Why Writing Skills Are Crucial For All Entrepreneurs

 

I’ve been a writer my entire career. I love it. I also enjoy writing about what makes for good writing as well as coaching and editing others.

What’s cool about being a writer is that you can always improve, and you should want to, too. You can always find a better, more succinct way to make your point, be persuasive — and in the case of us entrepreneurs use writing to win more business. You might not be a writer, but you still have to write business proposals and emails or come up with a tagline, a mission statement or copy for your website. You still have to be able to communicate what you do and what sets you apart.

 

Recently I enjoyed catching up with fellow word and grammar nerd (a term of admiration, I assure you) Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, who produces the podcast “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.” By the way, if you doubt people’s hunger to understand writing and grammar, consider the Grammar Girl podcast is surpassing 300 million downloads this month. Here’s some of what Fogarty and I talked about.

Good Writing Is Simple.

Think subject, verb, object, period and in that order too. No need to bog down your writing — and the reader — with fancy clauses, adverbs or adjectives.

“Attention spans are so short, you have to use as few words as possible,” Forgarty said.

A few words on subjects and verbs. To connect with the reader or create urgency, use second person, or “you.” First person and second person are the most engaging.

As for verbs, think active over passive. You’ll paint a clearer picture and won’t have to rely on adverbs. Also, think of the simplest, most common verbs. For example, we talk more than we converse. And utilize is an overused corporate word for use.

“A lot of times when people use those big words they sound like they might be insecure,” Fogarty said.

Note that not everything you write is urgent, exciting or otherwise screaming for an exclamation point. Don’t succumb to the peer pressure. The period works great 99.9 percent of the time. 

Good Writing Isn’t Formal Or Jargon Heavy.  

“So many people feel they have to be overly formal in business writing to be taken seriously,” Fogarty said. “They have to use all the jargon and buzz words.” Yes, oh my goodness yes. Every day of my life in corporate communications. 

 

I have one corporate business partner who defies the mold. She lets me delete most of her adverbs and simplify her sentences. She once asked me why my writing sounded different than what she sees elsewhere in the company. What high praise. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug her. Simple sentences. Active verbs. First and second person. Limited adjectives and adverbs. No jargon. I don’t have any other tricks.

Writers Are On Their Own A Lot More.

From newspapers to corporations, the ranks of copy editors have thinned. That means writers are on their own and have to be their own editors, too. What’s a writer to do? To check for grammar, syntax and typos, Fogarty’s number one recommendation is to read your writing aloud. I agree. It works.

I also have my go-to resources that I consult: Merriam-Webster online and The Associated Press Stylebook online. And thank goodness for Google, because I always need to look up “affect versus effect.” 

Let’s All Calm Down About Texting And Social Media.

I asked Fogarty a question on writing and social media that I’m sure she gets a lot. Are texting and social media making us worse writers? Fogarty has an optimistic view. Social media can make us better writers, because it forces brevity, she said. I agree. It’s like headline writers. Those people are poets. This is why I miss the good old days of Twitter when tweets couldn’t be longer than 140 characters. I enjoyed the challenge of being ultra brief. By comparison, 280 characters feels like a book.  

As for texting, Fogarty likened it to private notes that people have passed through the ages. Always hastily written, because that’s what the audience has always expected. Our parents wrote IOUs. Kids still sign yearbooks with BFF and HAGS (look it up). Heck, OK is an abbreviation for a misspelling from the mid 19th century, Forgarty noted.

Creating and Expanding Ideas for Your New Book

We are all aware that sometimes you get stuck on ideas for your intended book. It’s normal. Sure enough, your creativity is not in doubt, but more often than you appreciate, it drips from the tap rather than flow at full speed. Other times, you create new ideas but then find yourself unable to take them on from there. Those few lines are hardly going to magically magnify themselves on their own, are they? They need you, but you’re just not sure how to expand them.

There are many different ideas that people have put forward. A few of them are:

• Write about your special interests
• Allow yourself to make random, free sketches
• Adopt mythology or history into your story
• Get inspiration by reading other works
• Keep a note with you, and put down ideas as they come

 

These are all great tips, and they have been presented by amazing people – among them, high-grade writers. But as you try these, remember to pay attention to yourself.

It’s your book, isn’t it? That means it’s a reflection of you. What people find in a book, all the good parts (and of course the bad), generally come from within the writer.

Pay attention to yourself, and the results might surprise you.

But what does this mean exactly, and how can you do it?

 

Turn your experiences into ideas

While getting back to my house one early morning, between 5 and 6am, I saw a mentally ill person in manky clothes moving at a brisk pace ahead of me (a very normal sight in this part of the world). Naturally, I put some distance between us and treaded very cautiously. Long story short, somewhere in the distance she gave a young man a huge slap in the face - literally. He jumped across a gutter, and still she confronted him. It quickly turned into a face-off, which ended only when the man broke off whippy branches from a guava tree and managed to scare her off.

I didn’t forget that scene in a hurry. Not long afterwards I wrote a story about it. Different times while writing the story, I played around with the plot. I wasn’t always so sure how to present it, but I knew I was always heading to one end – a scene where an insane woman gives a young man a slap in the face on a road. Somehow, that kept me really confident about the story. It made me feel like I was simply writing about an actual, real-life event and all I needed to do was put it down in words. I felt really good doing that.

Do you have an experience of being pursued by a troublesome dog? Did your sister get a new pug that puts out an innocent face but is really very mischievous behind everyone’s backs? That’s material.

 

Your sister's mischievous but innocent-looking pug

I know it was a terrifying experience for you when you had that nightmare, but I know of writers who have turned their bad moments into great stories! Granted some little ideas might not make a full story, but you could always incorporate them into something you’re working on. Or the idea might help you think of another idea that you would certainly love to write about.

