sandralmuller

[sandralmuller]

How to write blog posts faster

Hands up who wants to learn how to write blog posts faster?

🙋

Me. Always.

While it takes time to build our writing muscles—and the more we write, the more we flex and develop that muscle—there are a few techniques and tools we can use to improve our blog writing speed no matter what stage we’re at in our writing journey.

Think of these writing techniques and tools like guzzling raw eggs after a workout to help recover and build muscle mass without the horror of actually having to guzzle raw eggs.

To improve our blog writing speed, there are 3 aspects to consider:

Planning —brainstorming, batching, and outsourcing blog content.

The physical act of writing faster—touch typing and voice typing.

Staying focused—killing your inner editor to maintain flow.

Outline your blog posts

I wrote this post after I outlined it.

I created a series of headings and added bullet points under each topic that I used as basis to expand upon while writing. I’ve written a whole other post about how to outline a blog post the smart way.

After writing a blog post outline, it’s easy at this point to check the overall flow and make sure the structure works well for what I’m trying to say.

While I think we all need to experiment and find our own way of doing things that fits our writing style and works best for us, I still think creating an outline is an absolute must-do for all people.

Even if you’re a pantser who loves to meander without a plan, bear with me. Outlining can help you write faster, too. And you wouldn’t be reading this post if you didn’t want to write faster.

A good blog outline helps me get my ideas down and structure them well before I start writing. This means less time spent editing and restructuring my posts. It also means there are less gaps to fill because I’ve done a pretty solid brain dump of ideas before I start writing.

I leave a blog post outline for a day or 2 or even longer so my subconscious does the heavy lifting in the background—my brain writes the blog post while I sleep or watch telly or go on my daily morning stroll. By letting it sit at least overnight, your brain will write it for you.

When it’s time to write, it feels like I’m cheating by simply filling in the gaps. It’s like paint by numbers but for writing.

When I’m writing the post, my focus is on connecting the ideas and choosing the words to express myself. I’m not drained by doing that AND coming up with the big picture. That’s already done.

This leaves me freer to write.

And it takes way less time than if I didn’t do that upfront planning and thinking.

I produce a high-quality blog post so much faster when I outline.

Get a copy of my FREE Better Blogging Template

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Batch your blog post creation

Create a long list of blog topics

When you come up up with a big bunch of blog post ideas during a single sitting, you’ll save yourself a lot of time.

It’s so much harder to come up with something to write about on the spot and we’re less likely to blog if we don’t know what we’re going to blog about.

That’s why a single brainstorming session where you come up with a range of blog topics you can write is smart. I did this recently and came up with 62 blog post topics. I won’t turn all of them into blog posts. Some might become condensed and appear in a single, related blog post. But at least I now have a bank of ideas I can draw from.

When we’re not switching from task-to-task, we can get loads more work done. Put in the time upfront and you’ll save time later. Batching is a productive way of working.

Supplement your list of topics with keyword and other research to flesh out your ideas. You want to make sure there is an audience AND an appetite for what you have to say.

Get together with a business buddy, schedule it into your calendar, and brainstorm together on a video chat. It could be fun and you can inspire each other. You’ll also have an accountability partner to keep you on track and motivated. Once it’s booked and in your calendar and not on that mythical one-day-I’ll-get-around-to-it-to-do list, you’ll get it done. ✔️

Outline your blog posts

Once you have your list of ideas, choose a few and write blog outlines for them during the one outlining session. Keep it simple and top level. The point of an outline is not to stew about it for hours, but to do a brain vomit of your ideas in a matter of minutes. 🧠🤮

Start writing

Staying on the batching bandwagon, if you can wrangle and schedule the time, do it and write several blog posts in one day. You can then stagger their release.

You’ll find that when you’re in the zone and not task hopping, your overall productivity improves. The time it takes to create your blog posts decreases significantly.

Batch create graphics

A task that I always underestimate is creating the graphics to go with my blog posts. First I have to source the key image from DepositPhotos. Then I have to create the banner graphic and a Pinterest pin via RelayThat.

Once you know the topics you’ll be working on, create all the graphics you’ll need for these upcoming blog posts in a single session, saving you time because you don’t have jump between different headspaces, log into those sites every single time. Once you’re in graphic creation mode, you pump those images faster than Rocky’s right hook.

Outsource writing and writing-related tasks

Perhaps one of the best ways to become a faster writer is to outsource tasks.

You could outsource:

keyword research to an SEO pro like Nat Alleblas

the writing of your blog post to someone like me who specialises in content marketing and can write to your outline

the editing and proofreading

the publishing of the post in your CMS because formatting posts takes time and we often understimate how much

the sourcing and creation of your graphics

the whole thing to me! 🙋

Learn to touch type

When I was in Year 10, it was the late 1980s and I learnt to touch type on a rickety old typewriter. We had these black, tea-towel-like things we had to place over our hands as we learnt the placement of the keys.

I’m so glad I chose that class over woodwork or graphics. I might not have ended up with one of nifty wooden pencil boxes, but I gained a skill for life that has served me well every single day.

While at uni, I worked as a media monitor and had to summarise news bulletins. My touch typing speed doubled in a matter of weeks out of sheer need and repetition.

Perhaps the most obvious way to learn how to write faster is to focus on upping your typing speed. While my brother is quite speedy with his 4-finger efforts, he eats my dust. If only he’d learned to touch type with all of his digits, he’d be a match for me. I type like Rocky attacking a speedball.

There are plenty of free online programs that can help you learn how to touch type. And plenty more that offer speed tests. Check your typing speed. When I’m on a roll, I’m in the 100+ wpm zone.

Use 2 screens

Using 2 monitors changed my life. I turned up to a new job back in 2008 with 2 monitors set up on my desk. I could never go back and hate working on my laptop with its small, single screen when I’m away from home.

It saves me so much time because there is much less flicking between tabs and programs while I’m working.

When writing, I work with Scrivener, MS Word, or the WordPress editor on one screen, and access my research and data on the other.

It prevents disruption to my flow, making me write faster.

Monitors have come down in price that they’re quire cheap these days. When we set up our home office last year after returning from our 3-year stint in Korea, we paid around $A150 for each monitor.

If you’re working from a laptop now, adding a second monitor will have the same benefits, helping you improve your writing speed by reducing the need to switch between programs and tabs.

Dictate your words

We can all speak much faster than we can write.

But can we truly ‘write’ via the spoken word faster than we can type? I’m not sure.

Speaking our words rather than typing them are 2 very different ways of using our brains. It can take some time to adjust to dictating your words and I’m not there yet. Have a conversation with me and you’ll soon realise that I write much more eloquently than I speak!

You might find, like me, that the time you gain while dictating your words is lost if you have to do more revision. Still, it can be a good way to maximise your time and dictate your thoughts while doing other non-brain-draining tasks like walking or vacuuming.

There are some fabulous free tools around for dictating our words, like Otter.ai or the voice typing function in Google Docs, and even Word now offers a Dictate function.

Kill your inner editor

First drafts are meant to be crap. Words to live by.

If you want to improve your writing speed, then ditch revisions until you’ve finished your first draft. Writing and editing are 2 completely different brain tasks and switching between the 2 processes slows your writing down.

I used to get stuck thinking of a particular word and couldn’t move on until I found it. But to keep up my flow, I now type a ridiculous word or phrase that I can search for and replace later—like ‘sparkly giraffe’ or ‘lampshade footwear’. To keep your flow going in these situations, choose an odd expression and stick with it in your document. Just keep the momentum going.

How to write faster and better

Challenge yourself to a word sprint with another writer or colleague. There’s nothing quite like a bit of healthy competition to get your speed up and ditch the revision process.

Use a pomodoro timer and see how many words you can smash out in 25 minutes. Have a short break and then do it again. I do this with some of business friends when I need help to stay accountable and focused.

To help me write better by picking up pesky typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors, I use ProWritingAid. I like it a lot more than Grammarly.

I use HemingwayApp to help me pick up instances where I’ve used the passive voice, or to check sentence length.

VisibleThread is my favourite tool for making sure I meet readability targets when working on client projects.

What are your tips for smashing out a blog post faster?

This post contains affiliate links for products I use and love: DepositPhotos and ProWritingAid. If you click the link and buy from the provider, I end up with a small commission at no extra cost to you.

How to write blog posts faster was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

The advance-retreat cycle when chasing big goals

The advance-retreat phenomenon

Do you also experience this advance-retreat phenomenon when going after your big goals?

One day we’re overflowing with positivity, ready to show up, make ALL THE THINGS and take on the world. Well, maybe not the WHOLE world, but at least our micro portion of it.

We can do this. We believe it. We state our Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) and start creating ALL THE THINGS our BHAG needs to thrive.

We strut about with the confidence of a mediocre white man.

But then we start the retreat from our BHAG.

The excuses begin and the monkey chatter starts. I tell myself things like:

I’m too busy with client work to take this on right now.

It’s not the right time for me to invest in this BHAG.

I’ll be better off financially if stick to my old path.

Having to show up every day is exhausting.

I’ve got nothing to say that hasn’t already been said before.

And we find ourselves retreating into our safe place. Safely invisible. Safely free from having to expose ourselves to failure or judgement.

It’s happened to me often enough to recognise that it’s a phase I go through when I take on bigger, hairier, more audacious goals—the giant BHAGs.

But simply recognising the advance-retreat cycle as part of a phase during business growth is not enough for me. I need to understand WHY it’s happening.

Pin it to share it

I know I’m not the only one who experiences the advance-retreat cycle. I’ve asked around and other creative business women I know experience this, too. You’ve probably experienced it too, right? Or you wouldn’t be reading this post or at least not this far.

Fed up with retreating once again recently from a BHAG, I took a look at the the whys behind that safe retreat.

Why do we retreat?

Known as our ‘lizard brain’ our limbic system is that primitive part of our brain in charge of our fight or flight responses. Sprinkle in a few more F-words—feeding, fear, and fornication (I could have used the other F-word!)—and that’s about as advanced as a reptile gets in its thinking.

Basically, our lizard brain is responsible for our survival. It responds to situations—emotionally and through out actions—automatically and without us even having to think about it.

So, when I start to feel like retreating into my cave, that’s my primitive brain telling me it wants to feel safe again. Great for saving us from getting hit by a bus. Not so great for wanting to put more of our work out into the world.

And boy, is my lizard brain loud. She worries way too much about what other people think.

When we are in a state of constant stress—which many of us are without realising it in our daily, modern lives—our poor old lizard brain thinks we’re in a constant struggle to survive.

No wonder that cave looks like a comforting blanket fort.

How can we beat the advance-retreat cycle?

How I imagine my Lizzie Brain to look

Mindset and mindfulness

A large part of tackling the unhelpful habits of our lizard brain is to work on our mindset.

