by Mike Moran

Social media is free, but what’s the catch? Time. We only have so much time to spend putting our message out there, but we don’t want to limit how many people can hear what we have to say. This problem comes up in many ways, but the simplest is the dichotomy between Facebook and Twitter. Many folks decide to spend the bulk of their social time on one or the other, with relatively few people using both. If Google Buzz catches fire, this fragmentation might only increase. What’s a marketer to do?

Let’s face it. There’s no real difference between “friends” and “followers,” nor between “”status updates” and “tweets.” And why would you decide to spend all your precious social media time updating one venue and not the other, if your customers use both of them? But how can you double the amount of time you spend in social media updating both?

You don’t have to. I decided that I prefer Twitter to Facebook so I have every tweet I send out mirrored as my Facebook status. And I do the same thing on LinkedIn. I haven’t taken the plunge on Google Buzz yet, but I’ll probably do the same thing there, also.

If someone wants to see what I am up to, they can use their favorite method to keep up and I only have to update once. I know people using FriendFeed to accomplish the same thing. In each of your social media lives, you can set up these mirrors to make sure that your customers can keep up no matter what network they are in, while you only need to update once.

Now, I find even though I update in only one place, that I still have trouble making time for more than a few tweets a day, but there isn’t anything I can do to help with that.

Be sure and visit our small business news site.

Here is the original:
“I don’t have time for Facebook and Twitter”

by Sage Lewis

Marketing Pilgrim reports that B2B Marketers will see a 490% Increase in Social Media Spend by 2014. But there are other really interesting stats to be found in this report as well.

Be sure and visit our small business news site.

See the original post here:
B2B Marketers Making Huge Increases in Social Media Spend

by Sage Lewis

Matt Cutts has recently put out a post calling for us all to turn in link spam. Learn what he and Google are up to. This has interesting implications for you to consider.

Be sure and visit our small business news site.

Source:
Matt Cutts Calling for Link Spam Reports

No system is perfect. There are always flaws and breakdowns that will occur, for any number of reasons. This holds true in the world of online marketing and especially in the realm of the most common web practice, copywriting.

Now we are not talking about the obvious mistakes here. Errors of grammar, syntax, spelling or revision are fairly obvious and can be averted with a simple double-check by running your article past a colleague for critique. This article addresses broader errors of philosophy or doctrine that can cripple an otherwise technically strong piece of copywriting.

Five Copywriting Mistakes You CAN Avoid

Mistake #1 – Missing your target audience

One of the most important points of any piece of writing is to address your intended audience. This is true for absolutely every type of writing out there, without exception. Consider for example that you’re a writer specializing in culinary writing. You could submit the most well-written, elegant article on coconut cream pies ever composed. You still would not get very far with this article if you tried to sell it to someone with a coconut allergy.

As is often the case, understanding your audience happens before and after you do the actual writing, making it a ‘meta’ principle (outside the actual task itself, but still related). Avoiding this mistake takes effort. Get in the habit of asking specific questions of your clients, and researching related material on their sites if available. Information will help you avoid targeting a piece to the wrong audience.

Mistake #2 – Going on and on and on and on…

The web is a fast-paced environment. Technology has increased the speed at which machines can present information, and as a result people expect to be able to process that information faster. With so much out there available so quickly, why would anyone linger on an article that takes too long to get to the point?

Write concisely, focusing on your topic and keeping the content to a targeted word count. Ensure that each section is no longer than necessary, to prevent boredom and disinterest.

Again, research is your greatest ally in this case. Knowing your audience helps, as does being very familiar with your subject. Examine your sentences and see where you can cut down words without destroying meaning.

Mistake #3 – Missing the call to action

A great deal of copywriting is done to promote products and services of every stripe. Similarly, a great deal of copywriting doesn’t do much beyond presenting the basic information. Good copywriting should include a tangible call to action. Don’t just offer the user more information, invite them to ‘Learn more about it here.’

Wishy-washy language is the weakness in this case. Most people confuse simple statements such as ‘You can learn more’ with powerful calls like ‘Learn more.’ The first is just informative. All right, we can learn more, why should we? ‘Learn more and take control’ is an imperative that gets people responding.

