Content – Page 2 – John J Langan

September 2, 2013

Glance Links – September 2013

Just some stuff that caught my eye recently, and might help you in your marketing efforts! If you have any that you would like to pass on to me… hit me up!

Are Your Employees Socially Illiterate? – I hope not. Social Media policies are a must, both as part of your marketing plan and to set employee expectations. As this article suggests, there is an ignored “potential of socially literate employees who use these tools and services to increase their own competence and thus the competence of the business.” Trust in them, and allow your employees to truly be part of your brand.

Public Speaking: The Chili Con Queso Test – Need a speaker? Sure… I’m your huckleberry! I’ll say anything to anyone about anything. Sign me up!! But some of the most seasoned pros have some angst about public speaking. While these six tips from Gini Dietrich may be obvious, she packages them nicely in a great, mouth-watering article. This is one worth referring back to, again and again.

Six Week LinkedIn Lesson – You’re checking people out, so you better assume that people are checking on you… get your personal brand together. I love this article and so will you. Follow these steps and get your LinkedIn ship together.

All The Guides In One Place – I may have a bit of a man crush on AWeber. Periodically, they will publish guides on various aspects of email marketing. They are excellent, containing great tips and tricks for many businesses. Here they are archived in one place… for free. If you do email marketing, this site is for you.

Keep learning, my friends… and now it’s back-to-school time. Summer, I barely got to know you… JL

August 8, 2013

Glance Links – August 2013

Just some stuff that caught my eye recently, and might help you in your marketing efforts! If you have any that you would like to pass on to me… hit me up!

Call To Action Guide For EMail Marketing – Great stuff from the beautiful people at AWeber. Make your “call to action” eye-grabbing and attention-snatching, and position it perfectly… then sit back and watch the responses roll in! PDF Download…

Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet – Recent changes to Facebook pages, Twitter headers, YouTube channels and other social sites has made it difficult to get the size of your images just right. Bookmark this page, and the next time you’re about to post a picture or change your profile image, refer to this handy cheat sheet.

26 Social Stats From 2013 You Should Know – I find myself explaining why social marketing is important to a business. I do this a lot. Here are some great, current tidbits to make your argument… or your next presentation!

3 Copywriting Mistakes Hurting Your Business (and How to Fix Them) – Make your website work harder by correcting these three common copywriting mistakes. If you are like me, writing doesn’t come without a certain amount of agita… so anything helps! This article will certainly correct some mistakes.

One more thing… does anyone else find it interesting that the word “copywriting” gets flagged in some SpellCheck programs? Anyway… I hope these items are helpful! Love to discuss… JL

July 10, 2013

Slips, Not Scripps

time_graphic Every Monday morning, part of my job as a mid level manager of a large embroidery company is to log in to our payroll website and approve the time sheets of the people I supervise. It is the simplest of tasks, made difficult by the stunningly awful spelling error on the welcome page graphic (left). Seriously? Spelling the word “attendance” wrong on a payroll website?

Bad spelling has always been a pet peeve of mine. My mantra has always been, “If you come across something I’ve written that has an error it is because I suck at typing, not spelling.” Yes, I type mistakes in grammar or word usage – “you’re” vs. “your” – but not spelling.

I did a little bit of research for this post. And when I say that I did research I mean that I googled “bad spelling”. The results showed hundreds of hilarious spelling and grammar mistakes. The examples are astounding… Misspelled street signs… funny. Misspelled tattoos… hilarious! Spelling mistakes in books, emails or websites… disaster.

Nothing says more about the professionalism of a person than how they write. I’ve dismissed more than one individual because of a poorly written email. Bad writing affects the perception of your company as well. I get email marketing all the time that has one, sometimes two glaring mistakes. I see mistakes in web copy, blogs, social media updates… etcetera, etcetera, ETCETERA!!!

While I’m fired up about this, I’m not without guilt.

A few years ago I was putting together a PowerPoint presentation for a sales meeting, with content supplied to me from various people. As my personal midnight deadline loomed I was copying and pasting like a mad man! The next morning, when the CEO of our company stopped the meeting to point out a spelling mistake, I was angry. The day got worse when there were a couple more. My lesson learned? I was responsible for the quality of the content. No one else. No excuses.

But I do realize that it’s not always that the person (me) can’t spell. We are all so busy and, to be honest, a little lazy. Certain things designed to help us have exacerbated the problem. Autocorrect is THE killer… the more we use our mobile devices the more lazy we will become. And the “never lived in a world without cell phones and internet, quick hit, text messaging” generation will soon be flooding the work force causing old fogies like me even more consternation!!

So, deer readers… hear are my Best Three Tips To Avoid Spelling Errors!! In order…

Embrace Spell Check – Never, ever publish a blog, send an email, update your site, or anything without running it through Spell Check.
Read It Backwards – When looking at your own writing you aren’t actually reading. That may be big news to you… there is no checking going on because your brain already knows what the next word is going to be. It sounds crazy, but it works.
Fresh Eyes – Simple… get someone you know to read your work. And choose someone who isn’t familiar with the content if possible. It doesn’t have to make sense to the human spell checker. Commit to this…

I just followed my own rules! Well… two out of Spelling 03 three. I made several errors and fixed all but two. Just to annoy you. And you know who you are!

