The undead are white hot these days. From the “Walking Dead” to “World War Z,” zombies have hit the mainstream—they’re everywhere. Some talk about a Zombie Apocalypse as if it’s a forgone conclusion. A friend recently told me he’s shopping for a new vehicle, and it needs to be a four-wheel drive SUV so he can outrun the zombies.

The recent growth of the non-living community includes what I call “Content Zombies”—online content that’s had the life and meaning sucked out of it, but continues to shamble along on corporate Websites and blogs. Content zombies will relentlessly pursue you, groaning their dead messages in your ear. Then they will try to eat your brains.

Technology companies seem to have a penchant for creating content zombies. Here are just a couple of examples from some tech sites. (Note: I’ve inserted the word “Foo” instead of the actual company or product name).

“Tomorrow starts here. Explore what happens when we wake up the world … Each day, more and more people, process, data and things join what we call the Internet of Foo things. And as we wake up the world, amazing things will happen.”

You don’t have to tell me twice: you’re gonna wake up the world! With Internet things!

“Foo Corporation is focused on enabling health systems and payers to drive continuous improvements in care. Foo software helps healthcare professionals across care settings to use data to gain critical insights, collaborate with each other and with patients, and to develop and implement innovative care solutions.”

No idea what that really means, but I’m glad the insights are critical and the improvements continuous.

Confession: in my past, I’ve unleashed a few content zombies. Not by choice. It pains me to think of how the carefully crafted prose I (or another writer) created was often tortured into empty phrases without real story or utility, all so it could “snap to messaging.” Many times, content zombies are born out of ambiguous, bureaucratic approval processes. We’ll talk about how to battle that horror another day. Today, I want to share three tips to help you fight content zombification:

1.  Start with your audience

And not only start with them, stay with and end with them, too. Arm yourself with data about your audience so you craft content based on what they want and need.

Website tools such as Google Analytics, Webtrends, or Site Catalyst can provide metrics about your site’s audience, including geographies, referring traffic sources (direct, organic search, paid search, etc.), the time spent on specific pages of your site, and in some cases, social activities.

If you have a product or marketing team, awesome! See if they have customer profiles, audience segmentation data, or personas they can share with you. Your content’s substance, tone, and structure should all reflect your audience at the center.

2.  Stop selling

Stay focused on what will be most helpful to your readers, not what your organization feels it absolutely must say to sell its products and services, the company, its executives and culture, or its point of view.

Too often, online content gets worked over by marketers or executives, resulting in marketing or corporate speak that isn’t clear, and thus sounds as fake and foreign as it really is. You want your content to be so clear, useful, and entertaining that your audience will not only stay on your site or blog to read it, they’ll bookmark it, comment on it, and share it with their social networks—in other words, they’ll engage.

You’re not going to see someone sharing content that sounds like corporate decay: “Dude, check out the synergistic innovation on this ‘About Us’ page!”

3.  Make your content compellingly readable

You have just a few seconds to capture your reader’s attention online. This means you need to be catchy yet precise—tell people upfront what they’ll get in exchange for their time. There are a few ways to help you make sure your content is scanable and readable. Our content team advocates these best practices:

• Start with the unexpected. Need a unique title or content idea? Check out our Content Idea Generator.
• Avoid the “Wall of Words”—an off-putting, dense Web page of words without imagery, sidebars or other visual breaks for the reader. If your content is several paragraphs long, break up the text using full-width images, but also sub-headlines, bulleted or nested lists, pull quotes, and sidebars.
• Keep sentences to 13-14 words in length and paragraphs to six or seven lines. Use the Flesch-Kincaid readability tests or similar tools to help you measure how readable your content is by complexity and grade level.

I hope you find these tips useful—let me know what you think. Please share your own content zombie stories. I also hope you have your “bug-out bag” ready to go for the coming global zombie plague. Be careful out there, content creators.

The post 3 Ways to Keep Content Zombies from Eating Your Brains appeared first on Portent.

Don’t.

