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Tips to Make Writing a Blog Post a Bit Easier

Writing good posts for your blog is a critical job. It is the least expensive, most effective way to make search engines rank your site in search results. This is called organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  I like to re-use the content on social media posts and possibly in an eNewsletter to your clients who may not be bloggers. Three uses for one piece of content / effort!

Read this practical article from Lisa Marie Dias, a social media expert.

Call me at 480-433-9995 if you have any questions about the article or would like some help with blogging!

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Email Interruptions

A new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign indicates that on average each email interruption you allow costs you 17 minutes. The study was sponsored by Microsoft (one of the big culprits in the email frenzy!).

              See the alert flash on your screen or on your Blackberry.
              Stop what you are doing.
              Go read the email and respond.
              Go back to what your project  and get your focus back
                   17 minutes of your day

And you wonder why you can’t get your work done!!

Instead follow this simple procedure to improve your email handling. I go into more detail in the Outlook Email Management class but even these minor changes will improve your productivity.

  1. When you see an email alert or message pop up, look to see if it is a TRUE emergency. If it isn’t, let the message go to your Inbox.
  2. Check your Inbox every 2 hours. People would wait that long if you were in a meeting or out to lunch so the short wait won’t kill anyone, lose a client or irritate your boss. Remember that you did look at the incoming message to confirm it wasn’t an emergency.
  3. Now you can handle all of the emails as a group which makes the process more efficient.
  4. First sweep through the Inbox, delete the junk. Move the “read later” newsletters, jokes, etc. to a Reading folder to be perused at a more convenient time.
  5. Second sweep through the Inbox, take care of any email that can be handled in 2 minutes or less. Reply or forward as needed then delete or store the original email in the appropriate folder for retrieval if ever needed.

Also store all of the FYI emails. You were copied to keep you in the loop but the message requires no action from you. Put the message in a folder so you can find it if the subject comes up and you need the background material.

    6.  Third pass through the Inbox is where you have to use your
         thinking cap.

You don’t want to allow an email to become a priority for your day just because it was an email. So turn the message into a Task on your To Do List so it can be prioritized and managed along with your other tasks for the day.  Outlook has a feature to do this very easily. We can figure out how to make it work in your task management system if you use some of software or method.

If necessary, reply to the message just to acknowledge the sender. “Cindy, got your message and will take care of _____ on Wednesday.”  Cindy feels respected and knows that her issue will be addressed.

Now store the message in the appropriate folder where you can find it Wednesday when it shows up on your task list.

   7.  After the third pass, your Inbox is empty!  It’s ready to gather the
        next two hours of emails.

You are ready to go back to your Task List to work on the projects you had planned for the day. You’ve saved time by not jumping at every individual email. You’re responded as needed to keep everyone happy.

As I mentioned Outlook has features to help you be more efficient. This is where software can really make an improvement in your daily life. Take advantage of it!

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Why Website Maintenance is Essential for Your Business

Your website is often the first impression customers have of your business. But you have 10 seconds or less to grab the visitor’s attention and trust. Without regular maintenance, your site can become slow, outdated and vulnerable to security threats. By keeping your WordPress site up to date with the latest plugins, themes, and security patches, you ensure it runs smoothly and securely.

Routine maintenance not only improves site performance but also boosts your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking, helping you attract more visitors. It also prevents costly issues, like crashes or broken links, that can drive potential customers away. Regular care keeps your website a powerful tool for growing your business.

Call Your Computer Lady to schedule your site maintenance!

Your Computer Lady can provide a complete audit of your site also which guides you on how to update the site, how to make it a profit center and how to tie it in with your complete marketing plan for 2025.

 

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How to Build a Content Timebomb

Well written article about writing blog posts. His basic premise is that you write timeless articles using keywords that people can find when doing searches. For example, instead of an interior designer only writing about new products (short time frame since they’re only “new” for a short time), the designer would also write articles about how to choose the right colors for a living room remodel (a post that is relevant today, in six months or in six years).

An additional advantage to writing the timeless articles is that they can be submitted to blog sites such as Digg, ezine, etc. to promote the writer as well as the blog.  The article could also be used in a monthly newsletter!

Read the full article.

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15 Free AI Image Upscalers to Improve Your Photos

“Looking to improve the quality of your photos? With an AI image upscaler, you can enhance photos and other images for your social media and other platforms.

