5 tips for picking powerful blog post titles

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Strong titles attract readers to your blog posts. On the other hand, weak titles will deter readers from delving into your content.

Photo: ~K~

As Brian Clark of Copyblogger.com says, “On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.” Also, titles play a big role in how prominently your posts feature in Internet searches.

Here are some techniques to help you boost your blog’s appeal.

  1. WIIFM
  2. Keywords and powerful words
  3. Controversy
  4. Humor
  5. Research

Tip 1: WIIFM

“What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM) tops your readers’ concerns as they scan titles, deciding which blog posts to read. So, emphasize your post’s benefit to readers in your title. For example, use “How to retire at age 55” or “Stress-free retirement” instead of “Retirement planning” or “Using tax-exempt retirement accounts.”

Tip 2: Keywords, powerful words

Keywords are the words and phrases that your most desirable readers use to find you. Insert keywords into your titles.

Other powerful terms include

  • Best
  • Free
  • Secrets
  • Top Tips

I’ve also found that inserting names of famous people or organizations into my titles helps them attract more readers.

Tip 3: Controversy

Stirring up controversy or just asking a question draws readers. One of my most shared posts, ” ‘CFA credential implies a standard of care not always upheld,’ says Forbes opinion piece,” discussed a controversial opinion. Similarly, my “reader challenge” post titles benefit from my readers’ desire to express their opinions.

Tip 4: Humor

Humor pays. For example, dry humor drew me to “The U.S. Downgrade is My Fault,” a post by Rick Ferri on Forbes.com.

Tip 5: Research

Your best titles probably differ from other people’s. This is why I suggest you study what works for you.

You can gauge success informally by noting which posts attract the most visits. Alternatively, you can use free software such as Google Analytics to measure your posts’ appeal, which you can attribute at least partly to your titles.

Great blog posts about titles

How to Write Magnetic Headlines
How to Craft Post Titles That Draw Readers Into Your Blog
How to Choose a Headline Using 3 Little Known Secrets

Your best title tips?

If you have a great tip for boosting title-power, please share it as a comment on this post.

Guest post: “Creating Pitch Books Without Losing Your Mind: Design & Content Management Tips”

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Margaret Patterson, the co-host on my recent webinar, is a financial pitch book expert. She has created sales support tools and provided production management expertise to numerous institutional asset managers and consultants, mutual fund companies,  and wealth management advisors for 25 years. She shares her expertise in the guest post below, which originally appeared on one of my earlier blogs.

Margaret is great about answering questions, so I hope you’ll pose some.

Creating Pitch Books Without Losing Your Mind:

Design & Content Management Tips

by Margaret Patterson

Typically many employees provide input for a firm’s pitch book. To pull all that information together you need a good plan.

1. Delegate pitch book content management to one employee. That person will be the key contact for every employee and consultant who influences the pitch book.

2. A small approval committee, 3 to 5 people, should determine what content works best.

3. Give considerable attention to investment process but whittle it down to no more than five steps. Don’t over-explain. Let your graphics be a starting point for conversation.

4. Emphasizing investment professionals’ expertise gets new business. Don’t leave out the support they get from marketing, client service, operations and reporting. Finding inefficiencies in markets, sticking to disciplined investment processes and impressive client service are the marks of well-structured firms regardless of their size. An impressive organization chart carries a lot of weight with prospects.

5. Request senior management approval only after you have a complete draft that can be defended with valor. You need a concise mission statement supported by brief, punchy text and elegant graphics. 20 to 25 pages are enough. After all, people are pitching to people. Be a good listener and let your spoken story address a prospect’s unique concerns.

6. It’s a good idea to customize books if you clearly understand your prospect’s investment objectives. Customized pages can be inserted into your standard book.

7. Handouts are also valuable tools in a high courtship pitching process. Use fact sheets, company profile handouts and composite performance PDFs to provide more detailed information. Handouts also help you control who gets the information and when. Conversely, prospects will resort to taking phone calls and planning golf games if your pitch book is too long and intense.

I create a PowerPoint design system guide for each client to help them maintain consistent, effective messaging.

