Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Steve Rubel: Interview with The Blog Squad

On Thursday, March 2 The Blog Squad will be conducting a 30 minute interview with A-List blogger, Steve Rubel as part of his social media tour.  The interview will not be open to the public, but it will be recorded and we'll post it here for all to enjoy.

I've been reading Steve's blog, Micro Persuasion since 2004 and appreciate that he's got his finger on the pulse of what's going on in the media, PR, blogs, Web 2.0, podcasting and other social media.

You can hear more great interviews with A-List bloggers on our Conversations with Experts series. The interviews are available as mp3 downloads or on CD.

Additionally, we're offering a 4 CD blogging program on eBay if you're looking for a deal!

On Thursday, March 2 The Blog Squad will be conducting a 30 minute interview with A-List blogger, Steve Rubel as part of his social media tour.  The interview will not be open to the public, but it will be recorded and we'll post it here for all to enjoy.

I've been reading Steve's blog, Micro Persuasion since 2004 and appreciate that he's got his finger on the pulse of what's going on in the media, PR, blogs, Web 2.0, podcasting and other social media.

You can hear more great interviews with A-List bloggers on our Conversations with Experts series. The interviews are available as mp3 downloads or on CD.

Additionally, we're offering a 4 CD blogging program on eBay if you're looking for a deal!

Steve Rubel: Writing Great Blogs

One of the most prolific bloggers around is Steve Rubel. He posts several times a day at www.micropersuasion.com, and keeps me updated on what new in the worlds of PR, tech & web, and blogs. I like what he says about writing great copy for your blogs that have a marketing purpose:

The Four P's of Blog Marketing:

Anyone who has spent any time around marketers has probably heard about the profession's "Four P's." These are the core elements of marketing - product, price, place and promotion. Well, the more I think about it, blog marketing needs its own version of the four P's. How about these?

The Four P's of Blog Marketing

Passionate - Write about issues that are near and dear to your heart
Purposeful - Make sure you keep the end in mind; why are you blogging?
Present - Keep an eye on what's topical today
Positional - Take a stand on an issue and follow it

These four P's, in my opinion, are great to keep in mind when writing any copy - ezine or newsletter, or web copy, even sales letters.

These Four P's are going up on a sticky note to my monitor...and I keep a clean monitor. They'll be prominent when I go to write my next Newsletter Nuggets. If you don't get Newsletter Nuggets, you should, it's my weekly post on tips for using the Internet to build your biz. Send a blank email to dr.patsi-45475@autocontactor.com.

Blog Squad Recommends

Nearly everyday Denise and I are asked questions like these:

1. Should I use a blog to market my business?
2. How do I get more people aware of my products and services?
3. What products do we recommend?

The answer to number 1 is a resounding "YES!" (big surprise, right?). You can get information about some of our services here.

The second question is a bit more complicated and involves building a quality list in addition to having a good strategy for marketing your business. If you'd like to talk with us about how we can work with you to implement a strategy that integrates blogs, ezines, ecommerce and database marketing, drop us a line and we'll set up an appointment to talk.

To answer the third question, we've set up a blog exclusively for product and service recommendations. To be completely honest here, some of the products do pay an affiliate commission if you order through our link. Others do not. We only will recommend products and services we actually use. If you sign up for email updates, you'll know when we recommend something new. We use and test a lot of different services, and if we like one and feel it helps our business, then we'll post a recommendation so you can check it out for yourself.

Nearly everyday Denise and I are asked questions like these:

1. Should I use a blog to market my business?
2. How do I get more people aware of my products and services?
3. What products do we recommend?

Nearly everyday Denise and I are asked questions like these:

1. Should I use a blog to market my business?
2. How do I get more people aware of my products and services?
3. What products do we recommend?

Article Production Secrets

Important announcement for anyone wanting to write better articles and use them to get found on the Internet:

I don't usually promote other people's products, unless I know them and really value their expertise. This is an information-packed e-course if you want to use your articles to market your services and increase your traffic.

If you are serious about using articles to get found on the web, read this and take action. I am a big fan of Christopher Knight and guarantee the value of this product; you can be sure you will get more than your money's worth and learn a ton.

Okay, here's the pitch:

Limited time special for my readers: Article Production Secrets by Christopher Knight of Ezine Articles Directory.

Do you need more qualified visitors to your web site and blogs? Could you use a boost in traffic?

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: To earn more revenue you need more traffic!

