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The Elevator Pitch: A Guide for an Internet without Elevators

Agent X — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:00:20 +0000

Everyone’s heard they need an elevator pitch.

This pitch is supposed to be less than ten seconds, but it should be so compelling that your elevator companion immediately goes wide-eyed and captivated, clasps your hand and declares that they’ve never needed anything so much as they need you and your services, right now.

In an online world, pretty much no one rides the elevator with a prospective client. Steve Jobs created a lot of wondrous things before he passed, but a virtual elevator ride was not among them.

The elevator pitch can still get you clients, convert skeptics, and guide the entire course of your business marketing strategy, though.

With a few upgrades, that is.

When Fast Isn’t Fast Enough

When the elevator pitch was first conceived, it was a remarkable idea. Before, pitches were usually conducted in fifteen-minute-to-an-hour-long meetings, followed by a Q-and-A with plenty of time to cover anything you’d left out.

You could bring visuals and graphics. You could give analogies and anecdotes. You could display all your ideas for how to fix this particular client’s problems.

The idea of a pitch you could deliver in the mere ten seconds it takes to ride an elevator to the ground floor?

That was revolutionary.

It still is. The only difference is that the amount of time you have to convey what your business is and offers has narrowed.

Considerably.

Instead of 10 seconds, it’s more like 3 seconds. That’s about how long we spend on a website before deciding whether or not it’s worth our time.

The difference between 3 and 10 seconds doesn’t seem like much. They’re both very short periods of time.

But there are a few critical differences between the elevator pitch and the online pitch – and they all have to do with what happens in three seconds vs. ten.

Ten Seconds is a Captive Audience

The elevator ride worked as a concept because no one can escape your pitch on the elevator ride.

You have enough time to ask a critical set-up question. You have enough time to rescue a pitch that doesn’t land right during the first sentence. You have enough time to stumble and recover.

In three seconds, there’s no time for a recovery. You either land that person’s interest or you don’t.

You may have time to deliver a second pitch – but only if the first one hits a home run.

If the first pitch piques their interest and the second really hits home, you’ve got them. But if the first fails, they’ll never know about the second pitch.

They won’t be there anymore to hear it.

The lesson? In the online world, the elevator pitch loses its set-up. You have about two sentences to get your audience’s attention.

Make them count.

The Internet Is a Much Bigger Elevator

While you had more time to make an elevator pitch work, you were also limited by the number of people who were actually in the elevator with you.

An elevator pitch was designed to catch the interest of one person at a time. At a maximum, the pitch might catch three people – assuming they were all from the same company and had the same needs.

The elevator pitch was a one-at-a-time deal. The odds of there being two people in the elevator who would be swayed by the exact same pitch were next to nil.

The Internet is a different story. It’s possible to put your website in front of thousands of people on any given day.

You have essentially expanded your elevator to include a thousand people instead of three.

Your odds that several of those people will respond to the same pitch?

They just got a heck of a lot better.

The lesson: Just because you have less time to make an impression doesn’t mean you need to make your pitch generic. Your three-second pitch can be just as precise – or even more so – than your elevator pitch, because the size of the audience makes it more likely your precise pitch will find interested ears.

The Old Strategies Still Apply

The elevator pitch was distinct from a job description. That was part of the whole revelation, in fact.

Instead of simply saying, “I’m a copywriter,” the elevator pitch taught professionals to say things like, “I make businesses more appealing to their clients.”

The elevator pitch taught thousands of professionals that their job wasn’t important.

What was important was what they could accomplish for the client.

“I can get you more clients,” is an accomplishment. How you got them more clients – with great web design, fantastic copy, killer marketing strategies – was a detail.

It often wasn’t even a part of the pitch.

Focusing on the client’s needs instead of your own skill set? It still works.

Here’s what else still works: Asking the client a question when you already know the answer.

One of the classic elevator-pitch strategies was asking a question that 99% of people would answer yes.

“Ever wish there were more hours in the day?”
“Ever had one of those clients you just can’t satisfy?”
“Ever get to the end of the month and find yourself a few clients short of your goal?”

The person in the elevator says, “Why, yes, I do have that problem sometimes.” Which gives the guy pitching a great opportunity to say the most important sentence in the history of marketing:

I can solve your problem.

That strategy still works in web copy. It still works in three seconds. All we’ve done is eliminate the need for the other guy to say yes.

“Getting tired of strategists who think it’s their way or the highway? I can solve that problem.”
“Not getting enough website conversions? I can solve that problem.”
“Wondering how on earth to manage all your social media channels? I can solve that problem.”

It’s the oldest strategy in the book. And it still works – in just three seconds.

What’s Next for the Elevator Pitch

Once you understand your elevator pitch, it becomes the basis for every piece of copy you’ll create. It will help you draft your website copy, your marketing emails, even your Twitter bio.

You’ll start seeing the world in the space of three seconds and answering the critical question:

What problem of mine can you fix?

Answer that question, and you have a pitch that works absolutely everywhere.

Including the elevator.

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Post by Taylor Lindstrom

Taylor hails from Boulder, CO, and she blogs for people who are too good to fail over at... well, Too Good to Fail. Go check out her inspiring posts and beautiful encouragement now.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
The Elevator Pitch: A Guide for an Internet without Elevators first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

How to Survive Your First Launch

James — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:00:04 +0000

Launches are a nightmare. I’d heard this from peers who’ve been through them but only actually discovered it firsthand when I recently opened the doors to Damn Fine Words, my writing course.

I was confident. I was ready. Everything was all set…

And then it all hit the fan.

Not that anyone noticed. In fact, the launch looked smooth as silk from the outside. Behind the scenes? It was a whole ‘nother story, folks.

