Is Your Blog a Substitute for a Newsletter?

I get asked quite a lot whether clients should be blogging or sending an e-newsletter.

I guess the answer is, it depends (I love that answer!). Personally I'm using my blog as a substitute for a newsletter, and when I finish getting my website rebuilt (a whole different story), I plan to use an email sign-up box just as you would with an e-newsletter.

But, there can be a place for doing both, because the expectations from each medium are slightly different.

For the most part I would suggest that your blog is a more informal, conversational piece. Lot's of people are successfully monetizing their blogs, but for the most part, I think we're seeing it primarily as a tool with which to build relationships. This is a great place to build community and establish yourself as the friendly, helpful, neighbourhood expert in your field.

A newsletter, because it has the potential for different articles, is a little more corporate, more product-oriented and more of a sales piece. Having said that - always make sure that at least 80% of your newsletter is solid informational content. If it's just a sales vehicle, you'll start getting a whole bunch of opt-outs.

So, that's the either/or option, but if it fits your marketing plan, it's also worth considering both, partly because then you can segment both your message and your audience.

That's all for now. If, like me, you're in Calgary right now - enjoy the snow!

What's Your Personal Brand?

It seems wherever I look just recently, I'm finding myself reading about personal branding. What's up with that?

Actually, it makes a lot of sense that when you're engaging in social media, your business brand is going to become inextricably linked with who you are away from the office. Your facebook profile is attached to your business page, and your tweets can be followed by both business and personal contacts alike.

And, of course, potential business contacts can search for you and find you on all your social media sites.

So, it's important, then, to be aware of the persona you're presenting, even when communicating with friends and family in social media. Just bear in mind that when you're sharing a joke or memories with good friends, that could be seen by your next best client. Is it something you want out there?

Of course, that's where your privacy settings come in, too. They can't completely separate your business from personal, but use the settings mindfully - and that goes further than just controlling what 'non-friends' can see. On your facebook profile, for instance, you can put all your business contacts together in a business group, and then you can control some of the things members of that group see. When you share links, videos or information you can choose to share it with just your business contacts - or not with that group at all. It's not foolproof, but it helps.

I'm still trying to come to terms with this merging of business and personal, but until it becomes possible to truly separate the two, it certainly makes sense to be aware and to use a little discretion.

How To Develop a Social Media Strategy

You've heard about the cobblers children, right? They have a father who makes shoes and they walk around barefoot. Well, that's the story I tell myself when I start to feel guilty about how informal my own marketing efforts can be. I like to think the copy is awesome, but the strategy behind my activities rather belies my strategic background!

In an effort to remedy that, I'm doing a business plan class through SIFE at Mount Royal University - it's been wonderful in making me gather my vague ideas into a formal marketing plan. As part of that, I'm also writing a social media strategy, and it's an interesting exercise.

So here's my ten pen'orth (oops that's a bit of ye olde english slipping out! I guess I should say 'my take') on how to plan your social media strategy:

1) Your objectives. What are your broad business objectives, and what are your overall objectives for social media. Without defining what you hope to achieve it will be hard to plan specific activities that will support your business goals.

2) Your audience. You need to start with a very clear idea of who you want to attract to your social media activities. If you're in any kind of commercial enterprise you need to attract people who will benefit from your excellent content; but only up to the point where they decide they need your product or service.

3) Objectives and strategy for each social media platform. What you hope to achieve through twitter will probably be very different from what you hope to achieve through Facebook or your blog. By pinning down how each platform is likely to serve you, it becomes easier and more effective to define a plan of action for them.

So, while I may not have covered the entire field of social media strategy, I hope that's a good (very brief) overview, and at least something to get you thinking about what you're up to.

Have a great week!

Customer Service as a Social Media Marketing Tool

Do you remember the days when they used to say "please a customer and they'll tell two people; annoy a customer and they'll tell 20"?

Nowadays, it's more like 20,000 or more. That brings a whole new perspective to the importance of customer service!

It would be great if we could say that every business should be able to operate without ever ticking off a customer, but I really don't think that's the reality (except for you and me, of course). But, one of the great things about social media is it gives you the chance to hear what people are saying about you and react.

