#blogtips #marketing Archives -

February 8, 2017 By Marisa Moks-Unger

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.

February 17, 2016 By Marisa Moks-Unger

Planned Release Ensures Impact of Blog

Two Best Days for Planned Blog Release

Planned release ensures blog's success. — Planned release ensures blog’s success.

Everyone knows that blogs, and their timely release, increase site traffic. What if the combination of the number of posts and the days they are published acted as a tumbler on a lock? What combination creates immediate flow that can increase productivity? It can often be noted that words are frequently overlooked. But the power behind words, and the blogs that they comprise, are a powerful and a surefire way to boost a site’s activity.

Some argue that frequent release of information works best to keep people interested in a product or service. As discussed earlier in the We Write It Right blog, three forms of social media are all that is needed for an effective social media calendar. So leave the smaller snippets for Twitter’s 140-character space restrictions and Instagram’s photograph caption feed. When writing a web’s blog, two entries a week are optimal. Why? They will more than likely be read, because the readers will not feel hammered by an onslaught of stories. Remember: less is more. It is better to go for quality over quantity. Article that are 300-400 words tops – retain readers’ interest. Gone are the days of the 500-word composition with its neat five points. Students learned to write in this form for everything from back-to-school reflections to SAT essays. Stay on point with under 400 words.

How about the two best days for planned release? It’s easy. Tuesdays and Fridays. Emails, travel, and over-the-weekend deadlines drive business attention early in the week. So Mondays are a no-no. Set the delayed release to 00:01 AM EST for the biggest impact. At the opposite side of the week lies Friday. An end-of-the-week release is optimal. People are tying up their work week, planning for the weekend, and will more than likely be out of meetings that would occupy their time mid-week. As with Tuesday, plan for a release a moment after midnight to touch the largest audience. By writing 300-400 word blogs, which are posted on Tuesdays and Fridays right after midnight, site traffic can be optimized. And that means more visibility for the products and services associated with the site.

Scrabble Words for Flow

Create a Word Bank from Scrabble

Word Lists from Scrabble — First play the game, then get writing from your curated word list.

Sunday afternoons find my husband, mother-in-law, and I playing Scrabble. This ritual helps us to pass the time during the pandemic. The games usually run one to two hours. We have taken these games to a new level by anticipating them each week, then carefully crafting our word choices. It helps that all three of us are avid readers and come up with a variety of interesting diction.

Also, the game gets my mother-in-law’s mind off of the local paper’s with its teeming death notices of Covid-19 victims – most from local residential living facilities. And, she is now interested in the fact that I am using these word lists to write from professionally.

Next, free write for a few. Make a list of the words developed during the game. Then use the list as a springboard to write a creative piece using as many of the words as possible. Play with long and short lines. Add some rhymes. Look for alliteration. Give yourself about 10 minutes. See what images appear.

Then, select a genre or two to carry through. As a theme arises from the free write of the word list, follow the lead. Perhaps a poem rises up. Or, a one-act play. Or, both! Choose one genre knowing that you can come back and create more works from any single topic.

Now, it’s your turn! If you have a Scrabble game somewhere hidden in a hall closet, it is time to get it out and try your hand at this writing tactic. It employs procrastination by allowing you to blow off writing at first by playing a game. Then, you are rewarded for the time you invested in the game by writing a piece from the words you and others generated.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

TGIFF – Thank God It’s Friday Flow

Cliché Finds Flow on Friday

Congratulations, you’ve made it to Friday. And, at the workweek’s end, there is time to find flow. But, where do you go to find flow? First, realize that flow can happen anywhere at anytime. Need proof? Look at this past post on finding flow in a card and party goods store. Simply click right here: https://wewriteitright.com/visit-flow-in-a-party-goods-shop/

How Gratitude Leads the Way

Use grateful eyes to take in the world around you. Then, instead of planning to hit the bars and clubs when the clock strikes 5:00 PM, other options present themselves during these times of pandemic. Why not take a virtual tour a museum? Or, take a walk or bike ride through a park? Or, spend an hour working on a poem, and essay, or a blog post. When you are grateful for the options you have – even if you are working from home amid shutdowns – then that is enough.

Your Turn

Playtime creates greater flow. — Spirographs, Etch-a-Sketch, and Slinkys are just a few ways to re-enter flow through playtime. What was your favorite activity as a child? When was the last time you tried it as an adult?

Think back to grade school, junior high, or middle school. Think about the electives that you took that helped round out your schedule. Did you take dance or music classes? Weight training? Or, perhaps, like me, you did candle making. Whatever it might be, try to reunite your lost teen with your adult self. Take time to write, dance, sing, paint, or play with your Spirograph! You’ll be glad you did!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa