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How to Finish the Blog Posts You Start

March 6, 2018 By Linda Dessau

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If you’re like me and many other wellness bloggers, you likely have a collection of partially-written blog posts. Some may need just a bit of tweaking, others need a complete overhaul, and others just simply need a bit more time and TLC.

In a previous post I introduced Alex Raymond from Rebecca Bitzer & Associates and Empowered Eating, and learned more about her role as editor and blog coordinator.

In a follow up message, she shared these additional insights about how she motivates her team of writers to finish their posts so she can get them up on the site.

Would you rather write a blog post or do your taxes?

I like to remind people about the difference between ‘shoulds’ and ‘wants.’ Writing a blog post has to be a ‘want.’ This means that you are looking forward to doing it and can’t wait to get your words down on paper! Your head and heart are shouting “YES!”

Shoulds, on the other hand, have the opposite feeling, like thinking, “Man, I should probably do my taxes today.”

If you find that you’re dreading writing a blog post, you might want to reassess the topic. Maybe it’s something you’re not really feeling right now. Can you start fresh or take the post in a different direction?

Note from Linda: Here are my 12 reasons to scrap a post and start a new one.

Little by little, the blog post gets done

In terms of finding time, I recommend people start little by little. Do you think you can carve out 30 mins each week to write? Even if you don’t finish your post, at least you have something started!

I actually spend 10-15 minutes each morning writing. I might get only a few sentences done OR I could finish a whole post, depending on how I’m feeling, But I can remind myself that at least I’m moving somewhere.

Note from Linda: A daily blogging approach works best for me as well, though I certainly don’t always adhere to it perfectly.

Confidence comes to those who write

One of the reasons people avoid working on their blog posts, they tell me, is that they’re not sure what they’ve written is good enough. What was Alex’s take on that?

The more you write, the more confident you will feel in your writing. You’re bound to figure out your own style and what truly inspires you!

Note from Linda: I totally agree! Here are five ways to boost your blogging confidence.

The next time you feel a pang of blogging guilt because it’s been awhile since you posted, try Alex’s tips for getting one of those posts finished.

Filed Under: Blogging Basics, Expert Interviews, Writing Tips

What Makes Someone a Wellness Expert? An Interview With Wellness Magazine Publisher Jamie Bussin

January 18, 2018 By Linda Dessau

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After more than 10 years as a wellness magazine publisher, Jamie Bussin knows in seconds whether an article submission will make it into his magazine. We sat down to chat about what it takes to stand out as a wellness expert, along with his writing tips for wellness professionals.

Jamie Bussin is the publisher and editor-in-chief of wellness magazine Tonic Toronto, creator, promoter and host of OmT.O., a free outdoor yoga festival, and creator, promoter and host of THE TONIC, a weekly health and wellness lifestyle talk show on Zoomer Radio and iTunes.

As someone who is often approached by wellness practitioners who want to write in his magazine, I wanted to get his unique perspective about what makes someone a wellness expert.

First, why would a wellness professional want to be considered an expert? Isn’t it enough to just be good at what they do?

You can’t be all things to everyone and I think that’s a mistake made by many health practitioners in particular. They’re concerned that if they don’t set out that they’re Reiki masters in addition to massage therapists in addition to this or that, that somehow they’re going to miss out and somebody won’t come to them.

I think that’s misguided. I would much prefer to be understood as an expert in one field than a Jack-of-all-trades. Because as long as the expertise you have has relevance, you should be getting clients and new customers if you’re good at what you do.

But the problem is there are just so many practitioners. It’s so competitive out there that you tend to get lost. Your expertise is essentially what you’re selling. It’s like your faith in yourself. Everybody has the same baseline knowledge, and that’s why I get pitched the same ideas for the magazine all the time. Like if it’s cold and flu season, it’s the foods you should be eating to prevent cold and flu. If it’s hot out, it’s all about hydration. And with all due respect to them, they’re all saying the same things.

If Naturopath A is working in Thornhill, there’s no reason for somebody who lives in downtown Toronto to go up and see Naturopath A If they’re spouting the same information as Naturopath B whose office is around the corner. Then it just becomes an issue of proximity.

If you can demonstrate that you have expertise with problems and issues in a certain area, then you are building confidence in your prospective clients and that is how you’re differentiating yourself.

EQ and self-promotion for wellness practitioners

I think the distinction between being knowledgeable and being an expert is almost the difference between having IQ and EQ [emotional intelligence]. There are lots of smart people out there, and presumably if you have your degree you have the knowledge to help your clients. However, being able to convey and project that information is a separate skill set.

