The 3 Hiring Mistakes Most Small Businesses Make

 

Each and every employee is an investment made by the company they work for, and for a business to succeed it has to make the most of its investments.

This is especially true of smaller companies and startups, which typically have fewer employees and limited investment income with which to try and net a profit. In these cases, every single dollar a company spends on finding and hiring an employee can affect its longer term success, making it crucial that they avoid making any major mistakes while hiring.

The problem is that running a small business is hard work – very hard work. This means that those involved are often short of time, and when time is short mistakes happen.

The good news is that this means that your competitors are probably making these mistakes whilst hiring too, and an opportunity is present for you to close your own loose ends and employee a better hire whilst wasting less time and money.

The Most Common Hiring Mistakes:

Having Zero Interview Plan

The single greatest mistake that small and new businesses make when hiring is failing to have any type of interview plan. Many businesses go into the interview with little idea of what they are going to do, other than perhaps a few interview questions scribbled on a piece of paper.

Interviews should be treated like a science. You’ve selected the individuals with the best resumes, and you’re bringing them in for a job interview. How do you choose who to select unless you have a carefully measured way of determining who is going to bring value, and who is not.

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You do this by coming up with an interview plan. You find the most important questions to ask and make sure that you ask them to each candidate. You figure out what answers you’re looking for, and consider finding a way to score them objectively in order to ensure that you’re hiring the right people. You consider the amount you’re willing to pay, the factors that go into a great employee, and more.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be official, but there does need to be a plan in mind before you conduct your interview. If you wing each one of them, you risk asking some people more important questions than others, or not properly comparing those at the interview and letting your own natural biases kick in.

When it comes to recruitment, everything should be planned in some way, and although there is room for you to go off on some tangents (for example, if an applicant shares with you an interesting story), there should also be a methodology in place to make sure you’re hiring the right people.

Failing to Correctly Value Experience

This mistake goes two ways, and the best place to start is with an American baseball analogy. There are only 30 teams in all of major league baseball, each one employing a General Manager to run the entire team. When one general manager does a bad job (usually due to multiple seasons of hefty losses) that general manager is usually fired.

Some teams find up-and-coming stars to lead their organisation, and although sometimes those teams fail, other times they are wildly successful. Many of the most successful baseball organisations hired General Managers without any previous GM experience and reaped the rewards.

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But other teams are a lot more “old school” and risk adverse. They refuse to hire any general manager unless they have previous GM experience.

Experience can be a good thing. But remember that there are only 30 teams in baseball, and at any given time, 25 to 28 general managers are employed for multiple years. That means you’re limited to hiring the 2 or so general managers that are out of work, both of whom were likely already let go because they failed to bring turn their teams into winning organisations. With this “Experience Only” mindset, you’re potentially limited to hiring someone with a history of losing.

This is the fatal flaw in overvaluing experience. Your next great employee may be someone that has limited experience but significant aptitude. If you focus too heavily on experience (either by requiring a considerable list of “qualifications” in your job description or hiring the person most experienced without considering other factors), you may be overlooking or turning off someone that could have been a better contributor.

On the other side of this, however, is the recent trend of business owners to hire those without experience at all, hoping to find people that are “cheaper” and just as productive. Many individuals with excellent experience are being ignored in favour of saving a few thousand dollars a year on an unproven individual. While there is significant value to be found in those that may not have traditional experience, there is also nothing quite like good experience that relates directly to your company.

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Assuming Hiring Stops After the Job Offer

Finally, a very common mistake with small business owners is assuming that recruitment stops with the job offer. It doesn’t.

An employee’s productivity is 50% ability and 50% factors that occur after they have been hired. Employees need to be properly on-boarded, with excellent training (including not only their tasks, but also where to go to ask for office supplies, how to find files in folders on the network, etc.), programs in place to improve job satisfaction, and even smaller issues like opportunities for growth, objective job performance evaluation methods, and more.

You can hire the best employee available, but with poor training, no access to resources, and little in your office to ensure job satisfaction, that employee is going to struggle. Recruitment doesn’t stop after the job offer has been made, and no matter the size of your business you should be committed to making sure that employee adapts properly.

Avoid Costly Hiring Mistakes

Small businesses can’t afford to waste money on a bad hire. Always keep in mind the above hiring mistakes, and the tips that you’ll need to consider in order to avoid them in the future.

Culled from Recruit Shop

5 Reasons You Should Write (and Publish) Your Work

 

Ever since I can remember, I loved the idea of being a writer.

After all, how cool would it be to create something as epic as The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia, or Gates of Fire and know that this amazing story came from you?

But time passed and I never did write my great novel…

Sure, I made some half-hearted attempts; a few paragraphs here, a few sketches there…but never anything substantial.

And certainly nothing I would actually “publish.”

Fast forward 15 years and I’ve finally written and self-published my first book (a couple actually), as well as published about a half-dozen books from other amazing artists and authors.

In these past two years since I finally hit the “publish” button on my work (and others), my life has improved dramatically (same for the authors I publish).

Below are the 5 most important reasons I’ve found for writing – AND publishing – my work…

Reasons that I hope inspire you to do the same.

Good luck.

5 Reasons to Write and Publish Your Work

#1. Become a Sought-After Authority

Before I published my first book, no one knew my name.

Or at least not the people I specifically wanted to know my name.

Since I’ve published, I’ve been interviewed on top-tiered shows like Growthhacker.tv, EntrepreneuronFire.com, and FirepoleMarketing.com. More importantly, people consider me an authority on the topics I write on.

The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing has given people a reason to call me an expert (and even guru) on the topic.

I don’t say this to brag – the point isn’t whether or not I’m the expert – the point is to show you how powerful this is.

Think about it: if you’re looking for help on a topic ("Pay What You Want" in my case), who do you go to? Probably the subject matter expert, right?

Exactly.

Because of this, my writing and publishing has allowed me to leverage my authority on the subject to create lucrative consulting gigs and get invitations to speak at conferences and meetups, and it has improved my credibility when the topic comes up.

#2. Conquer the Imposter

According to Psychology Today, over 70% of people suffer from imposter syndrome (at some point in their lives).

While there are lots of ways to overcome feeling like a fraud, the fastest way is to write and publish your work.