For me, it helps to know why I’m retreating from a BHAG. It helps when I better understand my brain’s anatomy and behaviour. When I retreat, I’m experiencing my brain’s automatic response to a situation it sees as counter to my survival.

Knowing that makes me feel better about myself.

Practicing mindfulness can help us keep ole Lizzie Brain in her place.

Separate lizard-brain-me from the real me

If I can separate the behaviour of my lizard brain’s automatic response to BHAGs from the real me who created the BHAG, I know I can continue to advance towards my goals.

If I find myself seeking the comfort of invisibility in my cave, I’ll acknowledge it’s my lizard brain trying to protect me.

Suz Chadwick explains this retreat-advance phenomenon so well in a 2-minute video How to beat your inner resistence. Check it out.

Turn fears into stories ready for a reality check

Dive right into the fear that’s making you retreat in whichever way works best for you. I find journalling is a great way to poke and prod the fear beast from all angles.

My fears are things like:

No one wants to hear from me.

Everything I want to say has been said before by someone else and better.

I’ll be embarrassed by errors in my work.

I’m not sure how I can handle the conflict opposing opinions well.

People who are far more skilled than me will think I’m an amateur who should get back in her box.

Once I’ve nutted out my issues, I then have a list of stories that need a reality check.

Are any of these fears true? Let’s go through them.

No one wants to hear from me.

Not true. Hundreds of people have signed up for my newsletter. Lots of people engage on my social media posts. Next!

Everything I want to say has been said before by someone else and better.

Fake news!

Everything is a remix. Someone out there needs to hear it from me because I’ll say it in a way that resonates with them. Next!

I’ll be embarrassed by errors in my work.

Seriously? I’m scoffing at myself here. Not true. I’ll pay someone to edit and proofread my work. Simple. Next fallacy…

I’m not sure how I can handle the conflict opposing opinions well.

Yes you can. You’ve dealt with this before and you will again. What people think about me and my work has nothing to do with me. I’ll either resonate or not or rub them the wrong way.

“What other people think of you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.”

Jen Sincero

People who are far more skilled than me will think I’m an amateur who should get back in her box.

People far more skilled and experienced than me are far too busy looking ahead to take notice of me.

It’s like when you have a non-existent audience and worry about publishing something when the reality is, no one is reading you anyway.

Over to you.

How do you manage your lizard brain’s response that sends you scampering back into the safety of that blanket fort in your cave?

Share your ideas in the comments.

The advance-retreat cycle when chasing big goals was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

How to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader

Your introduction is the second most critical part of your blog post after the post title. After you invest time into carefully crafting a MAGNIFICENT blog post, how do you write a blog introduction that hooks your reader and compels them to read on?

Know your audience and match their expectations

If you don’t know who you’re writing for, you won’t know how to bait your hook properly.

You need to know what kind of blog post you’re writing and match reader expectations for that kind of content.

For example, if you’re writing an informative ‘How to X’ type of post, the reader doesn’t want to know about the time you turned up to work wearing mismatched shoes … unless it relates directly to your key message. Highly unlikely.

Skip the waffle. Get to the point.

Spell out your intent

Be clear about the intent of your content in the opening paragraph.

What is the one thing you want someone to take away from your post?

Show that you identify with their problem (e.g. people not reading beyond the first paragraph) and that your post offers a solution (e.g. how to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader).

Your introduction doesn’t have to have to provide the actual solution but it should let people know you have one.

Now that you have their attention, keep it.

Deliver on your promise

The best way to keep your reader’s attention is to deliver on the promise you set up in the opening paragraph.

If you say you have a solution, your post had better deliver it or your reader will be clicking back to the search results faster than you can say odd shoes.

When editing your work, cut the content that doesn’t relate to what you stated in your blog’s introduction.

Save the story of the mismatched shoes for another day.

Write your blog intro last

We’re prone to putting incredible pressure on ourselves to nail our introduction before moving on to the rest of the content.

But the reality is, we don’t have to write the intro first.

Instead, writing a blog outline before writing the post can be an enormous help. I wrote an outline for this post and refined the introduction during the editing process. Given this is a post about how to write a blog introduction, I know I have to nail that first paragraph as a good example. Pressure!

Adopt the journalism approach

Journalists use the inverted pyramid method of storytelling in news articles.

They answer the most important information upfront, covering the who, what, when, where, why and how.

Check any news article and you’ll find that they have the key information in the first couple of paragraphs. As the article continues, the information that’s less important is further down the page.

The inverted pyramid – a useful model for sharing the most important information upfront

Because we know that most people aren’t going to read our full post, it makes sense to include the most useful information up to the top.

Check that you’re addressing the who, what, when, where, why and how in your first few paragraphs. You don’t have to jam it all into your introduction, but ensure that key information is in the first third of your page.

Unlearn how to write

Unlearn that academic writing style you learnt in high school or university where your arguments and evidence build to your final point wrapped neatly in your conclusion.

Your teachers may have taught you to build up to a big reveal. Don’t. It doesn’t work for blog writing. You’ll lose readers before you reveal your plot twist in the last paragraph.

And while it’s OK to use storytelling to hook your reader in, don’t let the tale of the mismatched shoes overshadow the point of your post.

Examples of great blog intros

What better way to explain how to write a blog introduction than to share some good examples.

5 years to a million dollar biz – Denise Duffield-Thomas

Denise is a fabulous storyteller. She’s authentic and relatable, and her conversational tone makes me feel like we’re friends having a chat. I read this blog post’s opening sentence and I’m immediately intrigued.

“Here’s the honest truth – it took me five years working full time to crack the million dollar mark in my business.  It didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen by accident.”

5 years to a million dollar biz

That opening sentence sparked many questions for me. So, how did it happen and it sounds like you did plan for it—but how?

In the next paragraph, Denise squashes the myth of the stereotyped ‘overnight success’.

“I didn’t just ‘start a blog’ and people threw money at me. This isn’t even my first ever blog (I’m not counting that in my five years calculation), and this is definitely not my first business (that would have been my bracelet business back in 1988).”

I find her relatable because I too was coming up with ways to earn extra money back in 1988. I too had scrappy little business ideas (hellooo removing lint from windcheaters and tracksuit pants! 🤪).

I’m intrigued. I relate. I want to know more.

Because I’m Denise’s target market, this is a good blog intro because it compelled me to read on.

The SEO files: The curious case of the competitive keyword – Nat Alleblas

I’m already in love with this post because of its clever title. Nat is also known as The SEO Sleuth, so I love that she’s using the sleuth theme in this blog title.

I get Nat’s weekly SEO Sleuth email tips. Nat has an uncanny ability to weave tales of how everyday life translates into lessons for business.

But that’s not what I love about this post, it’s how she sets up he intro perfectly with the right mix of problem identification, problem solution, and intrigue.

“The challenge of ranking on page 1 for a competitive keyword is one that many SEO consultants love but businesses with small budgets fear.

Some are blissfully unaware of the pitfalls of targeting a competitive keyword and spend hours and money creating content that fails to convert.

My years of smart sleuthing strategies have helped many crack the case of the competitive keyword and in this blog, I’m going to share some of my secrets.”

The curious case of the competitive keyword

I feel confident that Nat’s going to walk me through my problem—how to avoid wasting time searching for keywords that are too competitive—and help me find keywords I can actually compete for.

Even if I didn’t know Nat and found this page via search results, I’d definitely read on.

What the heck is a nurture sequence? (It’s not only for hippies) – Jay Crisp Crow

Jay is an awesome conversion copywriter and I’ve followed her for years, so it’s no surprise she knows how to write a good blog post introduction.

Mmm, nurture sequences. They sound so comforting. Like snuggling up in a blanket, sipping a cuppa, and having a little bonding sesh with your reader.

Truth be told, they’re not entirely unlike that. But first:

What the heck is a nurture sequence anyway?

What the heck is a nurture sequence

Jay often uses humour and colloquialisms in her writing and I like the way she draws the comparison between a comforting snuggle in a blanket to writing nurture sequences.

From this intro, I feel confident that Jay will explain exactly what a nurture sequence is in an entertaining way.

Using humour is an excellent way to entertain while informing, and Jay does this magnificently.

Examples of not-so-great blog intros

Rather than pick on individual bloggers (because that’s not very fair) instead, I’ll pick on blogger types.

1. Every recipe blogger ever

Have you ever visited a recipe site where you have to scroll through 1000 words of waffle about grandma’s unique secret ingredients and colour of the awning above a quaint little grocer’s shop tucked away in an obscure laneway before you even get to the ingredients list?

Yeah, don’t write that blog post intro.

Show me the ingredients. Show me the process. Be the inverted pyramid.  

2. The keyword-stuffing blogger

You might have heard the joke, an SEO consultant walks into a bar, pub, public house, cocktail lounge, nightclub…

There are blogs you come across where the intro content sounds repetitive and oddly phrased because the blogger has stuffed the intro full of every juicy keyword they want to rank for.

For example:

“You want to know about the best widgets for kids in cars, right? Children in cars love the best widgets because the top widgets for kids in cars to occupy their time during long car drives are widgets that hold kids attention in vehicles. In this post, I share my unbiased views on the 7 best car widgets for kids in cars.”

Say no more, right?

Keywords are important though and while you should include in your primary keyword in your introduction, don’t try and shoehorn every keyword into it. 🤮

3. The thinly veiled BUY MY STUFF blogger

You’ve been lured to a page from the search results. The blog title and description look like it will solve your problem, so you click on it.

While it seems like the blogger understands your problem you quickly realise that they’re not so much trying to solve your problem as sell you their solution to this problem.

In fact, the so-called ‘blog post’ is actually a sales page. At least buy me a drink first. 🤮

4. The not-so-controversial blogger

Then there’s the blogger who states in their intro that they have a MASSIVE secret to share that will TOTALLY BLOW YOUR MIND and how they have UPSET THEIR INDUSTRY by sharing their CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS.

And then you read their post.

There is no secret. My mind’s not blown. I already know this stuff. Their industry is not shaken. Their views are pedestrian. 🤷

Why a blog post introduction is so important

Research predicts that most of your site’s visitors will spend 80% of their time on your site above the fold—they won’t scroll to read more information.

If you take too long to get to the point, if you don’t set up the value of your post, or if your title doesn’t match your content, you’ll lose readers. They’ll return to the search results and visit someone’s site that does meet their expectations.

A good blog post introduction will lure people to read on, making the time you invest in content creation worthwhile.

It’s a lot like the way you flick through songs and how you can tell from the first couple of bars whether the song is the style of music you like.

Those opening bars give such important cues. Those cues tell you if you should flick to the next track or settle in for more, and maybe even the whole song.

