~gulp

It is often the case that the cobbler’s children have no shoes, and this holds true for my own marketing efforts, as well. Very often, managers and business owners are so busy handling the day-to-day affairs of their enterprise that they overlook their most valuable promotional tool: their Website.

If you’re in the same boat, you would be wise to show your site some love. If you don’t, your competitors could get the upperhand.

Case in point: As one might imagine, my website has been search engine optimized for the term Dallas freelance writer. And, my efforts at search engine optimization have paid off, because (at present), my site comes up #1 on Google for this keyword phrase.

But, not for long.

Although the core content is well-crafted and I’ve done some clever behind-the-scenes coding to improve the site’s SEO, unless I continue to post fresh, relevant content to my humble blog, it will gradually lose authority with the major search engines. And, when a site loses authority, it falls in the search rankings.

The same thing will happen with your website, if you do not keep the content up to date.

For this reason, many companies are choosing to add a blog to their existing website, or to build a new site on a blog engine (also known as the content management system, or CMS). Using the blog format makes it easy to add content on the fly, without having to know a lot of tricky HTML code or worry about “breaking” the design template. And, search engines like fresh content.

If you don’t want to create a blog, you can add content to your site by posting press releases (in HTML text, not a PDF) or by adding recent case studies and client testimonials. Keeping your site up-to-date needn’t be a major undertaking; even adding 300 words of text once a month will have a positive impact on how the search engines view your content.

So, take it from me, your trusty Dallas freelance writer — no matter how busy you are serving clients and managing business operations, don’t overlook your Website. It is your face to the outside world, and you should always put your best face forward. If you don’t have the time or resources in-house to create fresh content at least once a month, drop me a line at leslie [at] lesliejthompson [dot] com. I’m happy to help.

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.

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.

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.

A talented singer and musician, my spouse is an auditory thinker. He is a gifted writer and types at lightning speed, but often, he instinctually spells words based on the way they sound. The approach works well for locutions like “market” or “record”, but is less effective with a word like, well, “locution”.

I try not to tease him about his creative constructs, but he gladly kids me about my anal-retentive approach to text. (Admittedly, I have been known to gripe about typos on menus and instruction manuals with dangling participles.) So, I was both relieved and comforted when I recently discovered a group of like-minded wordsmiths at The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG, for short).

The following excerpt from the SPOGG Website captures the humor and vision of its creators, and offers a warm welcome to those with a punctilious personality like mine:

There are huge problems in this world, and then there are problems that can be solved by everyday people with red pens and a little moxie.

The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar is for pen-toters appalled by wanton displays of Bad English. (And we’re not talking about Bad English, the band, although their song “Heaven is a 4 letter word” needs a hyphen.)

SPOGG is for people who crave good, clean English — sentences cast well and punctuated correctly. It’s about clarity. And who knows how many of the world’s huge problems could be solved if we had a little more of that?

Ah, at last a refuge from this crazy, mixed-up world of text messages and linguistic short-hand! A safe haven from the jargon of Fortune 500 companies and verbosity of new media ventures! A place where people appreciate crisp, uncluttered writing, and members are lauded for their use of proper punctuation. I can find solace in the blog posts, and vicariously vent my frustration at the lack of good grammar usage in modern society.

Plus, they have really cute T-shirts.

When you are interviewing consultants for a freelance writing opportunity, the more preparation you do prior to the meeting, the better the final outcome will be. Why? Because you can set clear expectations, minimize misunderstandings, and help ensure that the project will be delivered on time and on budget.

When I arrived at my meeting this afternoon, the client was prepared with a binder of background materials related to the project. She was able to show me existing marketing collateral, the template for the company’s new website, and a list of major competitors. She was also able to answer all of my questions about how the project would take shape without missing a beat.

If you are thinking of working with a freelance writer, here are some questions you should be prepared to address during that initial meeting:

• Who is the point person? Will the writer be sending copy to you for review, or to someone else involved with the project?
• Who are the key decision makers? Does just one person need to sign off on the project? Or, does the copy need to go through a committee or get approval from the Compliance department?
• What are the sources of background information? Will you be supplying those (e.g., providing existing marketing collateral or scheduling interviews with subject matter experts)? Or, is the consultant responsible for conducting any research needed for the project?
• What is the deadline for delivery? You may need to work backwards from your launch date (e.g., when you want the printed brochures in hand or the Website to go live) to build in time for production, legal approval, revisions after the initial review, etc.
• What is your budget? Would you prefer hourly billing (perhaps with a cap) or a flat project fee? Can you authorize the expense, or do you need approval from someone in your firm?

The more prepared you are when you interview a freelance writer, the more smoothly the project will run. Everybody will be on the same page regarding the deliverables, and in the end, you will look like a star for finding the right person to get the job done. 

You see, my husband Craig is the singer for the Dallas party band “Big-T and the Bada-Bings.” We met when the band released its debut CD, Born to be Wild, and he sent a reviewer’s copy to ATOMIC Magazine (of which I was editor-in-chief at the time). Actually, he didn’t just send one CD, he sent two — one was autographed to yours truly. Then, he stalked me. 

But, that’s a story for another time.

Back to the matter at hand. Craig is not only an amazingly gifted big band singer, but also a talented IT expert. So, for the past few weeks, we set about search engine optimizing his Website by changing the text on several pages. And, that brings me to today’s tip…

Focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) can help drive traffic to your website by improving your site’s ranking in the major search engines, such as Google and Yahoo! In our case, we targeted key phrases, like Dallas big band and Dallas party band, so the website will come up higher when people search for those terms. (Go ahead, try it. I dare you.)

In addition, you can improve your rankings in the search engines by focusing on a particular niche when chosing which key words or phrases to include. For example, if you target “accounting firm”, your site will be competing with 100,000+ others for the same term. Consequently, you might come up as listing number 11,486 in Google. But, if you narrow your SEO term to “Miami accounting firm”, you can rank significantly higher — even landing in the top 10.

Of course, you don’t want search engine optimized text to stick out like a sore thumb. You need to weave key phrases into the rest of the body copy so everything flows smoothly. And, the copy still has to motivate visitors to explore the other pages of your website, especially if you’re promoting a product or service and want to increase sales.

A writer who is experienced with SEO will be able to offer guidance on improving your site’s visibility in the major search engines. Targeting specific key words and phrases is not the only way to improve your rankings — you also want to look at things like headlines and metatags. But, when used right, SEO text can have a positive impact on the popularity of your web page.

And, just like with my first diary, I don’t have much to say right now. But, stay tuned! Exciting adventures and ponderous musings soon to come….