And your reaction is the key. Here's my handy five-point plan for reacting to customer complaints:

1) Be vigilant, so you find the complaints in the first place
2) Respond immediately
3) Acknowledge that there is a problem, rather than reacting defensively
4) Don't just promise to 'look into it'. Take real, concrete action
5) Go above and beyond in making amends

Because when you deal with a dissatisfied customer quickly and by treating them exceptionally well, chances are they will become a very vocal advocate for you.

I hope this won't happen often to you, but when it does, it's nice to be able to turn it around.

The Internet Marketing Audience

Not sure if anyone is reading your blog/newsletter/assorted ramblings?

It can be really hard to motivate yourself to write to a largely unresponsive audience - and I suspect that's one of the major reasons people fall behind. But the thing about that is that your words of wisdom might not be falling on deaf ears after all.

Some time ago (two years or more, I think) I had a monthly e-newsletter called Marketing Tips. I ran it for quite a while, but for multiple reasons I eventually let it die a death.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I met, for the first time, a wonderful lady called Lynne. She remarked that she had often wondered where Marketing Tips went, because she used to look forward to it.

Apart from being nice to hear, that made me think about how easy it is to be unaware of your silent audience. Facebook fans who never respond; blog followers who don't comment; Twitterers (Twits? Tweeties?) who steadfastly remain silent. Let's face it most of us don't reply to other people's posts, so while we should aim to build an active community, we should not despair if the activity is sluggish.

If you got this far - any comment?

Masterminding and Brainstorming for Business Success

If you know me, you'll know I'm a big fan of networking. Making contacts, learning about business and, yes, seeing real people ... priceless.

Also, one of the best things to come out of my networking has been the chance to participate in mastermind and brainstorming groups.

And that is the subject of this week's blog. You see, particularly as a solopreneur it can be easy to get insular. How great to have a mastermind group where you can brainstorm ideas to your problems and help with other people's. In fact, the discussions around others' business challenges can be as educational and enlightening as the solutions offered for your own.

So, whatever size your business, consider adding masterminding to your mix of activities. It doesn't even have to be a formal group - you can arrange for a weekly phone call or conference call just to check in and share ideas.

Who do you know, with skills and talents that complement your own? Some of them might be a great masterminding partner.

How to Manage Your Facebook Connections

Halt! Who goes there - friend or fan?

Because your personal facebook profile and your business fanpage are inextricably linked, that can really cause some confusion about how to manage and separate your contacts.

Finding the best way to keep the personal friends on my profile page separate from my business friends and colleagues has been something of a struggle, and I admit I do keep changing my mind.

At first I thought it seemed logical to steer business connections away from my profile page, and invite them to 'like' my fanpage. But then I realized that if a business contact makes my fanpage a 'favourite page' through their own fanpage, they're not going to get any of my status updates. Not a very good way of keeping in touch.

I really don't think there's a simple answer, and I know the inability to separate personal and business is a sore spot for many people.

Here's the best solution I have come up with: I created a 'business' list within my friends by going to 'Edit Friends' and clicking on the option 'Create a List'. Now I can accept friend invitations from business contacts (and extend them), and share Words By Wendy posts with them. At the same time, by customizing my privacy settings, I can ensure that they aren't able to see pictures and posts from my personal friends.

Then it's simple enough to invite them to 'like' my business page.

If anyone has any suggestions to add to this, I would love to hear them!

Best wishes to all my 'business friends'.

Self-Education as a Marketing Tool

One of the greatest challenges for me, as a solopreneur, is staying on top of trends and constantly trying to improve my knowledge and skills.

Even if you work in a large company, learning still has to be a conscious decision, but many of us operate alone from a single-person office; and we all know how insular that can become if we don't get outside once in a while!

Obviously education can go way beyond 'no-budget', but there are a huge number of free webinars and tele-seminars out there, and of course the public library is immensely helpful.

I actually learned about the social media marketing course I'm taking from a free webinar. It ended up costing me money when I decided to register for the program, but I'm sure it will be worth it in terms of long-term investment.

The reason I'm really mentioning this now is because I just signed up for two days of free online seminars through International Freelancers Day.

