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9 + 1 Things Every Reader Wants from a Writer

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Where to Start

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It can seem complicated to write for a readership that includes beginners to experts. I’ve done it for over two decades. It can seem like there’s too much to consider to meet them all at their own level.

My experience is that beginners and experts are not that different when they read. They might choose to read different things, but we all do. Beyond that difference of content, beginners, experts, and those of us in the middle — all readers — want the same things from a writer. [Read more…]

Writing for Readers — What’s My Promise as the Writer?

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Readers One and Many

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Most people think of writing as an individual activity. Many folks say, I write only for me! That could be so, but even then what a writer writes comes from experience, observation, and interaction with other people or of the writer as a person. Writing is intimately individual but also dynamically social. Even when people don’t read what I write, they have inspired it in some way or another.

Writing for an audience can seem overwhelming. It’s easy to get caught in a loop — thinking of each person who might drop by as someone you specifically have to write to. I find what works best for me is to define the group and to define my promise to them as a writer. [Read more…]

AT&T & ME w/o DSL — Why AT&T Won’t Fix Problems

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The Problem

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5:30a.m. Up and to the kitchen. Turn on the coffee. To the office. Turn on the computer. Take a shower.

5:45a.m. Get coffee. Get to work. OR NOT!

Wait a minute. What’s wrong here? Walk to the router. I have no DSL. I have things to do. It’s still DARK OUT.

6:00a.m. Consider options. Start to execute. Then envision images of screwed system. Recall pact that I will die first, because I’ll never be able to figure out how this home network is configured.

6;30a.m Wake up IT husband. Tell him we have no DSL.
He gets coffee, looks at router, see light off, and confirms it.

6:45a.m. Call AT&T. Listen to recording. Punch in numbers. Answer questions. Find out that we need to call another number.

7:00a.m. Call AT&T Number 2. Listen to recording. Punch in same numbers. Answer same questions. Finally get a person on the line. Start by saying the following.

ME: Hi, before we begin, could I just say that we have a sophisticated system here, that it was working at midnight, that everything is correctly connected, and that I’ve turned things off and on again.

AT&T SHE: Can I call you by your first name? [Read more…]

Always Choose for Your Readers, Right?

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It Just Happened Again

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I got a link to a fresh, vibrant article on how to make my business more fun. I wanted to leave a word, start a conversation, be a part of the discussion. Then I saw those words.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Why put a barrier to making a connection?

What I heard was I could talk, but only on the writer’s terms. I guess that’s okay. It’s his blog. but it didn’t feel very inviting. It didn’t seem like he cared much that I had anything to say.

I wondered what was going on. There was an About page, but there was no way to contact him. Maybe he’s new and left the login thing on by mistake. . . .

I left without him ever knowing.

I’ll tell the guy who had the link, maybe he knows.

I’m Still Hoping

I’m still hoping it’s accidental. I don’t want to think this fresh, vibrant writer has a secret club. That would blow my whole image of what he has going — friendly blog, fresh ideas, energy. He’s gotta know that you always choose for your readers . . . . always. Right?

Brand You and Me. Isn’t that how it goes?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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See the Customer Think Series on the SUCCESSFUL SERIES PAGE

9rules List Take 2

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Hello

This is me. I’m Liz. I’m the nice one.
I love 9rules Network. This Not a critique of the blogs there.
I never imagined in a million years it would be taken as such.
I’m sorry it was mistaken for that.
My apologies. I am truly sorry if that was not clear..
It saddens me to think someone would mistake this as something like that.
I’m so very sorry to all of you and so embarassed.

So I set the record straight.
I loved 9rules and everyone I met there when I was member and I still do.
Paul Scrivens has only been good to me. I consider him a friend.
This piece was simply meant as study in how quicky readers can sometimes make decisions
That was all.
As my dad use to say, “Only believe 1/2 of what you see, and none of what you hear.”

Sincerely,
Liz

PS. This was a post about the mathematics of a customer’s quick scan. 13,5% of 111 made a “I wanna look later list. Read the post again. There is no critical malice in it. It is an emotional observation of my own behavior.
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Going Down the List Again

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A week ago the 9rules Network announced 111 new sites had been selected to join them. I had the interesting experience of going through the list of 111 domain names looking for the blogs of folks I knew. I learned a few things from that experience that I think are worth sharing.

