Plainly Speaking by Tom Rambo contract content creator for Rossini.com
If you’re creating content for your company’s web site, consider carefully who your audience is. If you’re selling to other professionals in your industry, then jargon is fine. They expect it. If, however, your product or service is directed at the average consumer, the language you use should be everyday, conversational English. Including industry jargon on your web site is not going to impress them – in fact, it’s likely to do just the opposite.
If industry terms must be used, then define these terms for your reader and explain to them what this item or service does and why that’s important. You’d be surprised how many times potential customers are driven away to a competitor when they look at your web site and don’t understand what you’re talking about.
The question most people want answered is “What’s in it for me?” Anything you say on your website needs to answer that question effectively. For example, just saying that your business is “family owned” doesn’t mean anything. How does that benefit your customer? A better choice might be, “Our business is family owned, which means when you come in to see us with questions, you’re talking to someone who can make a decision and give you answers on the spot. Always let the customer know what’s in it for them!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
My thoughts
As we go into a well deserved holiday for most of us, I want to wish all of you that might read my blog a great, safe and happy weekend. Enjoy, recharge and know that I believe things are slowly getting better.
Talk soon
Joe
Talk soon
Joe
RSS Feeds for all of you that do not have time to blog!
By Sharon Housley in RSS
If you are struggling with the decision of whether to implement RSS feeds or not, consider the following pros and cons for webmasters who use RSS feeds as part of their content and communication plan…
Benefits (Pros Of Using RSS)
The benefits for a webmaster who opts to implement RSS feeds on their website are numerous:
1. Saves Time
RSS feeds save time. RSS subscribers can quickly scan RSS feeds, without having to visit each and every website. Subscribers can then click on any items they are interested in, to get additional information.
2. Timely
RSS feeds are timely. RSS feeds will automatically update themselves any time new information is posted, so the information your subscribers receive via their RSS reader or news aggregator is timely.
3. Spam Free
RSS is free of spam. Subscribers don’t have to worry about wading through huge amounts of spam in an attempt to get to the information they are actually interested in.
4. Opt-In
The RSS subscriber chooses what they want to see, and what information they wish to receive. Knowing they have full control, and that they do not have to provide any personal information to subscribe, they will be more likely to opt-in.
5. Unsubscribing Is Easy
It is also easy to unsubscribe from an RSS feed. If they do not like information contained in an RSS feed, they can simply remove the RSS feed from their RSS reader or news aggregator in order to unsubscribe.
6. Alternate Communication Channel
RSS provides you with an alternate communication channel for your business. And the more channels you provide, the more opportunities you have to connect with your customers and potential customers.
7. Expands Audience Through Syndication
The very nature of RSS is that it is designed specifically for syndication (i.e. publication by others). And wide-spread syndication can expand a company’s reach and strengthen the company brand.
8. Can Increase Backlinks
When an RSS feed is syndicated, it can increase the number of links back to the original website. And additional incoming links will often help a website rank better in organic search rankings.
9. Increases Productivity
RSS increases productivity, allowing people to quickly scan new posts and headlines, and only clicking through and spending time on the items of interest.
10. Competitive
Whether you decide to implement RSS feeds or not, your competitors likely will. So one way to remain competitive is to implement RSS feeds and other web 2.0 technology, and not allow your competition to get ahead of you.
Negatives (Cons Against Using RSS)
1. Not Widely Adopted Yet
Outside of technical circles, RSS has not yet been widely adopted. While it is becoming more and more popular, it is still far from being a mainstream technology.
2. Content Can Easily Be Copied
Content contained in an RSS feed can easily be copied and replicated, regardless of whether you want it to be or not. Few aggregators respect the copyrights of content contained in an RSS feed.
3. Tracking Subscribers Is Difficult
It is very difficult to accurately track the number of subscribers who read an RSS feed or the items contained in an RSS feed. This is due in part to the fact that at its heart, RSS is all about achieving the widest syndication possible.
4. Source Origination Difficult
It is sometimes difficult to discern the origin of an RSS feed item. When an item is syndicated, the source is not always indicated. The metrics available are not always reflective of the traffic received.