Why?

Because it forces you to get over yourself, get outside your own head, and come to grips with reality (that most people probably won’t read what you write anyway, so why not do it, right?).

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield writes about “Resistance” – that nasty thing that keeps us from doing great things in life.

Well, imposter syndrome is just one element of “Resistance,” all of which can be defeated by the commitment to write (daily) and publish (as soon as you can).

#3. Create Additional Streams of Revenue

In my last year in the Army, I had no idea what I wanted to become after I left.

Lawyer? Wall Street broker? Real Estate Investor?

Because I had no idea, I figured the simplest thing I could do was test out various creative pursuits to see if they were economically feasible. Since I can’t program to save my life, I figured writing would be the thing I could legitimately test in the marketplace.

Sure enough, it only took 1 published book to show me what was possible (and that was PWYW!).

Since then, I’ve written and published more, and scaled that impact dramatically by publishing other people's work.

Now, with every new book, is another stream of income that will continue into the future (I try to only write and publish “evergreen” content – stuff that doesn’t fade over time). Best part is: all of this compounds.

So if you’re waiting around believing you’ll eventually finish and eventually publish. Stop.

Set a ship date and launch in the next 30 days (I dare you).

#4. Build Something That Lasts Forever

This is the reason I do what I do in the long run.

Money fades. Success fades. What’s cool or hipster or whatever fades.

But good books don’t fade.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is as applicable today as it was 1,000 years ago.

And through his writing, we get to experience a piece of what he was like. Certainly not the entirety of his personality, but better than nothing.

So when you question your writing, or your ability, or your worth, stop, and remember:

It’s not about you.

#5. We Become What We Do

In the past two years, since writing and publishing my first book, I’ve realized something important:

Envisioning myself as the person who has written a bestselling book is a lot different than actually writing one.

Too often we love the idea of being someone or something, but don’t embrace what it means to become that person (guilty).

It’s nice to envision oneself as a bestselling author.

It’s a different thing entirely to work every day to become one.

No, it’s not easy.

But then again, it’s not supposed to be.

The question is: what do you want to become 1 year from now?

And while the answer differs from person to person, the next step is always the same:

Start today.

11 Reasons Your Website Doesn’t Sell

 

A well-designed website organically grows a company’s business and reinforces branding.

A study by Nielsen Norman Group found that users stay on a website for an average of 10 to 20 seconds. Visitors hang around longer only if they find something worthwhile during those initial glances. For a business, every second counts.

Several factors may strip a website of value. Here are 11 problems that affect a site’s presentation alongside fixes to immediately apply to help drive greater user engagement and better traffic.

 

Why Is the Conversion Rate of Your Business Website Low?

 

1. Low-quality visuals.

Many have written about the power of visuals in communication. A 1986 study by the University of Minnesota’s Management Information Systems Research Center with 3M support found presentations using visual aids 43 percent more convincing. A website’s potential can be held back by the inclusion of low-quality visuals.

Marketing expert Govind Agarwal recommends having high-quality photos to grab viewers’ attention, increase social shares and even boost overall SEO if pictures are tagged appropriately. Labnol.org offers a list of places for finding free professional images.

2. Lack of reviews or testimonials.

If its website does not have testimonials, a business is missing out on an easy and effective marketing tool. Customers are discriminating. Merely telling them of the strength of the product or service is not enough anymore. Testimonials can help create trust in a company’s offerings and quell concerns customers might have about making a purchase. Derek Gehl, CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, has shared a guide to using testimonials and choosing ones that suit an audience.

3. Lacking color savvy.

Another factor that might cause weak sales on a company site is its color scheme. Much research is being done on visual information that’s hue-related. Many entrepreneurs probably already understand the importance of branding. A powerful brand sets the company apart from the competition and makes the business instantly recognizable to consumers. But it can lose credibility with users if its website is adorned with an unimpressive color scheme.

For a crash course on color theory, reference Smashing Magazine’s in-depth guide. Determine what the company’s brand should convey to customers and be sure the website has an appropriate color scheme to match.

4. Outdated information.

Scroll down to the bottom of a web page to where a copyright date is listed. Is it still recent? According to Small Business Trends, a website appearance that looks out of date is an instant turnoff to customers.

Clients want to see that a company has put in an effort to stay current. This includes regularly adding new content and refreshing existing copy.

5. Hard to find.

The best website in the world is useless if no one can find it. An entrepreneur need not know much about search engine optimization to develop pages that are easily discoverable by search engines and consumers. Gwen Moran has recommended a strong domain name, carefully optimized page titles to accurately reflect the content inside and using keywords effectively.

6. Not being mobile friendly.

A business website may resemble a work of art when opened on a desktop computer, but if it does not display well or function on a mobile device, the company will lose out on a growing segment of the online audience. Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, looked at data from more than 100,000 websites that use its platform and found that slightly more than 50 percent of shopping is being done via mobile. To ensure that a website is mobile responsive, check these actionable tips.

7. Difficulty in finding contact information.

Ever needed assistance in a store just when all the sales associates seem to have disappeared? In retail, that should never be the case. Online, it shouldn’t be either. If a customer has a question or needs help, the site’s contact information should be easy to find. Being available on demand, such as via live chat, can also help a business better engage customers, reduce costs and boost sales.

8. Misdirected focus

Customers want their experience on a business website to be focused on them. This means including sections that answer their questions and address their needs. An easy fix is including a frequently-asked-questions, or FAQ, page. The Content Marketing Institute recommends highlighting top questions, with timely answers and making the archive searchable. When possible, simplify the user experience by making answers accessible within one click. Customers want fast, helpful information.

9. Requiring sign-ups first

Forcing users to sign up on a company site before they can access can deter engagement. It puts an artificial hurdle between customers and the company’s products. According to user-experience blog UX Movement, aggressive sign-up forms make readers hesitant to divulge personal information for fear of receiving spam. In many cases, consumers assume the value they’ll receive won’t be worth the price they pay in sharing an email address. Make each visit count and do not corner users into doing anything they’re not comfortable doing.

