If you’ve ever heard of social media described as a party, you probably know it’s one you don’t want to miss out on. But what do you do when the party people aren’t inviting brands?

Companies face unique challenges in the social media realm for one simple reason: people are loyal to people. That human connection we all crave online tends to get lost and diluted when you’re a brand made up of countless faces.

So how do you harness the power of “one” to build a loyal following online? Check out my 5 basic tips for being more likeable over at The Brief, where I guest blogged last week.

And tell me, are there any tips you would add to the mix?

 photo credit: @NickyColman

Contrary to what my lack of blogging would hint at, this summer was quite crazy. The fact that we’re almost in September is blowing my mind at the moment, and I feel like I’m just now looking up from my desk and going, “Wait. It was summer? When did this happen?”

I have several friends who are teachers, and around this time of year there’s this exciting back-to-school energy full of newness and promises of great accomplishments ahead. I may not be a student or a teacher, but I can use some of that energy. So I present you with…

Shiny new changes that happened over the summer with Inky Clean:

I have a new FAQs page for all your burning questions about what it’s like to work with a copywriter, how I quote projects to fit your budget, what type of writing I specialize in, and more.

You wouldn’t believe how many people ask me how I came up with my company name. Usually they follow this up with, “Can you come up with a name for my company, too?” So I’ve been very busy with name development projects lately, helping entrepreneurs find the perfect name for their new start-up or service. I’ve updated my services page to reflect this, and am taking on a limited number of naming projects every month. Need a moniker for your new business or for a rebranding? Contact me about name development.

If you’ve ever read my fiction blog, you’ll know this next new service is very dear to my heart. I love a good story. I love telling stories and I love helping people tell their stories. Over the years, I’ve edited novels, short stories, non-fiction book proposals and feature articles, and have helped my clients grow as writers. I’m now officially offering two developmental editing services for writers of book-length works, which you can read about on my new page For Writers.

And finally, I’ve updated my portfolio with writing I’ve done for print and online magazines. My new Features page highlights some of my favorite articles and essays, along with behind-the-page tidbits about the writing process. If you’re an editor in need of a features writer, take a look and also check out my Mediabistro profile to learn more about my reporting experience.

So that’s what new around these parts. What’s new with you?

Naming a business is so much more complex than picking a name that sounds nice.

You have your brand to think about: how do you want it to be perceived today and in the future? How can you pick a name that your business can grow with, not out of?

There’s domain availability to consider, and also how the name looks and sounds.

And then of course there’s the question of ownership: Once you’ve decided on the perfect name, how can you trademark it so it’s all yours?

These are just a few of the issues I discussed in my guest post over at Deliberate Ink. How to Get a Great Business Name and Own It is a detailed list of Do’s and Don’ts for anyone in the process of naming or renaming their business. If you’ve already been using a name, but haven’t gotten it trademarked, I have a few tips for you, too. (The main one being, “Do it ASAP!”)

Because the best thing about having a great name is getting to keep it.

Yes, I know. For a lot of people, Twitter’s not that big of a deal. But for me, it is. It’s how I grew my business when I relaunched, rebranded, and relocated to a new state. It’s how I keep in touch with virtual colleagues and keep up-to-date on industry news and even make new friends. And for just a little over a year, it’s a place where I’ve been know as @InkyClean.

And here I am about to change that.

A lot of things have led up to this. For one, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of Twitter, and more than anything it’s a place where I connect with other people. The business relationships and the promotion of Inky Clean all come secondary to the real relationships I’ve made. I don’t log on every day to link to my latest blog post, but I do log on every day to check and see how my “tweeps” are doing. Twitter’s a place where I feel I can let my guard down a bit; it’s a place for honesty and genuineness, and for me, the next step in that sincerity is to just use my own name.

Secondly, as much work as I’ve put into Inky Clean, it’s not the only thing I do, nor is it the only thing that defines me. I’m not just a copywriter—I’m an aspiring novelist, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer addict, a nostalgic gamer who occassionally plays Donkey Kong Country on an old-school Super NES, a dog owner, an occasionally moody (but always lovable) wife, a little sister, a Miami transplant living in Austin…the list goes on and on. All of these things, including my company, fall into the very complex and often geeky umbrella that is me.

Third, I want people to know me for me. A year ago when I started this Twitter account, my goal was to develop Inky Clean as a strong, memorable brand. And I think I’ve done that maybe too well (on Twitter, at least) because sometimes, once the online networking goes offline, people will call me by company name and not my actual name. And I love that it sticks, I love that they remember it, but I want my company to be something people remember about me, not all they remember.

