Write what? Of course, that’s the tricky part, and why I have something to do all day. But if you have the time and interest in writing it yourself, there is no better voice than your own when communicating information about your small business.

Here are some tips as you begin:

What should I blog about?
Create a running list of topics and keep it somewhere so you can quickly jot down ideas as they arrive in your head. Pat Howlett did a fantastic job of explaining how to use your SEO keywords to come up with topic ideas. A few other thoughts:
What are you clients/customers asking about most?
If you were one of your clients/customers, what would you want to know?
Is there something going on in the news related to your business that you can discuss?

How do I write?
Write in your own voice. Write the way you speak. Always write for your customer first, the search engines second. That means writing a post the way you want to, and then going back and tweaking the wording and headline to include your keywords.

How often should I blog?
Be consistent, but don’t worry if you aren’t perfect. You don’t have to blog each day. Ideally, you want to post at least once per month. Twice is better. If you can do once each week, that’s great, but it’s not always easy to produce 52 posts a year, so start simple and take it from there.

How long?
About 300-400 words. You don’t want to bore people to death by droning on and on. You can go longer if you’re explaining something complicated. Be sure to use subheads and/or bold words here and there to break up text and make it easier to read.

A Quick Note about Terminology
I frequently hear this: “I’m going to write a blog about that.”

Actually, you’re not. Blog is to newspaper the way blog post is to newspaper article. So when you’re off to write your masterpiece, you’re not “going to write a blog.” You’re going to write a blog post or blog entry. However, the verb is  “blog” or “blogging.”

Having your terminology straight will help with credibility.

What questions do you have about blogging for your business?

As I edited a news story the other day, I realized I was changing a “said Smith” to a “Smith said” at the end of a quote. I do this completely out of habit, and I know the reason for it.

Still,  Sure, it bugs me to read the passive form of attribution, but …

But nothing. Just for the sake of it, I referred to “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. This timeless reference book offers a simple explanation of proper writing rules and is a great addition to any library.

Rule No. 14: Use the active voice.

Or, as we were taught in J-school, write your sentences in this order: subject, verb, object.

A lot of people think this means your writing is going to be boring. Not so. Constructing many of your sentences in this format provides your the reader an easy path, enabling him or her to stroll through your blog posts and newsletters as though they were a flat, shady path in the country.

Why force them to stumble and trip on the $5 word you just learned, or leave them confused about a sentence’s subject? As my J-school professors always said, the easiest thing in the world to do is to stop reading.

This doesn’t mean every sentence must be subject-verb-object. Toss in a few sentences that begin with a phrase to keep it lively.

The trick is to make the words blend into the background. After all, you want your readers to leave with the message, not the words.

She said.

In honor of the topic, I decided to skip the blog post this week and record a podcast. So check it out:

I soon realized he wasn’t organizing; he was editing.

Organizing is about making decisions. Some people make them quickly, while for others, each decision requires time and consideration. Editing and writing, are very similar. You must decide what words to keep and what to toss. Some thoughts can be stashed in a box and labeled for later use, but how do you decide?

Photo by Jixar/Flickr Creative Commons.

Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult for some people to write. Writing is like navigating a dark basement, packed full of dusty ideas. It’s scary down there. You might run into bugs, cobwebs of old thoughts barely strung together. You might even trip and fall on words such as “there” and “their.”

So here are the steps to organizing your way toward a decent blog post or newsletter article for your clients and customers:

1. Assess. In organizing, we start with a tour of the entire house or office, even if the client wants to work only on one room or area. We need to get the big picture before we can begin our work. That way, when we find a shoe in the kitchen, we know we it might belong. Before writing, take stock of what content you have already. Have you constantly talked about Product A, but never discussed Product B? Is all your content in one place, easily accessible? Maybe you’ve got URLs all over the place with content and ideas spread across the Internet. You might need to employ spreadsheet to sort through it all and figure out what you’ve got already.

2. Focus. Too many ideas can cause overwhelm, just as some organizing clients are overwhelmed by all the stuff in their closets. Eek! How do you know where to begin? In organizing, you can use a cardboard tube. Look through it as though it was a spyglass and settle on one particular area. In writing, your spyglass will come in the form of questions: What’s bothering you right now? What ideas keep surfacing lately when speaking to clients? What’s the most important or most useful thing your clients should know or want to know? Now that you know what you’ve got (see Step 1), what topics are missing that you could mention to include all of your customers and clients?

