Tag Archives: content marketing

Whether your company’s blogger is an insider or a freelancer, you two need to talk.

As much as can be communicated about a new post by email, nothing works as well as a live conversation for us bloggers.

Here are my top 3 reasons why you two should talk:

1. Your voice matters. When I speak with you about why a post is so important to you and your market, I can literally hear the passion and understand your viewpoint. Often, a client says something – a word, a phrase – that nails it.
2. We can zero in on the one point your blog post should make. Make no mistake, there should be only one key point. If I don’t know exactly where I should be going with a post about, say, direct mail, who knows if I’ll nail it?
3. It saves time. A 10-minute conversation with you about a post helps me organize my thoughts and ask targeted questions as we speak. Huge time saver, so you’ll probably get your post delivered sooner.

A good blogger will prepare herself with questions ahead of that conversation with a client and take notes during it.

Don’t risk publishing a blog that misses the boat. Have a quick chat with your blogger every time.

(c) 2016 Margie Dana

Sometimes I conduct phone interviews as part of a writing assignment. At other times, I take detailed notes (more like transcribing, actually) during a multi-day meeting, and then turn my notes into a newsletter.

In these situations, I’ve learned it’s best to draft my content right away – as in, within the next day or two.

Sound obvious? Well, I learned this lesson the hard way, by putting my notes aside after a phone interview and not starting to write the piece for a week or more.

Oh boy. Bad idea.

It’s a struggle to fully remember the actual conversation you had – even if you took copious notes. You might have typed every word. But once time goes by, you lose the freshness of the actual conversation.

Sure, you can still write your piece, but waiting too long will compound your effort. I’ve found that I forget the subtle nuances in a speaker’s tone or response if I let too much time elapse. The urgency, or basic “spark” of what was said, disappears.

It’s kind of like a light bulb going dim little by little. Best to capture the essence of phone conversations or presentations when they’re hot. Write your first draft right away. The quality of your content will be the better for it.

(c) 2016 Margie Dana

No one is immune from screwing up expressions from time to time – not even us writers. Sometimes these phrases make it into print (as it were). When I come across one, I wince in pain, or in the following case, laugh out loud.

In a recent news article about Curt Schilling getting fired from ESPN for a social media post, he was quoted as saying, “This latest brew ha ha is beyond hilarious.” I beg to differ. When I read it, it was hilarious. Of course he meant “brouhaha.”

Here are a few common phrases that people often get wrong:

Wrong: “For all intensive purposes.”

Right: “For all intents and purposes.”

Wrong: “It peaked my interest.”

Right: “It piqued my interest.”

Wrong: “One in the same.”

Right: “One and the same.”

Wrong: “At my beckon call.”

Right: “At my beck and call.”

Wrong: “I wait with baited breath.”

Right: “I wait with bated breath.”

Wrong: “He made us tow the line.”

Right: “He made us toe the line.”

So be careful when you write for publication. Check and re-check phrases if you’re the least bit unsure of the correct form.

(c) 2016 Margie Dana