Input and questions are welcome. Your thoughts may show up in future articles, so let me know if I can quote you.

Guest Post: “Doctoring the Books—the Right Way”

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Laura Matthews is an insightful and detail-oriented book doctor. I’ve seen her in action in my writing group. I also know one of her satisfied financial advisor clients. I’m delighted that Laura shares her perspective on book doctoring in this guest post.

Doctoring the Books–the Right Way

By Laura Matthews

Laura Matthews

“Book doctor.” Sounds intimidating. Like your worst nightmare English teacher from high school, the one who x’ed out entire paragraphs in red ink and wrote, “This paper is a rudderless boat,” under a large, scrawling “D.”

Been there.* So when I’m working with an author, I try to be as opposite as possible. In the close to 500 books I’ve edited, it’s always been my goal to encourage authors with positive feedback and storytelling savvy that enhances their material and makes it more engaging. The writer is the idea-generator; the book doctor hones that idea to razor sharpness.

A good book doctor, otherwise known as an editor, will find the gems in your work and help you polish them to a shining gleam. No matter where you are in the process—an idea, an outline, a first draft, or a thoroughly crafted manuscript—a book doctor can take you to the next level of fine-tuning and crafting the final product.

Surprisingly, the book doctor doesn’t need to be an expert in your field to be a good match. After all, if you’ve written a book, you’re the expert already. What you need is someone to let you know if your expertise is understandable to the lay person. One of the defining traits of editors is an insatiable desire to know everything. (I get closer every day.) They are curious about all kinds of topics and want to dig deep to understand them. It’s almost better when they don’t know everything about your topic; they can then bring fresh eyes to it and more effectively represent the reader. Some familiarity with the specific vocabulary of your field, though, is helpful.

What do book doctors do?

When you bring your manuscript to a book doctor for evaluation, you’ll probably get one of three recommendations:

  1. If the book is in good shape already, the editor might suggest a copy edit or proofread, to ensure there are no errors in the text itself. This type of edit covers spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.—the mechanics of the text. If an editor suggests this right off the bat, congratulations! You’ve done an excellent job already of putting the book together.
  2. If the book is basically sound structurally but has phrasing or clarity issues, it may need a deeper line edit to smooth language, organize paragraphs, trim extra words, etc. The editor would strive to retain your voice while still ensuring the writing is clean, succinct, and understandable to the lay person.
  3. If the book has a great core concept but some organizational and structural issues, the editor might suggest a revision, which you could do with the editor’s guidance or the editor could do for you. In this type of edit, the editor connects to your ultimate vision for the project, and then does the heavy lifting for you in crafting the manuscript to your specifications without you having to be a writing expert. That’s the real expertise of the editor—crafting the written word itself.

These different levels of editing would most likely be charged at different rates, depending on the book doctor, their experience, and their availability. Some charge by the hour, others by the word count. But this is not the place to skimp before publishing or shopping your book around—one of the most common complaints today about self-published books, for example, is the carelessness or non-existence of the editing. The reader can spot it instantly. Also, many publishers are now requiring authors to have the editing done before submission. Editing is essential—don’t let your book go out without it.

The editor may have some general knowledge about what will be marketable to your audience, but your expertise will be the final word on that. You know your target market and what they need; the editor will help you say what you want to say to reach the audience you specify.

What to look for in a book doctor

Many people have strong editing skills on the page, but the bigger consideration, to me, is the personalities of the two players. Chat on the phone with the book doctors you’re considering. Do you like them? Does it seem like they like you, and are they excited about the concept of your book? You may not spend any more time with them on the phone because much of the work can be done via email, but that first verbal contact (or face-to-face if possible) is a great way to establish the tone of the working relationship.

I’ve found that the best match of author to editor comes when their communication styles coordinate. Asking something as simple as, “Do you like contact via email or phone call?” can make or break an editing relationship. Most editors these days work in Microsoft Word, using the track edits and comments, so this is another consideration. If you’re comfortable with these features, the flow of editing will be much easier.

