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8 Sales Rules for Writing – No One Kills a Messenger who Writes for Readers

August 28, 2006 by Liz

Poorly Written Messages

power writing at work

In the olden days when there were kings and queens, way before I was born, a business message was sending a runner with message in hand from a battlefield to the king. If the message was good news, the runner might enjoy a feast. If the message was not so good, the king might enjoy seeing the runner run until his life was over.

Even when I was short, that killing the messenger stuff never made much sense to me. It seems like the guys with the messages might figure out what was going on and run the other way, instead of running to the king.

Had I been forced to run messages back then, you can bet I would have found out what the darn message said. Then I’d have figured out a way to write that same message to the king, based on what the king cares about.

That’s what I do for a living — write messages for readers.

So where do sales rules fit in all this?

Mike Sigers Got Me Thinking about Sales Rules

I was at Simplenomics last night, reading Mike Sigers’ post, Mike’s 8 Simple Rules for Repeat Sales, when I realized that everyone is a sales rep. I know. I won’t tell if you don’t tell my husband either.

I’m not making some smoky analogy here. I was a sales rep for the Philips-Van Heusen Shirt Company with a two state territory.

I had a genuine revelation. It came to me that I use my sales training every day and that everyone else uses sales practices too. Granted some of us are a bit better than others at getting them right, but that includes sales reps with training too.

In an email this morning I told Mike I was going to rewrite his post. I explained my reason as everyone is a sales rep. He said:

Wait a minute ?!

Everyone a sales rep ?

Not a freakin’ chance – even you can’t do magic… or can you ?

Let’s turn the page and see how far off I am. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Successful Blog, Writing Tagged With: bc, blogging, business-blogging, business-writing, engagement on blogs, How-to-Blog, Marketing /Sales / Social Media, tools of engagement

Free Blogspot Templates

June 22, 2006 by Liz

Finally Free Blogspot Templates

I remember when I started my blogspot blog, how hard it was to find any good templates. Now you’ve got some great ones to choose from.

GreatQuestionable? Find: Free BlogSpot Templates
Type of Article: Resource of blogspot templates
Permalink:
http://freeblogspottemplates.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_
freeblogspottemplates_archive.html
Target Audience: Every Blogpsot user

Content: It’s about time someone had mercy on Blogspot users and made some templates with pizzazz. Finally Blogspot goes Web 2.0. This site has archives back to February and has some really cool choices. All they ask for their hard work is that you link back. Not a bad trade for the originality that is offered. Take a look by clicking the title shot below.

Free Blogspot Templates

Why not take this weekend to re-brand your blog or your business? Try new a template to add life and maybe change a bit what you let your readers know about you. A new template can be a great way to catch the attention of new readers . . .

UPDATE: PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS TO THIS POST: mela Says:
That guy at freeblogspottemplates is taking templates found at other sites, stripping them of the link/credit to the site it was found at, and then inserting his own link/credit into the template.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
Great Finds: Over 875 Free WordPress Themes
The Ultimate Blog Directory Handbook: Over 1800+ Submission Sites
Great Finds: EchoEcho on and on and on
Great Find: Easy File Backups

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Design, Successful Blog, Tools Tagged With: bc, blog-promotion, Blogspot-templates, Blogspot-themes, curb-appeal, Design, Emily-Robbins, Great Finds, How-to-Blog

Great Finds: Over 875 Free WordPress Themes

June 13, 2006 by Liz

WooHoo!!! All in One Place

Just updated on May 31st — Believe me, there are WAY more WordPress themes and variations here than the title of the post says.

Great Find: Comprehensive list of 875+ Free WordPress 1.5 and 2.0 Themes / Templates available for download
Type of Article: Resource of link throughs to WordPress templates
Permalink: http://www.emilyrobbins.com/how-to-blog/comprehensive-list-of-615-free-wordpress-15-and-20-themes-templates-available-for-download-266.htm
Target Audience: Every WordPress user

Content: Emily Robbins at How to Blog did the work. It shows. Emily not only made the list, she gives the details. She tells you which templates require word 2.0, which offer 3 columns, and which include WordPress widgets support. She even makes notes on specific themes, such as those that are appropriate for photobloggers. This list might not be as pretty as the WordPress Theme Viewer, but I don’t think there is a more useful list available anywhere. To find the list click the title below.

610 comprehensive list of 685 WordPress Themes

Ready to brand your blog or your business properly? Try new WordPress Theme that says what you stand for.

