Spice up your Website Writing with Graphics

Just found a really fun FREE site that allows you to customize the images they provide with your business or personal message.

Create a Series of Messages with RedKid

RedKid offers business signs, airplanes, buses, cartoon characters and even a women wearing a t-shirt that “hearts” your company. Check it out. It is a fun way to add a little color and customization to your website content.  It works great for blog content as you can see here.  I spent way too many hours creating a series of different images and saving them to my computer for future blog posts.

Visit Redkid and click on Images. Then select “sign generator” and you’ll find the complete library of open source images you can customize for your business.  They work great for creating birthday cards or party invitations as well.  One business peer of mine used the Blackberry image above for all of her daily business tips.  She had to go in and create each one separately – tedious – but the end result is pretty clever!

Word of Mouth Through Social Media

Provided by McKinsey Quarterly

In the most recent McKinsey Quarterly, there is an article with updated statistics about the value of word of mouth advertising as seen in the photo above.

…word of mouth¹ is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. Its influence is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when products are relatively expensive, factors that tend to make people conduct more research, seek more opinions, and deliberate longer than they otherwise would. And its influence will probably grow: the digital revolution has amplified and accelerated its reach to the point where word of mouth is no longer an act of intimate, one-on-one communication. Today, it also operates on a one-to-many basis: product reviews are posted online and opinions disseminated through social networks. Some customers even create Web sites or blogs to praise or punish brands.

You can see from the statistics that social media is playing a large role in helping people decide what to buy.  It is also an important way for buyers to learn about new products, services, websites and companies.  People buy from those they like and trust and they trust the friends they follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you begun to embrace social media as part of your strategy to connect with potential customers? If so, you may want to consider having a policy for social media to establish the ground rules for corporate participation of your associates.

Need help determining how to get started and create a strategy? I can help.  Give me a call.  330-414-8792.

To read the entire article you will have to sign up for the free account but their articles are worth the time it takes to fill out the form.  Here is the link to the complete article called A New Way to Measure Word of Mouth advertising

Retainer Packages for Writing Websites and More

Now there is a package available that will meet your ever changing needs when it comes to creating buzz about your business. There is so much more to marketing then creating a website and writing website content. You need to keep your Internet presence updated regularly.

But who has the time?

AllWrite Ink now has a retainer package available offering 5-, 10- or 15-hours of monthly content writing on your behalf.

Here is a sampling of some of the tactics that we can do for you:

• Update current website content
• Create and update a blog
• LinkedIn research of contacts and groups
• Create a series of videos for YouTube
• E-newsletters sent to email addresses
• Marketing letters sent to community
• Press releases
• Brochure/flyer content
• Sales letters to prospects
• Follow up emails or letters after a sales call
• Social media training for you or your staff
• Write how-to articles for the website
• Answer questions on LinkedIn
• Research networking events
• Create your one minute elevator speech as well as a shorter 140 character version for social media
• Register your business with online directories
• Call existing customers to obtain testimonials

Each month we’ll review your promotional needs and AllWrite Ink will do the work. Packages are priced to fit in your budget. The nice thing about a retainer is that you know exactly how much to budget each month for creating a brand awareness for your business. For the complete retainer package information click here: Retainer Package flyer

Policy for Social Media Now has Employee How to Guide

At AllWrite Ink we offer a Policy for Social Media which includes 16 policies and procedures governing the involvement in the social media arena. But a manual can be dull and boring.

Now there is an employee how to guide that is in a colorful, easy to read format. The guide walks your employees through the steps of setting up their accounts and learning how to participate.  For just $9.95 you can download this easy to use guide for your employees.  It goes hand in hand with the Policy for Social Media manual.

Writing Websites that Change On a Regular Basis

You’ve heard that you need to update your website content so that your site remains a vital and visible option when readers go searching.  But just how many changes can you make?

Have you thought about some simple changes?

• Change a comma to a semi-colon
• Add a city name to your text (serving Northeast Ohio can now read serving Northeast Ohio including Cleveland and Akron)
• Change a paragraph of text to a bullet pointed list of items
• Change the caption on an image
• Add a caption! (I was making assumptions that you had captions, wasn’t I?)

Of course some of the more obvious changes involve adding new content: newsletters, press releases, images, new page of content.

Bottom line, when writing websites make sure you understand it is an ongoing commitment – not just a one time deal.

There’s More than Just Writing Websites

Social Media Leaps

To have an active, vibrant presence on the Internet, having a websites isn’t enough. You have to participate in social media.

As of February 2010 there were 36 million LinkedIn users, 300 million  Facebook users and 20 million unique visitors on Twitter a month.