So today I’d like to share some of my launch experience and the lessons I learned with you, so that you can prepare for your own launch nightmare… and turn it into a sweet, dreamy day at the beach.

Lesson 1: You’ll suck at estimating time.

No matter how much time you’ve given yourself to prepare for the launch, you haven’t given yourself enough.

I’m not kidding. Human beings are notoriously bad at estimating time. We consistently under- and over-estimate time-based tasks. We unconsciously exaggerate how much time we actually spend on what we’ do and cut ourselves short on the time we truly need to get tasks done.

If you think you’ll be ready to launch in one week, give yourself two weeks. If you think that promo email will take an hour to write, assume it’ll take three.

Always, always give yourself more time than you think you need. Trust me: You’ll thank yourself later.

Lesson 2: You’ll forget a million details.

You can plan your launch down to the tiniest to-do, but despite your most meticulous efforts, you’ll probably overlook several key tasks. And you’ll completely miss some crucial ones.

That’s because people tend to create to-do lists based on larger tasks – “set up a series of promo emails”, for example. But those aren’t tasks. They’re reminders.

That series of promo emails? To get that “task” done, you actually need to set up your newsletter, fix the format, write the emails, check the sequence, add links, and schedule for delivery. Whew! And even all those tasks have sub-tasks as well!

Plan your launch down to minute details – and go as deep as you can. Try to think of all the steps that go into completing the task. Write them down in checklist format.

You won’t think of everything, but you’ll have less slip through the cracks.

Lesson 3: You’ll screw something up – and that’s okay.

Don’t bust your head trying to get your launch perfect. Something is bound to go wrong.

And that’s okay. The world won’t end, lightning won’t strike you dead, and your audience won’t come after you with pitchforks. They’ll probably just email you and nicely say, “Hey, this doesn’t work right. Can you help?” or, “I’m trying to do that, but I can’t, for some reason. What’s up?”

Fix the issue, email them back and life goes on. Everyone’s happy.

Stressing about getting your launch perfect is a sure way to make sure that you never actually launch at all. Striving for perfection is a form of self-sabotage… so crush the urge to tinker forever and just LAUNCH, already!

Lesson 4: You’ll piss someone off – and that’s okay too.

You know the saying: You can’t please everyone all the time.

That goes triple for launches.

You’ll probably hear from that one person who got up on the wrong side of bed and decided that taking it out on you was a Really Good Idea. Maybe he hates your marketing strategy. Maybe she thinks your price point is ridiculous. Maybe he thinks your mother’s ugly and dresses you funny.

Whatever. Roll your eyes and carry on. You can’t please the critics, so why bother wasting energy on them?

Smile, thank them for their thoughts, and go do more important things. Like getting on with your launch.

Lesson 5: You’ll wonder where your friends went.

If you’re lucky, you have friends who’ll support your launch just because they feel the love and believe in the awesome product you’ve created.

And if you have those kinds of friends, hang onto them. They’re awesome.

But most people won’t help you out with your launch, even if you’re buddies. And that’s okay – they’re busy with their own stuff. They have their own priorities. You shouldn’t depend on others to pitch, promote, and cheer for your stuff.

That said, you can still ask people for help. And some will totally surprise you by generously offering their time and support. (On that note, thank you Brian, Liz, Karl, Adam, Peter, Andy – you guys were fantastic!)

Lesson 6: You’ll ignore your life.

Did I mention launches were exhausting?

Yeah, big time. And they’re stressful. There’s a lot to do. There’s a lot to remember. There’s a lot to take care of. And while you’re stressing and scrambling (because trust me, you will), you’re going to be riding an emotional roller coaster that ranges between “WOO HOO!” and “Oh shit”.

So that means you might not be sleeping well. You might be skipping meals or eating poorly. You might be up early (did I mention you might not sleep well?) or stay up too late. You might feel tired and elated and frantic and stoked and panicked and excited and all sorts of things.

All at once.

After a few days, you might not even feel coherent… let alone sound it to your family and friends.

No launch should ever overtake your world, even for a day. It’s just a launch. Of course you have hopes riding on it, but this isn’t a life-or-death situation. Really.

Take care of yourself. Eat. Sleep. Take breaks. Laugh with your family. Sit in the sun. Go for a walk. Work regular, normal hours each day and have a regular, normal life.

‘Nuff said.

Have you ever launched anything? What was your experience? Have any lessons you learned or tips you’d like to share? Let me know in the comment section!

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Post by James Chartrand

James Chartrand is an entrepreneur, a pro copywriter and the founder and CEO of Men with Pens and Damn Fine Words, the game-changing writing course for business owners. She loves the color blue, her kids, and ice skating.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How to Survive Your First Launch first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

6 Reasons Every Serious Blogger Should Blog for the Big Dogs

Agent X — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:00:17 +0000

“You’re nobody ‘til somebody loves you,” sings sexy crooner Michael Bublé. He ain’t wrong. You’re nobody in the blogosphere until you’ve been shown a little love by the influential sites that serious bloggers read, Tweet and flock to.

You know the ones – they boast six-digit subscribers, have a cult following on Twitter, and bring celebrity and name recognition by association.

Don’t get me wrong; you can have a totally groovy experience at lesser-known sites and accomplish many valuable blogging goals through those avenues.

But think of it this way: If you had the chance to stay as a guest at a three-star hotel or a five-star hotel, which would you choose?

It‘s a no-brainer. You’d choose the 5-star option. It has better amenities, a reputation for excellence, and a more attentive and highly trained staff to see that you have everything your heart desires during your stay.

