6 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Writing Starting Today

I’m surprised at how often people are impressed by the fact that I write for a living. Surprised because it is far from glamorous and a lot more work than most people would guess.

Writers block, self doubt, and just plain laziness plague me on days when I have no choice but to put fingers to keyboard – like it or not. It’s publish or perish or in my case, produce or perish.

Inspiration often comes when I least expect it. On a walk. Driving with my kids or at the field watching a soccer game.

Recent inspiration came in the form of a book by Bob Bly that I’m finding is rejuvenating my writing and getting me excited about the prospect of taking some risks with my writing. Bly starts by covering some basic every writer – novice or professional – can use to immediately improve their writing.

Here are just a few:

Use Effective Headlines
Grab the reader’s attention with headlines that deliver a complete message but leave room for elaboration later on. Remember, many people never read beyond the headline – especially if it’s weak.

Select an Audience and Write to Them
Determine your audience and write to that specific audience rather to a general one. Bly gives the example of an ad for life insurance targeted at people 65 and older. “Screen out those readers who are not potential customers,” he says.

Use Shorter Sentences
Write sentences with an average of 14 to 16 words and no more than 25. Vary sentence length to include a few short punchy sentences. It will spice up your writing. (example of short sentence)

Use Simple Words
Don’t try to impress readers with your extensive vocabulary. Substitute ‘help’ for `assist,’ ‘car’ for `automobile,” and ‘tell’ for ‘indicate.’ These are just a few examples of instances when a simple word will do just fine.

Be Concise
Cut words whenever possible. Avoid redundancies, run-on sentences, wordy phrases, and the passive voice.

Be Specific
Don’t say ‘he teaches various courses’ when you can say `he teaches science and math.’

Ten strategies for better web searching

 

1. Be aware of what you're missing: Often more authoritative information is found off the Web, in books or journals or newspapers. On the Web, you may find more useful information in commercial services or government sites, such as those listed at Power Reporting. And much of what's on the Web is not found by search engines, as is made plain by Gary Price's Direct Search. Instead of searching, you may do better to guess the Internet domain name you want -- harvard.edu or insinkerator.com or whitehouse.gov or army.mil or redcross.org -- if you know what organization is likely to have what you want, and you think you'll find it by going through the front door. Your news librarian or researcher is the best guide to finding the research tool with the right balance of accuracy, cost and timeliness.

2. Try a directory: Yahoo is not a search engine. It's a directory. Directories list Web sites, as opposed to pages, sorted by category. Directories include only the titles and descriptions of Web sites, not the text of their Web pages. So they have less info, but may be a better place to start. Examples include Yahoo and Google's implementation of the free, public Open Directory. Have you noticed that link at the top of Google to "Directory"? That's it.

Directories are made by people, not compiled by computers, so they're sometimes quicker to follow the news, and you get less chaff. They are organized in categories, like a library, encouraging the serendipity of finding something great next to the one you were looking for. (There is no "next to" in a search engine, there being no shelves.) So use a directory if you're in the journalistic situation of wanting starting, basic information about a common subject, and you're likely to find that information by going in the front door of the site. But use a search engine if you already have formulated a question, and want to find Web pages using the words in your question or that you anticipate will be in the answer. Notice that even Yahoo has an Advanced Search page to look through its half million listed sites. But if you want to find a more obscure bit of information, or any references to a word, then use a search engine, which looks at the text, word by word, of millions of Web pages.

3. Envision the result: Forget keywords when using a search engine. Remember that you're searching the complete text. Don't search for words about the subject. Search for words that will be on the page. Ask yourself, "If I were making the perfect page, just what I'm looking for, what words would I have to use to do it? In a directory you'd search for words about the subject, because that's all that a directory knows. But in a search engine, search for words that must be in the text of the page, because that's all that a search engine knows. If you want a list of children who have lived in the White House, don't think presidential progeny. Think chelsea and clinton and amy and carter and tricia and nixon and "white house." (We'll get to quotation marks below.) If you want a list of Super Bowl sites for the next three years, don't think "super bowl locations." Think 2001 and 2002 and 2003 and "super bowl." Under the theory that any good listing of future sites will also show where the games have been, you might add and 1983 and 1972 and pasadena and "new orleans". Try it! It helps to write down, or at least to imagine writing, the perfect page.

4. Think of it as a zoom lens: The best possible first search will yield no results. Why? Because it's easier to back out from zero than to zoom in from 187,000. What's the first thing you do with a zoom lens on a camera? You zoom in all the way, then pull back until the subject fills the frame. Of course, the most successful search is ultimately one that finds what you're looking for. But first go for broke, then remove one restriction at a time to pull back.

6. Tinker: Expect to search several times. This is the first thing you'd notice by watching over the shoulder of professional news librarians: They don't search once, perfectly. They search over and over, circling the prey. Remove one restriction at a time. (That's the essence of troubleshooting.) Try being more restrictive here, and less there. Then try it the other way around. There is no perfect search, but often there is a pretty good combination of searches. For example, title:"jesse ventura" would insist that "jesse ventura" be in the title of the page. That's a good first step. But if you get nothing in return, you merely have to use your mouse to delete title: and then "search" again to try it without that restriction. Now you still want the governor, but anywhere on the page, not just in the title.

7. Don't scroll: There's no crying in baseball, and there's no scrolling on the Web. If you turn up hundreds or thousands of hits, scrolling through them is unlikely to find the one you want. Better to refine your search. And when you choose a page to look at, remember that you can use your browser's "Find" command to quickly find any instance of your search terms on that one page, just as in a word processor. (Often it's under the "Edit" menu.)

8. Use only what you're sure of: If you want to find a list of states, showing whether each state has the death penalty, you can't assume that the maker of the page will use the words "death penalty." It could be "capital punishment." So use only the word you are sure of, or hedge your bets. So try ("death penalty" or "capital punishment") and texas and missouri and georgia.

9. Use anything you know: You can assume that every state name is on the list of states with or without the death penalty, or it's not the page you're looking for. So think ahead. Include in your search not only states with the death penalty, but states without. Try ("death penalty" or "capital punishment") and texas and minnesota and "new york" and "north dakota." It may seem onerous to type in so many state names, but it's more reliable, and quicker, than scrolling through too many hits.

10. Use what you learn: As you search, whenever you see a fact in the results list or on a page, use it. Go back to the search engine and throw that fact onto the search. The more arcane the item, the more you'll narrow to pages that are just on that subject. For example, if you want a list of Robert Penn Warren's works, and all you know is the most famous one, start with "robert penn warren" and "all the king's men." You'll learn that he also wrote "Blackberry Winter" and "Band of Angels." Instead of reading more Web pages about "All the King's Men," go back: Add and "blackberry winter" and "band of angels" to the search, getting closer to only those pages that list all of his works.

Originally posted on Power Reporting.com

According to Junta42 research, 59% of businesses will be increasing their content marketing budgets in 2010. With the increasing use of the internet and businesses competing in the global marketplace, many businesses are replacing traditional marketing with online marketing. The common consensus is that to reach the global marketplace focus on using online marketing tactics and to reach the local marketplace focus on using traditional marketing tactics.


The top five areas where businesses will be increasing their budget in 2010 are:

1. 72% increase in Social Media usage
2. 63% increase in eNewsletters usage
3. 63% increase in Blogs usage
4. 48% increase in White Papers usage
5. 48% increase in Article Marketing usage

How can content marketing help your business?

• Reach a targeted audience receptive to your message
• Improve the ranking if your website or blog
• Improve conversion rates of online sales
• Establish you and your company as experts in your industry
• Attract better qualified prospects to your website or blog
• Repeat visitation to your website or blog from prospects and clients
• Keep in touch with current clients and promoting referrals
• Help to establish likeability, trust and credibility

What are the different types of content marketing available for use by your business?
Social Media – Twitter, facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites help promote your business, showcase talents, engage prospects and help spread the word about your business.

ENewsletters – Inform, educate and entertain readers on a consistent and timely basis, helps promote your business, are shared with others, increases reputation, recognition, trust and loyalty among readers, and increases sales.

Blogs – Educate, entertain and inform readers about your topics, encourage return visits to your blogs with frequent updating, engages readers to share comments and share the information with others.
White Papers – Showcases your industry knowledge, provides the opportunity to be a thought leader, informs and educates the readers and can be shared with others.

Articles – Educate, entertain and inform readers about your topics, showcase your knowledge and lead readers to action.Case Studies – Educates readers on your businesses pass success and tell how your business will help them achieve the same success.

Online Video – Educate, entertain, informs watchers, helps increase your likeability, trust, recognition and reputation among watchers.

eBooks – Establishes you and your business as experts in your industry, increases reputation, recognition and draws traffic to your website or blog.

Podcasts – Educates listeners, helps increase your likeability, trust and reputation.

Online Courses – Educate participants, showcases your knowledge, increases reputation and sales.

Workbooks – Educates readers, helps readers solve problems, increases reputation, trust and loyalty from readers.

Seminars – Webinars and teleseminars help educate participants, showcase your knowledge, increase reputation and recognition.

Businesses use a combination of the above content marketing tactics to create a content marketing strategy. While this is list is not comprehensive it is a good starting point to begin thinking about using content marketing in your business and what tactics are available. Content marketing allows small businesses and solopreneurs to level the playing field when competing against larger businesses.

How are you currently using content to draw prospects to your business?

Oh, Canada - Gotta Love Americans Who Love Us

Enjoy This Guest Blog By Rick Reilly, ESPN The Magazine - It's a Great Piece!

Updated: February 15, 2010, 12:36 PM ET

Oh, Canada

A guide to thriving in Vancouver, one smile at a time

Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesCrazy Canadians need to be treated kindly, too.

It's always so cute when Canada hosts an Olympics. Canadians try so hard. This comes from living next to America and having an inferiority complex worse than Tito Jackson's.

For instance, it's rained every day I've been in Vancouver, athletes are starting to withdraw because of pruny fingers, and Canadians feel terrible. They're always saying "Gee, sore-ee about the rain, eh?" Do you realize they've been helicoptering snow up to the mountain venues? Who does that?

These people are nice. Preposterously nice. Aunt Bee in mukluks nice. This is a country that has human-chomping grizzlies on every corner and yet chose the furry beaver for its national animal.

Here's how nice: Twice already, Canadian mogul star Jenn Heil's bus has broken down on the drive up from Vancouver to Cypress Mountain. And both buses were from California! Peter Judge of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association was quoted as saying after the second time: "It was a bit of a concern." A "bit of a concern"? If it had happened to an American star, they'd have made everybody responsible stand against a wall in front of a running 2010 Prius.

Anyway, I think Americans who come to these Winter Olympics should try to be nice back. You can't be nicer than Canadians, but you can try. Here's how:

• Do not talk about hockey. A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup in 17 years. This is possibly because there are no more Canadian hockey teams left. OK, that's not true. Still, if Canada doesn't win the gold in men's hockey this time -- something it's only done once since 1952 -- fans here might all throw themselves under stampeding moose.

If your birthday is August 9, always look at the ground, shake your head and add, "The day Wayne was traded."

• Use the "organics" recycling container in your hotel room. This is one of 14 recycling containers you'll find there. The mind recoils as to what you're supposed to put in the "organics" can in a hotel room, but the little sign says to put "meat, poultry, fish, plants and flowers." That's weird. I always leave my poultry in a gift bag for the maid.

• Speak Canadian. ATMs are ABMs. Street hockey is "shinny." Butt is "arse." Beer is "brew." Stuff is "whatnot." Newfoundlanders are "Newfies." Never say the "g" in "ing." And yay is not a cheer, it's a measurement, as in: "I'm lookin' for my malamute, about yay big and yay long?"

• Call Vancouver "Van City" or even "The Van" but do not call it the name it hates: "No Fun City." It IS a fun city, except that a lot of the bars close at 11. In the morning.

• And it apparently NEVER STOPS RAINING.

• Use abbreviated words whenever possible. For instance, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police becomes the "RCMP," which becomes "the Armsee," as in the sentence: "I sure hope Bode Miller doesn't get pinched by the Armsees this Olympics. I got 10 Loonies on him."

• Abbreviate your new friends' names, too. Hamilton becomes "Hams." If your friend's name is already short, add "er" to it. This is how you get a sentence like, "Let's go play some shinny, eh? You be Gretz and I'll be Nasher."

• Compliment their national anthem. It's way better than ours.

• Pretend that you have to plug in your engine block at night to keep it from freezing, too. Makes them feel better.