10. Audio or video the autoplays

One way to surely annoy a site’s visitors is to set audio and video on pages to autoplay. In an editorial, Troy Dreier, senior associate editor of StreamingMedia.com, wrote, “Sites are overusing autoplay, and it reflects badly on the whole online video industry.” Unfortunately, publishers, desperate for revenue, are still happy to deliver autoplay ads. To minimize disruptions to the reader experience, limit a clip to five seconds or less or offer a pause or stop button if it runs longer.

11. Painfully slow load times

Digital audiences are impatient. Even if a website is filled with incredibly captivating media, it may experience high bounce rates if pages take too long to load for readers. Visitors highly value their time, so build a fast website that caters to their needs at lightning speed. Compressing images and large files is an easy way to guarantee quicker load times. Use a tool like Smush.it to shrink files and optimize a site’s performance.

If you would like the TRW Consult team to just do your marketing for you, click here.

5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Writing

 

So you’ve been wanting to write—for your blog, for your company, for industry publications, or maybe just for fun. But you’re not sure where to get started. Or maybe you’ve never even considered writing (or never really liked it to begin with), but you’re quickly realizing that you’re going to have to do it (and do it well) for your career.

As with anything, writing is much less about being born with an innate “talent,” and much more about getting better with practice. So here are a few fun and simple ways to start incorporating writing into your everyday life—and get better at it in no time.

1. Look Around

Many writers cling tightly to the idea of a “muse,” a divine inspiration that hits when she fancies and provides you with the exalted insight for your most inspired piece.

Well, it doesn’t always work that way. While there’s no denying that great ideas can’t always be forced, the mood to write doesn’t always strike when it’s convenient. Instead, take advantage of the world around you for inspiration—your walk to the subway, the stories in your Facebook newsfeed, your interaction with the cashier at Starbucks in the morning (and the afternoon). As writer Henry Miller once said, “Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music—the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself.”

If you don’t think you have anything to write about, think again. There’s inspiration everywhere—you just have to be paying attention.

2. Find Your Space

How and where do you write best? For some people, it’s peace and quiet, while others need music or the chaotic hubbub of co-workers milling about. And most find that different places work for different types of writing: When you have to write for work, you may need to put in your headphones and listen to the crooning of Lana Del Rey, but when you’re blogging, you may prefer curling up on your couch with a glass of wine.

Instead of trying to force yourself to write at a specific location, try out a variety of different spaces until you find what works for you. Then, recreate that cozy, creative environment every time you need to write.

 

3. Write Now, Edit Later

Many times, your own worst critic—in writing and in life—is you. So, when you’re writing, it’s really important not to judge what you write down, at least at first. Even experienced writers don’t often crank out a perfect first draft, so setting your expectations too high from the outset is unrealistic (not to mention discouraging).

A good exercise in nonjudgmental writing is to set a timer for 10 minutes and just write. Write down what you know, what you feel, or whatever’s on your mind. Don’t try to write too carefully or too intelligently or too accurately. In fact, stop trying, period. Writing goes much better when you don’t work so hard at it or criticize your every word.

Even if you need to do some research for what you’re writing, start by just getting some thoughts on paper. Write down what you know, build a skeleton that you can add to, and then research the rest later. Don’t let a lack of immediate knowledge stop you.

 

4. Read it Out Loud

This tip is twofold. First, in most cases, you should write like you talk. Even if you tend to use a casual tone, that’s OK—it will help you sound more realistic and understandable to your readers. Try recording yourself talking for two minutes, then transcribing it. You can correct obvious mistakes later (and edit out the “likes” and “ums”!), but writing that reflects the way you speak often showcases the most authentic version of yourself.

Secondly, once you’ve written something down, actually read it out loud. As silly as you may feel, it’s the best way to make sure what you’ve written makes sense. Anything that doesn’t flow, is confusing, or is missing a word or two will quickly make itself apparent.

 

5. Just Write

If your goal is to truly improve, the more you do it, the better. There are so many ways to get words onto paper (or onto the screen)—so take advantage of these opportunities to hone your skills. Compose well-crafted emails and clever tweets, start a personal blog, or ask for more writing projects at work.

You can even make a game of it. At the beginning of every day, pick two or three words you want to use that day. Write them on post-it’s and stick them on the wall in front of you, and find a way to use them in your writing that day.

Today as much as ever, everyone needs to write—it’s an expected and actually quite useful form of communication. But being able to write well is a skill, and one that’s sought-after no matter what you do. The good news is you can get there. The first step is just getting started.

Culled from The Muse

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

7 Grammar and Copy Mistakes Almost Every Writer Makes

 

When it comes to demonstrating good grammar, writers and editors, or any other communications professional, must excel. Careless copy could be the difference between getting your article or pitch red-penned or just flat-out rejected.

“That written piece you turn in to your editor is your calling card,” said Sofia Romero, a managing editor based in Boston who blogs about the topic at Mighty Red Pen. “It gives the editor clues about whether you’re an attentive and diligent writer or a sloppy one.” The same can be said for those of you in marketing, PR and even sales. Using proper grammar and avoiding common mistakes help you look smarter.

Although style guides are ever changing and vary between fields, there are some common grammar pitfalls every media professional should just avoid.

 

7 Grammar Errors to Watch Out for

 

1. Misusing “lay” and “lie”

Let’s make it simple: “Lay” refers to a direct object and “lie” does not. You lie down on the sofa (no direct object there) and lay your favorite style guide on the table. Get it?

Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing and founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network, thinks all the confusion started with the classic children’s prayer that starts, “Now I lay me down to sleep…”.

“In that children’s prayer, the way it’s worded, you’re laying yourself down as though you were an object. A lot of people just pick that up, and then even though you’re supposed to say ‘I want to lie down,’ they’ll say, ‘I want to lay down.'”

Lay should only be used when you’re talking about setting something else down, like a book or a blanket. However, it gets more perplexing when you bring in the fact that “lay” is the past tense of “lie.” So if you’re trying to state that you set yourself down in the past, you use “lay” (e.g., “I lay down an hour ago for a nap”). If you’re stating that you set something else down in the past, you use “laid.”

“I think the trick is to recognize why you get it wrong and then remind yourself it’s a common error,” she noted.

2. Misusing “who,” “whom” and “that”

To distinguish the first two, remember that you use “who” when you are referring to the subject of a clause and “whom” when you are referring to the object of a clause.

