Successful Blog

The Twists and Turns on the Road to Publishing

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By Tiffany Matthews

The road to publishing is never easy. Although the road to becoming a published author has become shorter, writers sometimes have some some issues–including internal ones–that they need to overcome first. You don’t become an author overnight, but if you take action, you can narrow the distance between you and your publishing dream.

Overcoming the Self

Many a writer has felt this lack of confidence or a fear of showing their work to other people. They sometimes feel that their works are too intimate, a too raw reflection of themselves that they are not prepared to expose to the world. This could also be an “ego” thing, with the writer thinking his work is a masterpiece, and so he is unwilling to know the perspectives of other people. This type of closed-mindedness won’t help you grow as a writer. You have to learn how to step out of your comfort zone and learn to listen to insights from trusted fellow writers. If you do want to publish your work and become an author, you have to overcome this internal hurdle and be ready to bare yourself to criticism. It’s true that as wordsmith you may have your own style of writing, but you must also be aware that there is always room for improvement; therefore, you must always strive to continue honing your skills.

Exploring Independent Self-Publishing

The internal hurdles should always be the first ones that writers should overcome. After that, it all gets a little bit easier. When I said that the path to publishing has become shorter, I wasn’t kidding. Traditional publishing is not the only medium for you to become an author. There are many self-publishing companies that can help you accomplish your dream. The simplest and cheapest publishing package would probably provide you with some basic marketing. However, when it comes to specialized marketing like participation in book fairs, it might cost you more. There are ways where you can market your book without having to cost you an arm and leg. But it’s going to take hard work and perseverance.

If you don’t have the capital to invest in self-publishing companies, you can still publish your work at no cost through CreateSpace, a self-publishing service by Amazon. This service allows any writer of all genres from anywhere around the world, regardless of experience, to publish their work for free. It’s fairly easy to get started as long as you follow the steps. You’ll also need 3 things to get started: your manuscript in DOC file; a book cover image which should be in JPG, and a vision of how you want your book to look (this includes the format and the color of the pages). If you don’t have an image for the book cover, you can opt for one of the ready-made templates available. Choose the guided setup in the control panel when setting up your book project so that you can breeze through the process.

An Indie Stepping Stone

Independent publishing is a great way for authors to start out especially when they don’t want to waste time waiting on literary agents or publishers to give the go signal. In fact, many self-published authors’ success have put them in a better position to negotiate traditional publishing deals. But before that stepping stone can materialize, you have to do a lot of heavy lifting first. Not only do you have to take care of editing, you also have to do the brunt of your own marketing. This, however, means that you are in control and you get to call the shots.

When your hard work pays off in sales and a traditional publishing house comes knocking, you now have the ability to negotiate better terms including a bigger chunk of the profits and retaining certain rights to your books, like the ebook version. Before you sign any contract, however, you should read it thoroughly. A lawyer can help you spot loopholes and certain clauses that might not be in your best interest. If you are worried about expensive hourly fees, there are legal services providers like Legal Shield that offer monthly subscriptions at an affordable rate. Never sign anything without consulting legal help so that you can have protection.

Destination: Published Author

There are many routes you can take to become a published author. It doesn’t matter which you choose as long as you keep moving and doing something to accomplish your publishing goals. Waiting won’t get you anywhere. But taking action will take you one step closer to achieving your dream of becoming an author.

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego California, Tiffany Matthews is a professional writer with over 5 years of writing experience. She also blogs about travel, fashion, and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com, a group blog that she shares with her good friends. In her free time, she likes to travel, read books, and watch movies. You can find her on Twitter as @TiffyCat87.

Making Google+ Work for Your Business

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By Brittany Thorley

Google+ is fast becoming a vital part of social media marketing for businesses of all sizes, yet still many professionals are unsure about what the social platform can do for their company and how they can get started with a business-focused profile that gets their name and ethos out there.

Despite launching in 2011, Google+ has surpassed the active user numbers of Twitter making it the second largest social networking site in the world. Back in May 2013, Google+ reported a total of 500 million registered users worldwide and with 235 million of those users actively updating their circles and looking for interesting information on a personal and professional level, businesses that aren’t utilising this platform are inevitably missing out!

But for those unfamiliar with this platform, how can you get started? We have compiled the essential steps for getting started with Google+, plus a few more top tips on how to make the most out of the platform to boost business, extend your customer reach, and get your company noticed by the people who matter.

