March 18, 2009
What are you doing? If you’re an active member of the Twitter community, then you probably already know that you can enter updates beyond the typical Twitter homepage. Armed with cell phones and other devices, an explosion of Twitter platforms, clients, and applications have emerged. To get you up to speed, consider the following selections:
Tweetie: Full-featured Twitter client for iPhone and iPod Touch – available at the iPhone App Store.
Tweet Deck: An Adobe Air desktop application (currently in public beta) that involves more than one social media outlet with a unique display featuring a columned user interface.
twitterfeed.com: Provide this service with the URL for your blog’s RSS feed and enjoy direct posting to Twitter.
Power Twitter: This Firefox add-on enhances the features found on the Twitter Web interface, such as Facebook status updates, custom settings, and photo uploading.
HootSuite: With an easy-to-use interface, you can use HootSuite to manage multiple Twitter profiles and pre-schedule tweets.
Twhirl: Using the Adobe AIR platform, this social software desktop client runs on both Windows (2000/XP/Vista) and Mac OSX.
How to Shorten Your URL for Twitter
With Twitter, you’re only allotted 140 characters to share your daily gripes, ever-changing activities, and call attention to any information you deem worthy. So, let’s say you’d like to include a link to your latest blog post or an article you found interesting. That can surely eat up your 140 characters. With the following options, you can transform long URLs into shorter links for your Twitter updates:
While you’re at it, why don’t you follow us on Twitter!
March 13, 2009
Never Underestimate the Power of a Comment
If you want to increase traffic to your blog, never underestimate the power of a comment. For starters, it is highly recommended to respond to the comments that people leave behind on your blog. Answer questions, thank them, or create dialogue. This not only shows that you are interested in what your readers have to say, but that you also value their opinions.
Don’t miss out on the perfect opportunity to enhance the loyalty of your readers. Visit the links attached to their information when they leave a comment on your blog, and repay the favor.
Another way to increase blog traffic is to leave comments on other blogs, especially when they are within your niche. Keep in mind that readers with the same interests are more inclined to follow a link, so don’t forget to leave the URL of your blog attached to your comment, which creates a link back to your blog.
Lastly, a real no-no in the world of blogging is to spam the comment space of a blog. Posting blatant and irritating advertisements, regarding your own blog, products, and/or services will only anger the online community. If you don’t have anything significant or thought provoking to say, keep to yourself.
In conclusion, the best way to embrace the usefulness of a blog comment and attract new readers is to:
- Respond to comments left on your blog
- Participate and encourage relevant dialogue
- Post interesting and engaging comments on other blogs
March 8, 2009
By Kevin via Flickr
During sluggish economical times, it only makes sense to cut back on spending. We’re eating out less, clipping more coupons, and eliminating unnecessary expenses at home – but what about your business?
Chances are, your business has probably taken a hit as consumers tighten their purse strings and you’re left searching for ways to balance lower profits with the expenses required to keep your company operating. Unfortunately, most business owners are starting by cutting their advertising and promotions budget.
Your Business Needs Advertising, Especially Now!
Too often, we overlook the actual benefits our marketing efforts provide. If your current clients have disappeared or decreased their spending, effective promotional tools and affordable advertising campaigns will bring in new customers and can even bring back some of your old ones!
Instead of eliminating your advertising budget, reevaluate your promotional spending and take advantage of less costly methods. For example, a local newspaper ad costs around $90 while posting an ad on Craigslist is free. From my own experience, the free Craigslist ad will typically bring in about 10 times the number of leads generated through the newspaper. Cost effective advertising allows you to increase profits without elevating your expenses.
Affordable Marketing Ideas to Promote Any Business
- Press release. If you thought press releases were only for startups or restructures – think again! A well-written news release, distributed through the right outlets, can revive your business regardless of what you do or how long you’ve been doing it. Press releases give your company the visibility of a television commercial at a fraction of the price.
- Build a website. A website is a must for an online business; an internet presence is just as essential for offline companies as well. More than likely, a big percentage of your target audience turns to the internet for their news, weather, and even shopping needs before turning through the Yellow Pages or picking up the newspaper – make sure you and your business are there! There are several free or low-cost alternatives to website design. Even a professional setup can often cost less than a Yellow Pages ad and can be much more worthwhile.
- Sales letter. Whether you’re looking for new customers or hoping to revive some lost ones, a professional sales letter is your key to increased profits. Home improvement contractors, eBook authors, and local law firms can all benefit from a well-planned sales campaign. A compelling letter that reminds consumers of the advantages of your product or service can do wonders for your business without breaking the bank, whether it’s delivered via post, sent through email, or simply published on the web!
