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First Person: Why Networking is Essential to Building a Business

12/5/2014

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by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer
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When building a business, there are many things to keep in mind in order to keep it afloat. One of the best pieces of business advice I received when starting my own business was to network. This is true for all businesses, but it's especially helpful for small businesses.

Networking with business peers provides essential knowledge

Others in your field can share important facts and advice with you. Even if you keep up with the latest business news, others will have other helpful experiences and insight. You may not always do things the way that person recommends, but sharing opinions, advice, and experiences with each other can teach you all valuable lessons.


Industry clients can help you satisfy your own clients

Talking to those who seek the services or products you provide can help you gain insights into dealing with your own clients. Of course, you will discuss things with your own clients. But networking with others, whether they become clients or not, can give you a different perspective. They may also help you come up with innovative new ideas.

Network with your audience to keep them satisfied

I am a journalist, which means that I need to keep readers happy. I also own several websites. Much of what I do revolves around content, be it creation, editing, publishing, and even mentoring. It's highly important that I keep up with what my audience is interested in. If I don't know what they want, I could easily lose that audience. Another website or article is just a click away from mine. For this reason, I like to keep an open dialogue with my audience. I will network through social sites and answer questions wherever my work is displayed. I consider my readers to be my friends. This is one thing I have done from the beginning just for the enjoyment. But I quickly learned it was also good business practice.

Where can you network with everyone?


There are many possibilities when it comes to networking. You can join organizations especially geared toward your business. There are also focus groups (online and off), business forums, and seminars. Online forums are a great way to discuss ideas, network with customers, and clients, and even find training materials. Social venues, such as facebook and Twitter can be invaluable. They can allow the space to network with clients, gain clients, network with peers, and even offer customer service. For those leery of adding just anyone to their facebook friends, you don't have to. Set up a public facebook page for business purposes. There are many possibilities. Where you network is not as important as keeping it up and having a variety of sources.

The recommendation to expand networking came near the beginning of my career as a journalist. I firmly believe it is a large reason for many of my successes thus far. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and share things with peers, audience, clients, and customers. When you open up to them, they will be willing to open up to you as well. Everyone has something to teach someone else about every business and networking makes that possible.

*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network
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Should Web Writers Produce More Questions or Answers?

11/20/2014

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by Richard Rowell; Co-owner of Brand Shamans & Write W.A.V.E. Media
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Sometimes, I’ll have an idea that is very difficult to express. When I finish writing my first draft, I feel like readers may finish the piece with more questions than answers. Typically, it’s considered the job of a web writer to provide answers to one's queries. But sometimes, I find myself causing people to ask themselves even more questions. In the realm of web writing, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

As someone who developed his skills in the realm of offline writing, it's probably not surprising that previously I was typically more into writing persuasive essays rather than articles. Of course, I wrote some research papers, including quite a number in my college years. But even then, I often left people asking themselves questions.

I don't think it's fair to always give people straightforward answers, especially when there can be multiple “right” answers. Yes, purely informational articles are fine. Depending on the situation, you may want to be concise and straight to the point without leaving any realistic chance of confusion. Of course, you can never be 100 percent sure that someone won't misunderstand. But the skill of being as clear and precise as possible is extremely important to have. Still, if the topic has some grey areas, don’t try to answer every possible question. It’s OK to leave the reader with some questions.

One great example of leaving the reader with more questions than answers is when discussing philosophies of how and why to write. Sure, I can explain what works and doesn’t work for me. But as I’ve found over the years, you can take lots of advice as a writer, but you have to find your own way. You have to ask the right questions of yourself, and that’s why I always pose so many in my writing articles.

Sure, sometimes you’re going to have writing guidelines, especially for work-for-hire assignments. In those cases, clients pay you to write the content they want. But when you have your own website, or have permission to express yourself freely as an op-ed or guest blogger, it’s OK to ask more questions than give answers. This translates to any sort of writing. You need to keep your own voice and keep readers involved by making them think.

