Work Better, Not Harder

Perhaps you're wondering, "What the heck am I going to write about this week?" Look no further than your Sent mailbox. Over the past month or so, I've answered a lot of questions by email. I bet you have, too. Have you considered that, if one person has a question, many others likely have that same question? Maybe you replied with a 'how-to' or an opinion or a bit of free advice. Maybe you supplied resources to help someone find their own answers. All of these gems can be turned into a blog post or a series of posts even. If you're uncertain about reorganizing and rewriting your emailed messages, you might try a writing template from my  Quick & Easy Content Creation Workbook . You'll be done in no time. Click to Tweet this Article

You've just finished editing (and proofing!) your latest blog post. You pause for a mental happy dance, then you click Publish. Ahh. And now the rest of the work starts. Because, of course, you need to let people know about this new useful and interesting article you've just laboured over. You'll want to share your new article out on your social media feeds multiple times, especially when it's new, and then tapering off over the coming months. And to be efficient about it, you'll want to schedule all of those posts now. So let's start writing the text for those social media posts. What will tease people into clicking and reading? (I'm not talking about lying; teasing is good marketing.) You can write your teaser from scratch. But the fastest thing is to do is to copy text snippets directly from your blog post. That is usually what I do for my own posts. And it's often when I realize I could have done a better writing job. I could have writ...

If your answer to the title of this post is "increase sales", you've got that part right. But you should also realize that there's no direct path from one to the other. You don't start a blog and immediately make more sales - although I sincerely wish it were so. To help you stay focused on that path to increased sales, identifying a couple of content goals is essential. These are typical business blogging goals: 1. 'Touching' your customers, prospects and colleagues regularly 2. Building strong business relationships 3. Developing your reputation and sphere of influence 4. Sharing your valuable information, products, and services 5. Being seen as an expert 6. Growing your fans, followers and contact list 7. Keeping up with your competition 8. Increase website traffic via SEO While you may think all of those things are desirable, they aren't all equally important to your business. The ones that are most important for you will depend...

We often use the words editing and proofing interchangeably but there is a significant difference. If you're not aware of it, you could be failing at both. Editing is big picture or 'zoomed out'; proofing is detailed or 'zoomed in'. Editing is about the overall structure and flow of the article. Are the introduction and conclusion supported by the content in between? Are the paragraphs organized well? Is it easy to read and digest? Are the sentences structured well? When you're reading something and you have to pause to reread a line - that's a signal that editing is needed. Proofing is about grammar and spelling and punctuation. It's often about the little words, like 'of' instead of 'if'. And about missing words, like 'the' or 'an'. It's hard to proofread our own writing because our brains follow the same pattern as when we typed it. Reading out loud, or printing to proof with paper and pencil, are both good...

Guest post by Neil Everton , Podium Media & Communications Coaching If you are looking for a quick and certain way of giving your words more impact, look no further than your purse or wallet. Take a look at the last thing you wrote. It doesn't matter if it's a letter, email, report, newsletter, web content or promo script. Look at it with a critical eye, and with this question in mind: "Am I prepared to pay $1 for every word I've written?" Go through the script slowly. Strike out every word that isn't working hard to convey meaning. Make sure you use the active voice. 'The man opened the door' is active. 'The door was opened by the man' is passive (and two words longer than the active version). A $2 saving in one short sentence. Look for any of those phrases that slip into our writing unbidden. 'It's my considered opinion' is $3 more expensive than 'I think'. 'At this moment in time' is a long-wind...

Ever since I wrote this article -- Where Do You Get Stuck? -- a couple of years ago, I've been on a mission to come up with solutions to content creation obstacles. coming up with ideas adapting your ideas for writing starting to write finishing writing editing and proofing finding or creating graphics keywords and publishing Aside from talking about this a lot with small business owners, I've also been circulating a survey on my social media feeds. If I know where people most often get stuck, I know where to focus my problem-solving efforts. Here are the survey results so far: survey results as of Jan-4-20 If you haven't yet responded to this survey, I'd sure appreciate it if you would -- it's only one question. You can click here to do that now. If you're suffering from any of those first three obstacles, using writing templates will help enormously. You can get a workbook here that includes 15 templates. Click to Tweet this Article

Years ago when I first started doing email newsletters, each new client had questions about writing the introduction to their very first issue. Eventually, I prepared a tip sheet for new clients and also posted the info on my blog thinking it might be useful to others. That was in 2012. Three years later I realized 2 things: the advice I was giving needed to be refined/updated and this was the top-performing post on my blog (by far!) so others were indeed finding it useful. I published a refreshed version with a similar subject line. That was in 2015. Now you can see that these two posts account for a huge chunk of the traffic: all-time stats 2010-2019 And you can see what that organic traffic is searching: all-time stats as of 2010-2019 These readers didn't come to my blog because I did something magic to get Google to rank the posts. People came (and still come) because it's a topic they're interested in and the information is useful. (If you search ...