2. Prepare. When organizing a space, I set up a trash can, a bag for recycling, a bag for donations and possibly, a bag for items to be shredded. I also set up a bin for items that belong in another room. Each bin or bag is labeled so we can’t forget what we’re doing. I have a toolbox with labels, markers, sticky notes, tools and anything else we might need. Everything is laid out and ready to go so that once we begin sorting, we don’t have to leave the room.

The same is true for writing. What tools do you need? (Usually a computer if you’re typing.) But maybe you also need some water or a caffeinated beverage. Maybe you need to eat first so your brain is ready to fire away. Keep any notes you are using close by, along with any reference materials. Do you plan to include photos with this blog post or newsletter article? (The answer should be “yes.”) If so, where are they saved? Turn off your phone; make sure you’ve set aside time to tackle this writing. Ignore email and darken the second monitor where Twitter temptations constantly flit in.

3. Write. In organizing, we start with just one item. I pick it up and we begin making decisions. In writing, you’ll just have to start with a single word. But write that word, and the one after that and finish a sentence. Keep going. Don’t go back and self-edit right away.  As Nike used to say, “Just do it.”

4. Edit. In organizing, once we’ve purged items, we go back and sort them into specific areas of the space. Plates in this cupboard, glasses in that one. Holiday decorations in this corner of the basement, exercise equipment in that corner. Once you’ve wrapped up your thoughts, go back and self-edit. Does it all flow well? Is everything sorted into complete thoughts that make sense? What tweaks need to be made to make it flow better?

5. Use it. Whether it’s your basement or your newsletter, call it done and put it out there.

6. Adjust. Finally, if something isn’t working (no comments on the post or can’t find that box in the basement?), then try another approach.

I was looking through my Twitter stream and every single tweet was a link about an article or post. More of that on Facebook. Blah. More and more people are content consumers and curators these days. What happened to all the content creators?

Not that there is anything wrong with those who consume and curate. But so many of us want to be seen and heard that we’re willing to just spit out a quick few words and a link instead of actually producing an interesting 140 characters for someone to read. Maybe it’s just my Twitter stream in need of the spring cleaning I mentioned recently, but it feels like a case of the blahs.

That happens. Sometimes you don’t have the words, the ideas. Sometimes there isn’t much to say. In that case, I don’t see anything wrong with stepping back and keeping your mouth (and keyboard) shut.

Silence is golden. At least compared to a bunch of mindless chatter.

And when you’re ready to speak again, your words will be that much more powerful.

For some of us, this inspires thoughts of spring cleaning or organizing. Time to get out there in the shed or garage and clean and reorganize. Maybe you’re doing some yard work or you’re inspired to sort through the basement.

But what about your business social media accounts?

I recently met with one of my clients for this purpose. I’ve been writing content for her social media and managing it for a couple of years now. Over time, her needs and wants in those areas have changed. It was time to do some cleaning.

Image by ivanpw.

Although I could wax poetic for several paragraphs on why you should do this, I won’t. Bottom line: It’s good to reassess who you follow, why you follow them, what you’re getting out of it, how many you follow, etc. Does all that align with your goals as a company or business? If not, time to clean.

So here’s how:

