What Publishers Hate

 

Whether it's unprofessional errors in your manuscript or your poor conduct as a person, there are some blunders that instantly throw you into the reject pile. Read this article to find out what publishers hate that quite a lot of writers do.

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People often ask me to give an opinion on their writing. In most cases, when I agree to take a look at the first section or chapters, I’m astounded (and frequently offended) at how unprofessional their work is – full of spelling mistakes, typos, horrible punctuation or no punctuation whatsoever. I’ve been writing for 31 years, and I wouldn’t show one of my first drafts to my dog, yet I’m often sent work with such gross errors that it’s clear the author hasn’t even bothered to read the story through before sending it out. Not only is this insulting to the person asked to give up his or her own time to read this story, it’s counterproductive because it instantly creates a negative impression.

If you’re asking an author or other professional to read your work, don’t send them a first draft and ask, ‘I just want to know if I can write.’ All first drafts are bad, as Hemingway famously said, and no editor or publisher will take your first draft and edit it into shape. All professional writers have learned the craft of storytelling by working out how to edit their own work. There are oodles of great books around on writing and storytelling. I’ve listed some of the best below.

Each of the big publishers receives 3,000 – 5,000 fiction manuscripts a year, yet only 5 – 10 of those will be accepted for publication. Most of those manuscripts are rejected on the first few paragraphs and some aren’t read at all. To give yourself a chance of publication, your story has to be great and the manuscript bulletproof, otherwise it’s likely to go straight in the bin. If you want to know more about how the writing and publishing industry works, see my detailed article HERE.

Every publisher puts their submission guidelines on their website. And every day, the manuscripts pouring in reveal a complete ignorance of these guidelines. Clearly, many writers have a professional death wish. On the basis that every writer who can be encouraged to fail should be so encouraged, here are the best ways to get your manuscript junked.

How to Have Your Manuscript Rejected Instantly

Any author who is too lazy or arrogant to learn the basics of their craft will be rejected out of hand. Here’s how to do it:

• The cover letter and manuscript are full of spelling mistakes and typos;
• Sentences are written in mangled English. If you want to be a writer, you have to learn how to write. Seems simple enough;
• Incompetent use of punctuation, or no punctuation;
• The whole manuscript is in one paragraph;
• The manuscript and covering letter are written in capital letters. Using CAPITALS isn’t just utterly wrong, it’s regarded as shouting at the recipient;
• The manuscript is sent in the body of an email;
• The writing is grossly offensive, libellous or obscene;
• The story is an obvious retelling of Twilight, Harry Potter or some other well-known novel, TV series, movie, graphic novel or computer game.

How to Irritate the Publisher and Create a Really Bad Impression

To create a really bad impression on the editor who’s reading your work, and reduce your chances of getting it published, I recommend that you:

• Ignore the submission guidelines on the publisher’s website;
• Don’t bother to research the kinds of work the publisher publishes. Eg, send adult fiction to a publisher who only publishes children’s stories; or a novel to a publisher who only publishes non-fiction (and so on);
• Send an unedited first draft full of story errors, repetition and inconsistencies.
• In your story, write down every rambling idea that comes into your head, whether relevant to the story or not, and refuse to take anything out;
• Send your manuscript by email when the publisher requires it to be in print, or vice versa;
• Send a long, vague cover letter, full of irrelevant information, or quotes from your mother or your friends about how much they loved this book. Cover letters should be no more than one page and should include:
  • A one-paragraph description of the book, including its title, genre, word count and expected audience (eg, readers of epic fantasy, supernatural romance or true crime).
  • A few lines about yourself, including any interesting details of your life or experience, particularly if they’re relevant to the book you’re writing;
  • Relevant publishing credits (other books or stories you’ve had published – unpublished writing isn’t relevant).
  • Use quotes only if from a reputable source, eg a well-known author or reviewer. Quotes will never get your book published; the most they can do is encourage the publisher to look at it more closely.
  • Include a brief synopsis. 300 words is plenty. If the publisher wants more, they’ll ask for it.
• Use incorrect manuscript format, eg weird fonts, coloured font, tiny font, single spacing, line break between each paragraph, paragraphs not indented, text formatted into two columns etc. Manuscripts are formatted the same way that novels are, not the way that business letters and reports are formatted. Manuscript format means wide margins (about 4 cm) all around; double-spaced; a common serif font like Times or Century, 12 point; the first paragraph of each chapter or section beginning at the margin and all succeeding paragraphs indented.
• Make boastful comparisons between your own work and the work of Tolkien, JK Rowling, George RR Martin or any other prominent author. If your work is that good (and it never is), the publisher will notice it very quickly;
• Be assertive or pushy about how great your story is, eg with statements like, ‘This book is going to make your name.’ The boasting of an untried amateur is a huge turn-off.
• Send an enormous outline of the story with the covering letter. The outline should at most be a page and a half and should include the ending.
• Send random sample chapters. Sample chapters should be sequential and begin with Chapter 1.
• Include gifts with the manuscript. Gifts are likely to be seen as bribes and will create a very bad impression.
• Pester the publisher for a quick response. As I mentioned, publishers get thousands of manuscripts a year and it can take months to check them. Patience is a virtue every author needs in bucket loads.

