Auto blogging is a term used to describe an automated blog. Auto blogs are really convenient because they do not require much maintenance, all you have to do is set them up and that’s it – you’re done.
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Tag Archives: Blogging
The Alfred Hitchcock Secret to Compelling Content and Copy
The McGuffin has been a powerful storytelling device for a long time. It was Alfred Hitchcock who popularized both its use and the name that sounds like it should be on a dollar menu.
The McGuffin has a cool job: to keep the plot, character, or situation rolling along. It draws us into the story and drives the action. The McGuffin is often an object of high value, which everyone covets. It can be ambiguous, entirely undefined, generic, or left open to interpretation.
Remember the suitcase in “Pulp Fiction?” Classic McGuffin. Though it showed up a few times throughout the film, and was important enough to get a handful of people peppered with bullets, we never actually saw what was in the suitcase.
And consider “The Maltese Falcon,” one of the most famous McGuffins of all time. Though the falcon in question drives the entire story and moves us from scene to scene, we never actually see it at all.
That is what’s cool about the McGuffin. Its purpose is served so long as it moves the story along. In many stories, by the time we should be demanding to know what the McGuffin actually is, we have forgotten about it entirely. That’s because we’ve been deftly redirected to the author’s true purpose.
If the author executes the McGuffin well, you’ll barely notice the technique. And that’s how it should be.
How the McGuffin can make you money
Writing online to build your business means you are directing the story. Whether you want people to download your product, subscribe to your newsletter, or hire you for $250 an hour, you must drive them to that decision.
The McGuffin is the wind that will sail a prospect’s ship into your harbor. Your offer is the anchor.
There’s a good chance you’re already using the McGuffin without even realizing it.
While talking about your highly productive methods for moving mountains and getting things done, aren’t you really laying the stage for your new How to Move Mountains and Get Things Done! info product?
When you’re telling interesting stories about your life as a freelancer, aren’t you really showing how terrific an experience your customers are having?
(If not, you might want to think about changing that.)
The engaging stories about your topic are the McGuffin — the interesting, attention-focusing “grabber” that pulls your readers in.
But where they go once they’re there is up to you.
Handle with care
Many poorly written novels and films show the McGuffin can be horribly mishandled. If you misuse the McGuffin, you will leave your prospect feeling unsatisfied at best and betrayed at worst.
Don’t promise the beach and then drive to the desert just because there’s sand. It’s fine to shift gears after you’ve brought a reader in with your fascinating McGuffin. But the place you’re bringing your readers still needs to make sense, and to deliver an experience she wants.
If you surprise your prospect with a smile, you will likely keep her coming back for more. Startle her with disappointment and she will leave and never come back.
At its best, the McGuffin is a pleasure and can help the audience to enjoy the ride. I don’t hold it against Tarantino for never showing me what’s in the suitcase, any more than I’d hold it against Brian for letting me know about Thesis after I came here for some advice on my headlines.
I love “Pulp Fiction” more with every viewing, and my affection for Thesis deepens with every site my business builds.
I don’t mind the change in direction, because I’ve been led somewhere I want to go.
This story about the McGuffin is, of course, a McGuffin itself. My real intent? To show an interesting technique that both helps other writers and, of course, gathers more copywriting clients for my own business.
How about you? What curiosity-provoking, desire-inducing McGuffin could you be writing about on your blog that would drive your readers to take action? And once they’ve shown up, where will your copy take them next?
About the Author: Sean Platt writes direct response copy, as well as helping authors write, publish and promote their book. Follow him on Twitter.
How to Quit Hitting the Snooze Button on Your Blog
Conversation in social media is supposed to be “open source,” right?
We’re supposed to gain energy and excitement from being open to the entire internet, to ideas that come to us from literally every corner of the globe.
But too often “social media” turns into a predictably closed circuit of the same people having the same conversation.
Finding your own tribe can be a wonderful thing. It can also make your blog unbearably boring.
The move from “wonderful” to “boring” happens when we fall into a pattern of always interacting with the same people, always talking about the same topics, and always reinforcing existing networks. There’s no growth, only stagnation.
I’ve seen this happen often with myself. I think that I’m growing and cultivating, but all I’m doing is reinforcing what’s already there.
So, here’s another idea.
If you’re an existing leader . . .
- Give someone else a chance to use your platform.
- Let a new voice guest post on your blog.
- Tell your network about an up-and-coming blogger.
- Bring a different perspective to the conversation.
- Introduce a new or relatively unknown participant to your circle.
If you’re not a leader yet (but you’re working on it) . . .
- Make an effort to bring in new ideas to the conversation. Be willing to talk about what no one else is.
- Push the boundaries of what’s expected in your field.
- Proactively connect with people outside your niche, or in overlapping niches. Sometimes the best ideas come from an intersection of unexpected opposites.
- Don’t just blindly follow established leaders. Actually make a conscious decision to follow them if you think they have value to offer. In other words, don’t follow someone just because everyone else does.
- Guest post for someone you don’t already know well. Bring your ideas to a totally new audience.
Awesome things can happen when we consciously branch out beyond our habitual circles of association.
Instead of just aligning with people with the same skills and strengths as us, we can seek out those with different talents that complement our strengths.
Instead of reinforcing the same patterns of conversations, we can move beyond our comfort zones and make more meaningful connections. We can find new and interesting ways of approaching tired problems.
Instead of reenacting the same mental synapses, we can actually diverge and possibly . . . just maybe . . . innovate.
Get remarkable by getting out of your comfort zone
Who knows, maybe a lawyer could teach you how to build a better case for selling your product. Perhaps a teacher could help you communicate better with the beginners in your audience. Maybe a politician could teach you how to better dodge questions and avoid dealing with real issues.
OK, just kidding with that last one.
When we make a conscious effort to continually bring in fresh ideas and voices, we grow. We break the patterns that we’ve created. We move beyond plateaus to higher ground.
We can only change the game when we change the rules we play by.
And if we do, then just maybe, we can create something that’s really new. And isn’t that what we live for?
About the Author: Jonathan Mead is a writer, martial artist and trafficker of truth. He recently released a free ebook called The Zero Hour Workweek, aimed at helping people find freedom from the 9 to 5.
Who Do You Trust for Online Business Advice?
Do you know this story?
A scorpion needs to cross the river. He asks a friendly-looking frog to carry him across.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” asks the frog. “You’re a scorpion. You’ll sting and kill me.”
“No I won’t,” says the scorpion. “That would be completely against my self interest. If I sting you, I’ll fall in the river and drown.”
The frog sees the sense in this and agrees to carry the scorpion across the river. Halfway across, the scorpion stings him.
“Why did you do that?” asks the dying frog.
“I’m a scorpion,” answers the drowning scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
Who are you asking to take you across the river?
This painful little story illustrates something we’ve all seen, but sometimes forget.
Lie down with dogs and you’ll get fleas. Do business with scorpions, and you’ll get stung.
For some reason, until recently, most practical information about how to succeed in online business has come from scorpions.
People who see prospective customers as prey to be hunted. People who teach unethical shortcuts. People who preach games and systems, not value and relationships.
Some of the scorpions have interesting things to say. Some of them are even brilliant. And many of them can teach you good techniques.
But they’re scorpions. And you don’t want to find yourself at their mercy when you’re halfway across the river.
Things are changing . . . fast
Have you noticed? Something fascinating is happening in the world of Internet marketing.
Maybe it’s the widespread adoption of social media that’s made the difference. When everyone can Facebook, Twitter, and blog, all of a sudden it’s very hard for the scorpions to pretend to be good guys. The shortcuts get revealed. The light gets turned on to show the little (and large) deceptions.
The flip side is, now it’s easier than ever for great stuff to get found. If you’re glorious, people start talking about you. Word of mouth becomes “word of click.” And the good guys start finishing first.
Copyblogger was an outlier from the beginning. Brian taught his readers how to combine direct response marketing (a tool that was too good to leave to the scorpions) with content and social media to deliver amazing value to potential customers.
And there were certainly others. Chris Brogan devoting himself to his audience for 11 years to create his “overnight success,” built on integrity and connection. Darren Rowse, unofficial Nicest Fellow in the Blogosphere, showing up tirelessly to create value for his readers and help them become “probloggers” in their own right.
The ranks started to swell. We’ve been lucky enough to have many of them write for us in the past year or two. Naomi Dunford. Dave Navarro. Chris Garrett. Johnny B. Truant. Laura Roeder. James Chartrand.
