34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer By Daniel Scocco

We asked our readers to share their writing tips. The response was far beyond the initial expectations, and the quality of the tips included was amazing. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Now, without further delay, the 34 writing tips that will make you a better writer!

1. Daniel

Pay attention to punctuation, especially to the correct use of commas and periods. These two punctuation marks regulate the flow of your thoughts, and they can make your text confusing even if the words are clear.

2. Thomas

Participate in NaNoWriMo, which challenges you to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. I noticed that my writing has definitely improved over the course of the book — and it’s not even finished yet.

3. Bill Harper

Try not to edit while you’re creating your first draft. Creating and editing are two separate processes using different sides of the brain, and if you try doing both at once you’ll lose. Make a deal with your internal editor that it will get the chance to rip your piece to shreds; it will just need to wait sometime.

A really nice trick is to switch off your monitor when you’re typing. You can’t edit what you can’t see.

4. Jacinta

In a sentence: write daily for 30 minutes minimum! It’s easy to notice the difference in a short time. Suddenly, ideas come to you and you think of other things to write. You experiment with styles and voices and words and the language becomes more familiar…

5. Ane Mulligan

Learn the rules of good writing… then learn when and how to break them.

6. Pete Bollini

I sometimes write out 8 to 10 pages from the book of my favorite writer… in longhand. This helps me to get started and swing into the style I wish to write in.

7. Nilima Bhadbhade

Be a good reader first.

8. Douglas Davis

While spell-checking programs serve as a good tool, they should not be relied

upon to detect all mistakes. Regardless of the length of the article, always read and review what you have written.

9. Kukusha

Learn to take criticism and seek it out at every opportunity. Don’t get upset even if you think the criticism is harsh, don’t be offended even if you think it’s wrong, and always thank those who take the time to offer it.

10. John England

Right click on a word to use the thesaurus. Do it again on the new word and make the best use of your vocabulary.

11. Lillie Ammann

After editing the work on screen or in print, I like to read the text aloud. Awkward sentences and errors that slipped through earlier edits show up readily when reading out loud.

12. H Devaraja Rao

Avoid wordiness. Professor Strunk put it well: “a sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”

13. David

Write as if you’re on deadline and have 500 words to make your point. Then do it again. And again.

14. Yvette

Sometimes I type in a large font to have the words and sentences bold before me.

Sometimes, in the middle of a document I will start a new topic on a fresh sheet to have that clean feeling. Then, I’ll cut and insert it into the larger document.

I wait until my paper is done before I examine my word usage and vocabulary choices. (And reading this column it has reminded me that no two words are ever exactly alike.) So at the end, I take time to examine my choice of words. I have a lot of fun selecting the exact words to pinpoint my thoughts or points.

15. Amit Goyal

To be a good writer is to start writing everyday. As Mark Twain said, “the secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Try using new words. i.e avoid repeating words. this way we learn the usage of different words.

Do edit your previous articles.

Start with small paragraphs like writing an article for a Newspaper, and proceed from there.

16. John Dodds

Remove as many adjectives as possible. Read Jack Finney’s tale, Cousin Len’s Wonderful Adjective Cellar for a fantastical tale about how a hack becomes a successful author with the help of a magical salt cellar that removes adjectives from his work.

17. John Ireland

I set my writing aside and edit a day or two later with the aim of making it terse. It has trained me to be more conscious of brevity when writing for immediate distribution.

18. Jai

Try to write in simple way. Express your views with most appropriate words.

19. Mark

Read great writers for inspiration. If you read them enough, their excellent writing style will rub off onto your dazzling blog.

YOU ARE what you read (and write!).

20. Caroline

I watch my action tense and wordiness in sentences when I am writing my technical diddley.

For example, in a sentence where you say …”you will have to…” I replace it with “…you must…”, or “Click on the Go button to…” can be replaced with “Click Go to…”.

Think of words such as “enables”, instead of “allows you to” or “helps you to”.

If one word will work where three are, replace it! I always find these, where I slip into conversational as I am writing quickly, then go back and purge, purge, purge.

21. Akhil Tandulwadikar

Don’t shy away from adopting the good habits that other writers use.

Do not worry about the length of the article as long as it conveys the point. Of course, the fewer words you use, the better.

Start the article with a short sentence, not more than 8 words.

22. Julie Martinenza

Instead of adding tags (he said/she said) to every bit of dialogue, learn to identify the speaker by showing him/her in action. Example: “Pass that sweet-smelling turkey this way.” With knife in one hand and fork in the other, Sam looked eager to pounce.

23. Aaron Stroud

Write often and to completion by following a realistic writing schedule.

24. Joanna Young

One that works for me every time is to focus on the positive intention behind my writing. What is it that I want to communicate, express, convey? By focusing on that, by getting into the state that I’m trying to express, I find that I stop worrying about the words – just let them tumble out of their own accord.