Getting Started

Setting up your business page with Google+ couldn’t be easier! But before you begin you must create a personal profile; from here you can create a page for your business by simply clicking ‘create a page’ in the right hand corner of your profile. Setting up a personal profile will also enable you to claim authorship to enable you to gain influence and build authority.

Google+ will take you through the process of setting up a business page step-by-step. You can add your business type, tagline, profile photo or logo, website URL, social links and company details to personalise your business profile and make it identifiable to your target audience.

Posting on Google+

Once you have completed your profile, you can start adding existing contacts and posting to your profile. Like Facebook, you can share pictures, videos and links to let potential customers and clients get to know your business. When posting always think about what you want to achieve and how you want your brand to be portrayed in the public domain and your specific industry. Ensure all posts are as engaging as possible and convey your business’ unique selling propositions (either directly or indirectly) as well as occasionally promoting your products or services. In addition to this, keep posts personal and authentic.

Know Your Customer

When it comes to launching any social media marketing campaign, how well you know your customer can make or break your efforts, so make sure you are prepared and incorporate your customers’ wants and needs into your social media objectives. Before you start posting, devise a few ideas about what images, videos and links will be of interest to your customers and what offers and information will get them talking about your business.

Get Your Timing Right

It’s not just what you post that can affect your campaign’s success, it’s also when you post to your Google+ account. The peak times for sharing on Google+ are from 11am to 2pm and 7pm to 10pm Eastern US time, so focus your efforts on posting at these particular periods.

Use #Hashtags

Like Twitter, Google+ supports the use of hashtags to give you the exposure you need to the right followers. Insert simple and relevant hashtags in every post to ensure your social media interactions are targeted and sharable – who knows you may be trending very soon!

Author’s Bio: Brittany Thorley handles the social media and marketing activities for a range of businesses, including the Personal Statement Service, a student-focused company that provides writing advice and personal statement examples.

Thank you Brittany! Those are some great tips.
I’d add that the Google+ community, in particular, tends to reward exclusive content and well-thought-out articles, rather than simply posting a link to your blog posts or other social media updates.

Rosemary

Talking Your Way to Success

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By Eric Nacul

John is addressing a group of his peers on how to offer better customer service, when one of his colleagues starts periodically tapping the chrome plunger of a service bell. Undaunted, he continues and is delivering what he considers the talk’s most powerful point when his audience cuts him off mid-sentence with clapping.

Far from being rude, however, the group is helping John become a more effective communicator at one of the more than 13,500 nonprofit Toastmasters International clubs worldwide. And with more than 40 percent of those clubs sponsored by corporate giants like State Farm, Bank of America, IBM, Boeing and a host of government agencies, Toastmaster membership might well be one of the best tools for success.

Toastmasters traces its roots to 1903 when Ralph Smedley, education director of a YMCA in Bloomington, IL, saw a need for speech training there. Smedley formed the first permanent club in Santa Ana, CA, in 1924.

Meetings are typically held weekly and aim to enhance communication skills as well as listening, evaluation, interpersonal and leadership skills. Membership also offers great networking opportunities. While they vary from club to club, dues and fees typically run about $200 annually.

Toastmasters is the epitome of learning by doing. While each club does have officers, the duties of running a meeting as Toastmaster of the Day rotates from member to member. The various responsibilities of a meeting rotate as well. Key responsibilities include:

  • The Ah Counter counts the times a speaker uses “ah,” “and” and other filler words and uses a bell, clicker or other audible device to alert the speaker each time one is used.
  • The Grammarian keeps track of grammar mistakes, awkward sentence structure, pronunciation and other errors.
  • The Time Keeper typically uses an electronic timer to track a speech’s time and warns speakers at pre-determined points.
  • An Evaluator is assigned each of the meetings speakers to note what the speaker did well and what he or she can improve upon.

Toastmasters meetings usually run 60-90 minutes. An hour-long meeting might include three speakers giving 5-7 minute speeches as well as three or four Table Topic speakers of 1-2 minutes each.

While those giving longer speeches typically know well in advance and can write and prepare for their speech, Table Topic speakers have no idea of what their topic will be and have no time to prepare. The Table Topics Master chooses a topic ranging from the silly to the profound and then chooses a member at random to speak on it. Next he chooses another topic and another member and then another. Each member has the time it takes to stand to prepare.

