Like A Bull with a nose ring

Why do they put a ring in a bull's nose?

Why to lead him around, of course. It's as simple as that.

That's how to write for a business web page.

Business web pages are not written like Emily Dickinson, John Steinbeck or William Shakespeare.

The way to write a web page is very very simple. Like a Bull with a nose ring.

(Definitely not the way that I wrote this posting.)

Demian Farnworth wrote "The Disgustingly Simple Rule for Web Writing That’s Often Hard to Swallow."

The Arrangement of Design

Do you groom your hair?

Do you wear professional attire in a professional manner?

When it comes to personal grooming, most business people understand the importance of presentation.

But there is a difference between design and dazzle.

The right balance impresses because it does not seek to be overly flashy.

The guidelines also apply to many other features of business. For example, the facade of a storefron should be clean, professionally designed but not gaudy.

The brochures which a sales department uses should set a tone which subtly impresses. This is also true of a well designed website.

Seth Godin wrote "Beauty as a signaling strategy."

Top Level Recommendation - Newsletter

I attempt to recommend only good articles with solid substance in this space. Occasionally, an article is even better than most of the articles in this space.

There are three very valuable tips and one nice tip in today's recommendation.

The topic is how to write a successful Newsletter.

One thing that this article does not discuss is typography and layout. If you want your Newsletter to be printable and to look professional when it is printed - Qwerty's PDF services can really improve the printed look of your Newsletter.

BUT - looking great is not as important as the first three tips in "4 Easy Tips On Writing a Winning NewsLetter" by Ritu Pant.

Local Sports or the Olympics?

Although the internet landscape is slowly evolving away from this, it is still somewhat of a democracy in the oldest sense of the concept.

Fewer and fewer people stumble on the writing of another without being influenced in some way by some type of a ranking or recommendation tool, whether it be algorithmic or human. Yet this was not always the case. A decade ago, most Search Engines were either flat or almost flat when it came to serving as RELIABLE methods of filtering the noise from the signal. This is has changed and is continuing to develop.

However, as such tools and experts become more available and more reliable - the beginning internet writer has a tendency towards reticence based on intimidation.

But even Jane Austin was at one point intimidated by the writings of others. When it comes to the average modern novice novelist, a little reticence may have been helpful. Yet even today, some new authors produce first novels that are breathtakingly well written. A fact which Jane Austin could not boast. Her first novel, Susan, was not nearly as well written as later novels, a fact which caused her to revise it extensively.

But we are not speaking of the writing of novels but rather of the writing of internet posts. In some ways, an internet post should share more of the traits of a diary than of the traits of a novel. Do not misunderstand - rarely does a diary style blog become a top ranked blog. (There are some.) But the personality of a blog author and the individual flavor of her/his conversation is frequently the difference between a large audience and a less read blog.

Today's recommendation is especially for anyone who experiences writer's block due to being intimidated by the writings of some other internet publisher. The article is: "10 Ways to Avoid Writing Insecurity" by Sean Platt.

Keep the river flowing

What happens if you go to a retail store and find it closed when it is scheduled to be open and this happens repeatedly?

You start going to a more reliable store.

If people come to your business blog and keep finding no content, they eventually quit visiting.

How do you keep generating new content for your blog?

Orna Ross wrote: "

10 Surefire Steps to Beating Blogger’s Block

."

(Fewer than normal entrepreneurial articles were written in December, the frequency of this column is being reduced to three times a week, MWF, for awhile.)

Can We talk?

A tale of two paragraphs:

Hey there. Let me tell you what happened to me at work, yesterday.

A Very Pleasant Day to you, Permit me to describe the circumstances surrounding an incident which occurred at the writer's place of occupation the day prior to the writing of this composition.

If you write your blog based on the second choice, you will not be a large audience blogger. You may attract an audience from readers of classic literature, but I doubt that is the audience which you desire.

Dean Rieck wrote a number of suggestions for the blogger which are very useful in setting the tone of your writing.

Business Content Basics

In the Sound of Music, Maria teaches the Von Trapp children to sing by beginning with the basics.

