Writing Exercises – Ask for Help
July 14, 2009
One of the toughest things about writing is getting enough thick skin to accept criticism. Not everyone is gracious about delivering their critiques, and some people can be down right nasty.
A big help to me in this area has been participating in peer reviews. This can be with writers you know or don’t know, or even people you trust who understand what you are writing. Just like your muscles, your must exercise your writing in order to improve.
I ask for a lot of help to improve writing from both peer reviews, friends in the industry, and my husband, who happens to be a great editor. When I know that I’m having to present something to a tough critic, I always let the person know who is helping me so that he can be overly critical of what I’ve done. It is important to get it right, whether you are submitting work to a client, or submitting to a publisher.
Writing exercises take many forms, whether for creative or business. One of the biggest mistakes we can make when writing is to do so in a bubble. Ask for help! After all, wouldn’t you rather have a tough critique from a friend or peer than from a client, or publisher? It’s always much nicer to hear only good things from those who receive our professional submissions!
Good Web Site Content Starts With the Basics
July 13, 2009
The most successful web sites are based on a company’s business strategy. Before starting to build a web site, there are several things you need to know, including:
- Goals of the site
- How to use the Internet to achieve these goals
- Who is the target market
- What do you want to say to this target market
- Why this site will be better than the competition
Without answering these basic questions, a client will flounder in his or her attempts to have the web site built, and as writers we will not have the best information to write great copy.
Understand Repurposing Web Content
Another important piece of information to understand is how the content written will be reused. Some basic questions to ask include:
- Does the site need a blog?
- Should articles be written and posted on other sites?
- Are white papers or manuals needed?
Defining the type of content to be written early on will streamline the writing process, save the client money, and give us an opportunity to do our best work. Plus our clients will have a better idea of what pages need to be on the web site, and how the site should be structured saving time and making sure everyone is on the same page.
Content Equals Communication
July 6, 2009
A solid web site strategy should encompass the content. Good web content should speak to your target audience and help them understand how you stand out from your competition. Whether your company caters to the consumer or to other businesses, it is important that your content position your company foremost in the customer’s mind.
Web content must be pertinent, interesting, well written, and most importantly, current. Customers will flee from a web site with old information in lieu of one with more updated data, even if the data is very similar or the same. The Internet moves so quickly that your target customers are accustomed to having their information immediately, and they expect that information to be focused directly on their needs.
An important part of the strategy is to determine the appropriate format for the content. For example, in addition to the typical static informational pages, you will want to consider including articles, press releases, photographs, charts, customer reviews, blog posts, order forms…the list is extensive.
Each type of content requires its own method. Articles and blog posts need to be timely, and are usually more conversational. Press releases have a specific format and not only reside on your web site but are typically published via an Internet service.
The content you employ enables you to communicate more effectively to your target market and existing customers. Spending time developing an overall web and Internet content strategy saves you time and money, and most importantly ensures your message is clear regardless of where the content resides.
The primary purpose of an Internet presence is marketing your business. Give your target market an easy road-map to follow. Whether reading an article on a third-party site or one of your web pages, your company will receive a higher return on your online marketing investment and greater success in converting those web browsers to buyers if you have spent time developing and implementing a web content strategy.
Unhappy Customers Teach You Valuable Lessons
July 2, 2009
I have been trying to determine exactly the type of web content writer I want to be when I grow up! There are so many choices, and honestly I’ve tried a multitude of writing styles trying to learn what is the best type to provide to my clients.
One of the things I have had to accept is that not everyone will connect with my writing style. I’ve had to learn that is OK, and that I need to really focus on what I do well in order to provide the best service. That being said, it is still difficult to work so hard on a project only to have the client throw it back in your face! Once you have recovered from the feeling of failure, you should review the client feedback as objectively as possible to see what you might have missed.
Here are some areas that clients have helped me improve:
- Active listening – did I really hear what the client said, or did I assume?
- Interviewing – did I ask all the right questions, or does the feedback show a hole in my interview questions that needs to be plugged?
- Voice – did I write with a true understanding of the target market I’m reaching, and how the client wants to convey their message?
- Weaknesses – am I attempting to write something that perhaps I’m simply not well suited for?
- Strengths – how did I really help this client understand her business and how to best recruit her target audience?
The reality of writing, whether web content, SEO, novels, white papers or direct mail, is that you should really play to your strengths. Do you have a knack for spinning a yarn? Can you analyze complicated systems and describe them in an easy manner? Can you compel someone to take action through your writing?
Know your strengths, and take advantage of them. You’ll find it easier to produce effective services for your clients that make you happy – all the way to the bank!
Repurposing Web Content
July 1, 2009
A key to making your web site work is to determine the best ways to repurpose your web content. The return on investment increases by repurposing your web content while providing an opportunity to readers who might not see your web site to learn about your company.
There are many ways to repurpose web content, and not all will make sense for your company. You will need to determine the best use of content based on your target market’s needs. Two of the most effective ways to repurpose content is through e-newsletters and web logs (blogs). Utilizing content from customer comments or questions not only gives you good content, but makes the information customer centric while allowing you to profile your company’s services or products. Therefore, making good use of your FAQs page, or customer service center, is a good idea.
In addition to using your web content’s well written value proposition as part of an elevator speech, you can also repurpose much of the content to add value to various social networking sites. LinkedIn is a highly respected site that focuses on business networking. Using the web site copy will not only speed up the process of writing your profile, but by linking your web log to LinkedIn, you can drive traffic to your site by capturing your profile visitor’s attention. Facebook and Twitter are definitely up and coming in the business marketing arena, and should be consider as a serious part of your content strategy. People want interesting, useful content, and they want to get to know you. Using social networking is a great way to fulfill all those needs.
Valuable Connections- 3 Reasons Content is Still King
- Fuzzy Writing … Bucky Katt Strikes Again!
- Writing Lessons from Bucky Katt
- Improve Your Headlines – Read Tabloids
- SEO Content – More than rankings
- Writing Exercises – Do Something Entirely Different
- Good Content is About Your Customers
- Writing Exercises – Ask for Help
- Good Web Site Content Starts With the Basics
- Content Equals Communication
