Takes courage to share your voice, but the reward is worth it.

I’ve talked to many groups, clients, friends, family members and even some random strangers (it’s my husband’s fault, he’s just like that) about blogging and content generation over the past year. Many of those hearing my words looked at me like I had recently grown a second head. For all those out there who are struggling with the question, “Why do I (or does my business) need a blog?” or “Why do I need to update the content on my website more often than once every year or two?” here are some things to ponder:

Search engines are hungry creatures. They are always seeking new content to digest. And like any animal, the people they like best are the ones who regularly provide food. Feed the beast, and it will be your friend. Continuing with the analogy, make sure it’s good stuff you feed the beast… no one likes to receive rubber chicken when they were promised chicken cordon bleu.

If it takes three impressions at a minimum for someone to internalize a message and seven touches before they’ll take action (conventional marketing wisdom), why do you only want people to stop by your website once every 18 months? If they know fresh content is a mainstay on your digital hub (whether that’s your Facebook Fan/Like page, your website & blog, your Twitter stream, or ideally all of the above) they’ll return more frequently to check out what you’ve got.

Most of my clients tell me they want to be known as the expert in their niche or market. A blog is a great way to build that rep. Talk about what you know… about what you wish people knew about your field, about products, services, ideas or challenges in your field. Help educate your marketplace. If the challenge is no one knows they are making bad decisions, then HELP THEM know better.

Recognize that you’re in it for the long haul, and it costs way less to work with someone to help you develop a blog editorial calender, maybe edit or polish your posts and help you generate content ideas than your average yearly yellow pages ad buy.

Lots of resources are out there on blogging well. Here are a couple to get you started:

Mack Collier’s The Viral Garden

Copyblogger‘s site

Liz Strauss’s blog

And, if you’re on Twitter, follow and participate in #blogchat every Sunday night, 8PM central to 9PM central, to share, learn and connect with bloggers of all stripes, topics and backgrounds.

And that’s a very good thing. Unfortunately, it means that I haven’t had much time this week to write. I have a post titled, “What I’m Doing Differently and Why,” half-written and definitely not ready to share. One of the things it talks about is making sure the activities that build my business and build community don’t take a backseat to the “urgent” things that often take over chunks of time on any given day. As you can see, that’s one I’m continuing to work on… !

In the meantime, I am going to share this post with you: Crisis Communication: When You Can’t Escape. It’s one bit of public writing I did get accomplished this week, and I hope you’ll take a moment, read it, and let me know what you think. It’s not only for PR people… if you’re in business for yourself or working for a company in any kind of public-facing role, it’s applicable.

Oh… if you have ideas, tips, or commiseration you want to share on the whole, “What I’m Doing Differently and Why” post idea, please tell me. I’m hoping we can all help each other do better.

Happy Friday!

Go for WHY: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/318947873/

List posts have their place, and I know they are good for traffic. I’ve written them, too. But our super-connected world and the constant flow of information seems to be driving us to oversimplify complex subjects and interactions. By creating lists. Lots of lists. In some cases, lists of lists.
I’m not against all lists… I believe in a to-do list, a grocery list and have tweeted & retweeted helpful design tip, font and how-to lists. But not all things can (or should) be reduced to a bulleted list.

If it’s a complex subject, treat it with the depth it deserves. A marketing communications plan, encompassing goals, objectives, strategies, tactics and metrics should be more than a list of items. A public relations plan should be more than a list of ideas or publications and an editorial calendar. When we start to work with a new client we ask a lot of questions about their business… not just about what they sell and who they sell it to, but about things like:

Where does your money come from? Revenue? Profit streams and margins?

What is the recent history of the market segment you inhabit? Near future changes or evolutions you expect? Long-term future or potential?

Adjacent markets? Competitive markets?

What factors in the market and within your company’s revenue map do you control or influence?

We augment with our own research and then we tackle goals and objectives, clearly grounded in the business case for what we’re doing. The marketing communications plan addresses how the goals and objectives fit the larger picture of the business and where it wants or needs to go. When you start with a good WHY, all the WHATs and HOWs become much easier to define and later on to sell to the people who have to sign the checks to see them implemented.

Humans are hardwired to communicate. My infant daughter cannot yet utter an intelligible syllable, yet she communicates quite effectively what she needs, wants and desires.

Babies are masters of non-verbal communication

Writing with purpose

While talking with a friend and colleague today, discussing blog posts, I had an epiphany… writing blog posts isn’t the hard part. Knowing what to write about, in a general sense, isn’t hard. Writing for a specific audience is the hard part. Thinking in depth about who you’re writing for ~ really ~ is the key to good writing in any medium, anyway, so this isn’t an Earth-shattering revelation.
Everyone who writes “gets this.” Know your audience… yeah, yeah… whatever.
But I challenge you to go beyond “writing for people interested in marketing” (for instance)… are they neophytes? Experienced but still enthusiastic? Jaded? Bored with the field and seeking new inspiration? A post that would appeal to a neophyte marketer and one that would appeal to the jaded among us are likely very different posts even though both would be written for people interested in marketing.
If you’re blogging for more than the joy of self-expression, get that intimate with your goal and objectives, too. Think about (heavens, write down!) how reaching your more clearly-defined audience will help you achieve them. Be prepared to prune posts and post ideas so they serve the needs of your intended audience and further your objectives.