Ready to start your publishing journey? Reach out to us here at SOI Publishing. Let's make your book the next bestseller.

 

 

Culled from Ian Irvine

Five Tips to Improve Your Bookselling Efforts

 

The reward of holding a copy of your published work is indescribable. But it’s just one of the many exciting milestones in your journey to self-publishing success. One key objective in your publishing journey is selling your book successfully. Here are five tips we think may help improve your efforts to increase book sales.

Build up your image as an author and a brand

Book buyers and readers gravitate to books—and authors—that appeal to them. The more you project yourself in a way that holds their attention, the more you gain their trust. Highlight the fact that you are now a published author. Add that to your email and forum signature lines. Don’t forget to add your website or social media profiles to here, as well as to your press release boilerplates. These may be small things, but they’re the building blocks to a positive image.

A quality 3rd-party review is important to successful bookselling

An honest and well-written 3rd-party review is invaluable. A positive review from a respected book reviewer will make your book stand out, improve its marketability and enhance your title’s, as well as your, reputation. Don’t be afraid to invite readers and indie reviewers to evaluate your book. Published reviews on sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iUniverse bookstore bolsters the credibility of your book encouraging new readers to part with their money knowing that they will get a good read in return.

Librarians are your best customers—and allies

Librarians are savvy, well-informed book buyers. They are the favorites of the traditional publishing houses, small presses, and self-publishers. If librarians like your book and trust your brand, they will likely become some of your most effective bookselling allies. Their participation and support are valuable aids to your bookselling activities—sponsoring book signings, readings, meet-and-greet affairs, and Q&A activities at their libraries. So be sure to visit your local libraries and befriend your librarians.

Use your social media networks to connect and sell your book

While iUniverse carries all the titles of its authors in its online bookstore and through its partnerships with Amazon and Barnes and Noble, one of the most effective ways to sell your book is through social media networking. Generate news, book-related updates, and positive reviews through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, and to the other online communities you belong to. Social networks are also great places to meet fellow authors and find new opportunities for selling your book.

Give e-book publishing a try

Electronic publishing is the new generation of book publishing. While the Internet has expanded your marketing reach beyond physical and geographical borders, e-books are allowing you to put your story into the palm of your readers. No matter where they are around the world, readers and consumers can now purchase and enjoy downloaded copies of your book using mobile devices. If you want to take your book selling to the next level, consider giving e-book publishing a try to expand your reach.

Writing and creating your story is a rewarding dream. When done correctly, your bookselling strategy will allow you to reach, and surpass, your that publishing dream. There are no shortcuts in bookselling—no magic spell or recipe to improve your sales. It comes down to careful planning to put yourself and your book in front of the entire reading world.

Did you know?

According to some sources, many early self-published books found widespread success through direct book-selling campaigns. Walt Whitman, James Joyce, E. E. Cummings, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, George Bernard Shaw, and Mark Twain, are just some of the famous authors who rolled up their sleeves to sell their own books!

Culled from IUniverse

Tips to Enjoy your writing

 

Many writers like me will always claim we enjoy writing. I tell friends writing is my life and that I don’t think I can do any other thing except write. One might be forced to think I even write in my sleep. But is that really true? Sometimes, we get tired and wary of what we love, no matter how much we love it. Sometimes, I don’t even want to stare into another computer screen and I wish I don’t ever have to write again. So how do I beat this feeling?