In successful writing, it is necessary to know the Do Re Mi of writing copy.

Jim Lodico wrote: "Everything I Need To Know About Business Blogging I Learned In High School."

Losing Traffic faster than you Acquire

(The next article will be on Friday.)

Trying to start something without knowing the rules of the game is a recipe for failure in almost any venture.

Many beginning business bloggers fail to research the keys to blogging success and instead actually drive traffic AWAY from their website.

Leo Babauta wrote 10 Mistakes That Could Be Killing Your Blog.

Ranking Magic

(Next Week. there will only be two articles.)

Actually, there is really nothing magical about it - but sometimes you have to perform a transformation "trick."

You have to cease to be a business marketer and transform into Internet Publishing Man (or woman.)

Able to leap across the continent in a single click. Faster than a dialing cell phone. Able to provide research information as if by mind reading. Okay, the algorithms on the Search Engine had a little to do with that last one.

Sarah Worsham wrote "Think Like A Publisher, not a marketer."

Listen My Children and You Shall Hear of the

Narrative is a very powerful marketing tool.

If you can reframe your message as a captivating story you can reach a larger audience and have more influence on those who hear you.

David Knowles wrote "Discover the Power of Storytelling"

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ...

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Ring

of the cash register recording sales.

You have great content. The words of your copy are well written. But the Cash Register isn't ringing.

Sonia Simone wrote "Do These 3 Common Copywriting Mistakes Keep Your Readers from Buying?"

Seeking Dear John

So your beloved reader

has gone and left you

and do you

know the reason

Why?

---

Getting feedback from those readers who decide to unsubscribe from your web feed is valuable marketing information.

Susan Abbott wrote: "Unsubscribe - or what readers do in their spare time"

Without Vitality, there is no Viability

In mid-twentieth century Sci-Fi flicks, the actor who supplied the voice for a robot would attempt to speak without inflection and without imbuing his/her diction with any emotion. (Later films tended to feature robotic characters with personality.)

One of the problems with many business blogs, especially the blogs of older corporations, is that the textual content is written to sound objective or journalistic.

Most successful business blogs are very opinionated and written from an editorial standpoint rather than a journalistic standpoint. Additionally, the successful blog's opinions are not focused on the services or products of the business which publishes the blog but rather on expressing the viewpoint of the business concerning other industry related developments or current events.

The successful blog also focuses on providing content which is useful for the reader but which is not merely a rehash of something which has been produced elsewhere.

The question of how to make a blog sound unique and imbue it with a consistent persona is one with which some companies have to struggle.

Dave Taylor wrote an article entitled "How To Write With a Distinctive Voice."

Impress The Point on Quick Scans

Information Overload.

Insufficient time for reading.

These two factors prevent your message from being read.

How do you communicate with people who do not have enough time to read your articles?

Ardath Albee discusses formatting tactics for insuring that the main points of your articles are communicated even to the Quick scanners.

The article is entitled: "Formatting Choices for Marketing Content."

Controversy - A key to Web Success

In traditional public relations, the publicity manager is always trying to avoid negative publicity. However, on the internet being a little "in your face" can be as valuable to the blog author as it is to the radio talk show host.

In some rural markets, a very pleasant non-controversial talk show can be quite successful within the local community. But there are almost no national talk shows that don't include a bit of controversy.

But you do pay a price for that controversy. There are some fringe radio talk shows that have a national audience but there audience is not mainstream. Finding the right balance and avoiding tainting your brand is a constant challenge to the program.

Similarly, in the internet world, finding the right balance of "edginess" is key to success in the Internet publishing world. Different venues call for a different degree of controversy.

Either extreme amiability or gratuitous shock can be a death blow to internet publishing.

Sonia Simone wrote: "9 Little Known Traits of Successful Bloggers."

Substance is the Key to List Development

For decades, salespeople and marketing exhibits have given out Logo Promo Merchandise (aka: Advertising Specialties). The successful Promo merchandise were those things that were the most useful for the longest period of time. ( A wallet calendar tended to be less successful than a daily planner - because it was less useful.)