Remember the real reason you’re creating a blog is to connect with your customers readers. You may think it’s to educate customers about your brand and to get them to buy your stuff—that’s true (to a certain extent) but none of that happens without a connection. The best way to do that is to…

Be human

You want readers to trust you. That means you have to let them know that you share their values and beliefs and that they know what to expect from you and your brand. Potential customers need to know that you are in it for them. Then, when they are ready to buy, they will come back to you—that friend they made on the Internet that one time.

Don’t sell products, tell stories

People relate to people, not to companies. The more your writers can tell specific stories about real people, the easier it will be for the customer to empathize with the stories and thus the brand. Kate Spade uses their blog to introduce readers to the people behind the brand.

Be a resource

Sometimes a consumer doesn’t even know the solution you offer exists. Be the friend they need. For example, MomAgenda, a company that provides organizing solutions for busy families recently wrote a post about how to create family time. Notice that the post doesn’t mention their products at all. Friends give before they ask.

What about the blog voice?

Companies often worry about how much the blog should reflect the established company voice and how much should reflect the employees’. My vote is for the employees (and not just because I’m a writer). Remember, relationships are all about the personal connection. Introduce your employees, use bylines, and establish Google Authorship for your writers. You hired good people who believe in your company. They might need a few editorial guidelines (see below), but let them surprise you (plus, this is a great way to not sound just like your competitors).

Create a style guide

About those guidelines… think of a style guide not as a rigid set of rules that confine your writers to a corporate voice. View it instead as a strong platform that makes sure your writers are all playing on the same field. Once everyone knows the rules, set them free to find new levels of excellence.

You’re going to want to include nitty-gritty grammar quirks and also some fun stuff.

Grammar choices to make

If you aren’t a copy editor, this bulleted list might read like gibberish. Trust me, it’s not. Many people who do know what all of these are care less about which camp you choose than that you are consistent.

• To Oxford comma or not to Oxford comma?
• En dashes or em dashes?
• Smart quotes or straight quotes?
• One or two spaces after a period?
• How do you spell industry-specific jargon (e.g. e-book, ebook, or eBook?)

Find a good copy editor and let them help write your style guide. Your blog will achieve a level of consistency and organization that 99% of readers will only appreciate subliminally, but it’s worth it.

Lexicons and other fun topics

I’m not kidding. Building a lexicon (a list of words you will commonly use) is really fun and can be a great tool to get your writers to stick to a consistent tone. Consider the difference between a blog that refers to weddings as the “big day” “celebrating you and your beloved” and one that uses phrases like “ball and chain.”

What else do you need to consider?

• Pick three things your blog is about and insist that every blog post include one of them. In the above wedding example, I’d suggest wedding etiquette, fashion advice, and planning tips. David’s Bridal covered planning tips by adding their voice to the “do wedding websites make for generic weddings?” fray.
• Create a persona for your ideal audience member(s). For weddings, write for the bride, bridesmaids, and ideally, the groom too. Not all posts will speak to all people, but make sure your content targets the right people. A “How to Do a Bachelorette Party Right” post appeals to a very different readership than one providing event set-up tips for caterers.
• What can’t be said? Some writers respond best to knowing exactly how far they can push things. Will your bridal blog acknowledge shotgun weddings? How about gay weddings? The idea isn’t to make a list of every prohibition. Instead, you are providing parameters for success.

You’ll be amazed at what a good writer can do with these little tidbits of information.

The bottom line

Because you’re a business, it ultimately comes down to money. Here’s how that works. You use the blog to connect with your customers (readers) as human beings. Once they learn to trust you, your name is top-of-mind when they need the services you offer.

Don’t believe me? Use Google Analytics to see how many people convert after visiting your blog once, twice, or many times. Which posts keep people coming back? Write more of those.

What are your favorite blogs written by humans? Tell us about them and dish about corporate blog fails in the comments.

The post How to Blog: Humanizing Your Brand appeared first on Portent.

1)      You’re thinking about starting a blog and wondering if it’s worth the time and energy, or
2)      You’ve already invested time and energy in blogging and are not seeing the return you imagined

Let’s start at the beginning.