 

Turn your ideas into experiences

Turning your ideas into experiences is just as great. What do I mean by this?

Let the ideas play out in your head, but more than that, let yourself assume that they’re real. This point is connected particularly to fiction. Do not think of your characters as just that – fictional characters. Imagine them to be real-life people whom you know about, and whose story you’re simply going over in your mind. Do this and watch them come alive before your eyes.

What I do is that I pick a long, lonely (obviously safe) street, preferably with tall trees lined up by the sides, and I walk slowly down it while going over my characters’ stories in my mind. What happened to Jane there? Why did she do that? It was so silly of her, wasn’t it; she should probably have done this instead. Somewhere along those lines there’s usually the odd laugh from me. What you’re doing at this point is you’re giving the characters a real-life edge. The story flows – good for you!

Be careful with this technique though, because oftentimes other people might find you talking to yourself, laughing and smiling alone. They’ll probably think you’re an ass.

 

You’re an ass but it’s fine. It’s for a good cause.

You’re a writer. By nature, you are a creative person. I’m certain you could think of other ways to turn your ideas into experiences (you could even dramatize them!). Your reward will be waiting for you.

So, let’s say our goodbyes. Whenever you’re thinking of creating or expanding ideas for your new book, you could try out a lot of the great advice that really nice people have made out time to post on the internet. However, don’t forget to pay attention to yourself. It’s very important.

3 Tips for Writing with Vivid Language

The use of vivid language is one of the main qualities of good writing. Good writing follows a flow. Good writing is focused. Good writing is written for a purpose. Good writing is grammatically correct and readable. However, it is vivid description that connects a good writing to the readers.

Vivid language appeals to the readers’ senses, experiences and consciousness. When a piece resonates with your readers, it stands out and is utterly unforgettable. However, when writing is bland, it fails to connect. Vivid writing is meaningful and powerful.

Readers remember a vivid message because they can picture it and feel inspired. Here are tips to make your writing more engaging and connecting.

Help Readers Imagine

Your writing should sketch clear pictures in readers’ mind. You can place the scene of your description before your readers using similes, metaphors, anecdotes or stories.

For instance, don’t just say the wind is fast. Compare it with something that the readers are familiar with. As an example, compare these two sentences:

He runs very fast.

He runs like a train.

The second sentence is more detailed and helps readers imagine. Rather than leaving the details to the reader’s imagination, list them out in your writing.

Use active voice

When you use active voice, your writing becomes concise and more readable. Active voice means the subject is performing the verb. Passive voice means the subject receives the action.

Active: Barry hit the ball.

Passive: The ball was hit (by Barry).

Notice that the party responsible for the action—in the previous example, whoever hit the ball—may not even appear when using passive voice. So, passive voice is a useful option when the responsible party is not known. Passive voice weakens the clarity of your description.

 

Be careful about research results and theories

Unless it’s an academic writing, share few research results only for credibility. Academic theories and debates could be boring sometimes. And you really don’t want to bore your readers with that. So, keep your writing short. Crunch research results into particles to make them intelligible to your audience.

And if you need to discuss a theory to bring home a point, simplify as much as possible. Always keep in mind that not all your readers share experiences with you. Moreover, since you are writing for them, your narrative should be more focused on your audience.

When your writing is brilliant, your description automatically becomes brilliant. You don’t need to worry because of it; you only need to worry because of your writing. Improve how you write and you’ll improve your description.

So, when you write your next blog post or work on a book, think about this: What is the key message you want readers to remember? Which story or stories illustrate this key message best? Your stories can be about yourself, about clients, or stories you’ve read elsewhere (be sure to give credit in this case). Or sometimes, you can even make up your stories.

Make your writing crispy and dazzling to readers.

5 Reasons Your Brand Communication is Turning Customers Away

Brand communication is more than a logo and a few lines. It is deliberate and strategic. However, some brand managers fail to realise this and rush into brand campaigns only to rush out when the flame of their eagerness is extinguished.

Drawing more customers to a particular brand involves careful research and planning, just the same way keeping your customer base requires effort. But when the message is distorted or inappropriate for the segment, we see brand communications sending customers away instead of attracting them like a magnet. Here are some mistakes to avoid:

 

Inadequate knowledge of target audience

If you don’t understand your target audience, your brand communications are already doomed from the start. Imagine passing sensitive information to the wrong audience. That’s what not properly identifying your audience looks like in brand communications. You should understand their expectations, demands, the values they identify with and the kind of brands they favour. This background information can make communications more targeted and useful.

 

Not spending much on good communications

Great brand communication is a product of great investments. A serious brand takes consistent investment in products, consumers and itself as its watchword. There are no two ways about it; when you fail to invest in brand communications, you are creating a channel for distortions in your message.

The signals of poor investment begin to show in form of poor messaging, shy social media messaging, lacklustre brand names and web content lacking direction. To remedy this, you could always hire communications agencies like TRW Consult to help you.

 

Seeing brand communications as just good grammar

Although grammar and correct spellings are important, great brand communications are more than good grammar, and of course more than correct spellings. Brand communication is a combination of good design and finesse in the development, management and dissemination of messages. The best brands recognise the value of great designs and streamlined messages in their brand communications that speak to the deepest aspirations of their audience. They use both unique visuals and captivating vocabulary to create connections with their customers.

 

Inconsistency

One of the secrets of great brand communications is consistency. It is important in building loyalty, credibility and familiarity. Great brands have achieved their grand status by keeping faith with their personality, promotions and communication, and in fact, with every interaction with their audience. Take the logo of Coca-Cola in the past 130 years for example; its consistency has made it easily recognizable over the years, thereby contributing to its huge customer and audience base.

