www.inkthinkerblog.com — Dear Taco Bell,

Question marks and exclamation points are not interchangeable. In other words, it’s time to fire the person who wrote the copy for these signs:

If this leaves you in need of an outstanding copywriter, please contact me.

Love,
Kristen

Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King. All Rights Reserved.

Tags: freelance writing blog, freelance writing, freelance, writing, communications, advertising, sign, error, mistake, punctuation, exclamation point, question mark, taco bell, inkthinker, kristen king

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Dear Taco Bell,

Question marks and exclamation points are not interchangeable. In other words, it’s time to fire the person who wrote the copy for these signs:

If this leaves you in need of an outstanding copywriter, please contact me.

Love,
Kristen

(photos Copyright © 2008 by Kristen King. All Rights Reserved.)

Tags: freelance writing blog, freelance writing, freelance, writing, communications, advertising, sign, error, mistake, punctuation, exclamation point, question mark, taco bell, inkthinker, kristen king

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Over the next several posts, I’ll transcribe my notes, and my Tweets, from the eight sessions at SOBCon08, Business School for Bloggers. All sessions have notes, but not all were Tweeted. Just fair warning. :)

More Bang for Your Blog
Chris Garrett

Consider promotion as a discrete thing you have to think about.

Get popular for the right reasons.

Learning is a loop — send something out, get answers back. LISTEN to the answers.
– People will give you feedback and you must listen to it.

What do you want your content to make happen?

• People come to your blog for YOUR OPINION Add something, don’t just rehash other people’s ideas.
• Record your ideas. Take time out to generate comment ideas.
• You can revisit topics time and time again. People learn from topics time and time again.

If you freeze up, that comes across. If you flow, that comes across.

Don’t censor yourself by removing yourself.

Not everything has to be book length (example: Seth Godin)
– Do your best.
– Put out real thoughts
– A good question is sometimes better than a good statement

Derive content from what you do as well as how you do what you do.

Mindmapping/word webs –> Editorial Calendar
– Write the best you can do with the most impact you can do. Use analytics
– Plan ahead, post ahead, and draft ahead — posting efficiency
– Source in advance in case your blog breaks. (get help for the things you don’t do well)

You’re only as good as your last post.

The 5-Minute Blog Post (read mine)

1. Start with the end.
2. Work backwards.

Remember the “so what?” — don’t focus on just the “what”

Punchy, attractive, scannable, pointed
– Imperfect is okay. Incomplete is, too.
– Leave room for comments.

The pinnacle of content is what becomes an ambassador for what you do. (The opposite is filler, and the in-between is community content.)

Feeds: Divide by Crucial, Valuable, Nonessential.

Take the “rubber ducky” approach to writing your blog posts (write like you’re explaing it to a rubber ducky).
– You don’t have to be “a great writer”

Focus your time: do writing and promotion in batches

Resources: Skitch, BlogBridge, Skype

“Simplicity is the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.”

What did I miss? Leave a comment and let me know.

Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King

Tags: freelance writing blog, freelance writing, freelance, writing, communications, chris garrett, chris garret, chrisg, social media, bang for your blog, SOBCon08, business school for bloggers, inkthinker, kristen king

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Over the next several posts, I’ll transcribe my notes, and my Tweets, from the eight sessions at SOBCon08, Business School for Bloggers. All sessions have notes, but not all were Tweeted. Just fair warning. :)

More Bang for Your Blog
Chris Garrett

Consider promotion as a discrete thing you have to think about.

Get popular for the right reasons.

Learning is a loop — send something out, get answers back. LISTEN to the answers.
– People will give you feedback and you must listen to it.

What do you want your content to make happen?

• People come to your blog for YOUR OPINION Add something, don’t just rehash other people’s ideas.
• Record your ideas. Take time out to generate comment ideas.
• You can revisit topics time and time again. People learn from topics time and time again.

If you freeze up, that comes across. If you flow, that comes across.

Don’t censor yourself by removing yourself.

Not everything has to be book length (example: Seth Godin)
– Do your best.
– Put out real thoughts
– A good question is sometimes better than a good statement

Derive content from what you do as well as how you do what you do.

Mindmapping/word webs –> Editorial Calendar
– Write the best you can do with the most impact you can do. Use analytics
– Plan ahead, post ahead, and draft ahead — posting efficiency
– Source in advance in case your blog breaks. (get help for the things you don’t do well)

You’re only as good as your last post.

The 5-Minute Blog Post (read mine)

1. Start with the end.
2. Work backwards.

Remember the “so what?” — don’t focus on just the “what”

Punchy, attractive, scannable, pointed
– Imperfect is okay. Incomplete is, too.
– Leave room for comments.

The pinnacle of content is what becomes an ambassador for what you do. (The opposite is filler, and the in-between is community content.)

Feeds: Divide by Crucial, Valuable, Nonessential.

Take the “rubber ducky” approach to writing your blog posts (write like you’re explaing it to a rubber ducky).
– You don’t have to be “a great writer”

Focus your time: do writing and promotion in batches

Resources: Skitch, BlogBridge, Skype

“Simplicity is the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.”

What did I miss? Leave a comment and let me know.

Tags: freelance writing blog, freelance writing, freelance, writing, communications, chris garrett, chris garret, chrisg, social media, bang for your blog, SOBCon08, business school for bloggers, inkthinker, kristen king

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King