Given the choice between blogging for the big dogs and blogging for the little dogs, the benefits of going for the higher-ranking option are obvious. Take my own case in point: When I recently had a guest post published at Problogger, I got:

Nearly 400 Tweets (more than I’ve gotten collectively in the last two years of blogging)
A slew of comments and Facebook mentions
Several new commentators and visitors to my own blog
A request for a guest post at a popular business blog

You can do it too. Here are six compelling reasons why you should blog at top sites – and six ways to make the most of the opportunity when you land a guest post.

It saves you time. If your objective is to market your blog successfully and make the most of your efforts, one guest post at a top site could yield more exposure and potential connections than publication on a dozen sites with smaller followings. View it as a way of working smarter, not harder.

Advance your blogging swagger: Check to see if the site you are targeting has an editorial calendar. Why? Often these calendars provide valuable clues to future themes and designated deadlines – which gives you a better chance of getting the right article in front of the blog owner at the right time.

It puts you in a different league. Think of it as success by association. Just about everybody blogs, but not everybody blogs well enough to appear at top blogs. It shows that the big dogs who run those blogs value what you say – and if they value it, their readers understand they should value it, too.

Advance your blogging swagger: Make sure to cite your former “top-dog” guest posts in your bio and pitches when approaching editors with your request. Those credentials help you stand out in a sea of other would-be guest posters, since your blogging chops have already been established by one of the big dog’s peers.

It looks good on a writer’s/blogger’s resume. With the fierce competition out there, anything that gives you a competitive edge is worth pursuing. Even though it’s not a paid publishing credit, getting an article on one of the top blogs is still impressive and can give you a leg up when trying to land a new client.

Advance your blogging swagger: Use your writing experience of guest posting at top sites to negotiate a higher blogging rate when applying for paid work.

More than your “15 minutes of fame”. I kid you not. Some time ago, when I posted at Daily Blog Tips, I was still receiving and responding to comments to my post four months later. Trust me here: The top sites’ archives are accessed at a rate that your personal site typically will never be.

Advance your blogging swagger: Make sure to reserve quality time to respond to comments from readers and to answer related questions for as long as people choose to comment (it’ll likely go beyond that first day). Taking the time to comment shows courtesy and respect for the readers. It also increases the likelihood that you’ll be well received by the blog owner for future considerations.

It breeds confidence. A guest post at a prominent site does more for your ego than positive affirmations or compliments. The better you feel about your own abilities and desirability as a guest blogger, the easier it is to approach other blog owners or aim for more ambitious blogging goals.

Advance your blogging swagger: Once you’ve established yourself and gotten some experience under your belt, consider targeting sites that pay for your guest posts. The Work From Home Blog offers a list.

It puts your work before readers that are outside your niche, exposing you to a much larger audience. Numbers aside, blogging giants like Problogger, Copyblogger, Men with Pens, and Daily Blog Tips have readers that span multiple niches, demographics, industries, and even geographic regions. You’d be wise to tap into that power.

Advance your blogging swagger: Enhance your visibility even further by posting your guest posts to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon. This can potentially lead to new networking opportunities and broadened horizons.

Now that you know the “whys”, here are a few tips on the “hows”.

Speak you-nique: Say something different or put a new spin on an old topic. Infuse your own personality and style of expression in your work. In today’s competitive environment, both online and off, it’s important to stand out, stay relevant and be memorable. Learn to identify and capitalize on your individual strengths and gifts. Naomi Dunford at Ittybiz.com is a great example.
Consult the archives: Check the list, and check it twice. No matter how well you write, if what you’ve created has recently been covered at the targeted host’s site, chances are your efforts will be in vain, and you’ll have wasted everyone‘s time.
Be strategic in your efforts: There are literally thousands of blogs out in the blogosphere. Of those, probably hundreds accept guest posts. As a good rule of thumb, you should target those that have a good following, a PR ranking of 6 or above, and excellent content. As they say, you’re judged by the company you keep.
Remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression: This is more than a cliché; consider it a cardinal rule for success. Watch for typos, grammar and spelling errors. Have a second set of eyes go over your post before submission as well.

On a final note, make sure that you leave your readers with great take-away value. This ensures that your blog owner host is happy to have you come around and guest blog again.

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Post by Jennifer Brown Banks

Jennifer Brown Banks is a veteran freelance writer, pro blogger and creative consultant. Her work has appeared at award-winning sites such as: ProBlogger, Daily Blog Tips, Technorati, and Search Engine Journal. She was recently chosen as one of the “60 Best Minds in the Blogosphere.”

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
6 Reasons Every Serious Blogger Should Blog for the Big Dogs first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

How to Stop Hating Marketing

Agent X — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 05:00:13 +0000

Marketing should be fun, engaging and exciting.

If you think I’m nuts for suggesting such a thing, you’re probably doing it wrong.

Let me tell you a little story about a friend I’ll call Tim. Tim was a software developer who enjoyed chatting with people, but hated selling his business. He didn’t want to be that cheesy guy who you avoided because all he did was try to sell you his services. He steered clear of anything labeled “marketing” for fear of becoming that guy.

Tim had a superpower: he loved chatting people up. He also had a nemesis: that cheesy sales guy.

Little did he realize that he didn’t have to give in to the evil nemesis to market his business. All he had to do was make better use of his superpower.

When I first started talking to Tim, he laid out all of his current marketing strategies – the ones he hated doing because they made him feel like a bad guy. He was cold calling businesses, using his social media as a megaphone instead of a conversation starter, and going to conferences to meet potential new clients.

Tim was doing everything he was theoretically supposed to do, but he was also miserable for every minute of it. He was going over to the dark side and becoming that which he hated.

What’s worse, it wasn’t even working.

The Shift

To get him off the depressing topic of his much-disliked marketing tactics, I asked Tim about his passions. Turned out Tim loved coffee, football, and non-fiction business books.