The purely informational approach is best when discussing topics that have step-by-step guides or otherwise specific directions. Then, there’s taking the position of trying to persuade your audience to consider one or more perspective. The last option is to have the reader question his or her own opinions on particular topics. Preferably, I prefer the last option the most in my writing work.

This is why I like to alternate between writing articles and more casual, conversational "bloggy" pieces. While they don't seem to go together, in reality, it is my belief that you have to write both in order to truly grow as a writer. Also, you can compose brilliant informational pieces until your fingers fall off or your brain conks out, but rarely get interactions.

I've sadly found that the "infoplease" types of pieces can often lead to "hit-and-run" traffic that doesn’t really engage. It’s hard to make money this way. I’ve found you need more conversational pieces in order to truly be viewed as a thought leader in your particular topic or field. Otherwise, you just offer free information that people will glance over and move on with their lives.

You want to plant seeds of interest and motivate people to come back and be challenged again. This is the sort of audience that will in the long run become your greatest fans and advocators. You want them to ask questions, even if you don’t have all the answers. After all, asking questions is the first step to true wisdom.

Before you begin writing any piece, ask yourself:

If you could write about anything, what would it be and why?

Then, ask yourself:

If I think no one will care about what I want to write, how can I make them care?

If that second question involves asking the reader to ask even more questions, that’s fine. Just be clear in sharing what you know and make readers think. So, should web writers produce more questions or answers? In my opinion, you’ll always produce plenty of both, and it all evens out in the end.

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Finding Your Audience and Promoting Interaction

10/7/2014

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by Richard Rowell; Co-owner of Brand Shamans & Write W.A.V.E. Media
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Photo credit: Pixabay, Public Domain
The most important thing about online marketing is making sure people see you before they see someone else. Sounds basic enough. One of the best ways to keep your name in front of people is to have a page on each of the major social networks. However, while having a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn profile, Pinterest boards, and other social network profiles are fine and dandy, you need to know exactly where your audience and potential readers actually are. They won't necessarily come to you if you’re not focusing on the right places.

The Upside to Being Social Online

One of the primary reasons it's suggested to make accounts on all of the major social networks is that chances are you will dominate page one of Google for your brand (personal or professional) just by having all of them. The flip-side to this is if someone clicks on one of these pages and sees you haven't updated it in forever, you'll get an immediate bounce most of the time. The one that you might get away with not updating weekly is Pinterest, as pins have quite a long shelf life - they can be found and shared easily for years. Even then, you want to have at least something new on each of those social pages at least once a week. Once people find you, you'll have a far better chance of engaging them if your shared content is recent.

The other major tactic is to go to major forums related to your topics that allow for links that actually give credit to your website - those that don't automatically put "nofollow" tags on your links. This can work two-fold. Not only do search-optimized hyperlinks help your rankings in search results, but you may also get a decent stream of traffic from your posts if forum members find it to be helpful content. It’s especially useful if you can answer questions that aren’t getting answered. But keeping up with these forums can be difficult to do on a regular basis unless you really work at it and follow the conversations regularly. Still, it's a very sound way to go if you find that it’s a good place to invite positive interactions around your content.

So Where Are My Best Followers to Be Found?

Both of these tactics are well and good, and as long as you follow best practices, you should see positive results. You want to sell what you know, and not so much your brand. It’s completely possible that your best and most loyal followers may not be on Facebook, or Twitter, or LinkedIn. Those sites might be good for your overall SEO strategy and build your traffic, as long as a good percentage of said traffic actually stays on your website.

Mere curiosity can sometimes lead to a strong new connection, but you want to make sure that people that click on your link are more often than not ready and willing to buy into what you have to offer. The social networks are good for traffic generation, but they’re not the only tool. Forums are far more focused and therefore can bring you higher quality traffic.

In any case, whether you’re just starting out with social media and the like, or even if you have been at it for a while, you need to constantly do your homework. It’s extremely important to discover where your potential audience hangs out online. One great idea is to ask your current fans what social networks they frequent the most and in what forums they may participate. You can also search for your top keywords and see if there are forums on topics related to the products and/or services you provide.


Are People Talking About Me?

