If you’re looking for some great tips to improve your business writing, check out the following article, “The Ultimate Guide to Better Business Writing: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources.” It’s a comprehensive list of exceptional resources for business writers.

http://onlinedegreeprograms.org/blog/2009/the-ultimate-guide-to-better-business-writing-100-tips-tools-and-resources/

Congrats to our client Bea Fields, co author of Millennial Leaders and EDGE! A Leadership Story for her mention in Women Entrepreneurs:  The Next Wave of Leaders.  Bea is ferociously attacking the worlds of social networking and Gen Y and her dynamism is infectious.  She leads an online class called Become a Blogging Maniac if you’re interested in furthering your online skills. http://blog.becomeabloggingmaniac.com/about

I’m almost embarrassed to say that our company is thriving in this down economy. The last three months have been the best ever by more than 10%.  What’s the secret?  One word: TRUST.  In this environment people are looking to trade their hard earned dollars for an experience they trust.  In entertainment, ticket sales for movies are strong.  My wife and I were at the theatre last week and the house was packed. Why?  Because we trust the experience we’re paying for.  In business, this principle works the same way.  So how do you build trust amidst this chaos?
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This is an article I wrote last year.  Since the topic of “how to hire a writer” has been coming up frequently, I’m REPOSTING!

HOW TO HIRE A GHOST WRITER

When it comes to hiring a ghost writer, you need to be incredibly strategic about who you choose to pen your piece. Writers, like everyone, see the world from their own unique perspective, and their voice is going to come through loud and clear in your work. So how do you go about selecting the perfect ghost writer to string together the words that will attract your customers, speak your mind, communicate your knowledge, tighten a relationship, or spark a romance? Here is a list of 10 questions that should be asked and answered when interviewing ghost writer candidates.

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Last week, I had to write 14 blogs for five different clients, two articles for two different clients, and prepare outlines for two ebooks on completely different subjects (nutrition and marketing). At the end of it all, I realized that I had amassed a bundle of new-found knowledge. Thanks to the clients who trust me to pen their works — from a short blog to a full-length book — I must do extensive research into an endless wealth of subject areas. From potty training and foot care to  the wonders of bamboo fibers, the newest trends in sustainable design, and securing foreign investors, I have become a more knowledgeable, enlightened individual — and the newly crowned queen of Trivial Pursuit! I love my work and the people who make it so darn entertaining: my co-workers and clients. To all of you, thanks for giving me the gift of learning!

Yes, Yes and Yes.  The real answer to this question though lies not in just sending out releases.  What most press releases lack is a good emotional hook…a reason for a journalist to want to call for more information and to run a story.  They receive hundreds of releases every day. The key is tapping into what is timely in the news cycle.  If the economy is in turmoil and that is all that news stations and print media are reporting on, your environmental press release about going green is going to get passed right by. However, if you angle it to how people can save money by going green…AH-HA! PR is all about the angle, and it’s all about repetition.  If the media has never heard of you before, they are going to assume you will disappear as quickly as you showed your face.  So demonstrate longevity through repetition. Consistently sending out new releases that impress the media gives them an opportunity to get to know you…to get to like you…to eventually buy into your story.

So the simple answer to whether or not you should be sending out releases is “yes”.  The more important answer though is related to what they say and how often are you sending them.

In this day and age where everyone is making quick decisions based on what they find on the internet, how you communicate with your potential customer has tremendous relevancy to your bottom line. How many websites have you visited that failed to capture you immediately, and so you moved on? How many were full of errors that turned you off and possibly even offended you? How many were simply so verbose that you took one look and bolted off the site?

So here are three ways to increase business with your writing:

1. Crystallize your current message. The goal is to use as few words as possible to motivate someone to action. Being overly verbose is detrimental to your business, like the guy at the party who won’t stop talking well beyond everyone around him getting the point. You need to speak to your reader’s hearts, to their minds, and to their spirits, all in one or two sentences. If you’re not doing that, you’re losing potential business.

2. Be Bold. Your writing is an opportunity to communicate your core values and your beliefs as a business; an opportunity to turn off those who would otherwise waste your time, and an opportunity to light a fire under those who see life from a similar perspective. So be bold. Be authentic. Lay it on the table and you’ll find that you’ll attract more business that is aligned with you!

3. Increase your frequency of communication. If you do not have a blog, you are failing to capitalize on one of the greatest marketing revolutions of our time. The more frequently you give away exceptional and free information, the more you become a trusted expert in the minds of those who read you. When we have a legitimate problem, where do we look first for an answer? To whom we trust. When we have money we want to trade for experience or a product that will impact our life, where do we want to go first? To whom we trust. This passive sales approach can bring in tremendous business, and most importantly, business that has been vetted through the building of a relationship between the potential customer and your blog (which they see as YOU!). One blog written daily can create relationships with hundreds and thousands of potential buyers who are comfortable with you because they feel like they know you and what you stand for. That’s powerful!

The more intentional we are about honoring how people search for information, and the more we articulate what we offer, the better we position ourselves as the solution to a potential buyer’s problem. Become a trusted provider of solutions, and you’ll have prospects lined up out the door, and across the internet!