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5 Tips For Becoming a Writer

April 7, 2010 in Marketing Communications, Writing/editing | No comments

Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen is a well-known author of young adult literature. With over 175 published books and 200 articles,  I trust he knows a thing or two about writing. Paulsen has not been on tour in the Boston area for over 5 years so when Barnes & Noble sent out an invitation to see and hear Paulsen speak, my son’s 5th grade teacher jumped at the chance to bring her class to the event. While not mandatory,  32 of the 44 kids from his 5th grade team showed up at the event this week with parents in tow. The children beamed with excitement to meet this author of “Hatchet,” required reading for all 5th graders here.

Paulsen is an interesting character; some may say he’s a bit gruff, rough around the edges. Still, he captivates his audience in a soft-spoken, jovial manner, talking about his life–from running away from home at 14 to travel with a carnival, shooting his TV and alarm clock (what fun!)–then switching gears and reminiscing over his Iditarod runs and his dogs in Alaska, sailing adventures, and lessons learned.

Still, his advice to children is sound and applicable to all of us when it comes to his craft. When asked how to become a writer (be it professionally or just to be able to write well) he gave these tips to a roomful of young (and older) adults that I’ve expanded on because I believe they are applicable to all of us.

  • Read, read, and read more. Paulsen said, “Read everything you can. Hide under the covers, sneak down to the basement. Do whatever you have to in order to read. Just keep reading.”
    Reading expands your mind, your knowledge, and your vocabulary. Read fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, adventure, and current events. You need to read to understand your own preferences. Then pick what interests you and soak it up like a sponge. See what other writers are doing and model behavior that suits you.
  • Be adventurous.
    You need to experience life to become a writer. Challenge yourself everyday to explore new things, to learn new skills, and to test you. See what your personal limits are. In this way you will find who you are and what really excites you.
  • Write about what YOU enjoy.
    One sure way to stifle creativity is to write about things that don’t interest you. Sure, some of us in the real world do have to write about things we don’t care about in order to earn a paycheck. But, don’t do that forever. A sure way NOT to become a good writer is to get stuck in a cycle of uninteresting content over and over again.
  • Write about what you know.
    Writing from experience provides depth and personality to your writing. If you are passionate about your subject it will come through in your writing. If you’ve never experienced your topic, it will show. Make it fun and take creative license to embellish your story. Maybe a simple experience, like a trip to the zoo, is the foundation of your story. Then build upon it with your imagination.
  • Use your vocabulary.
    OK, I added this one. Where Paulsen may be considered a Luddite, I’m an advocate of technology, particularly when it enhances an experience. I think Paulsen would agree with me here. Now my son’s teacher, on the other hand may cringe at this advice. An avid reader, she often talks about the smell of books. She loves the dusty old jackets. It’s like coming home. But with today’s electronic readers like the Nook and the Kindle, readers can quickly look up words; so don’t be afraid to use some BIG words in your writing. We’ve been trained in the past to write to an 8th grade audience for business, but these tools let us expand both lexis and grammar.

Get reading!

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Repurpose case studies to expand your reach

March 11, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

As I mentioned in my introductory post about case studies, Build your brand with customer case studies, most sales start with prospective buyers conducting research about your company and products. We talked about the power of featuring real customers, with real stories to tell via case studies, or success stories, in my last post,  Case studies increase credibility. Now, we are going to take that one step further and look at repurposing this valuable content to expand your marketing efforts and deliver it to prospects through a variety of vehicles. One size does not fit all so it is important to reinforce your message through a variety of mediums.

• Pitch a unique or interesting story to the press. Coverage in news and trade media not only provides powerful exposure, but lends credibility to your  message since it is coming from an impartial party.
• Post on your Web site/blog to aid customers in their research. Seeing the story in multiple locations reinforces your message.
• Add to sales presentation. Add a printed copy to your sales proposal or speak anecdotally during your presentation. A series of short, targeted stories that relate to the prospect will open up conversations and energize your discussions.
• Feature at trade shows. Display key customer quotes from case studies in booth graphics and feature in advertising for the event to drive additional traffic to your booth. Then hand out printed copies of the case studies to visitors to deliver the full story.
• Promote through email/direct marketing. Design an email or direct marketing program around your successes. Feature key customers and their stories as part of a serial campaign.

Tidbit: If you have a good story to tell, then share it.

Next: How case studies can help to shorten the sales cycle.

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Case studies increase credibility

March 10, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

Look at virtually any B2B Web site, from small consulting firms to Fortune 1000 companies, and you’ll find customer stories. The reason: they work. When you demonstrate your ability to successfully solve problems to real business challenges for real companies, prospects and customers listen. Moreover, when you hone your message to a particular audience, whether targeting an industry or reaching out to a broader segment of the population, clearly illustrating the problem, solution, and benefit to the reader will put your offering into consideration.

To build your business credibility through case studies, consider the following:

•    Identify the pain. Focus on the one thing plaguing your audience and structure the story around it. What is the problem your product or service solves? What can the customer do faster, better, or easier with your offering? What value-add do you provide to make them work smarter, be more efficient, or save money?
•    Segment your stories. When building your arsenal of stories, think about your target audience and segment your stories to focus on specific verticals or applications.
•    Name names. A case study that omits the company name often portrays the wrong image. It makes the reader stop and question whether this story is true or simply the imagination of someone in the marketing department. Identify your customer’s business name and those involved in the process to personalize and verify your story,
•    Add quotes. A short, poignant quote from your customer can be run within the text and/or used as a call out in the document to draw the reader’s attention to your strengths.
•    Stay relevant. Don’t stray into the past and get nostalgic. Keep your message current and on topic. Remember, the objective here is to solve real challenges customers are facing today.

