Word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing on earth.

Its credibility and trust levels out perform any other advertising, promotion or event.

But to do it well, it demands that you out-think instead of out-spend your competitors.

You may need to be nimble, outrageous and unexpected.

Start-ups are the best users . . . → Read More: How buzz does the work for you: gets your tribe talking]]>

Word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing on earth.

Its credibility and trust levels out perform any other advertising, promotion or event.

But to do it well, it demands that you out-think instead of out-spend your competitors.

You may need to be nimble, outrageous and unexpected.

Start-ups are the best users of word of mouth as they are lean mean and cash strapped, so their lateral thinking and approaches often tend to get people talking.

And getting people talking is great for you. It does all the work for you.

New name

The latest incarnation of word of mouth is an out-of-the-box method called buzz marketing.

By using it, your marketing money and activity can be stretched and multiplied.

Buzz starts conversations.

With buzz, your customer tells two friends, those two tell two more friends and so on and so on.

Creating buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

The key though is to give them something catchy, remarkable, clever or funny – something they’ll enjoy sharing – to entertain, sound smart or clever.

Being in on something new and interesting – part of ‘The loop’ – is now an important aspect of socialising.

It adds to your social proof.

What to share

You need to provide thoughts, ideas information, pictures or games that people can share and talk about.

It needs to be:

1. Fascinating
2. Newsy
3. Entertaining

If it’s not, forget it. No buzz.

Initially the goal is to get people to talk about your stuff. It’s that simple.

Ideally that will then spark further word of mouth and the contagion will spread.

Where it goes

Ultimately, the goal of creating buzz is to start conversations that go beyond the obvious message.

You want it to self perpetuate and take on a life of its own.

If it’s ‘sticky’ enough, it will keep spreading in ever widening circles. Into places you’d never imagined you could reach.

That’s the nature of viral.

Ownership

The sole purpose of the buzz marketing model is for your customers to make your brand their brand.

BUT to do that, your message needs to be so compelling, entertaining, fascinating or newsworthy that they want to tell more people and do the marketing for you.

It then becomes their cause.

Their story.

They have currency in it.

They want it to succeed.

Because their buzz-effort is all over it.

Buzz your message

Buzz marketing needs a great story. Or does it? Fascinating, newsy or entertaining (think LOL cats) doesn’t have to be a story. What’s your thoughts on successful buzz?

Leave your thoughts, in the comments.

Please help spread the word…

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

Image with thanks to: gurss

The way you write for business needs to change.

Pompous is out, plain speaking is in. That’s the long and short of it.

I know, some of you may have been writing the same way you were taught at school and university – and it’s worked perfectly well, thank you very much.

That’s true, . . . → Read More: Death by pomposity: or saved by plain-speaking?]]>

The way you write for business needs to change.

Pompous is out, plain speaking is in. That’s the long and short of it.

I know, some of you may have been writing the same way you were taught at school and university – and it’s worked perfectly well, thank you very much.

That’s true, it has.

It’s got the job done, but can the job be done better? Could it be more engaging? Have more personality? Deliver a better result? Probably, yes.

Business writing originally took place solely in various printed mediums, and it was considered necessary to have a conservative, authoritarian tone. Much of its language had legal heritage (for preciseness), leaning towards boring and dull.

That’s no longer the case. The vast majority of business writing is created and read in a visual form on screens – which is an entirely different mode of writing, reading and absorbing.

Between smart devices, emails, blogs, social media and websites we’re probably spending far more time writing than we’ve ever done; especially than prior to the arrival of the internet.

It has revolutionised the way we communicate with one another.

Words are back.

But they’re different words.

They’re simpler, more direct. Shorter.

Write like you speak

Formal is out. Conversational and approachable is in.

It’s really a question of style.

English teachers of old used to spend much of their time trying to persuade their charges that they had terribly common speech and manners and that if they could write with a slightly posher style, they’d be able to drag themselves out of the gutter that they were inevitably headed for in later life.

The fact is we are natural talkers.

We speak before we can write; and most of us are better at speaking than we are writing.

Some still feel that compared to writing, speech is lazy and second class. Well, it ain’t.

There are just differences.

More than plain

Most of us are more engaging in person than we are on a page or screen. We’re more straightforward, natural, quicker and clearer. Most of all, we have personality in person.

Your writing needs to adopt the best of these.

And that doesn’t mean your writing becomes plain, or dumbed down.

Your writing needn’t be childish; there is a clear difference between something that is simple and something that is simplistic.

The best business writers have a brilliant knack for taking something that’s complex and making it feel straightforward and easy to understand.

There is no need to use complicated, long pompous language to impress your readers.

The quality of your thinking (behind the writing) should do that.