Weigh the pros and cons of implementing an RSS feed as a communication channel, and determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks in your own situation.
If you are struggling with the decision of whether to implement RSS feeds or not, consider the following pros and cons for webmasters who use RSS feeds as part of their content and communication plan…
Benefits (Pros Of Using RSS)
The benefits for a webmaster who opts to implement RSS feeds on their website are numerous:
1. Saves Time
RSS feeds save time. RSS subscribers can quickly scan RSS feeds, without having to visit each and every website. Subscribers can then click on any items they are interested in, to get additional information.
2. Timely
RSS feeds are timely. RSS feeds will automatically update themselves any time new information is posted, so the information your subscribers receive via their RSS reader or news aggregator is timely.
3. Spam Free
RSS is free of spam. Subscribers don’t have to worry about wading through huge amounts of spam in an attempt to get to the information they are actually interested in.
4. Opt-In
The RSS subscriber chooses what they want to see, and what information they wish to receive. Knowing they have full control, and that they do not have to provide any personal information to subscribe, they will be more likely to opt-in.
5. Unsubscribing Is Easy
It is also easy to unsubscribe from an RSS feed. If they do not like information contained in an RSS feed, they can simply remove the RSS feed from their RSS reader or news aggregator in order to unsubscribe.
6. Alternate Communication Channel
RSS provides you with an alternate communication channel for your business. And the more channels you provide, the more opportunities you have to connect with your customers and potential customers.
7. Expands Audience Through Syndication
The very nature of RSS is that it is designed specifically for syndication (i.e. publication by others). And wide-spread syndication can expand a company’s reach and strengthen the company brand.
8. Can Increase Backlinks
When an RSS feed is syndicated, it can increase the number of links back to the original website. And additional incoming links will often help a website rank better in organic search rankings.
9. Increases Productivity
RSS increases productivity, allowing people to quickly scan new posts and headlines, and only clicking through and spending time on the items of interest.
10. Competitive
Whether you decide to implement RSS feeds or not, your competitors likely will. So one way to remain competitive is to implement RSS feeds and other web 2.0 technology, and not allow your competition to get ahead of you.
Negatives (Cons Against Using RSS)
1. Not Widely Adopted Yet
Outside of technical circles, RSS has not yet been widely adopted. While it is becoming more and more popular, it is still far from being a mainstream technology.
2. Content Can Easily Be Copied
Content contained in an RSS feed can easily be copied and replicated, regardless of whether you want it to be or not. Few aggregators respect the copyrights of content contained in an RSS feed.
3. Tracking Subscribers Is Difficult
It is very difficult to accurately track the number of subscribers who read an RSS feed or the items contained in an RSS feed. This is due in part to the fact that at its heart, RSS is all about achieving the widest syndication possible.
4. Source Origination Difficult
It is sometimes difficult to discern the origin of an RSS feed item. When an item is syndicated, the source is not always indicated. The metrics available are not always reflective of the traffic received.
Weigh the pros and cons of implementing an RSS feed as a communication channel, and determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks in your own situation.
Neat social media article
This article by SKGT
Blogging, tweeting, friending. Odd sounding verbs, these. Not sure you'll find them in the "verb" category in the dictionary ~ at least not yet. Give them time. "Ain't" made it in, and that verb didn't have nearly the grassroots support of these three.
Indeed, this triad of "new verbs" are both the result and the harbinger of the most prominent types of social networks and Social Media Marketing in the world today: personal and professional blogs (with RSS feeds so you can stay "tuned in"), Twitter (the "mini-blog" suited to the info-bites attitude and fast-forward pace of our lives in the 21st century), and Facebook (the global water-cooler). As the Bible says of Faith, Hope, and Love, these three remain. Blogging, Twitter, and Facebook: which is "the greatest of these" remains to be seen.
[A Cruise or an iPad and the Latest Marketing Report on Email!]