Writing is a lot like that—our opening paragraphs set people up to decide whether to flick back to search results or settle in to read the whole page.

Do you have tips for how to write a blog post introduction? Share them in the comments below.

How to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

How to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader

Your introduction is the second most critical part of your blog post after the post title. After you invest time into carefully crafting a MAGNIFICENT blog post, how do you write a blog introduction that hooks your reader and compels them to read on?

Know your audience and match their expectations

If you don’t know who you’re writing for, you won’t know how to bait your hook properly.

You need to know what kind of blog post you’re writing and match reader expectations for that kind of content.

For example, if you’re writing an informative ‘How to X’ type of post, the reader doesn’t want to know about the time you turned up to work wearing mismatched shoes … unless it relates directly to your key message. Highly unlikely.

Skip the waffle. Get to the point.

Spell out your intent

Be clear about the intent of your content in the opening paragraph.

What is the one thing you want someone to take away from your post?

Show that you identify with their problem (e.g. people not reading beyond the first paragraph) and that your post offers a solution (e.g. how to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader).

Your introduction doesn’t have to have to provide the actual solution but it should let people know you have one.

Now that you have their attention, keep it.

Deliver on your promise

The best way to keep your reader’s attention is to deliver on the promise you set up in the opening paragraph.

If you say you have a solution, your post had better deliver it or your reader will be clicking back to the search results faster than you can say odd shoes.

When editing your work, cut the content that doesn’t relate to what you stated in your blog’s introduction.

Save the story of the mismatched shoes for another day.

Write your blog intro last

We’re prone to putting incredible pressure on ourselves to nail our introduction before moving on to the rest of the content.

But the reality is, we don’t have to write the intro first.

Instead, writing a blog outline before writing the post can be an enormous help. I wrote an outline for this post and refined the introduction during the editing process. Given this is a post about how to write a blog introduction, I know I have to nail that first paragraph as a good example. Pressure!

Adopt the journalism approach

Journalists use the inverted pyramid method of storytelling in news articles.

They answer the most important information upfront, covering the who, what, when, where, why and how.

Check any news article and you’ll find that they have the key information in the first couple of paragraphs. As the article continues, the information that’s less important is further down the page.

The inverted pyramid – a useful model for sharing the most important information upfront

Because we know that most people aren’t going to read our full post, it makes sense to include the most useful information up to the top.

Check that you’re addressing the who, what, when, where, why and how in your first few paragraphs. You don’t have to jam it all into your introduction, but ensure that key information is in the first third of your page.

Unlearn how to write

Unlearn that academic writing style you learnt in high school or university where your arguments and evidence build to your final point wrapped neatly in your conclusion.

Your teachers may have taught you to build up to a big reveal. Don’t. It doesn’t work for blog writing. You’ll lose readers before you reveal your plot twist in the last paragraph.

And while it’s OK to use storytelling to hook your reader in, don’t let the tale of the mismatched shoes overshadow the point of your post.

Examples of great blog intros

What better way to explain how to write a blog introduction than to share some good examples.

5 years to a million dollar biz – Denise Duffield-Thomas

Denise is a fabulous storyteller. She’s authentic and relatable, and her conversational tone makes me feel like we’re friends having a chat. I read this blog post’s opening sentence and I’m immediately intrigued.

“Here’s the honest truth – it took me five years working full time to crack the million dollar mark in my business.  It didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen by accident.”

5 years to a million dollar biz

That opening sentence sparked many questions for me. So, how did it happen and it sounds like you did plan for it—but how?

In the next paragraph, Denise squashes the myth of the stereotyped ‘overnight success’.

“I didn’t just ‘start a blog’ and people threw money at me. This isn’t even my first ever blog (I’m not counting that in my five years calculation), and this is definitely not my first business (that would have been my bracelet business back in 1988).”

I find her relatable because I too was coming up with ways to earn extra money back in 1988. I too had scrappy little business ideas (hellooo removing lint from windcheaters and tracksuit pants! 🤪).

I’m intrigued. I relate. I want to know more.

Because I’m Denise’s target market, this is a good blog intro because it compelled me to read on.

The SEO files: The curious case of the competitive keyword – Nat Alleblas

I’m already in love with this post because of its clever title. Nat is also known as The SEO Sleuth, so I love that she’s using the sleuth theme in this blog title.

I get Nat’s weekly SEO Sleuth email tips. Nat has an uncanny ability to weave tales of how everyday life translates into lessons for business.

But that’s not what I love about this post, it’s how she sets up he intro perfectly with the right mix of problem identification, problem solution, and intrigue.

“The challenge of ranking on page 1 for a competitive keyword is one that many SEO consultants love but businesses with small budgets fear.

Some are blissfully unaware of the pitfalls of targeting a competitive keyword and spend hours and money creating content that fails to convert.

My years of smart sleuthing strategies have helped many crack the case of the competitive keyword and in this blog, I’m going to share some of my secrets.”

The curious case of the competitive keyword

I feel confident that Nat’s going to walk me through my problem—how to avoid wasting time searching for keywords that are too competitive—and help me find keywords I can actually compete for.

Even if I didn’t know Nat and found this page via search results, I’d definitely read on.

What the heck is a nurture sequence? (It’s not only for hippies) – Jay Crisp Crow

Jay is an awesome conversion copywriter and I’ve followed her for years, so it’s no surprise she knows how to write a good blog post introduction.

Mmm, nurture sequences. They sound so comforting. Like snuggling up in a blanket, sipping a cuppa, and having a little bonding sesh with your reader.

Truth be told, they’re not entirely unlike that. But first:

What the heck is a nurture sequence anyway?

What the heck is a nurture sequence

Jay often uses humour and colloquialisms in her writing and I like the way she draws the comparison between a comforting snuggle in a blanket to writing nurture sequences.

From this intro, I feel confident that Jay will explain exactly what a nurture sequence is in an entertaining way.

Using humour is an excellent way to entertain while informing, and Jay does this magnificently.

Examples of not-so-great blog intros

Rather than pick on individual bloggers (because that’s not very fair) instead, I’ll pick on blogger types.

1. Every recipe blogger ever

Have you ever visited a recipe site where you have to scroll through 1000 words of waffle about grandma’s unique secret ingredients and colour of the awning above a quaint little grocer’s shop tucked away in an obscure laneway before you even get to the ingredients list?

Yeah, don’t write that blog post intro.

Show me the ingredients. Show me the process. Be the inverted pyramid.  

2. The keyword-stuffing blogger

You might have heard the joke, an SEO consultant walks into a bar, pub, public house, cocktail lounge, nightclub…

There are blogs you come across where the intro content sounds repetitive and oddly phrased because the blogger has stuffed the intro full of every juicy keyword they want to rank for.

For example:

“You want to know about the best widgets for kids in cars, right? Children in cars love the best widgets because the top widgets for kids in cars to occupy their time during long car drives are widgets that hold kids attention in vehicles. In this post, I share my unbiased views on the 7 best car widgets for kids in cars.”

Say no more, right?

Keywords are important though and while you should include in your primary keyword in your introduction, don’t try and shoehorn every keyword into it. 🤮

3. The thinly veiled BUY MY STUFF blogger

You’ve been lured to a page from the search results. The blog title and description look like it will solve your problem, so you click on it.

While it seems like the blogger understands your problem you quickly realise that they’re not so much trying to solve your problem as sell you their solution to this problem.

In fact, the so-called ‘blog post’ is actually a sales page. At least buy me a drink first. 🤮

4. The not-so-controversial blogger

Then there’s the blogger who states in their intro that they have a MASSIVE secret to share that will TOTALLY BLOW YOUR MIND and how they have UPSET THEIR INDUSTRY by sharing their CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS.

And then you read their post.

There is no secret. My mind’s not blown. I already know this stuff. Their industry is not shaken. Their views are pedestrian. 🤷

Why a blog post introduction is so important

Research predicts that most of your site’s visitors will spend 80% of their time on your site above the fold—they won’t scroll to read more information.

If you take too long to get to the point, if you don’t set up the value of your post, or if your title doesn’t match your content, you’ll lose readers. They’ll return to the search results and visit someone’s site that does meet their expectations.

A good blog post introduction will lure people to read on, making the time you invest in content creation worthwhile.

It’s a lot like the way you flick through songs and how you can tell from the first couple of bars whether the song is the style of music you like.

Those opening bars give such important cues. Those cues tell you if you should flick to the next track or settle in for more, and maybe even the whole song.

Writing is a lot like that—our opening paragraphs set people up to decide whether to flick back to search results or settle in to read the whole page.

Do you have tips for how to write a blog post introduction? Share them in the comments below.

How to write a blog introduction that hooks your reader was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[sandralmuller]

Best collaborative writing tools

What are collaborative writing tools?

Online collaborative writing tools are the platforms we use to write, edit, review and approve content before it’s published.

These tools manage revision history via version control, allow multiple people to work on a single piece of content at once, and provide a single source of truth.

They allow us to work more efficiently by restricting access to only the people who need to see that content at a specific point of the workflow.

I work with 2 tools that let me do collaborative writing online: GatherContent and Google Docs.

GatherContent

GatherContent is my preferred collaborative writing software program.

The team behind GatherContent know content ops inside out and have designed a tool that helps content teams write, edit and approve content in a structured and manageable way.

What I like about GatherContent

All your content is in the one place in GatherContent. You can see the overall status of your progress, which is great for project management reporting. You don’t have to dive into different drives and folders to find your content and you don’t have to worry about version control.

Templates

GatherContent gives you the ability to set up templates for each content type. This is super handy for setting up pages to mirror wireframes and capture all the content elements you need to write.

You can use the tab functionality within the template, which is handy for separating instructions under a brief tab. You can add directions for the writer and include or link to source material and upload documents like wireframes.

I add another tab for governance and metadata collection. On this tab, I include who the writer, editor and other page contributors are like subject matter experts (SMEs), and I also write the meta description.

I set up a tab with writing and editing checklists—things to review before progressing the page to the next status. Sometimes I create a specific checklist for the SME or content approver to keep them focused on their task—to check the content for technical accuracy or to ensure the content is meeting their business goals and the page doesn’t present any risks for the organisation.

Workflow and page status

GatherContent gives you the ability to set up a workflow from the briefing process through to final approval, whatever that looks like for your project.

As each page moves through the workflow, it triggers an email alert to pass the baton, so you know it’s been reviewed and it’s now your turn to work on the page.

The advantage over a Word document is that when you’re working on many web pages, you don’t necessarily want a SME to review every single page. And if you have all of your content in a large copydeck, you don’t want to have to separate that page out or send the whole document to the SME. You can send them the link to only the pages you want them to review.