Fogarty’s got a trick for helping you remember which to use: Like “whom,” the pronoun “him” ends with “m.” When you’re trying to decide which word to use, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be “he” or “him.”

If you’re asking “Who (or whom) do you love?”, the answer would be “I love him.” “Him” ends with an “m,” so use “whom.” But if the question is “Who (or whom) drove the car?” the answer would be, “He drove the car.” There’s no “m,” so use “who.”

And just to clarify further, if you’re referencing a person, you have to choose between “who” and “whom,” because you should never use “that” to reference an individual, added Delia Cabe, an English professor at Emerson College in Boston.

3. Misusing “regardless” and (gasp!) “irregardless”

One final common word swap is “irregardless” for “regardless.” Both are listed in most dictionaries, but the former is often used by people who want to convey the meaning of “regardless.” The word “regardless” means “without regard” or “despite something” and is fine to use as is. The ir- prefix means without, so if you say “irregardless,” you are really saying “without without regard,” which is a double negative. Just use “regardless,” regardless of what you think.

4. Going overboard with em dashes

There are many ways to set off a clause in a sentence, but too many writers turn to the em dash over and over—and over and over again.

If an unwieldy clause or full sentence needs to be set apart, an em dash can be particularly useful in helping the reader follow along. For example:

The new brochure explains which houses are currently on the market—not just what was recently sold—along with information on the neighborhoods, school districts and property taxes.

But too many in one article (or worse, paragraph) can have the opposite effect and actually cause the reader to disengage. It’s the equivalent of extra exclamation points or writing in all caps. After a while, it’s just annoying and actually de-emphasizes your work instead of making it more compelling. For example:

The new brochure explains which houses are currently on the market—along with information on the neighborhoods, school districts and property taxes.

Unnecessary, right? So, when you’re tempted to slap on another em dash, think about alternatives. Would a semicolon work instead? What about an ellipsis? Or, can you break the prose up into sentences? Too often, we use the em dash as a crutch to make our words seem more poignant when, in reality, quality writing should be able to stand on its own.

5. Mixing up subject and verb agreement

A singular subject agrees with a singular verb, and a plural subject agrees with a plural verb. When the subject of a sentence includes two or more nouns or pronouns connected by “and,” use a plural verb:

He and his friends are at the fair.

In the event of two or more singular nouns or pronouns connected by “or” or “nor,” use a singular verb:

The journal or the pencil is in the desk.

Watch out for phrases that come between subjects and verbs:

One of the doors is open.

The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase, so we use “is” because there is only “one” door.

6. Using commas instead of semicolons

Similar sentences should always be connected with semicolons, not commas. Fogarty says that semicolons are used to separate two main clauses that are related to each other yet can stand on their own as sentences if needed:

WRONG: I have an early appointment, I can’t stay out late tonight.

RIGHT: I have an early appointment; I can’t stay out late tonight.

RIGHT: I have an early appointment, and I can’t stay out late tonight.

To join like clauses, use a semicolon or a comma with a conjunction, or just create two separate sentences. But a comma by itself is a no-no.

7. Using modifiers incorrectly

If you don’t pay attention to the placement of modifiers, you could give a headline or sentence a completely different meaning.

“When you read about misplaced modifiers, you’ll often see simple examples that highlight how the word ‘only’ can be misplaced, even though most readers won’t actually think ‘I only have eyes for you,’ means anything other than ‘You’re the only one I see,'” explained Fogarty. “I’m guilty of using such simplistic examples myself.”

When a modifying prepositional phrase is added at the end of a sentence, it can spell disaster. But she said a good example of a modifier being used incorrectly is:

Over 400 people reported feeling the quake on their website.

Obviously, the website can’t shake, so the statement should be rewritten to better clarify where the reporting took place:

Over 400 people reported on their websites that they felt the quake.

 

 

Culled from Media Bistro

7 Steps For An Effective Social Media Marketing Plan

 

Social media is a vital marketing channel for businesses of all sizes. The common question a few years ago, “why should our business use social media?”, is now being replaced with, “how can our business grow with social media marketing?”.

As a social media marketer, this makes me very excited. What doesn’t make me excited is how many businesses are still trying to market on social media without a documented strategy. In this post, you will learn the seven steps your business must take to create an effective social media marketing strategy.

Step 1: Audit Your Current Social Presence

“Know thyself. Know the customer. Innovate.” – Beth Comstock

Before you strategize about where you are headed, take a quick look at where you are. A few areas to consider when auditing your business’s social media presence are:

• Which networks are you currently active on
• Are your networks optimized (photo and cover images, bio, URL, etc.)
• Which networks are currently bringing you the most value
• How do your profiles compare to your competitors’ profiles

We offer a total online presence audit that includes a deep analysis of your social media, content, SEO, and web structure with a presentation of key priorities and recommended plan – Check out our Total Online Presence Audit.

Step 2: Document Who Your Ideal Customer Is

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker

You will want to get as specific as possible with this part. For example, if you identified your target market as parents it would be ok. However, if you identify your ideal customer as a parent that lives in the United States, is between 30 and 50 years of age, earns over $70,000, primarily uses Facebook and has an interest in outdoor activities you will have much more success.

Even the best marketers will fail if they are marketing to the wrong audience. Answer the following questions to help you come up with a highly focused buyer persona:

• Age
• Location
• Job Title
• Income
• Pain Points (that your business can solve)
• Most Used Social Network

Step 3: Create A Social Media Mission Statement

“What makes you weird, makes you unique and therefore makes you stand out.” – Dan Schawbel

Your social media mission statement will drive your future actions, so make sure you put some thought into it. This statement will make it clear exactly what you plan to use your social media presence for and should reflect your brand identity. Keep in mind your ideal customer when trying to create this statement.

An example mission statement might be “to use social media to educate current and potential customers about digital marketing, with a focus on social media marketing.” Once you have this statement documented, it will make it simple for you to decide what to share and create.

If it doesn’t align with your mission statement, forget about it. Businesses that post randomly without a guiding mission will fail. People follow experts, not generalists.

Step 4: Identify Key Success Metrics

“If you cannot measure it you cannot improve it.” – Lord Kelvin

How will you determine if your social media marketing efforts are successful? I am not just talking about gaining more followers, I am talking about making money. After all, it is hard to rationalize spending time and money on something that isn’t improving the bottom line.

