Archive | Writing Advice

Marketing with Mitch

Dec/10 in Mitchelaneous Facts, Writing Advice

Marketing Tips for Web Sites or Businesses I write all the time, but not often can I really look back and say I am totally happy, inspired and happy about an article.  With that said, I wanted to share with you all a marketing article I wrote for this month’s Lunarpages newsletter.  There is no confusing lingo, or talking over anybody’s head.  Just straight forward facts anybody can use to market themselves.

3 Simple Ways to Market Your Business, Project or Web Site

Over the years, I have become a ‘bit of a marketing junkie.  I am always checking out the latest trends, following successful marketing techniques and trying to figure out how each works. For those not as familiar with the idea, marketing is the process associated with promoting the sale of a good or service you provide.

Successful marketing can be the saving grace for a failing business.  Here are three simple marketing ideas you can use to help your business, web site or project.

Be sure to drop in, leave a comment and let me know if you would like to see more “poor boy” marketing suggestions anybody can use.

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Wikipedia Bookmarklet for Your Desktop Research

Feb/26 in Online Apps, Writing Advice

wiki-bookmarklet Often, when writing or working on a project – I will keep Wikipedia handy, for the occasional definition or fact check. 

With all my other tabs filled up with other content though, I don’t want to keep switching back to another tab in my browser to check out Wikipedia too.  So that is why I have started using a bookmarklet based around the mobile version of Wikipedia.

You can too now, just drag and drop this to your bookmarks toolbar.

+ Pop-up Wikipedia

For more pop-up tools, be sure to check out my previous post on the top five Google pop-up bookmarklets.

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Offer Multiple Subscription Methods

Jul/21 in Web Development Tutorials, Writing Advice

When getting started building a brand Online, a lot of people ask what should they do first?  Well after you get your content flowing, you need a way for people to follow that content.  That is where RSS and all the various feed readers out there come into play.

Everybody has their own way of doing things though, so you need to make sure you meet everybody’s needs.  Thanks to services like FeedBurner, this is pretty easy.  From inside their web site you can generate tons of those subscription links, as well as your standard big orange button and even e-mail newsletter management.  It is by far the best option out there.

As a rule of thumb, you want to give people the ability to follow you via:

  • Your Domain (visiting your web site)
  • Via RSS (using the feed reader of their choosing)
  • and a newsletter (which you can easily setup with an RSS feed with FeedBurner)

Also it never hurts to let people know your RSS feed over and over again.  Such as how I am right now begging you informing you to subscribe to this feed if you want more informative posts just like the one you just read:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/mitchelaneous

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"Special" Secret Paste in Windows Live Writer

Jul/07 in Writing Advice

It is amazing the keyboard combos you will run into when your fingers stumble over the keyboard trying to do something you didn’t even have in mind.  Much like me, I doubt you knew either that Windows Live Writer had a "special" paste mode?

paste-special-wlw

To activate it, just press Ctrl+Shift+V.  Doing so will give you the option to remove all the HTML formatting but preserve the hyperlinks and images.  They also have a thinned HTML option which will preserve the font sizes and text alignments but strips out all the extra CSS beyond that point.  Quick tip for all you fellow Windows Live Writer lovers out there!

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The Majority of People Suck at Copywriting

Jun/11 in Writing Advice

As a writer, going out and reading other people’s content out there from time to time is enough to make me want to run off to a deserted island never to be heard or seen from again.  Now I am far from perfect, but time after time I see the same offenders when it comes to copy and headline writing.  Need some examples?

Networking Junkies – You know the type.  They are those people who join every single social network out there, and all they have on their page is enlarged Hanna Montana fan-made glitter signs and copy that reads, “THIZ is MY MY MYSAPCE DuDeZ!  CoMES OUT AND LetS DO THE PARTY! WHOOOO!”

Firefox Add-ons – Just when you think you have found the Firefox extension that will solve all your problems, you go to read more about it and the description goes something like this…

“This tool lets you copy the video from the Youtubez.”

Come on, you spent month after month working on this great Firefox add-on and the only thing you can give me as the user, trying to sell me on your download is two sentences?

Carbon Copy Web Hosts – A good majority of the copy on web hosts’ web pages are just stolen from the guy down the street.  Copy and paste is too easy of a task for these guys, and come on, what do you expect?  They are trying to keep the three customers they have happy who happened to mistake them for somebody important.