- Online directories. Before you renew your telephone directory ad, look into more valuable internet directories that typically work much harder for a lot less cash. Free directories are a great place to start! Check with your local chamber of commerce or small business association for possible listings in your area. There are also an assortment of subscription based business directories that can give your company a boost – Angie’s List, Service Magic, and a number of industry-relative websites are some to consider. Ask about limited trials or basic memberships to get a good impression of how the service may benefit you before paying too much.
- Start a blog. Even if you hire a writer, a business blog is the most cost-effective marketing tool you can have. You can connect with new clients, build upon your relationship with existing ones, and ensure that your service or product stays fresh in your audiences’ minds through a simple blog.
Saving money is important, but building your brand with marketing and advertising is essential to success. There are plenty of affordable and effective tools available to increase profits and sales. Take the time to weigh your options before completely eliminating your promotional spendings.
Need a professional sales letter that demands action, web content that attracts attention, or just advice on starting your blog? Contact us – we’re your original content specialists!
March 3, 2009
In any sort of copy you take on, something that you should keep in mind are the headlines and sub-headlines. Why? Because headlines and sub-headlines do two things for your copy –
1. Make Website Visitors Stop and Pay Attention to Your Message.
2. Compel Your Visitors to Keep Reading.
For your business – this can mean many things, including more profits, more sales and more sign-ups. In this post, you’re going to learn some creative and helpful tips for writing great headlines.
1. Consider Your Target Market
If possible, when creating your headline, address your target market. This is especially important if you’re creating a headline for a sales letter. When you speak directly to your target market, they will listen. Look at the two headlines below and notice how the bottom one demands attention by addressing the target market.
‘How to Make More Money Starting Today’
‘How Stay-at-Home Moms Can Bring in a Fat Check Every Week’
By considering your target market, you can really create a headline that is going to work for you.
2. Tell the Reader What Is In It for Them
One thing you want to do when thinking about your headlines is consider what value the reader is getting. That value should be made plain in the headline. With sales letters this is easier, because they’re getting the solution to their problem. Of course, the solution is typically your product or service. But what about regular articles, blog posts, etc?
Consider the headline of this article – 3 Tips for Writing Great Headlines. The reader automatically knows that he or she is getting 3 tips for writing great headlines. This is the value. Think about what you’re offering to readers with your articles, blog posts, etc. Then, make sure it’s plain to the reader what knowledge they will gain or problems they will solve if they read. Here are a few examples:
• ‘How to Change a Tire’ – Here, the reader knows he or she is going to learn how to change a tire.
• ‘What is the Red Ring of Death on my Xbox 360?’ – Here, the reader knows that he or she is most likely going to find out what that ‘red ring’ means and how to fix it.
• ‘13 Creative Ways to Find a Job’ – When nothing else is working, the reader will find new ways to get a job in tough times.
By promising the reader something, you’ll ensure that more people actually stop and read your copy.
3. Keeping Readers Engaged
Sub-headlines are great for keeping readers engaged in your copy. This is why they’re used so often in sales letters – the whole point is to keep the reader interested. You may notice a small block of text and then a sub-headline under it which is something like, ‘And then I learned why I had been having so many problems,’ or ‘then I discovered a breakthrough solution that anyone can use.’
These sub-headlines keep the readers engaged because they want to know what that solution was or why that person was having so many problems. For typical articles, it could be as simple as letting the reader know what they’ll learn in each section of the article.
For instance, a medical article could be broken up into the ‘causes’ of a condition, the ‘symptoms’ of a condition and the ‘treatments’ of a condition. By dressing it up a little bit, you might have sections that look like these:
‘How Did This Happen?’
‘How Do I know it’s really _______?’
‘What Do I Do about It?’
The reader will continue reading to get the answers to those questions. The entire point of sub-headlines is to break up the text of your copy, make it easier to read and keep the reader engaged.
By using these great tips for writing headlines, you can ensure that your copy gets more attention and works harder for you.
February 19, 2009
In order to increase blog readership, you must keep readers interested!
We live in a world where the Internet alerts us to the latest news, the weather in Japan, fashion trends, and celebrity gossip. Online, we find most of the answers to all of the questions we ask. From comparing products to researching a new travel destination, the World Wide Web has become a far-reaching tool in today’s society. The Internet is an explosion of everything and right in the thick of things are blogs – pockets of valuable information, images, videos, music, and commentary – greeting you at every turn.
When it comes to a blog, you want to be heard. This means that you have to attract repeat readers who are interested in what you have to say. While regular posting to your blog and offering a clean layout is an effective way to start, you must provide useful information and keep visitors coming.
