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What do effective marketing and PR messages and interesting fiction have in common? Their creators develop vivid characters. Creators of fiction give us the likes of Alex Cross, Nancy Drew, Atticus Finch (one of my favorites), or Olivia Pope. The marketing professional uses her imaginary characters (called “buyer personas”) to craft attention-grabbing, persuasive messages. BuyerRead more

While we’ve all heard about digital tools like HootSuite and Google Analytics, some of us may be overlooking other tools that could help streamline some of our work processes and point the way to increased effectiveness. I decided to try a bunch of tools that I’d heard about from various sources. I’ve added the tool’sRead more

Once again, I’m offering information on how to write powerful headlines and subject lines, but this time I’m sharing skill-honing exercises from various sources around the web. If you have the time, try one of more of these exercises during your next writing assignment. If you have some downtime, you can practice on an oldRead more

To start off, stop thinking about the topic as boring, even if it’s about something like air filters. Rejecting the “boring” label for any subject is the first step to turning a tedious topic into compelling content. Below are some ideas for your next steps: Find Out What Questions People Are Already Asking If you’reRead more

 When I first ventured onto social media networks years and years ago, I didn’t have a plan. I just knew that people said it was a good idea to be there. As a  result, my LinkedIn account and Facebook fan page just sat there, doing nothing for me. When I later joined Twitter, I wasRead more

Usually, I advocate writing headlines that appeal to readers’ (and/or editors’) self-interest. But the two headlines below have nothing to do with my personal/business-related goals or interests. Nor do they address my concerns about regional, national or international issues. “Man Accidentally Shoots Wife During Sex” from LiveScience.com “I have firsthand experience with an undead parrot”Read more

Have you ever signed up for a webinar or a seminar and found that instead of providing you with information you could use, it was just a pitch-fest? Or have you visited a blog and realized that all the posts centered the organization and its activities or the features offerings instead of ever sharing usefulRead more

Say you’ve just written a promotional or content piece that’s so fantastic that there’s no doubt in your mind that your audience is going to love it. And that means they’re going to make that purchase, click through to that landing page, fill out that form or whatever action you want them to take. IRead more

“Know your audience” is the communications mantra. After all, how can your message hit the mark if you’re not aiming it at a target? Of course, getting to know your audience means researching and then monitoring their demographics, psychographics, and awareness of you. That in turn, means investing in focus groups, community and industry forums,Read more

“But what’s the return on investment?” If you’re involved in social media marketing, trying to answer this question could potentially ruin your day. In fact, many businesspeople now question whether social ROI is truly measurable or whether we need to employ metrics other than financial returns. The fact is, in order to measure social ROI,Read more