It is important to note that why consistency is necessary in brand communications, it does not end here. It extends to quality as well.

 

Limiting your sources of feedback

Some brands are so obsessed with positive reviews that they fail to see a constructive negative review that has the potential to enhance their brand. Taking feedback from the right sources and expanding the net of your reviews will help you measure and set appropriate brand communications goals. Today, social media provides a great platform for reviews.

The Dark Side Of Marketing: How Adverts Destroy Businesses

 

Companies focus on the pros of marketing. With the right amount of investment and the correct target audience, you can increase traffic one hundred percent. This will lead to better lead generation and a boost in sales and profits. Usually, this is how bosses think when they consider advertising, but the cons go under the radar.

Yes, being witty and creative and unique can raise brand awareness; however, there is a dark side to the industry which turns off customers. Slip into this category and the firm’s reputation may take a hit from which it can’t come back.

Here’s how adverts destroy businesses and the solutions.

Too Annoying

In the past, shoppers used to have to walk past billboards and fliers before they saw a company’s message. Even if they were everywhere, they were unobtrusive because the advertising was passive. You saw it, but you never had to engage. Today is different thanks to the internet. Now, one click can result in endless pop-up ads which relate to nothing whatsoever. The result is an annoyed and frustrated shopper that would rather leave than continue with the experience.

The solution is simple: think before you accept advertisements. If it’s vital for monetary reasons, then keep it to space on the pages. Avoid pop-ups at all costs.

Not Trustworthy

There are millions of adverts on the Worldwide Web, and all of them look the same. So, it’s difficult to tell which are real and which ones are fakes. As a result, online consumers avoid them like the plague because the risk isn’t worth the reward. Sure, they may get 10% off their next order, but they may give a hacker access to their bank account.

One way to attract attention while being trustworthy is through SEO. www.vistacomm.com shows that shoppers are more likely to click-through on a search engine rather than an ad. So, pleasing Google can lead to a better conversion rate.

They’re Plain Bad

Ads are annoying, but only if they’re bad. It turns out customers don’t have them equally; just the ones which waste their time. www.vieodesign.com puts this into perspective by saying 91% of people are bothered by intrusive ads, 87% by too many of them, and 79% by trackers. However, none of the samples were bothered if the quality was high because it added value.

The obvious thing to do is make sure the marketing effort correlates with the audience beforehand. To do this, set up a focus group and ask for feedback.

Misleading

Also known as click-bait, it’s when a title refers to a search term but redirects them to a different page. As soon as they land and read a few sentences, people tend to bounce. Okay, the traffic rate is high but the conversion rate is way down, and that’s what counts. 15% of all ads trick people into clicking so you can imagine a person’s frustration.

As tempting as it is, you have to avoid clickbait. Be real and genuine because that’s what counts.

Wouldn’t that get you to click on something if the shoe was on the other foot?

 

Do you and your business need help marketing the right way? Contact TRW Consult here.

 

Culled from Open Business Council

How Goes the Flow in Your Story?

 

Story passages have a rhythm, a pattern, a sound. Yet I don’t want to talk about rhythm so much as I do flow.

Rhythm can affect flow, but it’s only one element that can. Let’s look at other story elements that can interfere with flow.

Stories should flow, move along without impediment, and lead ever forward. Stories should draw the reader deeper into the tale and ultimately dump him out at the end, satisfied at having taken the adventure with your characters.

Yet a smooth flow isn’t inevitable. The writer has to work to create it. And a writer could inadvertently disrupt flow, could accidentally drop roadblocks into the story, obstructions that keep the reader from smoothly following the tale.

Impediments

These obstructions come in several forms. One impediment is simply bad writing. When the reader can’t follow the meaning or the sequence of events, when he has to go back several lines or paragraphs or pages to figure out what’s going on, that reader isn’t following a smooth story flow.

Challenging a reader can be good. Frustrating a reader with sentences that make no sense or storylines that lack logic is never good. Let your plot and characters rile your readers; let the mechanics of writing remain invisible.

~  Stilted writing is another impediment. Stilted writing can come from a writer’s insistence on not using contractions or from the use of formal words, especially in dialogue. If a character is loose and easy, don’t put formal or fancy words in his mouth when he’s in an argument. If you have to look up the word, it’s likely that such a character wouldn’t know it and certainly wouldn’t use it when he was emotional. Yes, be creative in your use of words. But maintain your character’s personality with his words.

Use contractions, no matter your time period. Humans have contracted and combined words for thousands of years. Find a different way to highlight or differentiate speech of a people group or era.

If you want one character to use a more formal tone and not use contractions, make sure all the others do use contractions. And keep non-use of contractions to a minimum. Your readers will thank you.

~  Repetition of ideas or information can impede flow. Instead of it easing readers through a passage, repetition can slow them down. They start to think, “Haven’t I already read this? Didn’t the author tell me this before?” Once readers start thinking about the story mechanics and setup rather than the plot, they’ve been pulled from the fiction. You don’t want readers thinking of the words on the page—you want them thinking of what those words on that page mean in terms of what’s happening. That is, you don’t want readers thinking of the individual words at all, not even about how wonderful they are. You do want readers swept away by the meaning or tone of the words as they relate to the story.

~  Confusion is another block to good flow in a story. If readers are confused about characters because they’re too much alike or about who is doing what or about the possibilities of the actions you’ve described, story flow is interrupted.

Always keep the reader in mind. He wants to get lost in your story, has picked up your book for just that purpose. Don’t make it difficult for him when instead you could keep his attention with just a bit more diligence on your part. Use one of your editing passes to look for confusion.

Note: If you trip over any sentence or passage or even a single word, fix the words that trip you up. The reader will have more of a problem than you do, so if anything snares your attention as you read, that’s a sure tip-off that the words need work.