1.  Set aside some time to do this right. Alternatively, you can schedule 10 minutes a day for as long as it takes. Depending on your schedule or attention span, one method might work better than another.
2. Look through the list of people you follow on Twitter and Facebook. Ask yourself:
   • Why do I follow this person?
   • Can I remember a single thing this person has said?
   • Am I getting value from this person? Or is it a friend/mentor/colleague I want to follow?
   • If I want to follow this person, how can I be helpful to him/her?
   • Does this follow align with my goals? (I know; this sounds so serious, but let’s face it – if you’re on there only for business, this is a question to consider.)
   • Is this person a former client or customer? Or a potential?
3. Delete if:
   • You never interact with that person
   • AND you can’t ever remember their statements or have never responded, retweeted or “liked” anything they’ve said
   • OR you remember something they said and don’t want to see their status updates about lunch or his/her daily headaches.
4. Once you’ve purged a bit, consider sorting people into categories. For the big two (Twitter and Facebook) you have a few options.
   • Use Twitter lists to offer a benefit to other people. Are there groups of people you follow that all fit into a category? Would other people benefit from that list?
   • You can also use Twitter lists to keep track of people without having them in your Twitter stream. You can add people to the list and yet not follow them. It’s a great way to cluster certain types so you can check in once in awhile.
   • You might try creating Facebook groups to help organize your friends or fans. This depends greatly on your business situation, how much you interact with customers/clients, whether your page is a regular page or a fan page, etc. But again, it helps sort people by category so you can check in as needed.
5. Add a few more. If you cleared your peeps as if they were a Brazilian rainforest, then you might want to add in a few more people. Mix it up. Follow Oprah or that movie star. But then add in a few serious candidates, who have great tips/advice or fun things to say that relate to running your business, serve a target audience or offer some brilliant advice on writing. (Ahem.)
6. Maintain. As you read status updates and tweets from the new ones, consider whether they are working out. Feel free to delete and find someone else. (It’s a harsh world.)

Note: I do not consider myself a social media guru, expert, ninja, monkey or rockstar. These tips are based on my experience both as a social media account manager and a professional organizer.

What social media organizing tips do you have to share?

The always wise Frasier suggested to friends and family that they take a leap on this extra day of the year, gathering their courage to try something new or something they’d been wanting to do for awhile. Everyone agreed it sounded like a great idea, and off they went.

It didn’t go well. Everyone’s leaps didn’t net the wanted results and they returned home, upset with Frasier for his suggestion.

No, this isn’t just another cheesy “leap year” blog post, suggesting you go out and try something crazy or new, or even take any special action today. After all, it really is just another day of the year.

But lately I’ve been pondering some recent opportunities. I feel reluctant to take them and I wonder: Is it because I don’t want them or because I am scared? This has me thinking about my goals in my life and business. Is fear holding me back? Fear of success? Fear of failure?

Taking a leap. That's me, left, and my fiancee, right. Photo by Leo Suarez.

Or worst of all: lack of faith in myself?

I could cite a bunch of stories from believers. Edison, who believed in his idea so much that he attempted to create the light bulb thousands of times before it actually worked. NASA, who spent a lot of money and lives trying to reach the moon before we finally did.

No one ever tells the story of some random writer in Raleigh who lost faith in herself, didn’t push toward her goals and lived a quiet life.

Having faith in yourself is tough. Because the story at the end – the success and happiness part – doesn’t always encapsulate all the hard work and bad days that went into it.

We can all listen to the “if you believe in yourself, you can do anything” people. But that’s different than actually believing, day in and day out, that you are smart and capable.

So on this Leap Day, I’m not going to try a crazy haircut or boldly parachute out of an airplane.

Instead, I’m going to try to have a little faith in myself. It should last longer than a haircut.

And really, that’s the biggest leap of all.

Some days, it hurts. Some days it feels great. All days, I’m noticing a difference.

by Horia_Varlen

Now, what the heck does this have to do with writing? Well, I recently found out from an NC State journalism student that her professor assigned the class a writing exercise. He told them to describe a toothpick. Not just any toothpick, but the one he handed out in class that day.

While the assignment sounds difficult, I applauded the idea. Toothpicks aren’t very interesting objects. To describe one in more than one sentence, you have to think deeply about words. The exercise forces you to pause and think about words, how they can describe and object, and what you are trying to say. In other words, it’s a way to work your writing muscle.

Your turn. Instead of a toothpick, choose an object in your office. Aim to write two entire old-school paragraphs (five or six sentences each) about the object.

Then for some heavier lifting describe one of your company’s products or services. Ponder each word. What are you really trying to say about that product or service? Why is it awesome? Why do your clients or customers care?

Save that draft, because that copy could wind up on your website or in your next newsletter.

On this St. Valentine’s Day, that feeling you have about your blog post or monthly newsletter might feel more like loathe than love. Your relationship with writing isn’t any different than any other: sometimes it takes work and sometimes “you’ve got the love.” (Florence + The Machine.)

In the spirit of the day, let’s see if we can find the latter. Here are some ideas to add love to your writing.

Love a word.
Don’t you just love the sound of the word bulbous? OK, maybe not. That one always makes me laugh. Listen to people speak and write down words that make you smile, giggle, tickle you or produce images in your head. Subscribe to an email “word of the day” and keep a list of words you like. Next time you’ve got writer’s block, grab one of your words and think about how to incorporate that into your entry.