Another important quality in an editor is diplomacy. You, as the writer, don’t have to be diplomatic, but you’ll sure notice if your editor isn’t. Editors by definition are professional criticizers, so unless they’ve learned how to give the critique with respect and empathy, it can be rough to work with them. Try to find someone who can say the tough things in a kind way. You could even ask for references to attest to this quality.

Will the book doctor find you an agent?

While it might be tempting to go with a book doctor who claims they can also get your book to market or find a publisher, I’d be wary of this promise. Editing is a particular skill set, in which the editor becomes closely involved with the words on the page at the micro level. This skill involves an eagle eye for flaws and a sharp ear for language, and takes some time to develop and hone.

Most likely, those who have become excellent editors haven’t also developed the equally demanding macro skills of marketing and sales. I do not, myself, offer any publishing services nor have I developed contacts in that direction—I focus on getting the manuscript to the best place possible, so that you, the author, can shop it for agents, find a publisher, or self-publish on your own with confidence.

Go for it!

Writing a book is the hard part. Once you’ve done that, get the right professionals on your team to bring it to industry standard. You’ll need an engaging cover, an attractive and readable layout for the interior pages, and, most importantly (in my opinion!), a strong edit. These are essential for making your book the best it can be. Then, cha-ching!, you can rack up those sales.

*I did, indeed, earn the “rudderless boat” comment on a theme paper in high school. I bear the scars to this day.

Laura Matthews of www.thinkStory.biz has thirty-plus years of working with hundreds of authors from around the globe—yet, she still doesn’t know everything. Let her edit your book so she can get that much closer to omniscience. To see how that’s going, follow her on Twitter at: @thinkStory.

Reader challenge: How can investment and wealth managers apply this tip?

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“You can differentiate yourself by communicating in a likable, authentic manner,” says author Sue Hershkowitz-Coore in Power Sales Writing. Her book emphasizes email communications.

To write in a likable manner, the author suggests you use the following techniques:

1.      Create a message that genuinely revolves around your prospect.

2.      Use more you and your words than I or me words.

3.      Reflect the prospect’s style.

4.      Start with something that matters to your reader.

5.      Be positive.

6.      Be brief, but not blunt.

7.      Be authentic!

How do YOU rise to this challenge?

Differentiation is a challenge for investment and wealth managers. Please tell me how YOU make yourself likable in your professional communications.

I recommend Power Sales Writing as a good read for any business person who needs to write emails that persuade.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from McGraw-Hill in return for agreeing to write about it.

Great ad copy from Wilmington Trust

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“Learn about a great estate planning technique.”

Would the preceding line attract your attention to an advertisement? Well, maybe if you’re a financial professional. But odds are most regular folks wouldn’t exclaim, “Yes! I must read this.”

I like the Wilmington Trust ad shown with this blog post because it effectively says, “Learn about a great estate planning technique.”

By opening with “You didn’t get where you are today by missing out on exception opportunities,” Wilmington Trust appeals to prospective clients’ images of themselves. In other words, it appeals to their egos.

Once the firm has hooked its readers, they’ll look at the small print. They may even call Kemp Stickney or type in http://wilmingtontrust.com/gift/ to check out additional resources.

Guest post:”Using Story Telling to Educate Clients and Prospects”

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Plenty of financial advisors write books to enhance their credibility. However, I don’t know many who have written fiction in their pursuit of a broader audience. In his guest post, Chuck Rylant explains why he turned to telling stories to reach clients and prospects. You may want to consider something similar for a blog post or presentation.

Using Story Telling to Educate Clients and Prospects

By Chuck Rylant

Getting and keeping your readers’ attention is incredibly difficult when you’re competing with thousands of messages from multiple media sources. It is even more difficult when you’re writing about a topic often considered dry and boring.

We in the financial planning industry often find mutual funds, interest rates and tax laws intriguing, but our clients and those who need our services often do not. Before I wrote my personal finance book, I thought long and hard how I could share a message that would stick.

I decided to take a lesson from the bestselling book of all times—the Bible—with claims of 6 million sold. It’s hard to argue with those kinds of numbers.