Some people have innate EQ; they can walk into a room and garner attention. They’re charming, they’re personable, they’re bigger than life. People gravitate to them, and they’re good communicators; they make their point.

Other people have to work at it. Maybe they’re not comfortable speaking in front of a group, maybe they’re not comfortable writing. Maybe they’re not comfortable giving advice, or converting information to practical advice.

Why is it so important to be able to do that? Because interrelationships and communication are how you get your point across and how you market yourself.

You can be the best naturopath in Ontario but if nobody knows that you are, then it doesn’t really help you. Then you’re just relying on your own clients and patients to tell people how great you are. This might work over time but if you’re trying to kickstart your career or if you’re entering into a new field, you don’t want to wait indefinitely while people find you. You need to promote yourself.

Having a website with testimonials is great, there’s no question of that. Until you get the testimonials, though, you have to demonstrate your value. Whether you are creating content for your own social media and web presence, or on other sites, that’s a way to put yourself out there and help stoke the fires.

Note from Linda: I love Jamie’s distinction between IQ and EQ. It’s this emotional intelligence that comes out when you write, as long as you’re writing with your true voice. You’re showing who you are and that’s who your clients need to trust to deliver this very personal service.

As Jamie and I talked, he shared great advice to help anyone improve their writing. I shaped his ideas into this list of seven tips.

7 writing tips from a wellness magazine publisher

It’s always interesting to me that the people who are most enthusiastic about writing are frequently the ones least capable of actually executing. Now before I was a publisher I was a commercial litigator for 19 years, but I also wrote restaurant reviews, I had my own humour column, and I’ve written screenplays and all sorts of different things.

Ideas literally are a dime a dozen – particularly in health and wellness where after 10 years I’ve pretty much seen everything. Out of 100 health practitioners, I would expect that only 15 of them could write a decent article that I’d be willing to publish, and only two or three have it in them to write a regular monthly column.

1. Put in the time: The reason for that is that they put the work in. And writing is work. When I say that, I’m sympathetic. A lot of wellness professionals are extremely busy with their practices. In addition to their practices, obviously they have a home life, and a family life, and a social life. And there’s all kinds of other things that they want to do. But writing takes time and effort. It isn’t just about having great ideas. You have to be able to convert those ideas into an article.

2. Follow the publication guidelines: You also have to fit the format of the publication. For example, you could write a tremendous article but if it is 2,000 words long I will never run it in my magazine because my word lengths are either 450 words or 950 words.

3. Proofread your work: I’ve had people who I know are smart send me an article. And I know they know their information. But there are spelling mistakes. There are grammatical errors. It’s off topic. It’s cutesy. It’s meandering. It’s full of quotes as opposed to real information. Or it’s not entertaining writing.

Whether you’re looking to write for print or online, whether it’s an article or a book, you’d better be a practiced writer and you’d better submit finished work. Don’t just think, “Ah yeah, the editor can clean it up.” Nope, I’m not going to clean up your work. I’ve got other things to do.

Am I going to correct a spelling mistake here or there? Sure. But if you’re trying to impress me and get me to publish something, why wouldn’t you submit the best possible product that you have?

4. Educate, don’t promote: I draw a distinction between advertorial and editorial. Editorial is neutral information which is valuable to everybody, whereas advertorial is an ad that is pretending to be a piece of editorial and that is self-promotional. And it’s easy to spot with a practitioner because it’s all about them. It’s all about the work they do in their practice. “I saw this client. And this is what we do. And we have this new technology.” Nobody cares. It’s boring. It’s advertising. It doesn’t run in my publication.

The reason for that is I have a relationship with my readers and I give them credit to spot an advertorial. If they think that everything there is for an advertising purpose then they’re not going to read the magazine more than once.

5. Practice: If you want to write, like anything, you’re going to be terrible at first. And like anything you have to practice. So I would say if you’re really intent on writing then you should write. And you should show it to other people who you respect. Or get a book about format. And read. Most people don’t read. As you write, find a style that works for you that has your voice.

6. Meet your deadlines: Aside from writing, the biggest headache for publishers is missing deadlines. If you miss deadlines, I don’t want to work with you. I have to get my product to the printer by a certain date and if you’re late I can’t do my layout, my art director can’t put together the data files to send to the printer on time, I miss my print run and then my advertisers would be mad at me. I’ve never missed a print run in over 10 years and I wouldn’t let it come to that, but if I have somebody who is terminably late with articles because they’re not disciplined writers and they’re not getting it to me on deadline, I can’t work with them, whether they’re good writers or not.

