Successful Blog

1 Word, 1 Sentence, As Many Words as You Need Test

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SIMPLE SALES SERIES

Still The Decision Model

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Chris Garrett and I had a conversation yesterday morning. We discussed the difference between the way we see our blogs and the way our readers see them. That got us talking about testimonials.

Testimonials are more than meet the eye. They tell us what customers value . . . what we do for them.

Chris and I talked about using surveys to focus a businesses. We agreed that the key is to listen carefully. Read every word that is said. Look deep in the text for the hidden testimonials.

One goal of great survey is to gather what customers say and use it to promote our businesses.

But don’t stop there.

Look closely at what the testimonials say — testimonials often reveal what we don’t know about ourselves and how people see our work.

That’s what Chris and I were talking about . . .

The 1 Word, 1 Sentence, As Many Words as You Need Test

Other people see what we do in ways that often surprise us. Try this test about your own work then pass it on to a friend. Here’s how it works.

Do a favor. Write a testimonial for someone’s blog — in this case would you do mine, please? (Write your answers in the comment box.)

1. Describe my blog in one word. _______.

2. Describe my blog in one sentence. _______________________________. < 3. Describe my blog in as many words as you need. _____________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Now write a testimonial for your business or blog. Write your answers in the comment box too, if you are ready to. 1. Describe your blog or business in one word. _______. 2. Describe your blog or business in one sentence. _____________________. 3. Describe your blog or business in as many words as you need. _________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ What do you think other people will see in you? Make a prediction. Now print out this page and do it a few more times. Each time as another friend to do it with you. Compare each new person's testimonial to the one that you wrote. Write a new each time, you'll find you'll get closer to your message if you do. Pay attention to what bits your friend calls out. When you have finished the exercise, check to see how close your prediction was. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself. --ME "Liz" Strauss Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

The Blog Herald: Rock Star Bloggers, Do You Chase Readers Away?

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It’s as Easy as 1,2,3

I’ve noticed something about bloggers. We’re all rock stars. It’s true and there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to have 1000 readers to be a rock star. You only need one loyal fan.

The problem is that, over the long haul, we sometimes change the way we blog. Like rock stars, some of us peak too early. Some of us get better as time goes by. Some of us get tired of the daily grind, and some buy into our own PR.

Read the whole feature in today’s Blog Herald by clicking the logo.

The Blog Herald

It’s about blogging and real life.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
At the Blog Herald, I write about books, information, and relationships, making connections from the patterns she sees. I consider these keystone articles.
Authenticity and Transparency in the Real World
In the Real World — The Half-Full, Half-Empty Glass
The Universe of People, Black Holes, and Stars
Connectors and Mavens on the Tipping Point
The Writer’s Dilemma and the Blogger’s Secret
The Two Webs: Information or Relationships?
Social Networking: Am I Person Or an Item?

How to Answer the Only Customer Questions that Count

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Still The Decision Model

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Used well, this four-point definition/decision model can make your business thinking solid, swifter, and more customer-centered.

  • An explicit description of our customer and the niche market he or she represents
  • A company name and identity that fits and appeals to that ideal customer
  • A tagline that states what we promise and deliver
  • A “do line” that answers “What do you do?” in a few words

The goal of the four-part definition is the deep thinking. That’s the only way to stand on solid ground when the tough questions come. By thinking through and answering the four parts of the decision model, we’re writing the unique and compelling story of the business. .

How to Answer the Only Customer Questions that Count

The compelling story — the four-point definition — is important because it answers the only two questions customers care about when choose who to hire.

Key Question 1: What problem do you solve? (Can you, will you, do the job?)

Key Question 2: What is your unique value? (What do you cost? What are your benefits per buck?)

The two key questions are it. This is just one way the fou-point definition/decision model streamlines our business thinking. More on that laters . . .

Use the Two Key Questions

Now picture me back at that party where someone has asked, “What do you do?” I might answer this way, using the two key questions to guide my reply.


Answer to Key Question 1: I help businesses turn strangers into customer-friends who are fiercely loyal.
Answer to Key Question 2: I have a knack at seeing what businesses do in the way a naive, intelligent customer does. I show clients how they might fix any disconnects in their strategy and relationships.

When it’s you, be sure to answer the two key questions. Then STOP.

Let your audience have a chance to take in what you said. You’ll most likely hear your audience say it back to you in some way. Of course, it’s more meaningful when they talk about it themselves. Even their questions work in your favor.

Explian the problem you solve. Tell why you’re uniquely qualified. Then listen. When I do that I often hear someone tell me why I’m the right person to solve a problem.

Can you stand to hear a potential customer thinking, then talking, about how you might be the right person for a job?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck? Check out the Start-up Strategy Package. Work with Liz!!

Related
To follow the entire series: Liz Strauss’ Inside-Out Thinking to Building a Solid Business, see the Successful Series Page.

Passionate Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

For this week’s dots, I chose the theme…

passion

In the true spirit of Liz’s blogpost today, these dots did the most noble thing, they surrendered to their passion. They became Visible, Valuable and Mighty.

When you arrive at one of these dots… it’s like jumping into the ocean from a cliff, you are totally and immediately immersed into their lives, their passion.

I chose these dots because to many readers they will appear to be unconnected, three seemingly unrelated blogs. I connected them not through their subjects but through their hearts.

dotdoticon-tiny

Ruth is a long-time member of TheGoodBlogs. I’ve admired her consistent posts on food for all seasons. Each post is lovingly crafted with gorgeous pictures that inspires me to run to the kitchen and forget all my incompetencies as a cook. A blogger’s feast with a personal twist.

