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LEARNING TO BLOG – PART TWO NOT FOR PUBLICATION - PROPERTY OF GAIL MERCER-MACKAY EXTENDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND WITH BLOGGING
Transcript of LEARNING TO BLOG – PART TWOgailmercermackay.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/... · TYPES OF BLOGS...
LEARNING TO BLOG – PART TWO
NOT FOR PUBLICATION - PROPERTY OF GAIL MERCER-MACKAY
EXTENDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND WITH BLOGGING
WELCOME BACK
¡ Last session we learned ¡ Businesses who blog get 67% more leads
¡ Marketing ROI – Increases by 13x
¡ Increases links to your website / platform by 97%
¡ Blogs are trusted sources of information
¡ Blogging extends your brand (sells while you sleep)
NOT FOR PUBLICATION - PROPERTY OF GAIL MERCER-MACKAY
WELCOME BACK
¡ Last session we learned ¡ Shape of a blog (visually interesting, keywords, pictures, F-pattern)
¡ Value of free-fall – how to unlock our authentic voice / discover ideas
¡ Discipline = Success: Commitment of time – 10 minutes / day
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FIND TOPICS / BUILD AUDIENCE
¡ Get ideas and buy-in from your groups
¡ Post a question in a (relevant) group discussion “I have to write a blog about trends in manufacturing. What do you think is the most important trend today?”
¡ Thank everyone for their comments
¡ Include the most important points in your blog
¡ Include a post-script in your blog thanking the members of your LinkedIn group who contributed
¡ Go back to your group and post a link to your blog once it is written letting people know how much they helped
HOMEWORK
¡ Write daily
¡ Create a blog posting
¡ Find an accountability buddy
¡ Post / Publish?
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WELCOME AND AGENDA
¡ The Five Blogging Strategies
¡ Editorial Calendar
¡ Openings
TYPES OF BLOGS
¡ Opinion (Op/Ed) Piece – Find a great / interesting article or piece of research and comment on it. Agree, disagree, show how an industry is benefiting by talking about a client
¡ Q&A – Book a phone call with an expert (over Lync) and tape it. Write the blog as a Q&A – usually can be a two or three-part
¡ How To – Provide a simple step-by-step for how to do something that you are an expert in ¡ List of Things – People love lists. The top 5 mistakes, the top 5 must-haves, etc. ¡ Announcement – Repeat an announcement and then comment on why this is great and
how it will benefit clients
OP-ED PIECE
Why Microsoft is Considered a Cool Kid Again The Wall Street Journal has finally come around to my way of thinking. In a recent article, they proclaim in bold black letters that Microsoft Has Its “Groove Back”. From where I sit, Microsoft has been pretty cool all along. Let me tell you why. Partner Network Microsoft contributes more to entrepreneurship and innovation than any other technology company. I would even hazard a guess that they invest more money annually than the government in helping entrepreneurs start and build successful companies. Software, training, communities of experts, access to business leadership – Microsoft has been responsible for more than 300,000 partners around the world
QUESTION & ANSWER WITH AN EXPERT
HOW TO – SHARE SOMETHING OF VALUE
LIST OF…
What are the Top Five Cloud Mistakes You Never Want to Make What are the 3 Must Have Technologies Every Law Firm Needs 10 Ways Office 365 Will Transform Your Manufacturing Operations
COMMENT ON A RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT
EXERCISE ONE – PRACTICE THE OP-ED BLOGGING STYLE
¡ Find an article in your industry
¡ Scan it quickly
¡ Pick out three points that you can make in an “Op-Ed” Blog
¡ If you have time, use free-fall to start to write
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION - PROPERTY OF GAIL MERCER-MACKAY
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
Theme Topic Month Type Reference Links
Leadership Diversity in Leadership
January Op-Ed https://hbr.org/2013/09/great-leaders-who-make-the-mix-work http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-do-leaders-need-understand-about-diversity
Leadership Practical Strategies for Executing on Leadership Diversity
February Q&A Q&A with Cheryl, Doug & Jane
Leadership The Authentic Leader March How To 7 Steps for Encouraging Your Leaders to Find their Authentic Selves
OPENINGS & OPENING LINES
BLOG HEADLINES
¡ Grab Attention
¡ Make People Feel as if They Can Learn Something
¡ Focus on a Specific Relevant Topic ¡ Top 10 Tips for ….