There are talks from lots of incredibly successful business people, and I'm really excited about how much great information should be available.

I hope that's helpful - let's all keep learning!

Writing to Build Relationships

One of the things I'm really finding as I explore the world of social media, is that the tone of your writing will inevitably become the tone of your relationships.

It's probably not so obvious in shorter posts like tweets, but when you're blogging or writing longer facebook entries, for instance, it's important to use the chatty tone that you would use in a face-to-face conversation. That's how you create a conversation where your reader feels like a trusted, respected friend. It's actually a great way to create some rapport and is more likely to result in an audience that is interested and engaged.

As a copywriter that's a very familiar concept to me, because that conversational tone is one of the keys to successful marketing content. In fact, when writing sales copy, I try to find out how the best salesman would speak to his prospects and replicate that tone of voice. If the audience is made up of engineers or techs the tone might be full of technical terms and jargon, but for the most part it will be chatty and informal.

I also had a conversation with a colleague today about dumbing down your copy. She was worried that her prospects would be insulted if she wrote in a tone beneath their level of comprehension. It's actually quite possible to write simple, readable copy without being patronizing, and it makes good sense to use language that can be understood by the least literate members of your potential audience (I guess what I should have said there was 'it makes good sense to write in a way that anyone can understand'!)

So, if you take anything away from this, just remember to write as if you are having a face-to-face conversation, and you won't go far wrong.

Content Strategy for Social Media Marketing

If you're going to make social media part of your marketing mix, it's vital to develop a content strategy, just as you would with your print or web marketing.

In creating that strategy the most important question you need to ask is "what will provide the most value for my target audience?" Because, just like the readers of your print materials and your website, your audience is distractible and unforgiving. Keep them engaged and provide value, or they will zone out, or opt out.

So, what does that content strategy look like? A simple way to start is by developing a formula for the type of posts or articles that will provide the greatest value for your audience. Quick Tips, How To, Top Ten Mistakes - all great starting points to at least get you thinking about what information people may benefit from.

The post ideas can then of course be adapted to become longer blog articles or short, helpful snippets for twitter or facebook. No need to reinvent the wheel every time you post.

The more I get into this social media, though, the more I realize that there is such a thing as too much information. Just as with email marketing, I believe that daily posts are probably too much for an overwhelmed audience. So, consider, before you post anything, whether it really has a value.

I'm finding this strategy fairly simple to implement for Words By Wendy, as I explore this world of social media. Larchwood, who sells trees both to consumers and the landscaping trades, will have updated inventory lists to post on the Notes section of facebook. But for Greentree it is hard to see how building a social media community can work for a company that really has little potential for repeat business. Still working on that one!

So, remember to think value when planning your next posts.

How to Choose an Email Marketing Service Provider

Building a following for our social media efforts is obviously an integral part of our challenge in this project, and a great starting point has been email marketing.

So, my first task has been to evaluate the email marketing service providers and select one that would serve the needs of all three companies - Words By Wendy, Greentree Landscapes and Larchwood Nurseries.

The first thing I did was look for reviews and I found a very comprehensive comparison at Top Ten Reviews. There are several reviews out there, but I found this one helpful because it rated them all on five different criteria, gave pricing details and a full review.

Based on the reviews I tested three services that offer a free trial: Vertical Response, Campaigner and Benchmark.

Here's what I found out...

Benchmark is reasonably priced, but when I uploaded the list it had to be approved before it could be used. I suppose that's quite admirable, but they only approve Monday to Friday, which is not terribly convenient if you sign up over the weekend and want to get a campaign out. In fairness, though, I signed up on a Friday afternoon and had approval by Saturday morning.

Unfortunately I wasn't really excited about any of Benchmark's templates (which is, of course, purely subjective), and it took about 30 seconds for me to learn to hate their editing tool. Now, I am a self-confessed technophobe, and they were given full marks in the review for their ease of use and campaign creation tool. Nonetheless, I didn't get on with it.

Campaigner really has been quite impressive. I started to sign up and clicked off because I didn't want to give a credit card for a free trial. The next day I got an email asking me if there was a problem and offering me a free trial without a credit card.