Regardless if you follow a faith or not, most know the story of Adam and Eve. We have all heard about the forbidden fruit and the message of temptation. We remember the lesson because it’s told as a parable.

Do you think we would remember those lessons as well if they were written as a list of rules to follow? There is such a list, but I suspect more people know the forbidden fruit lesson than can cite the list of 10. It’s far easier to become engaged and remember the lesson if it is presented as a story.

One of my more popular blog posts is a true story about my first experience in Mexico where I illustrate a point through a kidnapping. Stories can be presented as truth or fiction and have the same impact.

I used to take pride in the fact that I never read fiction, until I realized I was missing a powerful way to improve my own writing. It is certainly a skill that takes time to learn and improves with practice, but try it and watch how much more engaged your readers become.

Chuck Rylant, MBA, CFP® is the author of How to be Rich: The Couple’s Guide to a Rich Life Without Worrying About Money available at Amazon.com

Reader question: How can communicators manage difficult portfolio managers?

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Investment communications professionals and portfolio managers don’t always see eye to eye on investment commentary, white papers, and other publications. But there are ways to manage business people in discussionyour differences, especially if you set expectations before portfolio managers write or even propose publications.

You asked, so I’m answering

Some of my readers asked, “What you can do when portfolio managers think their topics and writing are great, but you know they’re not?” Sometimes the experts propose topics that fascinate them, but they struggle to explain how the topics will appeal to their intended audience. Also, it’s not uncommon for experts to become engrossed in details and technical terms, but neglect to explain the big picture.

I had some ideas about how to manage these situations. And I picked up some more from my colleagues on LinkedIn, after bouncing my ideas off them. I’m quoting people only if they gave me their permission. Thank you, friends!

A five-part approach

In my opinion, there are five parts to an effective strategy for dealing with the portfolio managers.

  1. Use a process for considering topics.
  2. Create communications standards.
  3. Discuss.
  4. Edit.
  5. Get support from your boss.

1. Establish a process

Communicators can avoid conflicts by putting a process in place. As David Scales suggests, “If someone has what they think is a great idea, they should come to you first and discuss. Together, you can define the target audience…and key points to include.”

Julie Fordyce agrees, saying “If you get him thinking about these things seriously before he starts writing, then you can help him structure the paper properly at the outset and avoid the brain dump — the ‘here’s everything I know about this topic, and every chart and graph I’ve ever come up with’ problem.”

This is also the best time to squash potential white paper topics by pressing the portfolio manager about “Why will this topic interest the audience?” I like to ask “What problem does this topic solve for your readers?” and “Why will readers care about this topic?” Writer Nancy Miller says, “Investment professionals tend to think about what they know and what they want to tell. I try to get them to flip it around: What does your reader want or need to know? What’s the best way to make that happen?”

2. Create communications standards

Establishing written guidelines for your communications helps portfolio managers to understand why communications managers balk at their topic ideas and drafts. Your guidelines might be as broad as “You must establish in the first paragraph how this affects an affluent investor’s portfolio” or as nitpicky as “The plural of Treasury is Treasuries.”

I’m a big believer in explaining right away why the reader should care about the topic of any communication. If I worked on staff, I’d make that part of my firm’s communications standards. I’d also implement standards about exhibits, in addition to the usual style guidelines.

Style guidelines can defuse disagreements. Jenny L. Herring, who established style guidelines based on AP style, says, “It helped to be able to back up my guidelines with a standard reference work. It also helped when the heads of certain asset classes scheduled meetings with the portfolio managers to emphasize the importance of meeting deadlines and following style guidelines.” Support from the top always helps.

Your standards may vary depending on the audience for the final document. “Basis points” or even “bps” is fine for a time-sensitive communication between bond managers, but neither expression belongs in a document for individuals who are new to investing.

3. Discuss

Even if you have a process in place and your portfolio managers do their best to follow your guidelines, you still may run into problems. After all, portfolio managers aren’t professional writers.

This is when you should discuss the document. I suggest that communicators first say what is good about the document and then ask for help in building on the good things. Identify why the document doesn’t meet your firm’s communications standards. Criticize the piece, not the person.