So maybe it’s time for me to develop my personal brand just like I developed my business brand. And it’s very possible to develop both at once. It doesn’t mean I’ll be neglecting my business brand (and—let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture here—a brand is much, much, much more than a Twitter handle). If anything, I’ll be working harder to make sure that my business is one of the great things people think of when they think of me. But just one of the things, among many.

Because we are all so very many things.

Do you keep your business and personal brand separate? Why or why not?

I used to play volleyball in high school, and I’ll never forget how my coach taught me to strengthen my overhead serve. It was a simple tactic:

Follow through.

He used to say that if I stopped swinging my arm once it hit the ball, then the power behind it would stop, too. If I kept my arm swinging, even after that initial contact, even after the ball was no longer in my hands, the energy I used in that swing would transfer more powerfully into the serve.

Serving up a Strong Brand

In branding, the follow-through is important because getting the ball in the air isn’t enough. It needs to have enough power that it lands in the right place.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a theme for my new fiction blog. It was supposed to be an easy to customize theme, with endless opportunities to get creative with it. The company did a great job with their branding in this case: their copy clearly explained the ease of using the theme, it placed heavy emphasis on the forums and tutorials in case I had any questions, and they gave off a friendly, very creative and extremely helpful attitude. They used words that highlighted that the user would be “in control” and that the theme was “flexible” enough to give customers the results they wanted. Best of all, they offered a money back guarantee.

Up In the Air

Since this theme sounded sounded like everything I needed, I gladly paid the fee and started playing around with it. Score 1 for their branding, right?

Not so fast. Deduct a point for the fact that I didn’t find the product very easy to use at all. But maybe that was just my fault, right? Maybe all the answers I was looking for could be found in the tutorials and forums like they said they would be. So I looked, and found the whole section to be overwhelming, difficult to navigate, and not as resourceful as they’d promised. Basically, they were back to zero.

After several days of trying to figure this out, and realizing that maybe their product wasn’t a good fit for me, I tried requesting my money back. Nowhere on the site did they explain how one would go about doing this, so finally I used their contact form and requested it. (So much for easy to use, right?)

The next day I got an email saying that they’d received my request, but had I tried their forums yet? Had I browsed their tutorials and asked the community? If after doing this, I still wanted my refund, they could process it, they said.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t waste time asking for something unless I know I want it. I don’t spend 10-15 minutes on someone’s website trying to figure out how to request a refund if I haven’t entirely made up my mind about the decision.

So I kindly responded that yes, I’d done all these things, and while I thought their product seemed like a great option for someone with different needs and experiences, it wasn’t a good fit for me.

Minutes later, I got a response with one line:

We will process your refund

No, “Thanks for trying our product.” No, “Sure, that won’t be a problem.” Not even a period at the end of that sentence.

If my perception of them had been shaky before, with that one line it completely crashed. The whole friendly, helpful, and flexible image of them as a company vanished.

If this had been a volleyball serve, it would’ve landed on the wrong side of the court with a big thud. They had been happy to try and charm me up until the point I bought their product, but after, there was absolutely no follow-through. The customer experience didn’t live up to the hype.

The lesson? Don’t build a brand if you’re not prepared to make it a reality. Don’t get the ball in the air if you don’t have enough strength in the swing to get it over the net.

What are the steps you take to ensure your brand is consistently strong from start to finish?

Photo credit: (cc) Scarleth White

I’ve been noticing one word keeps popping up to describe how marketers should make their audience feel: charmed.

Charming someone is far more powerful than leaving a good impression. A person who’s charmed by you won’t stop thinking about you after you’ve met. They’ll smile when your name comes up, and want to gush to their friends about how great you are. They’ll hope that your initial encounter will turn into something much more long-term.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? So how exactly do you go about doing this?

Think of it like a great first date

1. The first impression sets the tone: Get yourself dolled up, stand up straight, and speak with confidence. In other words, present yourself in the best possible light. You can’t fake a great web presence (just like you can’t fake a good suit) so make sure your web design is appealing to the eyes (cleanliness, please!), your web copy has strong headlines, and your site is easy enough to navigate that it makes for a pleasing experience. Also, get rid of anything that oozes cheesiness—flashy graphics, taglines that rhyme for no other reason than to sound “clever,” and auto-music are huge signs that you’re trying too hard.

