Do You Measure Revenue from Social Media?

By now everyone is convinced that social media can drive web metrics (eg, visitors to a site) but how much MONEY does it MAKE?  If you don't know yet, you'll probably be finding out soon.

But even if you can't exactly pinpoint the dollar amount, making money is the point, isn't it? I mean, while a billion visitors is nice, a billion dollars is even nicer.

You know where this is going: writers drive decisions about where dollars go. Do you need a writer? Only if your business uses words.

• web content
• business blogs
• client newsletters
• sales letters
• brochures
• catalog copy
• targeted e-mail marketing
• product descriptions
• press releases
• employee newsletters
• contracts
• case studies
• catalogs
• employee training manuals
• invoices & collection letters    

  Where don't you use words?

Good Grammar Shouldn't Slow Us Down!

Social media marketing concepts are important and yet they haven't made grammar obsolete, have they?

I don't think so, but then, I still favor complete sentences when I'm texting.

I was very glad to meet the alot earlier this week. (See my last post) The seemingly unassuming beast offers a lighter look at grammar gaffes, but however friendly alots might be, they scare me. I understand (and agree with) the argument "since social media moves fast, so we have to move faster." To that argument I add, we can move faster better with clear communication.

If I'm a grammar snob, I'm a low-level one. Improper use of its and it's and its' and apostrophes in general are my primary complaints. In fact, the rules governing the proper use of apostrophes are so simple, I'm amazed the basic spelling/grammar checker features in most word processing tools can't be programmed to highlight at least half of the potential culprits. It wouldn't be cheating! C'mon. Some of us grew up "cheating" with paper dictionaries before spell-check saved us from countless typos and our own ignorance.

What ignited my rant today: two misused apostrophes in a short blog post by a marketing professional. That is, two remaining AFTER a visitor to the site pointed out another, which the author then fixed. I repeat: we all make mistakes.

When a professional communicator makes a mistake in a blog post (or any other document that remains available 24/7) and can correct that mistake, he - or she - should.

A nifty little tool that catches apostrophe errors and other grammar goofs would make us all look better. Bored programmers? Are you listening?

Grammar snobs can be funny, too!

I like this alot!

YA Fiction Contest

Blooming Tree Press offers The Bloom Award for the winning YA fiction efforts of unpublished authors. To enter, submit your romance (suitable for young readers) between May 17 - October 31...and have your complete manuscript ready. If you make the first cut, you'll have to produce the entire work. Good luck!

Think before you write

I can defend writing for low pay or even for free in some cases. Just remember: even if you're not getting paid, you're still likely to be read - so the writing matters.


Case in point: a website offering the (unpaid) opinions of self-appointed human resources experts. Some sound pretty smart. All are using the site to increase their visibility and presumably get new clients. But I wonder who would hire the one whose bio states he's proud of "restraining himself from beating the crap out of bad managers and employees" and who, in his spare time, enjoys telling "stories about his co-workers with friends over a beer after work." 


The bottom line: think before you publish.

Pros & cons of writing for low pay, pay-per-click

"Anyone can be a writer."

It rubs a lot of writers the wrong way, but it's true. Anyone can be a writer and just about anyone can have an ego-gratifying "job" writing for a website with a pay-per-click/fraction-of-a-penny-a-word/write for exposure sort of payment plan.

I don't like those sites, but I can argue both sides of just about any issue :)

I'll start by defending those in the $15 per article range (like Demand Studios, for example).

Assuming you can crank out a (good) article in an hour, you're making $15/hour. Sound good? It's not, really - that's less than 20% of the low end of the pay scale for professional writers. So why do it?

• You'll have 15 bucks fast. (Demand Studios and other sites typically pay via PayPal.) That'll buy you lunch or maybe refill your printer cartridge. 
• If the site's attractive and fairly well-managed, you won't look bad, and 
• Some sites offer residual income, meaning the initial investment of your time may continue to pay for years into the future. Not much, but 'residual income' has an awfully nice ring to it.

Here's why you might NOT want to do it:

• Few people can crank out a decent-looking article in under an hour. I know it sounds hard to believe, but it's true. No matter how much help you think you get from grammar- and spell-checker, no matter how fast you type and how fast you think you can think, the fact is lucid writing takes time. Lucid well-informed writing takes more time. (We in the business call that 'research.') 
• The articles live practically forever, which means if there's an error, or even a typo, in one of your articles, the error lives forever, too. With your name on it. 

If you're considering writing for a no- or very low-pay site, think hard before you do. There are a lot of 'good' reasons, but when you look really closely, I think you'll find most of them really aren't that good. 

This may look like an obvious segue into a "why blogging is better" article, but it's not. I'll leave that topic for another time. 

Corporate Blogging vs. Hobby Blogging

SPJ member and blogger Mike Consol offers some very reasonable advice in his on-target article on blogging. Ironically or appropriately, it's only available through his LinkedIn blog site or the subscription-based magazine in which it originally appeared. (Foreshadowing the death of free content? I doubt it...but maybe....)

I like the article for what it doesn't do: namely, describe blogging as a frivolous hobby. Can be, sure. Shouldn't be, though, 'specially if you're paying someone to do it.

Corporate blogs, well-planned and professionally written, can and should:

• increase web traffic
• improved customer service
• increase referrals
• further develop your brand identity
• personify your company's products/service

Blogging is writing, folks. Corporate blogging should be handled by professionals, not penny-per-word junk content creators.