7 Tips for Kick-Butt Blog Writing

Far different from book or other formal writing, writing for a blog requires its own specific set of skills. And once you’ve got them down pat, you’ll be able to produce sparkling, original, copy that will keep your readers coming back for more. There are tons of books and sites devoted to writing great content, but unless you’re someone who really struggles with writing a complete sentence, it really boils to some basic principles.  And even if you already know all this, it’s always a good idea to get a reminder and re-evaluate your writing to make sure you’re not falling back into bad habits.

Here are the seven most essential things that every blogger needs to know:

1. Keep it short - Learn the skill of brevity. Your readers will love you for it. It can take time to develop the art of saying more in fewer words, but it’s worth it. Keep sentences short, paragraphs tight, and articles at a reasonable length. Make your point, repeat it, then leave it. Short, succinct sentences look appealing to a reader when they scan your page. This means they will keep the window open and take a look at what you have to say.

2. Bite-sized nuggets - Break your content into nice, digestible pieces. As a general rule of thumb, paragraphs written for the web shouldn’t be longer than four of five sentences. Ever heard of the popular web abbreviation “TLDR”? This stands for “too long, didn’t read.” Readers scan web pages, rather than reading them carefully, such as they would a book or newspaper. Make your content look short and readable and you will stand a better chance of keeping your reader’s attention.

3. Subheadings - Put the most important points, keyword and phrases in bold subheadings. This helps to catch the eye of readers skimming over your page. Subheadings are where people “land” on a website. Each subheading should introduce a kind of “mini article.”  Take advantage of subheadings to make readers stay on your page for longer.

4. Leave them wanting - The number one trick to making a profit from web writing is to leave readers wanting just a little bit more. Introduce the problem, offer some solutions, but don’t completely solve it. That is what your next link, next post, or targeted ads are for. Learning the skill of leaving the problem a little bit open is the best skill you can develop.

5. Offer something original - Why should readers choose your blog over someone else’s? Offer them something original, and they’ll make that choice. Figure out how you can tap into a niche and how you will be able to offer a unique angle. If you are an expert in a field, use that to your advantage. Any topic that you are passionate about is a good place to start. This way you can deliver readers heartfelt, knowledgeable advice that doesn’t just repeat what someone else is saying.

6. Watch your adverbs and adjectives - Any writing teacher will tell you that you need to eliminate your writing of adverbs and adjectives. Blog writing is no exception! There is a place for them, but most of the time they tell the reader nothing. They are empty words which don’t say anything, yet they do take up plenty of space. Consider the sentence, “This product is really rather quite good.” What does that mean? If you mean good, then that’s what you should write. Keep your writing simple, active, and powerful.

7. Use a professional yet casual tone - There is a careful balance that needs to be struck. Write informally, but don’t litter your blog posts with careless grammar mistakes, messy formatting or text speak. Not only does this look ugly, readers will wonder why they should trust you to tell them anything. Want to be an authority on a topic? Keep your readers coming back? Write in a professional tone that gives them a good impression.

Follow these tips, and you’ll take your blog to the next level.  Or at least be on your way to keeping your content clean and readable.  Do you have other tips and tricks for great writing?  Be sure to share with us in the comments!

Coming Soon to a Device Near You: Web 3.0

Hold on… aren’t we still figuring out what Web 2.0 is?  Well, yes.  But those on the cutting edge have been dreaming of Web 3.0 for quite some time already.  In fact, the oldest reference we can find to Web 3.0 was when Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, was asked about it at a conference back on August 2, 2007.  In any case, whether we’re ready or not, Web 3.0 is on its way, so let’s start the conversation about what it’s all about.

But before we start talking about Web 3.0…

It makes sense to get clear on what Web 2.0 is all about.  When the Internet first took off (we can call it Web 1.0, although it was never referred to as such back then), it wasn’t really interactive at all.  It was basically like a library of information.  You could look for what you wanted, read the results, and that was about the end of it.  The most interactivity we found was the ability to purchase products and maybe email a company for more information (through a web form if the site was really high-speed!).

