Words to the Wise

Are you even recognizing it as a slowdown? Despite the media frenzy surrounding the credit crunch, mortgage crisis, food prices et al, I have clients and friends who are defying ‘logic’ and actually doing well in this economy. In fact, a few are even growing faster BECAUSE of the downturn.

If you’re like me, you’re taking the downturn as an opportunity to grow and profit in new areas you might not have thought of. One of my clients is doing this by taking their online real estate business into new countries. I’m taking my business global thanks to a couple of new clients on the other side of the world.

Here are some strategic ways to stay ahead, and even grow, despite the economic downturn:

1. Have a Plan

It’s one thing for you and your business to enter an economic downturn mentally prepared, but are you prepared on paper? Do you have a plan that trims unnecessary spending? It doesn’t matter if you’re a one-person operation or an 100,000+ employee organization, everything can be scrutinized and put into a plan. If you have your strategies and tactics in the form of a company plan, you and your employees will be more likely to follow it. Saving on items such as electricity, supplies, perks and more can free up vital dollars for core elements like marketing and customer service. Too often companies cut from the largest budgets (like marketing) without realizing they are the most important budget.

2. Speaking of Marketing…

Marketing can be broken down into channels. And while cutting marketing as a whole might not be advantageous to you, cutting some channels may be. It’s time to look carefully at your ROI for each channel. Find out what’s working and what’s not. You may be able to get away with shifting money within your marketing mix to maximize channel productivity. If your website isn’t producing how you want it to, hire a copywriter to look over the copy and make suggestions. See what you can do to boost your search engine rankings.

3. Improve Customer Service

In an age where customer service is declining, now is the time to stand out by offering the best customer service you’ve ever offered. Get with your team. Discuss the situation. Tell them their jobs depend on it…they’ll get the hint. Treat your customers as if your livelihood depends on it - because it does.

As for me, I’m using the downturn to beef up my web presence, turn some of my attention overseas, and capitalize of my current pool of clients by offering them the best service I can. I’m also offering partner services, including bog management, graphic design, web design and PR services through professionals I’ve worked with in the past.

Some days, it seems like all I get in my inbox are questions. I find myself answering questions about copywriting, questions about marketing, questions about search engines.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the questions. In fact, I welcome them…although sometimes I get people who just pick my brain with no intention of hiring me. I weed these people out with some carefully worded follow-up questions.

Regardless, I figured my blog would be a great place to talk about some of these questions and share my knowledge and experience with you. Some of the questions are technical, some are personal, and some you’ll just have to figure out for yourself.

1. What did you study in college to become a freelance copywriter? Good question. In my final year of high school, I had to decide what I would study in college. Since I truly had no idea what I wanted to be, I decided that PR would give me a foundation and skillset that I could leverage the most. But even though I studied PR, my most important lessons have been learned in life. There’s no class that teaches you how to navigate your way through the freelance world. I truly do learn something new every day.

2. Have you ever thought about leaving the world of freelance copywriting and getting a full-time job working for someone else? Yes! If any freelancer tells you otherwise, I’ll bet money their lying to impress you. While there are certainly times I think about leaving my freelance copywriting gig, these times are usually short-lived thanks to some good friends and colleagues. I’m very independent and can only work for certain types of bosses…the ones who are the most like me. Go figure.

3. What’s your methodology for reviewing websites? Good question. One of the first things I do when I review a website is to look at the message it sends. Your website either says you’re professional or you’re not. After looking at the overall message, I look at the content you have - its navigation, usefulness, purpose and length. Then I get into technical aspects, like keyword choice, title tags, descriptions, etc. If you’ve had your website reviewed and want a second opinion, let me know.

4. Do you use any special software to write copy? Not really. I use Word for 90% of the work I do. I also use a program called CopyWrite for some projects that have multiple elements, chapters etc. Some days, I just close my computer, pick up and number 2 pencil and write.

5. Why are you such a critic of podcasting? Let’s clarify here. I never said I dislike or don’t see any value in podcasting. I DO however say that there are some really BAD podcasts out there. Most podcasts are recorded by PR agencies who don’t have the time, manpower or experience to truly grasp podcasting for the opportunity that it is. Podcasts aren’t ‘off the cuff’ conversations. If they are, then chances are they’re worthless. You can view some of my other blog posts to get more of my opinion on this topic.