¡ 3 Ways to Avoid Failure when …
¡ Think You’re on the Right Track with …? Think Again
¡ 5 Ways to Ensure Your Small Business Makes It
¡ Proven Strategies for …
HUBSPOT REPORT
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DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT
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http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/a-simple-formula-for-writing-kick-ass-titles-ht
BLOG TITLES WITH BRACKETS
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IDEAS FOR TITLES
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-post-title-templates-infographic
Download this Infographic
MAKE YOUR BLOG SEO FRIENDLY
¡ What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization
¡ You want to use words in your blog that will make it easier for prospects to land on their page
¡ In the past, this was primarily known as embedding “key words”
¡ Google has changed search engine algorithms (and will do so again)
¡ Moving from “keywords” to “conversation”
SEO – TACTICAL TO STRATEGIC
¡ People don’t speak in keywords – they speak conversationally
¡ “What are the latest trends in retail banking”
¡ “How do I prepare my company for CASL”
¡ Moving from “keywords” to “long-tail search” words (or conversations)
¡ Ensure you are using words that are specific to the issue you are writing about
¡ Example – instead of using the word “retail” which is very broad, try using “retail Italian shoe stores” which is very specific
AFTER YOU FREE-FALL – USE AN OUTLINE
¡ Dynamic opening – tell them what they are going to read, embed search words
¡ Paragraph one – point one in first sentence, supporting evidence in the rest of the paragraph
¡ Paragraph two – point two in the first sentence, supporting evidence ….
¡ Paragraph three– point three in the first sentence, supporting evidence ….
¡ Paragraph four – summarize – tell them what you told them
INVERTED PRYAMID OUTLINE
Most readers read
Fewer readers
Even less readers
The smallest number
Great opening – tell them what they are going to read
Most important point
Least important
Final summary
Source: Letting Go of the Words – Chapter 7
HOW MUCH TO WRITE?
¡ 2416 Words: The Average Word Count of Top Ranked Searches
¡ Go deeper in a longer article
¡ Answer more questions for people
¡ 40.54 Percent: The Amount Long Copy Outperformed Short Copy
¡ As long as the content is current, relevant and meaningful
¡ 9 Seconds: The Attention Span of a Goldfish…and Your Average Reader
¡ Readers read in an F pattern
¡ Keep copy interesting with pictures, headings, colour, bullets
¡ 200 Words: What Google Labels Thin Content
¡ My blogs average 500 words or longer http://www.copypress.com/blog/4-statistics-every-blogger-should-know-about-content-word-count/
SOME MORE TIPS FOR GETTING NOTICED
¡ Be relevant and topical – stick to your blog topic – eg. I had a writer who mixed several ideas in each paragraph – great writer but I was confused
¡ Thou Shalt Not Bore – use story-telling, be controversial, make it interesting
¡ Post Regularly – How Often? Studies say now about once a week
¡ Keep it Short / Make it Long – vary the length based on the content – the blog should be long enough to make your point and no longer
¡ Leverage Social Media Use Twitter, Linked-in and Facebook to surface your blog
BLOGGING IS ABOUT GIVING
¡ Ask questions, don’t give all the answers – “Are you seeing this too? Post your comments, I look forward to your feedback.”
¡ Listen on Social Media – just got a huge spike of people signing up for my newsletter – Karen asked what is happening – I listened online
¡ Give before you take – offer information, don’t ask for people to buy
¡ Seek relationships – social media in all forms is about building relationships, connecting
FICTION TIP - SHOW DON’T TELL / IN MEDIA RES
¡ Our company is first in delivering Lync services to hospitals and we have been very pleased with all of the new clients we have added. They are using features like chat, messaging and conference calls and they tell us it is making their lives easier by saving time. Many of our clients report that they can solve problems by using chat in 30 seconds when it used to take over an hour for the same thing.
¡ John, was working on his hospital’s administration budget when his computer pinged. A quick glance at the screen told John that the head of pediatrics' had a pressing concern. Within seconds, John responded. Problem solved in less than 30 seconds.
CASE STUDIES AS BLOGS
¡ Case studies often very difficult to get approved
¡ For some reason, clients seem to approve them more quickly in a blog format
¡ In Media Res
IT’S NOT WRITING – IT’S RE-WRITING
1. Write your first draft – put it aside
2. Go back to it after a day and cut the extra words (that, just, very, in order to….)
3. Check your links / confirm your facts
4. Read it out loud
5. Shape it with pictures, bolding, bullets, etc.
6. Have a colleague read it (check your ego)
ANOTHER IDEA – JUST THE FACTS
HOMEWORK
¡ Keep on writing daily
¡ Write your first (or second blog)
¡ Try all Five Blogging Strategies
¡ Build Your Editorial Calendar
¡ Experiment with Titles (with and without parenthesis)
