I've committed myself to the Writers Write 12 Short Stories in 12 Months Challenge. And I'm loving it. They supply the prompt, the word count and the deadline. A lot like my content creation clients do in fact. Whether I am writing for clients or fiction, there is one thing that matters above all else. In fact, it's the Golden Rule!



The Golden Rule
Writing for clients or writing creatively has one golden rule - storytelling matters. Practising the craft is a joy. It's especially joyful when you get good reviews from readers and good references from clients.

Your Company's Story
Most clients are looking for a copywriter to talk about their product, company or ethos. Every company has it's own story - and I don't just mean the dreaded 'overview' or 'history of the company'. If that's all your copywriter understands about your company's story, you're in trouble.

What Kind of Copywriter Are You Looking For?
What you should be looking for is a good storyteller. One who can bring the words to life. A good storyteller makes copy breathe, gives it a heartbeat and leaves the reader wanting to know more. They create longing, atmosphere, comfort and urgency with just a few well-chosen words.
A good copywriter can, and should do the same as they pound out copy for articles, websites, blogs, thought leader articles and tweets. Copy which is memorable and encourages action on the part of the reader. Action that results in leads.

What You Really Need in a Copywriter
A great copywriter, on the other hand, has more strings to their bow - they understand design, marketing and story structure. They think visually as well as in words.

Choosing the right words based on what the words say and the images they invoke - it's what makes story, and your company, compelling. Great wordsmiths know this, whether they're published authors or not. I happen to be one. I also happen to be a content creator for both local and international clients with a background in design, advertising and broadcast television which makes storytelling part of my DNA. I love to make people lean in, an eyebrow raised and possibly even their heart pounding just a little. Which is why the review in the meme above was especially gratifying.

For my creative stories, short or otherwise: www.elainedodge.weebly.com

For great content, click below and contact me today!

My last post showed you how to maximise your LinkedIn profile and how vital it was to do that if you want to attract new customers. But, you can’t just leave it at that. You have to take action. This post is about how to work the room, as it were, LinkedIn style.

LinkedIn is not just a list of business professionals – it’s advertising space. If you don’t use it to attract customers, your competition will.

In the golden era of advertising what was known as the ‘spray and pray’ approach worked. It doesn’t anymore. And there’s no reason to suppose that it will cut the mustard in LinkedIn. Nearly half of the people on LinkedIn are the decision makers, who, while they might have time for golf, don’t have time to hunt you down. You need to be both easy to find and they need to be convinced that acquiring you as an essential connection and business partner is vital to the growth of their company.

The Top 4 Essential Strategies You Need to Action Today on LinkedIn to Attract New Business Opportunities

Essential Strategy No. 1: Be Specific

No one’s looking for a cake-icing, drain cleaning, farrier. They’re looking for someone to shoe their horse. And while you may very well be able to clear drainpipes, shoe horses and ice award-winning cakes, putting all that on your profile will work against you. Your potential new clients are looking for someone who can meet their very specific needs. So, do that - be specific. If your best skill is shoeing horses, then make sure potential customers know you’re the best farrier in the business.
People use social media to talk about themselves or find solutions to their problems. Speak to that. Tell your possible new leads:

• Who you are
• Who you help
• How you can help

 
Essential Strategy No. 2: Have a Website

Unlike other social media platforms, because LinkedIn is set up for business people, it allows you to add links to other sites. Like your website. Potential new customers want to discover more about you before they commit to contacting you. Make sure your website is a great one.

Essential Strategy No. 3: ET Call Client

Another thing LinkedIn does is allow you to export your contacts. It’s important that you do this, as that list is an incredibly valuable business asset. It’s where you can highlight and target potential new leads. This is what I mean by ‘working the room’. Everybody knows somebody, so try and get as many recommendations and introductions as you can. Again, be specific. Wanting to shoe every horse in Africa is great but targeting trainers in the racing circuit will get you more work, more quickly.