I like this suggestion by Miller for dealing with portfolio managers who get bogged down in details: “I ask what they prefer to read — a document that shows the writer’s expertise or the document that gets to the point right away?”

Be realistic in your expectations. You can’t expect a busy portfolio manager to memorize your style guide. The communications professionals will probably have to do some fine-tuning before a document reaches the public.

4. Edit

Communications professionals should be prepared to edit as necessary. Do the best that you can, but you don’t have to fight over every little mistake. As Jeff McLean says, “Financial markets move too quickly to worry about a hyphen that the CEO mistakenly insisted on changing because it ‘didn’t look right.’ Recall that his or her name is on the piece, not the name of the ghostwriter or editor.” Bennett Inkeles agrees, “Do your best work, make a case for what’s right, then move on with a smile.”

Remember that sometimes the portfolio manager is right, even when their phrasing seems wrong. “I had a conversation with a financial writer who came to blows with a PM over verbiage he believed did not make sense. However, based on my experience, the verbiage in question made perfect sense,” says Inkeles.

In some cases, it makes sense to let portfolio managers sound like themselves, especially when a piece runs under the manager’s byline. “Readers want an authentic voice, not a Victorian grammar lesson,” says David Lufkin.

5. Get support from your boss

Sometimes you have to override a portfolio manager’s objections. I’d do that if a manager threw terms like duration and convexity into a piece for individual investors. In cases like this, it’s helpful to have your manager’s support.

March 11, 2013 update: I corrected a grammatical error in this piece. Yes, I make them, too.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

NICSA General Membership Meeting in tweets and posts–#NICSAGMM

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The NICSA General Membership Meeting on October 6 addressed challenges facing investment managers and their service providers. Compared to other industry conferences, it emphasizes the “back office” functions that support investment professionals. In this post I present some of what caught my attention at the conference–mostly information about regulation and marketing.

The short statements are tweets, grouped by speaker. I also link to my blog posts on the meeting. In case you’re wondering, #NICSAGMM is the hashtag used on Twitter to help people find tweets related to the conference.

My blog posts about #NICSAGMM

OppenheimerFunds on the separation of marketing and sales

Citi on financial services’ biggest potential social media mistake

Opposing financial services’ social media paralysis at #NICSAGMM

Robert Pozen, MFS Investment Management, on financial reform

The back office makes mutual industry go, says Bob Pozen, MFS #NICSAGMM

Bob Pozen: SRI = systematically risky institutions. Means lots of extra regs #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Cost of SRI bailouts borne by other SRIs, NOT taxpayers #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Proprietary trading will shift from US banks to least regulated countries and companies with Volcker Rule #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Good change with Dodd-Frank: clearing for derivatives #NICSAGMM

Pozen suggests investment advisors form their own SRO #NICSAGMM

Pozen: C shares will be required to convert to A shares eventually #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Fluctuating NAV for money market funds would be end of MMFs for retail investors #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Hope we don’t over-regulate MMFs. Only 2 broke the buck #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Public-private firms like T Rowe, Franklin, Legg Mason, Black Rock will be winners in asset mgt #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Public-private means some public stock, but strong internal mgt control #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Restricted shares shouldn’t vest just because you’re still alive. Tie to performance. #NICSAGMM

Pozen: “Mortgages are the big banana that has never been touched.” Barely touched by Dodd-Frank #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Qualified residential mortgages (QRMs) will be important. Downpayment requirement will be key. #NICSAGMM

Bob Pozen: Europe has solvency crisis, US doesn’t have one…yet #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Repeated budget crises -> instability. Need to bring back compromise. #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Another crisis is inevitable at end of 2012 when Bush tax cuts expire & budget is issue #NICSAGMM

Pozen: Customers want best products at best price. #NICSAGMM

Pozen: People don’t understand inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices #NICSAGMM

Marty Willis, OppenheimerFunds

Marty Willis, Oppenheimer Funds: Mutual funds’ biggest challenge = lack of differentiation. #NICSAGMM