A few metrics to consider measuring are:

• Conversion Rate
• Time Spent on Website
• Reach
• Brand Mentions
• Sentiment
• Total Shares

Step 5: Create and Curate Engaging Content

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet.” – Bill Gates

Sadly, many businesses jump straight to this step. Hopefully, this post has made it clear that there are several vital steps that you must take before you start creating and curating engaging content to share on your social media channels.

Let’s now discuss the fun part, posting to social media. You know who your ideal customer is and you used that information to create your social media mission statement. Armed with this information it should be easy for you to begin creating and curating content. So, what exactly is considered content? Here are a few examples of content you could create:

• Images
• Videos
• Blog Posts
• Company News
• Infographics
• eBooks
• Interviews

The list of content ideas goes on and on, but make sure you focus only on forms of content that align with your mission statement, as well as your skill set. Content is what fuels social media, so it is crucial that you consider creating high-quality, engaging content as a top priority.

I strongly recommend that you create a content calendar that outlines how often you will post to each network, which topics you will share and when you will share them.

Step 6: Invest In a Social Media Management Tool

“We live in times in which ordinary people can do amazing things using the right tools”

Most marketers have a secret, they leverage tools to boost their productivity. Ok, maybe it isn’t a secret, but without tools, marketers would face constant burnout (many do even with tools). When it comes to social media, having a social media management tool allows you to scale your efforts with ease.

One of the main benefits of a social media management tool is the ability to schedule posts ahead of time. Remember that content calendar you created? Make sure your scheduled posts in your social media management tool align with your content calendar.

Step 7: Track, Analyze, Optimize

“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” – Ronald Coase

This may be the most important step when it comes to succeeding on social media. Even the best social media marketers rely on trial and error. It might seem basic, but tracking your results, analyzing the data and then making tweaks to optimize them is crucial.

Each previous step should be re-evaluated after you have had time to analyze the results of your marketing efforts. Let the data drive you. If it is telling you Facebook or Twitter is your most effective channel, consider doubling down.

A great social media strategy is never set in stone. It is a constant work in progress that changes when necessary. So get out there, create a strategy and start optimizing it as you continue to grow and learn more about your business and your audience.

If you would like the TRW Consult team to just do your marketing for you, click here.

 

 

Culled from Duct Tape Marketing

The 10 Biggest Mistakes New Authors Make

 

I have to preface this post by noting how easy it is to make mistakes when you’re on the road to becoming a published author. This is an emotional journey, and ego can sometimes get in the way. Then there’s the many details you must hold, which even publishers get wrong from time to time. I’ve experienced firsthand the pain of a few or more projects that went to print with pretty egregious problems. And it hurts. Sometimes entire print runs are destroyed as a result. These top 10 mistakes are among the most common I see in my work with authors. Some are about mindset and others are more technical oversights. If you’ve made any of these mistakes, you’re in good company. The best we can do is learn, and spread the word so others take heed.

1. Believing what they want to hear.

This one’s tough to begin with, but writers need to hear it. Many authors get derailed from their projects or coaxed into doing something with their books that goes against their better judgment. This can happen with traditional publishing when an agent or editor tells you to change your project because they’re sure they can sell your book. It happens with subsidy publishing companies that try to sell you all sorts of stuff you don’t need. At this stage of the game, as hard as it might be, it’s time to start to treat your book like a product, not a baby. Having too much emotional attachment can lead to problems.

2. Not taking advantage of every available digital platform.

A lot of authors decide to publish their e-book right out of the gate with Kindle Select, forgoing opportunities to publish on Nook and other digital platforms because they figure all that really matters is Amazon. This is a lost opportunity. If you’re publishing traditionally, this one won’t apply to you, but no matter how you publish your e-book, publish widely. Especially now, when plenty of readers are choosing not to buy from Amazon.

3. Deciding that they don’t need a marketing campaign, or starting one too late.

Marketing starts way before your book is published. Many new authors decide they’re not going to market their book, until their book comes out and nothing is happening. It’s not selling and they don’t know what to do. Then they try to hire a publicist, but it’s generally too late. I’ve worked with a number of women who’ve had to come around to the idea that they are worthy of spending money on a marketing campaign. These are extra dollars, and the psychological barrier can be high, but really all authors in this day and age — self- or traditionally published — should hire a book publicist.

4. Believing that more is better.

More is not always better, and you want to be careful about what you’re signing on for. Many subsidy publishers, for instance, offer publishing packages that include a host of items, which sometimes sound so impressive that you feel like you’re getting A lot for your money. However, things like your Library of Congress number, your ISBN, or filing your copyright are services that cost the publisher next to nothing. Be wary. I’ve seen subsidy publishers offering things like book trailers, postcards, and even trips to Book Expo in New York to the tune of thousands of dollars. Don’t get stars in your eyes. Use your money wisely and shop around.

5. Going renegade.

This is easy to do. Many authors go renegade because they’re trying to save money. They feel that they’ll “figure it out” as they make their way through the publishing process. I assure you that going renegade will cost you in the long run. Invest in a single consultation with an expert to better understand your options and what makes sense for you. Be realistic about how much you actually understand about publishing. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Don’t overspend for no good reason (point #4), but don’t skimp on getting necessary help, either.

6. Not doing enough research on who they’re publishing with.

Many authors just follow ads to a certain publishing solution and stop there. It’s important to do due diligence and research. There are thousands of posts online about the difference between CreateSpace and Ingram Spark, for instance. There are a whole host of partnership publishers (like She Writes Press, Turning Stone Press, and Inkshares) popping up all over the place. Many of them are mission-driven and operate totally outside of the traditional or self-publishing model. Ask for references, and make sure you feel good about the company you’re going to be doing business with. You might also want to check the author-advocate site Editors & Predators just to see what’s what.

7. Believing that “traditional” is better, no matter what.

This mindset will limit your publishing opportunities. I’ve seen authors languish for years (literally) in the space of trying to find an agent or waiting for an agent to secure a publishing deal. Traditional publishing is also suffering in two distinct ways: the barriers to entry are so high that it’s alienating its base; and it’s so focused on author platform and “big books” that it’s losing relevance fast. Many more authors than ever before are opting out of traditional publishing for more control and better profit margins on their sales. It’s cool to aspire to traditionally publish, but if you’re not getting bites, don’t let your book die on the shelf just because you harbor some sort of judgment about alternative publishing paths.

