Words to the Wise

For me, a new year brings renewed drive and determination to give my clients the best copywriting, marketing and public relations I can at affordable rates. And that also means attracting new clients to my websites and blogs to learn more about me. Which means adding content and making sure that content is relevant to prospects and search engines alike. I’m going to give a little bit of detail about my five website suggestions for 2008 below. If you want the in-depth version, you’ll have to tune into This Hour has 22 Widgets on Wednesday, December 20th at 10:00am Eastern Time. Let’s just say I have a lot to say, and typing it would take all day.

Here are my five favorite ways to make 2008 an even better year for your website:

1. Fix the ‘little’ things in your site. Did your site designer give your website title tags like this: “About Us”, “What we Do”, “Contact Us” and “Page 5.html”? If your pages have title tags that like those, it’s time to change them. Title tags play an important role in search engine rankings and in overall marketing. When (and if) a prospect sees a page in your site listed in a bunch of search engine results, do you think “What we Do” is going to entice them to click on the link your site? Titles should be no more than 70 characters long, including spaces and your keywords or key phrase should be as close to the start of the title as possible.

Also, do you have description copy for your website pages? This is another very important tool for your online marketing.

2. Plan an online PR campaign. Got company news that you want to get out to the world? While I never discount true, person-to-person PR practices, planning an online-only PR campaign can really boost your traffic and send you qualified leads. Google the term NC Based Copywriter and you’ll see some releases from me. While the releases are not part of my site, they each link to me or describe my news and services in some way. I suggest planning on two press releases per month depending on relevant company news you have available. Obviously if you don’t have relevant news, you won’t be putting out a press releases. As for distribution, tune in to the show and I’ll give you a bit more info about that.

3. Start a blog. This couldn’t be easier, yet it is STILL seen as a daunting task for many business owners. The first major question you need to ask is where you will host your blog. Your blog acts very much like a website. With WordPress blogging software (my particular choice for two of my blogs, including this one), you can choose to have WordPres host your blog (yourblog.wordpress.com) or you can host it with a separate hosting service (www.yourblog.com or www.yourwebsite.com/blog). The difference between the two is very important. WordPress does not allow commercial information to be posted on WordPress-hosted blogs. This is why I moved my blog to my domain: jasonpedey.com/blog. This is not hard to do. Again, the blog creates relevant links to your site and products and also provides an avenue for you to create relevant content both easily and often.

4. Podcast. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Stop the sucky podcasting. I’m serious. There are still PR firms out there who think it’s cool to sit an intern with a script across the table from a C-level executive with a script and let the two read to each other while the conversation is being recorded. I don’t know why this still happens. When you podcast with me, you get interaction. Sure I’ll send you an outline of the topics we’ll cover in a podcast, but no word-by-word soap opera scripts. When you podcast with me, listeners get information with an element of entertainment, interaction and excitement. And again, podcasts are a great way to add relevant content to your site while giving people an inside look at who your company is. It’s easy and affordable and the best part is that I do most of the work. I’m talking 95% of the wrok here. All you have to do is read the overview and dial a phone number.

5. Dream big. I know each of the above counts as one idea. One blog. One podcast. One Ppress release, etc. But, that’s how big, powerful sites with lots of content are born. Imagine blogging twice a week for a year. That’s over 100 pages of relevant content for your site. Then post some press releases, articles and podcasts to your site and you have the nutrients your site needs to grow.

All of my suggestions for 2008 are within your reach. I can even help you set them up and make them happen. Don’t let another year of wanting to blog, or wanting to podcast, or wanting to do a PR campaign pass you by. Now is the time.

North Carolina Freelance Copywriter Lands Contract to Write Content for International Condo Hotel Website

News Facts:

• Jason Pedley, a freelance marketing/PR/advertising copywriter, has announced he has landed a contract to create content for Condo Hotel Center.

• Pedley will provide CondoHotelCenter.com with detailed featured property listings, property data sheets, pay per click (PPC) campaigns, and sales letters.

• Condo Hotel Center is the leader in condo hotel sales via the Internet. The company utilizes a team of Internet real estate brokers who specialize in selling condo hotels in the preconstruction stage.

• Condo Hotel Center’s mission is to provide clients with the facts and information needed to make an informed purchase decision.

• CondoHotelCenter.com offers over 700 pages of original, up-to-date information and property pictures as well as a free data sheet for each of the over 120 properties they represent.