Surely at least one percent of those users could be potential customers for your business.

Check out this site: Social Media Leaps for daily tasks to complete to help enhance your Internet presence. Sign up to learn the basics, learn how to listen and how to establish your brand image. Here is just an example with the 60 day checklist.

If you are just getting started or if you’ve been involved for a while but want to see if there is a step you’ve missed – I would suggest you check out this social media resource.

Policy for Social Media Research – Overwhelming

I just found a blog post from the Automotive Industry that offers 100 policies that mention some form of social media. The policies are in writing and vary in topic from Twitter behavior to what is acceptable when you are off duty.

The list is extensive and exhausting. Most are industry specific and very few are all encompassing. In a recent article at Brand  Channel, author Sheila Shayon mentioned that most social media policies of businesses surveyed talk about marketing but not human resources or recruiting.

The Policy for Social Media includes 16 policies and procedures that encompass:

• The benefits of social media from the company, employee and customer perspectives
• The dos and don’ts of participating
• How employees can use social media to build their personal credibility
• How to establish a relationship with customers and promote 2-way conversation
• Using social media for research – customer’s opinions and company information for sales growth opportunities
• Specific unacceptable behavior and the consequences – when using social media on and off the job
• How to successfully include social media participation into your already busy day

Are there plenty of articles, samples of social media policies and blog posts to help you create your own policy or social media? Sure – but why spend the time when there is already one available to download today.

Check out the Policy for Social Media (which I wrote – offering full disclosure) and download your copy today for just $49.95.

Two New Tools When Writing Websites

Site Meter

Do you measure the visitors that land on your website or blog? There is quite a science attached to this strategy. You can learn what search terms brought them to your site, if they came from Explorer, Firefox or Safari, how long they stayed, what page they arrived on and what the last page was they visited before they left.

This information can be very valuable if you are striving to drive traffic to your site based on key word search rather than someone that knows you and knows your company name and intentially visits your site. I’m in the process of learning/understanding/utilizing this tool as I strive to drive traffic to my Policy for Social Media manual. You may already use Google Analytics but have you heard of Site Meter?

I was impressed with the level of detail the reports provide. I have added both services to my sites and look forward to comparing the results.

Link Within

Have you read a blog and at the end of the article, found several additional article titles with hyperlinks.  “If you liked this, you may also enjoy…”  Well, Link Within takes it one step further. Add the HTML code for Link within to the end of your post and it will generate additional articles titles from your blog archives, but rather than provide the list in words – you’ll see the blog recommendations in photo form. Check out the end of this post for an example.

Do You Have a Policy for Social Media?

As companies realize the value of actively participating in social media the next question after “how” is “how do I protect my company’s brand?”

Unless you are a company of One, you most likely have an associate providing content and connecting with customer/prospects via social media.

How do you make sure they say the right things?

How do you protect your brand?

A lot of companies are saying – rather than run the risk, I’ll just block social media from being available.

The problem with this is that it keeps your customers from connecting and building relationships with your associates. People buy from PEOPLE they like and trust – not corporations.

So you need to bite the bullet and allow social media access. The best way is be defining the sand box, giving clear instructions and then monitoring the actions.

Having a policy for social media is the best place to start. Clearly define the hows and how-nots so that there aren’t any grey areas.  You don’t want an employee spilling the beans of your next top secret marketing campaign and then saying “oh, I wasn’t suppose to share that on Facebook?”

I have created a policy manual – a policy for social media which includes 16 policies and the detailed procedures for each one.  You can make changes or additions, but at least you’ll have something in writing if you start with my policy for social media kit.

Check it out. For a small investment of $49.95 you’ll have peace of mind that you’ve defined the rules of social media participation.

Number One Tip for Writing Websites People Read

You can find hundreds if not thousands of articles and blog posts that offer a number of tips and techniques for writing websites, but you can forget it all and just remember this one tip:

Write the content with the reader in mind.

So lame sounding.  Right?  There’s no V8 moment here.  Except so few website writers understand the importance of putting yourself in the shoes of the reader and write using the words and phrases that will resonate with their needs.

We think:  conversion ratio

We think: search engine optimization

We think: getting on the first page of Google search results

That’s all well and good – but once the reader clicks on your website – what will keep them reading long enough to click on a button, buy a product or send you an email?

Content written with the reader in mind.

I would suggest that you look at your website content through the CRITICAL eyes of your target prospect.  Do your headlines grab their attention?

Do you talk about results?

Do you ask questions that strike a chord with the reader?

Perhaps you need a freelance web writer experienced in understanding the value of writing with the reader in mind.