It’s a great strategy for beating writer’s block, or overcoming anxiety about a particular piece of writing, whether that’s composing a formal business letter, writing a piece from the heart, or guest blogging somewhere ‘big’…

25. Shelley Rodrigo

Use others writer’s sentences and paragraphs as models and then emulate the syntactic structure with your own content. I’ve learned more about grammar and punctuation that way.

26. Sylvia

Avoid long sentences.

27. Mike Feeney

Learn the difference between me, myself and I. For example: “Contact Bob or myself if you have any questions.” I hear this very often!

28. Richard Scott

When doing a long project, a novel, for instance, shut off your internal editor and just write.

Think of your first draft as a complex outline waiting to be expanded upon, and let the words flow.

29. David

Careful with unnecessary expressions. “At this point in time” came along during the Nixon congressional hearings. Too bad it didn’t go out with him. What about “on a daily basis?”

30. E. I. Sanchez

For large documents, I use Word’s Speech feature to have the computer read the article back. This allows me to catch errors I have missed – especially missing words or words that ’sort of sound the same’ but are spelled differently (e.g. Front me instead of ‘From me’).

31. Cat

Either read the book “Writing Tools 50 Strategies for Every Writer”, by Roy Peter Clark, or read the Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List on his blog. Then join a writing group, or hire a writing coach.

32. Suemagoo

Write the first draft spontaneously. Switch off your internal editor until it is time to review your first draft.

33. Lydia

If you’re writing fiction, it’s a great idea to have a plot. It will coordinate your thoughts and add consistency to the text.

34. Pedro

Edit your older articles and pieces. You will notice that a great part of it will be crap, and it will allow you to refine your style and avoid mistakes that you used to make.

**

Source: Daily Writing Tips

Things to Note in Your Manuscript Before Approaching a Publisher

 

Many times, writers are so eager to have their work published that they forget to do their own due diligence. They just write and send it to the publisher and hope that he/she would do the needful and then publish their work.

It does not work that way. A writer is not an editor, and neither is a writer a publisher although those roles can be interchanged between them. As a writer, it is important that you have basic editing skills. That way, you are able to preserve the integrity of your work rather than leave it for someone that would edit in the way he/she thinks about what you have written.

This difference in roles is very important because it would help you in playing your part well and make it easy for others to do their work effectively. Here are some of the things you should note before taking your manuscript to a publisher:

1. You must ensure your work has been proofread and edited for errors.

As a writer, it is not just enough to write a good piece or a good book. You have to go through the book several times to make sure your thoughts are fully captured and well written then you also have to make sure that it is properly edited before you send it out. That way, whoever picks up your work would be comfortable reading it and even eager to publish it.

2. Follow the publisher’s guidelines.

This is very important in publishing as it fast-tracks your work and makes things easier for the publisher. Many times, publishers have certain standards or a couple of rules that they lay down for their prospective customers. And it would do you a lot of good to follow those guidelines. When your work meets all the necessary criteria, it will be easy to publish.

3. Know what you want your work to look like.

There are times that all a writer cares about is having their work published. To them, nothing else is important. They would prefer for the publisher or friends to make the choices they need to make. Don’t be that kind of writer. Have an idea of what you want your work to look like and the way you want people to perceive it. Then do a good job of communicating it to the publishers.

That way, you are seen as someone who knows what they want, and you would also be proud of the creativity that you displayed.

4. Be open to ideas.

Many times as writers, we already have an idea of what we want our books to look like, the cover page, the size, the colour and so on. But sometimes, it is good to listen to ideas and suggestions from more experienced people or from publishers. Remember that it is their job, and they have been doing it for years. So they have a lot of experience in it.

You don’t have to take their suggestion. Just open your mind to receive it and if need be, be humble enough to take the suggestion. You would be better for it, and your work would also get visibility.

In conclusion, when it comes to writing, it is important that you play your own part. Make things easy for everyone working with you on your way to success. Keeping all these things in mind would make your dreams come true sooner than you think.

Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing. She could be reached via LinkedIn or email: oomolawal@gmail.com

15 Inspirational Writing Quotes from Famous Writers

 

We have helped gathered 15 inspirational writing quotes from famous writers in the world for your reading delight. Find them below:

 

1. I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
   – Stephen King

 

2. Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.
   – Ernest Hemingway

 

3. It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.
   – Ernest Hemingway

 

4. Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.
   – Mark Twain

 

5. And as imagination bodies forth
   The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
   Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
   A local habitation and a name.
   – William Shakespeare (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

 

6. If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.
   – Somerset Maugham

 

7. To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.
   – Herman Melville

 

8. It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.
   – C. J. Cherryh

 

9. It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
   – Robert Benchley

 

10. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer.
    – Ray Bradbury

 

11. A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it is to be God.
    – Sidney Sheldon

 

12. Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
    – Henry David Thoreau

 

13. If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.
    – David Brin

 

14. My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.
    – Anton Chekhov

 

15. I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.
    – Edgar Rice Burroughs

Learn to Use Social Media to Sell your Books

As an author, do you struggle with using social media to sell books and connect with readers?

