All Posts, Content & Copywriting
While talking to a client about her new website that Design Theory is currently creating, we began discussing and distinguishing the differences of websites similar to her industry. During the discussion I asked her if she wanted a Pop Tart vs. Toaster Strudel design and content. We both chuckled while I explained the difference and how that would affect her readership and visitation numbers. As I explained my breakfast treat comparison, it occurred to me that this would make great content itself for a blog. So with sweet treat comparatives, tongs in hand, let’s see what the difference is and what to look out for when designing your own personal use or business website.
Sticky Jelly or Oozing Content
Pop Tarts Toaster Strudel
Can be stored at room temperature Must stay frozen until ready for consumption
No need for refrigeration Leaving it out over 12 hours may make it unfit for consumption
What does this say about the quality of your content & about your website? Quickly written, often plagiarized content will only be worth the effort put into it. However content that is fresh, witty and deliberate will evoke the proper response for the goal set before it. It will be more pleasing and can easily be distinguished. And that’s exactly what you want and need to get your product and/or services sold. Once again, it’s a distinction between what looks good and achieves the goal that should direct the content accordingly.
Static or Creative Icing
Is your content very cookie-cutter, stationary or could be considered stale? Or does the verbiage move, flow and swirl to create interest and hold your reader’s attention? Is your use of imagery typical or often used stock photography or is it distinctive and has an artistic, creative flare to it? When choosing imagery, keep in mind that it should enhance and not compete with your written content to give a cohesive and an overall polished look to your website. You can have fun and go outside the box with most industries. Even content that is more factual and less opinionated can be creatively distinct while getting your message across and conveying important information.
Sometimes Pricing Makes a Difference, Sometimes Not
Pop Tarts Toaster Strudel
$3.99 for a 8 piece box $3 for a 6 pastry box
Being in the middle of the pricing spectrum for websites, we at Design Theory have had to burst the bubble of misconceptions when it comes to our prices versus the quality of talent/work we do. Our goal is to match the goals and level of business of a client’s company with a website that will do just that within the confines of their allotted budget. Now sometimes we have to push back and encourage a particular client to go beyond their budget and give them some industry inside look as to why. And because we do what we do well, it’s usually not hard for them to acknowledge the benefits of doing so and agree. But for other companies, just be aware that all that glitters may not be gold and likewise, the cheapest design/pricing may not be tarnished brass. Remember, there’s a difference between cheap and affordable web designs. I believe you have to ask the right questions, look at a company’s track record/dossier and determine what’s best for your business. Then you can make an educated decision about how much you NEED to pay for a website that fulfills its purpose for your business or personal objectives.
So depending on what your business palate wants and needs, you can determine whether you choose a “mediocre but gets the job done” website & content, or if you’re in need of a step-up, more sophisticated level design. Whichever works for you, make sure you choose well and always consider the palate of your consumers.
~ Content Writing Inspiration ~ 
True Ease in Writing comes from Art, not Chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.
~Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Criticism”
All Posts, Content & Copywriting
Bright Lights Big City…NYC – it beckons hope, energy and creativity. I remember arriving for my first big job at NASDAQ -I felt like I could do any & everything with hard work, tenacity and a great resume. Some years later I started a small home-based business which grew considerably in the first 6 months and I was pleased with its progress. But then after the first full year, it just…leveled off. Not down, not up – just…STAGNANT. Leveraging those experiences, I now assist new & ever-growing companies with their content strategies as well as those stuck in their own quagmire of stagnant content on their website and branding materials. As a result, the lessons I learned about the success & initially unnoticed failures have helped me help others avoid the quicksand.
We all start out the gate at top speed – shooting on all 4 cannons with creativity, hutzpah and the excitement that surges like the jumbotron in Times Square. But knowing that as any business grows, you need to keep focused on consistent evolution in both your business model and the content on your website & marketing materials. In the Reinvent Your Content series, I will highlight some of the key elements worthy of consideration, to move your content (and business) forward on a consistent basis so that as time, Social Media and technology evolves, you will be on board with progressive motion.