In the realm of the online marketplace, however, it's no contest. The wínner is: all three of them. They are the leaders of the newest form of network marketing and one of the most effective: Social Media Marketing.
Why is it so effective? Three reasons that are particularly attractive to small business and other entrepreneurs: low impact/annoyance factor, cost effectiveness, and a viral spread of information.
1. Low Impact (and therefore low annoyance factor) :-
In the same way that email rapidly replaced telephone contact and so called "face time," blogging, Twitter, and Facebook are replacing other more traditional forms of marketing, and for the same reasons.
Emailing became the norm for the "sender" of information because it was easier (both physically and emotionally) than making a phone call or meeting with someone in person. Email grants immediate completion and instant gratification: No getting a busy signal or, worse, an answering machine or voice mail inbox that required you to leave a message (wherein you might say the wrong thing and not be able to erase and re-record) and no having to carry on an unscripted conversation with someone in person (wherein the same dangers were ever present). The receiver was equally blessed by the ability to respond (or not) at his or her leisure and with the same assurance of faux pas-free "conversation."
Social Media does the same for marketing by freeing the marketer to place his or her "ads" at any time, around the clock, 24/7, rather than to some PR office or publisher's schedule, while simultaneously granting the target audience the ability read/view and/or delete at will instead of having to dispose of or recycle the publication, and all for the low, low price of . . . well, nothing.
Which naturally leads us to reason number 2.
[Provide Support - Download Your Live Chat Script!]
2. Cost Effective ('cause it's free!) :-
Well the section header pretty much says it all. You can't get much more cost effective than "free," and all of these Social Media Marketing venues are just that. Free as the air you breathe ~ which, by the way, is how many viruses spread.
3. Wherein a Virus can be Your Business's Best Friend :-
Remember the "water-cooler" metaphor above? Years ago, in the traditional brick and mortar model of business, the water-cooler was the place where employees would gather to socialize during breaks, exchanging pleasantries and information, introducing the "new guy" to the old guard, telling jokes and showing off pictures of their pets or the new baby.
[Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!]
Long after the physical water-cooler had been replaced by bottled water, "hanging around the water-cooler" remained a metaphor for the casual meetings and conversations that took place among people in the physical spaces of a business environment. Whatever the place, the close physical proximity inherent to "hanging around the water-cooler," made it equally easy to pass along a cold or flu bug with the jokes and those pictures of your little ones.
As it is in the physical world, so is it in the virtual, and it is in this way, especially, that Social Media Marketing is effective. Facebook is an especially good example of the virtual "water-cooler" inasmuch as people "meet" there and exchange information (including jokes and pictures of the fam) and provide the perfect growth environment for spreading a "virus" in the form of word-of-mouth marketing.
It's little wonder, then, that adopting Social Media Marketing is a good idea for your small business. And it's kind of comforting to some of us, after all, that even here, in the virtual business world, we can find in these new fangled technologies an echo of tradition and a sense of continuity that is familiar and reassuring.
Blogging, tweeting, friending. Odd sounding verbs, these. Not sure you'll find them in the "verb" category in the dictionary ~ at least not yet. Give them time. "Ain't" made it in, and that verb didn't have nearly the grassroots support of these three.
Indeed, this triad of "new verbs" are both the result and the harbinger of the most prominent types of social networks and Social Media Marketing in the world today: personal and professional blogs (with RSS feeds so you can stay "tuned in"), Twitter (the "mini-blog" suited to the info-bites attitude and fast-forward pace of our lives in the 21st century), and Facebook (the global water-cooler). As the Bible says of Faith, Hope, and Love, these three remain. Blogging, Twitter, and Facebook: which is "the greatest of these" remains to be seen.
[A Cruise or an iPad and the Latest Marketing Report on Email!]
In the realm of the online marketplace, however, it's no contest. The wínner is: all three of them. They are the leaders of the newest form of network marketing and one of the most effective: Social Media Marketing.
Why is it so effective? Three reasons that are particularly attractive to small business and other entrepreneurs: low impact/annoyance factor, cost effectiveness, and a viral spread of information.