Again I didn't find a template I really liked, but I created a campaign just to see how easy it was. It was really simple, even for me! Then, because I didn't send out the campaign, I got a phone call and an email the next day from my own personal email marketing coach, offering a one-on-one walk-through. Now that is good service!

I chose Vertical Response partly because I found templates that I liked for Words By Wendy and Larchwood, and also because they offer a pay-as-you-go option which is great if you have a small list that you're emailing infrequently. Because I plan to use the blog as my 'newsletter', that is a great option for Words By Wendy.

I used the service to email my business contacts with an invitation to check out the blog and join me on Facebook and LinkedIn. Whenever I had problems creating it I was able to access an online chat support which was very helpful - and convenient because it was immediate.

The only problem I had with Vertical Response was that the text version they automatically created for me looked like a dog's dinner! I was able to go through and tidy it up a little, but it still looked pretty bad. I'm not sure how many people these days aren't receiving HTML emails, but I just had to hope it wasn't many.

Next I will use either Campaigner or Vertical Response to simplify Larchwood's email marketing, which has been less frequent than it should be because the software we were using made it very complicated and time-consuming.

Finally, I should mention that I didn't test Constant Contact, but I have used them in the past and would totally recommend them for ease of use and service.

So, if you're looking for an email marketing service, I hope that's helpful.

Writing Keyword Optimized Content for Social Media

Did you know that keywords are just as vital for your social media content as they are in your website?

Yes, when you're blogging, tweeting or adding Facebook updates, some strategic use of your keywords will help your audience find you and help improve your search engine rankings.

So, for instance, as a direct response copywriter I would want to try and use phrases such as web writer, online marketing and direct marketing if I want to attract people who are interested in a marketing copywriter (okay, that was rather blatant, and a little over the top!).

As you probably know, your keywords are the words or phrases that your best prospects use when searching for your product or service on the search engines. For some help finding the best keywords for your business you can find several free keyword selection tools available online.

If you're creating a longer piece such as a blog or article, try to make sure your keywords are found in the title, and also in the first 60-80 words of the article. Those are the words that will show up in the description on the search page.

And a word of warning - avoid the temptation to use your keywords too heavily. If you use them more than once or twice in 100 words it can actually make a negative impression on the search engines, which is obviously counterproductive.

So, next time you're updating any of your social media sites, make sure you give some conscious thought to your keywords.

Learning More About Social Media Marketing

I have a confession to make - I'm not learning fast enough, and I think it's time to take the bull by the horns! So I have enrolled in the Social Marketing Specialist Certification program through VA Classroom.
My first course is on fantastic Facebook fanpages, and what I have learned so far is that I set my page up wrong! I am considering removing the existing page and creating a new one. So if you get an invitation to become a fan of my facebook page, even though you already are one, that is why.
Stay tuned for more tips as I learn more about facebook marketing.

Summer is almost over, and I've been away from the computer (and wi-fi!) for a while. Now that I am back, the next challenge is to increase the followings on facebook and the blog.

I'm thinking that participating in discussions and posting comments to related blogs probably has potential. Now it just remains to find the best discussions and blogs to join...

My main concern with diving headlong into the world of social media, has been the need to find something valuable to post - regularly. And, of course, by that, I mean valuable to my readers, not to me!

My main vehicles for Words By Wendy right now are this blog, Facebook and Linked In.

The blog is self-explanatory, as this is where I will post all the lessons I'm learning, but I think I really need to differentiate the Facebook and Linked In pages - give them each a distinct flavour and purpose.

In the balance I have decided to keep the Facebook page as more personal; this is where I'll talk about what I'm doing with the business, what I'm working on and so on.

The Linked In page will be a place where I provide short tips, advice and suggestions.

Plus, of course, both will have links to this updated blog.

In terms of frequency - I really do believe that posting too often can be as hazardous as posting infrequently. I've settled on weekly, unless I have something time-sensitive to say (such as blog updates)

Oh, and by the way, the Greentree Landscapes facebook page is now up and running, although it doesn't yet have much on it. Please make sure check it out.