Realize Stagnation When You See It~ Pond Scum…Ouch! Now I would never refer to the content on anyone’s website or marketing materials in such a tasteless manner. However, a business website can’t just put some stellar content on there and think thats it! I’m all set – ready to grow like eBay’s IPO. Even if you have William Faulkner-like skills when it comes to writing (or employing someone who does), one go around the bend will not be enough to reflect a business/company that is evolving with the times & technology. Fresh content on a regular basis is an ABSOLUTE MUST and that’s not always easy to get across to clients who are happy with the work you’ve done the first time around. When we think about the success of let’s say Apple (dare we?),we all acknowledge that Steve Jobs was nothing short of sheer genius-bubbling with overflowing creativity & endless ideas. But it was his appetite for constant evolution and challenging his whole company to make Apple products better, faster with seemingly limitless capabilities. It is this tenacity that consistently kept (and continues to keep) the company wow’ing the consumer while driving sales to unprecedented heights. So the moral here is to know that your content MUST GROW, EVOLVE & MORPH to keep the attention and business of your consumers.
Trial, Error & Rebuilding~ Most people are familiar with the word “troubleshooting” and many understand it in the context of problem recognition & solution. The same approach should be taken when looking at your business, it’s success or lack thereof. If your client base is not growing (or your profit margin), if client retention is an issue, or if sales are stationary, these are all red flags that require some assessment, realigning your goals and then plan implementation to chart your business boat in a new direction. A quote from my own business & life philosophy = There’s no shame in failing – the shame is when you recognize it but don’t react to it. And remember, data never lies. Want to know if your content strategies are working? Just look at your analytics, ROI and how many new customers you’ve gained in the last 6 months. There’s nothing wrong with scrapping the old, trying the new and testing the waters accordingly. Not every piece or facet of content works all the time. Be willing to find out if its working or not, go back to the drawing board to figure out why and jump in the think tank to come up with creative ways to solve the issues. This is where your pull from your team resources, be willing to hear multiple ideas and put the best ones into play.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford
Join me in the discussion by commenting on this blog and letting me know how you reinvent your content or would like to.
All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Marketing
You want me to do what? Something else besides read your blog or watch your commercial? Call right now? Give you the name of my friends & their email addresses? As if businesses don’t already require so much from the average consumer already, right! In the grocery stores, they want you to scan your own items & bag your own food. Don’t bother going into the bank when you can just do that account transfer yourself at home.
If you let businesses tell it, it’s really for your benefit you see…all in the name of quicker & saving you $. So when it comes to reading articles online, watching TV or surfing the web, Calls To Action (CTA’s) are peppered throughout just about every source of media to go beyond the current action of the user. For those unfamiliar with the term, a CTA is a statement imbedded in the content of the media source that summons the consumer to act. The goal is to implore the consumer to act upon information for the purpose of obtaining something from the consumer and most often, for making a sale. CTA’s often require an immediate response such as “call now, while supplies last,” write a Congressman to stop some agenda, or as simple as utilizing a coupon before a deadline.
So why are CTA’s so important in the first place and why are they a taking a leading role of so much media content? Here’s why: I have seen & heard of various marketing campaigns falling flat on their faces by failing to compel reaction from its audience. Although entertaining, a witty commercial can totally fail to sell the volume of product stocked in a warehouse because they lacked a clear call to action.
Terminology – Create, View, Buy Now, Subscribe…all are examples of businesses telling users/consumers what they want them to do. The words are usually short & concise because too many options & too many “too good to be true” statements turn users off. Word choice and terminology should always be relevant to the industry of the business. But in order for a business to see any ROI based on these efforts, they have to create a sense of urgency and/or create a limitation that once again, compels the reader or viewer to do something that is advantageous to the business.
Incentives & other “Bene’s” – Creative use of expiration dates and gifting incentives are very important in the world of CTA’s. In most cases, there has to be some type of incentive for the reader/user/consumer to go beyond what they are already doing. Such incentives may include a small token of appreciation such as a gift or discount that is relevant to they company or promotion of another business.
Make it Standout! I just love to see the little blue & white Cox Cable Digeez’ spin & flip around solving my internet & high-speed cable dilemma. http://bit.ly/CoxEspn3 Use of BOLD text, flash media and the like, as well as hyperlinks in web content are all tricks of the trade to peek the curiosity of the user to move them along the conveyor of consume & purchase world. So the main goal of both advertising agencies and media companies is to know how to stand out, get your attention and how to hold it long enough to profit them.
Use natural sounding phrases that are friendly yet enticing
Use testimonials to encourage participation
Use words that accurately describe the result of your interaction
Don’t be overly verbose-create simple & strong CTA’s
The bigger and more pronounced your call to action, the more chance it will be noticed and acted upon.