Whenever you write something, it's always a good idea to wait a while before editing - later the same day or the next day. You'll have a fresh perspective and it'll be easier to pick out what can be improved upon. Here are a few things to watch out for when you're editing: Brevity: Cut out every word that adds nothing to the meaning or flow. Each word should be working for you! Read Slice Words to Save Money for examples. Clarity: Use specific adjectives instead of vague ones to increase understanding and interest. Instead of "We received numerous applications to volunteer at the conference," say "We received 33 applications..." Paragraph length: Each paragraph should deal with only one topic or idea. Short is always better. Tone and style: Don't write like a business; write like a human being and use your normal conversational style. Try the "Hi Mom" test . Variety: Avoid starting each sentence or paragraph with si...

This post was written by Liam Friesen , who has recently joined Daley Progress in a part-time support role. (How lucky am I to have a journalism student helping me out?) Telling yourself that you want to start writing an article is simple. The hard part comes when you actually begin. This is an issue that plagues those who know what they want to write about but don’t quite know how to explain it . If this is a problem you run into often, try starting with an outline. From time to time, I struggle when trying to formulate an article. I find myself unable to put my ideas into words and I get stuck. However, when you create a layout or an outline for your topic, you won’t fall into a pit of wordiness and confusion. An outline can appear in any way you want , as long as you include the following: an introduction, your main body information, and a conclusion. The introduction and the conclusion are quite self-explanatory but the main body paragraphs are where most people get lost...

This is my 600th blog post. I'm feeling the pressure to write something wise and inspirational about blogging like I did with post #500 . Are you ready? Here it is... Aside from your business objectives, you actually have to like doing the work of blogging to maintain momentum for the long term. I wouldn't have made it through 600 posts if I didn't actually like doing the work. Sure, I've felt stress to meet deadlines and guilt when I haven't. My pace has sometimes slowed but I won't be stopping any time soon. The commitment grows, the longer you're at it. Here's the thing about blogging though - you can give it a try to see if you want to make the commitment. Do a few test drives to see if you like the work involved. I'm researching the obstacles that keep people from blogging for their businesses - those who say "I should" but never start. Can I help get you unstuck in a 10-minute phone call? Maybe. Want to find out? Book a ...

You just had an a-ha moment – by thinking, researching, reading, discussing, learning, teaching, experimenting, or problem-solving. And now you’re anxious to share that new insight with your readers who will also benefit from it. Not sure how to organize your ideas and get writing? Download this content template to get going - and done - in no time. Using content templates is sort of like filling in the blanks. Capture your ideas, organize them, and draft your article quickly. Want more templates? Click here to get the free Quick and Easy Content Creation workbook. Click to Tweet this Article

My good friend and business collaborator, Anita Kirkbride , has been doing keynotes recently about how to embrace being #flawsome . It's a hard lesson for someone like me with perfectionistic tendencies. But around mid-May, I made a conscious decision to let a few things suffer so that others could flourish. Here's one of the things that suffered: Fewer people read my blog. That tells me my own marketing is working when I'm maintaining it. I know exactly what happened: I wrote fewer posts and one of the scheduling apps I use conked out for 2 weeks. (Thank you, Google, for continuing to send readers.) I decided to live with it because other things, like Social Media Day Halifax 2019 , were more important. And yes, I felt a bit guilty because I teach this stuff and setting an example is important. No one ever said running a small business is easy. Sometimes we have to make tough choices... and move on. And really, while seeing my blog readership increase instead ...

What's a goal of business blogging that will never be a goal of email marketing? Search engine optimization (SEO), of course. For email, it's all about subject line optimization . (Is SLO a 'thing'?) Crafting a compelling email subject line can achieve better and more immediate results than writing a whole blog post that is well optimized for SEO. After 9 years, over 600 blog posts, and more than a thousand email newsletters, here is what I know to be true: email beats blogging hands down for tangible and measurable results... faster . Writing for your newsletter means writing for people , which is way more fun than writing for search engines , whether it's your blog or your whole website. You don't have to be concerned with tediously repeating keywords and phrases, for one thing. Sure, your email newsletter may include your blog posts. And it should... because your newsletter will get people reading and clicking through to your website much faster ...