Here are some tips that have worked:

1. Clear your head: Sometimes, external pressures are the reason we do not enjoy our writing. There is absolutely no way a person who does not know where his next meal will come from will enjoy writing or doing anything he loves doing. This is something many upcoming writers face. So, what is the solution? There is no cut out way to keep your problems out of your head, but at least you can try. Create your island out of your limited resources by clearing your head because your writing is an extension of your mental state.
2. Stick with what you love: Yes, sometimes we are forced to write on things that are outside our comfort zone. For instance, if I had my way, I will never write another article like this in my life, but I have to get paid. So, what can we do in this situation? Start by writing what you love most to get your creative juices flowing. Whenever I don’t feel like writing, I open a blank word sheet and start writing a short story. It works like a dead car battery that needs a little push to pick up again. Once the juices start flowing, I switch to what I have to write.
3. Reward yourself: For someone like me, I get paid to write. That might be a reward, but that’s not enough reward for me (I know, I can be greedy.) So, what do I do? I set a reward for myself if I can deliver something superb. For instance, it is my lunchtime but I have told myself I would not have lunch till I am done with this article. Note that this is what works for me. For some people in order to get to the lunch quickly, they might just write something below par. By the way, don’t do this when you are writing something long like a novel, or you might just die before you finish. The point is, look for a just reward for yourself, something you are looking forward to when you are done. It can serve as motivation.
4. Try Music: A friend of mine recently discovered Classical music puts her in the mood to punch vigorously on her keypads. I tried it and I felt like jumping off the bridge. So, you have to be careful with the genre of music as not everything works for anyone. But music improves cognition and enhances your memory. It digs deep into things stuck in your head and brings them out for you. So, know the genre that works for you and listen to a lot of it before you start any writing task.
5. Take Time off: Not too much time, but sometimes no matter how much you apply the above points, it probably will not still work out for you. So, take time off to either try to solve your problems or get into a reflective mindset.

Finally, we must recognize that we do better whenever we enjoy what we do. So, make it a point of duty to have some fun writing.

Samuel Ejedegba.

5 Psychological Tactics Marketers Use To Influence Consumer Behavior

 

In a quest to understand what drives consumers’ decisions, marketers have turned to psychology to understand what could make an impact.

The vast majority of marketers aren’t psychologists. But many successful marketers regularly employ psychology in appealing to consumers.

 

Smart, skilful, honest marketers use psychology legally, ethically, and respectfully to attract and engage consumers, and compel them to buy.

Here are a few tips and tricks for using psychology to your own marketing campaign’s advantage:

1. Run Emotional Ideas

Studies have shown emotional and psychological appeals resonate more with consumers than feature and function appeals. In advertising copy, benefits–which often have a psychological component–generally outsell features. Demonstrating how that new computer will improve a potential customer’s life tends to have more influence rather than explaining how it works.

Salespeople have long understood the power of emotional appeals. In the 18th century, when the contents of the Anchor Brewery were being auctioned off, the auctioneer said: “We are not here to sell boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice.”

2. Highlight Your Flaws

It’s no secret that consumers tend to doubt marketing claims–for good reasons. Many simply aren’t credible. One way to raise credibility is to point out your product’s shortcomings.

Among the most famous examples was an ad for Volkswagen, which contained a one-word headline: “Lemon.” Opening body copy below a VW photo read: “This Volkswagen missed the boat. The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn’t have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did.” The ad went on to discuss a “preoccupation with detail.” The Lemon ad became a textbook example of how to optimize credibility.

3. Reposition Your Competition

In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout delve into the limited slots consumers have in their brain for products and services, and the importance of positioning one’s business in the ideal slot.

They also write about repositioning–changing the position a business occupies in consumers’ minds. A prominent example of repositioning the competition is when the Jif brand launched the “Choosy moms choose Jif” campaign, competitors were suddenly repositioned as products for mothers who didn’t give a damn about the food their kids consumed. What mother didn’t want to think of herself as a choosy mom?

4. Promote Exclusivity

Near the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid sits self-esteem. People want to feel important; like they’re part of an exclusive group. That’s why advertising copy sometimes says: “We’re not for everyone.”

The U.S. Marines ran a very successful campaign for years with the tagline: “The Few. The Proud.” Perhaps the most famous modern example of exclusivity in advertising is the American Express tagline: “Membership has its privileges.” But to make an exclusivity appeal work in the long run, marketers must mean what they say. Empty claims tend to be counterproductive.