UPDATE: It seems I need to update this. These are the response of a cursory look through a bunch of 111 blogs that I knew nothing about, except that within them there were a certain number I already knew well. I had a limited lime as I went through list to capture those that immediately grabbed my attention. This doesn’t mean those that didn’t have something wrong. I wasn’t judging a contest. I was supershopping as some customer on timed reconnaissance might do. There is no intended implication that the blogs I left behind have anything lacking. This is about 15 unnamed blogs I happend to pick up on my way through a list of 111 that were selected.

Think of these as observations from the field. Do what you will with them.

  • I don’t pay attention to domain names. I pay attention to titles. That meant I had to check every single one just to be sure I didn’t miss a great blog — a blog that has, for one reason or another, a domain name that is wildly different from its title. If you have a different name on your blog, make sure that folks know about it, before they have to go through search engines to find you.
  • Too much going on and nothing to look at. There were several sites that couldn’t hold my attention for longer than a second. They made it easy to click on.
  • I was in a hurry to get to the short list. Some bloggers actually said they weren’t good enough to be in 9rules. I decided to agree with them. When there are too many choices in a short time space, customers look for reasons to say no. At least I know that I do.
  • On a second look, only 6 of the 15 blogs I bookmarked still hold my attention. I collected what I thought were 15 winners. I went back to check them out tonight. I couldn’t remember what I saw in most of them. Most seemed unremarkable. Had they blown their wad to get in? Did they not stand up to a longer look?
  • This is not the time to think that folks won’t notice. One of the 15 still has the same post up — the post that says it was chosen to be in 9rules.

Only 6 out of 111. Granted I went through the list fast and furious, but . . . even 6 out of 15 is disappointing. . . . I’m going to keep watching all 15 of them. I’ll let you know whether things change.

PS — I still like the ones I knew were great going in.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
9rules Picked Great Ones
See the entire Customer Think Series on the SUCCESSFUL SERIES PAGE

The Blogging Goals Project

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The Writing Project

Darren Rowse suggested a Group Writing Project in which participants considerted and shared their writing goals. I thought is was a worthwhile and timely event. So I did my part, My Father’s Saloon — a Blogging Story, about the place I want blogging to hold in my life. Other folks took other routes. All together there were 130 posts written, if I counted right.

Here are the highlights, most from folks we know. Stop by a few; have a read; leave a kind comment, if you time. I’m sure that everyone would appreciate hearing from you.

Inquisitive minds wanted to know.

James Martin starts everyone out with the crucial question. Why Do Blogs Exist? Meanwhile Yehuda is working on his own question — How I plan to take over the world. While Melly asks Is it True I should have Blog Goals?

Analytical ones were quite focused.

Ann Michael took a Sanity Check! Hock Ng considered Being a Purple Cow. Trisha discussed Blogs, my Goals and Everything. Rod at Wintermute added perspective in Blogging for Myself. Sheila Scarborough was quite clear. She said to Prevent a Midlife Crisis – Blog!

Manly men took up the challenge.

Easton Ellsworth put a prize possession on the line. If I Don’t Keep This Blogging Goal, You Can Have my PEZ Dispenser. Ben Yoskovitz vowed to Get Rich or Die Trying (OK not really, but it sounds cool, No?) Jack, on the other hand, took the opposite approach. 365 days left to kill this blog – this is what I call a killer Blog Goal.

Rugged individuals did their thing.

KimBahLee says Blog less. Kristonia Ink! speakth the 11 Commandments of blogging in the Blog Bible. jason Boog confesses in the latest blockbuster film, “Jason Boog Always Screws Up His Goals.”

In the end it all comes down to a small list of priorities. Mayvelous has hers down in
The Great Determinations of Mayvelous.

Why Do This?

Group projects like this worth are always worth considering. If you have the time to participate — they are often a win-win-win for a small investment. Knowledge shared here is wide and varied, highly useful and fun. Links made here strengthen the web-like connections of the Internet. Connections shared by us — folks in the middle are sharing these links, not A-Listers.

Collaborations like these are also great promotion for every blog involved. It’s branding, letting people know you exist, who you are. Relationships start. New discoveries are made. It’s participating becoming part of the conversation. Imagine commenting on that many blogs in just a few seconds. The impact is exponential and lasts a long as any blog reader who reads your blog, any blog writer that links to yours.

The best part is I’ve already discovered new blogs and new bloggers I really like. Nothing can top that as a reason to participate. This is one more way to be part of the conversation.

How might you carry this home to your blog?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
See the NEW BLOGGER PAGE, if you’re looking for serious.
See the category ZZZ-FUN if you’re not.