Before You Publish–Check for Spiders and Opportunities

March 9, 2006 by Liz

Before you hit that PUBLISH button . . .

Publishing occurs whenever an author shares a work with an audience. An email memo, a note that says where you are going, a paper you wrote for a class in Econometrics, these are all forms of publishing.

–ME Strauss

Reading for Spiders

Publishing for the web has two audiences–people and search engine spiders. The first time I read my work over, I read it for people. I checked for errors that get between my readers and the message. I also had my proofreader check it to catch what my dyslexia missed. Yesterday, she caught quite bit.

Then I go over it a second time quickly for my second audience–search engine spiders–to make sure the spiders don’t trip and have plenty to eat.

Making Sure the Investment Pays Off

Prorating the time that I spent gathering ideas, I’ve probably spent 60-90 minutes on this one post. Time is money, and I think of that time spent as an investment. Now is when I make sure that investment pays off. I’ve made a short Pre-Flight Publishing list that I run down, before I pass say, “Go.”

Is the content keyword rich? By waiting to read for keywords until after all other checks, I make sure that I don’t forfeit quality to pray at the altar of SEO. Now, I can look for keywords my readers might search for and make sure that they find the relevant content that I have to offer. I won’t be reaching, and they won’t be disappointed. Current relationships will stay strong, and new readers will be pleased with what they encounter here.
What tags might I add that belong with this post? Tags can help search engine spiders properly index my post. Post tags are definitely blog, brand, and business promotion. If your blogging software doesn’t easily allow you to tag your posts, there are plug-ins and hacks for every platform out there.
What related articles do I have that readers might be interested in reading? Offering related articles for readers to go to when they finished your post, gives people more information about a subject they’ve already shown interest in. It also gets readers more involved with you, your blog, your business, and your brand. The intra-link that you make at the end of your post shows people how your content relates and is relevant throughout your blog–this helps search engines index it as well.
Are there opportunities for trackbacks? If you’ve mentioned another blogger’s work or if what you’ve said meshes beautifully with the conversation on another blog, send a trackback to let that blogger know.
Is this that one-in-a-million post that I should self-promote to other blogs? If you’ve written the post that reveals the nature of how to get “Google Goodness” from every post, carefully write a brief introduction of yourself and your post to a select few bloggers you wish to share it with. Do be sure it’s a one-in-a-million post, and do explain your reasons for thinking it’s a match with their blogs. If you don’t read a blog, don’t send a link. Period. Either way, it’s a long shot that a post really is the one-in-a-million post that we think it is.

Those are just a few ways I try to diversify and grow my investment. I like to make sure the time I spend continues to pay off, compounding interest well into the future.

You probably have other ways that you build promotion into the posts you write. Will you take a minute to share one with us?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Archive Promotion To-Do List

March 8, 2006 by Liz

I’ve been having to go to meetings lately. So I’ve been printing my most popular articles and taking them with me, using them as writing fodder–as a place to get ideas. That’s what got me thinking how often it is that we forget the best promotion that we have is sitting in our blog archives.

Letting readers know what’s in our archives is a great way to invite them to become a part of our brands, our blogs, and our businesses in a more intimate fashion.

Blog Archive Promotion To-Do List

Here’s a check list of a few things we all should be doing to promote our blogs from within. I call it the Blog Archive Promotion To-Do List.

Put Popular Posts where folks can find them. I’m as guilty as the next guy, as I’m not a tech and I’ve not yet charmed one into helping me put up an automatic list of popular posts. But in the meantime, I have a Popular Post Page in the sidebar, and I’ll keep it even after I get that list of Popular Posts. If you can’t create a page, hand code links to your best posts.
Feature Related Articles at the end of every new post. When you finish writing a post, let folks know about other articles you’ve written that they might be interested in. Intra-linking of this nature is not only a service to your readers, it lets search engines know how the content on your blog has relevance and context for your readers.
Intra-Link to Past Articles when you can. If you have an article that perfectly fits what you’re talking about as my post Think Before You Intra-link so perfectly suits this one, remember to include a link to it.
Read your stats to see what’s popular and make more. Then read those posts to learn what made them favorites with readers. Keep popular posts in a collection. Try to figure out what they have in common. Use those common features to guide you as you write in the future.
If you get key word traffic, make sure it’s landing on the posts that it should. If it isn’t find a way to tag your posts so that the next person who searches with that key word gets to the post that delivers the right goods.

I’m sure I’ve not thought of all the ways we might be using archives as promotion. You must have ideas too. What are some creative ways that you’ve used your archives to encourage readers to visit more and stay longer at your blog?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Check It Out–For Your Readers

March 8, 2006 by Liz

The rule is

Allow half again as much time for editing.
If it took 20 minutes to write it, allow 10 more to check it out.
For me, it works the opposite, if it took 20 minutes to write,
it will take 40 minutes to check it out.