Ways to increase your blog readership and keep readers interested include the following suggestions:
1. Evolve
Take hold of today’s technology and enhance your blog with streaming video, audio clips, MP3 files, and other interactive features. Go beyond the typical text and image layout of a blog. For example, You Tube videos are pretty popular with bloggers, from music reviewers to do-it-yourself enthusiasts – keep the attention of your readers with amusing content.
2. Educate
Support your business by offering concrete evidence and valuable information from reliable sources, such as a journal article, seminar transcript, speech, or excerpts from a research paper. Let’s say your niche is within the medical field. People want the latest facts. Give them statistics. Show the results of a clinical study. Educate your audience on the topics most important to them.
3. Entertain
Hit your audience with interesting trivia. Offer a downloadable game. Post a humorous cartoon. There’s nothing wrong with providing a little humor and wacky information to entertain your blog readers.
4. Enlighten
If you’re writing a business blog, it is in your best interest to inform and enlighten the public. Three popular approaches include:
How-to Articles: Provide detailed step-by-step instructions. Example: How to Play Backgammon
Top ‘X’ Lists: Offer a numbered list of suggestions. Example: Top 10 Ways to Save Money
Tips: Deliver small paragraphs of information that makes life easier. Example: Tips on Filing Your 2009 Taxes
January 26, 2009
If you love to write poetry, there’s still a chance for you to get involved with Secret Press USA. Jason A. Gray, writer and creator of Secret Press USA is looking for submissions for an anthology he’s putting together on the 50 states. There will be a few poems from each state included, and Jason still needs poems from the following states:
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Utah
- Wyoming
So, if you have some poems that no one has read collecting dust in your closet, or you’d like to try your hand at writing about your own home state, give it a go! You’ll receive a free copy of the anthology and will have your name featured on the Secret Press USA website. There is also a chance that you’ll be invited to read your poem or others at poetry readings.
The deadline is January 30th, so you’ve only got a few days to send in a submission. Be sure to check out the submission guidelines first, though. Jason’s goal is to have the first anthology published by Spring of 2009 – how exciting. If you have a way with words and live in or are from one of the states above, I urge you to get involved.
January 15, 2009
How many websites have you come across that display that intimidating “wall of text” – blocks and blocks of never-ending paragraphs that often bore readers to death? A wall of text is literally painful to endure and can actually cause eyestrain and headaches. That doesn’t seem like a very effective way to keep readers on your personal or business website and/or blog.
Always remember that writing for online readers is much different than writing for print. In order to attract repeat visitors to your website or blog – you need to promote easy scanning of the text.
Let’s face it – people rarely read an entire blog post or web page. They rarely dissect every word or fully absorb all information. Instead, they scan the page. Certain words, phrases, and sentences will catch their eye. If you’re successful in keeping their attention, you may gain a reader that will digest most of what you have to say. Successful websites learn how to make things easy for readers. They may use:
Subheadings.
Alert your audience to distinct changes in your text. Make the information that is most important to readers easier to find. For instance, a business offering an article on various training tricks for animals could use ‘Dogs,’ ‘Cats,’ and ‘Birds’ as their subheadings. A dog-owner that comes to the site will save a lot of time by easily locating the training tips focused on dogs.
Bulleted lists.
Call attention to significant pieces of information by using bulleted lists instead of burying details in a wall of text.
Highlight keywords.
Lure your reader to certain blocks of text by highlighting certain words and phrases. When you highlight keywords in your text, you can choose to change the typeface or color, or use hypertext links.
A simplified writing style.
Remember to use vocabulary that is easy to follow. Let’s say you’re trying to sell a product. Deliver the most important information to potential consumers in a concise manner. In other words, don’t lose the interest of a reader by using ‘big words’ that typically don’t see the light of day outside of the dictionary.
One idea at a time.
Each paragraph should address one idea at a time. Some readers tend to skip the end of paragraphs. Position the most important information within the first few words.
Short paragraphs.
Long-winded paragraphs not only lose the attention of a reader, but also contribute to a wall of text that smothers key points.
The inverted pyramid.
Take a hint from newshounds and embrace the inverted pyramid approach when writing for the Internet. Deliver the conclusion first, followed by the most important details. Basically, the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’ are presented in the first paragraph. The end of your article, web page, or blog post is then used to give background information. When using an inverted-pyramid writing style, visitors can stop reading at any point and you’ve still impacted their lives.
January 11, 2009
With the downward spiral of the economy, an increasing number of people are looking to make a career change into a more stable field. If you’ve been employed at your current place of business for quite some time, you’ll probably have to freshen up your resume. As employers sift through the piles of resumes riddled with qualifications, skills, and educational prowess – will yours stand out for all the right reasons?
