4 Tips to Overcome Writer's Block

The irony of writing this post is that I’m experiencing writer’s block at this very moment. I know what I want to write about, but I can’t seem to find the words to get started.

All professional writers experience this during their career, and most will experience it regularly. Sometimes it’s more challenging to write for certain clients, topics, and industries than it is to write for others. These are my 4 tips for beating writer’s block:

1. Do Your Homework. It’s easier for me to write when I have a plethora of information at my fingertips to source and draw inspiration from. The more I research and the better informed I am, the more likely it is that I’ll be able to write.
2. Get Organized. I habitually list the key details of each thing I write in the header so I can refer back to them while I’m working. Usually I put what I’m writing for (publication, website copy, advertorial, etc.), who my target audience is, and what my deadline is. If I get stuck with on a paragraph or particular word choice, I refer back to the basics – who, what and where – to spark creativity, keep me on message and ensure I meet the purpose of the piece.
3. Write Out of Order. The more seasoned I become, the more I rely on this strategy. As a young, obsessively organized writer, it felt wrong to write a body paragraph prior to the introduction. But by starting with something that’s easy to write, I quickly find my voice and rhythm. As I continue to develop my writing skills, I see this can be a very valuable way to circumvent writer’s block and create a powerful introduction that aligns with the meat of my work. One note on this tactic, I find it’s most effective when I am following an outline so I don’t go off on tangents. 
4. Write Something Else. In the agency world, there is always something else that needs to be done and I would often complete unrelated tasks to “warm up” for a large writing project. At worst, this means cleaning my office and organizing my desk, but at best this means editing something I’d previously written, responding to emails, coordinating logistics, or even writing an easy press release or pitch. Of course, it’s not always feasible to employ this strategy due to deadlines or workload, and there is a very fine line between writing something else and procrastinating.

3 Tips for LinkedIn Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations aren't likely to make or break a career opportunity for you; however, the professional networking site is without a doubt a resource for people who are considering job applicants. With that in mind, my philosophy is to take advantage of every avenue available to make a great and lasting impression - including requesting LinkedIn recommendations from colleagues, coworker and clients.

Here are the three tips I follow when I'm requesting recommendations:

1. Be Timely - The best time to ask for a recommendation from someone is when your work is top of mind, this goes for digital and print mediums. As soon as you know someone's happy with the project you completed, reach out via phone, email, or LinkedIn's "Ask for recommendations" tab. Being that some people don't often check their LinkedIn account and the email they receive alerts on may be different from the one they check regularly, it doesn't hurt to request the LinkedIn recommendation via phone or email and follow up with a request through LinkedIn itself.
2. Request Strategical Recommendations - Plan your recommendation requests to showcase the range of your work. Ideally, you'll garner a couple of solid recommendations for each of your areas of expertise. If you have 'holes' focus on requesting recommendations that will speak to your strengths in those areas.
3. Manage Your Recommendations - Now that LinkedIn lets us rank our recommendations, make sure you put your best ones front and center. Just like with a digital portfolio, you want to showcase the skills that you are focusing your career on with the best possible recommendations.

Good luck!

5 Invaluable Lessons from Bad Bosses

Most articles about bad bosses say that the best thing you can learn from them is how not to manage employees. Can't disagree with that.

Aside from that, there are other things you can learn from a bad boss that you can't learn from a good boss.

Tim Sackett wrote a post about some of them here at TLNT. Here's what he says:

Working at really great companies gives you an opportunity to work in "Utopia"-you get to see how things are supposed to work, how people are supposed to work, how in a perfect world it all fits together.

The reality is we don't work in "Utopia" (at least the majority of us don't). We work in organizations that are less than perfect, and some of us actually work in downright horrible companies. Those who work in horrible companies and survive tend to be better hires—they have battle scars and street smarts."

5 things you can learn

In a New York Times interview with Mark B. Templeton, president and CEO of Citrix, he talks about what he looks for in job candidates.

"I look for scars. You can call it wisdom, you can call it experience, or the things that went wrong in your life. That's where I think knowledge turns into wisdom. A lot of people will have facts and information. I'm looking for wisdom, and wisdom ends up being a measure of scars, and things that went wrong and what you did about them and how they shaped you as a person and your beliefs."

So, here are the five things you can learn from a bad boss:

1. You must do your best work—always. You don't have room for error—ever. You learn to check everything four, five, six, even seven times. You know that the penalty for screwing up is not pleasant. It's the stick versus the carrot, and you learn it quickly.

2. You learn how to be creative. You don't have enough time or information to do your job. You don't ask for help from your boss. You learn to "make do." You learn how to innovate and how to use your investigative skills to gather information any way you can. You learn that 80 percent of the information available is enough.

3. You learn how to protect yourself. You learn how to fly under the radar as much as possible. At the same time, you learn how to play politics, and you realize that you have no one to "watch your back." Your boss will not support you; he or she may join the others ready to have your head if you screw up. Be nice to his or her allies and friends—and walk the other way when you see his or her enemies.