7. Entertain us: A good writer isn’t somebody who is knowledgeable. A good writer is somebody who is a good communicator. And an entertaining writer. I would say the vast majority of the editorial work that I will do is to look at the first paragraph of any article. If you don’t have my attention right off the bat, I’m not going to finish reading your article.

A lot of people think they have to be cute and build to it and tell their story. Nope, not at all. You need to tell the reader what it is you’re doing and get to it. Because people have very short attention spans. Nobody has the patience to put up with that. We’re all too busy, even as readers.

That being said, I think everybody has something that they’re an expert in. On THE TONIC, my interviews are quite short, averaging six or seven minutes in length. Everybody on this planet has something to say that is unique to them, that they can be interesting about for six or seven minutes.
In that respect, I think as long as you understand the rules of grammar and syntax, anybody who worked at it could probably put together an article.

Jamie, I wholeheartedly agree! With time and practice, I know that everyone can improve their writing and use it as a way of differentiating themselves and communicating their value as a wellness expert. Thanks for these fantastic tips and insights into the world of wellness publishing.

P.S. You can find Tonic Toronto online at http://www.tonictoronto.com/ or download the talk show as a podcast at www.thetonic.ca.

Filed Under: Blog, Expert Interviews, Writing Tips

Meet a Wellness Blogging Team Player – Alex Raymond from Empowered Eating

December 19, 2017 By Linda Dessau

© Rebecca Bitzer & Associates – Fotolia.com

What’s it like to be part of a bustling nutrition practice, while also writing for and coordinating a prolific blog? We’ll find out in today’s interview with Alex Raymond of Rebecca Bitzer & Associates and Empowered Eating, a separate blog designed to specifically support those who are recovering from an eating disorder.

In her role as editor and blog coordinator, Alex and her intern Caroline work together to make sure a new post goes up on both sites at least once a week. On top of that, they schedule social media posts for each article to make sure it’s getting the widest reach possible (Meet Edgar saves them tons of time, she says). They also like to go back and re-post some of their more popular articles and seasonal blog posts.

Why start a second blog when the practice blog is already such a gold mine? “While we do have many blog posts about eating disorders on the RBA website,” Alex explained, “the Empowered Eating blog posts are really geared toward that population, as well as posts to educate health professionals and to support loved ones of those struggling. Blog topics can vary from recipes to new research surrounding eating disorders to various tips for recovery.”

“We need more positive articles out there about food!”

Alex says their weekly blogging schedule hasn’t been that difficult to keep up, since health, wellness, and nutrition are such hot topics these days. She finds inspiration from articles posted on social media, news outlets, or even movies and TV shows.

She’s most inspired, she says, by the questions her clients ask or common themes she’s noticed in their sessions. “These days, having a disordered relationship with food is quite common. People are always trying to find quick nutrition fixes or some perfect diet. And many times these quick fixes don’t work and a ‘perfect diet’ doesn’t exist.

Some of these individuals may go on to develop a full blown eating disorder. So, I like to remind myself that my voice and what is said on our blog matters. We need more positive articles out there about food!”

To keep their content fresh and their readers engaged, Alex recently started a series of brief videos called “Mindful Minutes,” such as the one below about orthorexia. Specifically for the Empowered Eating blog, these videos cover topics like body image, mindful eating, and self-care. The goal is to supplement, not replace, the blog posts.

Writing for readability

Like most wellness bloggers, Alex and her team of bloggers try to write posts that have both excellent SEO and readability. She finds that the readability piece is the hardest for them to get right. “As dietitians, we like to elaborate on our ideas. But, having too long sentences actually decreases readability.”

As she goes back and edits posts – hers and others – she finds herself making executive decisions to cut down on sentence length, while still trying to preserve the original message of the content.

Balancing your blogging time

All of this takes time, so I asked how she fits it all in. She says it’s not always easy to balance blogging, editing and seeing clients, so she tries to schedule time to work on blogging.

Yet as we all know, creativity doesn’t always follow a schedule. “If I feel the inspiration coming, I try to write down all my thoughts in either a journal or a Google doc and save it for later. It’s so important to just go with the inspiration when it comes so you don’t lose it.”

