KeyWords

Under the umbrella of my thinking cap, exist two perspectives of my world. Both are driven by a passion for writing and communicating.

If you’re a Facebook friend or follow my @MoxieDude Tweets, you know that my kids made a major discovery this week – one that has completely changed the way that we communicate in this household.

Enter Skype.

Suddenly conversations have been taken to a new level. And when I say “level”, I mean between the first and second floors of our house. Gone are the face-to-face inquiries about when supper will be ready or whether I’ve washed a favourite pair of jeans. Here at techno-geek headquarters, this now all gets done through laptops and iPads.

So as I’ve been playing along with my kids’ newest “toy”, answering Skype calls and conversations, I’m realizing that although they’re experimenting with innovative-to-them technology, two things haven’t actually changed at all:

-       The conversations

-       Their reactions to the conversations

Responses to my “did you make your bed?” are the same (I’m either ignored or I get an annoyed, “YES!”)

And while this parallel between in-person and via-technology communications is being demonstrated on a home-front level, it’s worth noting that it’s really just a glimpse of how EVERYONE responds to the way something is said.

Key Point: Even during social media conversations.

Of course, if being ignored during your social media conversations is your goal, here are a few quick ways to achieve this:

-       Only ever interact when you want something

-       Always make the conversation about you

Then again, if you want to keep the conversation going and grow the relationship, make sure to:

-       Be consistent with your interactions

-       Join in on other people’s conversations by leaving pertinent comments

Interacting, whether in person or online, will always be about sharing: your knowledge, your thoughts, your uniqueness. What’s important is the way that you share (i.e. how you say something).

I no longer ask my kids if they’ve made their beds. The question has evolved to, “is your bed cozy for tonight?”

Focusing on the benefit (instead of the task) works at home too!

If you’re interested in the other perspective of this “discovery”, I invite you to check out moxie-dude.com this Friday for the weekly post.

So you have a website. That’s great. But is your target market finding you? Is your online presence making an impact and increasing sales?

A common mistake that many business owners make is in identifying with their products or services – instead of focusing on the solution that they provide.

The result?

Website content (and marketing collateral in general) that gets lost in the land of information overload. (Also known as INEFFECTIVE, with no return on your online presence investment.)

One way to change that is to start looking at your offering from your customers’ point of view. Understanding the problems that you – your business – solve and writing content that gets to the heart of the matter (your target market’s heart) will help to generate more traffic to your site.

Harvard Business School marketing professor, Theodore Levitt, said it best:

“People don’t want a quarter-inch drill – they want a quarter-inch hole.”

How to apply this to your website content

Whether you’re in the furniture, real estate or automotive business, getting down to the essence of what your offering solves is a matter of asking yourself the right question. Instead of “what business am I in?” ask yourself “what SOLUTION am I providing?”

See the difference?

And remember: strong content drives action!

Are you feeling bullied by all the social media hype?

Do you wonder if your site/blog/Facebook posts are even getting read?

Let’s face it. Social media – the latest trend in engaging, connecting and sharing – is about as ready to “blow over” as the internet itself.

Everyone and their grandmother is on the internet. Individuals are blogging about their passions. Businesses are interacting with their customers. And customers are sharing their latest product and service experiences.

So how do you make sure that your contribution is getting noticed (at worse) and developing a readership (at best)?

One answer to this question (and new media quest) is to develop your unique voice.

With an internet population of over 7 million people around the world, I think it’s safe to assume that with a little consistency and perseverance, you can succeed at developing a readership – if that’s what you’re after.

First step in developing your unique voice: write through your fear.

What is fear? You can’t see it, but you can feel it and HEAR it.

Fear is that agonizing voice that exists in our own minds. Its sole purpose is to make us question our own motive and ability to express ourselves.

Recognize any of these?

“Does this make sense? . . . Does anyone even care about this? . . .Why would anyone read this? . . .This is crap! . . .”

If you’ve ever tried to make a point or even get a chuckle out of a Facebook friend, odds are that fear whispered one of those sentences into your ear as you were working on formulating your thought.

How does fear affect us?

As noted above, it paralyzes us! It shuts up our ability to communicate and stifles our love for the written word. It keeps us in a box of safe “boringisms”, preventing us from exploring our own unique perspective on whatever subject we want to write about.

What’s the opposite of fear?

Confidence!

One of my favourite pieces of advice, told to me by an acting coach many years ago:

“It’s not your business what other people think of you and your work. Just do it and do it at the best of your ability. Do it often and your ability will only increase.”

Sound advice indeed!

So the next time fear tries to creep you out of whatever written piece you’re working on, tell IT to shut up! Tell it that you KNOW it’s not perfect. But it’s YOURS. And it’s the best you’ve got.

And the next time you’re reading someone else’s work and thinking about how great it is (and wishing that you had written such a masterpiece), remember that the voice of fear does not discriminate. It speaks to everyone.

One of my long-time copywriting clients is currently on a mission: she wants to increase the search results for her company’s website.

I guess you can see where this is going. My mandate is to create keyword rich content for her site pages. What sets this particular project apart from other sites that I’ve written the content for is my client’s attitude towards driving traffic to her site.

In her opinion, high traffic equals online success.

And while she’s right in that increasing her conversion rate is a “numbers game”, attracting random surfers to her website will not guarantee an increase in sales.

QUALITY vs. QUANTITY (A quick analogy)

This particular client’s attitude towards generating more traffic to her site reminds me of how I felt when my kids were younger. As a single parent I would stress over my long work days and many hours spent away from home.

It wasn’t until I learned the concept of QUALITY vs. QUANTITY that I managed to let go of my guilt and appreciate my evenings and weekends – bringing routine to a new level of opportunity for bonding with my kids!

And while my client’s idea of online success depends on an increase in traffic to her company’s website, it’s the QUALITY of her site’s readers that will actually affect her conversion rate (and increase sales).

This is where long tail keywords can help.

Long tail keywords generate TARGETED traffic to a website.

For example, let’s say that you’re in the furniture business. The long tail keywords “handmade oak tables” will drive a higher quality of traffic to your site in comparison to the simple keyword “tables”.

According to a Nielsen report, online search is the #1 choice for both consumers and business owners alike. And with all that searching going on, making it easy for potential clients to find you only makes $en$e!

Welcome to my newest project – this blog!

Anyone who knows me knows that my two passions in life are marketing and the written word.  Looking through magazines, I read both the articles and the ads with the same fervent interest. Headlines – whether on billboards or websites – are a great source of inspiration (when done well).

Writing is a creative exercise in stringing words together for the sake of releasing your thoughts. Marketing carries a psychological aspect; one that takes you out of your own head and puts you into the mind of your audience.

So while writing is about YOUR creativity, marketing is a little less egocentric. And through the consummation of these two activities (or thought processes) the copywriter is born.

And that’s what I do. I write copy thanks to the marriage of my two passions.

Although my other blogs are completely for me in that I have no writer’s guidelines to adhere to and no brief to follow, my intent for this blog is to give back.

Whether you’re a business owner or even a copywriter, I will do my best to provide you with tips and insights on the fine art of copywriting.

And who knows. I may even delve into the science of marketing strategies!