With the emergence of Web 2.0, the Internet has become very interactive, even to the point where site visitors create the web content.  The most prevalent sites on the net, like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter could not exist without members contributing content.  To a lesser degree, even smaller sites, from news feeds to personal blogs, give visitors a chance to weigh in on the content, through comments, ratings and forums.  Some of these sites, news feeds in particular, actually decide which content visitors see first, based on ratings by previous visitors.  In this way, while the content itself is generated by the site, how that content is delivered is decided upon by the masses.  Then there are the social bookmarking sites, like digg, Slashdot, StumbleUpon, Reddit, etc.  These also depend on reader submissions for their existence.  In general, Web 2.0 has made the web hyper-interactive.  In other words, it has allowed people worldwide to interact with sites and with each other whenever they want, wherever they want, in real time.  This has made the Internet more intuitive and vastly more useful.  Of course, there’s more to Web 2.0, including design elements and mobile connectivity, but that’s a brief overview.

So, what can we expect from Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 continues the evolution of the Internet.  Unlike a software application, we can’t put a “release date” on the next version of the web.  There won’t be a day when we say, yesterday Web 2.0 ended, and today Web 3.0 begins.  Instead, just like with all evolutionary processes, the transition to Web 3.0 will be gradual.  We’re already seeing some signs of this transition, but most experts predict we will be safe to say we are fully in Web 3.0 some time after late 2011 and before 2014.

What will this next version of the web look like?  No one knows for sure.  Technology and ingenuity is continually advancing, so it’s likely that it will include features we can’t even imagine right now.  We can however predict more generally what kinds of functionality we can expect.  The word most used by web experts to describe Web 3.0 is “intuitive.”  For example, let’s say the Academy Awards show is going to begin in a few hours.  You want to know what time to tune in, so you go to Google and begin to type your query: “what time do the a…” Google, in a failed attempt to be intuitive, provides these search suggestions:

Above are Google’s actual search suggestion results on the night of the 2010 Academy Awards. The American Music Awards, the first suggestion, airs more than three months before the Academy Awards.  On the night of the Academy Awards, the search suggestion function wouldn’t have to be all that intuitive to know that that is, if not your most likely search query, at least much more likely than the AMAs.  Instead, “what time do the academy awards start” is the last suggestion, even below “when do the arizona cardinals play…” well after football season has ended.

Will it be your best friend ever?

The prediction for Web 3.0 is that all of the searches and a lot more will improve immensely.  Not only will sites be more generally intuitive, they will be tuned into you and your personal preferences.  This is actually true with Google’s search suggestion function now, when you have your search history turned on, but it still has a long way to go.  According to Wired Magazine’s Kevin Kelly, Google and others will indeed go a long way in the new Web 3.0 environment.  Kelly and others envision a web that knows you better than anything or anyone, when it comes to what you like, what you don’t like, and what you want and don’t want.

For example, rather than searching five different travel sites to find the best deal on a vacation package, the evolved web will not only come up with the best deals, but will narrow the results down to, for instance, tropical locations that are kid-friendly.  Want to go to dinner and a movie?  You would just need to type the phrase “dinner and a movie tonight” to get a list of movies now playing and your favorite restaurants that are within five miles of the theater closest to you.  Web 3.0 will “learn” about you based on your online activity and will get smarter, the more you use the Internet.

The question remains, do we really want the web to “know” us that well?  Also, what about people who share computers?  The beauty of the web, whatever “version”, is that it naturally molds to the preferences of the majority, so these and other questions will work themselves out as the evolution continues.

As entrepreneurs, we know that the only constant is change.  So as uncomfortable as this new A.I.-like web may make some, we can say for sure it’s not a matter of if but when.  And the best thing we can do is spot the trends happening, adapt, and even lead when possible.  This will ensure that whatever the future brings, we’re ready to capitalize - for Web 3.0 and beyond.