5. Introduce Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or FUD, is often used legitimately by businesses and organizations to make consumers stop, think, and change their behavior. FUD is so powerful that it’s capable of nuking the competition.

In at least one case it did just that. When Lyndon Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater in 1964, he wanted to stoke public fear that a President Goldwater would raise the risk of nuclear war. The “Daisy” ad, which ran only once, showed a little girl, followed by a nuclear explosion with a voiceover of LBJ ominously stating, “These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark.” Johnson carried 44 states, and took 61% of the vote in a landslide win.

Culled from Fast Company

Why Should Authors Care About Digital Marketing?

 

One of the biggest challenges for independent authors is getting their book in front of readers. There are millions of books published every year, and unless you’re very famous independently of your book, odds are that you’re nervous about how to get people interested. That’s where digital marketing comes in. You’ve probably heard this term before, especially as you travel down the road of independent publishing. You’re probably asking questions like: What does digital marketing entail? How does it get books in front of readers? And how could it work for me?

Digital marketing is simply getting your book information in front of Internet consumers, typically in the form of online advertising. So why should you develop a digital marketing strategy?

People Are Online

Consumers spend 5 hours per day on mobile devices. That’s right—5 hours. This is the majority of people’s leisure time, so the best place to find that perfect reader is during their daily Facebook scroll or YouTube binge.

No Need for Marketing Studies

In the past, if you were manufacturing lip gloss and wanted to advertise to TV-watchers, you’d have to pay someone to do a market study of various TV shows, figure out which audiences buy a lot of lip gloss, and take out ads based on that information. The Internet has changed that. Now, Facebook will tell you that there are 3.7 million people who love James Patterson and exactly who they are. If you’re a thriller writer, you’ve just found your audience without expensive market studies.

Digital Marketing Is Less Expensive

Most digital advertising on any social media platform can be adapted to all budgets. Remember that TV ad I mentioned earlier? Not only did you have to do a market study to see if it’s worthwhile, you also had to spend thousands of dollars on the slot and production. Very few independent authors have that kind of cash just lying around. Digital advertising doesn’t have these kinds of requirements. You can adapt the advertising to fit your budget, and though you may find more success with more money, you can still get your book in front of more readers with small advertisements than with no advertisements at all.

You Can Boost Book Sales and Your Online Platform Simultaneously

If you decide to market your book on social media platforms, you get the double benefit of driving social media users to buy your book and generating awareness of your social media profiles. Because they are seeing these ads from your author page, readers who buy the book will be more likely to follow your profile and learn about your new projects—which makes your book marketing for the second book faster and cheaper.

You Control the Content

Did you start an ad, only to think of a better idea or notice that no one seems interested? Then change it. Unlike traditional print or TV advertising, you are not stuck with bad ideas or ineffective ads. The ease with which an ad can be updated or adapted is a huge benefit to advertisers of all sorts.

Once the writing is finished, finding ways to get readers interested in your book is your number one task. Learning about tools such as digital marketing will provide insight when you talk to book publicity and book marketing firms about plans for your book and expand the ways you can reach your book’s newest reader.

Source: Ingramspark

Steps to Writing a Successful Creative Brief

 

Writing a brief is the first task you need to complete when you are charged with managing an advertising campaign. Your brief gives background information on a product or service which will guide the creative team in the performance of its role in getting ready the finished advert copy, among other things. It is the foundation of any advertising or marketing campaign and essentially holds the marketing campaign together. To write or get a good creative brief, a mix of due preparation, good habits, proper account management, creative direction and effective training, all come into play.

Let’s look at some helpful steps to getting a great brief out there.

Get the Information You Need from the Client

Writing a good creative brief is dependent on the information provided by the client. That’s why it is important you leave no stone when it comes to asking questions and seeking clarification. All information about the product or service you want to advertise should be provided in detail: the strength, weakness, target audience, what problem it solves, etc.

Use the Product Or Service

Believe it or not, if you have not tested the product or service for yourself, you may not hit the right spots with your campaign. Note this may not necessarily be you if the product or service does not apply, but you can get a consumer to give you a rating and take it from there.

Document All the Thoughts Gathered

You simply have to write things down. There’s no way around that. Your experience with the client and the product/service should go into documentation among other things like the advertising and client’s objectives, the budget, deadline, etc.

Arrange Your Thoughts

Set with all the needed information, you can now begin to put them together to get a unified piece that makes practical sense to you and to anyone else.