You may also find if you search for you or your brand that people are talking to or about you. In that case, especially if it's negative commentary, you want to get in there and respond positively and respectfully, even if the person seems unreasonable. This way, at least your side is out there and other people seeing it will at least see your honest effort. It is also a potential link back to your site, even if has "no follow" tags, it's both great PR and people may well still click on it and give you a chance.

Also, whatever sites you join and create a profile on, be sure to listen in for a while. You can introduce yourself, but just don't overdo it. Only post as you feel is necessary or as you feel is honestly helpful and not just trying to sell yourself. If you find that you start creating strong relationships with people on forums or networks, that's a good thing, because you will have good ambassadors online for your work. The more positive comments you receive about you and your work, the better.

Optimizing content and promoting your business is not always just about traditional SEO. Even participating on sites with "no-follow" tags on their links as many popular forums and social networks do still helps send the right signals to the search engines. Also, your posts can show up in search results for keywords relevant to you if you craft them with your keyword strategy in mind.

It's crucial to know where your core audience spends their time, so that you can interact with them in a different atmosphere. In doing so, you can possibly make a few new friends that could make your overall marketing efforts go a long way. Remember, sell what you know, and make yourself a resource for good, strong answers. With a bit of effort and some luck, those same people will likely have more questions of the topics you write about. Then, you can become the go-to source for their answers.
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Web Writing Tips: Know Your Audience

3/28/2013

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by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Are you targeting the right people with your writing? Who are you focusing on either intentionally or unintentionally? How do you know? As I am constantly telling my writing peers, knowing your audience is vital. During my career as a web writer, I've learned several ways to figure out what my potential audience wants and needs.

Consider the topic. What are people looking up your topic interested in? If you want to write parenting tips, think about common issues parents face and what you've done to solve those issues. If you want to write about writing, think about all the things you once looked up. Know what people into that topic are going to be interested in. Be very specific and gear your writing toward people who would be interested in that topic. For instance, if you are writing about dogs, don't veer off into talking about cats or mice. If someone clicks onto your dog article, they want to read about dogs.

Pay attention to reader comments in your niche areas. This will help you determine what people want to read. Readers may ask questions, express their disinterest in another topic, thank the writer for the info, and more. There is often much to learn just by reading the comments on your own articles, as well as others. What better way to learn what readers like than by looking straight to them for their thoughts? Another benefit to this gaining loyalty from regular readers. If they know that you actually care and pay attention to what they want, they'll interact more often.

Keep up with news and information changes regarding your topic.
Staying on top of things helps readers trust what you say. It's also part of knowing who you're speaking to in your content. Don't write about a topic, unless you know what you are talking about because readers will call you out on it. On the other hand, if you do keep up with the latest in your niche area, readers notice that as well and will thank you instead. Periodically, I check my tutorial and how-to articles to make sure that the information is still accurate. If not, I will make edits where the venue permits it to reflect newer information. This helps give my audience what they want whether they access my article the day it publishes or months from then.

Study websites and blogs related to your topic.
While it's beneficial to also study the venue where you are publishing, don't be afraid to also look outside that source. Take a look at how readers are responding to your niche topic elsewhere. Also, look at the methods each writer uses to interest the audience. See what you can learn from what other writers are doing. While you don't want to copy someone else, you can always learn from others and implement the lessons into your own style.

Pay attention to how your readers respond to what you write.
Are readers responding negatively or positively to your work? How is it affecting the frequency of traffic on your articles? Do they blog about your work elsewhere? Are they asking you questions or sharing your work on social networks? If they're sharing, is it in a positive or negative light? These are all things you want to look at to see what your audience wants. When you can figure out what they respond to, you will have a better chance at reaching your intended audience.

***Note: I originally published this on Yahoo! Contributor Network


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    Lyn Lomasi is founder and owner of the Brand Shamans Content Community. Services include ordained soul therapy and healing ministry, business success coaching, business success services, handcrafted healing jewelry, ethereal and anointing oils, altar and spiritual supplies and services, handcrafted healing beauty products, and more!

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