who are experts simply by virtue of the life they have lived, yet they are so insecure about what they know, they never commit their knowledge to words for fear of…well fear.

Blogs and the Web in general, are amazing resources when you leverage them as a communication tool to spread your expertise because of the sheer scope of people they can reach. If all you ever do is talk to people in person and share your experience using limited communication mediums, you haven’t much hope of becoming an expert. Take what you know and show other people through blogging, and you might be surprised how people change their perception of you in time.

Reporting Is A Stepping Stone

If your previous experience and expertise is from an area you want to leave behind or you are starting from “scratch”, then reporting is the path you must walk, at least for the short term.

Reporting is a lot of fun. Interviewing experts, talking about what other people are doing and just being part of a community is not a bad way to blog. In many cases people make a career of reporting (journalism is about just that), but if you truly want success and exponential results, at some point you will have to stand up and proclaim yourself as someone unusually good at something and then proceed to demonstrate it over and over again.

Have patience and focus on what you do to learn and then translate that experience into lessons for others, and remember, it’s okay to be a big fish in a small pond, that’s all most experts really are.

This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:

www.BlogMastermind.com

A sample blog workflow

Chris Brogan has written an interesting sample blog workflow.

Lots of things I do (that I have rarely if ever thought about!).

Notice that purpose and goals come FIRST, before any tasks. Your blog needs a primary goal, and each post may have a specific goal as well.

Also notice the number 1 task is READING -- seeing what others are saying. This includes in blogs, other online media, as well as in dead tree media, for example headlines in the newspapers at the local store.