4. You learn how to "read" people and situations. You learn to recognize your boss's moods—the good, bad, and the ugly—and to adjust your behavior accordingly. You learn to do the same in meetings with them. By correctly reading his or her moods, you are less likely to step on a landmine or trigger a temper tantrum. This ability to read situations actually turns out to be an asset in the long term. It will serve you well in your career to be able to read co-workers and situations and know how to work with people.

5. You learn the value of having close working relationships. Many times you form close relationships with your colleagues. You look out for help and commiserate with each other. Because of your shared experience, many of these relationships endure throughout your career. It's like having been a Marine. Semper fi.

Learning in spite of the abuse

OK, before you get all huffy and mutter, "She's crazy," let me say that I am absolutely not recommending that you seek out bad bosses so you can gain this knowledge. But if you happen to find yourself in this situation, understand that it is a personal decision as to whether you stay or go.

Ask yourself, "Are there enough positives and opportunities in this job/company that are worth my staying?" If not, leave.

If yes, tell yourself you are choosing to do this for now, and if you ever decide you can't take it any longer, then you can leave. You need to know yourself well enough to recognize when that time comes. You certainly don't want to stay until they carry you out of your office on a stretcher!

Remember the people who continued to work for Steve Jobs after he verbally abused them? There were many who left—but there were many others who chose to stay because they were learning something in spite of the abuse.

HR might not understand that reasoning, but it was their choice. Apparently it worked for them.

Paul Schoemaker once said, "The school of hard knocks is a great teacher, even if the tuition is very high, precisely because the lessons make such a deep imprint."Jacque Vilet, president of Vilet International, has more than 20 years of experience in international human resources. A version of this article first appeared on TLNT.

Taken from: Ragan.com  

5 Ways Small Businesses Can Boost Their Google Analytics

There has been a lot of talk about how Google's Hummingbird algorithm had changed Google Analytics over the last several months.  I can find a lot of high level conversations between industry gurus, but there hasn't been a whole lot of basic nuts and bolts that is easily understood by laypeople.  In fact, a friend of mine asked me just the other day if I could explain SEO and Google Analytics.

So what does Hummingbird mean to small businesses?  Hopefully not a whole lot if you're engaging in above the table, white hat SEO.  Hummingbird is meant to reward user-friendly, frequently visited websites.  How do you ensure your website meets those criteria?

1. Write engaging, helpful content that your readers can easily comprehend.  Regular Joes don't speak in tech-talk, they don't understand industry-specific acronyms, and they certainly can't handle pages with solid blocks of text.
2. Make sure your website structure makes sense.  Think about your website from a user's perspective.  What will they search to find each page?  From the landing pages, what questions will they have, and how can you provide clear links to that information? 
3. Links should go to pages, not photos, whenever possible.
4. Draft a strong call to action (CTA) on every page so that prospective clients know what you want them to do and how they should do it.
5. Put articles and white papers about your subject matter on your website.  It's better when you commission these documents yourself so they angle the products and services you want them to, but third party content will serve your purpose.  Customers trust white papers more than any other type of content.  If you position yourself in the same line as "unbiased" professionals, you're more likely to sway the masses.

Find The Right Voice For Your Brand

As a millennial, I have been crafting my image on social media for longer than I've been of legal US drinking age.  Finding the right voice for a brand comes relatively easily for me, and there are a couple of things you think about to help you find the right voice for your brand.

1. Define your target audience - Are you talking to men, women, children, or a combination of all three?  Do you want your brand to appeal to males, females or both?  Do you want to target people in a specific geographic location?
2. Set your tone - Are you having a serious conversation or is your brand lighthearted?  Even if you're dealing with sensitive or professional issues, it's good to try to lighten the mood in a tasteful and appropriate way when you can.
3. Provide value - fans of your brand do not want to hear you talk about how great you are on your social media platforms just like you don't want to hear your friends brag about how great they are.  If you think you might be getting annoying, take a step back and evaluate your brand.  Are you posting interesting, relevant industry information?  Useful tips?  Short cuts?  How To videos?  Make your social media platforms a place that your target audience wants to go.
4. Treat your fans like friends - No, you should not (in most cases) offer to take your social media followers out to happy hour.  But you should talk to them in the same way that you'd talk to your friends, in an authentic and genuine way.  
5. Be consistent - all of your posts should sound like they are coming from the same person... the persona of your brand!  You want your fans to know what to expect when they come to your social media platforms so be sure that your team knows the brand's voice so everyone is working toward the same cause.  

If you follow these five steps you'll be well on your way to creating a voice that reflects the personality and values of your brand that will help drive engagement with your fans.

Social Media Really Is Like Kindergarten

I wish I knew the original source of Everything I Know About Social Media I Learned In Kindergarten.  This is not a new concept, and I did a lot of digging before I settled on a link to share.

This is the best list I could find:

All I Needed To Know About Social Media I Learned In Kindergarten: 15 Social Media Tips