• Go to Tim's (short for "Tim Hortons") and have a double-double (two creams, two sugars) and some Timbits (donut holes) and stand around and talk about curling. This will be a welcome topic. The Canadians are still great at curling.
You: The boys oughta do priddy good, eh?

Him: Oh, sure. The sweeps are beauties.
You: You thinkin' they might be winnin' and whatnot, eh?
Him: Boy, would that ever be neat!

• When referring to Elvis, be sure its Stojko not Presley. If you're talking about acting, don't forget the god of all Canadian thespians -- Lorne Greene from "Bonanza." If your birthday is Aug. 9, always look at the ground, shake your head and add, "The day Wayne was traded."

• Never say "said." Say "goes," as in: "So Lindsey goes, 'I'm freezin' way up here in just a bikini.' And I go, 'Linds, it's a bitchin' career move!' And she goes, 'K, but it's colder 'n a Newfie's arse up here!'"

• If you're a snowboarder and you snap your neck in three places doing your Double Fakie Ollie Grab and they're putting you in the ambulance, smile and go, "It's fine! Canada's got free health care!"

But if those bastards say anything about their dollar being worth more than ours, slam them in the nose with your organics can.

Why Copy is King

A picture may be worth a thousand words but headlines still draw more people to them than even the most compelling picture.

That was just one of the many fascinating insights to be found in the Eyetrack III study focused on how people online. The study released, by the Poynter Institute, the Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media, included some observations worth considering when designing or writing website.

Here are just a few:

Size Matters
Want people to read, not scan? Consider small type. The Eyetrack III researchers found smaller type encourages focused viewing behavior (that is, actual reading), while larger type promotes lighter scanning.

Left, Left… Left, Right, Left
As unique as we all like to think we are, it simply isn’t true – at least not when it comes to the way we read/scan websites. Researchers found a common pattern among website browsers. It seems we fixate first on the upper left portion of the page before moving from left to right and it's only after perusing the top portion of the page for some time that people’s eyes explore further down the page.

It’s all About the Words
“Text rules on the PC screen -- both in order viewed and in overall time spent looking at," the study says.

People Read and Run
The study suggests people scan the first few words of headlines before deciding whether to continue reading. This means you should front-load your headlines with the most interesting and provocative words. It’s also an argument for getting your keywords up front in headlines.

Attention Spans are Getting Shorter
Online readers are demanding folk who will give you less than one second to convince them they should read further. That’s means you’ve got to hook them fast.

It’s Better at the Top
Navigation placed at the top of a homepage performed best -- that is, it was seen by the highest percentage of test subjects and looked at for the longest duration.

Shorter is Better
Shorter paragraphs performed better in the Eyetrack III research than longer ones. In fact stories with short paragraphs received twice as many overall eye fixations as those with longer ones.

Interested in reading the study? You can find it online at Writearm Writing & Communications.

_______________________

Press Releases Do’s and Don’ts

Journalists have papers, radio programs, and news broadcasts to fill every day. What they don’t have is enough good story ideas from people like you.

As a former reporter, I can tell you that the best story ideas and the ones easiest to “sell” to the media involve real people doing real things. Often those are people are just like.

So here’s a few tips and some do’s and don’t that will help you write and distribute your own press release:
Do:
• Use a compelling headline and lead sentence that grabs the reporter’s attention
• Answer the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how
• Provide contact information including the name and phone number of someone who can speak to reporters
• Include the date
• Give the media adequate notice about an event. One day’s notice is not sufficient
• Send the press release in the body of the email (not everyone opens attachments)
• Ensure the story has a local angle and is relevant to the community
• Pitch human interest stories
• Send high-quality photos (no grip and grins or check-passing shots please)
• Be available when a reporter calls
• Respect a reporter’s deadline
• Offer to provide additional information
• Be prepared to be interviewed by phone
• Be a good source for other stories (an accountant available to comment at tax time for instance)

Don’t

• Ask to see the article before it goes to print. Reporters are too busy to do this and are professionals. Let them do their job!
• Call to see if the article ran. Show some respect and read the papers
• Say anything to a reporter you’re not completely comfortable seeing in print (or hearing on TV or radio). Remember, there is no such thing as “off the record”
• Expect to receive coverage every time you send out a release