~  Dialect can get in the way of a smooth read and impede flow. Use a single word or phrase to establish dialect, or let the reaction of other characters reveal that someone speaks in dialect. Spelling out dialect in dialogue most definitely slows a read.

~  Redundant phrases may not only impede a reader’s journey through a story, they can also drive readers crazy.

She nodded her head in agreement.

She nodded. (We know it’s her head and we know a head nod signifies agreement.)

“Yes, I can do it,” she said in agreement.

“I can do it.” (Yes by itself is also acceptable and often preferable, but a simple yes doesn’t always reveal the character or her attitude or emotion.)

What about possible responses to this question?

“Do you think he can handle the new duties as well as take on Mr. Big?”

“Yes, I think he can handle the new duties as well as take on Mr. Big.” [Sounds like an essay that’s been padded for word count, doesn’t it?]

“He’s good.”

“He can do it.”

“Mr. Big won’t know what hit him.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“He’ll slip right in, get us set up. Don’t worry so much.”

Responses that don’t repeat the question allow the story to move forward. They reveal something about the speaker and can also reveal information about a character that the speaker is talking about.

Note: If a question is not answered right away and either story time or distance on a page separate question from answer, repetition or a reminder of the question is not only allowed but encouraged. The goal is to keep the reader flowing with the story—don’t lose them when a few words will keep them on track.

~  Unnecessary punctuation can impede flow. If a reader is confused by punctuation that’s out of place, he’s not flowing with the fiction. Brush up on punctuation and put it to work for you.

Keep in mind that periods are full stops. Too many too close together will produce stilted passages.

~  Time and the order of events can contribute to a smooth flow or create chaos, at least in the reader’s mind.

The order of events can have to do with both logic and the unfolding of plot, and sometimes you just don’t want to tell the story in a linear fashion. But once again I’ll remind you of the reader. Challenge him if you want to, but don’t forget that a human is trying to follow your story. Most readers expect story to present oldest events first and then follow with subsequent events. If you have a purpose for not following such a pattern, remain aware of reader expectation.  And be sure to compensate for that expectation.

~  Breaks affect story flow. Choose your sentence, paragraph, scene, and chapter breaks with care. The way the chunks of words are broken and interrupted and connected will affect the flow.

Longer sentences create a different feel than do short, choppy sentences. But long sentences with many digressions can also be choppy.

~  Fit words to story, to character, to genre, and to reader. We all want variety in our words, but words that don’t fit can jar the reader. And books that should be accompanied by a dictionary place a burden on the reader.

No, there’s nothing wrong with using a well-chosen word, even if it’s not a common one. But what is your goal? To use the best words for the story or teach your readers a new word? Think cohesion in terms of story elements. Think readability for the audience.

~  Combine sentences to smooth the read. Not all phrases need to be separate. You can combine in dozens of ways to smooth the feel and sound of sentences. Use conjunctions and punctuation and variety in sentence structure to please both the ear and the eye.

_______________________

Writing is not only about tricks and tools and forcing words into patterns that tell a good story in an entertaining manner. Sometimes you just simply need to write, to let the words flow from your subconscious to the page. And that flow is as important to the feel of your story as the flow achieved through attention to the mechanics.

Write with freedom; compose your plots and dialogue unfettered. You can always rein in phrasing that’s too loose. But if you don’t write loose at least some of the time, you’ll never achieve the particular flow that comes through letting go, letting yourself fling words on the page with no thought to meaning or logic or consequence.

Planning each word has its place. But so does working without a plan. Be sure you tap into both methods so your writing gets the benefits of both.

*******

Ensure that your plots flow without impediment and that readers flow right along with the story. Don’t be shy about getting help—ask beta readers how a passage flows. Ask them where they get tripped up in a chapter.

Pay attention to flow, to the forward motion of your stories. And remove impediments—no matter how small or how involving—so your fiction moves easily, without bumps that jar readers out of the fantasy you’ve crafted for them.

Culled from The Editor's Blog

Event Marketing vs. Experiential Marketing

 

Experiential marketing and event marketing are often used interchangeably by people inside and outside of the industry, but are they the same?

The short answer? No, not quite.

They may sound similar, but experiential and event marketing are two separate tactics that brands can use as part of a larger marketing plan. What exactly is the difference between the two? It has to do with engagement, experience, goals, and time.

Engagement

One of the most prominent differences between experiential and event marketing is how each of these tactics engages the audience. Event marketing uses one-way communication where the brand is speaking directly to the consumer, but the consumer does not have the opportunity to respond. Have you ever attended an event where you passed by multiple booths and were handed marketing brochures about a company? This is a form of one-way communication that is often used at events. The brand is passing along information to the attendee in the form of a promotional pamphlet, but the consumer is not an active participant in the conversation.

On the other hand, experiential marketing uses two-way communication. This allows a brand to interact with a customer to teach them more about the brand’s products and services, and then listen to what the customer has to say in response. Experiential marketers aim to create opportunities where the customer and the brand can come together to engage in conversation and form a strong relationship. For example, Sensodyne hosted an experiential marketing event that invited people with sensitive teeth to try new products, play games, and meet privately with a dentist. Each section of the event was staffed with knowledgeable professionals who were there to interact with guests on a personal level. Although Sensodyne did host an event, this is definitely an example of experiential marketing and not event marketing.

Experience

Guests also experience both event marketing and experiential marketing in different ways. Think of the last time you went to a concert. You and the thousands of other music fans that filled the arena simultaneously watched the same show and left after having the same experience. This is the typical experience people have when it comes to event marketing—all at once, all the same.