Should I blog?

Sometimes when you’re having trouble answering a question, it’s because you’re asking the wrong thing. Try answering the following instead.

Do you want:

• To empower your team?
• To stay abreast of the latest information in your industry?
• Your customers to trust you?
• Your customers to be as informed as possible about your products?
• To communicate directly with your customers?

These questions are adapted from Social Media Examiner’s “5 Reasons Your Business should be Blogging.” If you answered “no” more than one question above, stop reading now. You should not be blogging.

Instead, go back to your desk to start planning for your retirement. Today’s business world is about transparency and relationship building—and that’s what blogging is all about.

Value of blogging

Still reading? Yes, a kick-ass blog IS worth the trouble. And for more than the 5 reasons indicated above.

As a business person, you’re prudent about how you invest your resources. Whether you’ve been blogging for a while or you’re selling the idea of starting a blog to the powers that be, you need to understand the investment a blog requires and what kind of return you can expect to generate. Here are some FAQs:

What makes a successful blog?

You can’t know if something is worth doing until you define what “worth it” means to you. Do you want daily traffic? Do you want conversions? Prioritize your metrics and be realistic. Will your blog directly increase conversion rates by 100%? Probably not, but a kick-ass blog will engage your customers and get them to spend more time on your site, which should translate to conversions.

How often should I blog?

ProBlogger recommends that you blog 2-3 times per week. You can blog more and you can blog less, so you’ll want to find the routine that works for you. As long as you are consistent and updating your blog at least once a month, the quality over quantity adage applies. That said, each blog post offers new opportunities for awesomeness, so don’t sell yourself short by publishing too infrequently.

What should I blog about?

When you created your business, you thought about the need your product was designed to fill, right? Plug back into that mindset and start thinking about questions your customers might have but are too scared to ask. If you are stuck for content ideas, consider the following:

• Flesh out your FAQs
• Highlight prized customers
• Tell the story of a need you saw and the product you developed to fill it
• Feature star employees
• Share information about yourself and why you love what you do
• Analyze trends in your industry

Be real and vulnerable (try telling stories of your mistakes and how you overcame them) with your readers and they will engage with you and share your content. Keep your content somewhat related to your business, but experiment with your open rate, click-through rate, and time on page to see how far inside that box your readers want you to stay. Remember to always focus on quality writing and avoid these blogging mistakes.

How does blogging help my SEO?

Your blog helps customers find you. It’s a great place to write about your keywords (that means your posts need text as well as images). If you write interesting content, you will garner links. Social sharing buttons make it easy for people to spread the word about your kick-ass content. Some more technical tips: link internally to other posts, link externally to other authorities on the topic, and make sure your blog is not on a subdomain—that risks splitting your authority.

Blog away, dear readers, and tell us about your successes and failures in the comments.

The post Is a Kick-Ass Blog Worth the Trouble? appeared first on Portent.

Honestly, I have no idea

During my mediocre bike racing career, a lot of my teammates raced wearing two pairs of shorts. I didn’t. Then I crashed, ripped out the entire right cheek of my lycra tuchus-cover, and had to finish the race with a gentle breeze wafting across my abraded buttock. From then on, I wore two pairs of shorts.

Humiliation is a fine, fine teacher.

In that spirit, here are ten utterly stupid things I’ve done as a blogger. You don’t have to admit you’ve done it. Read. Laugh at me. Then go fix the problem while no one’s looking.

1. Accidental flaming.

On the internet, no one can see your facial expression. Be careful if you’re using dry humor, sarcasm, or anything else that might be misconstrued as you being a butthead.

Example: I wrote a post meant to gently poke fun at the idea of the ‘free’ economy. I didn’t have anyone else read it first.

Result: I came off as a shrill, clueless pile of lint. And probably guaranteed that Wired Magazine will never, ever publish anything I submit to them. Ever.

The fix: Have someone else read your post! Or, leave the post unpublished for a couple of hours, then come back and read it later.