Not sure how much time you should be spending on social media and what you should be doing during that time?

Can you really find more readers using social media?

How do you promote my book properly on social media?

If you are wondering about any of these questions, then you are not alone. Many authors struggle with the same sorts of questions.

So, let’s a look at few of those questions and get tips on how to command the social media ‘beast’ and tame it.

How Long Does It Take for An Author to Build a Presence Online?

This is a popular question for any business, especially authors. They have spent months and months (sometimes even years) writing their books, and they want to find an audience for their books right away, it often doesn’t happen like that!

“It doesn’t take any time at all to BUY an audience. There are easy ways to… there are a lot of marketing strategies that allow you to amass huge followings. I want to be very careful to encourage authors, especially, to BUILD their audience. Slow and steady definitely wins the race!”

Many authors think that they need to find an audience for their book after they already wrote the book. This is the wrong way to look at it!

“As you’re writing your book, I want to encourage people to build that audience in tandem with that. Don’t expect to just write your book and say ‘Okay, I’m going to start shooting it out to an audience!’ I want to really encourage people to build your audience while you’re writing your book.”

Now, if your book is already done, you’re not able to start building that audience while writing so definitely start building an audience now, but if you’re planning on writing another book, start building that audience now!

The best part about building an audience while you are writing, is that you can share bits and pieces about your book as you write it. You can share the covers, you can share samples, you can give teasers. This allows your audience to become invested in your book. If they have spent months becoming invested in the book as you’re writing it, they are much more likely to buy the book when it’s released!

What do I talk about on social media? Do I just talk about my book?

Many authors struggle with what to write about on social media so they end up defaulting to some variation of “Buy my book!”. As many authors notice, that doesn’t get you more sales. People aren’t invested in you, they don’t have a connection with you, so they aren’t going to buy your book!

“You want to be approachable to your readers… I break the mould. Whatever is on my mind, whenever it is on my mind, I post it… I allow my readers to know me, all of me. I am not just going to feed them this part of me.”

Being an author is like running a business. You’re marketing a product: your book.

“Writing a book, that process, it IS a business. How do we manage good social media? How do we manage a business? How do we brand? All of these concepts are going to play into the marketing of your book.”

Which social media platform is best? Should I be on Facebook? Should I be on Twitter? Is Google+ the best for me?

“Is your reader on Facebook? If he is, great, then build out a social media strategy for Facebook! If you find tips for Pinterest, but your reader isn’t on Pinterest, then you shouldn’t invest in trying to get your reader onto Pinterest!”

First you have to define who your audience is, and once you have done that you can take the next step.

“You scroll through bios, and you literally do research. It’s no different than going to the library to do research.”

You have to determine where to find your readers and devote as much attention to that platform as you would engaging individual readers one-on-one.

***

If you have questions or want to get published via a content production and publishing firm that offers a comprehensive range of authorial services to help writers refine their messages and reach their target audience, then contact SOI Publishing here.

9 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Social Media Campaign

 

Sometimes business owners complain that it’s hard to track the effectiveness of social media marketing (SMM) and online marketing in general, but in reality, you can learn so much more from an online campaign than you can from most traditional strategies.

Since people leave a “trail” everywhere they go on the internet, you can see exactly how many folks are talking about your brand, their feelings about it, what they are doing on your pages, and more. With ordinary campaigns, you never really know who is seeing your message or how they react to it.

There is a multitude of ways to measure the success of your social media efforts, but here are some you should definitely not ignore:

Share of Voice

In terms of social media, share of voice refers to how much of the online conversation is devoted to your brand over your competitors.

Knowing this information provides valuable insight into how many social media users are aware of your business and find you worth discussing.  Obviously, you want more people talking about you than the competition, and examining this metric will tell you where you stand and which channels are in need of improvement.

To find your share of voice, simply divide the number of conversations/mentions of your brand by the total conversations/mentions of all other competing brands. Or, to make things easier, you can use a free tool, such as Social Mention, or invest in a social monitoring program like Radian6.

Brand Volume

In addition to comparing your number of mentions to the competition, you should also judge them against your previous history to gauge how your efforts are working.

Comparing your numbers on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis can give you an idea of the overall trend (whether it’s up, down, or the same). And definitely take special notice of how things change at the start of a new strategy. There’s no sense doing the same things over and over if you aren’t seeing any growth.

Measure Sentiment

Of course, just tracking mentions of your brand doesn’t really tell the whole story. After all, it doesn’t help to have a large share of voice if most of the comments are negative. Thus, you also need to monitor the sentiment behind the conversations — i.e. are people satisfied or unsatisfied with your business.

There are sentiment analysis tools that can track this, but let’s face it, computers aren’t exactly the best judge of emotion and incapable of understanding sarcasm. So, to get an accurate measurement, you need to examine this manually.