Social News Headlines – For an example on this one, go to Digg.com and check out any headline on the page.  Enough said.  Ok, that in itself if the main problem here.  Not only do they give us a crappy headline, then they try to sell us on the point that their headline did all the work.  Come on diggeruzer987, the headline does not say it all!

So do you agree with me yet?  If you can think of anymore copyrighting offenders please feel free to let us all know in the comments.

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Create an eBook with Open Office

Apr/28 in Desktop, Writing Advice

First off, thank you for the positive feedback on the latest eBook release of mine I told you about a few days ago. Always appreciate the feedback and thoughts on the project. One question I have gotten a lot thus far is, what did I use to create it? Well, as many of you know I pride myself on being a low budget guy… so why pay money when I can get this done for free? I created the entire eBook using Open Office and this video I found on YouTube for pointers.

Who says this Internet thing isn’t a great learning device? This made it easy to pick up pointers on how to link inside of the document, and then how to export to PDF and secure the document up some so that it could not be edited. I would suggest anybody bookmark this video and play it again if you ever want to get into the basics of digital publishing yourself.

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Mix a Story with Your Next Article

Mar/28 in Writing Advice

What Would Ryu Do? For those of you who may not know the best way to lead into a post, but you think you might have something to say one tool or trick of the trade (depending on how you want to look at it) would be to use a story to add some meat and potatoes to you thoughts and ideas.

Give me some content, then tell me some of the story.  Then give me more content, then give me more of the story.  This is a great way to both entertain and inform the visitors at large.  This is also extremely handy when your writing about a subject that might be a little vanilla and dull for the mass public. 

Need some help?  With your next post mix in a story about Ryu from Street Fighter fame and his trouble with buying a new pair of shoes.  (Does he even wear shoes?) 

So there is your homework for the weekend.  With the next thing you write up, tech opinion, help or how-to; try to bring a story into the mix.  It doesn’t have to be a true story, it could be a fictional character from the back of your brain.  Flesh out the weak points with him (or her) and you’ll keep your readers a ‘bit more interested in what you are trying to tell them.

What would Ryu do?

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Learn to Lead with your Writing

Jan/03 in Writing Advice

If you can learn to write by leading your reader and holding his hand through the work – you can become better than you ever thought you could be.

Writing is one of those skills that everybody can do, but not many can master. If you broke it up into a chart you would have those who can’t being a very small percentage of the pie, those who have mastered it being another slightly larger pie piece and then those who are “somewhere in the middle” taking the rest of the cake pie.  Continue Reading →

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Don’t be Afraid to Write About Nothing

Dec/26 in Writing Advice

Back when I lost my first web hosting job and I decided I would rather take a track down the road of freelance writing, I went around from web site to web site trying to find a place to work. I quickly realized though after talking with three or four places I wanted to write for that without example articles and stories it would be really hard to show them exactly what I could do.

I know it might sound silly, but if you are a writer without a published work to your name you might need to create a few before you become a hired hand at your favorite blogging spot. Personally I wrote up several different types of articles covering the areas I knew the most about. Then I linked them up on my personal site (which also doubles as my resume) and was ready to give looking for a freelance writing job another chance.

The second time around I was welcomed with much warmer arms of amazement and didn’t have any proverbial doors shut on my nose.

Each time I got a gig’ I added whatever I wrote for them to my resume links, so others could see my work there too. Fast forwarding to where we are now I have written so many articles, posts, podcasts and more there is no way I could fit them all on one list. Just don’t forget that when your first starting out with the online writing game that you have to have examples of your work, the best you have to offer, if you want to make your name from behind your keyboard.

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Do Your Copywriting Right!

Sep/11 in Writing Advice

Copywriting TipsI am often asked by business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants, coaches and others for copywriting tips. Here are my top six:

1. It is actually about them, not you.
Don’t write for yourself, your college professor or your next-door neighbor. It’s not about your style, your preferences or your own “voice.” It’s not even about what you like or want. It’s about the audience, the product/ service and, ultimately, about selling.

2. Be eye-friendly.
Nothing tires the eyes like big blocks of endless black and white text. So include bullets, sun-heads, questions, sidebars and headlines to break your copy into manageable, scannable chunks. Continue Reading →

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