Whether you face a blank computer screen or a pristine sheet of paper

You sit there with the cursor blinking mockingly, or perhaps doodle hopefully in the margin of your notepad….. 

Sometimes, in spite of diligently keeping an Editorial Calendar, you cannot think of a single word with which to begin your article. And with newsletter and blog post deadlines looming, it’s no fun at all to find yourself suffering from the dreaded ‘writers’ block’, as it is commonly referred to. This condition can also affect the production of audio podcasts and videos, so could perhaps better be named ‘creative block’.

If you’re stuck for topics to write ABOUT, then there are plenty of sources for ideas some of which we covered recently.

What I’m talking about today is a bit different. It’s when you have ideas and topics galore, but the words won’t form into intelligent phrases for you to type or write down.

Some people say that you need to ‘just start writing’ which may work fine for them. And if you’re determined to stick it out, then have a go at mind-mapping or doodle some more, both activities have been known to break through the block.

But there are other times when I suggest the best solution is to stop struggling and walk away from your desk

Literally go for a walk! Let your mind switch off from business for a while. Just being in nature can trigger the inspiration which was absent all the time you were sitting dutifully at your desk. Capture those ideas either in a notebook or as an audio note on your smartphone.

If a walk isn’t possible, then relax and listen to some music, or read a couple of chapters from a (non business) book. I often find that once I stop forcing myself to write and rest for half an hour or so, my subconscious will continue working away on the task in the background. And when I return to my desk, the article outline will form in my head and the words start flowing again.

I realise that what works for me may not be the answer for you. But it’s a good idea to have a few different tactics to try out when writer’s block strikes.

Do you have any suggestions that have worked for you? Please type them in the comments below so they can be shared – thank you

Further articles you may find helpful:

Writer’s Block – Try this Quick Tip

Overcoming Writer’s Block

Here are a few of the benefits we’ve discovered and hope will encourage you to set up your own Editorial Calendar.

1. Avoids the “What Shall I Write About Today?” syndrome and helps you stay motivated to sit down and produce new content.
2. Enables you to tie in your blog post and newsletter topics to specific marketing campaigns.
3. See at a glance if you’re focusing too heavily on a particular topic or category, and also if you’ve been neglecting others.
4. Enables you to produce content ahead of publication time to allow for breaks, taking holidays, and any unforeseen circumstances which may get in the way of regular content creation.
5. Planning ahead means you can target special events and holidays, as well as refer to forthcoming product launches and special promotions.
6. Gives you the opportunity to forward plan and schedule tweets and updates to Facebook & LinkedIn and other networks, because you know what to put in advance.

How to Create Your Editorial Calendar

As with most business processes, the simpler it is the more likely you are to use it.

The humble Spreadsheet is ideal for creating and using as an Editorial Calendar. If more than one person is involved in creating content, then consider using a Google Docs spreadsheet that you can share and jointly contribute to (as Sam and I do).

A useful PlugIn, if you use WordPress, is WP Editorial Calendar

For more ideas & further reading:

The Right Content Strategy Tools Create Better Content

How to create a successful Editorial Calendar

Isn’t it infuriating, when you finally find the time to sit down and write your newsletter or blog post

That’s when you wish you’d kept your Editorial Calendar up to date, or made a note of those brilliant thoughts you had the other day in the shower.

The truth is that genuinely original ideas are very thin on the ground, therefore most of us have to settle with applying our personal approach to existing ideas and topics. Even so, knowing where to find those ideas can be a challenge, especially when you’re up against a deadline to publish your newsletter.

Here are a few free resources to help start those ideas flowing

Industry News – what’s happening in your area of specialisation? What news would be of interest to your audience?

Local News – especially if your market is local, you can find and share news stories about people or businesses they’re likely to know

Your Competitors – keep an eye on what they’re writing about and (no copying now!) put forward your own opinion on the subject

Article Directories – with hundreds of thousands of articles on sites like EzineArticles.com, do a search using some of your keywords to see what others have to say.

Questions from Clients – you probably saw us answer a question last week. If one person is asking it, other people are probably interested in knowing the reply too.

Traditional Media – News stories on TV, in magazines and newspapers can often trigger at least one idea.

Google Alerts – you’ve probably set up alerts for your main keywords and have them delivered to your email inbox. Read through a few to see what’s being said about your area of business.

Bookmarking Sites – make the most of articles and blog posts other people have already bookmarked on sites like Delicious, Reddit and Digg. Search by tag names to filter those on a particular subject.

Social Media – for sheer abundance of information, read through the blogs you subscribe to, what’s been posted on your Facebook HomeFeed, see what’s trending on Twitter or use their search facility; and don’t forget LinkedIn Answers.