He talked about the smell of coffee and the anticipation of a good cup to get him moving. He talked about the tension in football and the unpredictability of each play. He talked about how a non-fiction book will almost always give him a new idea to apply to his business.

I then asked him why he liked to program. He said he loved working on something that was clean and worked well. He talked about his ability to program and oozed confidence in his programming skills.

That was where the magic was hidden.

We created a simple marketing plan around his superpowers.

Find the places where he could help people

Tim loved to talk about coffee. I asked him if he could help coffee shops and coffee producers with their websites – a skill well within his purview. He found a coffee conference that he will attend next month, and of course he won’t have the usual problem of only being able to talk about his own skills. Just try stopping Tim from jumping into a conversation about how to brew the perfect cup of coffee.

And by the time that conversation wends its way around to the inevitable question “What do you do?” Tim will have a great lead-in to sell his services. After all, the people he’s talking to will already know he’s passionate about their business and that he understands what they need.

Start a conversation

I started Tim a Twitter account and told him to follow people he admired and people who interested him. He started following coffee people and non-fiction authors. He began to slowly engage them in conversations about their common interests, chatting about topics he really enjoyed and generating lots of goodwill.

Instead of using social media to promote himself, he’s just using it to make new friends. When he does promote his business, those friends will naturally want to give this great guy a hand spreading the word.

Create events that generate buzz

The last thing we talked about was creating interactive events. He needs to create a little buzz online that allows him to connect with new people and encourage his followers to think of him as the guy in charge. Tim is a little shy, but I think he will throw a Twitter party soon for the following reasons:

He doesn’t need to be loud and boisterous to be in charge of an event. Tim can be himself – he just has to lead the conversation and encourage other people to get involved. Since he sometimes has trouble getting up the confidence to engage others, he can sympathize with shy people and bring them to the party.
He wants to talk about the work that he loves. There are thousands upon thousands of people online who love the same things Tim loves – and everyone likes to talk about the things they love. Tim doesn’t have to twist anyone’s arm or convince them to do something they don’t like. He just has to let them know there’s someplace to talk about the things they enjoy.
He wants to generate trust. It’s often difficult for people to trust someone they only recently met online. By showing how many other people trust him and value his opinion, Tim can generate trust that will extend out to lots of new people who might want to hire him.

Throw away the hate

Marketing should be fun. You have the ability to connect with people in a way that makes you feel good – it just means finding your superpowers and bringing them to bear on the marketing techniques you already know about (and don’t yet enjoy).

Think about it for just a moment: what type of marketing do you do now that you hate? And what aspects of your work and your life do you truly enjoy?

How can you combine the things you love with a hated marketing technique to create a new way of marketing you’ll actually enjoy?

Brainstorm in the comments – the Men with Pens crew would be happy to help you figure out new ways of approaching once-hated marketing.

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Post by Karl Staib

Karl Staib is addicted to throwing Twitter Parties to bring exposure to small business launches. You can also follow Karl on Twitter so you can stay in the know on all the Twitter parties and their prizes.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How to Stop Hating Marketing first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

How to Write like No One is Watching

Agent X — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:00:18 +0000

I sat there, my hands edging towards the keyboard… but I couldn’t bring myself to touch it. I felt that as soon as I tapped out a few faltering words, any hope of perfection would be gone forever.

Your opening won’t be strong enough. Why would anyone read this anyway? How could you think that THIS was worth writing down?

Being a writer isn’t just about knowing how to construct a great sentence or how to format a blog post so that readers can engage easily. Being a writer is about sharing your thoughts, ideas and experiences with the world.

And that can be a pretty daunting task.

Traditional print markets like magazines and books have a long time lag between initial composition and final publication – the online world moves much faster.

The post you write at 9am might be out there for all to see by 3pm. That ebook you’re frantically finishing off this week could be launched and on sale next Monday.

No wonder you freeze up when you sit down to write.

So what do you do? Give up? Turn to something easier and safer – like writing in your private journal or working on the novel you’ve been fiddling with for a decade?

You could.

Or you could take a deep breath and write like no one is watching. Here’s how:

Step #1: Find a Safe Place to Write

Your current writing environment probably isn’t exactly dangerous. I assume you’re not sitting in a tree with your laptop while a pack of hungry wolves snap at your ankles.

But do you feel truly safe where you write?

I can’t bring myself to write if anyone’s looking at my screen. In fact, I can’t even write if there’s a possibility that someone might see the words I’m putting down. If I’m in a room with other people and have to write, I make sure I have my back to a wall.

For you, writing in a safe place might mean:

Working in a room where you can close the door and keep family/housemates away.
Working near disinterested strangers like coffee shop patrons rather than nosy colleagues
Surrounding yourself with other writers (try a meet-up or a library)
Using a notebook that you can shield with your arm instead of a wide-open laptop
Switching to a small or hard-to-read font to write (You can change it afterwards)

It doesn’t matter what your writing environment looks like. What’s important is that you feel as safe and secure as possible while you write.

You can’t write well if you’re constantly looking over your shoulder or feeling unsettled.

Step #2: Forget About the Reader

This might sound heretical, but when you’re in the throes of composition, you don’t want to keep thinking about your reader.

Yes, the reader matters. When you’re writing for your blog or your client or a magazine or a book, you need to target your work to a particular audience.

But you don’t need to constantly second-guess every single sentence that you write based on what your readers might think.

When writing, focus on getting the message out. Don’t worry about whether your readers will appreciate that off-colour joke or whether they’ll understand an unfamiliar dialect word – you can make decisions about whether to keep or discard those later on when you’re editing.