1. Low Impact (and therefore low annoyance factor) :-
In the same way that email rapidly replaced telephone contact and so called "face time," blogging, Twitter, and Facebook are replacing other more traditional forms of marketing, and for the same reasons.
Emailing became the norm for the "sender" of information because it was easier (both physically and emotionally) than making a phone call or meeting with someone in person. Email grants immediate completion and instant gratification: No getting a busy signal or, worse, an answering machine or voice mail inbox that required you to leave a message (wherein you might say the wrong thing and not be able to erase and re-record) and no having to carry on an unscripted conversation with someone in person (wherein the same dangers were ever present). The receiver was equally blessed by the ability to respond (or not) at his or her leisure and with the same assurance of faux pas-free "conversation."
Social Media does the same for marketing by freeing the marketer to place his or her "ads" at any time, around the clock, 24/7, rather than to some PR office or publisher's schedule, while simultaneously granting the target audience the ability read/view and/or delete at will instead of having to dispose of or recycle the publication, and all for the low, low price of . . . well, nothing.
Which naturally leads us to reason number 2.
[Provide Support - Download Your Live Chat Script!]
2. Cost Effective ('cause it's free!) :-
Well the section header pretty much says it all. You can't get much more cost effective than "free," and all of these Social Media Marketing venues are just that. Free as the air you breathe ~ which, by the way, is how many viruses spread.
3. Wherein a Virus can be Your Business's Best Friend :-
Remember the "water-cooler" metaphor above? Years ago, in the traditional brick and mortar model of business, the water-cooler was the place where employees would gather to socialize during breaks, exchanging pleasantries and information, introducing the "new guy" to the old guard, telling jokes and showing off pictures of their pets or the new baby.
[Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!]
Long after the physical water-cooler had been replaced by bottled water, "hanging around the water-cooler" remained a metaphor for the casual meetings and conversations that took place among people in the physical spaces of a business environment. Whatever the place, the close physical proximity inherent to "hanging around the water-cooler," made it equally easy to pass along a cold or flu bug with the jokes and those pictures of your little ones.
As it is in the physical world, so is it in the virtual, and it is in this way, especially, that Social Media Marketing is effective. Facebook is an especially good example of the virtual "water-cooler" inasmuch as people "meet" there and exchange information (including jokes and pictures of the fam) and provide the perfect growth environment for spreading a "virus" in the form of word-of-mouth marketing.
It's little wonder, then, that adopting Social Media Marketing is a good idea for your small business. And it's kind of comforting to some of us, after all, that even here, in the virtual business world, we can find in these new fangled technologies an echo of tradition and a sense of continuity that is familiar and reassuring.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Titles are important
This is a neat article you might enjoy:
Article Submission Guidelines: How To
Format Titles Correctly
by Steve Shaw | Published in: Business/ECommerce
Did you know that many publishers have formatting requirements for titles in their article submission guidelines, and if your article violates those guidelines it can be declined?
Yes, even if your article is superb, it can still be declined for a silly formatting error in the title.
Titles are amazingly important!
Are you spending enough time on your titles? Most likely you spend serious amounts of energy on your articles, but are you throwing together a title at the last minute and thinking that it doesn’t make any difference?
Well, it does.
The formatting guidelines of publishers are also in place to help your article look its best and get the most attention possible. If you abide by these title rules, you have a better chance of your article getting picked up for publication, and you create the best chance possible of attracting the attention of your target readers.
Below are 5 of the most common formatting requirements for titles:
1 - Put Your Title In Title Case.
This means that the first letter of every major word should be capitalized. You may also capitalize common words such as "the", "to", "a", and "for", but that is optional. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS IN YOUR TITLE. And do not capitalize only the first letter of the first word of your title. Rather, capitalize the first letter of each major word.
2 - Use Proper Spelling and Grammar in Your Title.
If you have grammar and/or spelling errors in the title, it leads the publisher and reader to believe that the rest of the article may also be low quality. Your title must be properly written. Any mistakes in an article title can lead to an immediate decline.
