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Archives for October 2012

Content Marketers Need Web Designers And Developers

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My head is swirling from reviewing free- to-premium WordPress website templates and reading blog posts from designers and developers sharing tutorial about how they love Genesis, Thesis and think Headway is good but has some catching up to do.

Then there’s Elegant themes that look amazing, but Scott Quillin over at New England Multimedia won’t work in any of the above. Instead, he has one of his own secret premium themes he insists is #RockHot (which I won’t share with you).

I’ve been blogging on two blogs for almost three years (that’s nothing in the scheme of things). But, in that time, I’ve played with free themes, Headway, and Thesis enough to know that I suck at designing a website or blog. Heck, I’ve even launched a few websites in Go Daddy’s Website Tonight software (and they looked half-way shabby).

What I’m trying to say is this, Peeps:

Content marketers, like me, cannot design a website; nor can they develop its back end.

Get my drift? We can’t do it.  All we can do is change the font and the color of a leaf, but we can’t design a website all by ourselves.

It frustrates me extraordinarily that I can’t do this…even though I told Craig McBreen in comments at his house that I ban “I can’t” from my household. If there’s an obstacle in front of me, I climb it.

This time, though, to climb over the designing and developing of a website, I would need to go back to school somehow. I would also need to become a detail person and enjoy the tedious nature of graphic design.

I hate designing PowerPoint decks for that reason; I don’t make things look pretty very well. I’m a slap-the-paint-on-canvas kinda gal and call it abstract art; in fact, I have one of those on my mantel that I’m pretty in love with (‘cuz I slapped some acrylics on canvas and stroked the brush back and forth in a rainbow-esque fashion, and I really liked it).

I digress.

There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes of a website or a blog that we can’t see and don’t know about. That’s why you have to hire someone to join your team and make it happen. But, you have to direct them to design and develop what you want; you need a vision for what you want to appear on that blank canvas.

About every six months, you have to go through this exercise with your website and stir the pot.

That time for all of us is about now, and here’s why:

Responsive design is the current trend, today; right now.

Making your website responsive means it will work on a smartphone or tablet or e-reader. When you visit a website and all you do is scroll from side to side to find the nav menu, then you know that site is not responsive.

Did you know that big data is telling us more people will visit your website from a smart device than from a PC? The data are showing that uptick; are you ready?

 

Tennis Balls And Business Strategy

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I play tennis about four times weekly in leagues, clinics and hitting. In clinics, tennis balls are all over, and that means you need a ball hopper to pick up balls and dump back into the coach’s wheeled cart.

The balls are scattered; like stars in a galaxy. There’s no rhyme or reason how to pick up tennis balls efficiently. As I gaze around the courts, I deduce the best strategy to get the most balls in the least amount of time so I can resume drills.

Stay with me here…

1. If a single ball has landed all alone off to the side, I ignore it. I see some  players use their racquet to flick all the balls into the general vicinity of other balls grouped in back corners. I’d rather head to the area of highest concentration to pick up the most balls in a grouping. If I flick all the balls toward a corner from other areas of the court, it’s like playing marbles — there’s no guarantee the ball rolls nicely to land next to its cousin. And, why waste my energy flicking balls with my racquet? That’s expended fuel I need for playing time!

2. If some balls are off to the right and some are off to the left at the back of the court, I select a logical division point and pick up one ball and proceed towards the grouping with most balls together.  As I play with a variety of ages of women, some don’t have enough arm muscle to carry a heavy ball hopper, or turtle speed is preferred when picking up balls because they just don’t like it.

3. The ball hopper is steel with open gaps in the bottom. When you push the handles of the hopper down on top of a ball, it squeezes into the hopper and pops up into the bottom. Here’s the rub…I’ve tried to pick up three balls at a time with the hopper, but invariably something goes awry. Three just isn’t efficient because I add an extra step to capture the ball that squeezed away. Picking up two at a time is perfect; goes smoothly, and I can get into a rhythm and be done faster.

Tennis Balls and Your Business

When you read the items above, did you begin to see a correlation with tennis balls and your business?  Let me help:

1. When you try to rush through an exercise without methodical planning and execution, something will become chaotic or a crisis which sets you down an unplanned path.

Do use thoughtful strategy when planning a campaign or growth goals.

2. Is your team handpicked with high energy? Do they contribute to your business with the same level of knowledge and expertise so you can realize your growth goals?

Do examine your human assets and ensure they’re right for your business longterm. 

3. How frequently do you permit yourself or your team to get pulled off track to an interesting tangent that looks juicy until you dive in?

Don’t waste time on programs that take you off goal. Stay the course and only add additional programs/tasks when they directly benefit your opportunity. 

4. Think about how you approach a problem; better yet, think about the solution you execute to solve that problem. If the balls are scattered in all directions (like so many balls in the air), think carefully how you will approach each ball to address it independently or as a grouped situation.

If one situation, person or ball is screaming loudly, step back and assess the situation and see how best to manage it in a streamlined fashion.

Business owners, whether startups or 10-year-old companies, need to remember that how you pick up a tennis ball provides a thoughtful look at how to grow a business. Can you see that analogy?

Cystic Fibrosis Sufferer’s Vote And Why

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Let’s get one thing straight; real straight. I have avoided anything oriented to politics this election season; you have not seen a blog post about political leanings or who’s getting my vote. I’m not brave enough, but one of my friends is. If anyone so much as disrespects her for her views on this blog, I’m gonna come find you.