2. Click send as you leave the office

It’s always tempting to publish a post as you leave work. Then you can read the Twitter love notes as you drive home. Unless, of course, you did something really boneheaded. Then you get to do damage control when you get home.

Example: I published then hopped on my bike to ride home. Alas, I’d missed a closing ‘h2’ tag.

Result: 75% of the post used boldface, 22 point type. Hooo boy.

The fix: Preview your post! If you’re out of time, publish it tomorrow, or after you get home.

3. Being a snot

It’s fun to pick on those more famous than you, right? You catch a keynote speaker using the wrong word and run to your blog, where you post “NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH JOHN SMITH IS A POOPIE HEAD”. It feels oh-so-clever. It makes you look like a tool.

Example: I thought I’d caught Danny Sullivan mis-using ‘vertical integration’. I’m a History major, after all. I should know. I was wrong.

Result: 2 hours of conference goers patiently explaining what ‘vertical integration’ means. Intense flop sweat. Desire to crawl under a rock.

The fix: Just don’t. Even if you know you’re right. Send a polite note to the speaker, at most. Or ask them if you have it wrong, in person.

4. Stealing by accident

You install a nifty script that guarantees thousands! of! links! overnight! with! great! content!!!!!! It sounds too good to be true because it is. Those scripts always scrape, always steal, and always get you in trouble.

Example: Actually, I’ve never done this. I wasn’t born yesterday. Or even the day before yesterday.

Result: Humiliations galore.

The fix: Don’t buy the magic beans. They aren’t really magic.

5. Go off half-cocked

You read the first paragraph of a post and are so incensed you MUST GO ANSWER THIS IDIOT’S STUPIDITY RIGHT NOW BEFORE THE ENTIRE INTERNET IS DESTROYED BY HER DUMBNESS. If you read the rest of the post, of course, you’d have seen that the first paragraph was ironic. Oops.

Example: Too many to count.

Result: I improve my ability to swallow my entire foot.

The fix: Always read an entire post, twice, before you decide to rip the author to bits.

6. Going hi-def

Just this one time, you decide to let WordPress resize that 2400×4500-pixel image for you. Ever helpful, WordPress uploads small, medium and full-sized versions and lets visitors download them all. Your site grinds to a halt.

Example: I used a few images from iStockPhoto, without resizing them.

Result: My CIO keys my car, turns off my e-mail and starts leaving sticky notes around my office that read “WE WILL REMEMBER”.

The fix: Don’t be lazy. Resize and compress images before you upload them.

7. The secret post

It’s 2 AM. You’ve worked your fingers to the bone, finishing your Best Post Ever. Google will immediately rank your work of art number 1 for ‘wheels’, you figure, because it’s so brilliant! Alas, no.

Example: I wrote my first Internet Marketing List, published it, then left it alone.

Result: A deafening silence. Depression. Bitterness.

The fix: Easy! Tweet it. Post it to Facebook. Stumble it. E-mail it to some friends. It only takes one good Like to start a lovefest.

8. The commenting smackdown

Some twit posts an inflammatory comment. You respond with elderberry-related insults. That’s five minutes you’ll never get back.

Example: Someone posted a particularly nasty comment regarding a YouMoz post I wrote. I posted a carefully worded response. Cough.

Result: Wasted time on my part. More fuel on the fire. A waste of perfectly good insults.

The fix: Delete the comment, or ignore it. Or, make fun of it. Nothing defuses a troll faster than humor.

9. Writing the post online

WordPress has a lovely text editor. You write all your posts right in the editor. Until the first time you accidentally hit CTRL-W and erase 3 hours’ hard work.

Example: I wrote a guest post for SearchNewsCentral. I (probably) closed my browser without clicking ‘save’.

Result: Poof. I crush another molar.

The fix: Write your post in a text editor, first. Then cut-and-paste it into your blogging software.

10. Going pedantic

You know more than anyone else. You write like a first-year college professor who’s angling for tenure. Your writing has more ‘insofar as’, ‘therefore’ and ‘clearly’ than a legal brief (I just insulted the writing skills of two professions at once. Amazing. Please don’t kill me.).