And not only more traffic, but you need *huge gobs* of traffic... the kind of traffic that comes by thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of qualified visitors to your website day after day, month after month.

Christopher Knight knows traffic. Since midnight this morning, over 32,000 visitors have already surfed his website.

The source of that traffic?

The article syndication model.

It works for him, his team, the 18,000+ experts who participate in his site, and this same model can work for you!

To help you wrap your mind around how article syndication works, mistakes to avoid, and how you can leverage this strategy to grow your Adsense sales and traffic -- Chris polled 10,000 of his authors and invited them to a one night event. Over 400 of his expert authors showed up and asked 70+ questions... many questions that are most likely on your mind as well. Of those 70 questions, 45 were unique... which lead Chris to create the "Article Production Secrets" course on how you can get started today!

Click here to learn more about this product.

Here's what you will learn:

Website Makeovers: Conversation with Rick Raddatz

We're having a veteran Microsoft expert on our Wednesday evening Conversation with Experts call  Feb. 22, 8:30 p.m. Rick Raddatz speaks some important truths about poor performing web sites.

Hate to admit it, but most consultants have a website that does a poor job of collecting email addresses of potential clients - a first step in leveraging the Internet to build your biz.

Rick Raddatz, Marketing Makeover Generator

An End to Embarrassing, Underperforming Websites: Let's face it: The vast majority of websites out there an embarrassment to their owners -- and I'm not talking about how the website looks. I'm talking about how much (or little) your website contributes to your bottom line.

It's time to give your website an "Extreme Marketing Makeover". Join us as we interview Marketing Consultant Rick Raddatz, a 12-year veteran of Microsoft, to discover his secrets to high performing websites, and to learn how Rick used the internet leads he collected to sell over $200,000 worth of services in a single hour -- twice.

To register, go here: www.conversationswithexperts.com. Costs you not a penny, it's priceless.

Conversations with Experts is brought to you by The Blog Squad, Patsi and Denise, and features weekly experts who will help you build your biz both off and online. Sponsored by www.buildabetterblog.com.

Article Writing: How to Boost Your Output

How did I go from writing one article every other month to 3-5 a month? It used to be a struggle. I'd take out stacks of books from the library, order them like crazy from Amazon, hunker down and read, re-read, take notes, and write and re-write.

Now it's taking me less and less time, and I'm having more fun with writing than ever before. When you can make it fun, it goes quickly and you don't keep putting if off.

There's only one or two experts I trust when it comes to getting good article writing advice. One of the best in the biz is Christopher Knight, who runs EzineArticles.com. If you ever get a chance to do a teleseminar on article writing with Christopher, jump on it. You'll learn alot.

Stay tuned for a special announcement on Tuesday about the release of Christopher Knight's great system to learn how to write more and better articles, and get more results from your writing.

Here's what you'll be able to access:

1. How to crank up the traffic your articles can generate for your website(s)
2. The (1) secret that 14% of EzineArticles.com Authors Know that the other 86% don't
3. (7) Article Content Sources you may have overlooked
4. An Article Idea Generator that will help you plow through any slow creativity periods
5. Article Writing Production Mistakes Newbies Make That You Must Avoid
6. How to double your article inventory in 90 days or less
7. 3 Simple Article Templates To Help You Begin Your Article Production Mentality

8. Strategies To Track Your Article Writing Production

Check back here on Tuesday, you'll get a special discount if you are one of the first people to order this system on the release date.

Email Marketing: Mari Smith Give Tips

Last Wednesday Mari Smith, of Emails th@t Sizzle!, gave our listeners at Conversations with Experts teleseminar some great tips on writing better emails that get opened, get read, and bring results.

Here's an abbreviated version of her tips. (To read more, subscribe to Newsletter Nuggets by sending a blank email to dr.patsi-45475@autocontactor.com.)

1. Subject lines are very important, use first name of receiver and no more than 7 words or 50 characters.
2. Use a question that can be answered by a 'yes'.
3. Use a compelling call to action with a time-limited offer.
4. Be sure your name and company name are in the "From" field.
5. Be clear on who you are writing to, address their challenges, what's in it for them.
6. Be clear on the action you want people to take.
7. Be bottom line oriented, people want to scan and get short emails.
8. Avoid hype!
9. Deliver short tips and valuable, relevant info your readers can use.
10. Avoid use of spam filter trigger words, use a spam checker such as www.lyris.com.

