We might talk about places we’ve been, places we dream of, where to take the family, working vacations, vacations from technology, best times to travel, how to travel, vacations in our imaginations, . . . and who knows what else we’ll talk about?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Words are the fuel of the Internet. We type the name or description of a product, service, or topic into a search engine, and the search engine takes us to it. With luck we get where we would like to be. Easy enough from our end — usually.
Of course, our search words have to match those that marketers use to describe their product. And therein lies the problem. Sometimes as marketers, we are too clever for our searchers, or as my husband would argue, “Peach is fruit, NOT a color.”
In his post Words That Work at Marketing Profs, Gerry McGovern, uses the book “Words that Work,” by Frank Luntz to show that the words we sell with are often not the words we punch into a search engine. Take a look at Prof. McGovern’s examples:
However, according to Overture, in December 2006, 730,958 people searched for “used car,” while only 949 searched for “pre-owned vehicle.”
Nearly 73,000 people searched for “housewife” (122,000 searched for “desperate housewife”), while only 43 searched for “stay-at-home-mom.”
Over 30,000 searched for “gay marriage” while 19,000 searched for ” same-sex marriage.”
While about 17,000 people search for “impotence,” over 100,000 search for “erectile dysfunction,” proving that some words are indeed falling into disuse, even from a search point of view.
The point is that the words that might bring us to products — cheap office supplies, budget hotel — aren’t the same words that sell us when we get there — office supplies at great prices, campy hotel. Prof McGoven wonders whether we need to use more than one set of terms to describe things. Hmmmm. I don’t know.
I keep thinking that transparency and deep knowledge of our customers as people would lead us to write copy that naturally avoids the problem.
I’d love to know what you think.
— ME “Lia” Strauss
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Karen Lynch answered the phone and immediately we were talking about her husband, her 3 kids, and her cat. It seems that she has a special family to share her life, and she’s pretty proud of them. She’s also the kind that you can tell right away that they’re pretty proud of her as well.
Karen has a blog for breast cancer survivors, and she is a survivor herself. She spends time on the cancer blog sharing informtion and her story so others can move forward. Karen’s also a writer and a journalist. She has writer’s blog as well. Over there, she writes about her writing work and related writing subjects.
I asked Karen where her life had taken her. She said that she’s been writing since grade school. We talked a bit about that. She told me that she started journaling as a teen and did creative writing, during and after that. Karen said that even when she had a coporate marketing job she was still writing. I knew what she meant.
Karen said that she left the marketing job for a writing life — magazine writing to be exact. She talked about when she would know she was a writer and her definition of success. Then I told her mine.
I could tell that magazine writing is her passion. Possibly the easiest way for me to tell it was her calling was that I tried to talk her out of it, told her all of the reasons not to like it; gave her the pitch about everything wrong with writing for magazines . . . and Karen answered simply that she had decided that was what she wanted to do. She would make the big glossy magazine article happen. I have no doubt about that.
I’m usually quite convincing. Karen must be quite sure of where she is going.
I like that about her. I also like her laugh, her sense of humor, and a whole lot more.
I want to be an anpproachable resource who says to new writers that we can walk the walk together. — Karen Lynch
Stop by Karen’s Blog, A Writer’s Blog, and say hi!
Thanks, Karen, you B.A.D. Blogger!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.
It’s not you, It’s not the quality of your posts. Its the U.S. winter. It happened last year. From what I read it happened the year before too.
Still it seems strange behavior.
Why do you suppose that in January and February stats act silly and bloggers, as a group, seem unpredictable?
Blogging seems like it should be a perfect winter sport.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
This is so cool. I was thinking about the processes I follow this weekend. I figured out something you probably already know. The process I outlined in the post called One 12-Step Process . . . What Process Is This? is all of these:
I didn’t realize how these endeavors were in so many ways alike.
It’s amazing what one process model can do.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think I can help with your writing or your business, check out the Perfect Virtual Manager on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.
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When we use a process to structure our thinking, we provide strategy with a safety net. Here’s one 12-step process. Can you name the effort, action, or project that it describes?
It goes without saying that you can’t develop my plan, and I can’t develop yours.
What process is this? Did I miss any critical steps?
–Me “Liz” Strauss
If you think I can help with your writing or your business, check out the Perfect Virtual Manager on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.
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