All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Marketing
Focus on Client Needs – The whole point of writing content for your clients is to provide value whether on their website, via their print marketing materials or on a billboard.
#1. Know their needs – spend time with your client obtaining relevant industry information, current marketing materials and noting their business insight into the industry (if it’s unfamiliar) and lastly, their company’s goals & desires.
#2. Know & Convey How Your Services Can Make Their Company Better – Be clear yourself and then convey to the client the benefits your services can provide them. Most importantly here is to establish a trustworthy relationship with them by making sure they know that:
- they have a professional who has the talent and experience to fulfill their needs. Provide references and previous examples of your work if needed. AND
- by connecting that experience & expertise to their content needs and how you can improve their professional credibility and financial line.
Stay Focused! – We may have our own ideas about a particular industry, political topic or the like, but you are being hired to do the job THEY want you to do. You have been hired to 
write about this client’s business, needs, ideas and standpoints-not your own. No matter how well you may write, you need to keep your writing focused on their area of expertise, products and/or services.
The Key to Keywords
#1. Remember to talk & write in the same industry language of your customers. A good tactic to employ here is to do some keyword research.
#2. Figure out how your customers (and their competition) think and how to write from that same level of expertise. See more from one of my previous articles http://bit.ly/Nsuub4 .
#3. Use a business based thesaurus. Here you will find other related words for a particular term that will showcase your assumed business prowess as well as increasing your clients SEO success.
I hope these few tidbits have been helpful. I’d love to hear what’s in your content writing toolbox and what tools you employ that I can add to sharpen my own content writing skills.
All Posts, Marketing
If you’ve been a freelancer for more than a year or two, the term “consultation” has a personal meaning to you. It means time you’re going to spend with a potential client for free to learn their needs and also your 15 minutes of fame to explain why you’re the best designer they’ll ever meet.
During these initial meetings, you the designer and your prospective client do a little bit of a dance. They initially believe you are good at what you do, but when you finally sit down at that coffee shop to show them your work, you still have to truly impress them. You’re going to say some industry terms to sound a bit techie and sophisticated like “your brand this,” or “corporate identity,” or “responsive web designs.” Things you know they may have heard or Googled but have to idea what they truly mean; though they know they want it.
Once you’re done with your presentation, and answered questions, you’re left with a bit of a pause and silence. This is where you need to be ready to pounce on sealing the deal. During your conversations though, there are a few things you’ll want to pick up on to gauge how you’ll want to seal the deal.
Body Language. This doesn’t necessarily take a psychology degree for you to use, but it is a good thing to keep a focus on. Pay attention to how they are sitting while you’re explaining your graphic process. Do they lean in, do they lock eyes with you while you’re talking. Are they fidgeting with their fingers or hands? These kinds of tells will give you some insight to what they’re actually thinking about.
Design Knowledge. How much of what you do are they already familiar with? Get them to talk about what they want first before you lean in on what you know and do. Its ok here because if you’ve made it this far in meeting with them, they already feel confident enough that you are who your reputation says. So spend a few minutes listening to what they say they’ve done in the past, or what they’d like to have done. This will help you understand the language level you need to be at. You’ll know if you can speak in more “tech-talk” or more in layman’s terms so that you’re not flying way over their heads.
Previous Experiences. Had this person or agency worked with a previous designer; and if so how was that experience. It ended for a reason which is why they’re speaking to you, so find out why. More times it may be a bad client/designer relationship that deteriorated over time. Was that time frame months, weeks, years? Is this potential client needy or expect projects done yesterday? Or do they need a lot of hand holding and persuasion to provide answers and content?
Budget Keywords. This one will pretty much tell you where on your pricing sheet they’ll fall. There are three factors to consider with any design project and that’s quality, price, and time. The client can choose only two out of those three, and you have to direct them there. I usually talk about price a little after I’ve made points to establish a base that myself and my team know what we’re talking about and are good at what we do. See the triangle below:
Be Prepared to Sign Today. Have all your necessary documents with you when you have your meetings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scheduled meetings thinking it would be casual and mostly informational that turn into “Do you take credit cards?” Our own content and copy writer Yvonne, signed a client while at the hospital visiting a family friend. Always have copies of your most up to date contract, brochures, media kits, business cards, and some form of payment acceptance and receipt system. If your meeting goes well, you’ll want to try to close the deal by the time their coffee cup is on their last sip. And we all know that last sip is the best. Chances are you’ll wow them and inspire them that you’re going to take their business to the next level. That feeling fizzles out with each passing day after your initial meeting, and it’s even harder to recreate that “chemistry” you had from the first meeting.