• Jason Pedley is a freelance copywriter with search engine optimization and website copy experience in industries that include real estate, gaming, tourism, dining, entertainment, retail, meetings and conventions, technology and non-profit.

Interested companies can visit www.jasonpedley.com for more information.

Please use this to access a purpose-built del.icio.us page, for more information about Jason Pedley: del.icio.us/jasonpedley

(Visit www.jasonepdley.com/resume.html for Jason Pedley’s history or visit Jason Pedley’s LinkedIn profile.)

Quotes attributable to Freelance Copywriter Jason Pedley-

• “Condo Hotel Center isn’t just a leader in the Condo Hotel industry, it’s a pioneer in bringing real estate to the Internet in a way that makes finding properties easier.”
• “When you’re selling real estate that’s in preconstruction, you can have all the renderings you like, but when it comes down to it, people need words to give more meaning to the images.”
• “My job is to help customers visualize living in the property; to imagine their new lifestyle based on the features, amenities and location of each Condo Hotel. If I can get a customer to have an emotional response to Condo Hotel Center’s marketing, then I’ve done my job.”

Quotes attributable to Susan Greene, Marketing Director, Condo Hotel Center:
• “Copy is king when it comes to selling properties exclusively on the Internet. Not only are you writing for prospective buyers, you’re also writing for search engines. Balancing those two audiences is not an easy task.”
• “We selected Jason for his copywriting skills and his knowledge of public relations and advertising. Jason has a diverse background and we intend to use him in a number of areas including our Social Media efforts.”

Please email press@jasonpedley.com to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes.

About Freelance Copywriter Jason Pedley:
Jason Pedley is a freelance marketing, public relations and advertising copywriter who provides value to his clients by writing copy that is on time, on target and on budget. His copywriting experience has brought him projects in gaming, tourism, real estate, entertainment, retail, non-profit, technology and other sectors. To learn more about Jason Pedley, his services, and how they can help your organization, visit www.jasonpedley.com or email him at press@jasonpedley.com.

Contact Info
Jason Pedley
860.886.3455 cell
press@jasonpedley.com
www.jasonpedley.com

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I was originally going to title this post “You don’t have a PR agency - so what?” But, there are some good Public Relations agencies out there that work hard for their clients and I’m affiliated with a small number of them. I don’t want to offend them, but I do want to point out that there are things that businesses can do to minimize the need, and cost, of Full-service PR agencies.

Whether you have the money for a public relations agency or not, there are four things in my book that can give you excellent results with very little, or no investment. All that is really required is time, dedication and the passion to making your business grow through these tactics.

Tactic #1. The Blog. You already know how effective a blog can be - you’re reading one, remember? The blog is the modern-day newsletter. With your ability to create blog content from anywhere at any time, and readers’ ability to comment on your posts, the blog makes a great place to offer your informed comment and keep subscribers and readers up-to-date on company news, industry news and more. Don’t be afraid of starting a blog even if your industry already has some. Just make sure your opinion and voice separate your blog from the blogs of your competition. Also, a blog isn’t something you can do one week and leave for a month. With the ability to quickly subscribe (and unsubscribe) to a blog, readers will leave your blog for your competition’s if you aren’t constantly updating. A good rule of thumb is two post per week, minimum.

Blog Cost: $0 (However, depending on the complexity of your company blog, you may find a paid blog service gives you betters tools and options. But still, the cost is minimal.)

Tactic #2. Commenting. For some people, blogging truly does take up too much precious time. Short of hiring someone to blog for you (which is quite affordable, by the way, another idea is to comment regularly to the blogs you read that are related to your industry. And if you don’t read blogs in your industry, about three years ago was the time to start. So you have some making up to do. The good news is that you can create RSS feeds that deliver posts direct to your inbox. From there, you can put your name to some informed comments, and VOILA! - instant credibility.

Cost: $0

Tactic #3. Campaign on the Issues. Right now, I want you to write down six issues that are facing your industry. Then, later, elaborate them, play with them in your head and come up with ideas to overcome the issues. Release one on your website, blog and through a press release every week (or every other week) and your business has an instant six- or twelve-week external communications program.

Cost: $0

Tactic #4 Outsource. Even though you can effectively use all the above tactics for free, all of them do cost you in the currency of time. And the fact is, we each have only 24 hours in a day - I know because I use them all at times. Plus, not everyone has the same gift of writing with an authoritative voice and need some guidance, or someone to hand the job over to.

You don’t need to hire a full-service PR firm for this either - simply because you don’t need ALL of their services. Quite often all you need to do is hire a freelancer who has the writing an PR experience to get the job done effectively.