Willis: New tech will allow wholesalers to improve the value they offer. Like pharmaceutical reps. #NICSAGMM

M. Willis, Oppenheimer Funds: Marketers’ toolkit now more complete. #NICSAGMM

M. Willis: Fund marketing has become editor of content across web, print, social media. #NICSAGMM

OppenheimerFunds is using predictive modeling to help wholesalers decide who to call on. #NICSAGMM

Peter Thatch, Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management

Peter Thatch, Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management: “Clients’ risk appetite has fallen off the cliff.” #NICSAGMM

Thatch: Products that meet clients’ current needs are more complicated #NICSAGMM

P Thatch: You’ll see more global TAA with risk parameters. #NICSAGMM

Joseph D. Kringdon, Pioneer Funds Distributors/Pioneer Investments

J. Kringdon, Pioneer Funds Distributors: If you died tomorrow, what would your clients miss about you? That’s your value. #NICSAGMM

J. Kringdon, Pioneer Funds Distributors: Clients don’t care about benchmarks #NICSAGMM

Kringdon: Pioneer Investments tries to build its intellectual capital & deliver in multiple media #NICSAGMM

Visit multisectorbond.com to see creative site for advisors to back-test fund #NICSAGMM

Lee Kowarski, kasina

L Kowarski of @kasinaUS: Compensation is broken, but no one wants to lose wholesalers. #NICSAGMM

Penny Alexander, Franklin Templeton Investments

Penny Alexander, Franklin Templeton: Best biz growth opportunities for fund cos = non-US #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: Most developed countries aren’t breeding any more. #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: $10/month invested by world’s middle income earners−>$391 billion in annual gross sales. #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: Need scale to manage lots of small accounts #NICSAGMM

Cartoon: “If we take a late retirement and an early death, we’ll just squeak by.” #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: 3-legged stool for retirement isn’t enough #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: Retirement now needs a kaleidoscope with lots of little pieces. #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: Fund industry can affect mindset & behavior to meet retirement challenge. #NICSAGMM

Penny Alexander: Technology is key to reaching next generation of investors. #NICSAGMM

P Alexander: Muslim investors don’t get as much attention as they should. #NICSAGMM

The 10-postcard approach to financial advisor marketing

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If you receive 10 postcards from productivity expert Jason Womack, it means you’re on his “most wanted” list of prospective clients. This seems like a strategy that financial advisors could adopt.

For 10 consecutive weeks after meeting a hot prospect, Womack sends a postcard to the prospect, as I learned in a video clip from his April 2011 presentation to the American Society of Journalists and Authors. He told me more when we traded tweets.

Each postcard contains a practical tip, with a link to a web page with additional information on the topic.

After 10 weeks, the prospects surely recognize his name. If Womack has hit their hot buttons, they will want to learn more.

This strategy poses two challenges for financial advisors, which I address below.

1. Where to obtain the content?

If you’re a financial blogger, you have content. The best content for a long-term campaign is “evergreen,” meaning it never gets outdated. You can print a teaser line on the front of a postcard, and then provide a short URL to input for more details.

I can imagine some of advisor Roger Wohlner’s blog posts working as postcards.

“Six Investing Mistakes to Avoid” could go on the postcard’s front. On the back? Some teaser copy along with a link to the complete list of mistakes on his website.

If you’re not a blogger, you can license other people’s content and link to it on your website. Forefield‘s articles seem popular among advisors for this purpose.

2. How to create the postcard?

If you’re a low-volume postcard sender, you can start by designing and printing them in your office. I’ve used Vistaprint.com for my promotional postcards. I picked a template and input text. I’m not techno-geek, so you can rest assured that it’s pretty easy to do.

If you’ve successfully used postcards to market your services–or if you have ideas about how to tweak this approach to make it work better–I’d like to hear from you. Please comment below.

For another postcard-related tip, visit “How to connect with your workshop attendees.”

Guest post: “Easy SEO: How to Really Get Found on the Internet”

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important topic for bloggers. I turned to Steve Tannuzzo, the talented copywriter whom I’m glad to call my friend, for his insights into how you can use SEO effectively.