2. Sincerity works wonders: Don’t you hate it when people give dating advice like “just be yourself”? Well, it’s true. You won’t get matched up with your right audience if you’re not putting the real you out there. Be honest about your product or service and you’ll build an invaluable trust with your customers. That trust—in the quality of what you’re offering, the quality of your service, and the promises that you make—is the only thing that’ll stop them from leaving the second someone else claims to be #1.

3. Talking about yourself is still a turn-off: Nobody wants to sit through dinner with someone who won’t stop bragging about themselves. The same goes for your marketing copy: It can’t be all about you. If you’ve won awards or Mashable called your startup the next big thing, share it in places where it’s relevant. Your About page, Press Page, a sidebar or even (briefly) on your homepage are all good places as long as they’re not taking the focus away from the main point: What can you do for your customers? Which brings us to number four…

4. You gotta think about their needs: Be a good listener and be considerate of their needs. That’s usually enough to get you a second date. Before you write any marketing copy, listen to your target audience and its needs. Keep them in mind at all times: What are they looking for in a product like yours? What problem do they have that you might not be aware of? How can you make their life easier?

5. Nobody likes a bland date: You could have all of the above and still not charm anyone if you don’t show some personality. Step outside of the misleading safe zone formed by boring, “let’s please everyone” branding and make a real statement. It might not charm everyone, but it won’t matter as long as you’re charming the right people.

photo credit: chibi_m

Remember that novel I talked about a few months back? I recently completed the final draft (insert huge sigh of relief here). I’m lucky to have had an amazing group of writers who critiqued the manuscript throughout its numerous versions and offered some solid feedback that helped me improve it along the way.

When you’ve been in writing groups long enough, you start to notice recurring questions that readers ask to determine the strength of the work. Some are questions we ask subconsciously as we read, others are questions we ask out loud to get a discussion going. And while my book is a work of fiction, I’ve found these questions also apply to copywriting.

Next time you’re getting ready to edit your own copy, take a cue from my writer’s groups and ask yourself these questions:

Do the characters feel real? Before you say, “My copy doesn’t have a character,” think again. Your company’s persona and brand are the main characters in the story you’re telling. They’re essential to making your message something people will connect with. Take a moment to study the impressions you’re putting out into the world. If you want customers to trust your brand, it absolutely has to be authentic and sincere.

Do the characters have a distinctive voice? In fiction, one of the signs of great dialogue is that you know who’s speaking even if the writer doesn’t tell you. A writer who pulls this off is creating a bond between the reader and the character—the reader feels like they really know this person (similar to how they know a close friend). Does your copy have a unique voice? Is it true to your company culture and what it stands for?

Is this action justified? Characters in novels do crazy things. Sometimes they’re justified because they seem like something the person would do. Sometimes they’re so out of left field that readers start thinking, “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”

What ends up happening is that this disconnect chips away at the authenticity of the character. To make sure this doesn’thappen to your brand, it’s important to be consistent. Your brand should align with your message, but so should your actions. So let’s say you have a product that’s meant to help simplify people’s lives. But your copy makes it difficult for them to find the information they’re looking for, check-out is an eight-step process, and returning the product is an even bigger hassle. If the experience doesn’t live up to the promise, people will simply stop buying into it.

Think about the things that draw you into a good book. How can these elements be translated to help your copy?

photo credit: doctor paradox

I know, I know. The whole “Lessons from [insert trending topic here]” thing can get kind of annoying. Just be thankful I didn’t make this a “Lessons from the Gap Logo Fiasco” post. I was thisclose to writing one.

I went to see The Social Network this weekend. Parts of it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside even though they weren’t meant to. I have this thing for seeing old screenshots of popular websites, and seeing shots of Facebook as “TheFacebook.com” took me back to my sophomore year of college at the University of Miami.

Is it weird that I still remember where I was when I first heard of the site that would change the way we experience each others’ lives? I was standing in the school’s breezeway interviewing a source for an article for the student paper. Somehow it came up as a “site that lets you see what other students’ schedules are.” Weird, but okay. I created a profile. I got friend requests from students whom I’d never even spoken to in class before. You know the rest of the story.

The World Got Onboard for the Ride

But that little cusp, that time when people were jumping on the Facebook bandwagon with no clear idea of where it was headed, is beautifully depicted in the movie. There’s a scene where Zuckerburg’s CFO is anxious to find a way to monetize the site now that it’s reached 100,000 users. He wants to set up meetings with advertisers.

In the movie (because who knows what happened in real life), Zuckerburg tells him that they can’t do that yet. They can’t start making it a business because they don’t know what Facebook is going to be yet. Users don’t know what it’s going to be yet. All everyone knows is that it’s cool, and that’s why they’re joining. The site’s “cool” is the greatest thing they’ve got going for them.