Read through your mentions and mark them as positive, negative, or neutral. Monitor them over time and see how they change. Hopefully, the good will significantly outweigh the bad. If you have a lot of neutral comments, you may need to step up your marketing efforts and show consumers what you really have to offer.

Engagement

Not only do you want people discussing your brand in general, but you also want them talking to you and interacting with your other followers. Social media is meant for… well, socializing, so if people aren’t commenting, replying, and joining in on your page’s discussions, then you are missing the point of social media.Fans, Google+ circle members, etc., or have your numbers remained stagnant?

If you’re not seeing much increase, try looking back at a time where you received the highest growth, and try to determine what caused the spike. Did you post some great photos, link to a particular article, or get the attention of a social media influencer? Once you determine the cause, try to recreate the formula.

Also, the more you can engage your followers, the more likely they are to become loyal to your business and share your brand with others — the crux of any SMM campaign.

Increased Followers/Fans

Perhaps the simplest, yet still important, data to track is your level of audience growth. In other words, are you consistently getting more Twitter followers, Facebook 

If you’ve always struggled to find an audience, it is likely time to reevaluate the type of content you’re delivering.

That said, remember, success in social media isn’t just a numbers game — always shoot for quality over quantity. There’s no point having thousands of followers if they’re not genuinely interested in your brand.

Click-Through Rate to Site Links

As with everything in internet marketing, links matter. One of the main purposes of nearly all social media campaigns is to drive traffic to the business‘ other web properties (whether it’s their main website, a microsite, or something else) for the purposes of sales, conversions, or awareness.

So, you should always monitor whether people are using your links and their behavior after they land on your site. There are several ways to monitor this, including using Google Analytics, to see where your inbound traffic is originating, and to discover other important data, such as unique page views, time on page, and total pages viewed.

Again, this is without a doubt something you should pay particular attention to while running contests or special incentives, so you can see if they are working or not.

Platform Reach

Platform reach refers to the strength of your brand presence on multiple social networks. Put simply, do you have a lot of mentions on all the major social networks?

Even if you don’t, this isn’t necessarily a problem since not every platform will fit your demographic. For instance, if you primarily want to target 20 to 35-year-old males, you may not be concerned about having a presence on Pinterest, which is very female dominated.

The point is to make sure you have a strong reach across the networks that most benefit your business, and if you find you’re not getting much attention in a particular platform, you should make a point to put more effort into that area of the campaign.

Mobile Mentions

With the popularity of smartphones, tablets, and people’s tendency to be always on the move, social media is becoming more of a mobile activity, and an increase in your mobile mentions and interactions is a good sign your business is keeping up with the trend.

Also, tracking consumer’s mobile dealings with your brand is vital if you have QR codes, mobile coupons, etc. as part of your strategy.

Return on Effort

When you are analyzing your marketing results in so many different detailed areas, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, so to speak. In other words, is your SMM (as a whole) worth the effort you’re putting in?

A social media management tool can make it easier to see the overall picture, or you can devise your own monitoring system. Either way, it’s important to calculate your total growth against the time and money you are devoting to SMM.

Only you know exactly what your time is worth, but a good campaign should ultimately lead to an increase in conversions and sales. If you aren’t seeing this then it is time to reevaluate. You may want to consider hiring this area of your business out to a professional social media manager who can focus on it exclusively and has the know-how to deliver results.

Does your business use the metrics above (or others) in analyzing your social media campaign? If so, which do you find the most useful?

Culled from Spark Logix

Post Tags:#online marketing#Social media#social media 

20 Tips For Dissertation Writing

Writing a dissertation has always been a difficult task and most agree with that. You need to approach it very thoughtfully, as a dissertation helps to define not only your academic but also your future success. By saying this, we mean that it’s not enough to just concentrate on the task to succeed, but also you need to know the dissertation structure, its basics, and the main things to pay attention to or to avoid. This is a type of paper that requires high skill and deep knowledge of the subject matter.

Here we will walk you through our short guide in order to help you write a dissertation. We will give you some dissertation writing tips that will be handy for those who look for help writing a dissertation.

So fasten your seatbelts, we’re taking off!

20 Tips For Dissertation Writing

1. Don’t wait too long to start: People are used to thinking that this is the simplest part of the work, especially when the real work is done. But don’t overestimate writing, students usually struggle when it comes to analyzing all the data after the main research phase. Keep in mind that it’s never too early to start.

2. Take notes: You will be recording the results of your research in order to save time while searching for the needed information. And you will avoid plagiarism by citing all sources of information. If you have any doubts about the originality of your work, you could use a free plagiarism checker so as not to worry about it while defending your dissertation.

3. Keep in contact with your advisor: Most people are afraid of showing their papers until they believe the work is done which could be a big mistake. It’s important to stay in touch with your advisor during the process of writing the dissertation. This will help you see the common mistakes and to see the text from another perspective.

4. Dedicate enough time to the task: Make it part of your daily routine. Think that a single hour per day is a good habit just like going to the gym. 