Why I Know What I Know about This Step

I’m probably the last person who has any credibility in writing about this topic–but maybe that makes me the one to whom you should listen. You see I have so many strikes against me in this area–I come from a family of dyslexics. I suffer from the writer’s curse of seeing what I meant to say, instead of what’s on the paper. I’m a big picture person, which means focus on details takes an extra effort–that I’ve had to find ways of building in safety nets to avoid embarassing myself and the people I work for.

Reading for Your Readers (2-4 minutes)

The writing is done, but it’s not over. Time to check for all of the little glitches that occur when words move from your head down through your finger to the screen. We owe it to our readers to give what we wrote a good and thorough reading. Here are some power steps to follow to make sure that you catch all of the errors in the shortest time possible.

Switch your document into the preview mode.
Set your browser to a type size at least two sizes larger than you’re used to reading.
Print the document and read it on paper.
Run a spell checker on the document.
Use a checklist to guide you through longer articles.

Printing and reading the document in a larger type size on paper as opposed to on the screen will help you see errors more quickly. Read with a pencil and point to each word as you read it. That will help to prevent your mind from filling in words that you expect to be there but, in reality, are not on the page.

Try to get the basic grammar rules correct, but know this about commas–even the most experienced copyeditors have problems with commas. Be consistent with your use of punctuation and your readers will be able to understand your message.

At this point I copy the document out into a text editor for a spellchecker. I find WordPress spellcheckers to be unreliable. Even if I spellchecked in an offline editor before moving to my blog software, I make changes that haven’t been checked. Checking again is one more safety net that only takes a few seconds, and saves me errors that others would see.

Inputting Changes (2-4 minutes)

If you’re like me, you’ve probably found an error or two. Actually, if you’re like me the number is probably closer to 20 errors. Know this before you start inputting changes. There are three risks I’ve observed from working with professional inputters who have input changes from whole departments of editors.

Look closely again near any error you found. It’s human nature to feel so good about finding one error that we miss one right next to it.
Tick off each error as you input the change . Missed changes are a common problem with inputting corrections.
Introducing new errors at this stage is often a problem. Watch what you input that you don’t accidently add or delete too much. A common mistake is to change a verb that affects the use of the word “to” later in the sentence. For example, if the sentence Ask them to stop. becomes Have them to stop. it is common for folks to forget to delete the word “to” in the second version.

Do yourself and your readers the favor of printing and reading the document again to check that all of the changes have been made and that the document reads smoothly. If you’re as impatient as I am, you want to just publish it . . . but use the few seconds it takes to read it anyway.

The ethic here is spare the reader.

Your readers won’t notice if your work is a few minutes later, but an error will be there until you find it and fix it.

Let me know if you have any questions if your process works in a different way. You might have ideas that will help someone else be a power writer.

Remember every writer’s process is personal. Hope this helps you find out what works best for you.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles:
Introducing Power Writing for Everyone
DonÃ¢â¬â¢t Hunt IDEAS Be an Idea Magnet
Why Dave Barry and Liz DonÃ¢â¬â¢t Get WriterÃ¢â¬â¢s Block
Editing for Quality and a Content Editor’s Checklist

Looking in the Right Direction — The MSM Isn’t. Are You?

March 7, 2006 by Liz

Why the MSM Can’t See the Threat

The Main Stream Media and those who aspire to be part of it are concerned about what’s happening with blogs. They just can’t seem to get their minds around something that doesn’t abide by the rules that have been carefully laid out and followed for so many years. The old guys . . . and I did say guys didn’t I? . . . at the top are used to calling the shots, so used to it, they’ve lost track of basics of how market economies work. Certainly if they received their MBA in the last 25 years, they ran into the work of Michael Porter.

So let’s start with the competitve threat posed by blogs as defined by Michael Porter’s Five Forces that David Starling so eloquently stated

the power of suppliers
the power of buyers
barriers to entry
the degree of rivalry among incumbents
the presence of substitutes

Blogs, as David so eloqently stated, are all five. They have power over suppliers and buyers and in many cases are them. Blogs have no barriers to entry. Blogs are substitutes and rivals.

So why isn’t the MainStream Media shaking in their boots?

Possibly because they can’t bring themselves to believe what they’re seeing.

How could it be possible that a bunch of real people without their resources could be doing anything called publishing? If we don’t see it, it can’t be happening.

Sad to say, looking in the wrong direction is a popular response in the world of business.

What Should the MSM Be Worried About?

