Freelance Writer – Leslie J. Thompson

Recently, I have been helping several clients beef up their Websites. I find that many business owners are simply baffled about how to keep their online marketing current in the Web 2.0 world. Although they may have a Website, it is either sorely outdated or generally neglected, often because clients don’t have the resources in-house to figure out what the heck to do with it.

In truth, the sudden influx of Web-based projects came as a surprise. After all, in today’s media-saturated, socially-networked marketplace, I figured everybody already has a robust Web presence. But, that’s simply not the case. From doctors to lawyers to event planners, thousands of professionals still need help capturing the attention of prospective clients surfing the Net.

As the maxim goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. To this end, your Website needs to shine – or at the very least, not offend. And few things are more offensive than a site that is outdated, whether in design, functionality or content. Although you don’t need to implement an annual overhaul of your entire site, you should avoid letting it go stale if you hope to keep visitors engaged.

Here, then, are three quick tips to renovate your Web presence and beef up your online marketing efforts:

1)    Add a blog – If you don’t already have one, you need one. You can create a new section for the blog within your existing site, or set it up as a separate site – at zero cost – through a service like Blogger.com or Typepad.com. (Be sure to include a link back to your primary domain.) The power of a blog is that it lets you generate fresh content and speak plainly with customers. By adding frequent posts on new developments in your industry and other topics of interest to anyone visiting your site, you demonstrate that you are an authority in your field, and that you understand the needs of your readers. Likewise, by allowing Comments  in your blog, you can establish a dialog with your clients (and let them provide part of your content).

2)    Go minimalist – As little as five years ago, features like a Flash landing page were all the rage. But, these days, making them hit “Skip Intro” is a sure way to irritate visitors to your site. People want instant access to relevant information, not lots of fancy graphics (unless, perhaps, you are a graphic artist). What’s more, Flash puts a serious dent in your search engine optimization. If your site uses Flash, consider redesigning your landing page to take visitors straight to the main site navigation and summary content about how your business or practice can improve their life. (And remember, when it comes to text, less is more.)

3)    Add video – Recently, a colleague shared with me that 25 percent of all search engine results are now links to online video. (That’s results, not searches.) As sites like Hulu and YouTube continue their exponential growth, Web-based video is becoming perhaps the most powerful tool for capturing your customer’s attention. Whether you are a shoe wholesaler or a mortgage broker, video lets you engage viewers and lay the foundation for your relationship before you ever meet. For example, I recently did a project for a Dallas video production company to create a series of videos for a bariatric surgeon in Fort Worth. Even if you aren’t considering weight loss surgery, this case study demonstrates how effective adding even a short video segment to your homepage can be.

You can implement any of these strategies quickly and at minimal cost. All of them will make a positive impact on your search engine rankings and help improve the user experience for Web surfers who come to your site.

For a free evaluation of your site’s content, functionality and search engine optimization, please contact me at leslie [at] lesliejthompson [dot] com, or by phone at 214-704-6661.

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There are times when you need to write something yourself, and it’s just not clicking. You’re looking at the blank page on the screen and…nothing. Nada. White noise.

Writer’s block can strike at any time, whether you need to draft a simple letter or a more complex report or proposal. It’s that uncomfortable feeling of having nothing to say. You know in broad, vague terms what you want to communicate, but the words just aren’t coming together in a cohesive fashion, and you’re getting frustrated. Frustration leads to procrastination, and procrastination leads to Starbucks®. Now, you’re frustrated and hopped up on caffeine, which only aggravates the situation.

The secret to overcoming writer’s block—or procrastination, in general—is to get busy. Take action. Do something, anything, and use that momentum to keep moving forward. Eventually, you will build up steam and reach that blissful state of flow, where everything just seems to come together naturally. Here, then, are five quick tips to help you get the ball rolling:

1. Remove all distractions. The little pop-up on your screen that indicates you have mail? Turn it off. Put your cell phone on silent, and close your office door. Minimize the possibility that something will pull your attention away from the task at hand, and you’re more likely to finish quickly.
2. Brainstorm. You already have a general idea of what you want to say, so start scribbling thoughts down on a piece of paper. You can jot individual words or bullet-point a few phrases. Don’t censor yourself or worry about grammar and spelling—write whatever comes to mind. The goal is to spray a little mental WD-40 in your head to loosen up the gears.
3. Start typing. Take the ideas you noted on your scratch pad and begin to flesh them out on the screen. Again, we’re not looking for perfection, just “fuller” thoughts—sentences, or even a couple of paragraphs—that express what you want to communicate. If you are writing a white paper, you might simply list some of the facts that relate to the topic. If your project is creative, like a short story, don’t worry about structure so much as concepts. We’re not looking for a well-rounded plot at this point, just bits of dialogue, exposition or descriptions.
4. Speak up. Many writers find it helpful to speak out loud the thoughts they are trying to communicate and then capture them in writing. Pick up a micro-cassette recorder, or one of those nifty MP3 recorders, and rattle off your thoughts verbally. Then, transcribe your recording and start to organize the content in your document. Go light on the editing—we’re still just spreading puzzle pieces out on the table.
5. Pull it together. At this point, things should start humming along. You have a notepad full of ideas and some rough material on the computer screen. Plenty of clay to work with. Take your time, and start molding the material into the shape you want, moving pieces around, filling out certain parts and paring back others, until you have a completed rough draft. Depending on your project, this could take minutes or hours. Stick with it until the end. If you stop, it will be hard to regain momentum, and you may have to backtrack a few steps. But, if you can knock out a thorough draft, you can enjoy the immense satisfaction that comes from conquering writer’s block and realizing your goal.

Throughout this whole process, remember that the feeling of being blocked is just that—a feeling. We have the ability to change our feelings and our attitudes simply by changing our mindset. Sometimes, you will need to take action first, and your feelings will catch up with you. But, with the willingness to take that first small step, you can finish your project quickly—at which point that mocha Frappuccino® is well-deserved.

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Recently, I received an inquiry from a company in Dallas about writing a marketing brochure to illustrate how the firm’s services can benefit Human Resources professionals. I called the company president to discuss the project, and he in turn offered to email me PDFs of the firm’s existing marketing collateral as background material.

I read through the sell sheets with despair. The writing was riddled with grammatical errors, and the formatting was woefully inconsistent. These types of mistakes are bad no matter what business you’re in, but this company was promoting its expertise in the area of regulatory compliance, where attention to detail is essential. Were I a prospective client, I would have had a pretty poor impression of the vendor.

Such is the risk of writing your own marketing materials. Sure, you could find someone in-house to take ownership of the project, but that doesn’t mean they’re qualified to do the job well.

As a freelance consultant, I was in a predicament. Should I tell the client about the typos and bad grammar in the firm’s collateral, or just provide the proposal he had requested? If I didn’t raise a flag and then didn’t get the assignment, the client would never know that his sell sheets, well…suck. But, if I brought it to his attention, I ran the risk of offending the company president–essentially shooting myself in the foot. For all I knew, he wrote the brochures himself. At the very least, he had read them.

I decided to send the proposal first and, once it was accepted, I would offer to copyedit the text in the firm’s existing marketing materials to ensure consistency. I have learned that unsolicited advice generally comes off as criticism. My goal is to first build a relationship with the client, not build a wall between us.

But, my point is that if you want to save money by creating your collateral in-house, you would be wise to at least hire a proofreader to bring the text up to par. The finished product may not be as spiffy as if you had engaged a freelance writer, but at least you will save yourself the embarrassment of airing your grammatical dirty laundry for your prospects to see.

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

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