What’s your Cool?

We don’t all have the luxury of waiting like Zuckerburg did to become a billionaire. But we all have to keep our cool. That thing that drives people to your business, that makes them be loyal to you and keeps them coming back. The thing that makes them feel like they’re getting something out of the experience, instead of the other way around.

Movie Zuckerburg didn’t want people coming to Facebook and being bombarded with ads because this would change their message from “Facebook is about you” to “Facebook is about how we can profit from you.” Before the company could start making money, they needed to define what their users would get out of it, and how to keep giving them that.

It’s Not that Making Money’s Not Cool…

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t advertise on your website. I’m not saying that trying to make money from your business is bad. I’m not even saying you have to be cool. Maybe that’s not your brand’s style (maybe it’s more of a friendly smarty-pants or a nurturing mother type).

I’m just saying to guard your cool above all else. The cool is hard to define because it’s an essence. It’s that feeling people get when they realize that a product or a service is going to change their lives in a way they’ve been waiting for. It’s the satisfaction they get when this promise is delivered.

It’s the only thing that will keep them coming back to you. The only thing that will keep money in your pocket and you in business.

And it’s not at all about you.

So, what’s your cool? And, more importantly, is it showing?

So many wonderful things happen when you let yourself take a vacation, like I did last week. You might find that the world actually does not come crumbling down if you deactivate the email accounts on your Blackberry (I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s true!). You might experience moments that leave you speechless or on the brink of tears, like when I saw the Grand Canyon or heard the first opening notes of The Phantom of the Opera.

Or, after having carefully planned your wardrobe for the entire week but choosing your bummiest outfit for a 5:30 a.m. flight home, you might run into Tim Gunn at a Las Vegas hotel. You can’t take a picture with Tim Gunn in a wrinkled sweater, white/beige T-shirt, baggy jeans and crazy hair. At least I can’t, but I’ll pretend that the real reason I didn’t walk up to him was because he was talking to someone.

Anywho…Here’s where this is going:

Some bad things can happen upon your return from said vacation. Like forgetting how to use your fingers to push those pretty buttons on your computer and make words with them (oh yes, it’s called typing!) or forgetting the right words for things. Or, after spending a long period of time trying to take a break from what it is you do for a living, you suddenly forget how to eloquently describe your job.

The simple question with the Not-so-simple Answer

The night after I got back from vacation, I went to an art gallery for the opening reception of my husband’s photography teacher’s exhibit. As we made small talk with some of his classmates, one of them turned to me and said:

So what do you do for a living?

This is one of those questions that’s always tough for me to answer in social, non-business settings. Do I say, “I’m a writer” or that I own my own copywriting business? Or do I simply say I’m a copywriter, which usually gets followed by the “Yes, but who do you work for” question.

But online—on my website, my Twitter stream, Facebook page, blog—what I do should be pretty clear to anyone that visits, right? I was pretty sure of this until I started catching up on my Google Reader feed and came across this post by IttyBiz. She asks an important question:

How many of YOUR readers don’t really understand your business?

Then she asks us to answer the following questions in a blog post. The point is to make sure you’re clearly communicating what you do to your readers. Seeing as how my brain is still getting reacquainted with work (seriously, it just took me like five tries to write reacquainted) I’m more than happy to let someone else think of a blog topic for me.

So I’ll play. Here goes.

What I Do:

What’s your game? What do you do?

I help businesses get their message across with the written word. This sounds simple but rarely is. Anyone who’s ever started a business knows there is an endless amount of material that needs to be written—from the web copy that needs to capture your brand perfectly, to the ad you’re spending a small fortune on, to the words that will ultimately end up on your product’s packaging. All of these communications need to be consistent with the company’s brand and messaging, so I find the right words and write copy that will speak to the intended audience. Copywriting isn’t just about getting something written. It’s about getting the right message across with those words. I make sure we’re doing that.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

I love it. I surprise myself with how much I love it. Back when I was mainly writing for magazines I thought writing marketing copy would stifle my creativity. But there’s nothing more creative than having to find the perfect combination of three to five words (out of what? Millions?) for a company’s tagline or slipping into a voice that lets you say something in a completely new way.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

My customers are business owners who aren’t afraid to get creative with their messaging (or who are at least willing to let me do it for them). They don’t want boring, overused, corporatese and they don’t want to say things in the same way that a thousand other companies are saying them. They embrace the idea of showing some personality in their branding because they understand that this is what will make them stand out.