8. Failing to get sample product.

If you’re going to publish with a hybrid or partnership press, or even if you’re going to print your self-published book with CreateSpace or Ingram Spark, get samples! If the company won’t provide them for free, invest the $10 to order one of its books from Amazon. You want to see how the books look and feel. Most authors I work with do not ask for samples, and this is putting a lot of faith into the hands of a company that’s producing something so important to you.

9. Not hiring professionals.

A lot of self-published authors skimp on editorial and production, but it’s such a bad mistake. Every book should be copyedited and proofread — ideally more than once. There are so many elements to track when it comes to book design, and it’s incredibly easy to make mistakes. Over the course of my career as an editor and publisher I’ve seen all the many mistakes that get caught post-production, and this is with a professional team working on books. Things like running heads, pagination, tables of contents aligned with chapter titles and page numbers — the list goes on and on. Have someone who knows what they’re doing review your laid-out pages too. It’s crucial to review, review, and review again prior to printing your book.

10. Choosing a print run over print-on-demand (POD).

Some authors should get a print run, but most should not. Unless you absolutely know you can sell 1,000 copies within the first year of publication, don’t get a print run. And brace yourself for the fact that selling this many copies is a lot harder to do than you might think. Too many authors naively believe that they will easily sell thousands of copies. I’d urge you to start to consider that selling 1,000 copies as a self-published author constitutes a success. Many of your sales, you must remember, will be e-books. POD is awesome because you only pay for what you sell, so, for the vast majority of you, POD is a smart business decision.

Ready to start your publishing journey? Our team at SOI Publishing can help you make the best publishing decisions. Talk to us. Let's make your book the next bestseller.

 

Culled from Huff Post

Drive Traffic to Your Author Site (4 Tricks You can Use)

 

Being a self-published author means embracing the Do It Yourself (DIY) mindset when it comes to producing and selling your book.

It’s up to you to get your book’s cover designed, build a following on social media, and create an author site that attracts new readers.

You may be saying “check!” if you’ve already designed an author website. You might even be going for the “double check!” if you regularly update your author blog.

But simply having an author site won’t lead to more book sales.

To stand out in the sea of self-published authors, you’ll need to ensure your site content is fresh, valuable, and entertaining.

You’ll also need to try some tricks of the trade in the digital marketing realm to help you get viewership in more places.

Grab your pen and paper — you’ll want to remember these 4 effective ways to revamp your author site and drive traffic to it.

Optimize Your Content

To get repeat customers. the content on your site needs to build a sense of trust with our readers.

That means providing timely, relevant content that clearly communicates your experience as a self-published author, and why potential readers should buy your book.

To drive traffic to your website, make sure it includes the following essentials:

• Your book covers and descriptions
• A thorough About the Author page that includes an image as well as a clear and entertaining description of your inspiration, your credibility (including any awards received), and a list of your works
• Links to where your readers can buy your books
• An option to sign up for your email list or join your social media community
• Testimonials and reviews
• “Share” buttons so readers can suggest your site to friends
• Multi-media posts that are visually appealing

Create a Community

In order to have an effective author site and drive traffic to it, you’ll need to make it a place where readers can come to relate to not only you, but other authors, readers and subject experts.

Create a sense of community through your author site with the following tips:

• Linking to authors that have an established voice in your subjects. In order to build a relationship with established authors who may cross-promote with you, sending you a few of their readers, reach out to them first. That means doing blogs like “My Top 10 Favorite Authors This Year” and linking to their sites
• Enabling a comment section or forum on your author site and encourage your readers to weigh in on hot topics or advice. Provide ground rules to ensure the conversations are safe and respectful
• Join Facebook and LinkedIn groups and engage in the conversations, eventually leading them to your site
• Comment on posts on blogs and sites like yours
• Make face-to-face connections at book readings, writing retreats, and other social events that cater to your brand

Build a Social Media Following

Studies show that between 2005 and 2015, social media usage rose from 7% to 65%, making social media a fruitful way to connect with new audiences.

Building a social media following that will drive traffic to your site goes beyond a post here and there.

So how do you send more readers to your author site through your social platforms?

• Be sure your social media platforms are speaking to the same audience you want to send to your website
• Cross-promote by sharing the posts of others and tagging them
• Be sure you’re utilizing the platforms people from your target audience visit regularly
• Use trending and relevant hashtags
• Tracks your results using social media analytics

Know Your SEO Basics

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is where your site ranks on search engine searches, or how far up you appear on a search list.

By making a few tweaks to your author site, you can appear higher on searches, making readers more likely to click on your site.

There are 2 types of SEO, on page and off page:

1. On-page SEO is the content within your website that is viewable to the public. Certain keywords, images and other details you might otherwise overlook can affect where you show up in online searches.
2. Off-page SEO is content picked up by the search engines from behind-the-scenes things that involve your website coding. You’ll deal with this a bit less doing basic websites.

How to increase your on-site SEO rankings:

• Use keywords that your ideal readers search for. Include these keywords in your headlines, blogs, and other content
• You can determine which keywords to use by jotting down some words and short phrases that come to mind when you imagine what your ideal reader would be searching for
• You can also do some keyword research by searching for a term or keyword and seeing what other searches pop up relating to it. Sound daunting? Let tools like Google Adwords do it for you
• Be sure you’re producing plenty of original content, as SEO engines rank organic content higher
• Include plenty of relevant links to other pages on your site as well as other sites. When you link to other quality sites, SEO engines trust that you, too, provide quality content for users

How to increase your off-site SEO rankings:

• Ask other authors to share or link to your content. If they’re rated highly on SEO rankings, your links will be trusted as well
• Increase your social engagement. If you have a high amount of engagement on the social media pages that link to your site, your ranking will go up
• Become active in other forums like Goodreads and other author discussion forums to increase your web appearance,

Once you have a high-level idea of how to approach increasing your author site traffic, it’s time to dig into the details. Start by optimizing your social media strategy to sell more copies of your book >

Stuben Press

3 Tips for Careful Writers By Mark Nichol

 

1. Know the Rules
This doesn’t mean to simply remember what you learned — or what you think you learned — five or fifty years ago. Careful writers continuously educate and reeducate themselves about grammar, syntax, usage, and style. In preparing to write my posts over the last few years, I have engaged in extensive research, consulting print and online authorities to confirm or correct my own understanding of what constitutes good writing. Confront your prejudices, and check your recall and understanding of the basics. Most important, don’t believe everything you think.

