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Write What You Know to Flow

Writing Familiar Topics Helps Flow

One of the best ways to enter flow – and sustain ongoing attempts – is to write about topics you know. This #write31days challenge about flow is something I’ve worked on since I was 16. It started with my excellent Advanced Biology teacher, Mr. Brightly, who wanted us to do a study using a subject.

To enter flow, write what you know.

Finding a Subject to Study

If you enter flow by writing what you know, the subject often will appear in your path. My subject happened to crawl right into my path! My baby sister, Maribeth, became my subject. She was just learning to talk and a prefect fit for the linguistics study. I measured all of her repeated consonant-vowel combinations like ba, da, ma, ri, among others, for an hour a day noting the frequency. Also, I tried to determine their meaning. The findings I recall were mostly based on family:

  • “ma” was repeated most frequently as an expression for our mother
  • “ri” was second as her truncated version of  my name, “mah-RE-sah”.
  • “da” came in third, as a way to call – an entertain – our dad.

And the Point is?

The point of this illustration is not so much the study itself, but the subject herself. My baby sister was six months old. I already lived with her. We sat around the table – she in a highchair- each night for dinner. I had an assignment that might have been very hard if I hadn’t looked around – and down – to see my subject cruise right by. The observation was for more than a diary entry; it was for coursework. Now it could be used as an essay, a memoir piece, or, you guessed it, a blog post!

Entering Flow from What You Know

Anyone can enter flow by simply writing what they know. It can be for business promotion and advertisement, (Time to make the donuts. I made the donuts, The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup, I am stuck on BandAids brand cause BandAids stuck on me). Using what you know can help you write a winning grant proposal. Your constituents may relate to your funder through something common, say soccer, which has global impact. And you can even write what you know to grab the attention of the committee or department head in a status report. In doing so, you set a friendly tone to a meeting by discussing the upcoming holiday season.

Your Turn…

Difficult subjects break down into essential chunks of friendly information once you approach them from a point of familiarity. Give it a try today. Give that staff memo a personal touch by remembering something special about the week – I’m sure we are ready for some hot apple cider from the Keurig due to the crisp fall air. Thanks, Jan, for bringing in donuts this week, too – and see if that doesn’t align you with additional flow. You will be able to complete the  job with humanistic flare.

Here’s to Growing Your Flow,

Marisa

 

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Basics Back Good Copy and Content Writing

Here’s the Scoop on Keeping Content Fresh

Want to keep copy and content wiring fresh? Here’s the scoop: go back to the basics for clear writing.

Great copy and content writing are expensive ways to promote products and services. The cost is factored by considering the assignment’s concept, draft, editing, and delivery. Additionally, the quality of writing of professional writers is influenced by many things, including: Professional background; Advanced degrees and continuing education;  And, the variety of lifestyle experiences that contribute to overall knowledge. More importantly, great writing results from a keen appreciation for the basics in grammar and punctuation. Knowing when to break the rules, and when to stick with them, creates memorable campaigns. Why are these qualifications so important?

Because, every word counts.

Some Suggestions for Timely Text

If you are creating your own copy or content writing, you will want to be scrupulous about your posts, blogs, and email writing, too. It lends to an overall appearance of excellent work. Moreover, this gives credibility to professionalism. To gain potential clients’ trust, use a few tried-and-true rules:

  1. Write in the active voice. The use of passive construction takes more words and loses energy.
  2. Choose precise wording. This is sort of important to get the point across.
  3. Add interest with shorter sentences mixed with longer ones. It matters. The mix of the two makes for more pleasurable reading.
  4. Avoid excessive punctuation!!! THE SAME GOES FOR WRITING IN ALL CAPS. Or. Writing. One. Word. Sentences. Or. Paragraphs. Just say, “No!”
  5. Use shorter words for clarity. The utilization of longer forms of verbiage increases loquacity at the expense of clarification of textual references.
  6. Impress with wording. Make it sound positive, vibrant, and motivating. Irritating, overbearing, and angry writing is often counterproductive and prevents customers from desiring a product or service. Remember, mood matters.
  7. Prevent writing from sounding too hip, overly chic, or extensively exotic for the product or service being sold. Over-exaggeration does not build trust.

Finally, basics in brevity, clarity, and mood help to create great copy and content writing. Follow the above suggestions to write your own work. Or, contact us at info@wewriteitright.com to help you create memorable product and service descriptions to promote your business with flair.

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Blogging to Encourage, Empower, and Enrich Audiences

Blogging that Brings Out the Best

Positivity in blogging is more important than ever. Making an audience feel at home entices them to read a post – even those running at the recommended 300 words – to the end. Successful blogs encourage, empower, and enrich their readership with pertinent content, lively photography and videos, and succinct content. Below are three examples of how women are blogging personally and professionally with thoughtfulness and elegant style.

Positivity in blogging increases readers’ engagement by encouraging, empowering, and educating the audience.

Blogs Encourage Discovery

The blog may be for personal exploration/discovery, such as the travelogue, Exploring the World, does. My friend, Mary Jane Koenig, encourages travel for active seniors at http://maryjanekoenig.blogspot.com/ As a retiree, she and her husband explores Florida and places that cruise ships take them.