Write it the way you want to write. You might even surprise yourself – some of my most popular posts are ones that I thought readers wouldn’t like at all.

Step #3: Get in the Zone

Do you ever have writing sessions where words just flow from your fingers? When writing feels effortless? Most writers experience this from time to time – and it feels great.

If you’re anything like me, though, you’re not always in the writing zone. Often, you’re in the, “Hey, I wonder what’s happening on Twitter?” zone.

Getting in the zone could mean:

Having music on – or writing in complete silence
Closing your eyes briefly while you write (this only really works if you can touch-type…)
Writing as fast as you can, perhaps with a timer running
Using a writing prompt to warm up at the start of a session
Burning incense or scented candles
Wearing a particular t-shirt or hat – or your pyjamas

When you’re in the zone, you don’t feel self-conscious. You stop being so aware of yourself – you lose track of time, and the writing is all that matters.

Today, write like nobody’s watching. Write the piece that you don’t quite dare to start. Pick up a project that you set aside months ago. Find somewhere safe and comfortable, and stop worrying about your readers.

It’s just you and the words.

Now write.

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Post by Ali Luke

Ali Luke is a writer and writing coach from the UK, with an accent to match. She blogs over at Aliventures: if you want to get more writing done, start with her post How to Write Thousands of Words Every Single Week.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
How to Write like No One is Watching first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

10 Time-Savers That Aren’t Saving You Anything

Agent X — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:00:37 +0000

Busy people are suckers for things that promise to save us time. We assume that our days are so jam-packed that any shortcut will immediately boost our careers to the next level.

But you know what? We’re lying to ourselves. Our problem isn’t a lack of time. It’s that most of us use the time we do have badly. That’s why these “time savers” won’t do much for us at all.

Nifty systems for organizing your email. Here’s a different question. Why are you spending so much time on email in the first place? If you’ve achieved Inbox Zero at the end of the day, but haven’t changed anything in the world or moved your career toward one of your big goals, you haven’t done anything. You’ve spent your day on the electronic equivalent of moving paper around. Email is not your job. It’s a tool to do your job. Focus on what matters to you first.
Hiring an intern. An administrative assistant is a wonderful addition to any enterprise, but even highly-skilled assistants take a while to master your business. Expecting a young person — no matter how eager — to master it during a short internship without a massive investment of your time is just inviting disappointment. Don’t spend time to save money. Unless you’re planning on keeping her at least a year, internships are more about teaching than improved efficiency. And if you are planning on keeping someone at least a year, why not pay well and get someone great?
Taking the smart phone with you everywhere. You tell yourself you can use time in the post office line to return emails, but you’ll probably just be hitting refresh and deleting ads for J.Crew when you could have been using that time to daydream about your next project. You do not need to be available 24/7. Period.
Most apps. Any time you save by being able to figure out instantly where the nearest Chinese restaurant is located is probably dwarfed by the time you spent finding the app, loading it and managing it among all your other apps.
Pre-scheduled tweets. I understand the appeal. But you look like a total twit when you’re announcing your giveaway while the rest of the world is talking about Osama bin Laden’s death. Plus, anything that makes Twitter easier makes you spend more time there. And in the context of time management, that’s probably not a good thing.
Multi-tasking. If that conference call requires so little of your attention that you can return emails at the same time, why are you on it?
TiVo. TV, when you want it, without the commercials! What could be more efficient? How about not watching TV, and using that time to play with your kids, exercise, read, pray, meditate or volunteer instead?
Workout DVDs that promise you a complete workout in 10 minutes. There are 168 hours in a week. If you work 50 hours and sleep 8 per night (56 per week) this leaves 62 hours for other things. Exercising 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week, comes out to a mere 2.5 of those 62 hours. The reason people don’t exercise is not that they can’t find 30 minutes but could find 10. It’s that they don’t want to exercise.
Hiring a sitter so you can get your chores done. A better idea: hire someone to do your chores, and spend that time with your family.
Efficiently mapping out your errands. Stop running errands. Spend the extra money getting things delivered. Your time is valuable.

Indeed, last year I wrote about a very small survey of women business owners whose enterprises had crossed the $1 million mark. The only thing they had in common is that they got their groceries delivered — before their businesses were bringing in millions. They simply understood that time spent in line at the grocery store is time not being used to chase the next $50,000 client.

Focus on nurturing your career, nurturing your family and nurturing yourself and you can’t help but be productive — even if you never try a time-saving tip again.

From the Pencil Cup

One question James hears all the time is, "How do you do so much in a week, James??" She swears by 168 Hours - and will be the first to recommend you get your copy today.

Want to go hardcore? Add on a copy of another of James' fave books, No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.

You'll get more done - AND get maximum time value for every minute.

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Post by Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam is the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and Grindhopping: Build a Rewarding Career without Paying Your Dues. She’s also one of those people who actually does what she loves to do (most of the time). Take a page from her book and visit www.my168hours.com (just click the clock to read her blog) to learn more time-saving tips and tricks.

Another rockin' post from Men with Pens!
10 Time-Savers That Aren’t Saving You Anything first appeared on Men with Pens
Copyright 2006 - 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Size Matters: How to Write for a Long Project

Agent X — Fri, 06 May 2011 05:00:49 +0000

It’s no secret that size matters… especially when it comes to writing and creating a sellable product.

You might be great at turning out 500-word blog posts or short articles. But what you’d really like to do is write an ebook or an ecourse to sell – and you’re not accustomed to writing in a longer format.

Long-form writing is a whole different game. You can’t wait for inspiration to strike, and you don’t get that instant gratification when you finish, hit ‘publish’, and see your first positive comment within the hour.

But it can be done. And it’s worth it – both personally and monetarily.