5. Don’t be alone: You can form or join a dissertation writing group; your university even may have a special group dedicated to students who are in the process of writing a dissertation. This will be a good point for you as you will be able to show your paper to the others, share your opinion about some work, improve your speaking skills, or overcome some fears (if you have some). This is a good way to find inspiration and share your experiences.

6. Don’task your friends about how much they’ve already done because this will only interrupt your progress as you will only think about their papers, comparing the results.

7. Use humor and jokes but only if it is appropriate.

8. Don’t be afraid of moving to another section if you get stuck: If you feel that you are currently stuck but there’s another section where you can be more effective at the moment – move to it. Don’t turn this into a habit, we should always be ready to work on the hard part.

9. Don’t think that your first draft is your final draft: Write in order to rewrite different parts of the text. We all aim for perfection, this is ok.

10. Don’t forget about resting: Eat well, feed your brain, and try to avoid sleepless nights. You have to stay productive, which is impossible if you don’t get enough rest.

11. Avoid getting stuck on introductions. It’s usually easier to create the main body of the chapters and then return to the introduction. This is a basic rule in writing a dissertation as many people are used to getting stuck on the introduction and wasting time while they aren’t sure what to write about.

12. Focus on the task. Your results also depend on discipline, but the most important thing is to help your brain concentrate on the task and avoid multi-tasking.

13. You may also think about changing your laptop/pc keyboard to hardcopy paper.

14. Go for a walk: Let your brain breathe more – walking helps you to promote creativity. Give it a shot and you will be surprised with the result.

15. Capture your thoughts: You will want to capture your thoughts during walks. You can use a small notepad or voice memo on your phone.

16. Talk to the others: Tell your friend about your ideas, listen to their opinions or discuss your ideas with the teacher. This way you will be able to learn something new or ensure that you are on the right track with your paper.

17. Set a deadline: Try to set them a bit earlier than the official deadline date. This will help you be more productive.

18. Take breaks: it’s always good to take a little break as during the work our brain can get tired and that is why you are recommended to take short breaks from time to time in order to rest.

19. Read your paper: You will likely find some hidden mistakes (logical or grammatical).

20. Don’t be afraid to change your dissertation supervisor if he or she is not right. Do pay attention to your reasons, as they have to be valid (such as the supervisor isn’t able to give you appropriate advice, he or she is always busy, etc.). Usually, the department will grant your request.

Culled from Papers Owl

Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing

Writing is not hard, especially if you have a good command of the English language, or whatever language you are writing in. And many people have always said that writing is way easier than speaking because all you have to do is write, and not bother about the pitch, the tone or the emotions your voice is trying to portray. This may or may not be true, depending on the perspective you are looking at it from, but it will be a discussion for another day.

Whether writing is simple or not, there are some truths that are very important for you to know. Whether you are a long-time writer or just a prospect, you still need to know these truths because they will guide you and help you become a better author.

Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing

1. You will always have critics.

When it comes to writing, you can never please everybody. Someone would always have a different opinion or a negative thing to say about your writing no matter how hard you work on it. Not everyone would agree with what you have written or the method you use to write. Be okay with that. Just do your part and write without errors. Write with correct and well-researched facts. Then leave the rest to the critics.

2. There are times when you will have to rewrite your work multiple times.

This might sound hard, but it is the truth. When writing, sometimes you might think that you are on the right track, then along the line you will find out that you have gone away from your line of thoughts, or that what you are writing does not seem to make sense. Then you will have to start all over again. When you are at this point, it is better to start all over again than to patch things up and just edit. It might not turn out well in the long run.

3. Your writing can always be better.

No matter how many years you have been writing or the kind of experience you think you might have gained, your writing can always be better. You have to keep learning different ways to make your writing better. Even if you have a bestseller or you have won numerous awards, you still have to keep learning and keep getting better. There is always something new to learn.

4. Not all your ideas would see the light of day.

You need to know that not all the ideas you have about your book would see the light of day. Your manuscript might be entirely rejected, or you might have to edit and rework some parts of it. You have to be okay with that and work around it rather than feeling bad and perhaps thinking you are not good enough.

5. Writing is not just about you.

This might sound strange because you are the one doing the writing. The book was your idea. The title was your idea. And your name was written on it.

But it is not all about you. It is about your readers, the people you are writing for. They have to be able to enjoy the book, learn from it and love it. This means that you must consider your audience when you are writing.

Final note

One thing that can help you deal with these hard truths is imagining that you are writing a book to people outside your region, outside your culture, people entirely different from you. When you have this at the back of your mind, you will be able to work around your ideas and books to make them suitable for everyone and anyone to read.

Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.

How to Market an Event: 50 Event Marketing Tips

The date is set. The venue is booked. Now you just need to get people to show up. Worried? Maybe a little? Don’t be.