At any time, you can see the status of all pages and know where they are in the workflow.

I would like the ability to set different workflows based on the page template, but that’s not possible yet. Sometimes the standard workflow is overkill for a particular content type.

User management

You can create roles and give those roles certain permissions.

For example, I lock down SMEs to commenting rights only. The SME’s role is to review the content to ensure it’s technically accurate. Nothing more. I don’t want them changing the content and slipping their bureaucratic, passive voice back in. They can add their feedback via comments. I can then selectively action their feedback.

Version history

You can easily switch between different versions. It highlights in each version what was changed and who made those changes. I can’t count the times I’ve had to review or even rollback to a previous version. The version history function has been a lifesaver.

Exports and backups

I’m not a developer so I’m yet to connect GatherContent with a CMS, but it’s possible to do this and upload content directly into a CMS.

But I use the export functionality to create weekly back-ups in Word and CSV formats… just in case. And I have needed the backups in the past.

Pricing

Starting at around $AU150 per month, you might not think it’s a cheap tool, but you (and your clients) will save that and hundreds more in project management fees each month. And it will save you from pulling your hair out while keeping track of the status of multiple Word documents and collating feedback from all the SMEs who need to see and approve each page.

Bonus content and resources

GatherContent’s resources section is jam-packed filled with more knowledge than you can waggle a dictionary at. From webinars and blog posts to templates and eBooks, you can even see an interview GatherContent did with Matt Fenwick and me under the True North Content banner on using GatherContent to engage stakeholders in the content process.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free online alternative to desktop word processing software like MS Word. You only need a Google account to access Google Docs.

What I like about Google Docs

Real-time collaborative writing

I like that Google Docs is a real-time collaborating writing tool. You can share the doc with anyone and you can both work on it at once. Stored in the cloud, updates are live. You can see what other people are adding to the document in real time.

Version and comment history

Google Docs saves the comment history and lets you tag an individual within the document and assign a task to them.

I like to resolve comments after they’ve been actioned, reducing on-screen clutter. You can’t do this in Word. But after I’ve resolved them, I like still having access to all comments in case I need to refer back to a decision.

I like that I can also easily access past versions of the document, too.

Single version of a document

When writing in MS Word, you email the first draft of a document to your client. They email you back with their mark-up and comments. You action their feedback and send them the next draft. They forward to someone else in their organisation, who forwards it to someone else. Eventually, they email you back with three versions attached with conflicting advice in the comments in each document. Argh!

With Google Docs, you avoid all that nonsense.

Restricted access and editing rights

When you send a Word document out to the world, anyone can forward it on. But with Google Docs, you can lock down access by restricting access rights to only the people you want to be able to view, edit or comment on the document.

Enhance features with Google Doc extensions

You can install Google Doc extensions, giving you extra functionality.

From to SEO features to enhanced grammar checks and other writing tools, you find a solution for pretty much any scenario you can think of.

Check out this article that lists 25 Google Docs add-ons.

Pricing

Google Docs is free for personal use. You can upgrade to G Suite for business, but you can use all the functions you’ll ever need from a personal account.

Untested collaborative writing tools

There are a bunch of other collaborative writing tools available that I haven’t explored yet, or in any meaningful way.

Workflowy

My latest discovery is Workflowy. It looks like an interesting writing tool and I’m going to explore it further. It’s not a replacement for GatherContent by any stretch, but it’s worth a test drive to see what it’s capable of because I’m sure there are some projects I work on that it could serve well.

Etherpad

Etherpad is a free, open-source online writing tool that allows for real-time collaborative writing. It’s a desktop tool, so you have to download and install the software.

It’s interface is simple and uncluttered.

It offers many of the same advantages as GatherContent and Google Docs in that you can collaborate with colleagues in real time.

Airstory

I bought Airstory a few years ago, but I haven’t given it a proper run, yet.

It’s distraction-free interface first attracted me. It doesn’t have pages—content is infinite. You can add people to your project and assign them roles—much like in Google Docs—as a viewer, editor, researcher or owner.

The traditional hard AF way

Before we were blessed with collaborative writing apps or platforms, we used to deliver content projects in Word documents and manage their delivery in an Excel spreadsheet.

In 2005 I managed a large content development project for a government department that brought 26 websites into a single site. We’re talking 100s of pages we edited or wrote from scratch and shuffled through the approval process. As a freelance content consultant, I managed a team of 12 writers and we spent at least 6 months writing and editing that content. In Word. 😱 And tracked in an Excel spreadsheet. 😱

When I think back on that process, it’s no wonder it took us 6 months to generate that amount of content. The project management load alone of manually tracking the status of 100s of web pages makes me clutch my non-existent pearl necklace in horror. I’m so glad I don’t work like that anymore.

Collaborative writing tips

If you’re working on a project and using a collaborative writing tool, here are some tips to help you take advantage of the power and ease of collaboration from content brief through to publication.

Map out your workflow

Think about the whole process from start to finish and map out the workflow you think applies to your project. Test the workflow with a single piece of content. Be prepared to tweak and refine it as you need to during the project.

Set rules around access

Giving people access to a tool like GatherContent means your client can see your works in progress. You can lock them down to a single page, only to a project.

This means you’ll inevitably find SME or client comments on a draft document. This can be quite annoying when you’ve not finished writing, let alone editing the document.

Let clients know that they should only review content that’s at a certain stage of the workflow.

Appoint a client-side content wrangler

Appoint someone on the client’s side to be the content wrangler. They have to make sure everyone who needs to see the document does at the appropriate time (GatherContent makes this so easy) and collate all feedback and give you definitive advice on which action you need to take. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself sifting through conflicting comments from different SMEs and unsure how to respond to their feedback.

Don’t abuse the comment function

No one wants to be tagged eleventy billion times in a document. In a tool like GatherContent, that will trigger an email to the person you’ve tagged, each time you tag them. Same with Google Docs.

Instead, I write @SME or @marsha when I add comments, but don’t actually tag the specific person until the page is complete. Then I tag them once and ask them to review each of the comments marked to their attention.

This is a much better process than dealing with a cranky SME with a cluttered inbox.

Set up a rule to automatically keep project notification out of your inbox

It can get very noisy when working on a collaborative project. I find it helpful to set up a rule in my inbox that directs all GatherContent notifications to a specific folder, rather than clutter my inbox. That way I can drop in once or twice a day and take action.

Don’t step on toes

Having a workflow should mean that you’re not working on content at literally the same time as someone else.

Keep the workflow in mind when commenting or editing someone’s work. If they’re not ready for you to see it yet, you shouldn’t be poking around in there.

If you do some pair writing, then great! I find having a video chat and screen sharing while doing pair writing is the best way to avoid standing on another writer’s toes.

Running copywriting projects with collaborative writing tools

Do you currently use collaborative writing tools on your copywriting and editing projects? Are you planning to use one in the future? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Best collaborative writing tools was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

Copywriting style guide examples

What is a copywriting style guide?

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Also known as a corporate writing style guide or online publishing style guide, a style guide is a set of rules that governs the consistent use of language and how you present content.

It covers the language you prefer to use and how to format it.

Style guides aren’t about setting or changing grammar rules. Instead, they’re about removing ambiguity and keeping a record of style decisions you make during a project so you can reference that decision in the future or for other content you’re working on.

It covers things like whether you’ll use sentence or title case for headings:

Slaying zombies at close range

vs

Slaying Zombies at Close Range

Will you use full stop after the last point in a bullet list? Will start each bullet list item with an uppercase or lowercase letter?

Will you use contractions like can’t and won’t, or will you use cannot and will not?

Will you use digits like 1-9 or spell out one to nine?

For a call to action (CTA) will you use the word ‘call’ or ‘telephone’ when referencing phone numbers? For example:

Call Zombie Hunters: 1800 ZOMBIE

or

Telephone Zombie Hunters on 1800 966 849

None of these options are right or wrong. Each is a preference.

So long as you apply these style decisions consistently to your content, you’re right. You’ll also deliver your readers a better user experience.

Why you need a copywriting style guide

Focus on the user

Set up well, a good copywriting style guide will bring the focus back to the user, which is always a good thing. It keeps the user at the centre of copywriting and editorial decisions.

A style guide might set out who the target audience is and note language preferences to communicate well to that audience. It might set out the website’s readability targets, although smart content will always follow plain English principles.

Deliver consistent copy

A style guide helps you deliver a consistent style across all pages in a website. Consistent copy helps present a professional image, which can also build trust and credibility.

This is especially important when a team of people are working on the content. Without direction, copywriters and editors will make style decisions based on their own preferences. Each page will look different to the last. People will format their content in different ways.

Keep track of style decisions

As you write your way into a project, you make a lot of style decisions and a style guide is the best way to record them.

When you’re working in a team of writers and editors, the style guide needs to be a shared resource. Using a shared Google Doc or Wiki are ways to share the style guide among team members. It also becomes a single source of truth and the version that you continually update and refer to.

Examples of copywriting style guides

There’s no need to create your own style guide. Other organisations have done it for you.

Digital Transformation Agency Content Guide

Because I’m based in Australia and more than half of my work is for government clients writing plain English content, I follow the Australian Government’s Digital Transformation Agency’s Content Guide.

It covers best practice writing style rules and also sets out rules around accessibility and inclusivity.

The DTA recently published the first digital version of the Australian Government Style Manual, the manual’s first update since 2001.

It’s currently available to all in beta mode, but mystifyingly and disappointingly, they plan to lock the final version down to users with a .gov.au email address. They also plan to decommission the Content Guide when that happens.

This will cause headaches for a lot of freelance copywriters like me who specialise in writing for government and need to access the style guide to ensure our copy meets their standards. I remain optimistic that they will continue to give everyone access.

The Diversity Style Guide

The Diversity Style Guide helps us write in a more inclusive way.

This style guide covers terms related to

race or ethnicity

disability

immigration, sexuality and gender identity

drugs and alcohol

geography

It not only explains terms, it suggests when to avoid the term or use it with caution.

MailChimp’s Content Style Guide

Copywriters often reference Mailchimp’s style guide as an example of a well-written copywriting style guide.

It’s clear, very easy to understand, and has a handy left-hand navigation panel or search function to help you find the style decision you need.

MailChimp encourages everyone to use their style guide under a Creative Commons licence, so long as you attribute it. Fair enough.

It might suit your own writing work or paid client projects.

Quickbooks Style Guide

I discovered this Intuit Quickbooks Style Guide when I met one of its authors, Michael Haggerty-Villa, at a content strategy conference. His talk was on transforming content with style guides.

I like how they include examples of what to do and what not to do. It makes their style guide suggestions so clear and reduces ambiguity.

It’s a good idea to include these ‘Do’ and ‘Don’t’ examples in a style guide.

