Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Video Promo Clips: Content Marketing Comes Alive

People buy from people they know, like, and trust. Video clips will shortcut the process of connecting with people quickly. Viewers can more easily decide if they like and trust you when they can see and hear you.

How do you write a script for a video clip to promote a program or event? Posting video clips has become popular and easy to do. This is another promotional step you must include in order to boost your sales.

Video promotional clips are part of the various writing tasks necessary for making money online. It doesn't matter if you're presenting a teleseminar, publishing a book, or promoting a coaching or consulting program. You've got to get the word out to as many potential participants in many different ways, on Web landing pages, blog posts, email messages, ezines, and audio and video.

Marketing with content isn't only about writing text. If you're not using video yet, It's fairly easy to get a Flip video camera and get started without any tech skills or expensive equipment. But be sure to write out a short script before recording so you don't forget any essential details.

In the example we're writing about here, Denise and I and Kathleen Gage promoted a free teleseminar on our blogs through posting a video each day, outlining each of The 5 Traps of Internet Marketing. Kathleen and I each wrote out a script for these, presenting 5 Traps and 5 Truths, and then the information for registering. Each script was 2-3 minutes long. Here is the outline we used:

2 + 5 Formula to Improve the Quality of Your Writing

There are two things that will guarantee success with your writing, even if you don't consider yourself a professional author:

1. Expertise
2. Passion

You can even make a typo or a grammatical error and most readers won't mind as long as you deliver valuable information readers can use with enthusiasm and conviction. (I don't suggest you ignore these blights; get them quickly edited out.)

But if you are writing with energy, and you know what you're talking about, don't sweat the rest. You can't fake expertise and passion, but you can certainly find it within yourself and learn to bring it out onto the paper or screen.

Those two things, expertise and passion, will guarantee you a home run blog post, article, or newsletter. Nevertheless, here are five additional things that will improve the quality of your piece:

1. Include some statistics (use the web to do a little background search)
2. Include a quote from a well-known author or expert
3. Include a paragraph from a book you've read on the topic
4. Include historical background that affects your clients today
5. Include a prediction about this topic and how it will affect your clients in the future

Quick and Easy Blog Writing Tips

When Denise and I teach business blogging, professionals often worry about finding the time for writing on their blogs. We understand and struggle with this challenge ourselves. With 10 blogs between us, you know there are a few neglected ones...

So here are some tips to save you time and effort, and maintain a posting frequency of 2-3 times a week.

1. What are you doing in your business this week that you could post about that would make your readers' lives better? (Example: we've started a 4-week teleseminar on Branding and Blogging, and for the class, I wrote an outline about blog writing tips; so I'm sharing that with readers here.)
   
2. Look at that idea for a post and see how you can make a list of 5-7 tips. Don't post the entire list in one blog post. Break it up into a series of posts for the whole week.
   
3. You can write the series all at once and post-date the publications; or write them up individually and post each day, whichever suits your schedule. (Stay tuned: over the next few days, I'll post 11 tips for writing easily and quickly so you can save time, energy and money.)

You should be able to post on your blog in 20-30 minutes. That's not a lot of time to spend on a marketing task that will bring you great results.

Writing on your business blog should always contain information that is relevant and valuable to your readers; you have plenty of that in your head right now, so get it out into a list and start posting. Your readers will appreciate that and your business will grow.

Know the Law: How to Protect Your Intellectual Property

Blogging and Beyond Radio Show with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman on Blog Talk Radio

With Guest Expert: Jay Hollander, intellectual property law attorney, www.ExpertPreneurlawblog.com 

Know the Law: How to Protect Your Business' Creative Assets
September 6, 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

What are the legal issues relevant to entrepreneurs who sell information products and services? Jay Hollander, Esq. shares his legal expertise and shows how you can use intellectual property law to help build brand value in your business, protect your business' creative assets, and avoid being sued for infringing on the intellectual property of others.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on September 6.

 

Blogging and Beyond Radio Show with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman on Blog Talk Radio

With Guest Expert: Jay Hollander, intellectual property law attorney, www.ExpertPreneurlawblog.com 

Know the Law: How to Protect Your Business' Creative Assets
September 6, 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

What are the legal issues relevant to entrepreneurs who sell information products and services? Jay Hollander, Esq. shares his legal expertise and shows how you can use intellectual property law to help build brand value in your business, protect your business' creative assets, and avoid being sued for infringing on the intellectual property of others.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on September 6.

How Not To Email Me - or Anyone Else If You Want Results

We learn from other people's mistakes, so here goes a prime example of what not to write in an email message if you want to get results.