NOTE:

No two briefs are exactly the same owing to the difference in ideas, products/services, objectives/goals, etc. However, there is a template which is followed in writing a creative brief and these are as follows:

Background

Target Audience

Objectives

Tone of voice

Single-Minded Proposition (Also called Unique Selling Proposition (USP), Key Message, Direction)

Key benefits

Reasons to believe

Audience Takeaway

Deliverables (Outdoor, Print, TV etc)

Budget

Schedule

Develop your ‘Single Minded Proposition’

The SMP is also regarded as Key Takeaway or Message. Regardless of what you call it, the important thing is that you need a key point that becomes the core around which your entire brief revolves. It shows the creative team the right way to go.

Shorten the Document to a Simple Draft

Done with the SMP, and the needed information, it’s time to write a concise, and not wordy brief. Remove any unnecessary babble and retain only the most needed in the brief.

Get Feedback

Yes, it is the duty of your line supervisor to review your work, just as much as it is your duty to present your work for review. Discuss the brief with him or her, ask questions, seek clarifications or feedback, etc.

Get the Client’s Endorsement

This is needful owing to the fact that the client owns the job and would also foot the bill. Doing a good job requires allowing the client to give their impression of the brief and the general direction for the campaign. Let the client be involved from the start to the end. It amounts to a waste of time to do a job alone only to get the disapproval of the client in the end.

 

The Ready Writers has furnished you with these workable steps; try it out and see yourself writing a great creative brief eventually.

4 Time Management Tips for Social Media Managers

 

It seems that a social media manager’s job is never done. It doesn’t matter what time of day or day of the week you’re in, there’s always more to do. Social media moves at an astronomical pace, and it can be hard to keep up.

In fact, research has found that the top two barriers impeding adoption of social business within organizations are lack of overall strategy and competing priorities.

Raise your hand if the scenario below sounds familiar:

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager

6am – 12pm

• Check company social media notifications before you even roll out of bed.
• Quickly respond to any messages or tweets
• Sneakily check for brand mentions as you’re stuck in traffic
• Schedule all brand messages for the day across all social networks
• Eat lunch at your desk while checking your personal Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn messages

1pm – 5pm

• Research articles that are relevant to share with your brand’s online community
• Check your company email and social media sites for new notifications
• Respond to any brand mentions or comments
• Identify influencers to connect with
• Get caught up in not one but two trending topics on Twitter
• How is it 5pm already?

6pm – Midnight

• Review daily social media performance
• Schedule morning social messages
• Register for an interesting social media marketing webinar about visual content
• Cannot function…need sleep

Making the time to execute on a comprehensive social media strategy that garners results can rattle even the most experienced marketers.  Social media marketing is flush with its own set of challenges and distractions.  Below are 4 helpful ways to help you focus and manage your social media marketing activities.

#1 – Determine Which Tactics Have the Biggest Impact

Reuters estimates that the average worker loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions.1  To avoid wasting time begin by prioritizing your week.  While it’s true that unexpected issues can come up plan for the best and the worst.  If you have 3 hours per day on average to complete tasks related to social media strategy what will you get accomplished in those 3 hours?  If you were only to have 1.5 hours per day what would you want to get accomplished?  Proper planning will lead to improved productivity and efficiency.  Also, take some time to determine what your top distractions are and eliminate them.

#2 – Optimize for Productivity

Focus on what will have the largest impact on your productivity. Determining what time of day you are most productive, and which activities are most significant will help you to stay on track.  Are you an early riser, night owl, or somewhere in between?  Creating a daily schedule and routine can significantly improve your productivity.  You will also want to keep in mind statistical data which points to the best times of day and days of the week for engaging in social media activity.

Neil Patel of Quick Sprout recently published an infographic that details some of the best times to publish on various social media platforms.

#3 – Tips For Better Time Management

I have often thought that I was invincible and could simultaneously focus on every task at once.  A balancing act acquired from years of having too much to do, and not enough time.  I considered multi-tasking an art form and a higher form of organization than my counterparts who only focused on one thing at a time.  I could not have been more wrong.