But don’t stop with just acquiring connections and introductions. That would be like being introduced at a cocktail party to the head of the South African racing circuit and then just standing there staring at her. Not only is that a tad creepy but you won’t get any new business if you don’t start talking to her. Follow up on the connections you’ve made, especially ones in your industry or the potential clients you’re looking for.

When someone asks to be connected, follow up immediately with both a message and a call to action. Having connections doesn’t mean anything. Being in contact with them does. You’ll only reap the benefit when you turn connections into clients. And always behave professionally.

Essential Strategy No. 4: Stay Updated

Every change you make on your profile will be seen by everyone in your contact list. And that’s great as it keeps you up front and centre stage in your potential customer’s line of vision. So, don’t let your LinkedIn profile stagnate. Keep it updated and fresh. Posting on LinkedIn Pulse is also a good way to garner interest from potential new business leads. And finally, don’t forget those all-important calls to action.


 

What you do know about LinkedIn is that it’s undoubtedly the best site on social media to connect with other professionals in your field. Especially the ones at the top. 45% of the 3.8 million LinkedIn users in South Africa are business decision makers. To make LinkedIn work for you, you need to become their companies next most important team member. But how? This blog is the first in a series to help you do just that.

Getting your LinkedIn profile right is essential.

Although LinkedIn is a social media network, it’s there for business, not socialising. Your profile is important. Get it wrong and your email box will gather more dust than anything else.

5 Crucial Things You Need to Take Care of Immediately

1. Your Head Shot

LinkedIn exists so that professionals can connect with other professionals. It’s a people-to-people platform. And people, especially top level business decision makers, want to see the person they’re dealing with. A logo is a bad idea. So is a boozy pic from a fishing trip. A professional head shot is vital.

1. Your Title

The aim of your title is to ensure that you appear at the top of the search results. Keep witty descriptions of your job title for your website. Here you need to focus on keywords professionals use when searching for people they need. They’re unlikely to type in ‘the Michelangelo of Tax Returns’ when looking for a bookkeeper. A professional, keyword correct title is key.

    2. Your Location

Adding your location will help bring you closer to the top of the search results. It’s unlikely a firm in Cape Town will hire a bookkeeper in Durban. ‘Durban Bookkeeper’ is far more likely to get you positive results than ‘Africa’s Michelangelo of Tax Returns’. Putting your location in your title is essential.

    3. Your Unique Selling Point

Describing yourself as a bookkeeper in Durban isn’t enough. But keep a tight rein on that inner Michelangelo. One of the most important things to remember about social media is, although people may be searching for you, they’re only doing it to find out what you can do for them.
‘Sally McDuff. Durban Bookkeeper for Creative People’ describes what Sally does, where she is situated and who her clients are – which is good.
‘Sally McDuff. Durban Bookkeeper assisting creative professionals experience financial health and well-managed profits’, describes what Sally does, where she is located, who her clients are AND what she can do for them – which is better.
New clients will call when they are convinced you understand both their requirements and their goals. Giving potential new clients a reason to call is critical.

    4. Your Summary
Don’t fall into the error of thinking your LinkedIn profile is all about you. It’s not. It’s about what you can do for your clients. That’s all they want to know. Sharpen your focus – a specific target market, their problems and your solutions. This should not only go in your title but should also appear in the Summary section as well. Spend time getting it right and keep it short; who you are, your personal story and your authority. A powerful summary is important.

     5. Your Call to Action

Book publishers will tell you that a romance novel can only end one way – with a happy ever after. Successful LinkedIn members know that a LinkedIn profile summary also has a mandatory ending – a call to action. You want potential new clients to contact you – website, email, phone call; it makes no difference. But, to do that they need your links, your numbers and the opportunity. Make it easy for them. Telling them what to do next is essential.

Like what you’ve read? Contact me today for copy or website solutions for your company.   