If she finds herself with both inspiration and a little extra time (say, on a flight), she might sit down for 45 minutes straight and finish an entire post. Then she’ll send it to Caroline for publishing, but depending what’s already in the queue it may not go up for another few weeks.

Typically, she can finish two or three posts in a few days, but other times she only gets to blog once a week and it can take two weeks to finish something. On average she spends about 60-90 minutes per post, depending on whether she also records a video.

Luckily, Alex says blogging is something she truly enjoys doing, and is sometimes a form of self-care. “If I’m home when I’m writing, I like to just sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and relax. I’ll either have music or the TV show Friends in the background.”

And we all need our blogging friends! I’m glad to have made some new friends in Rebecca and Alex, so I could bring you these insights into what goes on behind the scenes of a productive wellness blog.

P.S. Does your clinic have a blog you could be writing for? Don’t miss the opportunity to share your ideas, spotlight your expertise, and attract new clients! Here are some of my tips for being part of a blogging team.

Filed Under: Expert Interviews, Nutrition Blogs

The Evolution of a Nutrition Blog – Rebecca Bitzer & Associates

November 21, 2017 By Linda Dessau

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Welcome to Part 2 of a special interview with Rebecca Bitzer of Rebecca Bitzer & Associates: REBEL Dietitians in Maryland. If you missed Part 1, click here to learn why blogging is a priority for her diverse and talented team of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDs).

Why did you first start blogging, and how has your blog changed since then?

At first, we just blogged. Our blog posts were fine, although a bit short and the photos were not great. Over the years, we have continued to raise the bar and have much better content, tips, photos and recipes.

In addition to our 400+ blog posts we have a recipe database that we added to our website last year with over 300 recipes that our team has created.

We also pay more attention to which blog posts are the most popular and try to provide more blog posts on these topics. There is a lot of competition on the internet and we are trying to keep our niche as a team of dietitians who can make life easier in the kitchen when dealing with a chronic condition (or trying to avoid one).

What have been the biggest benefits of continuing to blog so consistently?

Having fresh content keeps our team and our audience inspired, which is key for success. Also, fresh content keeps our audience coming back for more information and it certainly helps Google find us.

We also have an monthly email newsletter that highlights our blog posts, recipe of the month, and special events, which helps keep our followers engaged.

Finally, by continuing to blog consistently, we can address some of the challenges and struggles that our clients are facing in session, and provide resources for them and for the community.

Does anyone help you with the blogging process (anything from writing, editing, research, publishing, promotion), and how?

As I mentioned in Part 1, one of our dietitians is in charge of setting deadlines and themes for each month, and we all encourage each other to meet those goals.

We have taken tons of courses, classes and webinars on blogging. At this point, we are still doing it in-house because we love it and doing it ourselves helps our clients get to know us better.

We are bombarded with people wanting to guest blog for us. We are open to having more guest bloggers, though we are very selective about who writes for our blog and any post must be approved by all before it is published.

We also have interns who help contribute to a blog post which we may enhance, update or repurpose, such as this Thanksgiving post that was written by an intern:
https://rbitzer.com/how-to-lose-weight-while-enjoying-your-favorite-foods-on-thanksgiving/

In terms of promotion, we post our blog post links on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. I would say that Facebook and Instagram are our two favorites.

What advice do you have for a new nutrition blogger?

I would encourage new nutrition bloggers to start. Writing about something you are passionate about helps. Also, “better done than perfect” is good to remember. Your blog posts will get stronger over time; it is important to get started and practice writing.

The most challenging thing for many is to carve out enough time to blog. Having a schedule and a deadline helps get blog posts written.

One of the challenges our team has is keeping the blog posts simple; it is much more challenging to write a concise sentence than to write like you are talking. But again, just get started, ignore your perfectionism and remember you have important things to share.

Excellent tips, thank you so much, Rebecca! Keep up the good work, rebels!

P.S. Did you miss Part 1 of this interview? Click here to learn how the REBEL Dietitians keep up with their ambitious blogging schedule, and much more!

Ready to raise the bar on your own wellness clinic blog? Let’s look it over together! Join me for a free, no-obligation blog review session. Click here to schedule a time.

Filed Under: Benefits of Blogging, Blog, Expert Interviews, Nutrition Blogs

Nutrition Blogging Done Well: Rebecca Bitzer & Associates – The REBEL Dietitians

November 8, 2017 By Linda Dessau

© Rebecca Bitzer & Associates

Rebecca Bitzer & Associates: REBEL Dietitians is the largest outpatient nutrition counseling practice in Maryland and has operated for over twenty-nine years.