On to Scott Karp’s comments that I mentioned earlier . . . This is why Media/Web 2.0 needs Marketing 2.0 Ã¢â¬â we need a new economic paradigm for valuing attention, which will create a new paradigm for value creation in Media/Web 2.0.

Media+Web longing for a economic paradigm that includes Advertising/Audience is how I paraphrased it. Where do we find that? We find that three places.

A Listers
Blog Networks
Social Bookmarking and Social Search Engine Sites

All of these have one thing in common–Power. The power to move an audience around the the web with a small effort. We know the value of the Slashdot effect. The good news can bring down a network server. It works the same within the tight network of the A-Listers. Scoble says “breeeeeport” and all his fans link to it. Think of what a network of 80 or so blogs might have the power to do if they wanted to move an idea or an audience across the internet.

It won’t be long before advertisers understand this.
It will be slightly longer before the MSM understand that the advertisers do.

What Happens to Us in the Magic Middle

That’s why we in the Magic Middle need to take Social Bookmarking seriously. It has the power to make a significant difference in the future of our place in the Internet. We need to find the ways to use it in our favor, to use it to maintain our status as the “mom and pop” stores of the Internet.

Whether we need to buy into the advertising model or not we’ll have to find ways to compete with the power brokers on the level of audience, or else we’ll get lost. Socialbookmarking offers a venue that could be the best chance. At the very least becoming a part of something bigger than we are is probably a good thing to do. A new blog every second means that every second we get smaller.

To be an entrepreneur in a world of millions of them is going to require a new kind entrepreneur and a new kind of entrepreneurial thinking and networking.

When my son was four, he was fascinated by geography. He knew more about the planet than most adults do. As I tucked him into bed one night, he asked about a business trip I was taking the next day.

“Mom, There are mountains in Nevada. Right?”

“Yes.” I said.

“Don’t look this way and walk that way,” was his response.

I’ve never found out whether he thought I was going to walk into a mountain or off a cliff. I was just charmed that he was worried about me.
He’s a nice one too. 🙂

What are you doing to make sure you’re looking in the right direction?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Got the Idea. Now What Do I Do with It?

March 7, 2006 by Liz

A quote I like a lot says

I hate writing. I love having written.

Make a Five-Minute Writing Plan

You can at least get to be friends with writing, if you start with a simple writing plan.

I’ve got a pile of ideas. Writing the article should a breeze. Right? Well maybe. But sometimes, it isn’t. Why is that? Usually it’s because I haven’t really decided what it is I want to say. This is how to avoid that problem by making a quick writing plan.

Decide What You Want to Say (1 minute)

Choose the idea you’re most interested in.
Write one sentence stating why readers need to know about it.
Use that sentences a working title for now.

Plan How You’re Going to Say It (2-4 minutes)

Sketch, visualize, or tell yourself what three main points of the article will be. “I’ll say this and this and this.” Most articles that aren’t how-to articles only need 1-3 points well-said.
Add something from your personal experience–one bit– that will make a point more clearly or make the article more appealing.
Let the research sit there, unless you need it to look something up. It’s served it’s purpose. (See DonÃ¢â¬â¢t Hunt IDEAS Be an Idea Magnet.)

Five are minutes up, time to start writing!

Starting, Going, Done in Minutes

When I write I think about my audience–one person that I might be talking to. That makes it easier to frame my message. I picture a prototypical reader–always someone who likes me. Why start out with someone who doesn’t? Then the writing would take on a defensive tone. I want my writing to be friendly so I choose a friendly audience. It’s as simple as that.

Middle, Beginning, Ending

Ever sit down to tell a story and not know how to start it. Inevitably a listener will say, “Start at the beginning.” But just where is the beginning? Sometimes the beginning is the hardest part to see. That’s why I start from the middle with the main points that I just sketched out.

By starting from the middle, no blank screen can intimidate me. I know exactly what I’m going to write and in what order. I get my ideas on paper and flowing. I begin to see the article take form and imagine my readers reading it. I also get a feeling for what exactly it is that’s working.

Write Until You Need to Walk

While I write I add flourishes–metaphors and explanations. Occasionally my mind gets stuck on a word or an idea. It’s that feeling where I know what I want to say, but just can’t seem to find the words or the image to express it. That’s when I move around. Movement helps let the ideas gel. I walk around the apartment, looking at the floor and thinking–this is a no talking, no listening time–it’s sort of like putting my brain on a swing set. The sentence I am trying to write plays in my head–over and over in new versions. When I get back and sit down, I’m ready to write again. In fact, that’s how I got from the words Sometimes I walk in this paragraph to here just now.

Beginning, Ending

When I get the Middle set, I stop to read it and set the subhead. Then it’s time to tackle the Ending and Beginning, which are usually about the same thing–why the heck should people read this and why the heck should they be glad they did?

