While compiling (many) posts into a book is a common enough practice these days, how many people systematically plan out their blogging to optimize the construction and marketability of their book?

How many people craft different blog posts tackling the same subject from different angles and designed to appeal to different Temperaments?

How many people publish their nonfiction/business book in mind with a firm understanding of what they want the book to accomplish for them, what a book reasonably can accomplish, and…

...continue to read "Book Publishing 2.0 + A New York City Giveaway"

No less of a copywriting authority than Gary Bencivenga has declared credibility as THE most important factor in effective copywriting.  Why else would he call “Yeah, sure” the two most powerful words in advertising?

Once you’ve gained the reader’s interest through relevance, buyer confidence is everything – without it the sale is lost.  That’s why methods of substantiating claims and establishing credibility are frequent topics of mine.

And it’s also why Tom Wanek’s blog is a must read.

No where else will you find such a powerful, systematic…

...continue to read "A Blog Worth Following"

Wenda Harris Millard “Flat is the new up.” quoted at the recent EconWomen conference. She touches on some of the consumer trends this 2008 holiday season.

25 Web Form Optimization Tips – Covers most of the basics, a good reminder.

Usability of Toilet Paper – who could resist this analysis, especially as my friend David Dalka reminded me – P&G said at a search conference, no one would ever blog about toilet paper. Should it be bottom up or top down?

If you are so inclined…

...continue to read "TheGrok’s Not-To-Miss Links for the Week 10/31/08"

I knew I had to buy a copy as soon as I saw it on the magazine stand: the issue of Time Magazine with Presidential temperament as the front cover story.  They even had four presidential faces on the cover, which, before examining them, made me think of previous explanations of temperament using the Four Presidents on Mt Rushmore:

Dutiful George Washington for Sensing-Judging / Methodicals Philosophical Thomas Jefferson for iNtuitive-Thinking / Competitives Rambunctious Teddy Roosevelt for Sensing-Perceiving / Spontaneous Idealistic…

...continue to read "Presidential Candidates, Temperament & Website Copy?"

Argh.

Wired’s (and Valleywag) Paul Boutin writes a eulogy for Blogs. Link-bait? Probably, but he certainly raised the ire of several in the online community, myself included. Heck, he even got me to crawl out from the rock I was hiding these past few months and pen a few words of commentary, in defense of blogging (yes, I recognize the irony . I think Mathew Ingram wrote the best counter to Paul’s argument, so I’ll let you hop off and read his discourse…

...continue to read "Has Social Media killed blogging?"

Or so says Technorati as they released data from their 2008 State of the Blogosphere report.

Techcrunch sums it up:

Blogging is a volume game. The more you post, the more chances there are that someone else will link to one of your posts. (Technorati rank is based on the number of recent links to your blog). The majority of the Top 100 blogs tracked by Technorati post five or more times per day, and a full 43 percent post more than 10 times per…

...continue to read "The More You Post the Better You Rank"

FutureNow’s co-founder Bryan Eisenberg, has been busy reviewing websites, preparing for his upcoming webinar with Elastic Path and his presentation at NYU, and answering questions like these for CNNMoney.com, DuctTape Marketing and MarketingPilgrim.  Together with Tom Leung from Google, he has recorded two  “Always Be Testing” monthly webinars so far, the archived versions are now available. There are also a couple of more podcasts and interviews with others coming soon as well.

My favorite quote comes from his recent mention in the CNNMoney.com article,  where he…

...continue to read "Ask Bryan Eisenberg + Free Website Reviews"

FutureNow is thrilled to announce the launch of our “Around the Net” news portal, now available at News.GrokDotCom.

News.GrokDotCom.com shows your favorite marketing blogs in one spot. And as an added bonus, you can vote on posts that “add value” — or “skip it” if you’re not impressed — so we know which ones to feature as Best of the Day, Best of the Week, and Best of the Month.

At News.GrokDotCom, you can…

vote for the most valuable posts of the day, week, and…

...continue to read "GrokDotCom Launches New “Around the Net” Section"

Earlier today, Problogger’s Darren Rowse declared April 14th “Blogger Appreciation Day“.

Although I read Darren’s blog, I actually found out about it after receiving a link from his colleague, Chris Garrett, thanking me for commenting on his blog over the past year.

It’s no secret that Chris and Darren are smart guys. They knows how to get comments, trackbacks, RSS subscribers, ad revenue… all the stuff bloggers claim to want. In fact, they’ve even co-authored a new book, Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way…

...continue to read "Blogger Appreciation Day — A Few GrokDotCom Favorites"

In our “Ask the Experts” post, Dina asks how to find her voice — her copywriting voice, that is — for a blog:

“Copywriting for a lifestyle blog is a mystery. How can a blogger create compelling copy that resonates in the short opportunities available, i.e. tagline, front page, about page, social media profiles so that readers subscribe?

“Long copy strategies just don’t work on my baby boomer marriage blog. There’s not enough room to describe the content, show personality and be keyword-rich…

...continue to read "How to Find Your Website’s Voice (Even if it’s a Blog)"