My New Blog

Hello Blogger! If you did not already know, my redesigned website is now live, and I will continue blogging about copywriting and marketing issues for business owners there. Please come by, take a look, and let me know what you think.

www.matthewlbrennan.com

Thank you.

Matt Brennan

It's OK To Stand Out

In the newspaper world, it’s called pack journalism. In the business world it’s just imitating your competition. When you write your content to the industry standard, you are telling your readers that you are like everyone else.

Why not try and stand out? Tell your readers why your business is different. This is an important step in garnering their attention. It’s ok if your website breaks the mold for the industry standard. It’s ok to write a blog that your competitors haven’t tried yet.

Why would they otherwise expect them to contact you when your services are needed?

Strategize Your Marketing Content

NFL teams across the nation take the field every week for a month in a large-scale dress rehearsal to see how certain players react in pressure situations—it’s called preseason. While it may not always make for exciting viewing, it’s a necessary part of ensuring that the product is at its peak on week one of the regular season.

Your business copy and marketing can be handled in much the same way. While having professional-looking copy and marketing materials is always important, you can always experiment with the best way to win. Maybe it means testing two different versions of website copy, or not being afraid to try something creative while establishing your business’s “voice.”

If your experiment does not work, that is ok. It is better than not knowing. It’s time to keep going until you find something that does work. Finding the best strategies is the only way to make sure your marketing is at its best. 

Four Things We Can Learn About Marketing From Sons of Anarchy

In a few short months, the popular FX series Sons of Anarchy is going to embark on season five. What could you possibly learn about marketing your business from this merry band of motorcycle hooligans?

Sure, morality has been tossed out the window in their home of Charming, California. This is a club of felons that we’re talking about here. Yet there is something about them that keeps us coming back. This show has all the excitement and drama of the Sopranos, this time on motorcycles. What is it that we can learn from them, that doesn’t involve shooting up your competition, or breaking any other laws?

Loyalty Is Huge

The Sons of Anarchy are nothing if not loyal. They showcase it every day in their unwillingness to rat on anyone for gain. You can showcase your loyalty by rewarding the talent that you see in other small businesses, your employees, and freelancers. Keep them in business. Make sure they know how you feel through your words and your actions.

Maintain Your Likeability

Despite their knack for shooting first and asking questions later, the Sons are still a likeable group of criminals that the audience can identify with. This is evident in the richness of the relationships that they hold, and the family life that they share. You can maintain your likeability by engaging with customers and working hard to continuously develop new relationships.

Fight For It

If it’s worth having, it’s worth fighting for. In season three, the club goes to Ireland, fighting to retrieve their vice president’s kidnapped son. For your business, it may be increasing your customer base that you’re fighting for. Don’t be afraid to try new things with your website, blog, social media and other marketing content. Stick with what works.

A Fresh Perspective Is Good

In season five, the club will start out with a new vice president. You don’t need to step down from your business, but seeking others thoughts and opinions is always a good thing. Maybe you can bring in a guest blogger. Maybe it’s just a matter of listening to the suggestions that customers, clients, or employees have made. 

It is possible to learn from a group of outlaws. Putting these lessons in practice will only make your business stronger. 

What's Your Blogging Frequency?

Lots of people have lots of opinions when it comes to how often a business should blog. If you’re looking to continuously increase your visibility, nothing replaces blogging at least 3-5 times in a week.

Now, that’s a lot of work, and I don’t regularly hit that number myself. I’m not telling businesses to do something that I don’t do. I’m telling businesses to find what’s right for them.

If increasing your writing frequency is something you want to try, the quality of your blog cannot suffer for quantity. If it’s between writing three OK blogs in a week or one good one, choose one good one.

Some businesses write less frequently. It is tough to build an active audience blogging less than once a week, no matter the quality of the work. With the 24/7 stream of news and information through social media, businesses need to be regularly writing new material to make a lasting impression.

Some industries are more difficult to write frequently for. Some just require a lot of time. Make no mistake, this form of marketing your business is not going anywhere. Blogs provide a wealth of information to your customer, and are a great asset for your search engine rankings.

If you are struggling with your time or the quality of your writing, consider hiring it out. Find someone who specializes in blog writing services. 