I just finished listening to a podcast about motivation and how motivation comes from within individuals because we all work under our own volition blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, when I finished listening to the podcast, I wanted more information about the person I was listening to and his company. Oddly enough, there was no mention of a website or place where I could get more info. I was left to Google my way to their website. The company name was mentioned at the start of the podcast, and I don’t remember hearing it again. And, the first time the company name was mentioned, the inexperienced PR executive put the word “the” in front of the company’s name. That’s like calling FedEx “The FedEx“, or Amazon “The Amazon.” If I were the client, I’d be concerend. A little nibble has been taken out of his brand.

Now, this podcast was produced by a Raleigh, N.C.-based public relations firm who claims to be one of the top in the Raleigh-Durham-RTP area. But to me, it sounds like very little thought was put into the podcast beyond simply writing the questions and asking them in front of the client. I’ve posted about this kind of sucky podcasting in the past. Apparently it’s an on-going problem in this world.

Whenever you create a podcast (or white paper, caste study or other document that leaves your hands and floats into the online world), you need to keep a few things in mind in order for your podcast to be of any value:

1. Mention your company’s name. I shouldn’t even have to say this, but after listening to this podcast I’m slightly worried that there are numerous PR agencies doing this disservice to their clients. Mention the client’s name and company at the start of the podcast and a couple of times throughout. Podcasts are not some off-the-cuff conversation you just ‘happen’ to be having with a PR agency. They are scripted, purposeful pieces that should get the client’s message across. You write the script so that the company name gets naturally worked in. Mention the client’s name and company name at the end of the podcast, too.
2. Tell people where to get more info, more podcasts, more news, more stuff, more ANYTHING. The podcast I listened to has zero value to me. I’m too lazy to actually Google this company. And while I love the topic of personal motivation, I’m afraid I have NO motivation to find out more about this company. But at least I know Raleigh PR agency’s website to visit ifI want some crappy podcasting.

Podcasting is easy. Easy to record, easy to write, easy to distribute and easy to screw up. And that’s exactly what this Raleigh PR agency did in this case.

Don’t let it happen to you.

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.

In my early copywriting and public relations days, I was lucky to have some good bosses. Go and look at my resume, and you’ll see the companies I’ve worked for who gave me good bosses. They’re the ones who gave me the freedom to be creative and offer new, big ideas.

I was also lucky to have some really, REALLY bad bosses. Those you won’t find on my resume. I’m not just talking about people who didn’t understand creative work or who were just trying to put their mark on everything I did, I’m talking about some true knobs of epic proportions. Bosses who offered clients crappy work day-in and day-out. Bosses who said one thing and really meant another. Bosses who berated you in front of clients because your ideas were not what they thought the client wanted to hear.

They know who they are. They read this blog. Welcome back, by the way.

What, me? Smug, you say? Never. Actually, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank these less-than-desireable leaders for teaching me how NOT to do business. During my time at these companies, I sat in meetings where my bosses would NEVER offer new and big ideas. Nothing fresh, nothing outrageous, nothing out of the box. Everything they did lacked courage and creativity. It oozed of complacency and the status quo.

As for me, I just sat back taking notes in those meetings. Notes about what NOT to do, how NOT to act, and how NOT to ever, EVER be like these people, ever.

All the jobs I’ve hated, I’ve learned from. Successful people will tell you that learning happens more when you fail, than when you succeed. While, in hindsight, I wouldn’t call working for Knobs, Inc. et al a failure, in the beginning of these jobs, I was certain I was a failure by going against the company grain, offering fresh ideas, and not settling for the obvious solutions. The truth is, I was learning some of the greatest business lessons of my life.

My lesson today for you is to always fail forward. That means that every time you feel like you’re failing, look for the lesson. It’s there. All the time. When you’ve found it, you’ve advanced. At one ad agency back in Connecticut, I was to come up with some ‘fresh’ radio spots for a client. So that’s what I did. The result - five spots my boss HATED. He wouldn’t even show them to the client. He swore at me, threatened me and then threw my spots in the trash.

Was that a failure? Maybe at the time. Today, those five spots have brought me more freelance copywriting work than I could have ever imagined at the time.

I failed forward. You will too.