Your Own Material – if you’ve been writing for a while, go back and revisit old posts and newsletters; you’re bound to be able to update or add to what you said before.

What’s missing from this list? Where do you get your ideas from to help create content?

When you go to all the trouble of crafting word perfect, interesting articles for your newsletter

With so many beautiful templates available from popular Email Service Providers such as MailChimp (aff), Vertical Response, Constant Contact, AWeber, et al, it can be difficult to know which to choose. Especially as, with most providers including the free ones, you can easily customise colours to your brand and add your business logo.

It can be tempting to go for every bell and whistle – just because you can! But depending on your audience, that might be a step too far, and leave you lamenting a trail of unsubscribes. While a more technically savvy audience will happily explore as many new bells & whistles as you can throw at them, a more traditional reader will be happier to simply find familiar features in each issue.

The complexity of design of your email newsletter is also going to depend to some extent on what device your audience is using. You’ll need to consider the growing number of people who will be reading on their mobile phones for example; their needs will be different to someone reading on their desktop, laptop or tablet. Fortunately the professional providers take care of that for you by offering a mobile friendly subscription option.

But no matter what device your readers are using, or their level of tech savvy-ness, there are a few basic design considerations which will make reading your newsletters a good experience for them, and so that they look forward to future issues.

Design Checklist

Your Email Newsletter is not the same as your website so it shouldn’t look like a web page. This style of template shows too many options, some of which look like tabs to click, and are generally too busy and confusing.

Should you use one column or two? Think about how you read on the screen – one column is easiest without a doubt. But two columns do look attractive and can be useful. Just make sure your most important messages are in the left hand (fatter) column, and keep items short in the right hand (skinny) column.

Provide a brief list of contents. This lets readers see at a glance what is included in each issue and gives them a chance to go straight to the content that piques their interest. Otherwise they may well consign your email to the ‘read later’ folder – which is basically a staging post to the delete folder….

Divide your newsletter into clear sections and keep these consistent in every issue as readers will have their favourites. Some will look out for your ‘Quick Tips’ to take away and apply immediately, or book recommendations, events, etc.

Use their first name two or three times in the newsletter. This is a good relationship building tactic, but don’t over-use the personalisation feature to the point that it comes across as smarmy and false. Inject a little of your personality by uploading one or two of your own photos in each issue; your readers will enjoy seeing them and learning about the person behind the newsletter.

The template and design should reflect the visual elements of your brand (logo, fonts and colours), in other words be easily associated with your business. While refreshing the design periodically is a good idea, changing it out of all recognition every month probably isn’t.

Make your page easy for your readers to navigate and keep the overall appearance simple, with lots of white space between columns, sections and paragraphs.

Consider font size and overall readability. Larger headlines will help to clearly define the sections, keep those fun and funky fonts to use as section headers. As a rule of thumb, don’t use anything smaller than 10 point font (HTML Size 2), and 12 point (HMTML size 3) is even easier to read.

Be sure to include graphics because they will enhance your publication, be pleasing on the eye and help break up the text. As I already mentioned, do consider including your own photos which are easy to take and upload using your smartphone.

What design features do you like to see in your favourite Email Newsletters? Please share them in the comments below.

Email Marketing is one of the cornerstones of online relationship building

Things have moved on a bit (about a million miles actually) since the days of rainbow coloured text emails and using the BCC field for your list while sending the message to yourself, although unbelievably some of these still occasionally drop into my inbox (bless!).

There are many excellent Email Service Providers (ESPs), including Mailchimp (we are fans & affiliates), Constant Contact, Vertical Response and AWeber. Which provider you choose is down to personal preference, but there are compelling reasons why you need to choose and use a professional ESP for your business Email Marketing.

Get More of Your Emails Delivered

Many people think that pressing ‘Send’ is all that’s needed to get their email message to its various destinations. Not necessarily so. For people still using their computer email packages, deliverability is unknown and open & click-through rates are unmeasurable.

Using your web domain host or shopping cart email service isn’t a guarantee of getting delivered either. These are OK for occasional mailings but messages are less likely to get through spam filters, so it isn’t a good idea to use as your main ESP, if you’re serious about Email Marketing.

The number of people reading their emails on SmartPhones is growing rapidly, so making sure your Emails are mobile friendly is becoming increasingly important. The main ESPs have this covered with special templates for the publisher to use and options to receive emails in a mobile friendly format for the reader.

Benefit from their Good Reputation

The best providers have a good reputation they’ve worked hard to establish. Not only for deliverability (over 99% is their proud claim), but also, importantly, for their adherence to the CAN-Spam Act, which they take very seriously.