Write a Blog Post In 30 Minutes

Having consistent, quality content is one of the most important steps in marketing your business. It’s what keeps your audience—as well as the search engines—coming back to see what you have to say.

How are you supposed to keep up with your blog when you have so much else going on with your business? Well, you don’t have to write a 1,500-word opus, at least not every time. I’m talking about a 300 to 500-word blog that conveys an idea your readers will find useful.

Keep An Idea List

As a blogging business person, ideas are all around you. Think about the conversations you’ve had through the course of the week. Think about the trade articles you’ve read, and the ever-changing developments within your industry. Now write them down. As you come up with these ideas, go ahead and jot a few sentences down, either starting the post, or describing the type of post you want to write. You can always go back and develop these later.

Think About Your List When You’re Not Writing

So you know you want to write your next blog tomorrow. While your schedule is packed today, it’s ok to be thinking about what you want to commit to paper. This will make the process for tomorrow a bit easier. Writing is not a 9 to 5. Sometimes the best ideas come while we’re doing something else.

Express Your Idea

As you stare at a blank screen, keep a couple thoughts in mind as you struggle to get started. What’s your own internal deadline? When do you absolutely want this post published? Sometimes just knowing this will start the information flowing.

As you write, you are simply laying out your argument. You can tell the reader what you hope to accomplish in the headline, or first few paragraphs, and then lay it out in the paragraphs that follow.

Write Short

A blog is not the place for over the top, flowery language. It’s not the place to show off your stellar vocabulary. Remember, if you send your readers to the dictionary, there’s a decent chance they may not come back. Keep it straight and to the point. Don’t use 10 words to complete a thought if five will do. A blog only needs to be as long as it takes to convey the idea. Seth Godin often conveys his ideas in 100-200 words. They’re always thoughtful and well written.

Think Methodically

There’s no need to put yourself under a lot of pressure to meet this time constraint. As long as you can think methodically and understand what you want to say in your blog, you should be able to work through it in less than a half hour. You don’t need to do a full blown outline, but you can always write down the main points you want to hit before you forget them. This can help keep you on track.

Don’t Over Do It

Remember not to let the quantity suffer for quality. If 3-5 posts in a week is just too much writing, maybe concentrate on publishing one really good post. A blog can often be a reader’s first exposure to your business. You’re not going to hit a home run with every post (Just being honest.), but every post can still live up to the professional standards that you’ve set for your business.

How To Defeat Writer’s Block

We’ve all been there. We have an idea that is great in concept, and we want to do it justice when it’s published. The finished product needs to be every bit as good as the concept seems right now.

That’s a lot of pressure. It’s no wonder that when you sit down to write you’re staring at a blank page. So what do you do?

Set an Internal Deadline

Maybe there’s no editor or client staring over your shoulder asking for the piece. If it’s just for you and the benefit of your marketing materials, it’s time for a gut check. Ask yourself: when do you want to publish it? Be honest. Too early may jeopardize quality. Too late may kick your procrastination into overdrive. Once you set the date stick to it. Keep writing.

Shut Your Internal Editor Off

All writers have an internal editor. We’re constantly motivated by making what we create better. It’s a great thing—at least until it gets in the way of our immediate goals.

When you stifle your own ideas to the point that they don’t even reach paper, you’re crippling your own creativity. Go ahead, put it on paper. If it’s not up to publishable standards, you’ll have a chance to go back and improve the idea, or delete it altogether, after you are done.

Step Away From The Computer

Sometimes our greatest ideas come while we’re doing something else. Sometimes we need to be taking a walk, doing the dishes, showering, or organizing our Tupperware collections in order to let our creativity fester. This can help you regain some clarity. Once you’ve regained your purpose, come back and finish what you’ve started.

Organize Your Thoughts

What are you really trying to say? Have you wandered a little too far away from this main point? Maybe it’s time to take a few seconds and jot down the main points that you’re trying to hit. What’s the best way to make those points?

Start in the Middle

No matter what you’re writing, the opening needs to be catchy. It needs to pull people in, and lay out the goals and purpose for what you’re trying to say. That’s a lot of pressure. Don’t be afraid to start somewhere in the middle, and get it down. After it starts flowing, the rest will come.