Jenn Whinnem and I go way back to about 2009 when we met on Twitter and I got to meet her IRL twice. She informed this community in a guest post here that she has cystic fibrosis, a chronic and fatal disease for which there is no cure. To live beyond mid-life, she likely will require a lung transplant. What that also means is her medical care on a daily basis is exorbitant.

Listen to her story here, and in the spirit that is this community, I beg for your respect for one American’s perspective. It may not be yours, but it’s hers, and whether or not I share her view is my business.

I will always be a member of the Jenn Whinnem fan club. She’s an amazing writer, a strong supporter of anyone on the Interwebz, and she has enough quirkiness to make me shake my head in amazement and say, “Atta girl!”  She speaks her mind, has strong opinions, and is very good at what she does. I consider this house her blog when she wants a forum, as she has no blog of her own.

If you have something positive to share, please do so in the spirit of ‘raderie and support. If you feel like bashing, please go elsewhere…thank you, kindly.

Here’s Jenn…

 

Your Blog Headline Sucks

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Power tribes are all the rage on Triberr. This blogger is in three, and the jury is still out whether that will be the norm in a few weeks or not.

What’s happened as a result, however, are the headline and first two sentences (like the lead of a news story) become the most critical aspect of a blog post.

When your headline sucks, and I don’t know you or your writing ability, then your blog is bypassed, deleted, muted, or blacklisted. Your headline needs to be a summary of what you write about inside. It has to provide a creative depiction and enticement for me, the reader, to click, read, share, and comment.

Here’s what I’m seeing that isn’t good in headline writing:

  • One-word headlines that mean nothing and say nothing.
  • Headlines chock full of @ signs and hashtags (I believe that’s because people are writing headlines for Twitter?)
  • A series of peoples’ names that take away from the content
  • Use of first-person pronouns, kinda like, “What I Ate For Lunch”
  • Headlines that go on and on like a paragraph
  • No imagery, innovation or creativity to conjure a visual

Get my drift?

Because I’m in the public relations profession with a media relations expertise, I learned to write a headline that summarized and introduced the entire news release. In fact, I always spend the most time on the headline and then the lead (first paragraph). Now that I’m in these power tribes, I’ve changed up my first paragraph to be less about my thoughts and more about the content in the post.

Two headlines I’ve written (one just this week) prompted more comments and traffic:

Does  Your Blog Have Spinach In Its Teeth?

Should Video Be Like a Nude Beach?

You can see why these are successful; each creates a great visual, and the image you select helps further pull the reader. The first headline  came from a comment I wrote on Clarity For The Boss; I actually was speaking with Sharon Gilmour about vulnerability and asked her whether she’d tell me if I had spinach in my teeth, and lo, there was the idea for the blog post.

Tips For Better Blog Headlines 

(I could’ve used this as the post headline, but, don’t you think the one I selected instead is more enticing?)

Here are my tips for writing better blog headlines so yours don’t suck.

1. Go to the list of observations and don’ts and reverse them, of course.

2. Review your content and select some catchy words that serve to describe what you’re writing about; use those words.

3. Sex sells. Ask TheJackB how many times he’s used some sexual connotation as headline bait…works, doesn’t it, JackB?

4. Use tips — 10 Tips — is always a great puller; people love those lists.

5. How can you make me visualize a picture enough that I want to read the post? Be creative.

6. Never use one-word headlines; please, I beg you.

7. Why waste valuable real estate with peoples’ names in a header? Is that supposed to impress me and make me want to read because three people I don’t know are in the headline?

8. Key words? OK, if you have to, and guess what? Key words work for search marketing and they also work for readers. If I am seeking content on social media (which is often what I look for), then use that in the headline.

I’m always impressed by Mark Babbit’s headlines; without ever reading his content, I know he writes for interns, job seekers and about resumes. He always puts these key words in his headlines, and I applaud that.

Want to try some?

Old: My Boat That Sunk Yesterday

Suggestion: How To Repair Holes in Wooden Boats

 

Old: Special Halloween Family Dinners

Suggestion: Four Healthy, 15-Minute Kids Dinners Before Trick-or-Treat

 

Old: Why My Business Failed

Suggestion: Rescuing A Failing Business With A Lifestyle Coach

 

If anyone wants a bit of headline help, let me know. I’m happy to offer some tips or whip up a new thought for you to consider that is enticing, creative, and exemplifies your content.

 

Does Your Blog Have Spinach In Its Teeth?

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Morris Creative

Tell me I have a typo in blog copy. Tell me my sharing plug in is challenging to work with. Show me the errors of my ways in comment systems that are complex. Provide me a hyperlink you’d prefer over the link I published for your blog.

Basically, tell me I have spinach in my teeth, would you?

And, what that means is I’m going to tell you the same. Please take no offense; please don’t kill the messenger; please know I say so with a loving heart so you can put your best face forward.

What these power tribes on Triberr have allowed me is to see several hundred new bloggers for the first time. As I attempt to wend my way around the ‘sphere to comment and share, there are issues with comment systems and sharing plug ins on some blogs.

I’d like you to share my content, and I want to share yours, too. When it’s a bit of a challenge because the blog infrastructure is creating difficulty, then I feel the need to politely share my troubles with the blog owner.

What do you think? Is a bit of ruffled feathers in the spirit of improving our presentation OK with you, or would you rather not know? What’s your preferred method hearing about spinach?

For me, share it in comments on the blog; that way others can echo a sentiment or offer up another comment I can actionalize (Yep! Word coin!)