If you’re not sure how to market an event, here’s a list of 50 event marketing tips. You don’t need a big advertising budget or celebrity endorsements to make this work. Just use this list as your event marketing plan. Here are our best practices for filling a room…

 

50 Event Marketing Tips

 

The event page

The cornerstone of all the promotion efforts is the event page or website. This could be a page or website specific to the event, or if you don’t have a site for the event, use an EventBrite page. Either way, make it compelling by including ALL of these elements:

1. Compelling description

Clearly indicate the topic, time, place and who should attend. The description should include specific benefits for each type of attendee. Make it brief and scan-able. Use third-party endorsements when possible, such as a quote from a previous event.

2. Pre-event curation of content 

Curation of tangible content leading up to and/or during the event for event attendees to take away from the event (this could be videos, photos, t-shirts or just about anything.) Done right (not SWAG,) this can add to the buzz leading up to the event, tap new audiences for attendees and keep the event property top of mind to departing attendees. Content is about capturing great memories!

3. Speaker pictures and bios

Great speakers draw crowds like a magnet. The speaker page should show their faces and list their credentials.

4. Event image

The image will appear when the page is shared on social networks. It could be the event logo, a picture of a room full of people, or just a genuine smiling face.

5. Event-related videos

Create simple video interviews of the speakers and post them here. These can be produced quickly using Google Hangouts or Skype. It’s easier than you think and very effective later on. If you ask nice, maybe the speakers will make a little video for you, like Jay Acunzo, founder of Unthinkable, did for us for Content Jam.

6. Prominent “register now” button

Without a clearly visible button and a call to action, you might not get any action…

Pre-event email

If you have a list, your best channel for event marketing may be email. If you don’t, you may ask partners, speakers, or friends to mention the event in their emails (see “Affiliate Partners” below). Regardless of the list, use these event marketing email guidelines:

7. Subject line

Subject lines that inspire awe, anger, or anxiety lead to higher open rates. Studies have shown (slide 20) that subject lines with lukewarm emotional content are less likely to be opened. Try a subject line such as “10 things you miss if you aren’t at this event.”

8. Send during the weekend

Consider sending an email on the weekend. Since few companies do it, open and clickthrough rates may be higher. And when possible attendees see it on a weekend, they may feel less stressed for time and more willing to commit a few hours to your event. They may be in a social mood and even invite a friend.

9. Video thumbnail

Show a clickable image of a speaker interview video in the email. Video thumbnails in emails can improve clickthrough rates.

10. Social proof

If you have positive feedback from previous events or credentials for the speakers, use them as quotes in your emails and on the website.

11. Send and send again

Plan to send an event marketing email several times. For large events, email once months in advance to announce the speaker lineup and to announce early-bird registration discounts.

Email just before this discount ends, and again as the event approaches. Finally, send an email a few days before with reminders of the time, place for registrants and a final pitch for new registration.

Pre-event social activity

Events are social occasions. So of course, your event marketing should use social media. Here’s how to promote the event with social media and blog posts:

12. The hashtag

Pick an event hashtag that’s short, and ideally, unique to your event. You’re going to always, always use this hashtag in every tweet and post.

13. Links in social media bios

Usually your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn bios will link to your website. But when you’re promoting a big event, consider changing these links so they send visitors directly to the event page.

14. Find relevant people on Twitter

Use Twitter Advanced Search to find people who are interested in your topic and live nearby. Mention them in tweets about the event or tweet to them directly with a friendly invite.

15. Tweeeeeet!

Unlike email, most tweets are missed as they flow through the social streams of your audience. So tweet early and often. Here’s a list of reasons to tweet before the event. Many of these tweets can be scheduled far in advance, using tools like MeetEdgar and Buffer.

Registration opens

Early-bird registration is ending soon

Countdown: “Just X days until the event!”

Reminder of time and location

Thank your sponsors (mention sponsors)

“Just saw Jane’s presentation. Wow!” (mention speakers)

“See you at the event!” (mention registrants)

Thanks for sharing, posting and re-tweeting (mention anyone who shared)

Tweets with testimonial quotes about a speaker (find these on LinkedIn)

Tweet to the pre-event blog post using a quote from the interview. (mention speaker)

“Thanks for registering! See you there!” (mention registrants, especially social media influencers)

16. …then follow people

After these tweets, follow a few people who may be interested in your topic. When you follow someone, you might get their attention and they may notice the event. It’s best to follow people when you have a compelling event promotion tweet at the top of your stream.

17. Post the event on Facebook and LinkedIn

Of course! Make sure that the image from the event page appears. Mention speakers, encouraging them to share it with their networks. Post again with videos and remind people of registration deadlines.

18. Registration thank you page

On the thank you page after the registration process, offer to let them share the event on social media. The tweet will announce that they’re going and include the hashtag and the link to the registration page. Use a Click-to-Tweet link to make this easy.

19. Registration auto-response email

Once people register, they’ll receive an email. Use this as an opportunity to suggest they follow you on Twitter. Don’t forget to mention the hashtag.

20. Other auto-response emails

If your website can send people an email when they submit a contact form, add a link to the event here.