Even if you don’t care about SEO, I think you’ll enjoy Steve’s writing, which lives up to his statement that “My mission is to replace boring, hackneyed copy with words that zing and sell.”

Easy SEO: How to Really Get Found on the Internet

By Steve Tannuzzo

So you’re writing a blog but very few people are reading it. Now what?

Perhaps you’ve learned some tips and tricks that were “guaranteed” to elevate your search engine rankings. You may even have tried a few suggestions from website articles written by so-called search engine optimization experts, yet your blog is still starving for readers.

If you’ve taken the advice of these alleged pros, you’ve probably kept your keyword frequency between 3% and 7% of the article’s total word count. You’ve chosen accurate meta tags for the description of the blog post and your title tag is, in your humble opinion, a Google magnet.

You may even have avoided the pitfalls of sloppy SEO: You resisted overstuffing endless keywords into your coding. You didn’t list your town along with 40-50 surrounding towns in your site’s footer in a shameless attempt to build a local following. You didn’t intentionally misspell names and words in your meta tags to ride the coattails of your competition and capture the bad-speller demographic. You understand that Google is smart, and you didn’t run afoul of their rules.

So what gives?

Here’s the problem: Google and other search engines use complex algorithms to determine exactly how they decide their rankings. These formulas, rules and calculations are subject to change and no one is really sure exactly how or why they alter them. So for the immediate future, here is the best advice I can give you to get found on the Internet. That is, until the next time the search engines stir the algorithm stew.

Seven Ways for Your Blog to Get Found and Read

1. Choose Your Headlines Carefully. Make your title stand out from the crowd. Be specific to your article’s content. Imagine how someone might search for your article and use those words in your title.

2. Use Multiple Headlines. While Google may have lost its love for keywords, they really have a thing for those header tags. Use those h1 and h2 options rather than using a larger font and making it bold. Apart from your title, use sub-headers throughout your article.

3. Choose a Searchable URL. If you owned a dog-walking business, you’d get a lot more hits with www.walkmydogboston.com than you would with something like www.wmdenterprises.com.

4. Use Keywords Sparingly. Put away the calculator. 3-7% is just a guideline. If you’re overusing certain words and phrases, you’ll know it. Your post will sound like spam—and no one wants a blog that reads like that.

5. Build Your Reputation. Volunteer to be a guest blogger. Have websites with related content link back to your blog. Get your name and the name of your website mentioned on other sites. Pick one or several social media platforms to promote your latest articles. Inbound links from reputable sites like Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn and Facebook tell the Google-bots that your site deserves respect and attention.

6. Think Small. Let’s say you’re a foodie and you want to blog about bread. An article on baking bread will yield endless pages of search engine results. You’d be much better served writing about, say, sprouted grain bread. It’s a specific topic with a cultish following. It’s perfect for search and it’s a more interesting read. Think of it as narrowcasting as opposed to broadcasting and apply this rule when choosing bite-sized topics related to your business. You may be pleasantly surprised to find your blog getting more traffic when casting a smaller net. They’ll read the whole post and they may even comment on your blog. That’s when you’ll really see the start of a regular readership.

7. Write for People, Not Search Engines. This may be the most important lesson of all. You could be sitting atop the search engine rakings with cleverly strategized SEO, but once someone clicks on your site, you’ll need to deliver the goods. Choose a voice that doesn’t talk down to your readers. Be relevant. Teach something new. Engage and entertain. Make your posts worth their while. Balance how your readers find you with the outstanding content you give them with each new post.

And that’s it. You don’t need an advanced degree from MIT to unravel the mystery of Google’s evolving algorithms. You probably don’t have the time. But if you follow these reasonable rules, you’ll build a solid readership and a reputation for delivering compelling content.

Steve Tannuzzo is the owner of Tannuzzo Copywriting. He helps people grow their businesses by providing clear, goal-specific copy that gets them noticed and increases their profits. His specialties include advertising copy and social media marketing content. Visit his website at www.tannuzzo.com and follow him on Twitter @BostonProWriter.