Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Delivery: Gated or Not Gated?

Is your content gated or not? This is a new term for me, but it captures this marketing tactic:

When you offer an ebook, audio file, white paper or special report off your site, it's "gated" if you require a reader's email address. It's not gated if you allow digital downloads freely without any exchange of information.

This is stirring up a big discussion on blogs such as David Meerman Scott's Web Ink Now, Joe Pulizzi's Junta 42, and Newt Barret's Content Marketing Today.

Here's an example of gated: The Blog Squad's free ebook Better Business Blogging. It's an free give-away with plenty of information on how to use a blog for business results. We've used it for a while now as a lead-generator.

Edit Your Content: A Checklist of 12 Things Not to Miss

Here's a checklist for rereading your content before you publish. For anything important, i.e. that's being sold or delivered to clients, I use Barbara Feiner, a professional editor. She not only corrects errors, but evaluates for clarity and flow.

But for blog posts and everyday content creation, I put on my editor's visor and those green sleeve thingys, and act like a detached newspaper editor with a red pencil. Here's what I look for:

1. Common typos like theirs for there's, your for you're, that or which for who, and all those pesky things a spell check won't pick up.
2. Grammar goofs: My most common are when the verb doesn't agree with the noun, as in "Here's my mistakes..."
3. Review for commas, semi-colons, ellipses and em dashes. The important thing is for it to read well, read clearly. Helps to read it out loud.
4. Review for paragraph and line spacing, since I like to break up long blocks of text.
5. Review for bolded words and insert subheadings where needed.
6. Separate a blog post after 2-3 paragraphs so that it goes to the extended post feature ("read more..."

12 Steps to Creating Web-Savvy Content for Marketing

How do you make sure your ebook has good content for marketing purposes? How do you write web-savvy content that works for the Web, that markets your business, gets you found, and is link-friendly?

I mean, it's all good to say you're going to get on the Content Marketing bandwagon... but how exactly do you do that? Here are 12 steps you need to think about:

Before you write that ebook, or blog post, or other content on your website, think about your audience. Once you've defined who you're writing for, then define the problem you're going to solve. Then figure out how people would be using keyword phrases to find their solutions if they were doing a web search.

Write a list of 3-5 keyword phrases and keep those in mind as you write your content.

Once you've defined your audience, the problem, the solution, and the keyword phrases. you should be able to make a list of subtopics or steps you need to cover. With a list, you can expand on each point to create a logical progression to solving the problem.

5 (More) Reasons an Ebook is a Must for Content Marketing

Ebooks are nothing new. Do you have one? Are you offering a free ebook on your site? You should. I'm in the process of setting up a brand new site for one of my businesses, and I'm writing an ebook this weekend. It's not that difficult and it should be one of your main lead generators on any site.

Newt Barrett on Content Marketing Today just posted Five Reasons an e-Book Should Be a Core Component Of Your Content Marketing Strategy:

1. You can quickly, compellingly, visually, and inexpensively establish thought leadership with an e-book that provides relevant information on the toughest challenges your customers face.
2. Offering a free e-book, is a wonderful incentive to entice your prospects to begin in their engagement with you.  
3. E-books, in the universally acceptable PDF format, are easy to pass along from one prospect to another, giving you potentially infinite reach. 
4. If you need help in designing your e-book and in generating the content, you can find talented designers and freelance writers easily. 
5. If your budget is very limited, you can create your own e-book by starting with PowerPoint and then transforming the PowerPoint files into PDF files.

 Here's why I can't stress this form of content marketing enough:

Amazon Kindle Lights My Heart...

I think I'm falling in love again... I just got my Amazon Kindle delivered today! I feel so... ah, what's that feeling, yes, young again, free again, in love. I'm the worst kind of kid with a new toy, an electronic toy and first in my Starbucks to get one, I'll bet. Except I don't go to Starbucks anymore, I'm getting ordinary coffee at Einstein's Bagels, but that's another story.

What I love about the Kindle: Instant free downloadable samples of books. When you decide which to buy, you order them onto your Kindle for about $10, and you get books instantly delivered via the wireless connection to your Kindle.

There's instant access to newspapers and magazines, and even blogs if I wanted to pay the $.99/month subscription to a blog i can read for free on my iPhone...huh?

What I don't love about the Kindle: I can't get my recent book purchases onto my Kindle without paying a $10 fee/per book.

I can access my Google calendar, send email through Gmail, visit Wikipedia and other favorite bookmarks... I can even listen to MP3 music or podcast files...it's like a mini-laptop. This is particularly great for traveling when I hate stuffing books into my purse because they weigh so much...

Mega Speaking & Book Writing Tips: The 40-hour book

Several top speakers sang the same tune at the Mega Speaking Event last weekend: Write that book! It's clear that getting a book published (self or otherwise) provides 6 powerful elements to your marketing:

1. Attraction
2. Differentiation from the others
3. Visibility
4. Credibility
5. Authority
6. Longevity

Here's Gerry Robert's (The Millionaire Mindset, Life Success Publishing, LLC) tips for easily and quickly writing a book...in just 40 hours:

The Great Internet Marketing Challenge...unraveling the secrets to success online

Do you understand what's going on today with Internet marketing? Everyone seems to have the same big challenge... even those professionals and businesses with a lot of money.

Even when you throw big bucks at web designers and search engine optimization gurus, businesses aren't getting the results they need for success online. Why is that? The answer may be under your nose and it may be simple, easy and inexpensive.

Read The Blog Squad's white paper to find out... click here.

Michael Katz: Words of wisdom on competition among solo professionals

I'm a big fan of Michael Katz. 

I read his "E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters", and love his funny writing style. He is a leading expert on electronic newsletters and is head Chief Penguin of Blue Penguin Development, Inc.

Michael recently joined the Blogosphere with his blog It Sure Beats Working,  Michael Katz's sure-fire advice and steadfast encouragement for the first-time, mid-life, solo professional.

Be sure to read his post on "No Competition Out There." While you're there, subscribe to get updates by email, you'll love his stuff.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Michael. For anyone interested in relationship marketing, and writing ezines, you'll like reading Michael Katz.

Publishing Your Book: Here's what you need to know first

How to Get Your Book in Print Without Breaking the Bank

August 23, 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Adam Witty, CEO of Advantage Media Group,

You may have written the greatest book in the world, but it doesn't get edited, formatted AND printed, it doesn't exist. Today there are a lot of choices for authors to get published, including self-publishing and print-on-demand.

Being fully informed can help you avoid costly mistakes that will kill your book and break your budget. Learn the pros and cons of traditional, self and on-demand publishing with Adam Witty of Advantage Media Group.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on August 23.

Ezine Publishing Encyclopedia?

Just launched: The All-in-One Ezine Publishing System will give you everything you need to know to create, distribute, and grow an ezine through email. What I like about this package, is that Denise put together some great video tutorials on how to broadcast your ezine.

I find it easier to learn when I can see things on the computer screen. And of course, we included the audio files from ezine classes, and several audio interviews  with experts, for people who like their learning through listening.

The All-in-One Ezine Publishing System came about when we realized that we were accumulating a body of knowledge in the form of ebooks, special reports, interviews, audio and video files that could essentially make up an encyclopedia about ezines.

I originally wrote Secrets of Successful Ezines ebook to address the special needs of service professionals who needed a platform to create relationships with readers that would ultimately result in clients calling them to hire them. Then that ebook needed to have two other components:

1. Information about list building techniques
2. Information about broadcasting or delivering your ezine

For details on all the elements in this comprehensive package, go to www.ezinepublishingsystem.com.