Before using this style guide, check their Terms of use. It’s OK to look at it and refer to it, but it’s not OK to profit from it.

Shopify Content Style Guide

Shopify provides an online writing style guide to help external developers and their teams meet Shopify’s content standards.

I like their ‘Voice and tone’ section. Like Quickbooks, they provide simple examples of what to do and what not to do.

What does a style guide include?

If you’re putting together a style guide for your client or for your organisation or even yourself, here’s the bare minimum I’d include:

tone of voice

punctuation

numbers

contractions

capitalisation

bullet lists

formatting of time and dates

preferred spelling and word usage

Academic style manuals

If you’re working in an education setting, then the Chicago Manual of Style or the APA Style Manual is sure to come up as the style standard you’ll be asked to follow.

Chicago Manual of Style

Writers and editors often reference the Chicago Manual of Style as the gold standard of academic style manuals. Their referencing style is used in many university settings around the world, including Australia.

This style guide also includes punctuation, grammar, preferred spellings, numbers and much more, which non-academic writers also find handy.

APA Style Manual

The APA Style Manual is another popular choice for students and academics. It also has wider applications beyond academic settings.

News sites style guides

News sites usually provide online style guides for their journalists and anyone else who writes for them.

The ABC Style Guide

The ABC has its own style guide.

It has sections for reporting on business, religion, the military and legal terms, which is handy.

The Guardian Style Guide

The Guardian’s style guide is not a good style guide. They don’t categorise elements. Instead, it offers a mixed A-Z list of terms and their meanings, punctuation, numbers, etc.

You need to know which specific term you’re looking for. It might be hard to find the style answer you need.

Do you need a style guide?

The not-so-definitive answer? Probably.

If you collaborate on content with a team of writers and editors, then yes, you absolutely need one. It will create that single source of truth that all team members can refer to so they can keep content consistent.

If you want to keep track of your own style decisions to ensure the content you create is consistent, then yes, a style guide will be invaluable.

Subscribe to The Smarter Writer newsletter and download a copy of my Copywriting Style Guide Template.

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Copywriting style guide examples was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

Why you need a content audit even if you don’t know what one is

If you want to gain a deep understanding of the content on your current website, see what’s working well, and what’s not doing so well and how you can improve it, then you need to run a content audit.

What is a content audit?

A content audit is a when you take stock of your content inventory. You review and analyse the content and check if it’s meeting its goals. You work out what’s working well, what’s not, what you need to improve and how that needs to happen.

The outcome of a content audit is a deep understanding of a website’s content, its inter-relationships, its issues and a plan for creating a better user experience.

How do you run a content audit?

The best content audit is run in a systematic way.

First, decide what you want to get out of the audit. Once you know what the overall goals are, set the criteria for what you will review and analyse.

A content audit is much like a stocktake at a supermarket where store management wants to know exactly how many products they have of everything. They want to know how little tins of tuna with lemon and cracked pepper they have in stock, both on the store shelves, what’s ‘out the back’ in storage, and how many have been pilfered by sneaky shoppers.

I worked as a casual for years in a supermarket as a teenager. And I loved stocktakes—the overtime rate was great—unless I was the one stuck in the tinned goods aisle counting all those little tins of flavoured tuna.  

Doing a supermarket stocktake is not that different to running a content audit. You count the things, you remove the out-of-date things, you group the things that belong together, you pull out the damaged goods, you move the stuff that doesn’t belong back to where it does, you tidy the shelves. You get an overall sense of how much stuff you have, where it sits and what you need to do to create a better customer experience.       

A content audit is a great first step before redesigning the site’s information architecture (also known as the IA and what the menu labels are called) and as part of a content strategy. You need to know:

what content you have

what topics it covers

if the content serves users well

where the gaps in information are

What does a content audit cover?

Usually the content you audit is on a website. But a content audit can extend to other formats. It can cover content published elsewhere, including:

on social media sites

in books and eBooks

on a course platform

on publishing platform like Medium or Steemit

Part of the audit will be collecting and analysing objective data—like Google Analytics metrics. But most of an audit’s intelligence comes from your subjective interpretation of the audit criteria.

Who can conduct a content audit?

Anyone can run a content audit. But to get the most out of it, and because the review process needs that subjective analysis, the person running the audit needs to be unbiased. It’s a good idea to bring in an external consultant to run the audit because they will be clinical in their review (pick me! pick me!).

The person running the audit needs to be a highly experienced web content specialist. They need skills covering broad domains such as:

user needs analysis

best practice online writing and content presentation

Google Analytics analysis

SEO analysis

best practice UX design principles

content accessibility

brand analysis

Why do a content audit?

There are many reasons why organisations audit their content (or hire someone to run the audit for them).

I’ve audited websites for large organisation with 1000s of web pages. I’ve also worked with smaller businesses with fewer than 100 web pages. Size doesn’t matter. Small and large sites benefit from the outcome of a content audit. The main difference is the time it takes to audit a large site versus a small site.

I’ll let you in on a content auditing secret.

You don’t have to audit every single page in a website to do a good content audit.

If you’re staring at a spreadsheet with 1000s of web pages, you might have just slid to the floor in relief. A bit like when another 15-year-old casual is given the flavoured tuna tins to count and you skip that aisle for cake mix.

Often, it’s enough to ensure you check page types.

A page type is a unique type of content or template. Page types could be a news story, a blog post, a product page, a landing page, a contact page, a team member profile page, etc. Each of these is a page type.

A website might have 1000s of old news stories or press releases. It might have 1000s of products. You don’t need to check every single one. You can check 10 of each page type and you’ll quickly learn 80% or more of what’s wrong with them. It’s not a good return on investment (ROI) to review each individual page in a large site. It would take far too long and you’d start dreaming you were trapped in a spreadsheet cell. True story! It’s happened to me several times when I’ve spent many hours working on a content audit, deep in spreadsheet land.

If an organisation’s website needs work, they probably already know this. But what they don’t know is exactly what those problems are and how deeply they penetrate the site. A good content audit will unveil the issues and note how widespread they are.

But there are many other reasons why people run a content audit. The reasons can cover any and all of these situations:

1. The website is being redeveloped, migrated or merged

When planning a website redevelopment, a content audit is a great place to start. It will help with migration planning. Once you redesign the IA, you’ll need to know where to map the old pages to under the new IA.

Similarly, if the project is to merge several websites into one, then you’ll want to take stock of your content inventory across multiple sites in the whole content ecosystem. This again will help you see the breadth of content and map the content to its new home.

You’ll uncover out-of-date content or time-sensitive content you can archive.

You’ll work out which service, product or information pages need an overhaul.

Overall, a content audit will help with the next phase of content strategy development.

2. The content first published no longer fits with the organisation’s current vision

A lot can happen between the day a website is first published and years later, when it’s overgrown, has had many people contributing to it and has moved on from its original vision.

Here, I would score the content against criteria relating to brand alignment and the organisation’s business goals.

I’d mark the pages that don’t fit the current goals for archiving.

3. The organisation has developed a content marketing strategy and wants to know what content they have that fits with that

When an organisation sets their brand pillars (what they want to be known for) they then need to audit their existing content to see which content they already have that aligns with their big picture vision.

They might also want to create and schedule evergreen social media posts and need to know which content they can repurpose and promote.

Here, I’d set the audit criteria to assess which topic the page belonged to. Those that don’t fit the brand pillars I’d mark for review and possible archiving.

Those that do fit the brand pillars, and depending on the quality of the content, I’d mark those for review and repurposing.

4. The content needs to be search engine optimised (SEO)

If an organisation hasn’t done any strategic SEO work, then during an audit you can run some basic SEO content checks.

Note that I’m not referring to a full technical SEO website audit. I’m referring to on-page SEO analysis only. This includes:

keyword analysis – which keywords is the page ranking for?

metadata – does the page have a meta description that follows best practice principles?

images – are the images properly named and do they have keywords in the alt tags?

are the keywords in the headings?

are there keyword synonyms in the text?

5. The organisation wants to ensure their content is accessible

Because government departments and agencies need to meet mandatory accessibility standards, I always include accessibility checks in a content audit.

The main things I check are:

readability metrics – what reading grade level is the content?

PDFs – is there a HTML alternative?

Video – are there captions?

structure – does the content logically flow?

images – is there text in the images not explained in the alt tag and HTML text?

6. The content needs a marketing check

Your client might want to check their content inventory and map it to a particular stage of the user journey in the buying cycle.

In this situation, I’d check:

the target user persona – does the page meet the user persona’s goals?

which stage of the buying journey the user is in – is the content targeted to the user at the awareness stage or at the buying stage?

calls to action (CTAs) – does the page have a clear CTA?

media check – is the page supported by the right kind of media such as video and images like Pins for easy sharing?

the content topic – does the page fit bit under the brand pillars?

the content quality – does the content reflect well on the brand?

The outcome

After a content audit, I give my client a content audit report that summarises the issues the audit uncovered and provides recommendations for what next steps to take to meet their content goals.

I think of a content audit outcome as a roadmap that outlines the tasks and activities needed to improve the website so it meets its user goals. It’s a clear snapshot of exactly what the next steps should be and a time estimate for actioning each task.

If you’re interested in undertaking a content audit for your organisation and would like me to steer it, let’s chat.

Why you need a content audit even if you don’t know what one is was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

What I learnt about my business when packaging and pricing my services

This week in Brand Builder’s Academy we covered pricing and packaging. This section of the program is one of the reasons why I signed up for it.

And it didn’t disappoint.

One of the difficulties about bundling up copywriting services is that a 12-page website is a very different price point to a 36-page website and different again to a 112-page website.

But what I can do is bundle up the core processes I do before writing a single word. I can bundle up the strategic work.

What I realised by doing this is that I will repel businesses and organisations who are not willing to invest time and money into the research cycle. I won’t attract people who don’t want to do the essential work if they want informed, evidence-based copy that will sing to their target audience.

And this is a good thing. It will help position me an evidence-based copywriter.

Oh the clarity. It feels marvellous.

Next week is an implementation week with no new content. I need that week to tie up a few things and dive a little deeper into how I can best price, package and position my copywriting services.

This week’s project wrap up

I had another epic week of project work. I wouldn’t have done it all but one small-ish job was cancelled because the client didn’t have the budget for me and another is paused while the agency attends to a family emergency. Last week, I:

wrote the copy for a 13-page website for a B2B client via an agency

wrote and published 2 blog posts for myself —the key one was That vs which

wrote and sent my newsletter

continued to manage 2 x large-ish government projects, which involved editing content, scoping the next phase, coordinating meetings, and general project management ‘stuff’

quoted for two small projects, one of which was accepted almost straight away

got my books up-to-date and filed last quarter’s BAS

made time for BBA — live calls, coursework and staying in touch with my accountability buddy.