She even has a worthy competitor to the venerable Klondike bar (hardcore SOBs will know, that Klondike bars on Open Mike Tuesdays at this blog are synonymous to beer at Cheers).

dotdoticon-tiny

I met Jesse, Gitr, at Sobcon07. He is passionate especially when it comes to the World of Warcraft. Did you know he describes himself as having a 5th degree blackbelt in Microsoft Word! With close to 700 blogposts, he’s far from done and if you’re a gaming nut, you’ll appreciate the dedication and quality of his posts. It’s also why the blog is great, it is about Gitr playing the game not just another game review site. It is life of Gitr in his virtual world. Gitr is the WOW factor.

dotdoticon-tiny

When you visit Director Tom, there is no doubt that Tom is filmmaker. Scratch the surface and you’ll find Tom is more than the about lights, cameras, action. Those are merely props. He wants to tell your story through his medium and expertise and make it inspiring, personal and emotional. Tom says, My deepest desire is to see these stories help the world become a better and kinder place. That is Tom’s real passion. He wants to make us say, Let’s See That Again!

I get the sense that as long as they breathe and have a keyboard nearby, these dots will not go gently into the night. They will rage forever…

because they are simply mirrors of the souls who feed them.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Surrender Dorothy . . . Visible, Valuable, and Mighty

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I've been thinking . . .

about surrendering.

In the Wizard of OZ when Dorothy and her companions — The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodsman, and The Cowardly Lion — leave the Wash and Brush Up Shop in the Emerald City, they see the Wicked Witch of the West use her broom to write these words across the sky.

SURRENDER DOROTHY

Anyone, who’s seen the movie or read the books, knows that Dorothy was dreaming the story and that the characters were people from her life. You could say that, like the rest of us, Dorothy was solving a problem in her unconscious while she slept. That thought makes me wonder . . .

What if Dorothy’s mind was talking TO her, not ABOUT her.

The original phrase was intended to be “Surrender Dorothy or Die, WWW.”

Surrender or Die.

Since I was so very short, the word surrender has meant failure. I’ve only now begun to see it as something brave.

I think of the struggles I’ve fought to prove myself. It’s been a continuous battle to keep from giving myself away. So many times I held my ground, when no one was trying to take it. How could I see that, when I didn’t look in their direction? Championing my needs — to feel visible, valuable, and mighty — was a full-time job. It seemed a good fight.

Surrendering is harder than fighting.

Surrender? Never.

To surrender I have to lay down the defense that protects me. If I let go, I can’t lean on my pain. I can’t lean on my past. I can’t rely on them to explain when I wasn’t at my best. I’m back to learning about life again. Risks.

Surrendering is easier than fighting.

Sure, some fool, some jerk could rush in to knock me down, but they do that anyway. I’m not an inexperienced child. I can choose how close to let them come.

To me it only makes sense that to give up the fight, Dorothy had to make friends with courage, heart, and brains.

“Surrender Dorothy.”

“There’s no place like home.”

Courage, heart, and brains. OZ let us know we all have them. Can we bear to believe that we’re visible, valuable, and mighty?

Surrender myself.

Liz's Signature

121: How Do You Write Compelling Conversational Copy?

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one2one blog post logo

Please Talk to Me!

Dawud, I listen to you talk about your friendship with Adam and I hear the respect you have for him and the work he does. So I know that when you say you helped him, you did more than just give him pointers. You showed up with all you are. I hear it in how you tell the story.

Then you ask me (and the folks reading)

What tips can you offer for writing quality, conversational blog posts and website copy?

Did you know that writing conversationally gets brains to tune in more closely than writing formally? It’s true. Our brains know that in conversation sooner or later they are expected to have a response or an answer. So even if what we’re reading isn’t something that is our favorite subject, we pay more attention when the writer writes in a style that is more like conversation.

The most conversational word form is a contraction. If I did not use contractions, my writing would begin to sound stilted and jerky. People do not avoid contractions when we talk. I will not be avoiding them after I finish this sentence.

Great grammar and good spelling are, of course, important too. Yet, they only make for technical quality. For truly compelling, you have to put yourself into what you’re writing. Here’s how to do that.

  1. Write a clear message first. Let the words come from your mind through your fingers, don’t stop them in your brain on the way out. You can edit them later. Get the message out first.

  2. Write with authenticity. Use your real voice. Use the voice that you think with, not the voice that you talk with. The voice that you think with is closer to your heart.

  3. Tell your own truth, exactly as you know it. Do second guess what other folks might think of it. Trying to read the minds of your readers will only dilute and unravel the power of what you’re saying. Readers who come in good faith will be able to find the place where your experience meets with their own. People are more alike than different. The genuine truth of any story resonates with humanity.

  4. Write for one reader who is a lot like you, but who hasn’t heard your story. Talk to that reader the way you would talk to a person you respect and value. Share your information with sincerity and transparency.

  5. Read aloud what you write. Listen to how it sounds. Change out any words that don’t sound like you. You know your voice and the words that you use. Keep reading it aloud until it sounds exactly like you might have said it — only better.

It’s not the most important thing to have every comma and period perfect. What makes compelling conversation is a truly interested writer who’s engaged and curious. Show up every thought and every word as important to you because someone you care about is going to read it. Your readers will know that you did.

It shows. No one can hide how much you cared or didn’t. Caring is compelling.

I leave you with this question for next week.

When you go around the Internet, what mistake do you see most often?

If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your answer in the comment box below.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

One2One is a cross-blog conversation. Find the answer at dawud miracle on Monday. You can see the entire One-2-One Conversation series on the Successful Series page.
In Case You Missed It: Writing 06-13-07