Mistake #4 – Getting fancified and highfalutin

Contrary to what some people may think, there IS a place for jargon and technical terminology. That place exists within a common frame of understanding. When two engineers trade talk about ohms, resistance, current and capacity, these terms are intended to speed up understanding and improve their overall efficiency.

For example you could refer to ‘the practice of using keywords, precise writing, and meta tags to improve search engine results for websites.’ This is cumbersome, so among those who understand your reference, instead you can use the term Search Engine Optimization, or the acronym SEO.

The problem with jargon is that it is not universal. Mention Newtons to the average person, and you’re talking about a snack cake. Mention them to a physicist, and you’re discussing concepts of universal gravitation. The term is valuable to the latter, irrelevant to the former. The danger in copywriting is the use of jargon in inappropriate contexts. In a generalized piece, jargon does not make you look clever, but rather arrogant or showy.

Restrict your use of jargon to appropriate times. If you have a reasonable basis to believe others can understand it, go for it. If you find yourself thinking ‘everyone SHOULD know what I mean,’ stop and ask for advice.

Mistake #5 – Skipping the Headline

Attention spans are reducing even as our ability to process information increases. People want quick, catchy information and they want it now. Too late, they’ve moved on. A headline is a key point in catching someone’s attention, and all too often is neglected or slapped on without consideration.

A good headline should convey just enough information to let them know what the article is about, yet be vague enough to generate their interest in reading further. Humorous headlines can be very effective, as can dramatic or ironic statements. Practice with headlines, and make them an essential part of your writing, rather than an accessory.

---

Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. Go to http://www.Brandsplat.com/ or visit our blog at: http://www.brandsplatblog.com/

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Beyond Grammar: Easily Avoided Copywriting Mistakes

See the rest here:
Beyond Grammar: Easily Avoided Copywriting Mistakes

by Mike Moran

When my friend called me, there was a little panic in his voice. He owned a successful, customer-friendly small business, and was generally an easygoing person. But he didn’t know what to do. A long-time and loyal customer alerted him to a savage review of his business on an Internet Yellow Pages site. And so now he was turning to me to find out what he could do about it.

I asked him for the details and he ruefully related the story. When he read the review, he immediately knew who the unhappy client was, recognizing some details in the story. He told me that this client had been impossible, constantly changing her mind about what she wanted with no notice, and although he did his best to satisfy her, at the end he had to tell her that he had done all he could for what he had been paid.

He would have understood if she had honestly expressed her disappointment in him in the review (even though he felt she was expecting way too much), but what irked him no end was that her review attributed egregious bits of behavior to him that were completely made up from whole cloth. He had objective proof that some of her comments were lies.

This isn’t an isolated case. Although most reviews are factual, and some small businesses have it coming, there’s nothing stopping dissatisfied customers from responding in extreme ways. And the services that post such reviews, such as Yahoo! Yellow Pages and Yelp, don’t want to be in the position of having to discern who’s telling the truth, letting the “wisdom of crowds” sort things out.

So, what’s a small business to do? First, treat your customers well, remembering that they have more power than you think. Encourage your happy customers to post reviews online, so that the wisdom of your crowd is in evidence–that will dilute the power of any one negative review. (Yesterday, I posted some small business social media success stories that you can emulate.) When someone posts a bad review, consider engaging that person online to try to make amends.

Unfortunately, it might require that you develop a thicker skin, because the rudeness of some online reviews might be more than you can bear. One San Francisco bookstore owner was arrested for battery after responding to a Yelp reviewer.

But that’s no reason to accept outright lies. When it clearly goes beyond a difference of opinion, and you can prove you’ve been wronged, go to the review site and plead your case. Show them that it’s a lie and ask them to remove it.

That’s what my friend did, and Yahoo! Yellow Pages, to their credit, did remove the dishonest review. But my friend learned form the situation. Now, he solicits good reviews and he works harder to satisfy even the nut jobs. It’s a different world out there, so make sure you know how to make your way through it.

Be sure and visit our small business news site.

What to do when reviewers lie about you