This was a great conversation full of powerful tips for using email to market your services and products. Don't miss the audio recording if you missed the teleseminar: Use this link to order the audio now.

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

More Email Tips for Marketing

This must be email tip week, what with Mari Smith appearing tonight on Conversations with Experts about Emails Th@t Sizzle!

Here are more great email tips, these excerpted from Rich Frishman, Jay Conrad Levinson & Jill Lublin's book Guerilla Publicity.

In Praise of E-Mail: 15 Reasons Why Guerrillas Love E-Mail

1. E-mail is efficient. It's quick, easy to use and conserves time.

2. E-mail gets through. You can reach busy, powerful people who won't ordinarily take or return your phone calls via e-mail.

3. E-mail has become the publicists' most powerful tool. Sending short, gentle reminders helps publicists balance the need to continually follow-up and the danger that in doing so they might alienate important media contacts.

4. E-mail gets right to the point. E-mail etiquette encourages brevity and precision.

5. E-mail allows for Quick, Clear Messages.

6. E-mail can contain links to your website or other sites.

7. E-mail lets you transmit bulky files instantly.

8. E-mail delivers even when unread. When recipients don't read their e-mail, they usually check to see what came in and who sent it. The subject line on e-mail inboxes provides a small space in which you can convey the gist of your message. It keeps you on the recipients' radar, even if they don't open your mail.

9. E-mail eludes electronic fences. E-mail gets past secretaries, answering machines, voice mail.

10. E-mail is a versatile marketing tool. It's ideal for sending newsletters, fliers, and other promotional materials without incurring the costs of printing and mailing.

11. E-mail domain names can promote your business. Invest in a domain name that includes the name of your business.

12. E-mail signature files are the equivalent of letterheads on stationary. Make sure to include your contact information in your signature file.

13. E-mail demonstrates that you're firmly in the 21st century.

14. E-mail shifts the cost and burden from senders to recipient.

15. E-mail has revived the lost art of letter writing.

An excerpt from the National Best-Seller GUERRILLA PUBLICITY: Hundreds of Sure-fire Tactics to Get Maximum Sales for Minimum Dollars by Rick Frishman, Jill Lublin and Jay Conrad Levinson.

Rick Frishman wants you to know that you can attend his seminar in Washington DC on Friday May 18, just prior to the Book Expo: http://www.author101university.com/. This is a must-attend crash course for publishing success.

File Sharing: Use Track Changes Feature

If you work with a partner or other people, it's important to know how to make changes in a word document for sharing and revising so that your edits can be seen.

I was really surprised to learn that not everybody knows about the "Track Changes" feature in word doc. (It's found under Tools...) In fact, one of my friends who was big in computers and software in the 80s and 90s didn't know about it! He's retired now, so maybe he doesn't keep up.

It's really easy to use. Click on Track Changes. When you do, any changes you make to your document will show up in color with the changes marked up in the margins. When you send your marked up doc to the other person, they can see what changes you are making/suggesting.

When they make changes, their changes are in a different color. You decide to accept or reject the changes, by clicking on a little check icon in the tool bar.

So anyway, this retired friend needed to compose a doc with a new associate. First he asked me if I knew about Lotus Notes, which I don't. They are also a file sharing system/software. But rather than download new programs, it is so easy to use what is already built into the Microsoft Word Doc program.

My friend loved it. But, get this: his friend/associate objected. He said he's been using printed docs that he marks up by hand, then gives it to his wife to type up...! He refuses to learn this "new tool!"

Oh boy. Some people don't want to join the 21st century, even if it will make their life easier.

Emails: Adding More Spice

I am looking forward to the conversation with Mari Smith, Emails Th@t Sizzle, this Wednesday (see post below for info). As a follow up to my post on using caricatures instead of stodgy photos, here's an image Denise and I had created for our Blog Squad partnership:

We started out with a couple of head shots, gave them to our trusty graphic designer who then created something special.

I imagine you can get any body you want. Without dieting or buying a new Armani suit...

To put an image like this into your email signature, in Outlook, go to Tools, Email Options, Mail Format, create a new signature, and at some point you will click Advanced Edit. A new email stationery will open up. Click on Insert, then Picture, then From File, and insert any image from your hard drive. Save it by naming this signature something that will identify it from the others.

You can also add images of your ebooks, or any branded logo you wish. Hope this is clear, if not, send me an email!