21. Cross the streams

If you find that you’re getting traction on one social network, but not others, move the conversation around. If someone shares something on Facebook, thank them on Twitter. If someone mentions the event on Twitter, say hi to them on LinkedIn.

As you can see, we’re recommending a lot of social media activity, taking advantage of any excuse to connect, mention, post, tweet and link.

Pre-event blog posts

22. Write a pre-event blog post

For successful event marketing, begin posting on your blog a week in advance. Like the videos, this could be an interview with one or more of the speakers. Email interviews are an efficient way to produce content quickly. Just send a list of questions and post the answers when the speaker sends them back. Link to this post in the emails mentioned above.

23. Invite speakers to write guest posts

Speakers will recognize that although this takes a bit of time, there are SEO and social media benefits to guest blogging. If they do write something for you, encourage them to share that content with their networks.

ProTip: Do a guest blog post exchange with a speaker. Here is an example of how a content strategy event was promoted with two guest posts, one written by the speaker and posted on the event site, and another written by the event organizer on the speaker’s blog. 

Working with partners

24. Photo and video partners

If you don’t have the budget to hire professionals, offer free admission (or even a table in the event space) to a pro photographer or videographer in exchange for services. Make sure they commit to providing you with assets in a reasonable timeframe. And make sure you give them good exposure in exchange for their time.

25. Standardize presentations

Create a standard Powerpoint template and share it with your speakers. It may only be two slides (a title slide and an interior slide) but it will have fonts and colors that match the event theme. This will help things look good later when you share the presentations after the event (see post-event email below).

26. Affiliate partners

Create a unique promotion code for each partner and speaker. They can use this code when they promote the event, offering a discount to people on their social networks. Since the code is unique to that partner, you’ll know how effective that partner was at promoting the event. Now you can pay them a referral fee to that partner for those registrants.

27. Pre-written tweets

Don’t just encourage your sponsors, partners and speakers to help with promotion, make it easy for them. Write a list of compelling tweets and send them along in an email. Now they’re more likely to help and less likely to use the wrong link or hashtag.

28. Dinner and drinks

Invite speakers, sponsors, influencers and members of the press for a night out before the event. This is a chance to bond and have some fun. If you try this, you’ll likely find people referring to the dinner conversation during the event. “We were just talking about this the other night…” Strong personal connections may lead to better cohesion on the big day.

Submit to media and industry websites

29. Submit to local media outlets

Many media sites, especially the hyper-local news sites, let you post events. Find these by searching Google for “event calendars” in your city.

30. Submit to industry associations

Industry and trade associations may also allow you to submit. If the event is relevant to their audience, ask if they will accept, post or promote events from outside organizations. Chambers of commerce are often happy to promote events relevant to their members, especially if the organizers are members themselves.

31. Let the press know

There are likely journalists who cover local events. Find them by searching for similar events on news websites. Then graciously contact them with an invite, press badge or offer of a relevant article. This could be an interview with a speaker or a guest blog post from you for their website. If you successfully get their attention, you may get a bit of press!

Make your event page SEO friendly

People may be looking for your event right now! Follow these basic instructions to search optimize the event webpage or the Eventbrite registration page.

32. Target a keyword

First, we need to choose a relevant keyword. The target keyword should combine the event topic, the word “event,” and the name of your city. Examples: “orthodontist event Tulsa,” “campfire safety event Charlotte” or “vegan cooking event Chicago.” For tips on finding more specific keywords, take a look at this post: How to Research Keywords.

33. Title tags and headers

Use a title tag and header that include your target keyword. In the title tag, it’s best to put the name of the event last, so the keyword appears first. This helps indicate relevance to Google. For example, an event for veterinarians in Texas may benefit from a website with a title tag such as “Veterinarian Event in Dallas – PetCon Dallas.”

34. Search-friendly description

The event page should have a nice, detailed event description, which includes the keyword several times. If it’s long, break up the text into short, concise paragraphs. Use lots of formatting, including headers, sub headers, internal links, bullet lists, etc. You can find more advice on this SEO checklist.

35. Linking

Internal links are important for search engine rankings, so make sure to link to the event page from other pages on your site including older blog posts. This will guide visitors to the page, and also help search engines know that the page is relevant.

During the event

Live tweeting during events is a huge opportunity for event marketing and promotion. Registrants will be watching the hashtag, so fill that stream with interesting content.

36. Tweet quotes

Listen for juicy nuggets in conversations and in presentations. Mention the person who said it and use the hashtag.

37. Share pictures

Make sure to take pictures of people, speakers and attendees, as things are happening and share them on Twitter. Smartphones make this easy. Mention people and use the hashtag.

38. Hold a contest or drawing

Even if you’re giving away something small, like a book or a gift from a sponsor, use this as an opportunity to gather email addresses (with permission of course) and then share a picture of the winner holding the gift on the social networks.

The end of the event isn’t the end of the event marketing. After the event, follow up with activities that will make your next event an even bigger success.

