How often do you leave comments on blog posts or in discussion groups? In my very first BRIEF, Spin Your SEO Web, I recommended adopting a daily habit of adding comments onto blog posts because it helps improve the search engine rankings for your website. Recently, I discovered it can do a lot more.

Lead Generation
Two weeks ago I received an email from Gillian Rossouw of Jill of All Trades. She contacted me through my website after reading a comment I had made on a Paul Hassing (@PaulHassing) post to the Small Business Owner blog. This is what she said:

I saw your comment to Paul's posting on MYBRC. I am in the process of having my website updated. I am looking for some "wow factor" content writing. I understand that no one knows one’s own business like the owner, but I seem to be having writer's block. Can you give me an idea of your costs?

Closed Business
I wrote back to Gillian saying I was sure I could help her. Within the hour, she was on the phone to me. Cutting to the chase, I’m happy to say Jill of All Trades is a new client. This week I’m developing web content for Gillian’s new site which will be launched soon.

The Take-Away
Commenting on blog posts and participating in online discussions improves your SEO. It can also lead to business opportunities you might not have anticipated. My experience with Jill of All Trades isn’t unusual. My first contact with one of my oldest clients, Clayko Group, started when I left a comment on their website.

What are some of your techniques for generating leads?

website: www.globalcopywriting.com

Twitter: twitter.com/globalcopywrite

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Blogging has become a necessary activity in the life of many business owners. This post discusses proven techniques to make your blog more effective and, in the process, increase the value of the time you spend writing your blog.

Is your blog doing the job you want it to do? Are you looking for ways to get more interaction with your readers?  If you’re like me, you’ve read dozens of articles on how to make your blog more effective. Some of them are useful. Some of them are hardly worth reading. I don’t have the luxury of being a full-time blogger and struggle every week to find time to fit it into my workload. (Sound familiar?)  I have learned a few things that have made a significant impact on my blog traffic and thought I’d share them with you.

Read the entire post:  9 Tips That Improved My Blog

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Do you know what the word “ideation” means? How about “subitise”? Until recently, I didn’t know what they meant and wasn’t even sure they were actual words. I have four dictionaries on my desk, two synonym finders and two thesauruses. I couldn’t find either word in any of the eight books.

Boy, do I feel stupid?
Just the opposite. My overwhelming feeling was irritation. Why? Because the writer, in both cases, was attempting to establish authority on their subject matter by using fancy pants words. I’m at a loss why people do this, especially when it comes to marketing documents. If you have a really big-brained person reading your document, they probably know at least as much as you do. If the reader isn’t quite so gifted - like me - the results are worse. 1) The reader will feel stupid and quietly go away or, 2) The reader will think you’re an idiot and possibly blab about it a blog post. Either way, you haven’t gained the sort of influence you’re after.

What’s the big ideation?
A few well-placed tweets and appeals to the brainiacs in my network revealed the definitions. Subitise means, “to perceive the number of (a group of items) at a glance and without counting”. Ideation means “idea generation”. Both words are psychological terms and have no place in business communication. My query revealed more ridiculous words/phrases. My favourite was shared by @davidlmorris, “verbal facilitation” used in place of “talking”. Oh brother!

Take-Away
When writing marketing documents, express yourself in a simple, straightforward way. Using big words and flowery phrases doesn’t impress and, at worst, offends your reader. The idea is to communicate, not confuse.

What words have sent you looking in the dictionary lately?

website: www.globalcopywriting.com

Twitter: twitter.com/globalcopywrite

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Pricing professional services isn't an exact science. There are times, however, when client behaviour guarantees a higher rate. Read this post to find out 7 things to avoid if you want the best deal on copywriting services.

Have you ever thought, “I’m not getting paid enough to do this work?” I recently read an article by Perth copywriter Aaron Bloxsome of Clear Copywriting. Titled, “Beware of the Monster Clients of the Deep”, Aaron detailed several indicators for recognising a potentially troublesome client. The striking thing about his story was that nearly every one of his warning signs would cause me to increase my fees. That got me thinking.

Read more of  7 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Copywriting Fees

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Developing competent business content is harder than it looks. What might sound good to the average person, could be losing prospects and customers. This post describes the problem with gobbledygook in business writing and gives some suggestions on how to avoid it.

Are you a leading provider of innovative, cost effective solutions with world-class service and a unique portfolio of robust products? Are you pleased to announce a next generation partnership to become an industry leader in quality assurance to optimise customer satisfaction? Are you focused on flexibility, scalability and high performance outcomes? I hope not. I really hope not.

Read more of Isn’t it Time to Ungook Your Gobbledy?