The longer speeches are typically prepared in advance, with beginning Toastmasters working through the Competent Communicator manual, a guide on how to organize, research and write a speech as well as lessons on body language and vocal tone in delivering a speeh. Also in the manual is information on effectively giving various types of talks such as a persuasive speech, an inspirational speech, an entertaining speech, etc.

Members who aspire to greater oratory heights also have a number of advanced levels they can achieve. Periodic speech contests are held as well with advancement to local, regional and national levels possible.

But being a better speaker is only part of being a better communicator and Toastmasters also helps hone its members listening and critiquing skills. Evaluators are assigned to each speaker to watch, listen and note what the speaker does well and what needs improvement. Constructive evaluations are given with evaluators first noting what was done well and then giving areas in which the speaker can grow.

Meetings themselves are structured so that members become proficient in conducting efficient and effective meetings. Responsibilities for conducting meetings rotates among members as do other meeting responsibilities in addition to those already mentioned. There’s also a General Evaluator who observes and reports on the overall quality of the meeting.

For most members, improvement in their communication skills is fairly quick. And improvements in confidence, quick thinking, listening and leadership well serve anyone wanting to succeed. To learn more about Toastmasters, visit toastmasters.org.

Author’s Bio: Eric Nacul is a freelance writer, graphic designer and tech enthusiast who contributes to a number of sites, including one of his favorites, bestfreeonline.net. You can find him on Twitter as @ericnacul.

4 Precious Content Marketing Lessons from Startups

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By Tracy Vides

Startup founders have lives that are anything but normal: they have to deal with uncertain markets. Their ideas are vulnerable to deep dive into oblivion any time, they suffer scarcity of resources, and they are perennially strapped for cash. Startup founders put their soul – along with themselves – through rigorous (almost insane) time schedules.

A considerable amount of energy, passion, love and work goes into a startup, regardless of whether it succeeds or fails. Although digital marketing, including content marketing, goes with the overall scheme of things, while running a startup, we’ll ignore that for a moment and consider content marketing separately.

So, what happens when you bring startup culture to content marketing? How does the way you do content marketing change when you bring in the ethos that startups are known for?

Here are some lessons from startups that you can apply to content marketing, blogging, and digital marketing in general:

Don’t Fall for the Single Founder Mistake

Paul Graham, author and founder of Y Combinator, lists out some mistakes most startups make, one of the first of which is to have a single founder.

Very few successful startups have just one founder. Google, Apple, Oracle are all examples of companies with humble starts and certainly more than one founder.

Having one founder, Paul believes, is a vote of no confidence. Even if that wasn’t the case, growing a startup is incredibly hard for one person. Startups need a way to weed out bad decisions, and a one-founder startup has no checks and balances in that regard. Having a team spreads out the hard work, keeps stupid decisions in check, and to brainstorm for more ideas.

Lesson: Content development, likewise, isn’t a one-person effort. Whether you are a business looking to develop content for marketing, a content marketer working on various types of content for other businesses, or even a content developer or freelance writer, you’ll need a team.

Working with professional writers, in-house content development teams, and collaborating with experts is a great way to give your content development work a boost. Content marketing is best achieved with collaboration – no matter how you choose to do it.

Starting Up without Research is Doomed

Startups are glamorous. That doesn’t take away the grueling work behind running one, though. According to Toby Ruckert of Stuff.co.nz, “research” is a fundamental building block for a startup. Technically, it’s called “validating ideas”, in startup circles. You’d go out to your potential customer base, launch surveys, brainstorm with your team, and gather material from the web, universities, or libraries.

To know is at the core of a successful startup.

Lesson: Content marketing is impossible without research. Of course, you can hash out trite content but by now, you know that it won’t work for your business. Include research into every piece of content you develop.

Know your readers, and gather analytics that matter to you. If you are approaching other bloggers, find out everything you can about them and their websites. Digging into site owners’ personal details and preferences is easy – you can get to know a lot from their About and Contact pages, and social media profiles.

However, to be a true online detective, you need to know their pain and pleasure points with regard to their day-to-day blog operation. You can use Whois to uncover site owner and administration information, whoishostingthis.com to find their hosting details, SEMRush to know more about visitor traffic and how they get it, and so on.

Startups are Hard

Uncrunched.com has a post with this simple message: If you are not comfortable with the fact that startups are hard work and that a lot of time and sacrifice will go into it, you should get yourself a job.

Startups are hard in more ways than you can imagine. Chris McCann’s post reveals the sweat, blood, and tears involved in a startup founder’s life.