In the world of the internet, Substance (as in useful content) is much more successful than advertising and brochure copy. The uniqueness of the information which you provide combined with the degree of value which it provides to your potential audience is key to the success of your ezine address development.

Ivana Taylor provides four brief but valuable ideas for helping you get started in her article: "Help Customers Get Educated by Giving Presentations Away."

Sometimes, Substantial takes time

Fluff and Foam will not make you a major player in the world of Internet and Electronic Publishing. You need to provide content which is valuable to your audience if you want to grow your reader base ad develop tenure with your readers.

But, sometimes it may feel as if the point that you are trying to make is not "coming out" and onto your computer's editor. This is when you need to learn how to nurture and develop an article.

Sonia Simone wrote: "How to Grow a Blog Post in 7 Easy Steps."

Why I threw your Newsletter away

So anyway I opened up that newsletter which you sent me today and after looking through it for a couple of minutes, I threw it away.

Do you want to know why I threw it away? Does it matter to you that I threw it away?

Well, to be quite honest with you. It was too much puffery. What wasn't about how great you are and how great your product was - tended to all be stuff that I have heard a million times before.

If you really want me to retain the newsletters that you send me - if you really want me to spend time focusing on your message - there's one big secret to getting my attention. And here it is, listen closely now: Tel me something of substance that I can use. If the information in your newsletter is Practical and Valuable, then I will focus on what you are writing. Otherwise, we are both just wasting our time.

Ryan Allis wrote an article on five approaches to writing a newsletter which will be valued by the readers. However, I disagree with Ryan's first point. Benchmarking and Statistics are useful but only when they are objective. I don't care that much about how well your company is doing. I care about how well your company is treating me and how good my experiences have been with the product you sold me last year.

Doc, You Gotta Help Me - I just Can't Seem To Stop Writing

In spite of the humorous title of this article, frequency of communication is an important business decision.

However, I would argue that consistency is actually more important than frequency. A few weeks ago, I had a booth at the North Georgia State Fair and this recommendation feature ground to a halt because I had too many things on my platter.

There are two main considerations in my opinion when considering frequency and both of them can be included under the single heading of Customer Expectation.

1. How will this frequency schedule affect my brand?
2. Can I commit to this frequency schedule?

I know that for this recommendation feature, I will probably eventually go back to once a day because I have found that twice a day places too much of a strain on my other responsibilities.

Seth Godin is both a writer and a start up visionary. (He is exemplary evidence that Marketing startups and Tech-Innovation startups don't have to play by the same rules.)

Seth wrote an article entitled "How Often Should You Publish?"

Conceptual Conduits

Ideas, Concepts and Viewpoints - "Let ME tell you what I think."

We have all met the bore. We may have occasionally been the bore.

But, communication is key to relationships. How should we communicate?

Big (non)-Secret: The Medium affects the effectiveness of Communication.

To borrow an idea from the past: A telegram should not read like a book, nor vice versa.

Yet some website owners don't know how to communicate effectively on the internet.

Sonia Simone wrote an article on improving the Quality of your content.

Who's your lead off batter?

In Baseball, the first four batters on the roster are the most important. Many coaches put the strongest batter in the fourth position which has been nicknamed "the clean up batter."

But in writing copy for your articles, you don't get three tries to get it right!

The two most important items for your article's copy are the Headline and the Lead Sentence. The next item (if the reader sticks around for the third item) is the opening paragraph. Bringing up fourth, which is a far weaker position in writing copy than in baseball, is the first sub-heading.

Karon Thackston wrote "Get To The Point."

P.S. The first two comments (currently the only two comments) are amusing.

Would you like to start an E-mail newsletter?

One of the most important facts about successful newsletter publishing is that the wants of the reader are more important than the wants of the publisher. If more than 20% of your newsletter is about something you want to say, then you are NOT going to have a successful newsletter!

Focus on providing your readers with the things that they are interested in - and they are not nearly as interested in you or your company as you seem to think that they are - TRUST ME on this one. (You'll thank me later.)

