Big Good Tips From A Little Book And Other Stuff

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There’s lots of advice for writers out there today—books on how to write and what to write about, where to submit your work and how to get your literary foot in the front door when you want to be published. Some of the advice you can get is helpful and some is just thinly disguised advertising designed to get you to buy something someone has to sell.

It all comes around full circle in the end to a little book that I got way back in the day when we worked on typewriters and smoked in newsrooms. The Elements of Style by William Struck and E.B. White is a timeless manual for anyone that wants to be a writer because it is clear and concise and it tells you what you need to know about expressing yourself with the written word and leaves out what you don’t need.

And that brings me to other stuff. Has anyone else been following the social  media trending that been going on lately? I just read a study from the business experts at Deloitte that said while a fair percentage of new and forward thinking business is looking into social media, a large percentage still don’t understand what it’s all about and what kind of ROI they can expect on their investment. That makes me wonder if this is a real tool for business to use or just a fad that will slip from prominence eventually.

From a seo standpoint, Facebook or Twitter can drive traffic to your site but you need to be aware of the fact that these social media sites don’t work with keywords and links in the same manner that traditional seo does. Still, if enough people are talking about these sites being the next big thing, then they are bound to be some kind of self fulfilling prophecy in the sense that business will continue to flock to them regardless of their seo effectiveness.

So all that brings things back full circle. Regardless of whether you want to write for the social media or the seo world, you need to know how to write well. The medium doesn’t really matter in the end, it’s the message that counts. So here’s a few more techniques that you can use to make sure that your words attract attention.

Self editing always helps. I’ve just read an article that says you should read aloud when you’re proofing and only use a spell checker as a first screening. Remember too that Less is More. Usually the best way to write something is with the fewest words

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Why Brands Ignore You

I attend many Social Media conferences and invariably I see a flood of tweets and blog posts from people who are begging brands to sponsor them in their attempts to get free trips, hotel rooms, flights and more. Here is what is I see “Sponsor Me“. Bloggers and Tweeters just shouting to the rafters “anyone willing to sponsor me???“. It is really an irritating and ineffective way to get the attention of brands. It is also a way to alienate your followers and generally piss people off. There are ways in which to actually get the attention of brands that are much more effective.

Do Your Research

Do you know anything about the brand that you would like to work with? Start your search, find out who the social media or PR people are, follow them on Twitter. Now resist the urge to call them out with an “@brand hey send me free stuff” sort of message. It is hard to resist, I know but don’t be that guy.

How Can You Help

In your research learn what you can about what the company does, what is there message, how can their message fit your blog. It it a unique proposal that you can offer the brand? In what way would your readers benefit from a campaign with this brand? What would the brand get out of working with you?

Is the ROI Measurable?

Can you monitor Tweets, Facebook fan likes, traffic to blog posts and more? Remember that you are talking to people who most likely are more number oriented thank anything so you have to give them numbers. Do you know how many pageviews you get daily, weekly, monthly on average? Are you tracking these stats? You should be if you want to work with brands.

How to Connect without being “That Guy”.

Make the initial inquiry privately. – Don’t blast things out on twitter or Facebook screaming with the rabble, have some finesse and class. Friend the contact on Twitter, Facebook or Linked In and when you can send them a quick message requesting if they would be willing to read a proposal on a sponsorship opportunity. Don’t make the pitch all at once, make that initial small ask and if they agree make a bigger ask. Many people are willing to hear a pitch if they are asked rather than having it forced upon them.

Be Bold – If you don’t ask you don’t get.

Write a well thought out proposal – Introduce yourself, your blog and blog topics, make your request, provide numbers, graphs and charts backing up your claims and showing your reach, readers, twitter followers, Facebook friends. Sites like compete.com are good resources and also Google analytics. Be sure to focus on how working with you benefits the brand.

Most Important:

Follow up with your brand contact and send them a report on the numbers. Tweets, Re-Tweets, Contest Entries, and so on. Then THANK the contact for working with you. Write a note, make a blog post but whatever you do make sure you give follow up and a Thank You.

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