Step 1: Plan Before You Start

When you’re writing something short, you can get away without planning. You’ve probably written blog posts that flowed from start to finish without needing to consciously think about them much.

When you’re writing an ebook or an ecourse, you can’t just jump in on page one and hope for the best. (Well, you can. But that’s a fast route to throwing away half your work.)

You need a plan.

At a minimum:

Know what the ending is. What should the reader have learned or be able to do by the end of your ebook?
Write down the major steps along the way. You might not know the details of every chapter, but you can at least jot down a heading for each one.
Aim for ‘enough’ – not too little and not too much. Your ebook isn’t going to work if you try to cover everything – nor will it work if it’s just an expanded version of a blog post.

Get another writer to look over your plan. They might spot a new angle or a missing piece that you couldn’t see.

Step 2: Create a Timetable

If you’re used to writing short pieces, you probably complete them in a day or two. Seasoned bloggers can often whip out a post in an hour if they’re having a good day.

When it comes to a big project, you can’t finish the whole thing in a rush of inspiration. You need to figure out a timetable that lets you write steadily and consistently. This is particularly crucial if:

You’re working for a client – you’ll need to hit the final deadline, but you may also need to meet milestones along the way
You’re working on something with a lot of moving parts – like an ecourse launch, where you won’t only be producing the course itself. You’ll also need to market and promote

Allow yourself a lot more time than you think you’ll need. A health crisis or family emergency can knock weeks out of your plan – and you may well find the writing itself takes longer than you’d estimated.

Step 3: Keep Going

This is a rather obvious step, but it trips up a lot of writers.

You need to keep going.

When you’ve only written 500 words of a 20,000 word ebook, it feels like you’ll never finish. That’s why you’ve got a timetable – so you can see how those pages will gradually add up.

You probably know writers who produce breathtaking prose – but who never complete anything. When it comes to making a living from your words, perseverance trumps raw talent every time.

Step 4: Get Accountable

One of the best ways to keep going is to be accountable to someone.

You’ve already seen this at work in your writing life: you publish blog posts three times a week because your readers expect it, or you write a monthly short story to share with your writers’ circle. Someone is waiting for your words – and that helps you sit down and write.

With big projects, you’ll want someone to keep you accountable. That might be:

A writing coach or business mentor
Another writer who’s also working on a long project
Your Twitter or Facebook friends

These people don’t necessarily need to do anything: all that matters is that you check in with them regularly and report your progress.

Step 5: Be Prepared to Revise

I can often turn out a blog post in one draft plus a quick polish – and perhaps it’s the same for you. Short pieces of content may come out pretty-much-right the first time.

But long projects don’t work that way.

However much you plan, you’ll find that your first draft has missing sections – and repetitive bits. You might need to merge two chapters together, cut a third and add an entirely new fourth. You may cut out an entire lesson from your ecourse and weave it into the remaining lessons in little pieces.

Allow plenty of time for revision. Get feedback on your first or second draft, so you know what’s working and what needs fixing. You can get away with clumsy, confusing passages in a blog post – but your readers will demand higher quality in something they’ve paid for.

Are you stuck on a big project – or scared to get started? Let us know in the comments, and maybe we can help you get going!

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Post by Ali Luke

Ali is a writing coach who works with bloggers, novelists and copywriters to help them find their right size. She blogs at Aliventures and firmly believes a rich life feeds into great writing. Check out her mini-book on stronger blogging right here.

5 Blog-Building Lessons from Model Planes

Agent X — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:00:03 +0000

I had a crush on the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Looking back, the obsession may be attributed to attending Blue Angels air shows as a child. Or, perhaps a more practical reason was the cause – the jet looked really, really fast.

And like any obsessed seven-year-old boy, F-16 posters hung above my bed and I’d mastered the sound of the afterburner at full blast.

It wasn’t enough.

After mowing enough lawns and walking enough dogs, I finally saved enough cash to walk into the hobby shop and buy my own F-16 model plane kit. And back home with the model box cover propped upright, glue tubes ready for use, and a host of paint brushes and colors nearby, I was eager to transform the boring plastic pieces into the beautiful airplane seen on the box.

I learned many lessons while building that F-16, and they served me well when I began writing online. Building a blog is very much like building a model plane – and here are the top 5 lessons I’d like to share with you.

1. Use the kit made for you

In the hobby shop, I walked up and down the aisles searching for my precious F-16 Fighting Falcon. I quickly browsed each kit box for the name of the model, its scale, and the skill level required for assembly.

Skill Level 1 was the easiest — no painting or glue necessary; just pieces engineered to snap together.
At Skill Level 2, paint and glue were introduced — as were smaller parts, greater detail and waterslide-type decals.
Skill Level 3 kits were the most advanced — they were complex, there were extra parts, and each required elaborate assembly.

At the uber-confident age of seven, it was ridiculous to consider buying a Skill Level 3 kit. But Skill Level 2? Now that’s a reasonable challenge.

When you set up your blog, you’ll face a similar array of options for various skill levels. You’ll want to challenge yourself beyond the easiest one.

But be honest with yourself and don’t exceed your actual skills. Do you really know HTML or just enough to insert a line break? Are you better off customizing a generic, free design, or is it wise to consider a premium theme? Is it a better investment to outsource your blog design and SEO so you can use your free time to focus on your core aptitudes?

By going beyond your comfort zone without asking so much of yourself that you’ll get frustrated and angry when tasks turn out difficult, you’ll get a great blog set up that you can be proud of.

And the next time you want to redesign your blog, it’ll be an opportunity to challenge your skills just a little bit more.

2. The structure’s there for a reason

In any kit, hidden behind the glossy painted exterior, there’s an interior structure that you can’t see. And yet, it’s perhaps the most important part of the model.