Really think about these things and see where you may have used some of these techniques before. For me, its something I love to teach to my team members of Design Theory to make them even more confident in themselves and the level of service we provide as a whole. Do you have some other tips you’d like to add? Please share in the comments below.
(featured image credit: 123RF Stock Photos Copyright (c)
All Posts, Content & Copywriting
Last week’s blog http://bit.ly/RxWTOk definitely caused successive waves of emotions regarding client communication and the rocky waters one can hit if misunderstood. Now this week I want to focus on the pitfalls of not being cognizant of gaps in communication with your colleagues. When life imitates art, reality reflects what had previously been expressed in that art (or literature, real life drama, etc). As I’m finding out more recently than ever, so does an experience lay the foundation for writing these blogs & learning how to do somethings better as you go along. If we’re not cognizant of what we’re conveying or implying to a colleague, we can misinterpret key points, directives and pertinent goals of a project. And that doesn’t just affect the working relationship but also goes to heart of productivity (or lack thereof) and the trust a client puts in you to get the task/project completed. And I’m sure we all know from last weeks blog how detrimental that can be!
Tomato – Tomahto?
If I say the sky is blue and you say yes, it’s Robin’s Egg, are we going to split hairs over which is accurate or engage in the debate of semantics (the meaning/interpretation of words or groups of words within a certain context commonly used in order to win some form of argument)? There’s nothing wrong with individual expression, however lapses in correct communication with your colleagues can cause not just frustration but a host of other issues. Some of which might include:
*Lack of Productivity *Missed Deadlines *Delays in the internal workflow system *Disintegration of team morale & cohesiveness *Stressful work environment
And I’m sure there is a bevy of many more. It’s an “if / then” , “cause/effect” kind of issue. Recently I had a situation where a client colleague gave me some documents and wanted them converted to another format. I thought we were on the same page, but the simple misunderstanding of “what it is vs. what I want it to be” caused longer hours, more resources and impacted the financial investment into the project. A frustrating lesson to learn but nevertheless, it’s in my handbook now!
Tone Can Be Everything
One of the valuable lessons my father instilled in me from almost birth is that it’s not just what you say but HOW you say it that makes the difference. Yes, I know you all have probably heard that a thousand times but as I was writing this blog, I thought about how that same motto holds true in business. Whether its in a meeting, over the phone or responding to an email and/or text; HOW you say something will certainly determine WHAT people hear when you speak and/or write. If your tone is biting, snippy or inpatient, that can determine the “joy” your colleague will have when needing to collaborate with you or fulfilling a directive. Body language also plays an important part here as well. A hand on the hip, an audible sigh or a rolled eye can easily cause a “in one ear & out of the other” effect.
That’s Not What I Said!
Last week I talked about the regurgitation method or otherwise known as rephrasing. When having a conversation, try to fully engage & listen to what others are saying. Then rephrase and repeat back to them what you believe were their important points. For the time it takes to do this, it will certainly be time well spent rather than going back on multiple occasions for clarification.
Not On Their Dime
If you are not concise regarding the instructions on how to complete a particular task, you might waste valuable time and have to go back for a do-over. That could also cause an unexpected financial impact on the project from the clients wallet. So it behooves us all to make sure that what we are conveying to one another is accurate such as confirming the plan of action, workflow timeframes and completion dates.
In conclusion, better communication leads to a more productive workplace, which in turn increases a company’s revenue. If the company is doing well, that means clients are happy and possibly you & your colleague(s) can enjoy the financial fruits of your labors. So let’s all try to be a little more cognizant of our colleague communication so that fruit stays ripe & abundant for both the workplace and financial harvest.
While talking to a client about her new website that Design Theory is currently creating, we began discussing and distinguishing the differences of websites similar to her industry. During the discussion I asked her if she wanted a Pop Tart vs. Toaster Strudel design and content. We both chuckled while I explained the difference and how that would affect her readership and visitation numbers. As I explained my breakfast treat comparison, it occurred to me that this would make great content itself for a blog. So with sweet treat comparatives, tongs in hand, let’s see what the difference is and what to look out for when designing your own personal use or business website.
