Words to the Wise

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.

There’s a saying going around the web right now:

“Boring podcasts suck”

Thankfully, the phrase acknowledges (albeit by subtraction) that there is the possibility for a suck-free podcast - which is exactly what my BlogTalkRadio show, This Hour has 22 Widgets, proves…or is in the process of proving.

I’ve wanted to podcast for well over a year now. But every time I listened to a podcast, I’d get turned off. My initial reaction to most podcasts is “I don’t want to do my own podcast and have it be as boring as the one I just listened to.”

I think, for too long now, companies have focused on the content of their podcasts and not the delivery. I believe content and delivery are of equal importance when it comes to podcasting. And it seems like a lot of companies these days aren’t getting that. I’m not sure if it’s their need for some marketing guidance, or if a PR agency has sold them on the idea that ‘dry is better,’ but I’ve heard WAY too many PR agency account execs read word-for-word from a script while their clients read back from an equally dry and over-prepared script.

It’s time for podcasts to stop sucking. It’s time to discover BlogTalkRadio, which is what I did.

If you’ve got a business, product or service, and you want to be featured on my show, email me. Here are five very good reason why this form of podcasting is so powerful:

1. It’s live…at first. When the green light turns on, and my intro music plays, there’s no turning back. Whatever game you brought with you that day is the game people are going to hear. The good news is, I’m pretty good at interviewing, have a halfway decent sense of humor and can help you get (and keep) your head in the show.

2. I’s live…forever. One of my favorite things about my show is that it’s always live - even if you listen to it a year after it’s recorded. It’s like watching old episodes of The Price Is Right. There’s excitement and vitality in every episode, no matter when you watch.

3. In the end, it’s YOUR show. While I submit a copy of the final podcast to iTunes and keep a copy on my BlogTalkRadio show page, you can do whatever you like with your copy. Put it on your site to build content. Put out a press release about it. Send a link to it in your company’s e-newsletter. There are a ton of ways to use a podcast as a business-building tool.

4. You control the content. Except for the odd commercial, sound effect and my theme music, the show is really yours. You tell me what you want people to hear, and I ask the right question to let you get your message out. There are no gags, no tricks, no potty mouth, just a live radio show to get your message out.

5. You can be anywhere. I live in North Carolina. You can live in California and still be on my show. I’ve got clients in Florida, Connecticut, Canada, New Jersey and other places. My show works no matter where you are.

What’s keeping you from podcasting?

Every week I read about another ad agency or PR firm that’s won some ‘prestigious award.’ But what’s an award really boil down to? For me, it boils down to a third-party endorsement by some governing body or panel who decides what company will get the award based on who won last year and who’s popular this year.

Honestly, the only third-party endorsement I want is that of my clients.

You could win every award known to man and STILL not produce results for your clients. I have clients come to me for exactly that reason - the award-winning firm they were using didn’t produce the results the client wanted.

Secretly, I think the reason I don’t like awards is because I never want to win one based on this criteria:

“Recipients of the “blah blah blah” Award are recognized by industry experts for talent that exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.”

Really, I’d much rather my clients be happy than have to see my name next to copy like that.

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.