Example: My writing, from 2000-2005. Any time my kids ask me a question.

The result: Your audience tries to gouge out their own eyeballs so they don’t have to read your writing.

The fix: Write like you talk. Or record yourself ‘talking’ your blog post and then write it. Oh, and write every day.

It’s all about improving

I’ve replaced these 10 mistakes with 10 others. I just don’t notice them yet. The universal fix? Be a self-aware writer. Know when you’ve written something truly awful, but don’t take it personally. You’re writing. Learn, refine and go again.

The post 10 stupid blogging mistakes I’ve made appeared first on Portent.

Who are the market leaders? I use four metrics to evaluate blogs:

1. Recency– When was the last post made?If a blog is not active, it has left the conversation. Blogs come and blogs go, even the best ones. Just because a blog author stops publishing new stories does not mean that search engines and blog directories will remove it from their listings.
2. Frequency– How often does the author publish?Frequent postings keep blogs fresh in readers minds and provide more opportunities for comments and conversations. It also separates the good writers from the bad. If a writer publishes daily and people subscribe and stay subscribed, they like what they are reading.
3. Popularity– Does the blog have readers?If there are no readers then there is no community, only a lone voice in the desert. Check more than one metric. Look at their Technorati authority or, if available, FeedBurner stats. Research their Alexa, Compete and Quantcast rankings.
4. Community– Do readers frequently comment on the author’s posts?When numerous people comment often on a blog you can bet that the blog author engages readers and draws them into conversations. Also, if you are only one of a small number of people who comment regularly, it will appear conspicuous and unnatural.

How do you evaluate blogs?

The post Identify Top Bloggers appeared first on Portent.

2 Good Ways To Get The Word Out On the Internet

Both these methods are about audience building. You build audience by giving them information, not a sales pitch. David Ogilvy knew that, long before the internets came along.

1. Find the 50 most influential writers and bloggers in your space. For example, if you’re a travel company, find travel bloggers. If you’re a car company, find the car sites. Then send them one of your product, for free, with a personal note asking them to please review it. They’ll write about it.
2. 6-12 months before your product launch, start your own blog. Establish your authority in your product’s space. If you’re writing an internet marketing book, blog about that (cough cough). But don’t just talk about how wonderful you are, either. Give them useful information. When your product launches, you’ll have a prefabricated audience.

Yes, these things take time and effort. They even cost some money (gasp). But do a little math, will ya?:
If you get 10 relatively influential folks to write about you, then at least 100 bloggers who haven’t had a creative thought in their lives will pick up the story and run with it. That gets you links you wouldn’t have otherwise had, and gets you leverage for your long-term search marketing efforts. That’s the worst case.
Best case, you get an endorsement from someone with real authority, and customers flock to your virtual doors. All for the cost of 50 products and some of your time.
And writing your blog for 6-12 months may cost you an hour a day.
But Ian, you cry, I don’t have an hour a day!
Wait… What? You don’t have an hour a day to sell your product? If you aren’t going to spend any time selling your product, who will?
Uh huh. Go write your blog, will ya? Or hire some clever internet marketing company to do it for you (cough again).

2 Bad Ways to Get the Word Out On the Internet

These methods are all about miracle cures. And they work about as well. If you want to choke to death trying the cure, by all means, try them both:

1. Buy or rent an e-mail list. In 13 years as an internet marketer, I’ve never seen a rented list perform. By ‘perform’, I mean ‘do better than if I stood in the street with a T-shirt advertising the product and let myself be run over’. Just don’t do it. Rented lists rarely work. They’re typically collected using methods that guarantee a horrifically bad response. Just don’t do it.
2. Banner ads. Banner ads are great branding tools. But they don’t sell bupkus. See my getting-run-over technique, above, for a superior alternative

The post 2 Sure Ways to Launch a New Product Online. And 2 Sure Ways to Blow It. appeared first on Portent.