Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Write from the headlines: Do incentives work in coaching?

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Governments around the world have implemented incentive programs to stimulate the economy and protect the environment.  I'm proud that my own City of Toronto took a stand for the environment this Spring with a by-law that forces us to think twice before we use plastic bags.

When I saw CAA magazine's Fall 2009 cover story, "Renovation Nation" about Canada's home renovation credit, it got me thinking about how incentives work to motivate people – or do they? Here are some topic ideas to explore this question with your own coaching niche:

  • Career coaches: Top 5 reasons to move on from a job that is not working
  • Life coaches: Top 10 healthy rewards for accomplishing a goal
  • Money coaches: How government incentives can help you to save money and improve your life
  • Parenting coaches: Positive reinforcement strategies for peaceful parenting
  • Business coaches: How incentive-based payment is a win-win for everyone on your team
  • Marketing coaches: Top 5 ways to use bonuses and time-limited offers as incentives for sales

Writing prompt: Whether you want to get your readers thinking about how to create or implement incentive programs, or you want to motivate them to take action with an incentive program of your own, how will you write about this topic in your newsletter or blog? Please comment below and let me know!

Write from the headlines: Flash your feathers

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In honour of Caribana weekend here in Toronto, the theme for today’s writing prompts is “flash your feathers.”

  • Career coaches: 5 ways to broadcast your accomplishments without bragging
  • Life coaches: 5 ways to celebrate your strengths
  • Money coaches: The 5 things you should never scrimp on
  • Parenting coaches: 5 ways to build up your child’s self-esteem
  • Business coaches: 5 missed opportunities to reinforce your brand
  • Marketing coaches: 5 tasteful ways to use client testimonials

Writing prompt: Use one of these titles as a jumping off point for an article or blog post, or simply type the phrase “Flash your feathers!” at the top of a page and see where it takes you.

When it’s time to get personal with your writing

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Your readers want to know that you're a real person, beyond your business and the products and services that you offer. After all, how can you help them with their life if you don't seem to have one? (Notes to self: (1) Get a life (2) Write more Personal Updates posts.)

The opening section of your ezine is the perfect place to give your readers a glimpse into your personality and maybe even your personal life. But what if you don't want to get too personal? Some people just aren't comfortable posting pictures and details about their family or pets. 

You know I'm not one of them! Here's a recent picture of my beautiful girl Chyna, surrounded by some of her favourite things:

ET-phone-home

For some personal topic suggestions, it's Plinky to the rescue! According to their website, "Plinky makes it easy for you to create inspired content. Every day we provide a prompt (i.e., a question or challenge) and you answer. We make it simple to add rich media and share your answers on Facebook, Twitter and blogs."

CEO and founder Jason Shellen used to work at a little place called Google, so I'm sure he knows a thing or two about what makes a good web application. [Update December 24, 2012 – Jason Shellen is no longer involved with the site.]

There's also a whole other world of social networking at Plinky. While I've answered one question so far, I haven't gotten into the community aspect of the site (I'm having too much fun on Twitter!).

Writing prompt: If you're looking for ways to get more personal (but not TOO personal) in your writing, give Plinky's writing prompts a try.

Starting from scratch? A beginning strategy for article marketing magic

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If you’re just getting started with marketing your business online, I believe that the most effective strategy is a combination of blogging, email, and article marketing. In a nutshell:

  • Blogging will get your content published quickly so that it is immediately available to people (prospective clients) who are online and searching for information about your areas of expertise and the topics you care about. 
  • Weekly (at best) or monthly (at least) emails to your contact list will help you follow up with people who have visited your site and are already interested in you.
  • Article marketing will draw more traffic to your website and/or blog, where people can join your mailing list, learn more about you and continue to stay in touch.

Here is how to put it all together:

1. Get a Typepad account – I have a Pro account for $14.95 per month, but you can choose the one that best suits your needs. Consider whether you’ll want to use your own domain name (you’ll need at least the Plus account, $8.95) or customize the design (you’ll need at least the Pro account).

2. Get an AWeber account (starts at $19 per month) and set up the blog broadcast feature to send out new posts from your blog as soon as you publish them.

3. Create an editorial schedule of one topic per month. Piggyback onto the holiday times that people are sure to be discussing or looking for help with. You can also be strategic here and plot out possible chapters for a book.

4. Set up four separate idea catchers (e.g., draft posts in your blogging program, or four pages in a notebook) to collect your thoughts about these four types of blog posts:

  • A full-length article exploring the whats and whys of the topic (e.g., what is the problem/solution/strategy/issue, what is the impact, why is it important)
  • A tips list exploring the hows of the topic (e.g., how to apply the solution, how to practice the new strategy, how to explore the problem further with coaching questions)
  • A list of related resources (online and offline)
  • Case studies, stories or examples from your own life

5. Every week, flesh out one of those blog posts and publish it on your blog. As soon as you do, AWeber will send them out by email to your mailing list.

6. At the end of the month, compile content from some or all of the blog posts into an article and submit it to EzineArticles, searched by 1,000s of visitors every month, including newsletter publishers, consumers and the media – at the end of each article will be your bio and a link back to your website or blog.

Using this combination of strategy, planning and automation, you’ll be on your way to generating an information empire in no time!

Of course, if any of this is going to result in new clients and customers for you, your website had better be working! Stay tuned for an announcement about a free class that Linda Claire Puig are offering called, “Help! My website’s not working!” In the meantime, check out my website manifesto.

Stuck for your next article idea? Try an article date

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When I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, it transformed my life and my business. At the time, I was a life coach specializing in self-care. The book opened my eyes to a group of people who really needed to practice good self-care – creative artists.

Woman-article-writing-dateCameron has a luscious practice called the artist date. It’s a chance to woo your inner artist and inspire your creativity, whether you choose a casual field trip to a music store or museum or a more structured event like an artist retreat day.

I’ve noticed that when I take the time to step out of my comfort zone, visit new places, meet new people and do new things, I’m always rewarded with ideas. I wrote about this article idea generating strategy back in May 2008 in the post “Want to write more? Get out more!“.

Why not create a regular routine of taking these adventures? Not predictably enough to take away the spontaneity, but often enough to keep you guessing: what’s going to happen THIS week? We could even call it an article date – what do you think?

Writing prompt: Been somewhere new and different lately? Revisit the adventure in your mind and be open to any possible connections with the issues and problems your target market are facing.