However, every guest at an experiential marketing event will walk away with a unique memory of the individual experience they had. To understand this concept, consider Delta’s experiential marketing event known as “Stillness in Motion.” To highlight how Delta promotes rest and relaxation for its travellers, Delta created a spa-like room where guests could come in and try to find stillness on their own. The room was equipped with various sensors that picked up the guest’s heartbeat and changed the surroundings based on its pace. As the heartbeat picked up, the room would flash different colours and create various noises, and as users finally found their stillness, the colours would begin to fade and gentle music would seep into the room. In this example, each user had a unique experience that was powered by his or her heartbeat. This is part of the magic of the experiential marketing.

Goals

Event marketing and experiential marketing are used to achieve different goals, which is one of the reasons why it’s so important to understand the difference between the two. Marketers turn to event marketing when they want to announce a new product, sell products, or get press coverage for the brand. It’s best to think of event marketing as a way to generate buzz around something happening with the brand.

Of course, experiential marketing can also be used to launch new products, sell merchandise, and get in the press, but those aren’t typically the goals of these events. Instead, marketers use experiential marketing to create positive brand associations and grow relationships with their audience. An increase in sales and awareness of a new product can certainly occur as a result of an experiential marketing event, but the focus during the planning process is usually on how to connect with consumers. Going back to the Sensodyne example, inviting guests to meet privately with a dentist will not necessarily lead to an increase in sales. After all, the dentist was not secretly a sales representative who was pitching Sensodyne products. But, when guests left the event, they probably had a more favourable impression of Sensodyne for creating such a memorable experience for them. As a result of this positive association and the knowledge about sensitive teeth that the dentist provided, more customers probably did purchase Sensodyne toothpaste.

Time

Event marketing typically has a start and end time so guests know when to arrive and when the event is over. Once the end time has passed, the event is officially done. Press may cover the event while it is happening or immediately after it is over, but besides this, the buzz tends to die down when the event comes to an end.

Experiential marketing tends to live on much longer than event marketing. Because each guest has a unique experience at an experiential marketing event, guests often feel compelled to share their stories on social media and blogs. The buzz around an experiential marketing campaign can continue to grow as more guests swap stories and discuss the details of the event. Do you remember Coca Cola’s famous “Share A Coke” campaign? Part of the marketing plan for this campaign was hosting experiential marketing events and inviting guests to attend so they could create their own custom bottle of Coca Cola. After making their own bottles, many guests shared pictures of them online, which drew more attention to the campaign and the brand as a whole. If you want to keep the focus on your brand and really make your efforts pay off, choose experiential marketing.

 

Credit: Factory360

25 Tips for Creating Great Marketing Videos

In recent years, videos have been making inroads in digital marketing, emerging as a powerful promotional tool for businesses to promote their wares in an exciting and engaging way. Though when it comes to video marketing, there’s some pretty definitive ‘rules’ businesses should stick to in order to get their videos right. Get them wrong and marketing videos can be more hindering to a company than profiting.

Fortunately, if you’re a business looking to embark on an effective video marketing strategy, you’re in the right place, as Small Business Trends explores 25 tips for creating marketing videos.

Tips for Creating Marketing Videos

Tell a Story

Instead of being overtly salesy, an effective video tells a story. As the Digital Marketing Institute notes, businesses should utilize the emotive power of video by appealing to their customer’s needs and desires.

Make Sure the Introduction Stands Out

A little like how we are unlikely to click on an email if we’re not inspired by the subject line, an incredible one fifth of viewers click off a video within 10 seconds if they’re not interested in what they see. With this in mind, the introduction of the video is vitally important and should be made inspiring, entertaining and informative, to hook the viewer and encourage them to view the whole of the video.

Create a Stimulating Title

By the same token, your video’s title should be stimulating and eye-catching in order to grab a viewer’s attention. Furthermore, by using relevant keywords in a title, the video is likely to show up on the search engines when viewers search for the topic.

Focus on the Mission and Less on the Product

Instead of being overtly focused on the product and all its benefits, channel the message of the video into the mission of the product. Dove, for example, are hailed are being experts in creating emotional viral videos that focus less on their product and more on their mission.

Don’t Be Boring

Who wants to watch a boring video? It goes without saying, if you want your business’s video marketing campaign to be successful, create exciting and inspiring videos that can never be considered boring.

Get a Little Bit Risqué!

While too much naughty content is unlikely to do the credibility of your business many favors, as Inc. writes, just the right amount can be good for page views — as long as not overdone.

Make it Mobile Friendly

With more and more people using mobile devices to get online, it’s imperative corporate videos are mobile friendly. In fact, according to YouTube, mobile video consumption increases 100% every year! Marketing videos therefore need to be able to be downloaded and enjoyed on mobile devices.

Think About SEO

Quite simply, Google loves video content and an effective video marketing campaign should have Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. To ensure maximum SEO value from your videos, accompany the video with a well-written description that is tagged with relevant keywords to help boost the video’s SEO.

Include Your URL in the Video

Displaying your website address in a marketing video is a good way for companies to get exposure and generate traffic to their website through a video.

Educate Your Audience

As the Digital Marketing Institute informs, one of the most powerful ways to implement effective video marketing is to educate viewers. Often videos that offer advice, information, tips and other informative content can be more effective than a solely promotional video.

Make the Video More Atmospheric with Music

Music is a powerful tool on video content, evoking a myriad of emotions. Don’t be afraid to use music in your video that fits the mood of the message and crafts a more exciting and emotive video.

Use Video Content Generated by Customers

Putting your customers behind the camera to talk about how they have used and benefited from your product, can be a powerful way to engage viewers and appeal to prospective customers.

Include a Call to Action

Similar to how all blog posts and content should have a call to action at the end, which invites the reader to take further action, such as signing up to a newsletter, or visiting a website, so too should a marketing video. Ask yourself, what do you want viewers to do when they’ve watched the video and then encourage them to do so without being overtly salesy.