Your writing needs to be quick to read, and have personality injected in it – through the clever use of stories, rhythm, sentence length and metaphor.

Lean and strong

Avoid killing your writing with pompous words, and instead adopt the tenant of ‘big impact with little words’.

Choosing words that are more unusual, more interesting, more resonant – without going to the extreme – also helps to add style to your writing.

An easy way to keep your writing more economic and impactful is to use fewer words and keep sentences short.

Remove language that’s wilfully complicated, obscure or formal.

Choose words that are familiar, and lively.

Accessible, engaging and real.

Just like the way you talk.

Your turn to think and write …

Do you think formal, pompous language still has a place in business writing, or should we ring the final death knell to it? Is it long live the plain-speakers?

Share your thoughts, in the comments.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

Sometimes you just know.

There was that feeling when you met. Simpatico.

The air was sizzling hot.

You could read each other’s minds. You’d finish each other’s sentences.

They could be the one.

Is it right – should you want them so much, this soon?

The next step seems inevitable.

A commitment.

Sitting at my keyboard today, my mind is empty.

The space inside is quiet.

It’s dark and silent.

Nothing.

What am I to say?

Nothing comes.

Then, an image.

A bowl.

A  simple bowl.

An empty bowl.

A symbol, perhaps?

But what does it mean?

Empty space.

An empty bowl.

Waiting to be filled.

No matter the type of blog, the work’s the same.

It can be for creative self-expression, a business portfolio, a corporate site, a community builder or a seamless meld of them all.

But because we know there are things that we know we don’t know (did you know?), then more often than not, most . . . → Read More: 5 easy peasy decisions to start a blog]]>

No matter the type of blog, the work’s the same.

It can be for creative self-expression, a business portfolio, a corporate site, a community builder or a seamless meld of them all.

But because we know there are things that we know we don’t know (did you know?), then more often than not, most people say knowing where to start is the hardest part.

Get that?

As part of my Blogging 101 series, today I’m posting over at Mouths of Mums, about the 5 decisions you need to make – to start a blog.

That’s it. Simple.

Read about how it’s really just like setting up a house – finding a neighbourhood, a place, a builder, a decorator and some friends.  And then you’ll see the five basic choices you need to make.

That’s not too hard is it?

Think of it as shopping for house things. It may stretch you a little more, but you love that occasionally – now, don’t you?

I’d love to hear what you have to say about any other decisions holding you back from starting, or if I’ve missed something! Drop a comment over there or here. Talk soon.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

Before there was science and the written word, the world was described through story. As a result indigenous traditions the world over encoded their teachings in story form.

The storytellers were the keepers of the history of the people. They were guarded at times of disaster to ensure that through them the stories . . . → Read More: 5 storytelling style secrets that will banish boring marketing spiels]]>

Before there was science and the written word, the world was described through story. As a result indigenous traditions the world over encoded their teachings in story form.

The storytellers were the keepers of the history of the people. They were guarded at times of disaster to ensure that through them the stories were not lost in time, but carried forward into the future.

When people migrated they took their stories with them, and as they met people in other parts of the world, they shared those stories.

And those very stories illustrate how close we are as a human tribe – all connected by the common threads of story.

But once upon a time, stories were banished. They were relegated to bedrooms and picture books.

Then over the slow turn of time, story-power was again recognised. You see, information in story form is more easily absorbed than just plain facts.

We remember a good story long after the telling is over.

A story resonates more truly with us than marketing spiel and their meanings crawl under our skin and live more closely with us.

Stories are once again recognised as valuable, magical and timeless.

They are powerful in many forms.

Stories sell.

Stories sell ideas.

Stories sell products.

Stories sell services.

Stories sell you.

The story format is especially powerful for sharing information in a way that people can relate to and trust.

But finding the right story style can be a challenge.

If you don’t think you or your business has a story, here’s five ways to find a story style that uncovers your true worth and will motivate people to seek you out.

 1.      The owner’s story

Stories about second chances, self-made success, hardworking and hard-luck stories and of course, reinvention all speak very deeply to the psyche of people.

 2.     The product’s story

What need does your product meet? Not just physical needs, wants and desires, but what emotions does your product/service satisfy and feed?  Does it offer people security, good health, or a chance to succeed? What are the drivers that prompt your customer’s to buy?

 3.     The story of your business

Has your business overcome adversity, weathered bad times, battled unfair competition, handled a David-and-Goliath situation, or overcome succession or management crisis and come back stronger than ever? Comeback stories are what Hollywood takes to the bank.