2. Be Open to New and Unusual Usage
Language changes and careful writers must change with it. This doesn’t mean that you should abandon your high standards and accept colloquial language; some contexts simply do not allow for a relaxation of the rules. But most forms of writing are flexible, and you should be, too. Adapt the language to the content, but consider also adapting the content to the language.

3. Verify
When in doubt, look it up. When not in doubt, look it up. Don’t be content with spell-checking programs; check not only definitions of words, phrases and expressions but also their connotations. When discussing a person, place, or thing, don’t simply double-check the spelling and treatment of the term; reacquaint yourself with the person, place, or thing to confirm or correct your impression that the reference is appropriate for the content. (And check your facts.)

Credit: Daily Writing Tips

Old School vs. New School Marketing

 

Marketing is about influencing people who might buy your product or service, using messaging that conveys value. Old school marketing used traditional channels such as broadcast and print to communicate with the target market. New school marketers have kept the traditional methods that still work, and have combined them with digital technology to communicate with consumers on a different and deeper level. New school marketing relies heavily on such Internet channels as Web sites, blogs and social networks

Shifting Focus

Constant Contact's Social Media Quickstarter guide describes a marketing funnel that represents how companies prioritize lead generation and conversion. Old school marketing put prospecting at the widest part of the funnel. The first priority was to find as many consumers as possible, convert some of them into customers, and establish a relationship with a few of those customers to earn their loyalty. In his book Flip the Funnel, author Joseph Jaffe acknowledges a basic tenet of new school marketing: there is high value in cultivating a loyal customer base and keeping it engaged with continued communications. Finding customers now occupies the narrowest part of the funnel -- not because finding customers is less important than it was, but because the loyal customers now fill part of that role. Old school marketers were off the hook once consumers made the decision to buy. New school marketers devote significant resources to maintaining relationships with those loyal customers.

Four Ps Vs. Six Cs

The traditional marketing mix included the four Ps of product, price, placement and promotion: measurable, company-centric tactics that could be emphasized and deemphasized individually to form a customized value proposition. The new school's six Cs, on the other hand, focus on consumers. They include contact, connect, conversation, consideration, consumption and community. It's not enough for consumers to be aware of your product or service. You must establish a connection with them through meaningful contact. That contact should establish a dialog. New school marketers build communities around converted customers -- those who have "consumed" the product or service -- to continue the dialog and encourage loyalty and evangelism. Evangelists are satisfied users of a product who influence their family and friends to try it.

Outbound Vs. Inbound Marketing

HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan refers to outbound and inbound marketing on the company's social media blog. HubSpot is widely regarded as having coined these terms to differentiate between old school "push" messaging and new school "pull." Outbound, or push, marketing thrusts messaging on consumers via such channels as mailing lists, cold calls and advertising -- channels consumers increasingly filter due to overload. Inbound, or pull, messages draw consumers in. Inbound marketers make it easy for consumers to find them when those consumers are searching for products or services they need, at the time they need them. Web sites, blogs and social media networks give marketers visibility, but on consumers' terms. It's a customer-centric approach.

Interruption Vs. Permission

Push marketing is an old school strategy that interrupts consumers at times of the marketers' choosing -- while consumers are watching TV, for example. It's a very hit-or-miss method of reaching out. Most of the people marketers interrupt have no interest at all in the marketers' products. Interruption marketing can even alienate consumers when it's executed in a way that clearly ignores consumers' preferences. Dinner-time telemarketing calls are a prime example. According to marketing expert Seth Godin, interruption marketing is both expensive and inefficient. Permission marketing, on the other hand, is a new school approach that can reduce costs and increase efficiency. Godin defines permission marketing, a term he coined in a 1999 book of the same name, as "the privilege...of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them." Permission-based messages are efficient because they're only sent to consumers who are interested in them. You may, for example, require that visitors to your website subscribe to an email newsletter before they can view premium content, or register with their email addresses and “like” your Facebook page as a prerequisite to entering a contest. Permission marketing works offline, too. Loyalty card programs are one way merchants reward frequent customers who share such information as their postal and email addresses, ages, income, and even cell phone numbers in order to qualify for discounts. Well-executed permission marketing establishes trust-based relationships between marketers and consumers.

 

Culled from Small Business

10 Reasons to Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

 

It is so important to reach your customer base when you own a website, and in the digital age that means making sure people on mobile devices can find and browse your site. It also means making sure they can remain as happy as possible during that experience.

Smartphones and other mobile devices are more popular than ever before (and they are not going anywhere anytime soon), so optimizing your website for mobile isn’t just a trend or a side option, like it might have been in years past.

Today, making your website mobile-friendly is an absolute must. If you do the research, the experts will all tell you the same thing, and they’re right. Mobile is where your customers are – so it’s also where you should be.

On that note, we’ve compiled a list of the top reasons to make your website mobile-friendly. So, without further ado:

