Writing is hard. Writing for your website is tortuous. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Earlier this week, we talked about WHY it’s hard to write website copy for your business. There are SO. MANY. REASONS. And yes, one of the ways to make writing for your website easier is to hire a copywriter (hello, hi, it’s me;) ). But you know what? You can also DIY your website copy. You can (and will) get better the more you write.
15 months after I started Rough Draft Solutions, I hired my first two interns. Since then, I have had five interns and each one has taught me important lessons, helped me grow as a leader, and pushed RDS forward.
A photo may be worth a thousand words, but what happens when it’s paired with a well thought out caption? Now that’s where the magic happens.
Instagram captions can be a time-suck. You finally perfected your photo and are now staring at a white box wondering what in the world to say. You frantically head to Pinterest searching for an idea, a clever phrase, or a witty quote. Maybe you type a few words, but then immediately erase it because it’s not creative enough, cheeky, or genuine. Next thing you know, a half hour goes by, and you have to move on to the next thing on your endless to-do list without even posting a photo! Ugh.
Your business can’t do it all. You may want to offer all the services your customers are looking for, but that’s not the best plan for you or them. What ends up happening is that you offer mediocre services you don’t love providing.
Instead of trying to offer everything, consider refining your one area of expertise and partnering with other companies that specialize in the other services your customers need.
Most of us recognize when it is appropriate to write emails in a formal or informal tone. At work, we are told to error on the side of being too professional when communicating with coworkers, our boss, and our clients. We’re given the impression that it’s better to be safe than sorry and to be careful not to come off as too casual or worse, disrespectful.
But once you’ve formed strong relationships with coworkers and clients, wouldn’t it feel weird to be strictly professional in your emails? Shouldn’t your communication style reflect the connection and trust you’ve built over time? So, how do you walk the line between being professional and personable in your emails?
What’s your home page saying about you? As the most viewed page on your website, your homepage should leave your audience intrigued and informed. What they should not be is bored, confused, or unsatisfied. If you don’t capture your current and potential customers’ attention quickly, they will leave. Seems like common knowledge, and yet, we come across poorly executed homepages every day!
What you include on your homepage sends your audience a message about what you think is most important for them to know, your approach to customer relationships, and why they should do business with you. Your homepage should direct your audience to where they should go next on your website and how they can get more information.
Your homepage is your 24/7 sales tool. Don’t screw it up.
Love it or hate it, blogging is here to stay. Every week I meet business owners who ask me about whether or not they should be blogging. Most times, my answer is yes, but under one condition.
Don’t be a dummy.
Okay, that may not be quite what I say, but if you’re going to write a blog you need to follow some house-rules. The rules aren’t complicated, in fact, they aren’t too different from what your 7th grade English teacher taught you in regards to writing a paper.
Awhile back, we made this blog writing checklist for a training session we did with one of our clients. This checklist is a quick and easy way to make sure you cover all the bases before you publish your blog post. Use this checklist as you get started writing and before you know it, blog writing will become second nature.
When it comes to blogging, one crucial and often, overlooked aspects of blogging is finding the time to do it! The idea of having a thriving, popular blog sounds fantastic, but making it happen is another story. You may have a plethora of blog topics you want to publish, but it’s tricky to find the time to blog when you have a hectic schedule.
Today, I will give you tips that can help you thoughtfully plan your time and dismiss the overwhelming stresses, so you can bring your blog ideas to life.
Content developers and website designers go hand-in-hand. Whether your website designer is building you a brand new website, or if you’re going through a website refresh, it’s important that your website tells your story. So what does your web designer really want from you? Content.
When it comes to website content, we’re talking more than simply text and pictures. For Klimb Creative, we want to know the nitty gritty details so we know how to build and structure your website. Here are a few basic elements we want to know:
While you may not want to accept the fact that your brochures are a bit boring and ugly, don’t be too discouraged. You don’t need to be a professional designer in order to create a polished piece. However, before you go all DIY crazy, there are 5 major mistakes you need to avoid.
Turning a blank page into a piece of engaging and sophisticated content is a tough task. There are some days where the amount of creativity spilling out of you is utterly ridiculous, and your swift typing fingers can hardly keep up with your ideas. And then there are days where you can’t seem to think of a solid concept, let alone write it down.
Being a writer for Rough Draft Solutions has been so much fun and such a blessing, but believe me - there are days where writer’s block gets the best of me, and I stare at my laptop for probably way too long. Every writer experiences writer’s block at some point, and each person handles it differently.