This freelance PR professional should be in constant contact with you every week about blog topics, current trends and issues, company news and communications goals.

Then, this expert crafts the words that give you the results and credibility you need without taking up much of your time or money.

I know a guy who can do this. Let me know if you want his name.

When was the last time a customer learned about your business on TV or in a newspaper or even on the radio – other than in paid advertising? Chances are these days, that if you’re featured in a news story, you’re either in trouble, or, if you’re lucky, perhaps you’re part of a larger story that involves other companies or organizations.

If you’re like me, and your customers come from all over the United States and beyond, getting your company in the local media doesn’t mean much to your bottom line. For me, getting in the local media ranks almost last on my list - right above working for free. Keep in mind, this isn’t true for everyone, and in an upcoming post, I’ll touch on a few ideas that will get you in local media.

But for now, let’s talk about global media exposure in today’s digital age. And, of course, whenever we talk about communication and media in the digital age, one name invariably comes up - Google.

If your business is to succeed in today’s digital world, you must use Google (and other search engines as well) as a major tool in your online public relations campaign. And it must be a high priority to build your brand through constant communication that produces online media coverage that Google will find when someone goes looking for you kind of business. Fortunately, this is much easier than it sounds. Today, we’ll focus solely one using press releases and free distribution sites to get your news out to those using Google to find your business.

First of all, you must have news. Do you have a new product? New Service? New Location? New employee? Find what your news is and put it in a press release. I highly suggest using a social media release format – search engines pick up on the links and keywords in this type of release and find your website easier – which means people using search engines find your site more easily. If you need an example of a social media release click here or here.

Then, submit your release to sites that accept and publish releases for free – like www.prlog.org. There are many others, and I’ll save those for an upcoming post.

Submission sites like prlog.org post your press release or social media release, search engine crawlers come by and see what your content is about, and then index your content in the search engine based on keywords, phrases and other criteria the crawler picked up.

I told you it was easy. Did I mention it was free?

And even more good news is that journalists are using Google to find information, contacts, and angles for their stories. If they Google “non-profit appeals” to find information on a story they’re working on, chances are good that the journalist will contact people in the first page of results. The same holds true for customers. If a non-profit in Butte, Montana is looking for someone to write an appeal letter for donations and does a Google search for “non-profit appeals” chances are good that they’ll contact the people on the first page.

In upcoming posts, I’ll talk to you about other sites that accept releases for free as well as PR tactics that are cost-effective and require very little time and even less money. And trust me, it’s time and money well invested.

Freelance Copywriter Offers Free Public Relations Service with Completed Client Web Copywriting Projects

News Facts:

•Jason Pedley, a freelance marketing, public relations and advertising copywriter, has announced that he is offering to write and distribute a social media release (SMR) to announce the launch of every client website he writes.
•This free publicity service helps clients in the promotion of their sites and will drive traffic, including search engine crawlers, to the clients’ new sites.
The SMR format increases the release’s findability by interested parties online, which is a driving force behind modern-day public relations and the press release.

Interested companies can visit www.jasonpedley.com for more information about freelance copywriter Jason Pedley’s services.

Please use this to access a purpose-built del.icio.us page, for more information about Jason Pedley: del.icio.us/jasonpedley

Quotes attributable to Freelance Copywriter Jason Pedley:
(Visit www.jasonepdley.com/resume.html for Jason Pedley’s history or www.linkedin.com/pub/2/64b/756 for Jason Pedley’s LinkedIn profile.)

• “Every time I write a website for a client, I ask if they plan to distribute a social media release to announce the new site. Nine times out of ten, the client admits they never thought of it, and ends up pleased with the results and the traffic the SMR generates.”
•”Social media releases help businesses identify and share their most important information online and take advantage of HTML, multimedia and network effects enabled by the Internet through the use of the Microformat.”

About Freelance Copywriter Jason Pedley:
Jason Pedley is a freelance marketing, public relations and advertising copywriter who provides value to his clients by writing copy that is on time, on target and on budget. His copywriting experience has brought him projects in gaming, tourism, real estate, entertainment, retail, non-profit, technology and other sectors. To learn more about Jason Pedley, his services, and how they can help your organization, visit www.jasonpedley.com or email him at press@jasonpedley.com.

Contact Info
Jason Pedley
919.763.8474 office
860.886.3455 cell
press@jasonpedley.com
www.jasonpedley.com

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