My third subject is Larchwood Nurseries, a tree growing operation based in Camrose, Alberta.

Larchwood has, until now, been supplying trees in relatively small numbers to the Calgary landscaping community and some homeowners. As the farm has increased in size, Larchwood now has an inventory which requires more aggressive marketing.

Larchwood has no website, which will undoubtedly have to be addressed, but for the moment the trees are being promoted to personal contacts in the industry and via regular emailings to target landscapers.

Facebook will be an important tool for Larchwood as Tarance lives and works in Calgary, but grows the trees up near Camrose. When he is up on the tree farm he hopes to take advantage of sales opportunities there, and Facebook will be a great way to provide that information. In support of that, postcards are delivered to new homes and builders in Camrose, promoting the Facebook page.

So, although there will inevitably be some hard costs, such as for the postcards, social media should be able to provide a solid platform for providing information on availability.

Greentree Landscapes, my second test subject, has been in business since 1992. They specialize in upscale, residential landscape design and construction.

Owner, Tarance, is a landscape architectural technologist (designer), and has kept the company staffing tight so that he can maintain control of their very high construction standards.

Greentree used to do the Home and Garden Show every Spring, but for the past five or six years have been getting as much work as they can deal with, primarily from referrals and word of mouth. They also have a very effective flyer (written by me!) which they hand deliver to highly targeted residences and which gets them a steady supply of very well qualified leads.

Greentree has an old, and not very user-friendly website, www.greentreelandscapes.com which is really going to have to be completely redesigned before we can get close to 'no-budget'.

I also think it would be madness to abandon the leaflets (although that cost is fairly low as they don't blanket-deliver, they may only hand out a couple of hundred a year to get the leads they need).

Greentree's main challenge right now is keeping the momentum going at a time when landscaping has become a luxury that most people are cutting back on. Budgets are smaller, and many potential clients are shopping around for the cheapest contractor, who is not always the most qualified or professional.

We are having to work harder than usual to generate the kind of leads who are willing to pay for Greentree's creativity, experience and technical expertise.

Online marketing will be very much used to support Tarance's personal approach to sales and customer service.

Before I introduce you to Greentree Landscapes, I want to share an insight which is going to keep me sane, and which might help you in your business, too.

At an E-Women networking meeting this evening, Tamara Pulles from Inspired Coaching Design talked about breaking your goals into turtle steps, and that's exactly what I've been trying to do here.

Although I can write all the content we need for websites, articles, blogs and so on, I'm totally intimidated by the business of integrating media and tools, creating links, implementing auto-responders and all those other technicalities which are going to make or break this project.

It's tempting to get overwhelmed by all I need to learn, but instead I'm making sure I take it a small step at a time. That means setting up facebook accounts and familiarizing myself with everything we can achieve with them. I'm already on Linked In for Words By Wendy, and now the blog.

But at the same time, I'll keep reading and researching how to maximize all those tools. And as I learn, I'll share it all in this blog.

So stay posted. In the meantime, please check out my website at www.wordsbywendy.ca

Introducing Words By Wendy

In this first post, I'm going to introduce myself and explain what my own objectives are for this project.

I'm Wendy Zak, of Words By Wendy. I'm a freelance direct response copywriter, with a long (very long!) background in the industry. I really know my stuff when it comes to how people read and how to motivate a purchasing decision. I write copy that is very readable, and which creates a reaction and response.

I also offer strategic advice to my clients on the tools and techniques that will help them achieve their objectives. I can write killer copy for those tools, but just don't ask me any technical questions about how the tools are created!

I have been freelancing since 2003 and, building the business mostly through networking. I quickly got to the point where business became self-sustaining through word of mouth and referrals. I like to think that's because I do great work.

But, now I'm ready to grow my business to the next level - and I need to use broader tools to branch beyond my network.

I currently have a website - which is a highly effective sales tool, but this project will see to what extent I can generate traffic to that site using social media.

Despite the lofty goal of achieving 'no-budget' marketing, there are obviously some on-going expenses for stationery and networking that won't go away.

That's Words By Wendy in a nutshell. I'll introduce you to Greentree Landscapes and Larchwood Nurseries in the next two posts.