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While social media is widely accepted as an ideal method to drive traffic to your website, RSS feeds are often under-utilised or forgotten. After discussing how I was using my own RSS feed with my web designer, I realised I was missing a great opportunity to promote my content. Read this post to find out how an RSS feed can improve your content marketing activities.

Last week I posted an article on Bloggertone titled 8 Reasons it makes CENTS to give your content away. As a content marketing practitioner and enthusiast, I promoted the practice of unlocking the content on your website - making it available to anyone that wants to read it. The idea behind this is you will get more benefit by freely sharing your knowledge than protecting it and charging for the privilege of your expertise.

Read the entire post: Putting Legs on Your Content with RSS at Global Copywriting

If you’re in Melbourne, attend my talk on Content Marketing

With everyone jumping on the social media bandwagon, the lines are being blurred about the different tools and how to use them. LinkedIn, in particular, is not a tool designed for popularity contests. With more and more inappropriate requests to connect coming across my desk, I decided it was time to explain the importance of keeping a closed network on LinkedIn.

Have you experienced an increase in LinkedIn traffic? I’ve been hit with a spate of “join my network” invitations lately. Frankly, I don’t like it. While LinkedIn is a social media tool, it’s not designed for open networking. Mostly, I don’t know the people contacting me. Depending on my mood, I’ll just click on the “I don’t know this person” button. More often, I’ll write to the sender explaining my reasons for refusing the invitation. Last week I got a snide reply back accusing me of not understanding how to network. I think it’s time to explain my position on LinkedIn more clearly.

Read the entire post, 6 Reasons for Refusing LinkedIn Invitations

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Media140 hit Perth last week to a packed house of social media enthusiasts. While everyone agreed the networking was fantastic, many people felt like no new ground had been covered. Read this post to discover why Sarah Mitchell from Global Copywriting was humming along to the Troggs and getting excited about social media all over again.

I attended the Media140, exploring the future of the Real-Time Social Web conference in Perth on Thursday, 25 February. Billed as “Brands, Marketing & Communications in the Real-Time Social Web”, I booked an early-bird ticket without really knowing what to expect. I know I wasn’t the only one. I was extremely interested to hear experiences of how other people were using social media. I was also looking forward to meeting the faces behind the avatars I’ve been communicating with for over a year, mostly on Twitter. Held at the Perth Town Hall, at the end of the long day nearly all the attendees were still in their seats. The content of the conference clearly outweighed the physical discomfort created by packing over 300 people and 20 speakers into the second floor of the old building on what turned out to be a sweltering day.

Read the full post at Global Copywriting, Media140 The Troggs, Westpac and Kanye West

Follow Sarah Mitchell on Twitter: @globalcopywrite

Cultivating Word of Mouth recommendations is valuable for any business but especially SMB and SME organisations. This post discusses one way to easily implement some content marketing strategy and increase your Word of Mouth referrals.

How often do you pass on the details of a blog post or an online article to your network? I do it all the time. I’m particularly inclined to do it when I can click on a widget to do the work for me. Time is in short supply in my office and I don’t always stop to shorten a link and send it along. Give me a tool to construct a message and I’ll happily broadcast it.

What a great idea!
I was delighted last week to see someone use a sharing widget in a different way. A company based in Sydney called Ideas into Action have a Share This Site button on their home page. That’s right, they’re encouraging a Word of Mouth recommendation by making it easy to share the details of their website. When you select the Twitter option on the widget, you conveniently get the following tweet crafted for you:

Small Business Marketing Consultants, Services & Strategies, Sydney | Ideas into Action: http://bit.ly/d9bTQ8 via @addthis

The Take-Away
Put a sharing widget on your home page. With very little effort, customers and prospects give you a valuable Word of Mouth (WoM) recommendation. It has the potential to generate unique user traffic, improving your SEO. If you're a small business, it's a potent piece of content marketing. I’ve added it to my list of website upgrades.

What cool little marketing tricks do you use?

Follow Sarah Mitchell on Twitter: @globalcopywrite

website: www.globalcopywriting.com

Is your customer service focused on your marketing efforts or improving the customer experience? Is every interaction with your customer base an opportunity to sell more product?

 Have you ever walked away from a customer service situation and felt scammed?

In a recent Problogger post, Darren Rowse addressed a common problem. Titled What Have You Been Putting Off and What’s Holding You Back?, he goes on to list all the reasons why he hasn’t tackled an eBook he planned to write. One thing he worries about resonated with me precisely because it’s a pet peeve of mine

Read the entire post: Is your customer service a thinly veiled sales job? at Global Copywriting.

Follow Sarah Mitchell on Twitter: @globalcopywrite