Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

What’s in a name? How the right title can captivate your readers

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There is a lot of competition for your readers’ attention. They’re busy, they’re distracted and they just want what they want – NOW! And that includes information about your area of expertise.

So you’ve written a great article, but now what? How do you get your subscribers to open that email, your social media followers to click on that link or those website surfers to land on your website?

A captivating title is crucial.

Previously, I suggested you be keyword rich and creative in your article titles. My main point was: Ideally, your titles will be rich enough to show up in front of hundreds of people, and creative enough for your ideal readers to self-select and click through.

We’re going to delve into this topic on November’s Content Mastery Action Day presentation call.

What: Title Teasers, Powerful Questions and Catchy Keywords
When: Thursday, November 11th, 2010. 9:30-10:00 a.m. Eastern (in, out and on with your day)
Where: Telephone conference line – CMG subscribers, watch your emails for call details.

Content Mastery Action Club members will also have the opportunity to join me at 1:30 p.m. to play The Name Game and hear a special guest expert answer your questions about SEO. Watch your members-only emails for more details. 

If your content isn’t working, check for these root problems

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So you're blogging, tweeting and updating and you're growing your numbers of friends, fans and followers. Yet you're discouraged by the lack of concrete results (i.e., more clients and sales) and you're not sure that content marketing is worth the HUGE effort it seems to take.

Before you give up completely, have a look to see if some of these common root causes are to blame:

  1. Lack of planning – Your lack of planning may be more noticeable to you than it will to your readers. Are you constantly scrambling to come up with your next "big idea," or always questioning whether you're on the mark? Back up and do some planning.
  2. Rushing – I'm all for efficiency and batching similar tasks, but be honest: Are you always pushing out your blog posts at the last minute or rushing through the process? Writing artfully is a skill and deserves the respect of your attention and time.
  3. Skipping the editing step – Do you click "Publish" the instant you type your last thought? Or maybe give the article a cursory read-through immediately? That might not be enough - I guarantee you'll find more errors if you walk away and come back to it later.
  4. Patchy publishing – When is the last time you updated your blog? Writing takes practice, like every other skill. Writing and publishing regularly, even if your creativity comes in fits and spurts, gives you that practice. It also sends the message that you are reliable in other ways.
  5. Writing in isolation – What's going on in your industry? Even more importantly, what's going on outside of your industry? If you're in a writing rut, click farther and farther outside of your regular circle. You're bound to find new inspiration and ideas. Then write and share with those new people and expand your network of possibilities.

In my brand new book, Write Your Way to More Clients Online: How to craft captivating content for newsletters, blogs and social media, I address each of these root causes in five parts:

Part 1: Plan Mindfully
Part 2: Write Artfully
Part 3: Edit Skillfully  
Part 4: Publish Consistently
Part 5: Share Widely

The first test copy of the book is already en route to me and as soon as I've signed off on that your orders will be shipped! 

P.S. Here some other article writing mistakes to avoid when you're trying to grow your business with content marketing.

Done is better than perfect, but good is still better than bad

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I have a conundrum.

On the one hand, I just want you to get out there and blog, and more often – especially if your business is a service. Claim your expertise, just do it, stop procrastinating and certainly don't try to be perfect at it!

On the other hand, I want you to do it well! I want you to stand out from the people who are posting crappy content. I want content marketing to work for you!

So how can you raise your standards without crippling your confidence? Here are three ideas to get the conversation started, and I'd love to receive your comments below or by email.

  1. Take a stand for the quality of your content – Decide now that you will review ALL of your online communications before you publish or send. That includes emails, tweets, blog posts, newsletters, web pages, profile pages, etc.
  2. Decide what's important to you and hold yourself only to that – Commit to the basics of good writing by keeping an eye out for commonly misused words, typos and other errors. Start with the spellchecker, then read your work out loud to catch even more. From there, you can progress to more advanced writing skills.
  3. Compare to no one, learn from everyone – Start where you are and celebrate every single accomplishment – from seeing your work live on the page to receiving positive feedback from readers. When you come across a piece of writing that inspires YOU to act or think, use it as a writing lesson.

Does that help? Please leave your comments below (your spelling will not be graded).

Five reasons to write an article, not an ad

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At a recent event for business owners, a lot of people were talking about the best way to spend your advertising dollar.

My advice? Use your advertising dollar to create a blog where you post high-quality informational articles that solve the problems of your ideal clients. Bonus: You'll probably even have money left over!

Here are my five reasons to write an article, not an ad:

  1. Ads are about selling, articles are about giving. When people browse online, they're not out to spend money. They're looking for information about YOUR area of expertise. If you supply those solutions generously, professionally and effectively, they will remember you when they ARE ready to spend. 
  2. Ads are all about you, articles are all about your reader. People are focused on their own needs. When you write high-quality articles about the topics they care about, it shows that you care about them!
  3. Ads suck you dry, articles build you up. Paying for an ad dings your wallet and may or may not result in new business. Writing an article about a problem you help solve, on the other hand, helps you develop yourself and improve the services you deliver.
  4. Ads are an intrusion, articles are a solution. People mute commercials on TV, toss flyers in the trash and curse at telemarketers. High-quality information about a topic they care about will always be appreciated.
  5. Ads say you have money, articles say you have knowledge. When you reveal your expertise and your personality in your writing, people will come to know, like and trust you. If you've shown you're a good match for their needs, then when they're ready to purchase a service, they will think of you first.

Content marketing is a highly effective form of promotion that works to attract your ideal clients. Before you decide where to spend your next advertising dollar, consider spending it on content marketing instead.

Worldwide Blog Action Day for Clean Water

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Thanks to Alyssa Gregory for letting me know that today is Blog Action Day 2010 at Change.org. This year's theme is clean water.

For her part, Alyssa posted Let's Ditch Bottled Water, which inspired me to check out the Blog Action Day site.

[Update January 12, 2013 – the article and Blog Action Day information are no longer available at the original links.]

There, I learned some astonishing facts, including:

  • The average person uses 465 liters of water per day (U.S. residents, click here to find out how much you use)
  • It takes half a liter of water to charge an iPhone
  • African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink