Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Writing lesson from Superbowl City 2009 – Don’t get noticed for the wrong reasons

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I’m not a football fan. So why did my ears perk up when I heard Superbowl news this morning? Because they were talking about grammar! And I am interested in grammar. Specifically, I’m interested in how grammar errors get people noticing and talking about you – and not in a positive way.

Here’s what happened. In advance of the big game next Sunday, a banner is hanging against the side of a building in Tampa. It reads:

“Welcome to Downtown Tampa: There’s so many reasons to love it.”

Did you notice the error? For a photo and explanation, check out this story in the Tampa Tribune (photo and news story are no longer available).

Don’t let bad grammar distract your readers from your message. Proofread, proofread, proofread!

Molly Gordon helps you connect with your readers

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Thanks to her Twitter update, I saw that Molly Gordon had written a new Squidoo article, How to write articles that build connection.

Well, she certainly struck a connection with me! I love the way she explains the importance of connection, and her warning against writing in "the Voice of Significance."

She even offers a step-by-step article writing process that I just may try myself the next time I need a jolt or a jump start.

Quick writing prompt: Read Molly's article and write your own article that connects! Please let me know how it goes.

P.S. You can also follow ME on Twitter.

Stuck at the start? Try one of these Top 10 article openers

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Are you using article marketing to grow your business? Be sure you have a powerful opening, or you could lose your readers long before they get to the end (and your precious call to action).

If you're stuck at the start, try one of these Top 10 Article Openers:

  1. A quote – Whether it's flowery, provocative, moving or inspirational, the perfect quote can really set off your article in a good tone. Search for quotes in Google or your favorites quotes page.
  2. Statistics – Statistics are used a lot in traditional media. To find them, you can search the databases of Stats Can in Canada, or the Census Bureau in the United States. You can also look at the industry websites of your target market for studies and statistics they have collected from and for their members.
  3. A powerful statement – Everything you've been told up until now about marketing is completely backwards! Wouldn't you read on to find out what I have to say about that?
  4. A warning – I used a mild-mannered warning as my opening for this article. A warning would be a great opening for a Top 10 Mistakes article (but please, be bolder than I was today!).
  5. A powerful question – Do you know exactly how many products or services you have to sell before you make a profit? A powerful question can be an eye-opening introduction to an article about a useful business concept like metrics.
  6. A list – Combine two or three powerful statements, warnings or powerful questions into a list.
  7. A story – Tell a story about a fictional character (e.g., someone in your target audience), an anonymous client or someone you read about in the news.
  8. A personal story – Use yourself as an example for the topic you're writing about in your article.
  9. A story about the reader – Make your reader the main character of the story, e.g., Imagine that you've researched, toiled, edited and re-edited, and you've come up with the best Top 10 list ever. But you know it needs more.
  10. A song lyric – Sometimes musicians have sung it best. Similar to quotes, song lyrics go one step further because they can also evoke musical memories – and those can run deep and be very  attention-grabbing and memorable.

Whether you want to improve an article you've already written, or you're starting at the top of a blank page, the right opening can really make a difference. Please let me know how these article openers work for you! I welcome your comments below.

Here's another tool for writing article openers – and it's probably on your bookshelf right now!

Want your readers to keep reading? Plain language is the key

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On Tuesday, October 28th I attended my third seminar from the Editors’ Association of Canada. It was called Plain Language: Building Results and was presented by Frances Peck.

Frances shared this definition of plain language: “The orderly and clear presentation of complex information.” At the time, she was going through a long list of myths about plain language – reasons that writers sometimes argue against it.

Some of the myths were that plain language is just “dummy-ing down” the content (when, in fact, it’s just a clearer way of presenting it) or that it’s boring (when, in fact, it’s much more engaging to read something that actually makes sense). In her words, documents that are difficult to understand quickly become disposable.

Writing Prompt: Are you buying into the myths that plain language “dumbs down” your message or it’s too boring? Are you puffing up your writing because you think you’ll sound smarter? Keep your message simple to keep your readers reading.

Blog posts vs. articles: What’s the difference?

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Clients have asked me, “What’s the difference between a blog post and an article?” Great question! Since we’ve already talked a lot about article writing, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about blog posts.

Anatomy of a blog post

Here are just a few of the elements that a good blog post will include:

Keywords: Think about the words and phrases that your ideal client might type into a search engine if they were looking for information about this topic.

Links: Demonstrate your expertise and solidify your credibility by pointing out relevant and useful resources on the Internet. Set up the links so they open in a new window.

Personality: A blog is a great place to bring more of your personal identity into your business communications. You can write more conversationally, share your opinions and give the reader a peek behind the scenes of your business activities. You may even choose to share details about your life outside of work.

But the most crucial element of your blog post is definitely its:

Point: Be sure that each blog post is making one clear point. A business blog is not the place for an aimless rant or random ramblings. Before you publish, ask, “What’s the point of this post?” and, “Is that point important to my target market?”

Of course some of your blog posts will be announcements, promotions or just plain fun stuff. That’s fine; that’s what makes blogging so appealing! Just limit those posts so that the bulk of what you’re publishing is valuable content for your readers.

Blog posts versus articles

All articles can be blog posts, but not all blog posts can be articles. Generally speaking, a blog post will be shorter, more informal and less structured than an article. See Section 20.1 of the Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write, Anatomy of an Article, for more details about the elements (e.g., introduction, conclusion and author resource box) that you can add to any blog post to turn it into an article.

This blog post is an excerpt from a brand new bonus chapter of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write: Look Smarter, Write Faster and Get Better Results from Your Writing. The full chapter includes more blog post elements, tips on how to use other social media tools to make each blog post work harder for you AND a 5-point checklist that will improve every blog post that you write.

Writing Prompt: Look over your last few blog posts. Did you stick to one main point, or were you trying to write the blog post of a lifetime? Write a new blog post, with all of these tips in mind. Then send me the link!