Here are 10 reasons why your website should be mobile-friendly

1. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites over those that are not mobile-friendly in mobile search results. In April 2015, the Google algorithm change that occurred tweaked the way that Google displays mobile search results. Websites that are optimized for mobile rank better than those who don’t – plain and simple.
2. People everywhere use mobile devices to do everything from simple information gathering to purchasing big ticket items and much, much more. The reason? It’s fast and easy. Consumers in every industry want to connect and get what they’re looking for quickly. If you’re not optimized for mobile, you can’t offer your customers that type of experience.
3. It helps you build credibility with your customers, your clients, and influencers in your industry. Whether you’re selling B2B or B2C, with a mobile-friendly website, anyone who tries to visit your site on a mobile device will have a proper experience, and that will encourage them to see you as a credible resource for information, products and services.
4. It’s becoming a standard best practice. A great many websites are mobile-friendly (usually the most reliable websites, I might add), with more and more coming online every day. Responsive web design has made mobile optimization more straight forward and accessible to everyone, and that means users have begun to expect this level of functionality to come standard when browsing on their mobile devices. 
5. You can reach more customers, faster. Google rewards websites that are mobile-friendly with higher ranking in mobile search results (see No. 1 on this list). So, simply by the virtue of having a mobile-friendly website, your site will be seen and visited by more people. Making your website mobile-friendly automatically opens your customer base up to anyone performing a mobile search. And even better – customers won’t have to hunt for your site or type in the exact URL to find it – they can just perform a search to find you quickly and easily.
6. You’ll make your customers much happier. When a customer or a potential customer accesses your site to find information or look for something you sell, you want the experience to be nothing short of great. Because many people use mobile devices to access the web, only a mobile-friendly website can promise to offer that experience. Happy customers will return to your site and tell others about how great it is. Unhappy customers will do the opposite.
7. Because Google wants you to do it. Webmasters know when Google recommends you do something, you should really try to do it. This is the case with making websites mobile-friendly. Google has explained why mobile is so important in their own words, and the number one reason they cite is everyone has smartphones, and they’re constantly using them to search.
8. Your website will look great and function well on any device, provided you use responsive web design to build or redesign your site. Why take chances when it comes to mobile optimization? With responsive design, your website will actually respond to the mobile device a person is using to access your site, and it will render to look and function well, no matter what.
9. It benefits your reputation. Not just online, but offline as well. People will take note of a website they have a great experience with – and they will also take note of a website they have a bad experience with. Reputation is everything, and most businesses can’t afford to give people a bad experience – digital or otherwise.
10. Your business will be seen as modern and relevant. You might offer some of the most useful, valuable, and unique products or services on the market, but if your website’s mobile experience is poor or non-existent, your company will be seen as a digital dinosaur – encouraging people to seek help elsewhere. On the other hand, mobile-friendly websites are seen as contemporary, cutting-edge and legit – they are how you get your foot in the door with anyone that has a smartphone.

Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly are quickly becoming defunct within our fast-evolving digital landscape. As time goes by, more and more websites will emerge that are mobile-friendly, pushing those that are not even farther down the search results page and away from customers.

If you want your website to perform well and support your business, you need to make it mobile-friendly.

It can only help you move forward to achieve the growth and success that you’re meant for.

Would you like the TRW Consult team to just do your marketing for you? Click here.

 

 

Culled from Web Movement

Your Ultimate Guide to Business Ghostwriting

 

Today's CEOs do it all. They run companies, found charities, start families, run marathons, and, more than likely, publish books. Have you ever wondered how they manage to spend hundreds of hours writing and revising while also conquering the universe?

Many of them engage ghostwriters.

With the help of a ghostwriter, becoming a published author can require as little as 40 hours of your time. But not all ghostwriters are created equal. If you've read a few ghosted books and noticed how many of them sound the same, you can start to appreciate the difference a good ghostwriter makes.

All ghostwriters do the heavy-lifting of interviewing and writing, but the good ones know how to take an extemporaneous conversation and turn it into polished, compelling text―without losing its voice or import.

Here are five tips for vetting ghostwriters so you can find the ideal writer to craft your unique story:

1. Review your ghostwriter's experience

Although it's not uncommon for ghostwriting companies to claim their work with past clients is protected by non-disclosure agreements, you should be able to see some full titles and learn about past clients in broad terms. Think: "We worked on a memoir for an athlete that became a New York Times bestseller."

At the very least, ensure the ghostwriter has written a minimum of two books for a major publisher; that way, you know you're considering a professional. For those who are willing to devote a little more time to vetting, read one or two of the ghostwriter's titles. Find out how you feel about the individual's work once you examine it closely.

2. Expect a strategic introduction

From the first phone call, the ghostwriter should take a strategic approach to your story. Ghosts who have experience will know what's been written on your topic, what works in your category, and what would inspire curiosity from your target audience. You should feel like your ghostwriter can help you refine your idea and its promise to make it more salable.

Part of the ghost's role is to identify what's relevant. The experiences you want to convey in your book are like a sprawling museum with artwork on every floor. Everything feels important. Your ghostwriter should be able to provide the focus and direction that will create a cohesive, compelling tour of your museum.

3. Be open to getting vetted

Your ghostwriter may spend six months writing your book. Before making that commitment, he or she will want to vet you, too. Good ghostwriters can be selective because they're in high demand. They won't work on your project unless it feels like a good fit, which is partially up to you to prove.

Before your consultation call, spend some additional time thinking about the purpose of your book. Be prepared to have a discussion about why the book is meaningful to you and what you hope to achieve. If you're speaking with the right ghostwriter, an alignment of purpose and values will become clear. Behind every good book is a mission your ghostwriter should be eager to sign up for. (I've even heard a ghostwriter say, "I'd give my left leg to be part of this project.")

4. Don't self-publish by default

Your ghostwriter or the ghostwriting company should help you make an informed decision about publishing traditionally versus self-publishing. Although publishing traditionally isn't viable for everyone (publishers reject approximately 96 percent of proposals), expect to get advice on both options.

Many ghostwriting companies are set up to help you self-publish because it's easier for them―and it's a bigger investment. Self-publishing requires a full manuscript instead of the 40-page book proposal traditional publishers require, so you're paying for a lot more writing. Although self-publishing may still be the right option for you, make sure you understand the pros and cons of both routes before you commit.

5. Include milestone reviews

Even if your ghostwriter feels like your creative soul mate, it's not a good idea to wait until the first full draft is complete before you review your book. Instead, make sure your contract stipulates that you'll be able to review the draft in milestones―and terminate the relationship if necessary.

The first review is generally the outline, but the second milestone should be your first chapter. You'll be able to tell from these early pages whether the ghostwriter has captured your voice.

A framework that EO members often use when hiring is: Does a hire get it, want it and have the capacity for it?

When you find a ghostwriter who's more than a writer, who responds like a strategic advisor, and who has the experience to back it up, you've just found the single most important person to help you bring your long-held vision to life.

At The Ready Writers Consult, we have seasoned writers who will take you from thoughts to print. Ready to start working on your book? Contact us now.

 

 

 

Culled from INC