It’s kind of ironic that after publishing my post on FAQs I was asked to quote on writing answers for 13 FAQs! Do I stick to my principles and say no? Or go after it with palms open?

PS For the record, I quoted. It is COVID days, after all.

What I learnt about my business when packaging and pricing my services was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

That vs which

Where and when to use that vs which is a little complicated, so if you’re not sure if you’re using them correctly, you’re not alone. I work with a lot of professional writers and many of them use ‘which’ incorrectly. I see it used incorrectly in the media every day, which doesn’t set a good example for the rest of us.

When to use ‘which’ and when to use ‘that’

That and which can’t be used interchangeably. Using one or the other changes the meaning of a sentence.

When to use ‘that’

Use ‘that’ when you introduce a restrictive clause, (also known as an ‘essential clause’) into your sentence.

A restrictive clause means that the clause is essential to the meaning of a sentence. It restricts its meaning by limiting the thing or things it refers to.

We could fall into a rabbit hole of explanations here that about clauses are not entirely necessary to understand the difference between that and which. Instead, let’s get into some examples.

Here’s an example of using ‘that’ in a sentence with a restrictive clause:

The car that ran over the one-armed zombie was out of petrol.

In this sentence, I’m talking about a specific car— the one that ran over the one-armed zombie. So I use the word ‘that’ here rather than ‘which’. By using ‘that’ I’m suggesting that there was more than one car. It’s a restrictive clause because it limits all cars to just one car—the car that ran over the one-armed zombie. I distinguish this car from all other cars by using the restrictive clause.

When to use ‘which’

The opposite of a restrictive clause is a non-restrictive clause.

Use ‘which’ to introduce a non-restrictive clause that adds extra information to a sentence but doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence.

Here’s the same sentence, but using ‘which’ instead of ‘that’.

The car, which ran over the one-armed zombie, was out of petrol.

In this sentence, I’ve chosen to make the part about the car being the one that ran over the one-armed zombie, extra information. It doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence — that the car was out of petrol. I can write the sentence without the non-restrictive clause and it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence.

The car was out of petrol.

I’m not talking about a specific car. If I was talking about a specific car, I’d use ‘that’ like I did in the original example.

To introduce a non-restrictive clause, use a comma before ‘which’ and place another comma after the non-restrictive clause.

That vs which: examples of incorrect use

Every day I read the ABC news and find examples of journalists using ‘which’ instead of ‘that’. I searched for an example before writing this blog post and found one in the first article I opened. Then I gathered a few more.

Can you pick up the difference in meaning in each?

That vs which: example 1

A double whammy! This article uses ‘which’ incorrectly in both the heading and the image captions. It introduces a restrictive clause but incorrectly uses ‘which’ instead of ‘that’ because the text refers to a specific tree.

It’s a restrictive clause because out of all the trees in all the world, the article refers to one specific tree—the one that started the bushfire.

❌ How the ABC located the tree which started the Gospers Mountain bushfire and the Sydney ‘mega-blaze’

✔️ How the ABC located the tree that started the Gospers Mountain bushfire and the Sydney ‘mega-blaze’

❌ The tree which started the Gospers Mountain bushfire

✔️ The tree that started the Gospers Mountain bushfire

We need to use ‘that’ in these examples because it’s a restrictive clause—the article refers to a specific tree.

That vs which: example 2

❌ ‘City of Perth report finds systemic failings in ‘dysfunctional council’ which led to suspension

✔️ ‘City of Perth report finds systemic failings in ‘dysfunctional council’, which led to suspension

By inserting a comma before the ‘which’, it turns it into a non-restrictive clause. The bit about it leading to a suspension is extra information.

Here’s the second incorrect use on the same screen:

❌ An explosive report into the embattled city of Perth has found “greed, incompetence and mismanagement” was able to flourish during a period of turmoil which led to the entire council…

✔️ An explosive report into the embattled city of Perth has found “greed, incompetence and mismanagement” was able to flourish during a period of turmoil that led to the entire council being sacked…

I used ‘that’ here instead of ‘which’ because it’s a restrictive clause, citing the reason why the entire council was sacked.

That vs which: example 3

So close! Here we have an almost-correct example of ‘which’ in a news headline.

❌ Death Valley just recorded 54.4 degrees Celsius which, if verified, could torch the record book

✔️ Death Valley just recorded 54.4 degrees Celsius, which, if verified, could torch the record book

Note that the commas should come before ‘which’. This would show that what follows is a non-restrictive clause—you could take it out and the overall meaning of the sentence wouldn’t alter. The temperature could be a new record.

That vs which: example 4

The same article, further down the page, uses ‘which’ incorrectly.

❌ Even the official temperature record website notes there may have been a sandstorm at the time which could have affected the reading.

✔️ Even the official temperature record website notes there may have been a sandstorm at the time that could have affected the reading.

I read the information ‘could have affected the reading’ as restrictive, so I suggested replacing ‘which’ with ‘that’ rather than adding a comma before ‘which’. The part about the sandstorm affecting the reading is important to the overall meaning of the sentence.

Let me know in the comments below if this post has confused things for you or made the use of ‘that’ and ‘which’ much clearer.

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy reading Plain English tips.

That vs which was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

Facing an ugly truth about my business

Learning the digital ropes

I thought my apprenticeship in the digital world back in the 1990s had served me well. And on many levels it did. It served me exceptionally well.

Although I initially started as an assistant to 3 UX designers who mentored me and showed me the UX ropes, I was inducted into every part of the business.

I learnt how to write case studies, respond to tenders and put a proposal together.

Project costs were out in the open, tabled during every Monday team meeting. I remember how seeing the dollar figures on the whiteboard. Someone would DARE talk about money so publicly and openly? My working-class roots were showing. But I soon got used to it.

I learnt how to present to clients and run training sessions.

I learnt that when I brought men to my meetings, I needed to redirect my male clients’ attention back to me as the decision-maker and project leader, not the male members of my support team.

So, what is this ugly truth I learnt last week?

Business process vs project process

While I have tried, tested and proven process in place for the work I do, I don’t for my overall business.

I trust my project processes – from running a content audit to analysing user research and writing content that serves both an organisation’s goals and their end-users.

But last week, while working through the Brand Builder’s Academy (BBA) business strategy week content, I realised that I don’t have the same sort of rigorous processes in place for my business.

While I track project budgets for every buy phentermine 30mg online dollar spent or every minute worked, I’m not tracking my overall balance sheets as well as I could be. I don’t have the figures at hand that I should know – like my expenditure as an overall percentage of my revenue or my profit margin. I do my own bookkeeping and quarterly BAS, so I have a vague idea, but not the exact figures I need to make informed decisions.

I’m also not managing my pipeline well. These days, fearing the famine cycle, I always seem to be at or over capacity.

Running my business in the same considered way I run my projects is where I want to be. I’m sure I’ll get there with a few tweaks and a refresh.

Elsewhere in San Land

I needed to take last weekend off, fully. I started this blog post on Saturday but soon realised the art of stringing words together in sentences was far beyond my capability. So, while this post is a little later than I’d prefer, I’m here, showing up and documenting my digital adventures.

Last week I published a blog post on the evils of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on my business website. It has sparked some interesting discussion about when and where they’re useful and when to avoid them.

This week in BBA we’re tackling pricing and packaging. I’ve been waiting for this week! I’m so glad next week is an implementation week as I need some time and headspace to do some deep thinking and start bringing together everything I’ve learnt and those moments of clarity.

Facing an ugly truth about my business was originally published on Sandra Muller

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Facing an ugly truth about my business

Learning the digital ropes

I thought my apprenticeship in the digital world back in the 1990s had served me well. And on many levels it did. It served me exceptionally well.

Although I initially started as an assistant to 3 UX designers who mentored me and showed me the UX ropes, I was inducted into every part of the business.

I learnt how to write case studies, respond to tenders and put a proposal together.

Project costs were out in the open, tabled during every Monday team meeting. I remember how seeing the dollar figures on the whiteboard. Someone would DARE talk about money so publicly and openly? My working-class roots were showing. But I soon got used to it.

I learnt how to present to clients and run training sessions.

I learnt that when I brought men to my meetings, I needed to redirect my male clients’ attention back to me as the decision-maker and project leader, not the male members of my support team.

So, what is this ugly truth I learnt last week?

Business process vs project process

While I have tried, tested and proven process in place for the work I do, I don’t for my overall business.

I trust my project processes – from running a content audit to analysing user research and writing content that serves both an organisation’s goals and their end-users.

But last week, while working through the Brand Builder’s Academy (BBA) business strategy week content, I realised that I don’t have the same sort of rigorous processes in place for my business.

While I track project budgets for every dollar spent or every minute worked, I’m not tracking my overall balance sheets as well as I could be. I don’t have the figures at hand that I should know – like my expenditure as an overall percentage of my revenue or my profit margin. I do my own bookkeeping and quarterly BAS, so I have a vague idea, but not the exact figures I need to make informed decisions.

I’m also not managing my pipeline well. These days, fearing the famine cycle, I always seem to be at or over capacity.

Running my business in the same considered way I run my projects is where I want to be. I’m sure I’ll get there with a few tweaks and a refresh.

Elsewhere in San Land

I needed to take last weekend off, fully. I started this blog post on Saturday but soon realised the art of stringing words together in sentences was far beyond my capability. So, while this post is a little later than I’d prefer, I’m here, showing up and documenting my digital adventures.

Last week I published a blog post on the evils of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on my business website. It has sparked some interesting discussion about when and where they’re useful and when to avoid them.

This week in BBA we’re tackling pricing and packaging. I’ve been waiting for this week! I’m so glad next week is an implementation week as I need some time and headspace to do some deep thinking and start bringing together everything I’ve learnt and those moments of clarity.

Facing an ugly truth about my business was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[sandralmuller]

What the FAQ?

Why FAQs provide a poor user experience

If your client thinks they need a Frequently Asked Questions page on their website, there’s most likely a problem with their website structure or their content. 

FAQs are like the bandaid on a slashed carotid artery. They’re trying to patch a deeper issue but offer no help at all to the gushing wound.

Users should be able to achieve their goal on a website without having to resort to an FAQ page to get the information they need.

It’s unlikely a user is on your client’s website for fun. They’re there because they have to do something (a task-based visit) or find something out (an information-based visit).

By better understanding what your client’s user needs are, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to best serve them and eliminate the need for an FAQ page.

The UK’s Government Digital Service agrees. They don’t recommend FAQs, no longer use them. They advocate for others to ditch them as well.

Why companies love FAQs

Organisations love creating FAQs because they are easy to write in their simple question-answer formula.