Photo by *_Abhi_*/Flickr Creative Commons.

Love an item.
Uh, don’t take that the wrong TLC network special show kinda way. What I mean is, what is your favorite product or service that your company offers? Why do you love it? What lovely reviews have you received that you can incorporate into the writing?

Love the format.
Of course “all form and no content” is a bad thing. But some days, that writing love just isn’t there. Next time that happens, leave the keyboard and grab the camera. Take 10 relevant photos of your business, service, product or whatever. Create and post a slideshow instead of writing a blog entry. Feeling chatty? Record some video of you and another employee talking about an issue your clients or customers face?
If you’re not into other media forms, think instead about the formatting of your written words. Spend some time examining the layout of your blog or e-newsletter. Are you using subheads, bullet points, photos, graphics? All of these can help spice up a post that’s feeling a little flat.

Love your customer/client.
The best words are those written with the client in mind. Focus on one of those clients/customers and write him or her a letter. What do you want to say to your best client? Your worst? Turn that letter into a unique post or even better, use  that instead of an article in your next e-newsletter.

Last year, some cockroaches decided to move into my kitchen. It sounds like a confession, “Uh, is this thing on? Oh. Hh-Hi. My name is Jennifer, and I um, well, I have cockroaches.”

I promise I keep my kitchen clean. But somehow these bugs were undeterred by the swept floor and counters gleaming with 409. They moved in, set up shop and refuse to leave. I have encouraged these roommates to move out many times, but I’ll skip the details in case you’re a member of the Cucaracha Fan Club.

Still my battle against the bugs is teaching me a thing or two about content creation. And of course, a good blog post idea outweighs embarrassment every time. So learn from my kitchen:

1. Persevere. Those cockroaches don’t give up. They don’t die. When you squish one, there’s always another. They can withstand nuclear blasts and apparently, professional bug killer spray. Creating creative content is tough. Your blog post receives no comments. No one notices your video on YouTube. Something goes wrong, and you feel as though you’ve been hit with a cool blast of nasty chemicals.  But if cockroaches can keep going, so can you.

2. Offer good food. As much as I hate it, the cockroaches would not have moved in if they hadn’t found a food source. How can you offer a buffet of yummy content to bring your customers and clients to you? A strong smorgasbord features content in a variety of forms from the appetizers (tweets) to the light meals (video) to the Porterhouse (white paper or e-book). But don’t worry too much about variety if you’re just getting started. Unlike cockroaches, humans have picky taste buds. Think quality, not quantity.

3. Evolve. According to some quick research, scientists don’t actually like to say that cockroaches are the most highly evolved species. Humans have evolved, too, just like every other species. We’ve all evolved differently.

This has two lessons: A) If your approach isn’t working or has stopped working, what can you do to evolve? Have you tried a different type of media (audio/video)?  Maybe the food has gone bad (see No. 2) and it’s time to prepare some better meals. B) Those who refuse to evolve are always left behind. Don’t be a Neanderthal.

Photo by Kodomut/Flickr Creative Commons.

4. Pick up the crumbs. After cooking or preparing food, I often find several crumbs and bits here and there. When you are writing blog posts each day, what are you leaving behind for others to use? Content that could be reused on Twitter? Ideas for future projects? What scribbles are left on your pad of paper? What quick ideas parachute into your brain and then quickly leave? Find a way to capture those on Evernote or your notebook or whatever works for you. Bonus: This can be used in reverse. When reading other people’s content, what crumbs can you pick up and turn into a meal?

5. Keep it clean. Leaving dirty dishes on the stove or in the sink is just asking for the bugs to come crawling out. Obviously you’re keeping your content clean in the “rated PG” sense. (At least, I hope so.) I’m referring to the process. You might quickly dash off a “dirty” blog post or quick Tweet without too much thought. But a clean, thought-out approach to your editorial calendar and content will move you forward much faster. What topics have you covered this year? What topics have you left uncovered that include your keywords? What topics are your customers asking about? All these should be part of your master plan.

Sure, these are all great lessons. But the lesson I want most is the one on how to eradicate cockroaches from my kitchen. So please, share your thoughts.