Corte Swearingen wrote Ten Ezine Startup Tips

P.S. Tape the first two sentences in Tip#1 to the monitor of the screen you use to create your newsletter and re-read it once an hour !!!!!!!!!!

That's so 2003!

In almost every aspect of I and E publishing there is a tendency to cling to methods or truisms from years ago. Only problem is that technology changes so rapidly that if you are reading something that is more than 24 months old - it is almost definitely outdated.

In fact, most industry people cite 18 months as the statistical average for a tech cycle.

One of the areas which has changed dramatically in the last few years is the topic of SE ranking. Many business owners think that they know all about SEO but most of the business owners whom I meet are hung up on something they heard about 2 years ago or something that someone told them recently but their source hasn't read anything up to date.

Karon Thackston is a professional writer who wrote an article a few weeks ago, in which she shows that keywords while still important do not produce the kind of results most business people seem to think that they do.

Karon Thackston wrote "How Many Keywords Are Enough?"

Karon rejects an SEO inquiry

Too many entrepreneurs and corporations think that they know what causes ranking in search engines. Most of the time, they are wrong.

Quick Note to anyone who wants good search engine ranking: Pleasing the site visitor is the modern solution to SE ranking. Keyword Density is NOT!

Karon Thackston wrote: "Please Don't Do This."

Tell it like it is, Karon - and everyone else - LISTEN up.

Twenty Plus Tips for Good Website Design

Web Design is not primarily about Graphics.

Design also includes how your website "works" for your visitor. Many first time website owners focus on trying to impress their visitors. This is usually a mistake. Instead focus on satisfying your visitor.

Henriette Martel wrote an article entitled "Design Tips for Your Website" which focuses on three main categories: the text, the layout and the navigation.

Her tips are concise and relevant.

Design Tips for Your Website

A Two-Fer: The One Thing that Can Improve The Effectiveness of Articles

Today, I am recommending two articles from different writers on the same topic.

When you write an article, you probably are aware of the structure of the article. You might even create a formal outline before you write the article.

However, many times readers of articles indicate that when they read an article they can not always follow the flow of the writer's thoughts.

One of the greatest resources for improving how effective your articles are, is to use headings and subheadings.

If you don't use subheads, you may want to read Sonia Simone's article first.

If you already use Subheads and want to improve your use of them, then read Alexandria Brown's article.

Where Do New Ideas Come From?

Do you ever get what authors call "writer's block?"

Every successful entrepreneur has the ability to imagine a vision and crystallize that vision so that it can be turned into reality.

But every once in awhile those of us who rely on our mind's ability to come up with new ideas, find that we have a dry spell.

Recently, one New York consulting firm did a survey poll in order to discover how business people generate new ideas.

_____________
Today's recommendation requires just a bit more patience than normal. I am recommending a PDF from Idea Champions. However, since this is not a Web Page but rather a download, when you click on the link, you will be taken to a page where you have to click on another link.

"Sorry About That, Chief."

At BNET's Team Taskmaster in this article, in the first sentence, click on the words "which catalysts spurred its clients’ brightest ideas."

Again, This is the LINK.

Sometimes, its all in how you package it

Sometimes, even the best content in the world will only be considered by your audience if the packaging is right.

Let me illustrate:

Would you believe that some of the top read writers on the internet compete to have their content "re-packaged?"

Every month, writers send proposals to ChangeThis.com. These proposals are then posted for public voting on the Change This proposal page. This link goes to that page.

Whichever five proposals gets the most votes that month, then gets the chance to be featured as a Change This eBook.

End of Illustration.

The point is that the Media in which information is presented affects the optimal format of the information.

Have you ever been to a Power Point presentation where the speaker attempted to put the entire text of his speech on the screen. Bad Decision.

The substance of the speech might be GREAT and yet placing it on the screen ruins the speech.

In the early days of the web, there was no professional looking page layout. When websites started being designed to resemble printed documents, many websites were mis-designed to scroll downwards through more than a dozen screens or more. This was a mistake for the same reason that putting all the content of a speech on a projection screen is a mistake.

Content needs to be formatted for the medium in which it is being presented and the limitations, as well as the advantages, of the medium used need to be understood and respected.