FAQs become a lazy catch-all for odd bits of information.

Not sure where this bit of info goes? Let’s put in an FAQ.

Thought of a question one user out of 10,000 might ask one day? Put it in the FAQs.

Had one enquiry about a topic via email that’s specific only to that one person? We took the time to answer them, so let’s add our answer to the FAQ page. Just in case.

Some organisations have trained their users to find their content via the FAQ section. It will be more challenging to convince these organisations to let go of their FAQ pages.

Examples of why FAQs provide a poor user experience

A quick poke around the web and it’s not hard to find examples of FAQs providing a poor user experience.

FAQs that are not even questions

Some organisations write sentences instead of questions, expecting the user to infer what the question is.

Immigration South Australia has a large FAQ section. This is just one part of it. They mix questions and sentences in their FAQ lists.

The not-so-FAQ FAQ

My most-hated FAQ is the FAQ that poses as a thinly veiled vehicle for self-promotion. You know the ones that read something like ‘How can I tell all my friends about your exceptional product?’

I’ll tell you exactly how many people asked that question. Zero.

If your client has these kinds of FAQs, get rid of them.

Here’s an example of a not-so-FAQ FAQ from Urban Home.

The problem with FAQs

One of the reasons why FAQs provide a poor user experience is that they quickly grow from a manageable handful to 15 to 30 to 63.

Before you know it, the dumping ground is a disorganised mess where a user must sift through dozens of FAQs that are of no relevance to their question.

Or the questions are so specific that your user can’t identify their problem among the FAQs.

This, apparently, is a frequently asked question. It’s on the ATO website.

This is an example of when FAQs become so trivial and specific to a single person they don’t cover important information relevant to most site visitors.

Heading length and FAQs

Another problem with FAQs is that FAQ headings are often longer than standard headings.

For example:

How do I get the stun feature on my Zombie Zapper 2.0 to work?

When users scan your page, they look at the first few words of headings.

So, if you have ‘How do I get the …’ as your first few words, your users are missing the key words about the stun feature on their Zombie Zapper 2.0 when they scan your content.

Instead, a heading like this works better:

Using the stun feature on your Zombie Zapper 2.0

Here’s another example of a dog’s breakfast of FAQs, courtesy of our federal government’s FAQs on the Australian Parliament House website.

FAQs on mobile phone screens

These headings are not optimised for scanning. Some of their FAQs are far too long and wrap across 2 or more lines on a mobile phone.

This is what the same FAQ list looks like a mobile phone screen.

It’s not a pleasant user experience.

Action-oriented headings

Starting headings with a verb makes them action-oriented and more engaging. Users are more likely to see their key words as they scan your page.

Short headings also work better on mobiles.

If this wasn’t an FAQ page, the headings would be more like:

Contact your local member

Learn what work the House does

Get your petition before the House

House sitting times

Standing and sessional orders

FAQ alternatives

If FAQs are so bad, what can we do instead of creating an FAQ page?

We can make sure the website’s information architecture (IA), is giving users the right cues to help them find the information they need. (A website’s IA is the labels we assign to menu topics.)

You can move FAQs onto the relevant web pages.

To make sure you’re only moving relevant and appropriate content, start this process with an FAQ audit.

Audit the FAQs

Gather a list of all the FAQs. My preference is to do this in a spreadsheet and identify:

the user need

the topic it most relates to

location of where the info belongs on the website

if it’s duplicated or already answered in the content

if it’s a true frequently asked question or if you can cull it

Move FAQ content into the relevant web pages

Map the FAQ content you’ll keep to the relevant page on the website.

Check if the page already addresses that question. If it does, there’s no need to add the FAQ content.

The only reason to include an FAQ format on this page is to address the SEO benefits through keyword targeting. We’ll cover this in more detail further on.

Test the IA

When a client’s site is undergoing a redevelopment, it’s the perfect time to assess the need for their existing FAQ page.

The new IA should capture the most likely place for the FAQs.

I use Treejack by Optimal Workshop to test IAs. Upload your menu headings, set user tasks, recruit users to complete those tasks. You’ll soon figure what’s working and what’s not working well with your menu design.

I’ve over-simplified IA testing, but that’s a whole new topic in itself.

*Adds IA testing to list of blog posts to write*

Set strict rules around the creation of new FAQs

Just because someone asked a question once back in 2017, it doesn’t build a business case for the website to include it.

So, what does?

Call centre staff, especially if they log call data, are a brilliant source of data. Sales staff also know the main objections and questions potential customers have about a product or service.

There are no definitive criteria for FAQ governance, you can set the criteria with your client. Consider if frequently asked questions:

are true FAQs

have evidence to back up that they are an FAQ

are not self-promotion

have already been answered in the page content

highlight a flaw in the site’s IA

need further user testing

are keywords that need to be included for SEO purposes

When FAQs work well

In most situations, if you or your client thinks you need an FAQ page, the content or menu structure isn’t doing its job well.

I hate blanket rules — that’s why I say ‘most’ situations.

There are a few situations where FAQs can work well. For example, they can work well:

When you have a transaction-based eCommerce site and need to cover shipping and returns information.

For an event or conference that has a lot of details about the logistics of the event.

For a sales page where you can use the FAQ format to counter objections. You also want to keep the user on the sales page, rather than sending them elsewhere to find the information. You might lose their attention during the sales process if you send them elsewhere to find the information they need.

But for everything else, let’s ditch the FAQ page and incorporate the information into the relevant place on the website.

FAQs and their impact on SEO

With the rise of voice search and the valuable real estate of search engine results pages up for grabs with rich snippets, questions and their answers have become an important component to include in your web content.

I’m not saying no to FAQs full stop. I’m saying no to FAQ pages and FAQs as a main menu heading (unless you’re ultra-specific – like the ‘Shipping FAQs’ for an eCommerce store). 

But ditch the standalone FAQ page.

One of the last major Google algorithm updates was about relevance.

An FAQ page with loads of questions and answers across a broad range of topics will most likely not satisfy Google’s thirst for relevance.

You’re better off building the credibility, authority and relevance of a single page. Add the FAQ keyword to the core, pillar page. Don’t add the keyword to an FAQ page where you’ll be sending mixed signals and cues to search engines and diluting the value of the keyword for your site.

And when was the last time you remember stumbling across an FAQ page via a search engine?

The FAQ challenge

Is there an FAQ page or *gulp* an entire FAQ section on your client’s website you could disassemble and disseminate the information to specific pages in the right context?

What the FAQ? was originally published on Sandra Muller

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A change of branding heart

I had no idea that my mindset was in such bad shape until I started Brand Builders’ Academy (BBA).

It feels like the work I’m doing as part of the BBA program is showering me in epiphanies, small and large. And I can trace those epiphanies back to the mindset work I started last week.

I’ve had a change of branding heart. The key realisation I had this week was that I don’t NEED to do the things I want to do in my business under a new business entity. For years I’ve been hiding behind agencies and other people’s brands. I’ve been helping them build their profile and brand by neglecting my own.

By suggesting that I need to establish a whole new entity to take my business in a new direction is just me hiding behind yet another brand.

It’s time to stop riding the coattails of others. It’s time to stop hiding behind other brands. It’s time to step up and into the spotlight, however uncomfortable that makes me feel, and embrace this change of branding heart.

Everything I want to do, I can do under my own name, my current brand www.sandralmuller.com. My personal brand needs work, but that’s what I’m focusing on these next few months.

I joined BBA thinking I would use the program would help me set up my new brand. Ha! I did not expect this plot twist. But I love it.

I’ve partnered up with an accountability buddy, Jayne. And she’s marvellous. We’re chatting at least once a week and I feel like I’ve got a new business bestie. We’re a good fit.

The week that was

I worked on 8 different projects this week. Plus did my BBA homework. No wonder my head was spinning.

It’s been a good mix of project work, though. From supervising a content auditing and mapping exercise to optimising a website for architects to writing content about eco-friendly floor cleaning equipment and editing content about a skilled migration program. I had to outsource some copywriting to my copy buddy, Sarina, and she did a marvellous job and saved me quite a few hours and a cup or two of mental wellbeing. I even roped TJ in to help me with some ‘crank the handle’ type of spreadsheet work.

Thanks to outsourcing and those early morning starts, I’m finally getting a weekend. So that’s something. Not that we can go anywhere or do anything thanks to COVID-19 lockdown laws. We’re at stage 3 here in Regional Victoria. I don’t even really know what that means. Masks on. No one over. No more school.

But we are catching up with family tonight via Zoom for a trivia challenge.

Learning from home started this week and so our routine is out of whack. I’ve been waking earlier to get some work done before The Monsta rises in time for breakfast and his 9 am video meeting with his teacher and classmates. That’s helped me power through some work this week. It’s meant my Downton Abbey binge had to stop. I’ve just started Season 4. No spoilers!

I’ve got a big week ahead, starting a new project writing website copy for a security camera company. I’ve set all the pages and templates up in GatherContent and I’m ready to go.

I didn’t write a newsletter this week. But I will next week. I can commit to fortnightly newsletters, right?

A change of branding heart was originally published on Sandra Muller

[sandralmuller]

A change of branding heart

I had no idea that my mindset was in such bad shape until I started Brand Builders’ Academy (BBA).

It feels like the work I’m doing as part of the BBA program is showering me in epiphanies, small and large. And I can trace those epiphanies back to the mindset work I started last week.

I’ve had a change of branding heart. The key realisation I had this week was that I don’t NEED to do the things I want to do in my business under a new business entity. For years I’ve been hiding behind agencies and other people’s brands. I’ve been helping them build their profile and brand by neglecting my own.

By suggesting that I need to establish a whole new entity to take my business in a new direction is just me hiding behind yet another brand.

It’s time to stop riding the coattails of others. It’s time to stop hiding behind other brands. It’s time to step up and into the spotlight, however uncomfortable that makes me feel, and embrace this change of branding heart.

Everything I want to do, I can do under my own name, my current brand www.sandralmuller.com. My personal brand needs work, but that’s what I’m focusing on these next few months.

I joined BBA thinking I would use the program would help me set up my new brand. Ha! I did not expect this plot twist. But I love it.

I’ve partnered up with an accountability buddy, Jayne. And she’s marvellous. We’re chatting at least once a week and I feel like I’ve got a new business bestie. We’re a good fit.

The week that was

I worked on 8 different projects this week. Plus did my BBA homework. No wonder my head was spinning.

It’s been a good mix of project work, though. From supervising a content auditing and mapping exercise to optimising a website for architects to writing content about eco-friendly floor cleaning equipment and editing content about a skilled migration program. I had to outsource some copywriting to my copy buddy, Sarina, and she did a marvellous job and saved me quite a few hours and a cup or two of mental wellbeing. I even roped TJ in to help me with some ‘crank the handle’ type of spreadsheet work.

