Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing with Blogs: 15 Ways to Find Fresh Ideas

Do you want to know how to come up with fresh, quality content for your blog without fail? Even if you're trying to write a post every day, or every other day?

I sit down with a fresh cup of Cafe de Olla every morning with this big question: what am I going to post about today? ...followed by these other questions and thoughts:

• What problem can I help web writers with?
• What's a major concern for small biz owners trying to use the Web to attract clients?
• How can I be helpful and add something fun, exciting or clever into my writing?
• Who else is writing about content marketing that can inspire me?
• What do readers want and need to know?
• How can my next blog post educate, entertain, engage and enrich the lives of my readers?
• ...and, at the same time, how can I use content to build relationships, and attract the right readers, who need and want my products and services? (and help build my business)

I truly believe that a business blog is the best damn content marketing tool on the Planet! Honest. But it only works if you write every day or every other day - well, okay, at least three times a week. That's a lot of posts, and for me, it means an hour a day, sometimes more. But that's not bad, really.

Somewhere in Mexico...

I wanted to share some music and scenes from my home town... hope you enjoy it!

Born to Read...

If you write (and who doesn't these days with the Internet, blogs, and Twitter!) then you probably love to read. Books entertain and educate, and subconsciously work to improve your writing.

Here are some suggestions for high value books so you don't waste time wondering what to read.

(It's no wonder my mind's a bit scattered. I find I'm interested in so many different topics, reading so many different books at the same time. Thank goodness for the Kindle!)

I've finished the bottom half of these, just starting the others. Here's what I'm currently reading... (and these are just the ones I highly recommend!)

• Magnificent Mind at Any Age, by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
• Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self, by Alan M. Webber
• Writing Copy for Dummies, by Jonathan Kranz
• Web Copy that Sells, by Maria Velosa
• Ignore Everybody, by Hugh MacLeod
• The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness, by Alvaro Fernandez and Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg
• Born to Run, by Christopher Mcdougall
• Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott
• The End of Overeating, by David Kessler
• Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

So far, my favorite read is Born to Run, it's one of those "can't-put-it-down" books. I caught the John Stewart show on TV when the author Christopher Mcdougall was interviewed, and was so hooked I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle and stayed up late into the night reading it.

It's the story of a tribe of super-runners called the Tarahumara Indians, from the Copper Canyons in Mexico, who love long-distance running, who have little disease, live a long time, and... It's also about a lot more than that, a lot of life lessons.

What's your favorite read lately, either book or ebook? Got books?

Easy Video Creation with Animoto

I'm playing around with video creation, using a free service called Animoto, pretty cool tool. Let me know what you think. I just experimented with a few photos I had taken on a recent Sunday, relaxing at home.

Content Marketing with Blogs: Fishing for Business, or Catch-and-Release?

I had the best grilled salmon last night in one of my favorite restaurants here in Ajijic...which got me thinking about fishing...

I view business blogging as an attraction strategy, rather than an activity that earns income via ads. A blog is like a fishing net that you throw out onto the World Wide Pond to catch new leads, who nibble on your words like fish on bait.

I believe a blog is a powerful client magnet when done the smart way. It reverses the client chase. But few bloggers have a grasp on how to write effective posts on a business blog and what kinds of content make sense for their readers.

Content is key, of course. It’s the bait that beckons a fish to the hook. Your words — when you’re using keywords right — will attract the very people who are looking for the solutions you write about on your blog.

The tricky part is this: asking for business. You can do a bang-up job of attracting readers, but at some point you must ask for action. Otherwise, your blog is a catch-and-release system:

"Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog, here's some great information to solve your problem, have a nice day!" ;-0

5 Reasons Content Marketing is Getting Harder

I hate to be a purveyor of gloom, there's too much of that around these days. But I've been thinking about this and want to share my thoughts with you.

Here are some reasons content marketing is getting more challenging. There exists:

1. A shift away from focusing on your products and services (what you know well)
2. A shift towards the reader/customer and their needs (what you may not know very well)
3. A business environment that is changing rapidly (what is unknown)
4. More people online in your field writing about the same things (some better, some worse)
5. A huge volume of content about everything possible, creating information overload for readers

Tough Times Call for Disruptive Innovations

 

I've just finished Scott D. Anthony's new book, The Silver Lining: an Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times. It's well worth the read because it gives you a historical perspective on what happens in recessions, how new and exciting innovations come forth.

In fact, I based a new article on his book. Executive coaches can use this article in  newsletters and blog posts, if subscribed to my newsletter services over at ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com.

You can read a brief synopsis of the article here, on my content site.

The biggest take-away for me from the book was the fact that many of our biggest companies today were founded during recessionary times. Thirteen of the 25 companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as of December 2008, were formed during an economic downturn, including 3M, General Electric, Microsoft and Walt Disney.

Instead of trying to best their competitors, disruptors change the game. They typically transform existing markets or create new ones by focusing on convenience, simplicity, accessibility or affordability.

What are you doing to focus on delivering products and services that are convenient, simple, accessible and affordable?

12 Seconds to Video Fame and Glory?

How much can you say in 12 seconds? Apparently not much...

Easy Video Recording and posting on 12seconds.tv

How to Get Read Online: Broken feet, desserts, money and words

I'm a skimmer. In the 20 minutes since I got my coffee and opened my email, I've learned what happened to these friends and colleagues:

• Kathleen Gage broke her ankle training for the Portland marathon
• What Sherman Hu had at his barbeque for dessert
• That an internet marketer made $21,365
• How to avoid throwaway lines in article writing

Which of these messages or posts do you think I opened first? Which got my attention the most? The least? (I sound like Keith Olbermann's MSNBC opening line, "Which of these stories will we be talking about tomorrow?"

Easy, I put them in the order I remembered them, and that's the order in which they got my attention.

Here's why, here's the lesson you need to pay attention to if you're writing blog posts or sending email messages to make an impact.

Hate Writing? Try Video Blogging, It's Easy (...even I can do it, well, sort of)

I hate it when a perfectly intelligent and super person lets her blog die out because she hates writing. So when one of my favorite clients admitted she hasn't posted in, well, let's just say a few weeks, I tried to find a way to show her an easy, alternative way to blog. 'Cuz every professional should find a way to have an Internet presence that works, no matter what.