In Which I Blog About Blogging

The cool thing about blogging is that it makes the web a far more interactive forum than it was before. With blogging, a website need never be completely static – even for the most technically maladroit. (I can write this with some authority, as technology both intimidates and bores me…yet I manage to maintain this blog.)
But why does web interactivity matter to the small business owner? On the simplest level, interactivity is interesting to people…we’re far more likely to keep revisiting web sites that change, and the more times someone visits your website, the more likely they are to remember you, to utilize your services, and to pass your names along.
But there’s more. The web used to be just like a big, disorganized phone book. Individuals could enter key words into the search engine of their choice, and have instantaneous access to the names and web sites of a gajillion (that’s a technical, writerly term) service providers. But the only thing that the seeker would be able to adjudge would be the web presence of those service providers – “Do they have a page? Is it a good page? Do I like their picture?” And that’s just like trying to choose a name out of the phone book. With things like blogs and online forums, people seeking service providers can glean a lot more information about you. For one thing, changing your website is a whole, huge, trying process (as I and my webmaster can attest to, having launched this new site earlier this year). But adding to a blog is easy – and the more you add to it, the more people get to know and like you…and the more they can determine whether what you’re saying resonates with them or not.
Plus, your readers (and those who use your services) can now offer you instant feedback, in myriad ways. They can comment on your blog, either in support or to give you (quite valuable) critical feedback. And they can recommend (or harsh on) your services in their own blogs, forums, and myspace pages. If the internet is/was analogous to the phone book, the blogosphere is analogous to word-of-mouth networking…and the right blog content can help you utilize it as such.

In Which I Lionize the Newsletter

The simple newsletter gets a very bad rap. Despite the fact that newsletters, and particularly e-newsletters, offer a simple, cost-effective way for business owners to keep in touch with their networks, the newsletter is often derided as being – well – boring. “But!” I argue, “this is not the fault of the humble newsletter!” The real problem is that, all-too-often, people write their newsletters without being quite…sure…why. This leads to lack of focus, to confusion of tone, and to – you guessed it – boring writing.
As with any other piece of written material, the newsletter should, first-and-foremost, strive to educate, enlighten, or entertain. There’s really no excuse for writing that doesn’t do at least one of these three things, because even writing that’s intended to fuel sales works much more effectively if it also incorporates one of the 3 Es. So before you press send, ask yourself:
Did I write this to educate, entertain, or enlighten my readers – or to make a sale?
Does this newsletter further my brand identity – or is it generic? (If you’re a small business owner, you are your brand…so the question becomes: did I bring something of myself to this newsletter – or not?)
Did I really have something to say in this newsletter – or was it just “that time of the month”? Did I express myself clearly and well – or is this convoluted, impenetrable, and full of typos?
Be honest now – because a bad newsletter is better than no newsletter but a good newsletter is better still.

In Which I Talk Taglines

A fair amount of the work I do involves creating taglines for small businesses, or recreating the taglines of existing businesses. This process appears to be a dark mystery for many people…they don’t know how it’s done, and often they quite frankly have no desire to know how it’s done. For those of you who do want to know – maybe you’re just starting in business and don’t have a lot of capital, or maybe you just want to exercise your creative impulses – here are a few tips to get you started.
1.) Do your research. Take a gander at the taglines others in your field are using. This will save you potential embarrassment down the line.
2.) Take some time to sit with your business. Hunker down in a comfortable spot, and give yourself a couple of hours to really consider what it is you do, how you do it, and what separates you from your competition. Jot these things down…in fact, you may want to consider this a freewriting exercise where you just keep writing, no matter how inane you might feel the things you’re writing down are.
3.) Discover your tone. Create a list of the adjectives – the descriptors that indicate how you want clients or potential clients to feel when they think of you. Not what you want them to think…really shoot for the core underlying emotions. Do you want people to feel secure? Happy? Supported? Amused? Winnow your list down until you’ve decided on the single core emotion you want to inspire.
4.) Create! With this background information, begin drafting potential taglines. Remember, taglines should be three to five words long, be memorable, and get people interested in knowing more. They don’t have to say everything, they just need to be compelling, captivating, and memorable. If possible, they should contain a play on words (i.e. – Easy is Good).
5.) Edit. Take you top five choices and see if you can generate another twenty new possibilities from them. Narrow down to five again. Take these top five choices to your business group, your trusted friends, your coach, your therapist, your adviser, your little old granny in Poughkeepsie. You may hear that the line you like the least is the line everyone else likes the best. It’s a great idea to take this feedback into consideration…but also remember that at the end of the day YOU have to live with that tagline. If you hate it, or you can’t say it with a straight face, or it just doesn’t inspire you, you’ll never use it…and then it won’t do you any good.
Now get to work!

In Which I Consider Networking

Networking is such an invaluable tool for the small business owner…if the networker knows how to do it well. But learning this vital skill seems to be the most overlooked step in the process. Most people wouldn’t consider starting a small business if they didn’t know how to do the thing that their business offers…but they venture blithely forward with no idea how to sell the thing their business offers. Here are a few basic tips to help things run more smoothly.
1.) Be likeable. If you aren’t likeable, fake it. If you can’t fake it, hire someone who can…they’ll be well-worth the money.
2.) Be knowledgeable. It goes without saying (I hope) that you need to keep abreast of current trends in your industry, but when networking it’s incredibly useful to know a little about a lot. Sports, politics, local theater, celebrity gossip, cars…anything that the person you’re talking to might find interesting is a networking opportunity. Provided, of course, you know enough to have a relatively informed conversation…and you’re not too emotionally invested in the results. If you adamantly believe that Paris Hilton should go free, and you’ll cry over a dissenting viewpoint, veer away from celebrity gossip.
3.) Be flexible. Networking is not about ‘closing’ or ‘hard-selling’ – it’s about creating relationships. When you’re trying to build a relationship, you have to be flexible enough to do it on the other person’s terms. If that means that they need to know you for six months before they even think about sending business your way, by all means prepare for that six-month slog. That is the way in which that person does business…and if you don’t respect it, it’s your loss.