As the old presentation adage goes:

Beginning: Tell them what you’re going to tell them (and why they want to hear it.)
Middle: Tell them what you said you’d tell them.
Ending: Tell them what you just told them (and why they should be glad they heard it.)

So that’s exactly what I do to call the writing done.

What I Just Told You

Starting with a simple plan–a sketch what you want to tell your readers–and starting in the middle are two ways that you can get yourself into the writing with less pain and more productivity.

Only two things here are critical: know what you want to say and a change of venue when you feel stuck. Don’t feel a need to follow my process. A writer’s process is fluid and personal. Find the gems in what I do that work for you and toss the rest aside.

As always, I’m here if you want to talk about this. Writer’s have so many cool techniques and strategies. I’m really interested in what works for you.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Why MSM Are Afraid of Blogs–and Should Be

March 6, 2006 by Liz

They say the blogosphere is about the conversation. Well, an interesting business conversation has been going on since Thursday. That’s when Mr. Tom Glocer, CEO of Reuters gave the Keynote Address in London to the Online Publishers Association. According to the Guardian UK, Mr Glocer warned the “old media” that they needed to know their own worth and be prepared to change or they’d lose out of the online pie. Mr. Glocer’was quoted.

I believe the world will always need editing,” he said. “Just because everyone has the potential to publish their own blog, doesn’t mean they’re all worth reading. The role of companies like ours is to edit and filter, and provide open tools for the audience. The good stuff will float to the top.

Nothing patronizing there, Mr. Glocer. I’ve worked for a few publishers. Your experience seems to be different from mine. Where I worked, as a rule, the good stuff was many places besides the top.

The Reuter’s CEO, Mr. Glocer, went on.

Protectionism doesn’t work, but neither does total surrender. As media companies, we now have access to a rich world of sources. Let’s not turn away from the potential of all of this, but understand it and unlock it.

Gee, that makes me feel all grown-up and warm inside. I didn’t know the Old Media owned the keys to the world. Could I have a quarter to buy a candy bar?

Mr Glocer went on to say that the role of old media should be that of content facilitator, tools provider, editor, and go-between providing structure to the information between supplier and the consumer–even if they are the same people.

I guess that’s because we can’t figure out how to talk to each other.

In other words, Mr Glocer, you’re happy to let blogs have a space in the media world as long as everyone understands that old media will still run the show?

Richard MacManus on Next Generation Web and Media at first found this speech left him breathless, and then came back to earth because of Eran Globen’s post, which said that the old media has always been seeding clouds; we don’t want them interloping; and the editing will take care of itself in time.

Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine says Reuters gets it, and to Jarvis’ credit, he was there. But . . .

Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 completely disagrees with Jeff Jarvis and everyone (and there were lots of everyones) saying that Tom Glocer has fooled them into thinking he is on their side. Mr. Karp points out, rightfully I think that Glocer’s points are a formula for more of the same–old media as it already exists. Perpetuating the entrenchment, that’s he calls it. Scott Karp is 100% right.

Scott Karp goes on to add that blogging has two out of three parts–Media+Web longing for a economic paradigm that includes Advertising/Audience. He’s upfront about not knowing how to build the rest of this economic model, but again he’s right. This is the key to where things need to go.

At the same time this conversation was going on, a man I like to think of as a friend was writing this.

Part of what makes the blogsophere such a perplexing challenge for mainstream media is this: it is not easily amenable to analysis using standard strategic management theories and analytical frameworks. Consider, for example, the problems that arise when one uses the most widely taught strategic management framework, Michael PorterÃ¢â¬â¢s Five Forces, to get a handle on the competitive threat posed by blogs. . . . that the determinants of profitability in an industry are explained by five “forces”- the power of suppliers; the power of buyers; barriers to entry; the degree of rivalry among incumbents; and the presence of substitutes.

When I say that blogs are perplexing, it is not just because they don’t fit neatly into any one of those five classes of determinants. The real problem, as I see it, is that they fit into all of them, at the same time. Blogs are new entrant, substitute, complement, and rival. They offset much of the power the MSM has traditionally had over its both buyers and its suppliers. Were blogs just any one of these things, they could be easily be squashed, co-opted, or marginalized. But they are not. Incumbent firms donÃ¢â¬â¢t see challenges and challengers like this everyday.
–David Starling, The Business of America is America

All of those people I read following the links on all of those blogs. Most of them weren’t doing more than passing on what had been said. . . . Two people brought something startling new to the conversation–Scott Karp and David Starling–they’re on opposite sides of the world and weren’t even responding to the same thing.

Boy, do I wish I could be in a room with the two of them.

How did the rest of them miss what Glocer was saying? Is this another elephant standing in the room?

–ME “Liz” Strauss