So… who are you writing for, and to what end? And, for fun and to see how well I’m targeting my writing, who do you think I’m writing for?

I dropped my oldest child, now a freshman, off at school to attend his first high school dance tonight. I’d already cautioned him about appropriate behaviour, being where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there, etc., etc., when I realized I was delivering the same admonitions my own parents slung at me before my first “real” dance way back when. I took a deep breath, looked him squarely in the eyes, and told him I knew that he knew what I expected from him, and I knew he’d come through. And to have a good time.

Now, I’m not a new-age parent, or parent-as-friend practitioner, either. We walk on the stricter side of life when it comes to expectations and consequences. I know that my son understands what my expectations are because I’ve clearly communicated them to him over the course of many, many interactions. I also know he understands the consequences if he violates my trust in him because he’s experienced those many times as well.

Clear communication is the foundation for successful interactions, be they in business, among friends and co-workers, or between parents and children. Do you…

1. Clearly communicate what you want to have happen in a given situation? Be home by 9:30. Call us to set up a free appointment to evaluate your current materials. Order online.
2. Clearly explain any options or choices? Think of menus in restaurants, options on cars, travel packages… so many things could be improved through clear communication of any choices the buyer may have. My kid can either have me drop him off and pick him up, or one of the parents I know and trust among a select group of his friends. Those are the options.
3. Set expectations for timeframes and urgency? If the deal expires at MIDNIGHT, let me know! If your grass seed only performs optimally when planted in March, tell me. If coming home 2 minutes past 9:30 is still considered late, better let the kid know.
4. Revisit the important points as needed? Did your kids eat their vegetables after only telling them to do so one time? Mine didn’t either. Sometimes you need to repeat yourself in your copy, in your verbal presentation or in your parenting.
5. Deliver the promised results? If he’s late, he’s grounded. When we say it will ship today, it will ship today. It really is a free, no strings attached evaluation of your current marketing material.

If you clearly set expectations with your customers (or your kids), including noting the choices or options available, sharing any relevant urgency, reminding them of the important parts and delivering what you promised, your interactions will be much more fruitful.

Have any additional basic communication rules? Please share them in the comments.

from photogirl7 on Flikr

I’m preparing to speak to the Social Media Mastermind (Tulsa… @smmtulsa on Twitter) group tomorrow. It’s not going to be a large crowd nor a long speech or involved presentation. It’s material I’m comfortable with (see earlier post on Making Social Media Matter For Business). And yet I’m still a little nervous about tomorrow.
Why the butterflies? I speak often to groups and long ago worked past my formerly-paralyzing fear of public speaking… it’s not that. I am not out of my depth (I don’t think, anyway) or presenting on short notice… it’s not those things, either. After some reflection, I think the wee bits of panic have surfaced because I really admire the people I’ll be speaking to. I learn much from them every time we meet and I hope the content I share will be as valuable to them.
A few butterflies before a presentation is a good thing… it’s been said that familiarity breeds contempt but I think it’s complacency that breeds contempt for your audience. If you approach every speaking, writing, sharing opportunity with a healthy respect for your audience (perhaps they DO know as much as you do about some things!) you will prepare more thoroughly, speak or write more thoughtfully and succeed in what really matters… sharing quality content and creating connections. Real respect for your audience means you’ll be motivated to give them your best. And what better way to build your business or brand than by showcasing your best in front of an interested audience?
Though I think the butterflies are healthy… what do YOU do to quell them?

It’s Sunday, but my weekend is suffering from a case of project convergence. It’s what happens when all your project planning goes awry (sometimes through no fault of your own) and multiple project deadlines converge. I work well under pressure; in fact, some of my very best work & ideas happen under the threat of imminent deadline. However, I can still only get through X amount of work in Y time. When a serious case of convergence happens, it can be paralyzing… Where to start? I can’t get it all done in time!! The planning for failure starts: who to e-mail or voicemail asking for an extension? Are there any shortcuts out there? And so begins the “research” into working & planning to work instead of actually working. Rather than spend time planning how to come up short & disappoint, I’ve learned that
my only way forward is to quickly prioritze based on what I think I can accomplish and start tackling that list.
Usually, I complete far more work than my panicked, convergence-resisting self thought possible.
Don’t paralyze yourself with a complete project list of all the things you can’t accomplish (in the time you have, anyway). Just start… Creativity has a momentum all its own and you’ll likely amaze yourself.