These are people who don’t choose to be (or hang out with) scorpions. People who went back to just offering real solutions, developing fantastic relationships with their customers, and building solid businesses around that.
The Third Tribe is coming
Almost a year ago, this “new” (actually old) way of doing business started to be known as the Third Tribe. We had no use for the scorpions, but we didn’t want to be the clueless frog, either. We wanted to make a good living and be decent people. And we rejected (ok, I’ll be honest, mocked) anyone who tried to tell us we couldn’t.
We knew better. We were doing it. And it was working – third tribe marketing is effective.
Brian and I instantly saw that this intersection was the future of Copyblogger. And, in fact, that it was the future for the smartest online entrepreneurs — the ones who wanted to build the most interesting, most profitable businesses.
So for the past few months, Brian and I, along with some clever co-conspirators, have been building something for you. A place for the Third Tribe to come together. To share ideas and inspiration. To educate ourselves about marketing and business techniques — effective techniques that respect our audiences and preserve our relationships. To grow farther and faster than any of us could alone.
If you’re already subscribed to the free Copyblogger newsletter, Internet Marketing for Smart People, you can relax. You’re going to be getting all of the details in the next few days.
If not, you may want to fix that now. Our newsletter readers will be the very first to hear about the new project, and have a chance to take advantage of a ludicrous sweet offer.
If you’re curious about it (or frankly, if you’d just like to take advantage of a free 20-lesson course on what smart Internet marketers are doing in 2010), click here to sign up for the newsletter. It’s free, it’s got good stuff, and it’s where you’ll be able to find out all about the new Third Tribe project.
About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and a co-founder of Inside the Third Tribe.
Could Your Blog be Ruining Your Business?
Many of you began blogging to get more business. I’m sorry to tell you that many of you are doing the exact opposite.
Your blog isn’t getting you more business — it’s actually sending business away.
How did that happen?
A blog is supposed to create more interest in what you do or what you sell. It’s supposed to bring you more credibility, more readers. It’s supposed to show off your expertise. All that should be great for business. Where did it all go wrong?
You forgot that you have a business first and a blog second.
What do you do for business?
You’d be shocked at how many blogs don’t have an answer to the question, “What do you do?” readily available. The blog itself has a clearly defined subject, lots of rockin’ content, and plenty of people commenting on posts.
That’s all great, but the whole point of having a business blog was to get people interested in the product or service you sell. And that information often isn’t easy to find. Sometimes, it isn’t anywhere to be seen.
It’s not in your tagline. It’s not in your About section. It’s not in a big shiny button where site visitors can’t possibly miss it.
You may have fifty million visitors a day. But if very few of them have any idea that your blog is there for more than providing them with free information and entertainment, your blog is ruining your business.
Let me restate the obvious: you are business blogging. That means your awesome content must be delivered in the context of your business goals.
Remind me again: what do you do?
Let’s say that some new guy shows up on your blog. Maybe he got the link from a friend on Twitter, or maybe he was just goofing around on Google. He reads your post. He likes it.
He leaves.
It’s simple: he got what he came for. He found your post and read it. He may also need the services you provide. In fact, there’s a very good chance he does, because he was looking for information within your expertise. If he showed up wanting to know about 10 ways to prevent a bad stain job, and you provide wood staining services, he may very well want to chuck the idea of doing it himself and hire you instead.
But he didn’t arrive at your blog looking for someone to hire. He came for the information. And he got it.
Very often, people don’t see what’s obvious to you. You know you’re blogging for business. You know that you’re for hire. But that site visitor? He doesn’t think of that at all. You have to put the idea in his head.
And a very, very good place to do that is at the end of that useful post he just read. Finish every single post with a little nudge toward hiring you. “If you’ve got a project too delicate for you to screw up, contact me today. I’ll quote you on a perfect, professional job — no screw-ups, guaranteed.”
Your readers come around for your advice and your insight, and that’s great for your blog. But if you don’t remind them regularly that you have something more to offer than just information, they won’t think of hiring or buying from you.
And that is really, really lousy for your business.
Go make sure your blog readers know what you do for business. Three times over.
About the Author: For more great tips and an insightful blog on freelancing, head on over to Men with Pens, where you’ll get all the success advice you need. And guess what? You can even hire the team to help you rock your business to success.