Add credibility to your business today by sharing your customer successes. See what a difference a little storytelling can make.

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Build your brand with customer case studies

February 18, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

A 3-part look inside this powerful marketing tool.

Let’s face it. In today’s wired world, most sales start with prospective customers conducting research about you, your products, and your services online. They visit your Web site to see what you have to offer. They look for reviews in trade publications and the business press. And, they seek advice from others across social networking sites—blogs, wikis, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter—what top analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff at Forrester Research call the “Groundswell,” a social phenomenon that is forever changing the way we do business. One way to ensure you make the short list in this raucous sales environment is to let your customers speak, praise, even enlighten prospects through customer case studies—comprehensive stories that demonstrate your ability to solve real life business problems. These are not fluff marketing pieces, but rather detailed accounts of customer challenges and the solutions you provided for successful results. Customer case studies can help you build your brand and grow your business in three distinct ways:

• Increase credibility. The more you demonstrate your success through actual customer stories, the more your audience will believe you are a viable problem solver. Customer testimonials woven throughout your case studies will support your message and identify you as a reliable source.

• Expand reach. Case studies can be repurposed to expand your marketing efforts. Use it to pitch a unique or interesting story to the press, reference during sales calls to reinforce your claims, use at trade shows to drive traffic to your booth, and post on your Web site/blog to aid customers in their research.

• Shorten the sales cycle. Potential customers can see a quick snapshot of what you’ve done for others and relate these experiences to their own situations. By illustrating the problem/solution cycle in advance with actual cases, you can highlight your expertise, often shortening the time it takes to close a sale.

In subsequent posts we will cover each of these topics in more detail, as well as get into the nuts and bolts of writing these pieces, to help you build your arsenal of effective customer case studies.

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Do you see what I see?

February 4, 2009 in Writing/editing | 2 comments

For whatever reason I’ve been blessed (frankly, sometimes it feels like cursed) with eagle eyes. No matter where I go, or what I do I see typos, bad grammar, and misaligned words and images. I can’t remember reading a book where there wasn’t a typo. I drive down the road and see them on highway signs. I see more typos at the movies when the credits are rolling at the end. With all the people listed in the credits not one of them is a proofreader for what they’re scrolling on the screen? And, I see them on Web sites and in blog posts on a regular basis. Why is it that no one else seems to notice these obvious mistakes? Could it be that no one else really cares? If that were the case I would end this post now. But I do believe that most professionals do care. So, below I’ve provided 7 key proofreading techniques I use, to help you in your next written or graphical endeavor.

1. Step forward then back. Reading your copy from left to right, beginning to end, as your readers will helps to ensure your prose makes sense. However, reading that same copy from right to left and bottom to top helps keep you focused on individual words, rather than sentences, to ensure those words are spelled correctly and that punctuation is used properly. Start at the end of the document and work your way forward for best results.
2. Turn it upside down. If you need to align text, numbers, or images, a simple way to check the alignment is to view your page upside down and from each side. Think this doesn’t work for electronic documents? Well think again. Sure, you can’t easily turn the page upside down when viewing a Web page. But, you can print out the page (see step 6 below). By viewing the page from different angles it takes the focus off of the content and puts it onto the visual aspects.
3. Take it one at a time. Don’t try to proof for every type of error at once. Create a list of what you need to proof for and reread the document, watching for one type of error at a time. Look for spelling, then capitalization, punctuation, titles, subtitles, columns, math, and pagination. Check for line spacing, alignment of columns, captions, font sizes and styles, color use, and rules. Check that captions match their images. Then look at the document again as a whole to see that it all fits together.
4. Look it up. There are wonderful reference books and tools available, even for the novice writer. I never leave home without my Chicago Manual of Style, The Merriam-Webster dictionary, and The Associated Press Stylebook. These tools also have online versions that you can use to personalize for your specific needs. Don’t forget to use spell check in your word processing application too. Another nice little book you should have in your library is Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. And, don’t forget your friends and colleagues. Another set of eyes is a great tool and asset to any proofreader.
5. Print it out. Whether you are writing or designing for print or online, always, ALWAYS print out your document to proofread it. Eyes get fatigued looking at words and images on the screen for an extended period of time. And while you’re at it, cover it up. Use a blank sheet of white paper to block out text and graphics to let you focus on one line or visual at a time.
6. Read aloud and slowly. Does your writing sound the same when you read it out loud as you thought it did when you wrote it? Reading your copy aloud and slowly calls attention to inappropriate wording, pauses, and punctuation. It lets you watch for little words that are easy to miss such as “to,” “in,” “it,” and “is.” It may help to identify misuse of a homonym too (i.e., there or their).
7. Got time? When you get ready to proofread, make sure you have adequate time for the task. Proofreading takes time. There is no way around it. If you rush it, you are sure to have mistakes in your materials. It’s that simple. Also, proofreading in the morning, after your eyes have rested overnight, gives you the best chances of success.

I’ve highlighted some of the top techniques I use for successful proofreading. Now it’s time for you to get to work. Take a look at your marketing materials, Web site content, and your past blog posts with fresh eyes and the above seven techniques for successful proofreading. What do you see? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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