Roundup time! And that means it’s time to learn, time to get inspired and time to enjoy. Today we’ve got some interesting “did you knows” and lots to think about. Some new faces… some familiar faces… all good reading!
Will You Click This Because The Headline Is A Question?
Written by Adi Gaskell
The power of this post is right there in the headline… or should I say question? If you’re anything like me – meaning that you obsess long and often about whether your headline is good enough to generate interest and shares – then this is one post you’re going to want to read. Adi shares an interesting study that looks at how effective questions are in headlines. But more important than the question itself is how you ask it. Here’s what I did after reading this post: rewrote half my headlines. I bet it will get you thinking differently about yours, too.
Read the article at adigaskell.org and follow Adi on Twitter @adigaskell
People Don’t Care
Written by Geoff Livingston
Do you know why this post made it into the roundup? I bet you don’t care. And thus a brilliant point is born! Geoff makes an uncomfortable – and often overlooked – point about our brands and our marketing: nobody cares. Not our customers. Not our prospects. Probably not even our moms, though they do nod along politely before offering us another slice of pie. Yet we spew out communications of all kinds and expect them to. Geoff advises us to reconsider our efforts and to figure out how to make people care, how to provide something they will care about and how to ensure that what we say revolves around them and their needs – not us.
Read the article at geofflivingston.com and follow Geoff on Twitter @geoffliving
Calling Out A Fluffer [How To Turn Good Writing Into Garbage]
Written by Ralf Skirr
As someone who fields crummy guest post requests on a nearly daily basis, this one was both amusing and educational. Ralf shares a low-cost – and subsequently low-quality – guest post that he purchased (it’s worth a read through if you’ve got a minute, but I’m warning you, your eyes will glaze over) and then he essentially goes line-by-line demonstrating how to turn nonsensical fluff into stronger writing. It’s tough to work with junk (and with so many actually talented writers, why would you?) but this is a fantastic example of editing in action. I know YOU don’t write junk but there are still some great tips and examples here to learn from.
Read the article at ralfskirr.com and follow Ralf on Twitter @ralfskirr
Essential Website Content Your Company Can’t Afford To Miss
Written by Laura Click
Just this week we published an article about how to know when your website needs a redesign. One of the clues is that you haven’t reviewed your copy in ages – or worse, your copy isn’t converting visitors into customers. So if you think you need a copy makeover, then what? Laura has the then-what. She outlines some of the most essential bits of content that your website needs and also presents some real-world examples from top sites. If you’re thinking about working on your web copy (ahem… no matter when you wrote it, you probably should be…) then this can serve as a great jumping off point to outline your needs and start making your copy work harder.
Read the article at flybluekite.com and follow Laura on Twitter @lauraclick
The 4 Marketers You’ll Meet On Twitter
Written by Nicholas Scalice
And now for a bit of amusement for your weekend reading pleasure. If you’re like me and you spend ridiculous amounts of time on Twitter then you’ve probably got a few opinions of your own about the marketing that happen there – good, bad and really, really bad. Nicholas sums up four groups that you’ve probably noticed, three of which will have you rolling your eyes and nodding along. But even more than that, this post is a good admonishment to remember that without a careful strategy, this could be you! After you read and chuckle along, let me know if you’ve got any other groups to add to the list!
Read the article at fastblink.com and follow Nicholas on Twitter @nscalice
Thanks to all these great authors and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!
Carolyn, I love these – I had not seen any of these posts this week so I will be checking them out – they all look very interesting. Enjoy your weekend!
Thanks! Hope you found some that you liked.
Thanks for including me, Carolyn. Hope you are having a good weekend!
Quite welcome, it was a nice little wakeup call.
Hi Carol Lynn, thanks a bunch for the great feedback on my article. Glad you found it interesting! Take care.
You’re welcome, it was quite amusing!
Some great selection again, Carol. I am naturally attracted by number one and number three. I’ve got to read those tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing.
Let me know how you like them!
Great roundup, Carol Lynn. I’m saving all of these to Pocket to read later or I’ll never get anything else done. 😉
That’s usually how I save the posts to add here! Although I use Instapaper, but same thing. It’s so easy to get lost reading!
As always, a super roundup, Carol Lynn! Nicholas’s post really hit the Twitter (snafu) ball out of the ball park. Nothing speaks louder than the truth. 🙂
SO elated to see Laura Click included here! I think it was great she referenced Marcus Sheridan in her post (who The Sales Lion does NOT work with). And as a gal who prides myself in my writing skills, Ralf’s post had my eyes rolling all over the page. LOL!
Thanks Melanie! I got a kick out of Ralf’s post, too. it’s amazing how much drivel is out there (even at a few cents or a few dollars per post, it’s still a waste of money). I’m tempted to take the next guest post I get and do the same thing!
Excellent round up, Carol. I read Geoff’s post last week too – a great reminder for all of us! I also loved the post about how to write better headlines. I’ve written a lot of question headlines on Twitter – this definitely confirms what I’ve seen.
Great round up and thanks for including me! 🙂
Thanks Laura! I really enjoyed your post, it had so much great info. I found the one about questions intriguing, too. I have to experiment a bit with “how” I ask them.