I sincerely hope this post helps make the world a better place, and make you a bit more professional. You’ll probably get a big fat salary bump. Use the money to send the kids to a remedial writing class.

I’d love to hear what you think of this post, or maybe some real examples of bad spelling in business. Give us a laugh! Please leave a comment below. Thanks… JL

June 7, 2013

Isle Full Of Noises

“Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises.” – from The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

My first rule of marketing… If you have something great to say, don’t just say it. Shout it from the rooftops!

Those rooftops must include every platform you have at your disposal… website, email, social media, print ads, signage… everything! Whatever the message is – new product announcements, events, etc. If it’s big you’ve got to hit em’ hard, loud and proud!

Creating good content is tough, and so many marketers miss opportunities to make their lives easier. Big news can provide enough content carry you through several marketing cycles. A store Grand Opening is not just a point in time, but an opportunity to bring great, positive information to an audience over a long period. Simply sketched out…

One Week To Our Grand Opening!! – Counting Down… Two More Days!! – GRAND OPENING TODAY!!! We Have The Mummers Here!! – We’re Having So Much Fun, Let’s Make It A Party Weekend!! – All Those Grand Opening Special Discounts? Yeah, We’re Honoring Them All Month Long!!

(I make no apologies for my reckless use of the exclamation marks. I’m excited… and they are free.)

The digital world is prime for a celebration. Email, web and social require the same amount of planning as print ads and signage, but can and should be adjusted on the fly. If things are going better than expected, let everyone know. If it rains, let them know that too… but be positive. “Sorry about the weather, folks, but the party is still going on!!!”

So get yourself together, and make a splash…

Website first… always! This is where you want everyone to go, so start here! Make a landing page with all of the important information about this great thing. Update the page as information changes. This landing page is your audience’s headquarters for this happening!
Have a blast with email! Start getting the word out with a finely worded, visual email – with action items that send them to that website landing page for more information.
Wet whistles with Social! Use Facebook ads, not just posts. Tease with Twitter, and “Live Tweet” from an event. Use all the platforms where your audience resides. If promoting an event, set up a Foursquare location and reward check-ins. Of course… lead everyone back to that awesome landing page!
Listen and Chat! Keep tabs on the buzz you create, and don’t be afraid to join the party and dialogue with your audience.
Rinse, Lather, Repeat! Update frequently on all fronts, until the news isn’t really news anymore. And be aware of that fine line… the one between relevance and being a pain in the tuchas!

Granted, good content makes it all so easy. But you have to recognize and seize these opportunities when they present themselves, and don’t be afeard to make some noise.

*** “Mummers” photo courtesy of fellow blogger – ohwhataworld… check her out! I also make no apologies for being a Philly guy!

May 19, 2013

Social, My Way

I unabashedly love Social Media. Not just for business, but my personal life too. I’m so appreciative of rekindled relationships that I had thought were gone forever. And that Social Media love is not unrequited, either. Social loves me too.

And what’s not to love? Social has made the already incredible world wide web that much more incredible. It has torn down governments, companies, and people… most who actually deserved it. Social reports news faster, and sometimes more accurately.

Social Media will continue to change and evolve as more platforms are created. But it will always be about people sharing and conversing. It is the greatest equalizer, giving everyone a voice in this mad world. Good or bad, the people who use Social correctly will be the influencers in the years ahead.

One of my favorite sayings is, “There is a right way and a wrong way to do things.” I believe this professionally, and personally. No life lessons today, so you can relax. Like everything, as Social evolves it must be done the right way.

Let the record show, this is My Way:

Be Positive! I recently saw a post by my local soccer equipment store, linking to the article about the referee who was killed during a match in Phoenix. Yep… that’s a mistake. Always provide content that reflects positively on your company and the industry you serve. It’s simple, you get nothing from negative.
Engage! Social Media is a giant conversation, so jump in. Give your audience something to think about. Your content should be such that your customer wants to respond. Then you reply, and so on, and so on… Ask questions and provide answers. This will inspire trust and more engagement.
Don’t Hide! No business does things 100% right. Embrace any customers who push back at you, or attack you on SM. Work to solve their problems publicly and show your commitment to getting things right.
Truth Rules! Simply put, don’t lie. Make sure you that what you say is correct. Your customer is not just listening, but they are out there talking about your company, and probably to everyone but you. They may not agree with what you put out there, but you will do a lot better if it is real and accurate.
Push The Envelope! Don’t be afraid to get little bit out of your comfort zone. Be funny. If you don’t think you are, find someone who can help you. Don’t push it all the time, just enough to let your audience know that Robby the Robot isn’t creating your content. So, link to that funny article or post that cartoon… it’s liberating!
Share! Coming up with good content is tough, so don’t be afraid to share relevant content from other sources. And if you want to really push that aforementioned envelope, share something from a competitor. Shows confidence, don’t you think? It will probably freak out your competitor a bit too. Give them credit, of course…
Quality First! Quantity second. If you have something relevent to say or share, do it. If not, keep quiet and listen to the conversation. Posting for the sake of posting can dilute your message. No yapping!

Looking at some of the key terms, it’s sort of “old school”… conversations, trust, talking, truth, quality, etc. Nothing really new or earth shattering here. Social… it’s new? Nope, it’s old… and it’s all about people, people!

And I said there would be no life lessons…