Social Media Marketing - Why It’s Not Enough

There’s little doubt social media marketing can be a valuable resource for both internet-based and brick and mortar businesses.  But it’s just as important to know what it can’t do for you as to know its benefits.  While you’ll see a lot of articles on this site and others touting the benefits of social media, the best strategy is to incorporate a mix of online marketing and traditional marketing techniques.  Rather than replacing all methods of traditional marketing, the two can work hand-in-hand to optimize your overall marketing strategy.  In case you’re not sure why you would want to use anything other social media marketing, here are 5 reasons to consider:

1. Not everyone uses social media - or even the Internet. Every time we post a story on this site or our YoungEntrepreneur.com site about Twitter or Facebook or any other social network, we invariably get comments from people saying they don’t use that network, they don’t like that network, or that they’ve been meaning to but haven’t started yet.  This is proof that not everyone is using social media.  Furthermore, there are still plenty of people who don’t have internet access at all, or just use it to check email.  If you’re a blogger, those people clearly aren’t your target audience, but if you have a more traditional product or service business model, you’ll alienate a lot of potential customers if you assume everyone is online and on the same networks you are.

2. Wider reach. When you spread your marketing between online and “legacy marketing” strategies, like print, radio, and TV, you reach a wider audience.  Again, assuming everyone is looking at the same medium is folly.  Billions of dollars are still being spent on non-internet campaigns, because they still work, as long as they’re approached right and well-targeted.

3. Consistency. People don’t typically schedule when they’re going to be on Twitter or the specific time each day when they’ll check their Facebook page.  On the other hand, people listen to the radio during drive time, and a great number of people read the paper or magazines and watch TV at specific times each day.  When you need to get your message in front of your audience at least seven times on average before they act on your marketing, traditional marketing helps make sure that happens.

4. People don’t like it when you sell on social media. As we pointed out in a recent post, and several comments confirmed, those who try to sell on social media too much turn off their audience.  On the other hand, we all expect to see ads in print publications, hear ads on the radio, and see commercials on TV.  No one expects these media to be ad-free, so they’re a great opportunity to be as salesy as you want without putting people off.

5. Traditional is tried and true. Twitter and Facebook are both wildly popular right now.  With hundreds of millions of people on social media, we can’t even imagine them going anywhere.  On the other hand, that’s what people thought about MySpace just a few years ago, and while it’s still around, few serious businesses are devising MySpace strategies today.  The point is: Social media is forever changing, and what we think is here to stay today is “so yesterday” tomorrow.  Traditional marketing has been around for decades, and it shows no signs of disappearing in the near future.  While newspapers have suffered great losses in recent years, magazine subscriptions are actually way up, and broadcast advertising is still fairly strong.  It’s also very measurable, so you know how many people you’re reaching with your message.

Again, we love social media marketing and the potential it brings.  In fact, there is no business that cannot benefit in some way from marketing through social media.  It’s just that social media isn’t the only basket you want to have your eggs in.  An approach that includes the best of all the marketing channels gives you a wider reach and the best results.

What kind of marketing are you using for your business?  What has worked, and what hasn’t? Share with the community in the comments!

Flickr - The Best Kept Social Networking Secret?

Chances are good that when you think of social networks, you think of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, and when you think of Flickr, you think photo sharing.  We recently posted an article on paid and free image sites, in which Flickr was included (with a few caveats) as a great source of free images.  And this is, for the most part, the extent to which entrepreneurs see Flickr as useful to their businesses.  After all, you can’t use Flickr for marketing, right?  Well, actually, you can.

First, think about the stats: Any site with over 40 million users, an Alexa rank of 32 (23 for U.S. traffic), and over 4 billion photos uploaded, is worth taking a closer look at.  If there is any way at all to tap into that kind of user base, it makes sense to do so.  The good news is that there is a way.

Because Flickr results are heavily indexed in search engines, often surpassing other non-image links, Flickr can be a powerful SEO tool.  However, Flickr is one of the least-utilized SEO tools around.  Part of the reason companies overlook this powerful resource is because of the time it takes to set up and maintain a photo-stream in such a way that optimizes SEO and social media results.  But again, if you can access the power of this tool, it’s worth the time.