5 WAYS TO SEE IF YOU'RE AN ADVENTURER OR NOT!

It’s Day 14 of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and Greg Maud (a.k.a. Sea Rover) is still going strong. His daily ‘distance rowed’ is increasing steadily and his blogs are upbeat and humorous.
Greg has had some amazing adventures in his life, proving that if you have a dream and the determination to see if through you can do anything! Here’s a short (only 5 questions) quiz to see if you have what it takes to be an adventurer.

1. So, there you are. On your own in a small boat in the not-quite-middle of the Atlantic Ocean. You’ve been at sea now for 14 days, celebrating both Christmas and New Year with none but a pod of dolphins to keep you company. The journey is predicted to take 90 days and you’ve already had to deal with broken equipment and adverse winds. You’ve managed to claw your way from last to middle of the pack – who you haven’t seen for days – but the lead boat is 360nm ahead of you and is being crewed by 4 men. And while you are still coming first among all the solo rowers, the chances of catching the lead boat are remote.
Do you:
a) Turn back,
b) Take time out to swim with the dolphins,
c) Sleep less and row harder,
d) Carry on as normal.

2. It’s the middle of the night. The sea is calm and a gentle mid-Atlantic breeze is ruffling your hair and above you the Milky Way is dazzling. And while everything is perfect the mere thought of the Milky Way gives you the munchies. While rations are of necessity the dehydrated variety you’ve also packed some high protein snacks and some highly essential chocolate.
Do you:
a) Eat one square of chocolate very slowly,
b) Eat one entire bar of chocolate but make it last all night,
c) Eat as many bars of chocolate as you can reach,
d) Real adventurers don’t need chocolate.
 
3. The last human you saw in the flesh was 14 days ago. Since then it’s been nothing but vast, wide ocean, seagulls and dolphins and the sea gulls left yesterday.
Are you:
a) Concerned that you’ve started talking to yourself,
b) Glad that you brought ‘Wilson’ along – you watched ‘Castaway’ for mental health tips while alone on the ocean,
c) You hadn’t actually noticed you were alone,
d) Calling the folks back home every two hours on your SAT phone.
 
4. You’ve already capsized once. Thankfully you didn’t lose anything too important, and no one saw you so your dignity is still intact. But there are 80 days to go. Who knows how many more times you might be tossed out!
Do you:
a) Laugh about it and carry on regardless,
b) Call the race organisers and say you want to go home,
c) You didn’t lose any chocolate so everything’s fine,
d) You have doubles of everything so you’re good, and you won’t leave anything lying loose on deck again.
 
5. You don’t really need a quiz to tell you if you’re an adventurer because:
a) You think climbing Everest, running across the Kalahari and rowing the Atlantic pretty much says it all,
b) Going to the mall the Saturday after payday is as much adventure as you can handle,
c) You’ve read every adventure book you could lay your hands on and while you’ve never actually seen snow you are quite confident you could run the Iditarod with a sled and team of huskies.
d) Leave the couch? Are you mad? And what’s the Iditarod anyway?
 
Here's to 2016! A year of new horizons for us all! Follow Greg’s Atlantic Adventure here on my blog as well as:
http://gregmaud.co.za/category/blog
https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/race-tracker/

Pic credits: Greg Maud

Nice if You Get One!

It’s Boxing Day. In the past, monetary gifts for the poor were collected at churches in a wooden box. The day after Christmas, St Stephen’s Day, the boxes were opened and the money distributed to the poor in the local parish. After a while, gifts were also given to tradesmen and servants on this day as a thank you for services rendered during the year. One presumes that was the beginning of the thirteenth cheque. Nice if you get one!

Have Box, Will Row

Speaking of boxes, the Dog Box, a.k.a. The Sea Rover is not much more than a box. And that’s what Greg Maud is rowing across the Atlantic in. He’s now 13th in a field of 26 boats, first in the solo rowers and has overtaken seven of the pairs and a couple of teams of four. He’s currently doing about 1.9 knots - just over 3 kilometres an hour. The race is 3000nm long. Greg has 2278.7 nm to go. The boat in the lead, crewed by four men, is only 133.9 nm ahead.