I was chatting with an Email Marketing colleague recently and he told me the sad story of two clients who had their email accounts suspended as a result of using their computers to send out campaigns. This could have been as a result of the large number of emails going out, or because they fell foul of the Spam filters.

I don’t know about you, but the thought of being without email in my business sends icy shivers down my spine. It’s one of my primary communication channels and I’d really struggle without it.

Professional ESPs use a ‘double optin’ process to further protect their reputation – and yours by association! This process replaces the practice back in the ‘bad old days’ when you simply added all your contacts’ email addresses to a spreadsheet and sent out uninvited and unexpected promotional emails to them. “But wait,” I hear you say, “I still have some of those emails arriving in my inbox.” Yep, me too – and I report them as ‘Spam’ because that’s what they are. I didn’t ask for them.

A Double Opt-In is when you enter your details (usually just Name & Email address) onto a web based form, press Enter and are then taken to another screen with a message telling you to look out for an email which you need to act on. The email usually arrives within seconds and has a link you have to click in order to confirm that you really did fill out that form and want to receive the emails from that person.

The above are just a couple of reasons why using a professional Email Service Provider is so important for the small business owner. Check out our Guide for more information on Email Marketing, and please ask your questions in the comment box below.

Many small businesses have a website built because they know they need to have one. But they don’t give much thought to what they actually want it to do for their business. Most people we speak to look surprised when we ask this question, and answer:‘More business – of course!’.

Well yes, eventually that probably is the desired result of having a website. But it isn’t usually the immediate outcome, unless of course your website is an e-commerce site. For professional services businesses there are many steps between someone visiting your site for the first time and becoming a paying client.

So, if selling isn’t the point of your website, what is? Here’s what we mean by that question

Here on Savvy Marketers website, we want to inform and provide great tips for small business owners. The ultimate outcome is obviously to be hired but before that happens we know we have some serious convincing to do. That’s why the most prominent request in the sidebar is for you to sign-up to our ‘Savvy Marketing Tips’ (with free Guide). That is one of the main points of this website and everything else we offer – the twice-monthly newsletter and the free information-packed monthly webinars are all a cunning plan to persuade people to join our little community!

Once they have entrusted us with their email address, we want to build on that initial contact and start to develop a good relationship with them. To achieve this, each blog post invites comments, and most provide links to other interesting posts (perhaps here or also on other peoples’ sites), as well as introducing related products or services. We certainly don’t stop providing useful information just because we have the email address. And we don’t send out spammy email campaigns either

The point of our website therefore, is to inform and teach, to encourage people to join our online community, and to begin a relationship that will hopefully result in business in the future.

What’s the point of your website?

Do you take the same amount of care over your Email Marketing?

Just because email is quick and easy to send out, doesn’t mean you can afford to get into sloppy habits. Or that you can simply ‘throw together’ your campaign email or newsletter in the hope no-one will notice if it’s full of typos. Because they will. If you’re lucky, your readers will take great pleasure in letting you know there’s a problem; if you’re unlucky they will just quietly unsubscribe from your list. After all, who wants to hire a [fill in the blank] if this is an example of their work.

Don’t be paralyzed by perfectionism

On the other hand, if you’re the type of person who isn’t satisfied with anything less than perfection, and who is forever making ‘just one more tweak’, your problem is slightly different. In your case, you need to learn that a misplaced semi-colon is not the end of the world – you might find this post about the curse of perfectionism helpful.

So, once you’ve got your Email message looking good and checked for typos, you’re ready to send it, right?

Not so fast Speedy!

Step back from the ‘submit’ button for a moment. There are a few more important parts of your Email Campaign to double check before sending it on its way. Some are obvious, others maybe less so.

1. The From field and From email address
2. The Subject Line is brief and spelt correctly, and the First Name is set up to show correctly (if you use this facility)
3. If you’re promoting an event, double check that the date, time and venue or call-in details are all correct.
4. Your contact information is correct (ie your name, business name, email, web site, phone number, postal address)
5. You’ve included clear information on how to unsubscribe with one-click – and make sure the link works.
6. ALL links work (both in the HMTL and TEXT versions of your message)
7. Send yourself a test message. This will make sure you see the message as your readers will and give you another chance to check for errors. If possible, have a proof-reading buddy who will let you know if they find any glitches when you send them a test message. It’s always so much easier to find other people’s typos than your own.
8. Send yourself ANOTHER test after fixing any problems and changing ANY text. Bordering on perfectionism perhaps, but it’s surprising how some changes can have an unexpected knock-on effect on another part of the message.

Once you’ve worked through this checklist, it’s time to publish your Email Campaign – good luck!