Blogs Empower Change

Blogs may be artistic and soul-expanding like the one my friend, Suzi Baum Banks, crafts. As an artist, actress, author, and workshop leader, she holds a unique set of credentials to offer perspective on deep growth and change for mothers and other women in search of a more fulfilling life. She post her empowering words at http://www.suzibanksbaum.com/blog/

Blogs Enrich Opportunities

Or, a blog may be business-minded, as the one that my friend, Debbie Peterson, writes at Getting to Clarity. Here she enriches mid-life women’s own narratives to be their best advocates for professional change. This change begins from within their thinking patterns. She applies her experiences as public speaker and business coach to write a blog that focuses on nurturing an optimistic mindset for success. Find her at  http://gettingtoclarity.com/blog/

Blogging that Makes a Difference

While some sensitive subjects may arise, these authors make their points with a good dose of compassion, advice, and goodwill. And in doing so, they enliven the dialogue between themselves and their readers to encourage all women to live more passionately creative lives. Recently, Debbie Peterson shared Maryanne Williamson’s poem, “Our Deepest Fears” with me. It speaks on the subject of transformation to give a fresh reminder that blogging about potential has ripple effects for those we know – and even those we have yet to meet.

 

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No Laughing Matter: Humor Drives Traffic

Unlike fear, which causes panic or feelings of disclosure, tension or dissent, humor allows customers to remember the sizzle in your product or service - and return formore.
Unlike fear, which causes panic or feelings of disclosure, tension or dissent, humor allows customers to remember the sizzle in your product or service – and return for more.

3 Ways Humor Wins Audiences

Humor: You gotta love it. When choosing your words for any form of creative business writing, from blogs to ad campaigns, err to humor. While some businesses traditionally use fear as a motivator to drive products and sales – think insurance or aspirin – the lighter touch that laughter brings can relax potential buyers into wanting your product or service. And, even better, when they begin referring others to your business, too. Fear may grab a consumer by the throat, but humor pats them on the back and offers them a seat. Three ways to use humor in business writing take you back to your high school English class. Hyperbole, irony, and oxymorons can all be swiftly and successfully employed to keep your text sizzling.

Hyperbole is a great tool for creating memorable writing. It is used in advertisements to show an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. This tool is pulled out when there are a ridiculous number of options for a product to be successfully applied to a customer. Think of all of the different toppings in fast food sandwich shops. Or, the number of apps a cell phone can hold. Or the number of activities that a cruise ship carries. Each of these scenarios can be driven by the silliness of the excess of choice.

Irony is another great tool. Really. In his classic book, “On Writing Well”, author, William Zinsser notes with precision the use of irony while explaining the overuse of modifiers. “There are many kinds of freaks. A person worshipping thee sun is a sun freak,… but what about a person who is enthused by circus sideshow acts? Are they freak freaks?” Irony is often used with promotions for items that might seem bad, but are good for you. Like the multiple vitamin that may taste yucky, but has a surprising fruity flavor. Or the boring weeknight meal that is instantly perked up with a shake of a fill-in-the-blank topping. It is the “oh wow” factor that makes irony work its magic.

Oxymorons are the third way to get your audience’s attention. These phrases are paired opposites, such as jumbo shrimp or blinding view. Use them to create fresh phrases that can be hooked into a hashtag to extend its use beyond the article or speech. They make for excellent titles for online content, too.

Tossing in a little humor in business writing creates fresh, approachable copy. Remember to use it carefully and with precision to drive audiences to your service or product. Because humor causes the tingling and sparkling sense of connection that’s never found with fear. Fear just freaks people out – and that is no laughing matter!

 

 

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Web Content Sparkles When Brevity Rules

Sparkling, Brief Content Meets Clients’ Needs

Web content sparkles when brevity rules. Keep content sweet and short.
Web content sparkles when brevity rules. Keep content sweet and short.

Great content is something every business owner needs. Or, may not realize how needed it is. Who doesn’t remember Abraham Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs from PSYCH 101? Beginning at the wide base of his triangle graphic, which detailed human physiological characteristic needs like food/shelter/clothing, most can recall the climb.  We ascended the ladder in smaller increments to safety, then love and belonging, and onto esteem. And, finally, skyward to self-actualization where even the sound of the word self-actualization fairly glistened.

The same hierarchy can hold true for writing done for the web. Content can sparkle when it meets clients’ needs. Some entrepreneurs and small business owners run on very lean operations well into the first few years of business.  With its ascending order, Maslow’s scaffolding can be readily applied as a business model to meet those needs.

So what do clients want in content to meet their online business needs?

  1. They want value in their marketing dollar. This basic need is true whether a company is starting out on a shoestring or is successfully established. Less words means less copy space needed to get a point across. Truly, less is more.
  2. They need security in the wording and phrasing. Customers want to feel confident in the way their product or service is pitched. Not too grand and elaborate. Not too austere or exclusive. Safety is found in a fresh offering of what the object or service can do to create a solution for a current or future customer.
  3. They desire to be recognized in their market. The content created for web marketing needs to feel familiar, appealing, and comfortable. Anything too stiff, formal, or overly-engaging does not draw the maximum customer base to the site. Selectively used SEO-driven text is what is needed here.
  4. They yearn for their company’s success. Building upon the esteem of a successful product, small business owners want the wording of each social media post, every blog and article, as well as all content pages on their site, to reflect the success they bring to the public through their commitment to excellence.
  5. They shoot for celebrity status through altruism. Businesses that are interested in their success are typically assisting others in their climb to the top, too. Writing that is encouraging seeks out stories of how tough times were overcome through perseverance.

Content can create the comfort, safety, recognition, power and success to reflect the sheen of hard work of its owners. And even Maslow would feel good about it!