Thanks to outsourcing and those early morning starts, I’m finally getting a weekend. So that’s something. Not that we can go anywhere or do anything thanks to COVID-19 lockdown laws. We’re at stage 3 here in Regional Victoria. I don’t even really know what that means. Masks on. No one over. No more school.

But we are catching up with family tonight via Zoom for a trivia challenge.

Learning from home started this week and so our routine is out of whack. I’ve been waking earlier to get some work done before The Monsta rises in time for breakfast and his 9 am video meeting with his teacher and classmates. That’s helped me power through some work this week. It’s meant my Downton Abbey binge had to stop. I’ve just started Season 4. No spoilers!

I’ve got a big week ahead, starting a new project writing website copy for a security camera company. I’ve set all the pages and templates up in GatherContent and I’m ready to go.

I didn’t write a newsletter this week. But I will next week. I can commit to fortnightly newsletters, right?

A change of branding heart was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[sandralmuller]

Mindset matters

Brand building

Last Monday, Brand Builder’s Academy started.

A deep dive into mindset this week has revealed that I’m confident of my skills. Where I lack confidence is in my ability to present and market myself.

I also realised that a fear of failure, of showing up to an empty stadium, is quite literally laughable given my spectacular past failures. I realised that nothing bad happened when I failed. Sure, my ego took a bruising and my bank balance was savagely hit—but it was all recoverable.

My chronic optimism always takes over and I focus on what I learn rather than what I lost and the failure itself.

And the best judge of future behaviour is past behaviour, right?

By doing the work, committing to showing up, continuing to believe in my skill set, I know I’ll be OK. I don’t have to worry about failure because if it does happen, I know I’ll be OK.

The passive income rollercoaster

Am I at the tipping point?

18 months ago I began to question the validty of persuing a passive income empire.

For years I’ve invested a lot of time in trying to crack the passive income nut. I’ve written about those attempts in past posts.

I tried different kinds of affiliate marketing with little success.

I imagine if I’d invested that time in paid client projects I’d be financially better offer in the tens of thousands. But I did learn a LOT. There’s that chronic optimism, again.

Perhaps the only vaguely successful passive income stream I’ve set up has been my drop shipping eCommerce store, Silk Interiors, which is now generating an average profit of just over $A1,000 per month. And that’s far from passive.

The term ‘passive income’ has never sat well with me. We all know how much work goes into ‘passive’ income.

Reframing the term passive income

I’ve reframed the term ‘passive income’ to ‘asset income’.

To me, passive income means to sit back, do nothing and watch the dollars roll in.

But there’s a crap tonne of work that goes into setting something up so that the dollars will roll in, or more likely, trickle in. And then there’s a whole lot more work that goes into maintaining what you’ve set up to ensure that trickle continues.

That’s why I like the term ‘asset income’. Using the word ‘asset’ feels like I’m creating something of value that will generate an income.

It’s a somewhat subtle mindset shift, but it’s working for me. Because I will create something of value, things that will help others.

What I’m working towards

I’m using the 8 weeks I’m investing in the BBA program to set up my new entity, The Smart Content Company.

My vision for The Smart Content Company is to provide a mix of products and services that cover the different budgets and level of willingness of business owners to do the work themselves.

I’ll have a suite of services that have options to:

do it yourself

do it with me

do it for me

I see this as a way I can bring my skills to so many more people, those who ordinarily couldn’t afford my services at my usual hourly rate.

I feel so enthused about creating content and assets that people will love, use and get great value from.

While I won’t have that suite of products ready in 8 weeks, I will have the strategy and framework in place to make it happen.

Project work

This past week, The Monsta wasn’t well and he had a few days off school. It was more the disturbed nights that affected me than the days of having him underfoot at home. Coupled with COVID-19 distress from soaring daily figures and anger at those COVID-infected people not self-isolating, plus general distress at the state of our society and the impact of casualisation of our workforce, I was tired, unfocused and finding it hard to get into the groove.

This means I have work to do this weekend to catch up so I don’t miss already extended deadlines. But it’s not like I can visit family and friends or do anything fun anyway, right? The lockdown net has extended and now even more people are caught under it. We’re still out of the lockdown zone, for now. The figures in my local government area are climbing each day, so I think it’s only a matter of time before we’re officially locked down, too.

I prefer not to work on client projects on weekends because I know it means by next Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll be creatively spent. I’ve blocked out Thursday in my calendar—no appointments and no deadlines.

I have 2 new projects coming in so far for August, securing another month of income.

One is for an existing client’s website for a new brand they’re launching. I secured that project via a Melbourne agency I’ve collaborated with over the past 7 or 8 months.

The other project is for a tech company project via Sydney-based agency. That lead came via a lovely, thoughtful copywriting colleague who referred them to me as she is at capacity for the next month.

Mindset matters was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[sandralmuller]

A brief update: my digital adventuring continues

It’s been a while since I added content to this blog topic.

The purpose was to document my digital adventures diligently, capture what I’m working on and learning—a bit like a digital diary that I can look back on and see how far I’ve come (or haven’t) and hopefully help others along the way.

Saying yes to ALL THE THINGS

Last quarter, despite COVID-19, was one of my biggest ever. I said yes to everything. I wanted to build a financial buffer should COVID’s impact worsen and budgets shrink in the new financial year. I don’t want to have to dip into savings if work slows down or dries up.

By saying ‘yes’ to all projects, I found an unexpected joy in writing conversion copy. So much fun! From a social media campaign with a Formula One theme for an obscure product, to a high-end property consultant targeting people buying or selling multi-million dollar homes, it’s been fun to step out of my usual writing or editing information-based, informative content. I’ve never considered myself a conversion copywriter, but I think I’m getting better at it.

By saying ‘yes’ to everything, I also became so busy I had to bring on a subcontractor for the second time this year to help get me through a super-busy patch.

My planned 2-week Thai holiday in June was COVID-cancelled. I delayed my break to early July but that whittled down from 8 work days off to 4.5. I really needed some time away from the stress of managing projects and budgets that weren’t mine. A week or two later and I’m like, what break?

We’re also figuring out how to manage school holidays in our schedule. This is our first year with a school kid and we weren’t sure how it would go. I kind of miss daycare hours and the minimal holiday breaks.

From now on, I’ll be scheduling time off from projects during school breaks. It’s not fair for The Monsta (or me) to be stuck at home while I’m at my desk all day working.

Is my business growing or is this a busy patch?

Anyway, this busy-ness got me thinking—is this another busy patch or is my business actually growing? I’m busy to the point of nearly burning out and I haven’t advertised or promoted my services this year. I’ve been too scared to. I have a few potential and past clients on my contact list, but I have no room for them in schedule, so I haven’t reached out to them yet.

It it weren’t for COVID, I’d say this was definitely growth, but I am still wary of the impact it’s going to have on client budgets for the next 12 months, especially the next 6.

But I am ready to step up and into the agency space.

Setting up a new entity

It’s time to stop riding the coat tails of others and play bigger.

I registered a new business, The Smart Content Company (I LOVE the name, do you?), and I’m setting up a new website for it, which will start as a clone of my Sandra Muller consulting site, but tailored for my new direction.

I have to think about what I’m going to do with my Sandra Muller website after I launch the new business.

I’ve joined the fabulous Suz Chadwick’s Brand Builders’ Academy. I’m hoping I’ll get clarity on how this site, Sandra Muller and The Smart Company all work in harmony and with specific purposes.

This week is all about mindset, getting it right, identifying limiting beliefs, getting clarity, and breaking down old habits and rebuilding new ones.

Let’s see how I go over the coming weeks and if I carve out and protect just an hour of time each week to document what’s been going on each week.

A brief update: my digital adventuring continues was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[sandralmuller]

A brief update: my digital adventuring continues

It’s been a while since I added content to this blog topic.

The purpose was to document my digital adventures diligently, capture what I’m working on and learning—a bit like a digital diary that I can look back on and see how far I’ve come (or haven’t) and hopefully help others along the way.

Saying yes to ALL THE THINGS

Last quarter, despite COVID-19, was one of my biggest ever. I said yes to everything. I wanted to build a financial buffer should COVID’s impact worsen and budgets shrink in the new financial year. I don’t want to have to dip into savings if work slows down or dries up.

By saying ‘yes’ to all projects, I found an unexpected joy in writing conversion copy. So much fun! From a social media campaign with a Formula One theme for an obscure product, to a high-end property consultant targeting people buying or selling multi-million dollar homes, it’s been fun to step out of my usual writing or editing information-based, informative content. I’ve never considered myself a conversion copywriter, but I think I’m getting better at it.

By saying ‘yes’ to everything, I also became so busy I had to bring on a subcontractor for the second time this year to help get me through a super-busy patch.

My planned 2-week Thai holiday in June was COVID-cancelled. I delayed my break to early July but that whittled down from 8 work days off to 4.5. I really needed some time away from the stress of managing projects and budgets that weren’t mine. A week or two later and I’m like, what break?

We’re also figuring out how to manage school holidays in our schedule. This is our first year with a school kid and we weren’t sure how it would go. I kind of miss daycare hours and the minimal holiday breaks.

From now on, I’ll be scheduling time off from projects during school breaks. It’s not fair for The Monsta (or me) to be stuck at home while I’m at my desk all day working.

Is my business growing or is this a busy patch?

Anyway, this busy-ness got me thinking—is this another busy patch or is my business actually growing? I’m busy to the point of nearly burning out and I haven’t advertised or promoted my services this year. I’ve been too scared to. I have a few potential and past clients on my contact list, but I have no room for them in schedule, so I haven’t reached out to them yet.

It it weren’t for COVID, I’d say this was definitely growth, but I am still wary of the impact it’s going to have on client budgets for the next 12 months, especially the next 6.

But I am ready to step up and into the agency space.

Setting up a new entity

It’s time to stop riding the coat tails of others and play bigger.

I registered a new business, The Smart Content Company (I LOVE the name, do you?), and I’m setting up a new website for it, which will start as a clone of my Sandra Muller consulting site, but tailored for my new direction.

I have to think about what I’m going to do with my Sandra Muller website after I launch the new business.

I’ve joined the fabulous Suz Chadwick’s Brand Builders’ Academy. I’m hoping I’ll get clarity on how this site, Sandra Muller and The Smart Company all work in harmony and with specific purposes.

This week is all about mindset, getting it right, identifying limiting beliefs, getting clarity, and breaking down old habits and rebuilding new ones.

Let’s see how I go over the coming weeks and if I carve out and protect just an hour of time each week to document what’s been going on each week.

A brief update: my digital adventuring continues was originally published on Sandra Muller