What have I missed? What else do you check before sending out your Email Marketing or Newsletters?

Publishing an Email Newsletter is a big commitment.

Even if you only send out your Email Newsletter once a month, the publishing date will seem to come around very quickly when you’re busy working in your business. So what tends to happen when there isn’t a plan to follow is that the main article is hastily written and poorly formatted, you forget to include things or important links don’t work because you didn’t have time to check everything properly before pressing the ‘Send’ instruction.

On the other hand when you do have a plan for your newsletter, you’ll be able to thoroughly research your articles well in advance and make them even more valuable for subscribers.  And because you’ll also know a few issues ahead what the topics will be, you can jot down ideas and gather together additional resources – all of which will make the content richer and more in depth, and show off your know-how.

Planning ahead also means taking full advantage of the opportunity to include your latest promotions or notify readers about a forthcoming event. You’ll also be able to strategically plan how to share your newsletter on the social networks for maximum exposure and effect, as opposed to randomly tweeting or relying solely on automated updates – which may miss your target audience altogether.

Overall, you’ll feel more relaxed and actually look forward to putting each issue together, you can feel proud of how it looks and the great information you’ve shared.

Your newsletter is an ambassador for your business, as well as being an excellent way to keep in touch with clients and prospective clients – surely that must make it worth taking a bit of extra time planning?

Do you have a plan for your email newsletters? Please share what works for you – we’d love to know!

Whenever we explain to newcomers to the internet how important, even vital, writing is

That isn’t what we had in mind.

Of course there are always exceptions. Like those business owners who launch into email marketing and/or blogging with gusto – sharing lots of promotions but unfortunately little substance to engage their readers. Wrong kind of impact.

If you’re unsure where or how to start writing to use the internet to promote your business, there are several related posts & great resources right here on this blog.

Impactful writing from the beginning

Keywords are what people type into their browser bar to look for information. To give your online writing a chance of being found you need to first establish and then include the right keywords, both in your heading and body text. (Sam explains it much better than I can in this post.)

Headline, Heading or Subject Line. Probably the most important part of any marketing material anywhere. And yet so often it’s treated as an after-thought and ends being lacklustre and uninspiring. If the heading lacks impact, the chances of your newsletter, webpage, blog post etc. being read are much reduced. A useful free tool used by many writers is the Headline Analyser at http://www.aminstitute.com.

Impact doesn’t mean being spammy

Steer clear of exaggeration and hype. From 1st March in the UK, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) regulations include online advertising and marketing messages.

Deliver what you promise. On a related note, not only do you want to avoid being spammy or misleading, you need to make sure your article delivers what the headline promises. If you want people to continue to read your articles, blog posts and newsletters that is.

What impactful writing have you come across – for whatever reason? We’d love you to share.

1.    Don’t email everyone you’ve ever met
I’m sure some people just go through the piles of business cards they’ve collected over the months or years and add them all to their email contact list.  And/or they go through the member directory of the business groups they belong to and add those names too.  Not everyone is going to remember who you are.   Not everyone is going to be interested in what you have to say.
Best Practice Tip: Ask for permission to add people to your list when you meet them.

2.    Don’t email jokes, cute photos or ‘chain mail’ to your business contacts
I know they can be cute, hilarious or tug at the heart strings – but I’m going to be a killjoy and say they don’t have a place in business and they don’t do much for your professional image.  Speaking with a friend at the weekend she just deletes the emails without reading them now because the pictures take so long to download.
Best Practice Tip: If someone has entrusted you with their business email address, then business is what it should be used for.

3.    Don’t mass email from your computer Email programme
Once your list grows to over 50 people, it’s wise not to take the risk of sending emails to everyone from your Outlook or Outlook Express programme (or Mac Equivalent).  Your email provider will pick up the activity and may take the view that you’re spamming your contacts.  At best you’ll receive a warning, at worst your email account will be suspended – not good for business or your online reputation.
Best Practice Tip: Use a professional email service for your larger business mailings (see our March 2009 newsletter for suggestions)

4.    Don’t make your contacts’ email addresses public
If you must send small mailings from your computer email programme, for heaven’s sake don’t lump everyone into the ‘To’ or ‘CC’ fields where they can be seen by everyone else.  This practice makes it easy for your less scrupulous contacts to spam all your contacts with their messages too, which won’t make you very popular.  Read this cautionary tale.
Best Practice Tip: Send the Email to yourself and use the ‘BCC’ field for everyone else. (click on ‘CC’ to reveal it).

You might also be interested in listening to this short interview with Robin Houghton of Egg Box Marketing on the subject of permission email marketing.  Click here to listen

If you know anyone who could benefit from reading this post, please do us all a favour and show it to them