Image upscalers fix various imperfections, ensuring everything you post online is of the highest quality. As such, they are invaluable for content creators who want to increase their followership but also for businesses seeking to increase engagement from their visuals.”

Click here to continue reading.

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The Power of Confidence

Just had to share this story I read. Pablo Picasso credited his mother with much of his success. She believed in him from the beginning. She told him, “If you become a soldier, you’ll become a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the Pope.” In Picasso’s own humble way, he ended the story, “Instead I became an artist and wound up as Picasso!”

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You Just Can’t Beat Email Marketing

One of my clients had a great story this week about email marketing.Two young women sitting in cafe and talking

She met a woman at a luncheon. They exchanged business cards and had a good talk. My client put the woman on her email list.

20 years went by!! TWENTY!

The woman signed up for an event my client was hosting last week. She said, “I’ve always read your newsletters but never had a need for your services until now. But I certainly knew who I was going to call for help! The expert!”

​Keeping the woman on the email list for 20 years had a zero cost. My client has over 30
00 emails on her list. So there was no cost. No special effort. ​ But the woman came to the event with a friend and both are planning purchases!

Review your office procedures to be sure you are gathering every email possible. Add them to your lists. Make your content valuable so people will stay on the list. Watch your traffic reports to be sure the content is working with your audience. Build long term relationships!

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Don’t Buy a Mac

I’m trying to do a new website for a MAC user. She’s not super computer literate so everything she tries to share with me takes her twice as long. Her Pages and Numbers files don’t convert to Word or Excel cleanly. What she thinks is a graphic file, isn’t.

There are 4 times more Windows users than MAC users. So chances are REALLY good that MAC users are going to need to share files with a Windows person.

Why make your computer life harder? Unless you are working in a graphics related industry and the only people you share files with are other MAC users, stay away from MACs.

Sure you get free support from the Apple store. How much time do you have for standing in line during regular business hours? But don’t try googling a question for a quick answer because chances are slim you’ll find the answer. Have a Windows question? There are hundreds of answers in blog sites, YouTube videos and forums.

Want some training on the software? There are hundreds of YouTube videos and articles about Windows. Not so much on the iOS.

So unless your goal is to be a full time computer whiz who can rock all those graphics programs, don’t buy a MAC.

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Writing Your Elevator Speech

The American Family Business Accelerator program had an excellent presentation on writing your elevator speech. Even if you have an elevator speech I suggest working through this tool to see if it spotlights any fine-tuning you need to do.

In a nutshell:
     F  –  Find their pain point
     A  – Answer their problem
     R  – Reasons why you’re different
     M – Make them want more

In theory, it’s easy to tell someone what you do. You’re asked that question all the time. But in reality, it’s hard! And it is so important!  You want to wordsmith your answer so that it can be stated in 30 seconds. The words have to be clear and concise to give a total stranger the picture of what you do. It’s that pivotal “first impression.”

Beyond answering “What do you do?” your elevator speech plays a major part in your entire marketing plan. It is the first step, the foundation of the whole plan.

  • When you create a company brochure, you would start with the elevator speech and expand to share examples and details to support the speech.
  • When you are writing content for your web site, each page should support and expand upon that basic elevator speech.
  • If you participate in any review sites such as Angie’s List, Yelp or Kudzu, your elevator speech would be the content you fill in for their format.
  • The elevator speech would be the starting point for your Summary section on your LinkedIn profile.

Take the time to write a good elevator speech. Use this excellent tool. Call Your Computer Lady for help if you need it. We’ll brainstorm with you and help edit the speech until it’s just what you need!

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10 tips for an awesome and SEO-friendly blog post

“Writing blog posts requires skill. To keep readers interested, you should think about the structure of your content and keep it enjoyable. If people like and understand your post, they’re much more likely to share it with others, which will increase your rankings. So, if you want to improve your writing skills and rankings, start with these tips on writing an SEO-friendly blog post!

It might sound like writing for SEO and writing to attract and engage your audience are two conflicting goals. But that’s not true. To write an SEO-friendly post, you should feature the words you want to be found in a prominent place. However, over-using keywords severely damages the readability of your text. A high keyphrase density can even signal to Google that you might be stuffing keywords in your text, which can negatively affect your rankings.”

Click here to continiue reading.

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