Greg is doing an awesome job considering he’s never done competitive ocean rowing before and the fact that yesterday a huge wave tossed the boat in the air and flipped it over! Maybe it was the wake from Santa’s sleigh as he did a low pass over the Atlantic!

Pic: http://www.somewhere-magazine.com/wave-photography-ray-collins/

The Power of a Bedtime Story
                                                                                                                                                                                    Remember when you were a child? Waiting with eager anticipation for darkness to fall, snuggling down under the blankets, your bedside light glowing in the dark, the opening the book? It was that most magical of times - the bedtime story. Perhaps it was just me, but I lived for that moment; to find out what was happening in the story, how the hero managed to escape the deadly peril of the night before! It wasn’t just a story. In my imagination it was real! That’s the power of imagination. That’s the power of story. You get to have adventures, fall in love, join the circus, join the FBI, fight the dragon, sail with Nicholas Ramage, go back or forward in time, discover new lands, new worlds even!

The Story is What Matters

With the best stories, the best writing, you completely forget the words. You’re barely aware of the words you’re so caught up in the story. And that’s as it should be. It is, after all, the very reason books and stories exist.

I was lucky enough to get to work on Greg Maud’s website. Greg is rowing across the Atlantic. That’s over 5000kms. He woke up one morning and said pretty much the same thing as the day he decided to climb Everest – “That sounds like fun!” He then spent the next year training for the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. On his website, and that of the Challenge, you can watch his daily, and nightly, progress. He’ll be rowing two hours on, two hours off. In his off time he has to eat, make drinking water, chat with passing porpoises, do any required repairs to the boat…and sleep. It’s the adventure of a lifetime.

The Ultimate Bedtime Story Happens in Real Time

Gone are the days when the world had to wait for the intrepid explorer to return home again to find out what adventures and perils he or she had endured. In some ways we have an advantage over Greg. We can watch Greg’s progress on the online map. We can see where all the other boats are. He can’t. Completely surrounding him is nothing but endless, empty ocean.

Because we can read his blogs on the website, see his pictures almost as soon as he takes them, we can vicariously live the adventure alongside Greg. In our imaginations we can endure the blazing heat, the damp cold, the relentless rowing, the hunger, the fatigue, the adrenaline rush, the fear. We can be part of the race to the finish line. It’s the ultimate bed time story.

But best of all – this time it IS real! The story has come to life!

Race updates for Greg Maud (Bow no. 74, Sea Rover) available here:
www.gregmaud.co.za
https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/race-tracker/
As of today, 23 December 2015, Greg is currently in second place among the solo rowers.

Greg Maud www.gregmaud.co.za and https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/race-track…/ has done 34 nautical miles in the last 24 hours and is still ahead of all the other solo rowers. Go Greg!

GUERNICA BY PABLO PICASSO

The Things That Matter

I was at dinner at a friend's the other day and the discussion touched on the plight of the Syrian refugees and the opportunities they were being offered in other countries in terms of university bursaries. One of the diners mentioned that the refugees were only being taught science related subjects - things, she said quite adamantly, that mattered, that would be of value to Syria when it came time for the refugees to return home and set about rebuilding the nation. They weren't being taught things that had no value, things like art, storytelling and music. I was so stunned that anybody could seriously consider art, storytelling and music to have no value, especially in a country that had been devastated, I just sat there, speechless.

Roots, Purpose and Future

How else does one discover one's roots, one's purpose and one's future if not through storytelling? How does one pass on a people's culture if not through art and what else can express that which is inexpressible, whether it be love, pain, despair, peace, desire and hope, when one has run out of political rhetoric and the heart's emotion is too great to bear, except through music?