The amount of content which you need to present, should have an affect on your media choice. If you are presenting a lot of content, it is frequently a good idea to present this content as an eBook. A professionally designed eBook can be used as a Premium in lead harvesting, as a community development giveaway or as a product for marketing.

(Disclosure: My consultancy provides typography and page layout services for eBooks and other electronic publications including eNewsletters and Presentations.)

Vera Raposo wrote an article on how to market eBooks. (The Ebay suggestion is obsolete. see the comments below the article.)

Using message structuring to develop your audience base

If you're just hanging with your friends, you don't need message structuring. In fact, in many friendship circles, slang and informality go a lot farther than grammar and vocabulary.

But things are a lot different in the business world. Although it sometimes pays off for a salesperson in a one on one presentation to abandon business formality, it almost never pays off in a larger audience. Even your best buddy may feel humiliated and embarrassed if you speak and act the way that you do when the two of you are just hangin' out.

In the venue of Internet Publishing, if you are seeking to build a large audience in the business community, there is a very fine line between formality and personality. Unfortunately, that fine line moves drastically in one direction or another depending upon the specific audience on which you are focusing.

Let me illustrate this by referencing two writers whose articles are featured regularly in the right sidebar of rainmakerwebsites.com

Jill Konrath writes articles that are specifically geared towards helping those sales organizations and sales people who are involved in long term sales processes with large corporations. Within these processes, there are several sales stages which need to be respected and are only occasionally skipped. Both the critical nature of these negotiations and the amount of structure that is built into the organizations involved necessitate that the presentations be relatively formal. In her writing to this audience, Jill must focus more on the structure of her message than on presenting herself within her message. However, enough of Jill's personality comes through to make her message viable in the internet venue.

Rosa Say writes articles that translate sound business practices and processes into the Hawaiian traditional culture and which help integrate traditional Hawaiian values and principles into activities which result in long term business profit and growth. As part of her effort to communicate these values both to the business owner on the islands and to the internet business world outside of the islands, Rosa must incorporate more of her own personality into her articles as a means of illustrating the principles and values of the Hawaiian culture.

Both Jill and Rosa use message structuring as an essential tool for communicating with a business audience.

If you want your business message to develop a visitor base or an internet audience, you need some method of organizing the process you use in developing each of your postings. David Peralty suggests one method of internet article development in "Organizing A Blog Post."

Are You Quotable?

Have you ever looked up a concept in a Book of Quotations? Have you ever inserted a Shakespearean line into a text?

What is it that makes a statement quotable? Why do some quotations endure while others are fads that gradually disappear?

Maki wrote a great article that summarizes some of the ideas in another writer's piece on writing compositions.

If you want your Internet Publishing to be read and passed around, then read "How To Say Nothing in 500 words."

And You're Telling Me this because ... ?

About four weeks ago, I wrote about the need for a business to have a purpose for existing.

In this posting, I would like to focus on content's need to have a mission.

Your website's visitor is not Sergeant Friday and presumably you have something which you hope to accomplish by having a web site.

So the textual content (the copy) of your website needs to further the mission which you are hoping to accomplish.

But some website copy seems to be self-destructive when it comes to accomplishing the apparent purpose of the website.

Ardath Albee wrote "Content Without A Goal Is Unemployed."

Real and Yet Professional

One of the ways in which Internet Publishing differs from writing white papers is that successful blogging usually requires that the authors personality can be seen in what is written, while in writing white papers there is a need for more objectivity.

However, sometimes an internet writer lets his hair down too much. The article resembles a stereotypical photo from the 1970s. (I graduated from High School in the 70s, so I am allowed.)

How does an Internet writer show his audience his or her real self while also maintaining a degree of professionalism necessary to developing a good brand?

Chris Brogan wrote "If You Intend to Blog Seriously."

Improving Your Internet Publishing

The cliche's are numerous: "Quality over Quantity" and "Work Smarter, Not Harder" are two examples. How can you improve the effectiveness of your Internet Publishing?

Reg Adkins borrow a framework from Stephen Covey and gives us: "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers."