You’ve heard of a ghost writer, right? Same principle. A ghost blogger works with professionals – from corporate CEOs to power-of-the-pitch salespeople to over-extended entrepreneurs – who recognize the value of a blog but don’t have the time or the desire to commit to churning one out with the regularity required to ensure effectiveness. The ghost blogger helps brainstorm, distill and deliver key messages with clarity, personality and style.

We all work from pretty much the same core template, but here’s how I do it:

Step 1: MAKE A PLAN. Sit down with the client and kick around a list of potential blogging ideas, buzz topics, themes – complete with keywords and core concepts. Make a list – including topics that may require more than a single two paragraph blog to cover. Consider news and current event tie-ins to enhance the buzz and increase reader resonance.

Step 2: MAKE IT WORK. Create a sample blog entry which the professional approves — and the ghost blogger subsequently publishes.

Step 3: KEEP IT REAL. Meet briefly each month – in person or on the phone – to brainstorm new topics and maintain process momentum, publishing blog entries on a daily, weekly or biweekly basis. Whatever your budget allows — for anywhere from 3 months to 6 months to a year or longer.

From that point, the rest is all about building more opportunities – articles, vlogs, videos, seminars, e-books and books – from the valuable information created and consumer tested via your blog.

Sound like a solution for your blog commitment – and business connection –issues? I thought so.

Give me a call. Blogging – ghost blogging — is my business.

Til next time.

Something we all need to realize about blogging. Each and every blog you post is a premier – and I mean first class, a-#1, slam dunk, top-of-the-charts — viral marketing opportunity. Once it’s up it can go not only to your website, but to millions of others – as well as to blog directories, to online media outlets, to online and print newsletters, to your Twitter page and Facebook page and Linked-in page and page upon page upon page everywhere else on the web…and more.

Search engines love blogs – because they are fresh information. Readers – from the casual kind to devoted followers – appreciate the human side of the story that blogs present…and they actively seek that blog that provides what they need (and what we all need) in this world. Touch – even when (especially when) actual one on one, face to face connection is impossible.

And blogs are easy. Easier. Enter your username and password, write your entry, click the mouse once or twice and Bob’s Your Uncle (old expression – means essentially, “That’s that.”). It’s out there.

Can’t do that with print. Can’t even do that with your website (unless you’re a serious tekkie). But you can do it with a blog. Fast info, quick hit, all good.

Bottom Line: There’s absolutely no argument against the potential of blogging for generating a mass following for your business or brand or viewpoint or product or service.

So why isn’t EVERYONE – from authors to attorneys, consultants to coaches, doctors to dentists, love gurus to limousine drivers (and anyone else in search of new delivery solutions for their message) – blogging? What’s stopping them?

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“The best thing for being sad is to learn something.  That is the only thing that never fails.  You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds.  There is only one thing for it then – to learn.  Learn why the world wags and what wags it.  That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”

Thought this was worth re-posting, because it’s been my salvation of late. It’s easy to be sad these days…real easy. Pick up a newspaper. Listen to five minutes (or less) of televised news. Consider our endangered environment. Just ask someone (anyone) how they’re doing today. It ain’t all roses and chuckles out there.

No shortage of advice on what to do about it either. But there are some simple ways to battle the malaise. See above.

Accompanying the learning of something? Exploration. Discovery. Challenge. Growth. Involvement. Pick one or all of these options and you’re snapping out of it already. Suggestions? Of course, I do.

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Rain. At last.

Hey, I live in L.A. It’s been awhile.  I actually missed the rain. Just like I miss Bay Area fog (OK…acquired taste, I admit). And although I am actually working this afternoon — putting  the finishing touches on an eclectic grouping of e-blasts and flyers and web pages, I’m also dreaming and dazing and gazing out at the veritable deluge that has already transformed my neighborhood and is probably causing a spate of traffic snarls and slow downs and commuter headaches as I speak/write. I’m loving it. Enough of the oppressive heat and the dead grass and the fires. Make way for the three-dog nights and the leaks in the roof and the mudslides…Yippee! OK. Over the top. No mudslides, please.

But I ramble on.  Thinking about how much I preferred the writing of my novel to the promotion of it. Not to say that the press releases and the pitch letters and the author’s notes and the twitters and the hype don’t have their own particular charm for a seasoned flinger of words such as myself, but I’m missing the rush that accompanies a finished page of fiction.  Time to start the next book. This one’s going to be about ghosts, I think, and home, and absent friends. [Read more...]

What’s the “message” of Mr. Coleman?  I get asked that a lot these days…and I should be really good at answering profoundly by now, but, well, not so much. I didn’t really have an agenda or a cause or a message to put forth when I started with Coleman.

I just wanted to tell a great story. And I had the fortune of starting with a great story – man rescues chimpanzee, gains the trust of and raises said chimpanzee, learns some basic truths about life (but not too many) and ends up prizing their unusual friendship for the rest of his life. That’s what Coleman is about…friendship. That’s the message. That’s the “deep underlying meaning.” Friendship can be and often is the most important thing in anyone’s life. This one even more so, because it is so different –and so thoroughly unique – right out of the gate.

The best stories are about friendship, the bond that grows with adversity and challenge and shared experience and…effort. We all have that one true friend – or certainly at the very least long for that one true friend – that “gets” us. That puts up with far more than average acquaintances ever would because they “get” us. We make an effort to forgive their foibles, their lapses, their human-ness, if you will. And they ours.

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Wow. Talk about a rush. Trying to get accustomed to associating the word “author” or words “published author” with my name…as opposed to all those authors I’ve been reading for decades (many decades, actually, but let’s not go there). I’m now including the title after my name in all correspondences. I’m printing “author” t-shirts. And I’m instructing all friends, family, associates, clients, casual acquaintances, perfect strangers to address me as “The Author” — all in the interest of establishing current accurate life status.

Ain’t it grand?

A dream come true. No lie. I recommend it to everyone. And just in case your still shaking your head, I was just kidding about the title and the tees and the instructions. Not to say that they’re all bad ideas…just a bit premature, perhaps. I should probably wait until my second book gets published before I take such steps. Ya think?

I know. I know. But seriously folks, this new development does require some getting used to. Now I have to find another ultimate, all-encompassing, wet-my-pants-with-glee achievement to shoot for. Won’t be difficult. Next stop…COLEMAN, THE MOVIE.

YES, IT’S TRUE. I wrote a book…a story book…a work of fiction.

At last. Finally. Amen.

Rest assured, I’ll be doing more talking about it, the changes it has brought, and my adventures as an author in the months to come. For now, I wanted to address the question I hear most often upon announcing Mr. Coleman’s debut: “What’s it about?”

Here’s a sneak peek at the back cover overview — written by my editor at Being Point Press, Mr. Keith Ferrell:

When Mr. Coleman enters his life, Tim cannot begin to imagine the ways in which the chimpanzee’s presence will affect him, his relationships to friends and loved ones, and above all to himself and to his very sense of what it means to be human…

[Read more...]

Millions of users are turning daily to the web when they need a specialized service. As I’ve said before, if you’re not there when they are, you’re simply not a service option. All service-oriented businesses — including attorneys, doctors, financial consultants, entertainers, realtors and, of course, content providers — should let potential clients know that they have a choice (and that you are their best choice).

For a small business, a well-designed web site is a great way of instilling confidence and presenting you as a professional, and if you so desire, making you look bigger than you actually are. Selling in cyberspace is much cheaper. It’s a good way to supplement your offline business. Providing secure online ordering is very affordable. And a web site does so much more than any 3-fold brochure will do.

WHY YOU NEED A WEBSITE REASON #3:
BECAUSE it can make you famous

Your web site or web page can be the vehicle that gets you noticed, gets your story to the world, gets the word out that you are different – and  better — than those other so-called professionals who claim to be the best in YOUR field. Anybody anywhere who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web site…and a potential client.
And then there’s THE MEDIA. You won’t get Newsweek magazine to write up your local store opening, but you might get them to write up your web page address…if it is something new and interesting. You also might get local publications, e.g.  805, to bite on a “local kid makes good” story or a mention in a “Best of…”- type article that will plug your business/brand into the awareness grid of a multitude of readers.

Every kind of business needs the exposure that the media can bring.

Consider this: the Media’s main product is information.  They can get it more quickly, more cheaply and more easily on-line. Digital images can be acquired (cut) and inserted (pasted) in place with a few keystrokes. Digital text can be edited and output on tight deadlines. Your web page can provide all this.

Lastly (for now)…having a web address allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files to your company’s info to serve, instruct, inform (and amaze) your potential customers. No brochure will do that.

Think on these things, my friends.

Incoming metaphor! Your website home page – or single web “id” page or blog page — is the front door to your business. Casual viewers, service seekers, potential partners can open that door to you…and discover the essence of your service, your operational philosophy, your Unique Selling Proposition.

Yeah. I know. “Salespeak.” But that is, after all, what we’re talking about.

We sell ourselves every day…whether we intend to or like to or even want to. Part of the deal…the rules of survival…even for us “creatives.” Especially for us creatives, actually, because most times we have to work harder at it in order to get results.

Know what I mean? I know that you do. Open the door.

WHY YOU NEED A WEBSITE REASON #2:
BECAUSE it can connect you.

Business is connection. From connection comes trust. From trust comes EVERYTHING.
Handing out your business card is a proven essential element of generating new business…and having a website is like passing out your business card every hour of the day, every day of the week, to thousands (maybe millions) of potential clients and partners. It says “This is what I do and here’s how it can benefit you and this is how you can reach me” – and it says it all the time.

In addition, as a change-up alternative (or reinforcement, if you will) to attending mixers and dinners and speed networking and lunches and “pass the mike” breakfasts, you can opt to gather information about your customers and prospect for potential customers by using online forms and surveys. This is not to downplay the value of active networking. But occasionally letting the leads come to you can be a welcome break from doing the “ shake hands and pitch” circuit.

Just a thought. More later.

Americans are spending more time online. In fact, studies show that roughly 80% of us now spend as much time online as we do watching television. Pretty compelling statistic…tells you a lot about our culture, our communication, and our commerce.

Most importantly, it gives us — entrepreneurs, craftsmen, business professionals — a very clear picture of where our audience is and how to reach them.

The “them” is  27 million (and growing). And they’re not just computer nerds or techies or trekkies anymore…they are your customers.

Get a website. Get online. Get a life.

If you still need convincing, here’s another reason why you should Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest group will be able to find you, or your competitors.

WHY-YOU-NEED-A-WEBSITE REASON #1:
BECAUSE your potential customers already expect you to have one.

In order to succeed in today’s world, you MUST have an internet presence. There are billions of internet users – a few million of which live in the U.S. – with more and more logging on every day. It is truer now than ever before: If you don’t have a website, you don’t exist. Chances are, if a potential customer can’t find your website, they won’t find you. But they just might find your competition.

A website can create a powerful first impression. Consider it your new storefront. The front door to your business. And consider this: it is always OPEN, always working for you. That’s 24-hour service without requiring you to put in a 24-hour day.

I know…you’ve tried.

There is no more nine-to-five. We’re all on different schedules, driven by different priorities, shaped by different obligations. Availability and accessibility can make all the difference– the critical difference between being seen and being left behind. And that alone makes having a website vitally important to any business, organization or individual.

More to come…