Take Viewers Behind the Scenes

Consumers love to get up close to a brand and video marketing offers the perfect opportunity to take customers behind the scenes and into your business’s ‘natural surroundings.’

Include Tutorial Videos

Posting tutorials that are relevant to your niche is a great way to connect and engage with customers. Tutorials shouldn’t give away all your industry secrets, but should be enough to entice the viewer with informative and useful content, leaving them wanting to learn more.

Keep Them Short

Online viewers often don’t have much time to spare before they’re off looking on a new site and at a new video. In this sense, shorter marketing videos can tend to work better than long ones. As Helen Klein Ross told Kiss Metrics:

“The less you say, the more likely people are to remember.”

Use a Professional Voice

Words spoken with clarity and professionalism will always come out better in a corporate video than an amateur speaker, whose lack of experience speaking on the camera is obvious. With this in mind, it might be a good idea to have an employee that is experienced on speaking in front of the camera record for the video, or even think about calling in a professional.

Use Micro-Video Apps

Along with all this talk of keeping videos short for  the viewer, it’s also true shorter content is a better format for most social platforms. As Forbes notes, short, concise content triumphs over longer forms of content, particularly on social media channels. Video marketers should consider using micro-video apps, which shorten videos to less than 10 seconds, so they’re ideal of sharing on the likes of Instagram and Twitter.

Pose Questions

Strive to create engagement and conversation with your video by asking viewers questions. Ask viewers to leave answers to the questions in a comment section below the video.

Don’t Be Preoccupied with Perfection

Videos for marketing purposes aren’t Hollywood movies and nobody expects perfection. Whilst you want the video to look professional, don’t become too obsessed with perfection that on the 50th take you still haven’t got in right.

But Don’t Forget Production Quality

That said, it’s important a marketing video is produced professionally. From the camera work to lighting, edited to voice overs, it might be a good idea to call upon the expertise of a professional video production company to ensure the video is produced in a high quality.

Use Videos to Help You Create Your Own Effective Video Marketing Strategy

Head to the likes of YouTube to see how businesses are already building videos that have managed to go viral. Featuring the likes of Coca-Cola, these ‘10 Epic Viral Marketing Videos’ on YouTube will give you some pointers on how some of the biggest and well-known brands are producing a video designed to go viral.

Build Hype Around the Launch of the Video

Instead of just going ahead and launching your video, build hype around the video by promoting its launch date on your website, blog and social media channels.

Provide Some Humor

Not all corporate videos need to be serious. On the contrary, some humour can work well in generating more interest in your video. Vidyard gives an example of a humorous marketing video that proved hugely successful — a parody by cloud invoicing provider Taulia of the award-winning commercial series ‘Get Rid of Cable’ by Direct TV. As Vidyard writes:

“The video not only delivers a laugh, but this kind of humorous take on B2B solution can really get your customers feeling connected with your brand and help you stand out in what can be a stuffy market.”

Embed a Video in Landing Pages

Think strategically about where you are going to place your marketing video. Statistics show that embedding videos in landing pages can raise conversion rates by as much as 80 percent.

With video forecast to claim more than 80 percent of all web traffic by 2019 and 90 percent of customers reporting that product videos help them make purchasing decisions, it is imperative companies create videos that resonate with their audience and ultimately help sell their services and products.

Culled from Small Biz Trends

Learn How to Write Flash Fiction

 

Unlike the conventional short stories which take pages to complete, Flash Fictions is a literary genre comprising fiction which can be as short as a two-line paragraph, or even a few words creatively written and still convey meaning. Flash fiction is also referred to as ‘short-short story’, ‘micro-fiction’, or ‘micro-story’. A well-written flash fiction can appear as an allegory usually conveying a deeper meaning other than what is understood from its surface reading.  Flash fiction writing can be such a tedious creative writing, especially because you are aiming to convey meaning in few paragraphs. Here are tips to help you learn how to write a flash fiction.

 

#1. Use Strong Imagery in Your Writing: When writing flash fiction, you should use words that are easy to visualize.

#2. Stick To A Single Scene: When writing a flash fiction, it is best to always have a particular moment in mind, that way you don’t need much words to explain what happens before or thereafter.

#3. Do Not Feature More Than Two Characters In A Flash Fiction: To help you achieve the flash fiction format you want, you should try to revolve your story around one or two characters at most.

#4. Write With A First Person Point Of View: One great way to help your readers connect with a story is by using a first person point of view. Luckily, this works well with flash fiction, and will as well help you economize words.

#5. Thrill Your Readers With Suspense: The beauty of every creative write-up is the ability to not only to keep the readers engaged, but to keep them in suspense throughout the reading. Even if you are writing a popular niche, your manner of conveying the message to your readers should be a different approach entirely.

#6. Take Advantage of Your Title: Since flash fiction does not give you the luxury of time to explain every event in your story using lengthy words, the best way to start your story is by using your title as the prologue to your story. For Instance, Carol Oates in her flash fiction titled, “Widow’s First Year”, used the title to give the readers the idea of what the story entails.

If you found the tips above on how to write flash fiction helpful, we would surely love to read your testimonies in the comment box.

Culled from SOI Publishing

5 Reasons You Should Focus on a Speciality in Your Business

What’s your speciality? This is not a trick question—every business owner should be able to answer it in one concise sentence.

No matter how many products or services your business offers, your business has a core speciality (some call it a core competency) and you should know what it is.

Perhaps you are a professional organizer and your speciality is family moves. Or, you are a caterer, and weddings are your sweet spot. Or, you own a garage, and you are known for being the old cars “whisperer”.

As ambitious, energetic entrepreneurs, many of us think that we should please every customer who walks through the door, regardless of whether their needs match the core competency of our business. After all, it’s crazy to turn a willing, paying customer away. Right?

Wrong.

Choosing a speciality, and sticking to it, is a fundamental Marketing strategy that will not limit your business but will make it stronger.

Here are some of the reasons why you should focus on one area of expertise in your business:

1. It will be easier to promote your business.

When you’re focused on your speciality, you can share with people what you do in a faster, clearer and more memorable way. “I specialize in planning destination weddings” is a much more “sticky” message than “I am an event planner.” Describing your business on your website will also be a breeze—you will be able to communicate what you do in a clear and concise way which your website visitors will appreciate.

2. It will be easier to achieve expert status.

This one is pretty intuitive but let’s discuss it for a minute. The more focused you are on your speciality, the more specialized knowledge you’ll accumulate. If, for example, you are a mechanic and you choose to make fixing old cars your area of expertise, you’ll work on more old cars, you’ll talk to more owners of old cars, and you’ll read more about old cars than most mechanics. Soon you’ll be more experienced and more knowledgeable than most of your colleagues because you stayed focused. An expert status would be much harder to achieve if you chose to be a more “general” car specialist.

3. It will be easier for customers to choose you.

We all look to hire experts. Think about it: if you need a root canal, you go to a dentist who specializes in root canals. If you happen to have a small dog, you look for a vet who is known for specializing in small dogs. Choosing a speciality, and being good at it, will bring to you the exact customers you’re looking to serve. If, on the other hand, you maintain a “general” status, you’ll have a harder time convincing a customer to choose you over a specialist.

4. It will be easier to get to know your customers.

Imagine you own a bookstore. Now, imagine that the only type of books you sell in your store are mystery novels. Clearly, your customers will be mystery novel fans. You will meet and talk with more mystery novel lovers than most people have ever met in their lives. In the process of these interactions, you will get to know a lot about this group of people: you will learn why they like mystery novels, which of the books you sell they like and which ones they don’t like and why, and so on. Naturally, you’ll be able to serve their needs better than any other bookstore in town. This deep understanding of your customer would be difficult, even impossible, to achieve if your bookstore sold books of every possible genre. 

5. It will be easier to show personality in your business.

Because you know your customers very well, you’ll be able to talk directly to them in your advertising—whether it’s a website, a brochure, or whatever other medium you choose. Using language your customers respond to, jokes they find funny and offers they find relevant will keep you close to their hearts and will always make them choose you over the competition. General ads or promotions that some non-specialist may choose to run, meant to attract a general group of people, by promising general benefits would never evoke a similar emotional response.

Choosing a speciality and sticking to it is a powerful way to build your business. So, try to shake the habit of deviating from your chosen niche every time a customer asks you to do something “extra” for them.

All that said, I don’t mean that you should NEVER venture outside of your niche. If and when you’re ready to grow your business, offering additional products or services is a great way to do that. However, such an expansion should not be a casual action. It needs to be planned strategically and launched with diligence and intention, like a pro.

Culled from Built In Chi

3 Tips To Stand Out In A Crowded Market

 

Elevating your brand so that it stands out among all the competition is a tough job.

No matter how much you think your brand or product is unique, there are always going to be similar options out there for people to choose from. The market is oversaturated and people are bombarded by advertisements telling them to buy this and that. Getting their attention and keeping it isn’t easy.

If it really is true that we see around 5000 marketing messages a day, then it goes without saying that differentiating yourself from the competition is absolutely necessary if you want your business to thrive.

If you want to stand out in a crowded market, here are three tips you need to try.

 

How to Stand Out from the Crowd

1. Put the people first

Once you realize not enough businesses prioritize their customers, it’ll become easier to center your strategy around them. You can automatically get ahead of the game by taking extra measures to satisfy your loyal customers.

Show customers you care by taking care of them and they’ll continue coming back. Make yourself stand out as a brand — no matter how popular or widespread you are — by putting people first not just by words like all businesses do, but by actions.

Set up a rewards program for people who keep coming back to you when so many other options exist. Since its app relaunch in 2016, Starbucks introduced their new and improved mobile loyalty rewards program where customers earn stars for every dollar spent and get free food and drink in return.

Users of this program make up a whopping 39 percent of Starbucks’ total sales. That’s an insane amount of revenue just from the app! And it’s only possible because Starbucks puts their customers first.

2. Make it simple

What’s more frustrating than trying to make an online purchase but failing because the process to do it is confusing or irritating? Almost nothing.

Potential customers aren’t going to jump through hoops to buy from you or learn more about your products. You have to make that process as stress-free and simple as possible for them.

On top of that, consumers expect a simple experience. If buying from you is a hassle or takes too much time, they’re going to skip to the next thing. Convenience is key if you want to retain loyal customers.

Scope out existing problems in your business model. Does the mobile experience work as seamlessly as the desktop version? Do glitches or broken links exist on your website? Is it as simple as A to B to C when customers try to check out an item? Is there a lack of customer service?

Apple has a specific formula they follow to ensure a simple and enjoyable experience for their customers which goes by the acronym APPLE:

• Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome
• Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs
• Present a solution for the customer to take home today
• Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns
• End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return

The truth is, loopholes can exist anywhere in your model. What’s important is identifying them as soon as they occur and resolving the issues as quickly as possible. There are far too many businesses who don’t put themselves into the consumer’s shoes and create a less-than-satisfactory customer experience. You can stand out from the rest by ensuring you have the easiest buying process out there.

3. Humanize your brand

One of the worst mistakes competitors make is centering the buying process around the product and forgetting about the consumer. This is the fastest way to lose their interest and attention. If brands aren’t appealing to the people buying the products, they won’t get sold. Yet so many businesses fail to realize this and implement it into their strategies for better outcomes.

