Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Blocked? Be still and let your creativity find you

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Last night I watched the movie version of the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (you can watch her TED talk about nurturing creativity).

When Liz was in India (the "pray" section of her journey), she was frustrated by the racing thoughts that distracted her from prayer and meditation. She had to surrender her self-judgment about her past before she could find the peace and balance she was seeking.

How does that relate to article writer's block? Think of the energy and brain power we waste judging our creative process and the mere fact that we HAVE writer's block.

I've found that if I can quiet that inner critic and enter a state of stillness, ideas flow to me in a torrent. My articles will literally write themselves, and it is a peaceful joining with my creativity, not a fight against my writer's block.

How do you quiet your mind and connect with your muse when it's time to write? Please enter your comments below.

What’s the difference between i.e. and e.g.?

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These are abbreviations of Latin phrases. While they're often used interchangeably, they're actually two distinct phrases. That was one of the first rules that my sister Ruth taught me when I started editing!

E.g. stands for exempli gratia, or for the sake of example. I.e. stands for id est, or that is. I remember these by associating e.g. with example given and i.e. with in other words (to rephrase something you've said).

For example: My sister has taught me a lot about editing over the years, e.g., she explained the difference between e.g. and i.e. She has really been invaluable to me, i.e., she's been the editor's editor.

If you're tempted to use i.e. to introduce a list of items, remember that by definition it must include every possible example, while a list that opens with e.g. includes some, but not necessarily all, possible examples.

For example, in Section 22.1, Anatomy of a special report or white paper, I list ALL of the applicable levels that a problem may be impacting your reader, i.e., emotional, financial, mental, physical and spiritual.

Use a comma before and after either of these abbreviations, and try not to use them both in the same sentence.

The Chicago Manual of Style offers a bonus tip: if you start a list with e.g., there’s no need to put etc. at the end.

This post was an excerpt from The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write: Look Smarter, Write Faster and Get Better Results from Your Writing.

What conversion really means to me

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Someone recently sent me a link to a video about conversion, "Hey, Linda, I think this could help you get better results from your offers…" I won't share the link, but I'll tell you that I found it utterly unwatchable.

Not because I don't have things to learn. Not because it wasn't excellent, research-based information.

But because it was so full of jargon that it literally was like to trying to understand a foreign language. 

When I want to study up on Internet marketing techniques, I look to folks like Charlie Gilkey, Dave Navarro and Mark Silver. They always have excellent, useful information that is easy to grasp and leaves me with my soul intact.

I think what bothered me the most about the jargon in the video is that there was no mention of either of the people involved in the transaction – the provider of the service or the receiver of the service.

Because what conversion really means to me is that I get the chance to help someone. Sure, I help people with the free content I provide, but when money enters the picture, it ups the exchange of love and service to a whole new level – go read Mark Silver's stuff, he'll teach you all about that.

So I'll leave the conversion conversation to those more versed in that language. And in the meantime, I'll just ask you the simple question, "How can I help you?"

Conversation starters help you share your content

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I can really relate to what Lena West recently wrote about the cobbler's son having no shoes. [Update January 12, 2013 – the article is no longer posted at the original link.]

Since Kristen Beireis and I talked about conversation starters (social media updates that build on and link back to my recent blog posts), I've noticed my mentors and colleagues using them, and I've even been creating them for some of my clients!

But until very recently, I haven't been using them myself! 

While I have Typepad set up to automatically publish each new blog post to Twitter, after that the sharing stopped. My contacts on Twitter and LinkedIn had to be online and watching me in their stream the instant that I published, or they would never see it.

Now, I'm writing several social media updates about the topic of each post, and sending them out over the following days. While Kristen's stance was that you should not include a link in all of your updates, I think it's a good point of reference for the conversation you're trying to start. From there, you can engage with people directly.

Here are just three of the reasons that conversation starters are such a good idea:

  1. You'll reach more people than just those who happened to be online when you published or posted about your new content.
  2. You can learn more about your readers and what they're interested in, by monitoring, measuring and analyzing which links they click on.
  3. You can stay active and visible on social media without having to think of brand new conversation topics each time you post.

What is web content and why do you need it?

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Web content is information that you post online to attract, interact with and assist your prospective clients. It includes:

Web content goes beyond your brochure website that tells your visitors who you are and what you do. It engages your prospective clients in a conversation that is based on who they are and what they are dealing with.

It starts you out on the right foot by demonstrating your expertise and providing service right from the start – with valuable information they're looking for right now.

With high-quality web content, you can:

  • Keep your website fresh, so you can get found online
  • Keep your prospects interested, so you can make offers to help them
  • Keep your all of your business relationships warm, so you stay "top of mind" 

What if you don't know how to write these things?

Writing is a skill like any other. You can use the information and resources here on the Content Mastery Guide website to learn how to write for the web (you'll even find support for getting it done), or you can focus your time and energy on serving your clients and building your business.

For you, writing may be a struggle, and so you may not be getting the results you could be. For a writer, it's a pleasure, plus you'll have a specialist who understands how to use web content as a marketing strategy that gets results. Why not let everyone do what they love?

If you're concerned about having someone else write on your behalf, check out my post about the ethics of ghost blogging.

If you'd like to spend more time doing what you love, check out these content marketing solutions or contact me directly.