The Dangerous Arts

Governments and ideologies that demote the arts do so for a very good reason. Not because medicine, agriculture, maths or science is more important but because the arts keep people human. They are the expression of our souls. The danger of the arts is that when people express their souls, when they imagine life beyond the confines of the regime's ideology, they will begin to think for themselves, to imagine and create a life without the regime or the ideology. They will yearn for, strive for and eventually bring into being a better life. A life of freedom.

A government or ideology which doesn't allow creative thought and expression is one built on hatred and fear. And the only natural outcome of that is death.

Someone once said, "Governments that burn books, will soon be burning people."

No matter what career you choose, one of the first things you’ll discover is that it comes with its own vocabulary.

It’s commonly called jargon. And you’re going to have to learn it and speak it fluently if you want to get ahead in your chosen field. But increasing your vocabulary doesn’t just mean being a jargon ninja. CEOs and C-Level executives are usually highly educated people. If you want to occupy the rarefied C-Level atmosphere, you’re going to need the education to match.

Surprisingly, a well-educated person doesn’t always have multiple degrees to their name. They do have a great vocabulary. They have an awesome command of language. They not only know an impressive number of words but they know what they mean and how to use them quickly, intelligently and often with a wry twist of humour. An increased vocabulary is important if you want to climb the social ladder as well. People will listen to and respect the opinions of someone who can speak eloquently.

So what’s the best way to increase your vocabulary? Here are 7 tips.

Tip1: Get a Dictionary.

This is one of the best tools available. You can buy a hardcopy version or download an electronic version. Whichever you prefer, make sure you use it. It’s not a sign of weakness to be seen checking up on a word in the dictionary. It’s a sign of intelligence.

Tip2: Get a Thesaurus.

This is the next best tool for anyone who has even the smallest smidgen of ambition. This is where you find alternative words. If you’re struggling with the definition of a word in the dictionary, the list of alternative words will often bring clarity. For example, alternative words that you could use instead of ‘serendipitous’ includes, unexpected, opportune, unforeseen, unanticipated and chance. Using an electronic dictionary and thesaurus has the added advantage of constantly being up-to-date. Language changes and evolves constantly. New words are being invented every day. Words like ‘vlog’ are unlikely to be in the printed dictionary your dad used at school.

Tip 3: Start a Vocabulary Journal.

The moment you read or hear a word you’ve never heard before or you’re unsure of its meaning, write it down in the journal. Look it up in your Dictionary and your Thesaurus and jot down the meaning and the alternatives in the journal next to it.

Tip 4: Use the word.
Write out a few sentences using the word. Swap out the word with one of the alternatives and see if it still makes sense. Use the word as often as possible in conversation. You’ll soon discover if you’re using it correctly or not.

Tip 5: Read

The best way to not only increase your vocabulary but to improve your use of language, grammar and sentence structure is to read. Read, read, read. If you haven’t joined the Library and don’t have a Library card permanently stuck in your wallet, go join now and use that card regularly. Try to read at least one novel a week. If you’re not sure what novels to read, take the New York Times Best Seller List and read your way through all the books listed on it. Novels are best as they spark the imagination, and imagination is the best way to get your brain hunting for and picking and choosing which word to use when.

Tip 6: Read some more.

A good rule of thumb is to never go anywhere without a book. Instead of getting bored standing in the bank queue, read. Waiting for someone to join you in a coffee shop? Wait with a good book. Your vocabulary, and your career, will thank you.

Tip 7: Use the right word.
Having a good vocabulary isn’t about showing off the fact that you know not only what ‘serendipitous’ means but also how to spell it. No one likes a show-off. Having a good vocabulary and knowing how to use it means that you can pick and choose words to get your point across in the best way. One that will be understood, remembered and appreciated by your audience. ‘Unexpected’ might not sound as impressive as ‘serendipitous’, but more people in a large audience on the farm factory floor will understand you. Save ‘serendipitous’ for your speech to the Board.

Using the right word at the right time, and using it well, will get you noticed no matter what career you choose. But if you need, or would rather use a Wordsmith...