Can you agree that's a subject line you don't see every day? Yet it describes something that happens frequently in small business - the mingling of ideas, processes and tools. One of the templates in my Quick and Easy Content Creation workbook is called "The Laws". I was delighted to recently discover that Megann Willson of Panoptika Inc. used this template to write an article about strategic planning. In essence, she used "The Laws" template as an outlining tool to create a useful strategic planning article that is sort of like a template for success for me - and you - and all her readers. (Thanks Megann!) Read Megann's article on LinkedIn here . Download the Quick and Easy Content Creation workbook with "The Laws" plus 14 more templates here . What "laws" will you write about? Click to Tweet this Article

I've done it. You've done it. And they've done it. I'm talking about mixing up points of view when writing. And also using the right point of view for the right purposes. Grammarly has a quick little article explaining  First, Second, and Third Person in case you don't remember from school. Here are some things to consider from a content marketing perspective: Articles, blog posts: Mixing up I-we-you-they-me all in one article might cause confusion. There may be reasons for including all of these words in one article but it's worth re-reading to check. Using both second and third person is something I see often and probably accounts for most of the editing I do. If you are writing to/for your reader, consider using the second person. If you are writing about your own experiences, of course, you have to use the first person. Website: If your business IS you, I recommend writing in the first person (about yourself) and the second person (for features...

Small business owners often arrive at the desire to start an email newsletter from one of two different directions. The route has an impact on the strategy, tactics and tools you will use. A Vehicle Some have already been blogging and, for them, an email campaign is a vehicle to get their content in front of (more) people on a regular basis. It's a way to extend the reach of the content they are already creating. It gives regular readers a way to ensure they don't miss a post. Plus, adding additional content snippets can help advance marketing goals. The Destination For others, starting a newsletter is their first foray into content marketing - their newsletter will be a resource they want their target market to sign up for. It may be something that isn't available anywhere else. The value delivered is the final destination. Why does it matter? If the newsletter you're thinking of starting is a vehicle , you can cruise right past strategic planning . I...

It's time to write your next blog post. Or maybe the time has already passed. What do you think when your deadline is looming? My own lament is often, "What can I pull together fast that will be useful?" I talk to a lot of small business owners about blogging - while teaching, networking and over coffee. What I know is this: everyone has different reasons for blogging, or not. Before starting a blog, there are many different reasons, mostly related to the unknown. Once our blog is started, there is another set of obstacles that might give us grief: coming up with ideas adapting your ideas for writing starting to write finishing writing editing and proofing finding or creating graphics keywords and publishing Understanding what stops us , can help us uncover ways to conquer it. This will be my 575th blog post. You might think I've got all the obstacles wrangled - and I did for quite a long time. But since the beginning of this year, I've been st...

You've just finished an insightful new article for your blog. You're anxious to publish it and find out what your readers think. Depending on the topic and type of article you've written, it might make sense to do a little research before publishing. Researching after writing might seem backward but it has helped me many times. Here is why I often research after writing: To check that I haven't missed something really important on the topic. To see what others' opinions are and whether there are points of debate I haven't addressed. To make sure my information, instructions or lists are complete. To develop a headline by seeing what shows up in Google searches. Every time I research after writing, I've been glad I did. I often find ways to enhance my article and, even if I don't, it gives me confidence that I've done a good job. Click to Tweet this Article

If you want to be doing more content marketing but aren't, do you know what's stopping you? A few months ago I wrote this article -  Where Do You Get Stuck? - and ever since I have been committed to developing solutions for these stumbling blocks: coming up with ideas adapting your ideas for writing starting to write finishing writing editing and proofing finding or creating graphics keywords and publishing Adapting ideas for writing (#2) is a common challenge for small business owners who may not have much writing experience. Here is a way to conquer that stumbling block. 5 Steps to Plan Your Article Before You Start to Write #1. What is your purpose or goal? To give or explain information To persuade with your opinions To share ideas, thoughts or concepts Knowing your goal will inform the style you use for writing. Giving information requires a good detailed outline, simple words, and facts. Persuading requires good research and planning, examples, and...

It's always useful to check in on your blog stats so you can see what people are interested in reading. This year I'm a little surprised with some of the posts that have been read the most on Work Better, Not Harder. Here they are: #1. 7 Out Of 12 Small Business Bloggers Agree On This When I teach marketing courses, the group eventually tires of seeing this list of key reasons for publishing a blog or newsletter come up on the screen in every class. Focus on only 2-3 main goals. #2. Social Media Day Halifax 2018 Marketing Conference For the first time, Halifax celebrated Social Media Day in grand style this year. I'm proud to be one of the organizers of the first Social Media Day Halifax conference which took place on June 22nd. #3. 3 Ways Having a Social Media Strategy Will Save You Time Guest blogger Anita Kirkbride says, "If your paralysis stems from social media, the best way to get moving is to create a social media strategy and plan out what you need to be do...