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WRITING GOODER:HOW TO BLOG IN THE BIG LEAGUES

Presented by Liesl Barrell & Dan Levy

WordCamp MTLAugust 17, 2014 at UQAM

PREAMBLE

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Writing isn’t just about writing.

Much of what it takes to be a successful writer is outside of the act of writing itself. Today we’ll cover the process of getting published in a major blog or magazine from end-to-end.

TOC

1. Preamble

2. Pedigree

3. Purpose

4. Pitch

5. Prep

6. Post (a.k.a. the actual writing part)

7. Publish

8. Promotion

9. Post-Mortem

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WHO ARE WE?

DAN LEVY

BIO

#ContentStrategy at Unbounce

Former editor at Sparksheet

CONTACT

Tweet with: @danjl

Write to: dan@unbounce.com

Connect on: ca.linkedin.com/in/danjlevy

#wcmtl @lieslbarrell @danjl

LIESL BARRELL

BIO

#DigitalMarketer #Writer #AgencyVet

Organizer at @MTLgirlgeeks

Extroverted Expat

CONTACT

Tweet with: @lieslbarrell

Write to: liesl@unbounce.com

Connect on: ca.linkedin.com/in/lieslbarrell

#wcmtl @lieslbarrell @danjl

PURPOSESex and the City

WHY ARE YOU WRITING?

Your purpose impacts:

•How you position yourself•Which publication you approach or platform you launch•The angle you take in writing •Your relationship with editors and other parties •How you connect with the audience

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FOR FUN THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PROMOTION LIVELIHOOD

FOR FUN/FOR YOURSELF

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First person first…

Many bloggers write for pleasure, to document their lives or to share a passion with the world.

If you are someone who is writing largely for yourself keeping your own WordPress blog is a great way to build a community, and writing for another platform can be a way to step up your game and build a bigger audience.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

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Personal branding

Subject matter experts write, and often speak, to promote their own point of view and build a name for themselves.

If writing is a way to position yourself as knowledgeable in a field (cooking, marketing, gardening, so many ings!) you’ll probably want to approach targeted publications that reach enthusiasts for that topic and write to build exposure in those communities.

PROMOTION

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Getting the word out

If you’re writing to promote a company, product or service, guest posting is a way to reach new markets and generate leads or links.

The challenge is developing an effective strategy to avoid conflict of interest and deliver interesting content people actually want to read. If an article comes off as a press release or sales pitch, you lose credibility.

LIVELIHOOD

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This is your beat.

Professional writers should get paid to write. We don’t have patience for publications that expect writers to work for free.

“Exposure” doesn’t pay the bills.

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

Content marketing.

Our focus is on guest blogging for larger publications. This is usually part of a content strategy for promoting a company, product or service, or developing thought leadership. But these lessons are pretty universal.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PROMOTION

CONTENT MARKETERS AREN’T JOURNALISTS

…but we have a lot to learn from each other.

Our purpose and strategy may differ, but the principles of great writing apply to us all.

moz.com/blog/content-marketers-and-journalists

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PITCHING

Saving Mr. Banks

WHICH PITCH WON?

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1. “Hi Dan, how are you doing? I am sending a new Article viz title ‘Implementing the Right Mix of Customary and Unconventional Content Marketing Ways.’ Please review it and let me know when you will publish it…”

2. “Hey Dan, I have a topic that I think may stir some discussion/debate that I haven’t seen anyone actually address, unless I’m just so off my rocker that I need to be put away. Sound interesting? Here we go…”

GETTING AN EDITOR’S ATTENTION

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• Don’t expect to be spoonfedEditors are busy - your job is to make their lives easier

• Pique interestif you can’t sell the pitch, how are you going to sell the story?

• Research editorial guidelinesDemonstrate that you understand their voice and what their audience expects.

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PITCH THE RIGHT ANGLE FOR THE RIGHT PLACE

Annals of Gastronomy: Grilled Cheese, Goethe & the Making of

Modern Europe13 Most Epic Ways to Up Your Grilled Cheese Game

PRACTICAL TIPS TO PITCH #LIKEABOSS

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If this is a new relationship:

1.Introduce yourself or get introduced by a mutual contact (bonus points!)

2.Establish credibility (samples of previous work, your role, your experience)

For ALL article pitches:

3.Suggest an angle or two for a post.

4.Connect the angle to the publication’s mission and audience.

5.Indicate flexibility and invite them to connect to discuss further.

6.Read your pitch aloud, does it sound interesting? Do you sound like a human being who understands where the publication is coming from?

PREPSuperman

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Who is the piece for? What is the main argument? How will you back it up with data and examples? What’s the main takeaway?