Yet, Kevin Ready, a contributor at Forbes.com, thinks that the hard startup life is good. Technology helps you overcome some hurdles. The Internet makes it easy to hire people (either full-time or on contractual basis), and the availability of affordable tools make it easier to launch a startup today.

However, if you quit whining, embrace the startup life, and do it right, you make history.

Lesson: Too many business owners and marketers think that you have to “make time” for content marketing.

Correction: Drop everything else (except running your business) and go all out at content marketing. Quit whining that it takes a humongous effort, time, money and energy to develop great content, to get good content published as guest blogs, to work on social media, to create videos, and to publish all other sorts of content.

Content marketing – when you do it right – has phenomenal payoffs.

The Value is in Speed, Not Money

Tanya Prive of Forbes gave some convincing reasons why startups succeed, some of which were speed, efficiency, and the rush a startup works with.

Startups also succeed because they provide value while keeping the pace of work fast and efficient. Startups, however, don’t succeed because a VC firm funds them. They don’t succeed just because they have capital.

In fact, most startups don’t even have access to any sort of capital from sources such as banks and VC firms. That’s why it’s not surprising so many of them now turn to crowd-funding options such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Lesson: Traditional marketing spoiled us into thinking that if we had access to cash and an unending stream of funds, we could market and promote our way to success.

All you had to do was to buy media space and bomb the market with as much advertising as your money could buy.

Today, consumers don’t trust traditional advertising much. Instead, they trust their own social networks and their preferred sources of advice online (blogs and publications). Content marketing is all about making the right information available to seed consumers’ hunger for information.

As a brand, you need credibility, trust, social proof, and commercial love. Content marketing has to achieve all of that and not to fill up the Internet with more trash.

To achieve speed and to provide value with content marketing, you have to make a splash, no matter what your current state of available resources is like. Danny Iny of Firepole marketing did just that with his super-powered guest blogging campaigns targeted major blogs. All he had was to use his skill in writing and a burning desire with a willingness to put in the work to get his guest blogs out. His outreach success led him to develop a popular report called Engagement from Scratch.

Content marketing is an overall endeavor to get the word out, to generate trust, to marshal goodwill and to amass social proof. It’s the key to what is now known as Inbound Marketing.

Your content marketing defines you. It makes you money. It tells the world who you are and why you are in business. It convinces, persuades, inspires, and informs.

How do you approach content marketing? How important is it for your business? Which of the lessons do you think you can pick up and run with?

Author’s Bio: Tracy Vides is a content creator and marketer, who loves to blog about subjects as diverse as fashion, technology, and finance. She’s always raring to have a discussion on startups and entrepreneurship. Say “Hi” to her on Twitter @TracyVides. You can also find her on G+ at gplus.to/TracyVides.

How Not to Become a “Browse Over” Blog

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By Stacey Thompson

There are literally millions upon millions of blogs in the entire Internet, and even more people (bloggers included) that read them. The range and depth of topics of these blogs are effectively infinite, as this medium can support pretty much anything that can be expressed in words, videos, or images.

Even with the rise of world-spanning social media sites and “microblogging” applications, blogs are still a very popular medium of broadcasting one person’s (or many) thoughts and ideas. While your Facebook wall post or tweet will be memorable (and easily accessible) for as long as people re-share it, your blog will pretty much have it ready to dig up at a moment’s notice.

With all the blogs covering all topics known to man, it’s quite a feat to remain relevant and well-read in the blogosphere. It’s inevitable, with all the choices out there and the inherently short attention spans of the majority. For those with a motive to keep their blog/s popular (monetary, social responsibility, etc.), this matters greatly.

From my experiences, as well as some practical wisdom gleaned from the wiser entities of the Web, here are a few bits of advice that a blogger can apply on their blog/s so as to keep pulling people in to read, comment, and keep them tuned in:

Fresh Content

A blog that contains precious, sought-after information will always be visited by people, but is very important that new information should always be added in so as to give people a reason to return. This applies to any and all kinds of blogs out there, from personal diaries to hobby blogs to organizational blogs.

A single person, or even a group of people will eventually run out of juice and will need to recharge their blogging batteries. This is why having a guest blogger or three to chime in and share their insights can add new conversation topics and a new enthusiasm to even the oldest blogs.

Link Love

There are always new insights to old topics, and this should be the opportunity a blog owner/contributor/editor should take to refer to older blog entries. Also, sharing the link love and referring to other blogs on topics and insights that have already been covered. Nobody has the monopoly on information, after all. Hopefully, they will link to your blog and your posts for interesting content that you have shared to the world.