With seven registered dietitian nutritionists (RDs) and three locations, they focus on finding personalized solutions for busy people so nutrition and cooking are simple, no matter what condition people are coming in to manage or prevent.

They achieve this through individual nutrition counseling, corporate presentations, and nutrition classes, as well as through blogging.

The REBEL Dietitians blog is a treasure trove of practical advice and recipes, and Rebecca was generous enough to answer a few questions about their blogging experience.

How many of your dietitian nutritionists contribute to the blog, and how often?

We are a team of seven registered dietitian nutritionists. Five of us contribute to the blog. Each of us has a specialty so we try to include blog posts that are helpful to each RD’s audience.

For instance:

Kaitlin Williams, RD, LD, wrote a blog post on what to cook when you don’t feel like cooking:
https://rbitzer.com/dont-feel-like-cooking/

Klara Knezevic, RD, LD, helps clients eat local foods and foods in season. Here is her blog post about autumn foods with inspirational recipes:
https://rbitzer.com/produce-in-season-in-the-fall/

Dana Magee, RD, LD, CLT, is our digestive specialist and she writes about FODMAPs like this blog post about low FODMAP breakfasts:
https://rbitzer.com/low-fodmap-friendly-breakfasts/

Alex Raymond, RD, LD ,works with clients to eat without without the unnecessary restrictions of dieting. Here is a recent blog post on how to lose weight (without dieting) after vacation:
https://rbitzer.com/6-tips-lose-weight-gained-vacation/

Rebecca Bitzer, RD, LD, CEDRD, recently blogged about the benefits of eating chili and her four favorite chili recipes:
https://rbitzer.com/homemade-chili-recipes/

You can expect one new blog post per month from each of us. We also do one compilation post per month where each of us contribute a recipe or a nutrition tip to give various perspectives.

Klara Knezevic, RD, LD wrote this compilation blog post with recipes from all of us where the entire meal is prepared using just one pan:
https://rbitzer.com/8-chicken-sheet-pan-dinners/

Is blogging a requirement at your practice? Do some of your dietitian nutritionists need prompting or extra encouragement, and how do you handle that?

We believe that the world depends on social media. More and more people look online before choosing to work with a professional so blogging is a priority for us.

In addition to attracting new clients, we want to make sure that our current and former clients have a valuable resource to help keep them focused and accountable and most of all inspired to keep meeting their nutrition and health goals.

Our blog posts are so filled with content, our dietitians often print out blog posts to discuss with clients as certain challenges become known during the session. For instance, if a client is struggling with overeating during Thanksgiving, we give tips and tools on how to eat more mindfully during the holidays.

One of our dietitians is in charge of setting deadlines and themes for each month. It takes time for all of us to cook the recipes, take photos, and add recipes to our database of recipes. Everyone is busy but we collectively share the value of writing strong blog posts, so we encourage each other.

An added bonus is that oftentimes the person cooking a new recipe brings it into the office to share so we can all enjoy it!

Do you use a set calendar of blogging topics and the types of posts you write?

While most of our blog posts are recipe based, some are self-care based because we believe that self-care is always key, especially when trying to make changes in health behaviors.

Each RDN writes about something she is passionate about, which helps her voice and authenticity come through. Also, it helps her have fresh, new material to share with her clients.

I notice you choose not to date your blog posts. Has it always been that way? What was the thinking behind that choice?

We recently hired a professional branding company to update our website (which is another story). [Note from Linda: Believe me, Rebecca, I can relate!]

When we were updating our website, we decided to do an overhaul of our 400+ blog posts. As a group, we reviewed, edited, updated and removed outdated blog posts. This is when we decided to hide the dates of the blog posts.

The reason behind hiding the dates is that we repost our seasonal and holiday blog posts on social media. Since we are always attracting new followers, it made sense to link to these “timeless” posts. Removing the dates ensures these posts do not look repurposed.

Just because we wrote a great Halloween blog post last year, it does not mean that our all of our current followers saw it last year. The tips and hacks are still useful and the photos and recipes are excellent – so let’s reuse it!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post to learn about the REBEL Dieticians’ early blogging days, the biggest benefits they’ve seen from blogging, and more!

In the meantime, keep reading here for more inspiration and tips for a multi-author wellness blog!

Filed Under: Blog, Blogging Basics, Expert Interviews, Nutrition Blogs

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