First off, this person put Joan Stewart's name in the subject line: "The Publicity Hound Sent Me". That's a good way to get me to open up your email, but you better be sure it's true or you'll piss me off. In this case, if it were true, then the sender wouldn't have written what she did...

"Dear Denise"... the email begins. Only I'm Patsi. To be fair, we both get email at that address, but still...

"I invite you to help create an international buzz this year for "XXX Days" in Northern California. 

5 Phrases to Close the Sale on the Phone or by Email

I hadn't heard the term "presale closing phrase" before I read it on Mitch Harpz' blog this morning. It's when you get an email or call from someone asking questions about a product or program. Sometimes I get the feeling that people pick up the phone and call just to see if a real person will pick up the phone. Their questions aren't often that complicated, but it's sort of like they are just checking to see if someone's there that really cares.

Here are 5  ways to end the conversation or email that can help increase sales:

"Does that help? If not let me know which part doesn't make sense."

"If you have any more questions please let me know. I'll be more than happy to help in any way I can."

"I hope I've answered your question for you. If not just let me know and I'll be happy to address any outstanding concerns."

"If I haven't answered your question just let me know and I'll do my best to clarify."

"Does that make sense?"

When you think about it, these are great phrases to use at anytime and make for good customer relationships.

Time: Don't Forget to Change Your Clocks & Computer

Unless you've got your computer set to get automatic updates from Microsoft, you may need to change the time settings to agree with Daylight Savings Time which comes three weeks early this year, at midnight Saturday, at the start of March 12.

Fear not. Microsoft provides a free Time Zone Date update program that is easy to use.

Simply go to their site http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst and follow the simple instructions.

Failure to do so will mean that your calendar and clock functions will be an hour off.

Unless you've got your computer set to get automatic updates from Microsoft, you may need to change the time settings to agree with Daylight Savings Time which comes three weeks early this year, at midnight Saturday, at the start of March 12.

Fear not. Microsoft provides a free Time Zone Date update program that is easy to use.

Simply go to their site http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst and follow the simple instructions.

Failure to do so will mean that your calendar and clock functions will be an hour off.

Marketing with Press Releases: 10 Steps to Writing an Internet Press Release

How to Write an Internet Press Release to Attract Media, Customers, and Google Juice
©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

To leverage the Internet effectively for your business, you must learn to write press releases. Submitting frequent press releases to the online distribution services will get you exposure to media, customers, and improve your search engine rankings.

Press releases are relatively simple, but not easy to write. They take some time to craft because you must tell your story in a compelling way, and deliver the facts in the fewest words possible. In addition, like a news story, they should follow basic journalism standards. Oh, and did I mention, they need a clever hook to really work? All that in only 350-500 words.

The following is what I do when I write a press release for The Blog Squad. I trained as a journalist years ago. However, standards for writing press releases are evolving for the Internet.

New Rules for Writing Press Releases

Joan Stewart is affectionately known around the Internet as The Publicity Hound. And there's a reason...Joan has a nose for news and she sniffs out trends for evolving Internet marketing strategies.

You won't want to miss our interview with her Thursday March 8 at 11 a.m. EST on Blogging and Beyond, our Internet radio show. She'll reveal the new rules for writing press releases for posting on the Web.

Here are a few tips she'll explain:

• Press releases no longer have to announce legitimate news
• They no longer have to be only one page
• We can distribute them online as often as we want.
• They can include links so that consumers can click through to a landing page or a sales page.
• We no longer have to use the "who, what, when, where and why" formula high in the press release.
• No longer do we have to consider a press release a failure if it gets no media attention. If it brings people into our sales funnel, we can proclaim the release a success.
• Under the new rules, we don't measure the success of our releases by the number of clippings it has generated but by whether the press release has been able to change people's behavior

Writing Articles + Article Directories = Smart Marketing

In preparation for our Blogging and Beyond radio show Thursday, March 1, when The Blog Squad is interviewing Christopher Knight of EzineArticles.com, I'm reviewing key points about using articles to market your business.

Smart Marketing with Articles
©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squadtm

You’ve probably heard about article marketing and how important it is for getting exposure for your ideas and expertise on the Web.

In the consulting work we do with professionals who want to get known and get found on the Web, we recommend writing articles and submitting them to directories as a key strategy.

Submitting short articles to directories that demonstrate your knowledge helps in a number of ways:

1. Drives targeted traffic to your blog or website.
2. Builds your credibility with prospects looking for the type of services you provide.