The best way to do this is to start a conversation.

Ask your consumer base what they love about your brand and what they could do without. Find out what makes their experience easier or more difficult. Set up a survey, poll or contact form on your homepage asking consumers what they think about the buying process and how accessible it is. This is the most direct way to get in touch with people’s honest opinions.

Over to you

In business, standing out from all the rest is tricky. You have to know who you’re selling to and what the people want if you’re going to succeed long-term. You also want to think outside the box and cater to your customers who keep coming back to you and love what you do. By centering your business around people instead of products, you’ll get through to a larger consumer base and appeal to people who care about your message.

Culled from Business2Community

7 Tips To Improve Your Brand Communication Strategy

 

Creating a brand is an effective strategy to reach out to your customers. But, it is certainly not a child’s play. Brand communication plays a crucial role in building a sturdy and robust brand. However, there are certain strategies and tactics that can be used in creating a persistent brand name.

How To Improve Your Brand Communication Strategy

How are big brands created? The journey from being an organization to a brand name that resonates with its customers is not an easy one. Brands are not made overnight. It is your customers who hold the power to turn your product/service into a hot selling brand! The key is communication. If the brand communication is clear and hits the audience in the right places, you’ve got a winner.

With social media as a powerful communication tool, every business has the means to directly communicate with its end user. Imagine the power to not just reward a loyal customer instantly, but also handle and retain a disgruntled customer with tact and ingenuity at that very moment when the user shares a bad experience. Here we discuss how you can establish such a resilient brand communication strategy and win your customers’ approval every single time. Even when you goof up. Yes, that’s right. When you build a strong relationship with your consumer based on trust and mutual admiration, your customers become your loyal brand evangelists. And they do forgive a slip up just like they forgive an erring friend. Confused? Let’s understand.

 

Finding Your Brand Voice

To find the right voice for your brand it is imperative to first figure out the following:

• Identify your buyer personas
  Learn and research your core customer groups. It’s the best way to get started when you are still looking for the right voice for your brand. The ideal way to know if you’re touching the right cords with your customers is to know what kind of customers you’re catering to.
• Know your USPs
  Once you figure out who you’re going to talk to, it’s time to understand what you’re going to talk about. What is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of your product that makes it stand out from others? How is your brand giving value to the customer?
• Build a brand personality
  Given your USPs and buyer personas, choose a personality you wish to showcase to your customers. Ensure that your brand personality remains consistent throughout different channels and touchpoints. This will help consumers identify with your brand and connect in a better way.
• Choose your marketing mix
  With every business going digital, it’s best to recognize the most high-paying and valuable channels for your branding exercises. Choose media that suits your brand and is preferred by your target audience. Whether it’s social media, email marketing, or marketing event presentations, make sure it has the same brand voice.
  
  

How To Follow A Winning Brand Communication Strategy In 7 Easy Steps

1. Be Genuine And Honest

You don’t need celebrity brand ambassadors promoting your brand if your customers become your brand advocates. If they’re the ones talking about your brand, sharing with their peers and spreading positive word-of-mouth publicity for your brand, who needs anybody else. They are your most genuine and authentic agents of brand promotion. Therefore, it is your prerogative to ensure that all brand communication from your end is also genuine and spontaneous. Don’t use automated replies nor respond like a bot. A humanized, empathetic, and authentic brand voice builds an immediate connection with the audience which is built on trust. Don’t make your responses seem forced. Tackle them with a humane touch, always.

2. Create Conversations

When a customer shares a positive experience, go further than just saying ‘thank you’. Give open-ended responses and strike conversations that help your brand find its humanized voice. People love it when a brand takes the time to have a conversation with them – one on one. Even if it’s a fun and playful conversation, people will remember your brand more for how you made them feel. When you reach that stature of having natural real-time and positive conversations with your customers, soon they will be the ones doing your marketing for you.

3. Provide Relevant Content

In the world of brands, content is still the king. Creating content that appeals to the target audience and is yet relevant to your brand needs a bit of skill and practice, but it isn’t rocket science. It’s a wise and smart choice to always ask your audience to share, comment, vote, or suggest what they wish to see more of. When you listen to them, they will listen to you! In this way, your customers become the co-creators of your content.

4. Don’t Always Self-Promote

People don’t like brands that just gloat about themselves. Even in the real world, people don’t like those who can only talk about themselves. Similarly, brands that overtly promote themselves without offering any value to the client, are often at the risk of losing customers, and that too without any apparent reason.

5. Be Transparent

Being open and transparent, and letting your customers in on what’s going behind the scenes helps a brand earn the trust of customers. This practice not only helps the organization educate customers but also dispel rumors and improve brand awareness – all the while attaining a special respectful place in the consumer’s mind.

6. Post Some Content For Pure Fun And Customer Enjoyment

Post content that you think your audience will enjoy, just for the sake of fun and some light-hearted enjoyment. Do not put any link to your blog or any other Call-To-Action. This will send a strong message to your followers that you’re not just here to sell, but to delight and serve your audience. This will make the readers look forward to reading your content and also enhance the confidence they have in your brand.

7. Leverage Consumer-Generated Content

Pay close attention to what your customers are saying or sharing in forums/comments about your brand. And when you know what they want, act quick and give them what they want. Leveraging user-generated content is not as hard as it seems. As customers continue to take co-ownership and influence their favorite brands, companies should work on improving their product offerings based on that. Simply share consumer content and tweak your services/products/communication to give your audience exactly what they want.

With the advent of the digital age, the focus is now not how to market your product to the consumer, but how to market your product with your consumers! With these 7 tips of collaborative marketing, a branding communication strategy will work wonders by targeting its consumers effectively and successfully.

 

Culled from E Learning Industry