Always be careful of potential abuse that could be done as the linking game is just one of the ways blogs try to stand out among the rest, even if their content isn’t exactly that good or relevant.

Speaking of information, liberally (well, not way too liberally) spread links to information and authoritative sites (Wikipedia, major news networks, information repositories, established blogs, etc.) in order to further concretize and back up the ideas you have on your own blog posts. It helps to cite your sources, after all.

Pay Attention to Aesthetics

Presentability and site ergonomics matter. You might have a lot of great and compelling content, but your site will become a pariah if your fonts are hard to read, the layout is atrocious, and the site loads slower than snail mail.

You do not have to be a seasoned web designer or a natural digital artist; there are many premade layouts and other site elements available for websites (for WordPress blogs, in particular). If you really want to get into the major leagues of blogging, it’s a good idea to acquire the services of a good designer.

If you commit to making your blog last for as long as you can manage it (or even beyond), don’t scrimp on it. Purchase a hosting package (domain name, web hosting,ready-to-use tools/plugins/apps, support, etc.) from one of the more reliable providers out there. There are great variety of hosts to choose from, and the subscription rates nowadays are very light on the pocket.

I wish you all the best in your blogging!

Author’s Bio: Stacey Thompson is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is a business owner, and aspires to be a chief executive worthy of being part of prestigious peer circles like the Sage Executive Group. Stacey is based in San Diego, California, and is working with her gal pals in keeping their blog, Word Baristas, fresh and interesting.

How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Business

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By Brittany Thorley

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but can the latest social media phenomenon used by a host of celebrities, budding photographers and snap happy users alike be the key to driving traffic to your website?

The social media sphere has become awash with image-based websites like Pinterest, whilst other social favourites like Facebook and Twitter are making it easier to upload and share your favourite snaps. While 54% of major brands use Instagram for promotional reasons, many growing businesses don’t consider using Instagram to market their products or services.

Using Instagram for business

Getting Started with Instagram

Setting up an Instagram business account and incorporating this social favourite into your social media marketing strategy couldn’t be easier and its features ensure you can get and stay connected with existing and potential customers and clients in a fun and frivolous way that still has your business ethics at its heart.

Instagram takes you through the setting up of your profile step-by-step, covering everything from choosing an account name and filling out your bio to adding other social networks and getting started with their photo editor and sharing features. When deciding on your Instagram account name, we recommend using a name similar or exactly the same as your Twitter handle to make it easier for fans and potential customers to find and follow you on multiple platforms. We would also advise downloading the app to make maintaining and updating your Instagram account less of a chore and more spur of the moment!

Instagram also hosts its own ‘Instagram for Business’ blog, which is regularly updated with tips, news and examples of how other businesses, both big and small, use Instagram to drive traffic and subsequently boost sales.

Striking the Right Balance between Fun and Business

A successful Instagram business profile has a mixture of fun images and business-focused additions; we would advise telling the story behind your brand to make it an engaging and fun journey for your customers that still essentially means business. Use the stories of your workforce to add a personal approach. Instagram has a number of helpful options for tracking engagement and the success of individual images, so test the water in the first few months and see what your audience likes best.

More than Images

In addition to uploading and sharing images, you can also use videos to market your business identity and values. These videos can be embedded into your on-site blog and shared via your other social media platforms to create engaging content, cultivate a following and extend your reach.

Be a Trend Follower and a Trendsetter

Instagram uses the same system as Twitter and uses hashtags (#) so that users can follow trends and be a part of the wider community. Keep an eye on what’s trending and use this to influence what you post, and tell your own story with your own hashtags. Use Instagram’s like and comment features to connect on a more personal level with new followers, ‘like’ other users’ images and engage with them with genuine comments.

How Often Do I Post to Instagram?

Like Pinterest, you don’t have to post on Instagram on a daily basis. In fact too much posting can actually do more harm than good and will over-occupy the news feeds of your followers and lead to quite a few ‘no follows’. Instead use your profile to post whenever you feel that the content is a valuable addition and aim to inspire potential customers and clients with your updates – remember with Instagram and any social media marketing strategy, the focus should be on quality, not quantity.

How are you using Instagram for your business? Post your account handle here, if you’d like to share.

Author’s Bio: Brittany Thorley is a social media marketing expert at Think Big Comms, a PR agency with a difference that specialises in ethnic marketing strategies.