Tagging, descriptions, and grouping of photos
For each photo you upload to Flickr, you can create custom tags and descriptions. These can include pretty much anything you want, so can be optimized to ensure your company’s photos are found in searches relating to your chosen keywords.  Descriptions can also link directly to your website.  You can create picture sets within your account as well, further optimizing search results and providing an additional opportunity for detailed descriptions with links.  Additionally, Flickr gives you the ability to geo-tag your content - an important feature for any business with physical locations.

Ongoing maintenance and optimization
An important part of optimizing your Flickr account, both within the Flickr community and for the search engines, is through activity in some of the thousands of Flickr groups.  Posting pictures in relevant groups is vital for proper optimization, so it’s a good idea to post your pictures in groups that will serve to enhance your position, such as industry-specific or product-specific groups.  Because pictures get buried quickly within groups, and (unless you have a pro account) a picture can only be in ten groups at once (and many groups have rules about how many pictures you can post in their group at any given time), ongoing maintenance should include moving your pictures on a regular basis for optimum exposure.  You’ll also want to monitor activity on individual pictures and adjust your efforts accordingly, ensuring search engines and Flickr users are easily finding your account.  Perhaps the most important part of Flickr though, is the potential for network building.  Flickr is, after all, a social network, so connecting with other users is critical to a successful Flickr campaign.  With this in mind, build a network of connections through “favoriting” others’ works, adding contacts, commenting within groups and individual photo-streams, and responding to comments on your account.

If you work it right, you can effectively be seen as an industry leader within the community, and that, more than just about anything, can have a dramatic effect on your business.  Of course this all might sound like a lot of work, but really, once your photos are uploaded, an hour a week or so should be plenty of time to devote to Flickr.  It’s not like Facebook and Twitter, where an account without a comment for a few days is seen as dormant.  In any case, it’s one more possible tool in the ever-expanding bag of tricks that is social network marketing, and one that just might pay off big!

Image attribution: EXKARRAVELHO via Flickr.com

HP’s Viral Hopes - A Powerful Video Campaign Example

What does it take to make a video campaign go viral?  It seems that a huge chunk of the videos online that have gone viral were not planned that way.  Everything from giggling quadruplets to free hugs have garnered millions of views without any promotion (over 60 million views for the latter!).  They are the very definition of viral.  A few people see a video; they love it; they pass it to their friends, who pass it to their friends, etc.  But can a company duplicate these results?  HP thinks so, and they’re probably right.  Of course it’s going to take a certain kind of campaign to go viral, and if their first video in the “Make It Big” series is any indication, they have all the elements down.

First, let’s look at the video:

While it isn’t knock-you-off-your-seat powerful, this video has some great elements to it.  Let’s look at the elements HP has included to make this video a good viral video candidate:

1. Great Targeting - HP’s Make It Big campaign is targeted at entrepreneurs who have small to medium sized businesses.  The person in the video typifies such an entrepreneur, because he’s about the age of the majority of these entrepreneurs, and people that age often have kids, so the inclusion of a family-oriented focus is no coincidence.  Obviously many women are entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs come in all shapes, sizes and age groups, but in general, most of us can identify to some degree with the guy in the video.

2. Mystery Element - When you see the video for the first time, it’s not clear exactly what it’s all about.  While it might seem like a bad idea to keep your audience guessing, it’s actually a great technique for hooking people into watching and paying closer attention.  For proof, just look to TV shows like Lost, where they’ve taken the “keep ‘em guessing” factor to new levels with tremendous success.  The look on the faces of the kids when you know they’re amazed but don’t know why is a great use of this element.

3. Cool Factor - If you want something to go viral, this is the most important element of all.  The video has to make people laugh, tug at their emotions, or at least make them say, “Cool!”  The HP video fulfils these criteria in a couple of ways: First, the toy cars and track turning into a life-sized track and cars is pretty cool.  Secondly, when the guy’s daughter whispers, “That’s my dad,” it invokes a sense of pride, as a parent who has accomplished something special.  No doubt HP did some research that showed them one reason people want to succeed as entrepreneurs is to leave a legacy for their children.

So will HP’s bid to make their campaign go viral work?  It remains to be seen, but they’re on the right track.  Do you use video in your business?  Have you done anything to try to make it go viral, or do you leave that to chance?  Leave some feedback in the comments below.

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