dianedipiero.com Blog

Please visit the link below to see my small business profile about Susan Mikolic on coolcleveland.com:

http://coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.CleBizGuardianAngel

Business e-newsletters seem to be popping up all over the place. Companies have found e-newsletters an economical and effective way to reach customers, potential customers and industry people. What a great opportunity to present industry news and illustrate what makes your product or service great.

If your company publishes an e-newsletter or is thinking of creating one, you might also consider a subtler approach to content, one that when properly executed, can be extremely satisfying for yourself and your target audience. We’ll call this approach “Newsletters That Make You Go ‘Hmm…’”

With this type of newsletter, the focus is actually not on your company but on ideas, books, articles or human interest stories that engage the reader. There is no sales pitch in this type of newsletter, nor is there a call to action. Instead, the content reveals the thought-provoking side of your team. It’s as if you are having lunch with a client or prospective client and saying, “Hey, look at this article I read! Tell me what you think.”

Giraffe, Inc., a talented Cleveland creative design firm, does an excellent job of producing “Newsletters That Make You Go ‘Hmm.’” The company weaves intelligent and fun stories about everything from overused marketing catch phrases to unconventional businesses or business practices. As you read through these stories, you may see a sentence or two about Giraffe’s work with a specific company, but the focus stays on the intended subject and not on Giraffe.

You can see one of Giraffe’s clever newsletters by clicking on this link:
http://idisk.mac.com/giraffesite-Public/Giraffe-NL.pdf

This type of newsletter works on two levels. First, it encourages the reader to think about the subject matter. “Hmm, I’ve never thought about marketing that way,” for example. Second, it subtly entices the reader to want to learn more about Giraffe. “Hmm, this Giraffe seems like an interesting company, and they’re not trying to blatantly sell me anything!”

Giraffe, in turn, uses its newsletters as a way of getting to know its clients and potential clients on a more personal level. “Did you read the article in our last newsletter? What do you think about it?” a Giraffe team member may ask during a business phone call. It helps customers see Giraffe as a group of talented people and not just a company looking for business. Of course, as with any business, Giraffe wants to attract customers! But through it’s newsletters, it seeks to inform first and then lure in new business by gaining trust and communication.

So why aren’t you writing a “Newsletter That Makes You Go ‘Hmm’” right now?

One of my daughter’s favorite commercials during the recent Summer Olympics had a catchy refrain that she happily sang long after the music had stopped. “This is Budweiser. This is beer,” the voices rang out from the television set. My daughter chimed in every time the commercial ran.

Budweiser may very well have picked up a new patron 13 years from now (much to my chagrin). The point is that the song accompanying this commercial was simple and succinct. “We make beer, and it’s good” was the gist, and my daughter, probably without knowing it, got the message. She may not have been the company’s target audience, but chances are many people of legal age also enjoyed the jingle.

To capture the attention of visitors to a company website, the content must “sing.” That doesn’t mean you have to employ trite slogans. Rather, your website content should be easy to understand, concise and engaging.

How can you make this happen? Here are some ideas:

A.) Use headlines and taglines that grab readers’ interest.
Which headline would entice you to read the history of a small business?
A History of the Joe Blow Acme Company
Joes Blow Acme Company: Lights, Camera, Action
The second headline draws you in because it creates an image of a company on the move. Think about writing headlines and taglines for your content that encourage visitors to read on. What makes your business unique? Find a couple of key words to sum that up, and use them in an attention-grabbing headline.

B.) Don’t tell the whole story.
This can be difficult, especially when you’re really proud of your company’s products or services!

Imagine turning on the radio in your car and hearing the tail end of a song that has a great tune and lyrics. It’s the first time you’ve ever heard the song, and you want to hear more. Thus, you go in search of the song on another station or on the Internet.

Think of web content as a concise–but not complete–overview of your business. Offer important details about who you are, what you can do for customers and why you do it better than anyone else. Make it interesting, and leave them wanting more. If they like what they read on the site, they’ll contact you to hear the rest of the story.

C.) Keep the copy flowing.
Remember reading a school text book that seemed to drone on from page 1 to page 599? The paragraphs were long, the sentences within the paragraphs were long, the words within the sentences were long, and after awhile you either fell asleep or became frustrated because you were unable to grasp the subject matter.

Even if your business is very technical, it’s important to keep the website content interesting and engaging. Use technical jargon when appropriate, and offer easy-to-understand definitions if you feel they’re necessary. If you’re target audience is non-technical people, try to use “layman’s” terms.

Shorter sentences are easier to follow than longer ones. A former editor of mine hammered into my head that a sentence should never be more than about 25 words long. That doesn’t mean you have to count every word, or keep every sentence at 25 words or less. (You’ll see that I broke the rule more than once within this post!) But if you reread a sentence and find yourself losing your place, you can be sure viewers of your website will do so as well.

Try to keep paragraphs between 3 and 5 sentences long. Any longer, and the readers eyes–and attention–will start to wander.

D.) Use pull quotes with meaning.
Take a really special quote from a satisfied customer and show it off somewhere on your company’s home page. (Of course, giving proper credit!) Or borrow quotes (again, giving proper credit!) from famous people in history to inspire visitors to your website.

E.) Be creative when appropriate.
Some company websites demand straightforward, serious content, but many times a website can accommodate a little creativity or levity. Why not add some oomph to your company’s history? For example:
“On a bone-chilling January night in 2003, two young entrepreneurs sat at a dimly lit table in a neighborhood coffee shop and fantasized about how they would revolutionize their industry.”

You can also be creative on an About Us page. Include interesting or little-known facts about your employees; e.g., what clubs they belonged to in high school, any sports trophies they won, their idea of a dream vacation. By including tidbits that don’t directly relate to the business, you’re revealing a human side to the company. And people (i.e., potential customers) like relating to other people.

These are just a few suggestions to help your website sing, and to get visitors to “hum” your catchy “tune” long after they’ve left your site. Now, let’s hear from you. How do you make your web content sing? What tricks of the trade do you enjoy on others’ sites. Let’s share.