 4.     Your customer’s stories

Go beyond mere kind words and testimonials. A case study proves that your story is true. They tell a story of the problem and how your company/product/service solved it. But not just in your average A, B, C story format. It’s a story about a hero (your company/product/service) slaying a real dragon (the problem) and the damsel in distress (your customer) is saved and her problems disappear.

 5.     The story of your mission

Are you or your company part of or on a mission in life? Do you have a cause? Your cause must go beyond your personal story, it must make a bigger impact and make a difference in the world around you to be suitable. But even the smallest business can have a mission that will make an impact. Think how you will make a difference.

In choosing just the right story style, then the connective power of story is manifested.

It can also differentiate you from competitors in a way that they can’t copy.

Once your find your own story, it should affect the way that you communicate about your business, the way you think about yourself, your products and your customers.

So what are you waiting for?

Start looking.

Take the pen

What storytelling secrets can you share?

What ones that have teased out that showed the best of your company, product or even your own personal story? What stories have you divulged that built a connection?

Tell us, in the comments.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

When was the last time you read something – say an ad in a magazine, a few pages of a website, a Facebook page or even a billboard and have been busting to go and do something about it?

Hardly ever, probably.

Most of you will glance at it, maybe read it and then . . . → Read More: Are you driven by needs or wants and desires?]]>

When was the last time you read something – say an ad in a magazine, a few pages of a website, a Facebook page or even a billboard and have been busting to go and do something about it?

Hardly ever, probably.

Most of you will glance at it, maybe read it and then (perhaps if the writer is really lucky) you’ll think “that’s nice,” or “that’s interesting.” And then you’ll forget about it.

Death by a thousand other thoughts.

Often we’re unreceptive to many marketing messages because they don’t directly appeal to our specific wants and desires.

I hope you just noticed that I didn’t say, it should appeal to peoples’ (prospects) needs?

It’s an important distinction to make, if you plan on being an ace copy or marketing writer. Especially one that creates sales and converts readers into buyers.

Needs are very different to wants. Wants outsell needs every time.

Needs can be boring. They’re about necessity, are utilitarian and the requirements we need to continue (or survive). That’s the reason it’s called of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Wants are exciting. They drive our desires, they make us salivate, crave and dribble (figuratively), and most often include the intangibles of a product – the way they make you feel – as well as the actual product.

Wants are all about our emotions, our sense of self and beliefs about our own status in the world.

Wants are related to what we think others think of us.

And if you really want something, you can’t get it out of your head. You crave it, long for it and dare I say that obsession makes you want to go and get it – no matter the size of the obstacles (if any) in your way.

Where does that lead your writing, and thinking?

Always appeal to the wants and desires of your audience or reader. Not their needs.

That way your copy will be a woven through their mind, and into their heart.

Logic doesn’t sell or persuade. Emotion does.

Take the pen

What do think?

Do your wants and desires drive your purchases – if you’re honest? What’s the guiltiest pleasure you’ve indulged?

Tell us, in the comments.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

The page.

The page and its blankness.

The page with its infinite possibilities.

The page that you cover with the coloured contents of your insides.

The page you fight to tame.

The page you destroy each time you try to master it.

That page that’s covered with threads, first woven together and then unravelling . . . → Read More: Who will teach me to write?]]>

The page.

The page and its blankness.

The page with its infinite possibilities.

The page that you cover with the coloured contents of your insides.

The page you fight to tame.

The page you destroy each time you try to master it.

That page that’s covered with threads, first woven together and then unravelling into nothing.

The page you can’t help but keep touching.

The page will teach you to write.

Take the pen

These thoughts meandered through my mind as I enjoyed my Saturday tea and toast.

What about you? Who or what has taught you to write? What methods do you use?

Tell us, in the comments.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

Image with thanks: anissat

You don’t need to know where you’re going, to start.

And all good writing starts with less than good first attempts.

That’s the way of writing.

You just need to start somewhere. And by getting something – almost anything – down on paper (or pixel) the hardest part is almost done. Otherwise fear sets . . . → Read More: The vomit first draft – with all its colourful content]]>

You don’t need to know where you’re going, to start.

And all good writing starts with less than good first attempts.

That’s the way of writing.

You just need to start somewhere. And by getting something – almost anything – down on paper (or pixel) the hardest part is almost done. Otherwise fear sets in, dread takes over and it never happens.

Writing is an ongoing process. Remember that there is no such thing as writing, just re-writing.

So. Just. Start.

But where? How?

It’s been called many things, but at its most basic it’s a draft.

I’ve suggested thinking of it as a prototype. Because a prototype isn’t written for the reader, it’s written for the writer.

Anne Lamott calls them the “Shitty first drafts,” in her bestselling novel Bird by Bird (non affiliate).