For example:
Incorrect grammar: How To Choose A Article Distribution Service
Correct grammar: How To Choose An Article Distribution Service
If you are targeting keyword phrases and one of your key phrases has a grammar or spelling error in it, then don’t use it, especially not in your title!
3 - Your Title Must be at Least 2 Words Long.
The purpose of your title is to tell the reader what your article is about, and one-word titles don't offer much help. Many publishers require that your title be no shorter than 2 words. Ideally your title should be long enough to indicate the specific topic of your article.
For example:
A too short title: Cars
Better title: Top 5 Family Friendly Fuel Efficient Cars
4 - Your Title Should Not be Enclosed in Quotes.
Just type your title in the title field--there is no need to put quotation marks around the title.
5 - Your Title Should Not Have a Period at the End.
There is a theory that a period at the end of a title serves as a mental stop to the reader and can deter them from reading further into your article. Whether or not that is the case, many publishers consider a period at the end of a title to be bad form and will decline articles on this basis.
Have you committed any of these title formatting mistakes? What changes will you make to your next article title so that they fulfill these common article submission guidelines?
Article Submission Guidelines: How To
Format Titles Correctly
by Steve Shaw | Published in: Business/ECommerce
Did you know that many publishers have formatting requirements for titles in their article submission guidelines, and if your article violates those guidelines it can be declined?
Yes, even if your article is superb, it can still be declined for a silly formatting error in the title.
Titles are amazingly important!
Are you spending enough time on your titles? Most likely you spend serious amounts of energy on your articles, but are you throwing together a title at the last minute and thinking that it doesn’t make any difference?
Well, it does.
The formatting guidelines of publishers are also in place to help your article look its best and get the most attention possible. If you abide by these title rules, you have a better chance of your article getting picked up for publication, and you create the best chance possible of attracting the attention of your target readers.
Below are 5 of the most common formatting requirements for titles:
1 - Put Your Title In Title Case.
This means that the first letter of every major word should be capitalized. You may also capitalize common words such as "the", "to", "a", and "for", but that is optional. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS IN YOUR TITLE. And do not capitalize only the first letter of the first word of your title. Rather, capitalize the first letter of each major word.
2 - Use Proper Spelling and Grammar in Your Title.
If you have grammar and/or spelling errors in the title, it leads the publisher and reader to believe that the rest of the article may also be low quality. Your title must be properly written. Any mistakes in an article title can lead to an immediate decline.
For example:
Incorrect grammar: How To Choose A Article Distribution Service
Correct grammar: How To Choose An Article Distribution Service
If you are targeting keyword phrases and one of your key phrases has a grammar or spelling error in it, then don’t use it, especially not in your title!
3 - Your Title Must be at Least 2 Words Long.
The purpose of your title is to tell the reader what your article is about, and one-word titles don't offer much help. Many publishers require that your title be no shorter than 2 words. Ideally your title should be long enough to indicate the specific topic of your article.
For example:
A too short title: Cars
Better title: Top 5 Family Friendly Fuel Efficient Cars
4 - Your Title Should Not be Enclosed in Quotes.
Just type your title in the title field--there is no need to put quotation marks around the title.
5 - Your Title Should Not Have a Period at the End.
There is a theory that a period at the end of a title serves as a mental stop to the reader and can deter them from reading further into your article. Whether or not that is the case, many publishers consider a period at the end of a title to be bad form and will decline articles on this basis.
Have you committed any of these title formatting mistakes? What changes will you make to your next article title so that they fulfill these common article submission guidelines?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Used furniture for sale
One of my clients www.proseinc.com is a specialist in the sale of remanufactured and used furniture sales for the business arena. Please visit www.proseinc.com to learn more about their products. Prose is a proud reseller of remanufactured Steelcase 9000 products.
PR releases do work
I have been doing more and more on line PR releases and I find that they have if written correctly an immediate impact on search rankings and sales. You must think about the article you wish to promote and the idea or company. Write a PR release in word first and check grammar and spelling.
More to come soon on this important topic.
Joe Rossini
More to come soon on this important topic.
Joe Rossini
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