Sometimes, the difference between landing a job interview and not receiving the call you’ve been waiting for comes right down to the presentation of your resume. Don’t fall victim to the following mistakes:
A Generic Free-for-All
Are you applying to several different positions and decided to send the same generic resume out to every single company on your list? Since no two businesses are alike – you’re missing out on the power of tailoring your resume to fit the organization. Take the time to customize the skills, professional experience, and characteristics that you possess to accommodate the needs of a potential employer. Use their job description as a guide. Increase your chances of being noticed by incorporating relevant keywords found within the ad. Employers know when a resume lacks focus. If you send out generic results, you’ll receive a generic response: “Thank you for your application, but….”
It’s Not a Thesis Paper…
Plunging into the dictionary to locate the most “smart”-sounding words to describe your skills and experience isn’t the best approach to impressing a potential employer. Sometimes, hundreds of applications are beckoning the attention of interviewers. If he or she has to take a breather when scanning your qualifications– you’re probably not going to get a phone call. It’s best to replace long-winded sentences with concise bullet points. Leave “impressive” terminology to the English professors. Stick with getting straight to the point in as few words as possible.
Avoid Discrimination
Age discrimination is a sad but true reality. An employer either fears you’re too expensive to hire or doubts your ability to keep up with the latest trends and technology. Some job seekers at the senior level make it a habit to only list about 15 years worth of jobs. They may also delete the date of their college graduation to avoid age discrimination.
Watch your typos!
Careless Mistakes
It’s a shame when you’re credibility as a professional is damaged…and a potential employer hasn’t even met you yet. View a resume as your ‘voice’ until you are able to dazzle an interviewer with your charisma and sharp wit. Years of valuable experience and impressive skills are often overlooked when a resume is plagued with spelling mistakes, grammatical blunders, and poor punctuation. Keep in mind that a boss looking for someone with an attention to detail who also takes pride in his or her work will send your application to the ‘NO’ pile without a second thought if it is poorly presented.
Professional vs. Personal
Resume clutter is an instant turn-off for hiring managers, who are viewing application after application. Some people make the mistake of disclosing a little too much information regarding their personal and private life. A potential employer does not want to know your marital status, birth date, or what you like to do on the weekends. A well-organized resume should not include the link to your Facebook or MySpace page. Know when not to cross the lines of professionalism. Eliminate any personal details that have nothing to do with your ability to perform job duties.
January 1, 2009
2008 has been an amazing year. We’ve had the good fortune to meet many wonderful new clients, work on some exciting projects and so much more. We believe 2009 is going to be even more wonderful! We have some exciting projects in mind for Priceless Writers and without revealing too much – we feel that those projects are going to create a better original content company for our current clients and the clients we have yet to meet.
Here’s to collaborations yet to come and success yet to be achieved!
December 18, 2008
“We’re in a recession.”
Photo by iboy daniel
No one wants to hear those words, especially small business owners. Now that the phrase has been uttered, what can you do to make sure your business survives?
First – take heart in the fact that, even during a recession, both society and the economy depend on small businesses. The import-dependent US relies heavily on local business owners to stabilize an unsteady economy. Even more inspiring, some of the most successful companies in the nation seen their beginnings during shaky economical times.
- The last large-scale recession in the 70’s and early 80’s seen the start of FedEx, Microsoft, and CNN.
- During the Eisenhower recession of 1957 and 1958, Hyatt Hotels, IHOP, and Burger King began.
- General Electric was born in the short, but fierce, recession of 1873.
And if we look back to the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the banking industry struggled miserably but companies like Proctor & Gamble, Radio Flyer, and even Camel (the cigarette manufacturers) came out on top.
How can your business survive the recession?
Photo by Amagill
Advertise and build your brand. While a slow economy may seem like the time to cut expenses, the companies that prospered during the Great Depression were those that continued to push their brand. In the ’30’s, radio was the medium of choice. Today, businesses are taking advantage of the world wide web to spread their name.
Buy local whenever you can. Buying your materials and supplies from domestic vendors will stimulate the economy by encouraging employment and profits that, in turn, can increase your own sales and revenues.
Make quality your priority. Even if your product or service isn’t one of life’s necessities, great customer care and attention to detail can give your business the edge it needs to stay afloat during tough times. Great products from a respectable provider will always have a place in society.
Surviving an economic crunch with your small business isn’t easy – but it is possible. Even startups can prosper during a recession with a bit of work and the proper goals. Keep your brand fresh on the minds of prospective clients through effective marketing, do your part to keep the economic cycle flowing, and deliver the absolute best product or service you possibly can and your business will continue to grow – even through a recession.
