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.

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?

“This Hour Has 22 Widgets” to Deal With Unique Products and Services, Marketing Strategies and Tactics

News Facts:

• Jason Pedley, a North Carolina-based freelance copywriter, has announced he will host a BlogTalkRadio show called “This Hour Has 22 Widgets.” Pedley’s host page can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/jason_pedley.

• “This Hour Has 22 Widgets” will showcase products, services and ideas from his clients and other companies across America and discuss marketing topics and ideas that contribute to business success.

• Pedley’s first guests will be Kim Mack and Staci Douglas, founders of Out of the Box Party (www.outoftheboxparty.com). Pedley will interview them about their online business and what marketing tools they use to be successful. The segment can be heard live on BlogTalkRadio.com on Tuesday September 25th, 2007 at 10:00am Eastern time.

• BlogTalkRadio allows anyone to host their own live radio show online. Hosts are assigned a number that they dial into and use a web-based control panel to manage callers, advertising, music and effects. Listeners are given a dial-in number to call that allows them to ask questions and interact live with hosts and guests. Listeners may also send emails and instant messages to the hosts during a show to ask questions.

• Shows can be scheduled up to one month in advance and listeners can tune in on the BlogTalkRadio website at www.blogtalkradio.com. All segments are recorded and available afterward as podcasts through the BlogTalkRadio website and iTunes.

• Jason Pedley is a freelance copywriter with website content and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experience in real estate, gaming, tourism, dining, entertainment, retail, meetings and conventions and technology.

Please use this URL 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 www.linkedin.com/pub/2/64b/756 for Jason Pedley’s LinkedIn profile.)

Quotes attributable to Freelance Copywriter Jason Pedley-

• “I got the idea for my BlogTalkRadio show after hearing one too many dry, run-of-the-mill podcasts produced by PR agencies and hosted by account executives reading word-for-word from a script.”

• “This Hour Has 22 Widgets injects life into the podcast and brings excitement and energy to the format. ”

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, jasonpedleycopywriter.wordpress.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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Statistics how that Americans spend 12 weeks every year — a full three months — looking for things they know they have, but just can’t find.

Luckily, there are people like Doreen Stern, PH.D., aka The Desk Doktor, to save us.

Doreen will be my host on Thursday, October 4th at 10:00am on This Hour Has 22 Widgets. We’ll talk about simple things we all can do to clear the clutter from our lives, our businesses and our minds and get back to the things that truly matter.

And speaking of businesses…the average American executive wastes six weeks every year searching for misplaced documents. Also, the average American employee has about 37 hours of unfinished work on their desk at any time…and typically takes three hours each week to sort through piles.

I’d tell you to write the date and time down on a piece of paper, but with all these statistics, I’m afraid you’ll lose the paper.