Congratulations and thank you, Emily. Give this woman links and links. She’s earned them.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
The Ultimate Blog Directory Handbook: Over 1800+ Submission Sites
Great Finds: EchoEcho on and on and on
Great Find: Easy File Backups

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Design, Successful Blog, Tech/Stats, Tools Tagged With: bc, blog-promotion, curb-appeal, Design, Emily-Robbins, Great Finds, How-to-Blog, WordPress-Templates, WordPress-Themes

Don’t Buy that New Domain Name Yet

December 1, 2005 by Liz

How to Blog Series

Sean Si of SEO-Hacker.com wrote a post about Google with regard to what is being called the “aging process.” He shared his thoughts and experience on the logic of buying a used domain or “aged” name rather than starting out with a spanking new one.

I Have a Name Already. Thank You.
I’m sure you do, and I’m sure it’s a fine one . . . or maybe it isn’t. As culturally literate members of the community, we should know why old domain names are in such demand. Besides, one day you or a friend will face the question of whether to change a blog’s name, and we need to know everything that comes with making that decision.

Spammers Ruined Things for Everyone
In order to combat spammers, Google algorithms have added values biased toward long-timers.

  • bypassing the 6-8 month aging delay
  • having a headstart in page rank
  • positioning bonuses, such as listing in the search indexes and key directories

Oh and remember if you don’t come back soon, I might be out finding a new, old domain name for Successful Blog. After all, it is a way of social climbing. Change your name and get what comes with it. Let’s see. Hmmmm . . . I wonder if IvanaTrump.com is available yet . . . not that one. Okay then . . .

Be irresistible.
ME “Liz” Strauss Work with Liz on your business!!

Filed Under: Blog Basics, SEO, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, domain names, How-to-Blog, LinkedIn, Liz-Strauss, new-domain-name, old-domain-name, Successful-Blog

Blog Review Checklist

October 25, 2005 by Liz

How to Blog Series

When was the last time you looked at your blog the way your readers do? If you write only for yourself, you look at it that way every day. . . . You are your audience. You’re done.

The rest of us are looking for an audience a little bit larger than one.

Humans have unconscious tendencies. We do lots of the things we like to do and ignore the things we don’t. This makes for a blog that looks great from our point of view, but can leave gaping holes–holes that our readers see, holes they probably won’t tell us about.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay to leave things out, as long as we know that we’re doing it. Not every blog has to do everything. In fact, most really shouldn’t. But walking around with a hole in your blog could be embarrassing, especially if you don’t know about it.

Here’s a checklist to make sure your blog’s (ahem) vital parts are covered.

Blog Review Checklist

  • Audience: What words would your readers use to describe your blog? What do they like best about your site?
  • Purpose: What is the purpose of your blog? Why does it exist? Is the purpose stated plainly where your readers can see it? How well does your blog meet that purpose?
  • Content: How well does the content support the purpose? Is the content readable, interesting, accurate, entertaining, and appropriate for your audience?
  • Design: How well does the look of the blog communicate the kind of blog it is? Is navigation easy and intuitive? Do items flow naturally from the first to the next? Do the color palette, image, and type choices support the content or call attention away from it?
  • Posts: Do you post on a consistent schedule the information readers came to find? Do your posts reflect the unique purpose and style of your blog? Do they offer variety and interest within your blog’s purpose and theme?
  • Comments: Do you read and respond to comments to form a sense of community? Consider which posts get most comments and which get none. How does that effect the topics that you’re posting on?
  • Technical Issues: Have you checked lately to see whether and how fast your blog loads in other browsers? Have you overdone the use of plug-ins and gadgets, making the experience more confusing than fun?
  • Writing: Is your writing clear and respectful of your readers? Have you established a writing voice that lets readers know who you really are? Is the blog essentially free of errors in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation?
  • Organization: Have you set up your categories to draw readers into your backlist? Do you feature “Golden Oldies” that new readers would have interest in? Do you name your Categories things that readers can understand?
  • Marketing and Social Networks: What are you doing to let readers know that you are here? Are you listed in the right directories? Do you read and comment on other blogs within your readership? Have you included linked to the social networks where your ideal readers spend their time?

Sure it takes time to review your blog. It takes even more to make tweaks and changes. But you invest so much time blogging. Doesn’t it seem worth it?

A rule of good publishing says, Spare the reader not yourself. In the end, you won’t be sorry.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Want to be a better blogger? Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Checklists, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Blog, blog_basics, blog_promotion, Blog_Review_Checklist, blog_submissions, Blogger, blogging, How-to-Blog

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