The structure supports the model. It compensates for the weight of airplane wings or the curved tension in a car’s windshield.

It’s easy to get tempted into skipping the boring supports and move on to the sexier kit pieces (see Step #3), but that’s the quickest path to destruction.

Without structure, the sexy stuff collapses.

And the same goes for your blog.

The SEO, the keywords, the tags, the post categories, the descriptive headlines and subheads, the reliable hosting, the clean code — that’s the structure of your glossy blog.

Without a strong structure supporting your site, all the lens flares, dancing lights and link bait in the world won’t do a thing.

3. Don’t skip steps

In my seven-year-old mind, the quickest way to go from pile-of-random-plastic-pieces to inspirational model airplane meant skipping the boring stuff.

I didn’t care about the jet’s wheel supports, I wanted to put the decals on the wings. Screw the cockpit flight control panel – I was more interested in attaching the bombs.

And over two decades later, I still have that same problem every time the wife brings home an Ikea box. Surely I don’t need to follow all 47 steps to put the bookcase together. I’ll wing it after the first three and go from there.

I need a conscious reminder to go back to basics – to remove myself from the “I know everything” mentality, put on the virgin contact lenses, and start anew.

Because those boring steps exist for a reason. They’re building blocks for future success and sustainability.

How does this relate to your blog? Here are three examples:

Own your brand: There are a lot of free blog tools and publishing platforms — Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, Posterous, TypePad… the list goes on and on. But there are a few potential problems with these tools. What’s easier to remember — http://mynewblog.wordpress.com or www.mynewblog.com? Don’t you think it’s worth $10 to purchase a formal domain? It’s easy to remember and show your prospects that you’re serious, you mean business, and you don’t need a free publishing platform to get by. If you truly believe in your brand, invest in it. This isn’t a hobby anymore.
Edit: Doesn’t matter how urgent you think your post is, you must go through the editing process, preferably with somebody other than yourself. Edits aren’t criticisms, they’re clarifications and enhancements. I’m embarrassed — sometimes shocked — to sleep on a blog post only to read it the next morning and think “Sweet baby Jesus, to think I was actually going to publish with these mistakes.” Nothing erodes authority faster than spelling and grammatical errors. Take time to fix those. Oh, and while you’re at it, edit yourself, because if you’re like me, you’re a wordy writer.
Spend time on your headline: Two years ago, I wrote the headline “Valvoline, Yaz and Captain Crunch Walk Into a Bar” for a blog post on the value of targeted marketing. Horrible headline. It makes you cock your head and wonder, “Whaaa?”. It’s not promising, it’s not enticing, and it doesn’t allude to anything in the article. The only reason you’d click to read is because you’re curious about what kind of mess that headline would offer. If you’re rushing to create a headline so you can press “publish” on your post, step back, breathe, and come back to it when you’re ready to give it the attention it deserves.

4. Be patient

My impatience is my legacy. Unfortunate, but true.

Sitting at my parent’s kitchen table — a paint-stained, floral tablecloth upon it — I looked back and forth between the inspirational photo on the box and the dull grey plastic pieces in front of me.

Before the glue dried, I was already painting. Before the paint dried, I’d already picked up the model and was flying the jet around the living room.

Instead of a solid, crisp-looking model, I had a sloppy, flimsy hunk of plastic with smudged paint.

I had rushed the process. And wound up with a lot of remorse.

Have you ever had that feeling with your blog?

Launching your blog, a new promotion, or a new product is exciting event, but resist the urge to rush through it. You have a great idea — a new idea. Give it the attention it deserves.

I’ve rushed into a randomly-inspired, voluntary blog redesign at 4:00 p.m. only to see midnight roll around with a half-assed theme published, blog posts mislabeled, comment forms not functioning, and general anxiety in full force.

A simple calendar plan with day-by-day objectives for a blog redesign could have prevented all that strife. And that same type of patience and proactive planning is warranted for your blog launch too.

5. Show it off

As a kid, there was no greater joy than showing off my bedroom. It featured all my models hung with my mother’s sewing thread from the ceiling at a diving, banking, or climbing angle.

But after a week, the thread unraveled and the pins loosened. The child in me had opted for a quick method of showing off rather than going to the store for secure fishing line and ceiling hooks.

It’s easy to set up a link between your RSS feed and your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

But the easy way isn’t the best way of showing off.

Your blog shouldn’t be blindly blasted to your fans and followers. If you take the time and effort to give your blog more powerful, lasting ways of showing off, you’ll be more likely to earn new readers’ admiration.

A product, a business, a blog — they’re not overnight projects. They take a lot of time, dedication, and patience; they deserve a lot of time, dedication and patience.

What do you think? Did I miss any steps that have proved valuable to you? Take a minute to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Post by Ryan Barton

Ryan Barton is the author of "Smart Marketing" and he writes at The Smart Marketing Blog for Small Business Success; you can follow him on Twitter, where he shares entirely too much information. He wrote "Smart Marketing" to give small businesses insightful information and tangible marketing strategies to compete competitively with industry giants.

Twitter Background

Jeff Sarris — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:40:24 +0000

More info soon.

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Post by Jeff Sarris

Jeff Sarris is Men with Pen's resident crack coder who can make the impossible real, create miracles at the snap of his nimble fingers and sometimes even makes little girls cry. (It’s not his fault; he’s just that nice.) Follow @jeffSARRIS on Twitter.

How to Wrestle Deadlines and Win (Even When You Think You Can’t)

Agent X — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:00:17 +0000

You don’t get to be on big-name sites like Men with Pens, Copyblogger, Problogger and Daily Writing Tips by fluffing deadlines like some flaky moonlighter. And Ali Luke (yes, she’s back!) knows that very well.