Post-event blog post

Event recap blog posts are often easy and fun to write. Post them on the event site or submit them as a guest post to a relevant blog or local or industry/association website. They can include all kinds of relevant content.

39. Summary of presentations

These summaries can include quotes of positive feedback from a follow-up survey.

40. Speakers’ presentations

As with the photos, it’s ideal if the presentations are embedded into the event site or blog post using a tool such as Slideshare.

41. Gallery of event photos

Ideally, these galleries are embedded into the event site or recap blog post using tools such as Flickr. If so, you’ll be sending traffic to your site, rather than a photo-sharing website.

42. List the “top tweets” from the event

These are easy to find if you used a hashtag. It’s even easier with Storify.

43. List the speakers, sponsors and attendees

List.ly is a very social way to build lists and embed them into a website. This kind of list may help attendees find each other afterwards and get a better networking benefit from the event.

Post-event email

The email follow-up to registrants is a way to say thank you, share important links and keep a bit of buzz going…

44. Link to a survey

Surveys are a great way to get feedback, but they’re also a way to gather testimonials that you can use for future events.

45. Link to post-event blog posts

Since you already gathered up your best content and posted it, linking to it in these emails should be easy.

46. Invite registrants to follow you on the social networks

Some of your registrants may not follow you yet. Never miss a chance to promote your social media accounts!

47. Invite registrants to be notified of the next event

Some of your registrants may not be subscribed yet. Link to your email signup form to grow your list and promote your email marketing.

Post-event social activity

Now it’s time to share stories, say thank you and stay connected. Here are some social media activities.

48. Thank you tweets

Show your gratitude after the event by thanking the speakers, sponsors and attendees in follow-up tweets and posts. This is good for networking.

49. Post photos

Put a few of your best photos on Facebook and Google+. Be sure to tag and mention people.

50. Keep sharing

In the days after the event, listen for tweets, mentions and blog posts from others. Hopefully, the hashtag makes this easy. When you see these mentions, share them!

Culled from Orbit Media

The Best Way to Meet Customer Expectations

The more you know and understand the background and behaviour of your audience and their needs, the better you can prepare your approach to dealing with them.

Human behaviour is a function of the environment in which the individual finds himself. In business, striving to have our customers’ background information can help us identify their needs, concerns and inquiries.

Our competency in establishing this knowledge will be enhanced through effective communication skills, empathy/emotional stability and efficiency in handling difficult situations and customers. Customer service attitude is beyond initiating greeting and smiling to a customer. A satisfactory skill set must be attained to be an effective customer service representative that is meeting up with customer expectations.

Gaining, retaining and maintaining customers in a friendly working relationship, while at the same time maintaining a business-like relationship which brings about loyalty on the side of the customer, is a necessary skill needed by salesmen, brands and service providers who aim to control and dominate a market.

 

Who is a Customer?

Customers are the people that patronize us in our business and who go away with a positive impression of our firm.

A customer may pay for our goods and services but must achieve satisfaction for their expenses. The success of the four essences of marketing, i.e. product, promotion, price and place, is based on the continuous patronage of the customer.

A business is dependent on the customer. Therefore, an effective customer service campaign is brought on by delivering service excellence. It is the quality delivery of output. Customer expectations for patronage range from customer to customer, but on a general note, every customer requires the following:

 

Some Customer Expectations

• To be given awesome service because many are more likely to give a repeated business or referral after a good service experience. Likewise, many customers may stop doing business with a company due to poor customer service experience and failure to resolve their problems in a timely manner.
• Most customers make purchasing decisions as a result of the influence of visual factors in our workplace, website, staff appearance and approach. Many make judgments about a firm’s credibility based on these factors.
• Customers like it when you underpromise but deliver beyond expectation. However, reverse expectation is expected if it is otherwise.
• Sustaining valuable content and brands and presenting new ideas for customers enhance their experience.
• Consistency in driving and maintaining professional core values will be a measure of loyalty. Measuring satisfaction on customer journeys is more predictive of overall customer satisfaction than measuring happiness through each individual interaction.
• Pay a lot of attention to the few customers who may have complaints or observations because for every one complaint you get, there are more unhappy customers who have remained silent. Investing in a feedback mechanism is crucial. In this case, on-the-spot attention in resolving customer wants is advisable above the drop-box comment technique.
• Steady availability on speed dial paid or toll-free lines for making home delivery requests will draw your customers to you.
• Rewarding loyal customers through socially responsible perks will likely increase the volume of goods and services sold. Loyal customers are more likely to recommend a product, service or brand.
• Quality customer service forms the basis of the customer experience. Most customers’ main interaction with a business is through interacting with a business’ employee, either by visiting a store or by speaking on the phone. In essence, the company representative has the opportunity to deliver excellent customer service and thus create a great customer experience through proper motivation. If you take care of your employees, they will in turn take care of the customers.

TemiDayo Babatunde is an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and can be reached via his LinkedIn (chatwitdayo@gmail.com).

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