But of late, given my family’s more than colourful first-hand experience of the word, I’ve come closer to Marion Roach Smith’s phrase that her best friend introduced her to – the vomit draft.

In all its glory, for me the vomit draft best describes the guts and glory experience of writing. Well, actually starting.

There is something about the physicality of getting all that bad stuff out that helps you through the writing process, especially when it’s (the writing that is) isn’t flowing.

So instead of moaning about it, go ahead and chuck that first draft up onto the page.

If that one doesn’t work, throw up another.

Dump it and its colourful content everywhere, and as much as you want.

Somewhere in the mess will be some gems.

Find them and flush the rest away.

Now the cleaning up job begins.

Take the pen

This post was actually a vomit draft; for a different topic, and another site. Not related in any way. However, after several days of being sick and nursing sick kids, it was my way of ‘throwing things against the screen’ to get back into writing.

What about you? Have you ever used vomit drafts to get you started? Or what other methods do you use…and what’s their name?

Tell us, in the comments.

As always, if you enjoyed this post or found it helpful feel free to tweet, like and share it using the social media buttons below.

Or you can get the latest posts sent straight to your email inbox for FREE.

We promise never to share, trade, sell or market your email address in any way.

Subscribe now

IT’S THAT EASY

Flicking through my older posts on the site, I realised I’d covered some deep ground in the early days.

So I’ve decided to occasionally repost some hits from the past;  here’s the first from the vault for you to enjoy in its afterlife …

What’s exactly in a word?

Words . . . → Read More: From the Summerland: What’s in a word?]]>

Flicking through my older posts on the site, I realised I’d covered some deep ground in the early days.

So I’ve decided to occasionally repost some hits from the past;  here’s the first from the vault for you to enjoy in its afterlife …

What’s exactly in a word?

Words can carry powerful messages, weave spells, cast a shadow over your day or bring you joy. Whether it’s in our own thoughts, spoken or written, words have the power to transform the world we live in.

But how can something so simple – just made of letters really – be so powerful?

Even the sound of words can have an impact. Think of the sound of a mantra, repeated over and over; the cadence of a chant, with its omnipotent strength and depth; or the rhythm of a hymn, sung in exaltation and echoed around the chambers of a church.

Word interpretation and use

The use of words has become deeply entrenched in human culture. Apart from being used to communicate and share information they also have social and cultural uses, such as signifying group identity, social stratification and for social grooming and entertainment.

Let’s take the differing interpretations and uses over the ages of the power of words. For centuries many believed that those who could read, write and tell stories were of greater import. Literacy was kept to the very rich and powerful. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.

In the Christian gospels the words were passed on and then recorded as, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Only the priests, scribes and later the missionaries possessed the ability and power to write the message of God or speak directly with him.

The omnipotence of words

So what’s in words that make them so special?

Wikipedia sources say that, ‘word’ history can be entwined with philosophy:

“Philosophers have found words objects of fascination since at least the 5th century BC, with the foundation of the ‘philosophy of language’. Plato analysed words in terms of their origins and the sounds making them up, concluding that there was some connection between sound and meaning, though words change a great deal over time.”

I believe that words carry energy. That they have the power to transform. Given my tendency to believe in the power of story, metaphor and symbols, I can clearly see this to be a ‘more than possible’ explanation of what’s in a word.  However, this particular school of thought (which by the way has transmuted centuries across different belief systems), would be considered by some as fairly metaphysical in character.

The same belief put another way, is that words carry the energy to do work. Good work, even great work often. But also it can be bad work if the words are used thoughtlessly. So exactly what that work is, is open to interpretation…once again, of the word ‘work’  itself.

Word work

However, if you accept the premise that words can do work, then you should think before you speak and remember what you say. That’s because even in everyday life words have the power to create change, good and bad. What you are thinking, you are becoming.

There’s an Ancient Egyptian concept of Ma’Kheru, the Word of Truth. This concept tells that if your word in everyday life was the ‘Word of Truth’ -  meaning you could be relied on to keep your word and to avoid untruth – then your words would carry the force of truth, and what you say would come to pass. Taking that a step further, it means ‘say what you mean and mean what you say‘. Therefore, you should avoid malice and unkindness. And if that means saying nothing, then keep silent.

Fast forward several centuries to medieval times, this same concept was called ‘custody of the lips’. Then transport to another belief system, where in Buddhism it is one of the Five Precepts and falls under the category of Mindfulness.

Time changes all

Given this, are words then just the communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of signals? Or instead, using things such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbols, have they transformed themselves (as they have us) over time?

If that’s the case … then the energy to do work belief really may be true.

What do you think is in a word? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this post, you can use this link to subscribe to the feed to be delivered direct to your inbox FREE

Photo via stock.xchng user Egahen