Before throwing in the towel or overstressing and freaking out that you can’t get over your writer’s block, here are some tips on ways you can cope, manage, and beat writer’s block when writing for your business. Some methods may work for you and some may not, but there are plenty of different efforts you can try to beat writer’s block and make creativity your friend again.
Before I get into the nitty gritty of this post, I have an important question for you.
Do you have a personal brand?
If you answered yes, great! Keep reading, I have included several powerful tools for you to ramp up your brand!
If you answered, no, I’ve got some earth-shattering news for you. You already have a brand, whether you know it or not. And if you aren’t actively managing it, your brand is most likely working against you, instead of for you. I know, I know. You don’t need one more thing to add to your to-do list. But trust me, personal branding needs to be on your list. If it isn’t, you could quickly lose control of your personal and professional identities and find yourself in the category of wishy-washy has-been.
As an avid writer, you systematically double check your commas, intently review your grammar usage, and triple proofread your content. Once these tasks are complete, what is the next step? There are many similar tips that float around the Internet of how to become better writers and how to improve your editing processes, but what do you do if you want to refine yourself as a writer on a daily basis? Writing clear messages, staying professional, and captivating your readers with descriptive language is a strong start, but how can you make sure your skills are as sharp as possible?
Employers daily receive an abundance of resumes, and whether yours pops up via e-mail or gets shuffled amongst a database, you’ve only got a few seconds to grab their attention. With such a short time span and fierce competition, finding ways to make your resume stand out amongst the pack is the key to getting an interview.
But creating the perfect resume is a bit of a tricky and (sometimes) confusing process. How should you design it? And which content is important to include and which isn’t? What is the secret to creating a resume that will actually get your hired?
Chances are if you clicked on this article you’re not new to the idea of social media marketing. With 74% of the adult population active on a variety of social networks it’s evident something is working when it comes to connecting with customers online. That’s basic marketing 101 - be where your customers are.
Picking the right social media platform to connect with your customers is a bit subjective. As I am sure you can guess, most businesses invest the bulk of their energy into the more obvious platforms like Facebook. But there is one network in particular that deserves a lot more attention—Pinterest.
For some, networking simply comes naturally while for others it’s a necessary evil. While we can agree that creating meaningful connections with others is vital to business, it doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s not always easy. Which begs the question: What about networking makes it scary? And how can we get over the fear of networking?
The answer to the first question is simple, networking makes us vulnerable. It forces us to put ourselves out there. And I mean really out there. But we need to remind ourselves that everyone networking has a common goal - to make quality connections to grow their business. And most of them are just as nervous as you! As you meet more people you will find that the reward of the relationships you’re creating greatly outweigh the fears associated with networking.
The second question – how can you get over the fear of networking - deserves most of our focus. Here are six tips that I have personally learned and used in the past two years to help boost my confidence and start building meaningful business relationships.
Did you survive the first full week of work after the holidays? I hope so! My family rang in the New Year in Florida and I couldn't be more thankful for the restorative and much-enjoyed break. But now it's go-time. And if my inbox full of emails wasn't enough to bring me back to reality, the more than 80-degree change sure did! ;)
So, it's really 2015 huh? We all have a clean slate and 2015 is just waiting for us to do what we want with it. Let's put the seemingly required "work out" resolutions aside for a moment and think about real goals and aspirations that you want to work toward and changes you want to make a reality for your business this year. Here are a few questions to help you start brainstorming (Don't feel bad, while it may be the second week of January, it's always better to start late than never!).
"The truth is, what you do matters. What you do today matters. What you do every day matters. Successful people just do the things that seem to make no difference in the act of doing them and they do them over and over and over until the compound effect kicks in.”
― Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life
I love this idea. You can apply this concept to whatever element of life is most relevant to you at the moment. Whether you are trying to lose weight, save money or start a new business, you need to do things over and over and over again before there will be any sign of growth or improvement. What you do matters. What you do today matters.
Email marketing and social media have been a focus of our project work lately, so today we have created a round-up of interesting articles for you to read. So many business owners are faced with the feeling that they have to be on social media and they need to be sending out emails. Instead of being deliberate and planning things out, they often post or email haphazardly. Not necessarily a recipe for success.
These articles offer unique and relevant tips that you can start implementing today! Enjoy!
