Last year J.D. Roth’s keynote speech was about the importance of story. Donna Freedman agrees that this is vital. But she thinks that unless you can tell that story in a compelling way, nobody’s going to read it.
A good blog post needs voice.
“Voice” means being able to hear the writer while you are reading him or her. i.e. writing style that not only keeps the reader going until the end, but also makes him/her bookmark the site.
Other things this session will touch on:
Donna will also include some examples from blogs that she thinks contain genuine voice – some of it fairly straightforward (but compelling) stuff and some of it what she calls “stylistic backflip” writing (but only examples that actually work).
This talk will compare some of the characteristics wildly popular social movements, celebrities, bands, TV shows, and yes, even blogs that seem to grow organically and almost accidentally, while the creator humbly goes about just doing what they love most.
People are naturally attracted to certain social situations. Places where they feel they belong, where they feel powerful, where they feel unique and distinct from the rest of the population, and where there is a strong leader that they can relate to. These characteristics seem to be what create cult followings - Greatful Dead (deadheads), Phish (Phish-heads), and even followers of the world’s major religions and also more wacky things like the cults of the 1970s and 80s.
By understanding the idea of building your blog as more than just a source of information - but as almost an entire identity for readers, you can create a more engaging reading experience for them (leading to more loyalty), and a more engaging writing experience for yourself (leading to more motivation). As a side effect, it can create runaway popularity with no need for self-promotion.
A great headline can generate thousands of clicks even for the most mundane of articles. More importantly, a lousy headline can torpedo an outstanding post and keep it from ever getting off the ground.
Check out these tips for writing great headlines, and real-life examples of good -- and bad -- headlines from the financial blogosphere and elsewhere. We'll have a little audience participation in headline writing.
Len Penzo will talk about the role SEO plays in writing headlines. He will also extend a little bit into how to grab eye-catching tweets -- although that will be a small aside.
A fun time will be had by all!
The Yakezie network is the largest financial blogger network on the web.
This session will explore:
Bleeding-edge content can define you as an expert in your niche. Become an authority in your field by predicting trends using everyday tools. Learn how to define your audience, dive into your analytics, and develop authentic content to drive traffic to your website.
Takeaways:
Many bloggers have no professional training in how to write OR in how to edit a team of freelance writers. This session will show bloggers how to craft great stories, touching on both the technical (grammar, syntax, structure) as well as the art (theme, narrative arc).
It will also teach bloggers how to edit the work submitted by the freelance writers that they hire. Regardless of whether your freelancer is a top-notch writer or a beginner, the fundamentals in editing a story are the same. Blog owners need to know 1) how to give a clear, detailed freelance assignment; 2) how to quickly edit material; 3) how to give their freelancer writers feedback and direction.