A solid outline should include:

1.Provisional title(s)

2.Overarching angle/thesis

3.Outline of each paragraph/section

4.List of interviewees where applicable

5.Listicle details (e.g. for Top 10 Cookbooks)

6.If you’re big into SEO keyword research is handy

7.References

DEVELOP A POST OUTLINE TOGETHER

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Before you’re ready to write, you need to know:

1. If they have a formal style and/or editorial guide.

2. What spelling to use (e.g. U.S. vs. Canadian)

3. If there are major style rules (e.g. voice, tone and manner)

4. Ask the editor/stakeholders for great examples of other posts, not just in terms of the writing but performance.

5. How do they want the piece formatted and assets delivered?

PLAY BY THEIR RULES

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Linking is not enough

Don’t make readers leave the page to understand what the hell you’re talking about.

“In a small industry, examples often get recycled from one blog to the next. The result is a case of broken telephone where the facts get muddled in transit. Proper attribution makes it easier to track where the breakdown occurred and set the record straight. You can quote me on that.”

- Dan Levy

PROPER ATTRIBUTION

Use tools, ^writing is work.

“You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip

on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch.

Writing is work.”

Margaret Atwood

TOOLS

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OED AP Style

TOOLS

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Idiom DictionaryThesaurus

TOOLS

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Pun GeneratorWordnik

TOOLS

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Wiki RhymerName Thingy

IMAGE SOURCES

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IMAGE SOURCES

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unbounce.com/design/17-resources-for-marketers-who-stink-at-design/Flickr Advanced Search

POST

Naked Lunch

OPTIMIZING YOUR WRITING ENVIRONMENT

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There’s no optimal writing environment.

You can read as many writing workflow books and articles as you want. In the end you’re probably just procrastinating. Find out what works for you and make it happen.

THE PRICE IS WRITE

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We can’t tell you how to write: it’s a craft. You learn by writing & reading more.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TIPS TO WRITE #LIKEABOSS

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Writing is a form of play…

1.If you work on background or micro-tasks (like research, image gathering, interviews) your brain will automatically start working on piecing narratives & ideas together. Collect your thoughts in a CHAOS document that only you see.

2. Book time with a stakeholder for a call around when your first draft is due. You’ll be less likely to submit late if it involves canceling an appointment.

3.Understand how to zoom in and out of open and closed modes of thinking creatively. You need both ideation and execution to write well, but you can’t get stuck in either for too long.

4. Know the rules of language comfortably enough to write well. But awesome writers are not pedants, the more adept you get at the craft the more you can bend and break the right rules. Always do this for the love of language, not in contempt.

Read it out loud. No, seriously… do it.

“Write the way you talk. Naturally.”

David Ogilvy

WRITING RESOURCES

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Strunk & White – The Elements of Style Spunk & Bite – A Writer’s Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style

WRITE YOUR DAMN BOOK

mydamnbook.com

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Question & critique every draft.

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”

Stephen King

EDITOR’S NOTE: RED INK IS A COMPLIMENT

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DON’T BE PRECIOUSSSS…

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Feedback makes us better writers

There’s an art to giving good feedback, and an art to receiving feedback well.

Editors who give good feedback focus on the problem, without telling the writer how to write their way out of it.

Even if you get prescriptive feedback you can still step back to figure out what problem they’re trying to solve and interpret the feedback in a way that best resolves the issue(s)

STAY HUMBLE, EDITORS HAVE OUR BACKS

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Cologna

vs.

The effort is in the edit.

“I'm sorry I wrote such a long letter. I did not have the time to write a short

one.”

Abraham Lincoln

PUBLISH

Miss Potter

DON’T HIT THAT “PUBLISH” BUTTON – THERE’S MORE!

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WordPress lets us do awesome things like:

• Custom taxonomy

• Formatting – don’t be afraid of HTML

• Plugins –  Click-to-tweet, SEO by Yoast, HeadSpace –

Warning: Never skip a preview!

PROMOTIONCalifornication

GET THE WORD OUT!

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Always be hustling…

• Scheduling – so many conflicting case studies about when is the best time to post. Get to know your audience and test, test, test.

• Tracking – use UTM codes for different networks, both for links in the post and the post URL itself when sharing on channels.

• Social – Think about frequency – be visual, use useful metadata, try different headlines and track which works best.

• Partnerships – reach out to influencers, content syndication (make sure it’s on-brand, qualified traffic over quantity)

• Comments – make sure to respond, don’t be afraid to break the ice. Know that not all posts are meant to encourage comments.

ENGAGING WITH THE AUDIENCE

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Listen & respond:

• When you write guest blog posts, people most often don’t mention you in their tweets/posts.

• If you want to engage with them, find tweets by clicking on the tweet counter or searching in twitter for the post URL.

• Note that twitter searches expire, so do this within a week of the post going live, and if it’s pretty evergreen, save the search or check every once in a while if people have shared it so you can engage.

• If you do interact, it can help build your following and people are more likely to share your articles in future.

POSTMORTEM

Early Edition

)DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK (HOW IT PERFORMED)

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KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR

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Don’t get distracted by vanity metrics.

Above all, get your work out there.

“Perfectionism is […] the enemy. It will keep you cramped and insane your

whole life.”

Anne Lamott

THANKS! ANY QUESTIONS?

Liesl Barrell & Dan LevyWordCamp MTLAugust 17, 2014 at UQAM

#wcmtl @lieslbarrell @danjl