Unfortunately, meeting deadlines is still a huge issue. Writers aren’t known for their planning and scheduling skills, after all – but nail deadlines, and you’ve turned yourself away from flaky and straight onto fantastically competent. (Keep reading to learn how.)

By the way, if you’ve become one of those deadline vigilantes who always gets work in on time, come share a secret or two in the comment section – or tell the story of the Deadline from Hell that made you swear never again.

Nasty creatures, deadlines. They creep up on you slowly but inexorably, a bit like zombies on the march.

And then they loom, larger and larger, until they’re blotting out all the light in your world.

By the time you realise that you have a monster in your world, it often seems like it’s too late to hit that deadline. You’re a writer, not a warrior! You just want to curl up under the duvet and pretend that deadline doesn’t exist at all.

Hey. Take heart. You can fight that deadline – and win.

Step 1: Spot Your Monster Early

Deadlines move at a constant rate. You can see them coming closer… and closer…. and closer. So when you realise that your deadline’s becoming a monster, do something.

Don’t turn your back. Don’t cross your fingers and hope for a last-minute miracle. Acknowledge that deadline. (Give it a little wave, if you like.) Let it know that you are in control.

How can you spot a monster deadline creeping up on you?

You thought the first draft would take ten hours. It’s taken twenty already – and you’re still not finished.
You wake up with a sinking feeling in your stomach when you think about how much work you still need to get done.
You find yourself procrastinating – chatting on Twitter, watching re-runs of The Simpsons, playing Flash games…
“Write mega-huge client project” keeps slipping down your to-do list.
You don’t have any slack in your schedule. And you know you need to write every single day to hit this deadline.

You’re looking that deadline square in the eyes. And you can feel the panic bubbling up…

Step 2: Win the Psychological War

It’s easy to lose perspective when you’re facing a nasty deadline – and especially when you panic. It’s almost impossible to write.

Take a deep breath.

Remind yourself that no deadline, however monstrous it may be, can kill your career. You’re a good writer. You’ve turned in great work before, and you can do it again.

To quell that sense of panic:

Ditch everything on your to-do list which isn’t urgent and essential. Your email inbox won’t implode, don’t worry. Just focus on the project at hand.
Write a quick outline if you don’t already have one. When you can see where you’re going, it’s easy to keep writing.
Tackle the easiest sections first – the ones where you’ve already done the research, where you have a good idea of what you’ll write.

Once you feel calmer, figure out how much time you have left. Deadlines creep closer every minute, so you need to keep up your momentum.

Step 3: Set a (Sane) Schedule

It’s Monday. You have five days to finish an ebook of 20,000 words. You have an outline, you’ve done all the research, but you’ve only written a paltry 500 words (and you’re pretty sure you’re going to scrap those).

Five days. 20,000 words. That’s an average of 4,000 words per day.

To create a sane schedule, do this:

Allow for some slack at the end. Aim to write 5,000 words every day so that you have Friday to catch up if necessary.
Write at your best time. For me, that’s in the morning. It could be afternoon or evening for you. Refuse to allow other commitments to sneak into your best writing time.
Work in short bursts – maybe 45-60 minutes – with breaks in between. Don’t plan to write for hours in a marathon.
Make sure you get some down time. Give yourself something to look forwards to mid-week – perhaps a movie or a meal out. You can afford to take a proper break, because if you don’t, you’re probably going to end up making silly mistakes that cost you more time.

If all that isn’t enough – if you can see there’s no way to beat that deadline – then move the goalposts.

Step 4: Get an Extension

Deadlines are rarely set in stone, and most clients or editors can be flexible if necessary.

However, this is a last resort. Flaking out on deadlines gives you a bad name, and while your clients may be accommodating the first time it happens, they’re not going to put up with a flaky writer for long.

To stay on the client’s good side:

Contact them promptly. Don’t leave it until the day of the deadline and then email to say you need more time.
Be polite. Don’t imply that it’s their fault the deadline was too ambitious. (Maybe it was, but as the contracted writer, you should have let them know that up front.)
Offer part of the work. Tell them what you can do, not what you can’t. For example, say you can have 15,000 words of the ebook completed by Friday.
Suggest a new and more realistic deadline that you’re confident you can meet. Give yourself a day or two more than you think you’ll need – you can always turn the work in early.

Deadline nightmares don’t need to keep you awake at night. You just need to deal with the situation now and make sure you stay well away from more monsters in future.

Step 5: Avoid Monster Deadlines – Forever

It’s not much fun wrestling a huge deadline – though it can be exhilarating when you win. Still, you want to make sure that monster never comes back, ever again.

When negotiating deadlines:

Allow more time than you think you’ll need. Life gets crazy sometimes – especially when you least expect it or during weeks when you need every minute of your writing time.
Plan to turn in work early. Set yourself a personal deadline that’s a few days ahead of the real one. That way, you’ll feel calm and in control, and you can cope with last-minute problems.
Set milestones and agree on deliverables. That way, you’ll get started early (rather than leaving the whole project till the last minute), and if the client wants a slight change in direction, they’ll let you know sooner rather than later.

So – over to you. I’m sure you have plenty of thoughts on deadlines – and some horror stories to share. Comment away!

Ali Luke is the go-to gal for all things blogging. Check out her newest ebook, The Blogger’s Guide to Freelancing. It’ll teach you everything you need to know to be an awesome on-time, on-demand blogger they’ll love.

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Post by Ali Hale

Ali Hale is the go-to gal for all things blogging. Check out her newest ebook, The Blogger's Guide to Freelancing. It'll teach you everything you need to know to be an awesome on-time, on-demand blogger they'll love.