In recent years I’ve had to buckle down and force myself to devote all of my attention to one task at a time.  I’ve found that the quality of my work has improved and the level of my stress has decreased significantly.  Some tactics that have worked for me include:

1. Closing my email when I’m working on social media tasks
2. Exiting from all browser windows and tabs except for the one I need to work on
3. Disabling chat or closing chat windows to avoid distraction
4. Picking 15 minutes a day to indulge in activities such as checking personal social media profiles, responding to texts, or chatting with friends.
5. Spending 30 minutes to an hour each morning reviewing emails and responding, do the same thing before leaving at the end of the day.

It is significantly easier to stick to your schedule if you are working ONLY on the tasks you have scheduled in the time allotted.

#4 – Use Social Media Tools for Better Time Management

Depending on your available time and social media content strategy, there are many tools that can help you accomplish more with less time.  Below are three different types of tools that social media marketers can use to get the most out of their time:

Content Curation Tools

• Scoop.it
• Storify
• Feedly
• TrapIt

Social Aggregators & Management Tools

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• Sprout Social

Want more? Here’s an awesome list of 22 social media management tools

Still Feeling Overwhelmed?

In order to help you better focus on the tasks at hand ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your top 3 social media goals and do you have a plan for reaching them?
• How much time can you dedicate each day to using tactics to reach these goals?
• What steps can you take to improve your focus while completing social media activities?
• Which type of tool: curation, aggregator, or social bookmarking can you use to help save time?

Sometimes, there are just too many moving pieces for your internal team to execute on. Know when it’s time to call in reinforcements and work with the social media marketing experts to help manage your workload.

What have you found are your biggest daily distractions when trying to manage a social media marketing program?

Image via Shutterstock

Top Rank Blog

Why Writing Skills Are Crucial For All Entrepreneurs

 

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

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

 

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

Good Writing Is Simple.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Writing Isn’t Formal Or Jargon Heavy.  

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

 

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

Writers Are On Their Own A Lot More.

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

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

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

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

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

Creating and Expanding Ideas for Your New Book

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Turn your experiences into ideas

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

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

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

 

Your sister's mischievous but innocent-looking pug

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

 

Turn your ideas into experiences

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

3 Tips for Writing with Vivid Language

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

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

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

Help Readers Imagine

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

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

He runs very fast.

He runs like a train.

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

Use active voice

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

Active: Barry hit the ball.

Passive: The ball was hit (by Barry).

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

 

Be careful about research results and theories

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

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

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

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

Make your writing crispy and dazzling to readers.

5 Reasons Your Brand Communication is Turning Customers Away

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

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

 

Inadequate knowledge of target audience

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

 

Not spending much on good communications

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

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

 

Seeing brand communications as just good grammar

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

 

Inconsistency

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

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

 

Limiting your sources of feedback

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

The Dark Side Of Marketing: How Adverts Destroy Businesses

 

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

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

Here’s how adverts destroy businesses and the solutions.

Too Annoying

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

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

Not Trustworthy

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

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

They’re Plain Bad

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

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

Misleading

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

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

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

 

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

 

Culled from Open Business Council

How Goes the Flow in Your Story?

 

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

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

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

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

Impediments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She nodded her head in agreement.

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

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

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

What about possible responses to this question?

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

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

“He’s good.”

“He can do it.”

“Mr. Big won’t know what hit him.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_______________________

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

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

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

*******

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

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

Culled from The Editor's Blog

Event Marketing vs. Experiential Marketing

 

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

The short answer? No, not quite.

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

Engagement

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

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

Experience

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

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

Goals

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

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

Time

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

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

 

Credit: Factory360

25 Tips for Creating Great Marketing Videos

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

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

Tips for Creating Marketing Videos

Tell a Story

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

Make Sure the Introduction Stands Out

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

Create a Stimulating Title

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

Focus on the Mission and Less on the Product

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

Don’t Be Boring

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

Get a Little Bit Risqué!

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

Make it Mobile Friendly

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

Think About SEO

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

Include Your URL in the Video

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

Educate Your Audience

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

Make the Video More Atmospheric with Music

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

Use Video Content Generated by Customers

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

Include a Call to Action

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

Take Viewers Behind the Scenes

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

Include Tutorial Videos

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

Keep Them Short

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

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

Use a Professional Voice

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

Use Micro-Video Apps

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

Pose Questions

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

Don’t Be Preoccupied with Perfection

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

But Don’t Forget Production Quality

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

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

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

Build Hype Around the Launch of the Video

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

Provide Some Humor

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

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

Embed a Video in Landing Pages

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

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

Culled from Small Biz Trends