One thing I’ve noticed a lot of my customers say to me is “I’m not good with words.” That’s perfectly fine. They’re great at what they do, at whatever skill makes up their business, and they understand the importance of hiring someone who IS great with words so that they can keep working their kind of magic.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

Because I don’t just focus on the words, I focus on a company’s brand. The words should give that brand a voice and help it come alive and be memorable. So I make sure that the copy I write is full of personality and says more than the words do. There are multiple messages being sent in a company’s copy. There’s the actual statement that’s being made, and there’s the impression that those words will leave long after a person’s forgotten what they read.

I make sure that impression is consistent with a company’s brand; that’s it’s the impression they’re hoping to make. All companies should seize the opportunity to let their personality show in big or small ways. Maybe they’re charming, or witty, or smart-asses, or wholesome goody-goodies—but they have to be something that will stick in their target audiences’ minds.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

My main focus right now is growing my business according to my definition of growth. So it’s not just about bringing in tons of clients, but rather finding the clients I totally click with, and working with them long-term. I’m lucky that I have several regular clients who I’m able to grow and adapt with as their business develops, and I’m hoping to make that kind of connection with a few more.

And, I know this is random, but you know what I would absolutely love to write? The copy for a museum exhibit, preferably a children’s museum. Have you ever thought about how much information has to get reduced and simplified so that it can fit on those small plastic plaques that people walk by? That’s a challenge I’d totally be up for: getting the important stuff across in a way that’s fun and concise so that people read it and actually learn something they won’t forget.

So there you have it. What I do. Sound like something you need? Contact me and we’ll start up a brainstorm. I promise my brain’s working now. It better be after this 1200-word post.

And if reading these questions has made you give another think to whether your readers know what you do, why not blog about it like I did? Or better yet, leave a little something in the comments below!

Two months ago, starting an email newsletter had, quite frankly, not even entered my mind. I know how ridiculous that sounds considering I write email newsletters for my clients, but for me it was always one of those things I’d decided I’d do…eventually.

So you can imagine my surprise when I signed up for a Personalized Twitter Strategy session with Marian Schembari and she basically said: You really should start a newsletter. I’m not one to argue with Marian (the girl knows her stuff), so I agreed to start a newsletter…eventually. I procrastinated by implementing every other suggestion she’d made about how I could engage more people on Twitter until finally the inevitable was staring me in the face. I’d resisted because I’d thought starting a newsletter would be a huge time-suck. There was the question of what to focus it on, what to call it, how often to send it out, what software to manage it with.

The not-so-simple process of getting started

When I finally got around to the newsletter, I took what I thought would be baby steps. I signed up for MailChimp and started poking my nose around. Then I dove (or maybe fell) head-first into what became quite the branding endeavor.

When MailChimp said, “Hey! You can create your own header for your newsletter” I went and got my logo and the newsletter name (Wordy Goodness) and meshed them into a pretty little graphic that would be on top of each newsletter.

When they said, “Here’s the link to your signup form!” I rewrote the copy they’d provided in each template. I could have just stuck with “To confirm your subscription, please click the link we just sent to your email” but that just didn’t sound like me. I rewrote (as much as they’d let me) of the copy on the unsubscribe form, even though I’m hoping not many people will click on that. I made sure the fonts and colors on each form matched the ones I’d been using on my site.

The YOU Filter

I was feeling pretty happy with myself. Getting started with my email newsletter even gave me an idea for a blog post about how we should seize every little opportunity to brand our business. If the signup form for your email newsletter supplies you with some generic copy, don’t settle for it. If you have to write a “Please do not disturb” sign outside your office, who says you have to use those words? And if someone stumbles upon a page that no longer exists on your site, why not find a way to tell them that other than “This page no longer exists”?

Let your voice pop up and charm customers with your unique personality in the most unexpected places—they’ll remember you for it. Before you do or say anything, pass it through the “You Filter.” Let your brand filter out all the generic gunk that’s floating about. Serve up a cup full of freshly brewed, customized goodness that says you know who you are and can’t help but show it.

So that’s what this blog post was supposed to be about. Until I pulled up my blog on my browser to start writing it.

Every last drop counts

You see, if you’ve ever been to the Inky Clean website, you’ll realize it doesn’t even look like a distant relative of this blog. *Update: The blog has since been redesigned (yay!), but here’s what it used to look like:

That’s because at the time I designed my website, I didn’t know enough about WordPress to make this blog match. So I picked the most unoffensive-looking free template I could find and left it at that. The result is that when you go from my site to this blog there is no brand continuity whatsoever. It basically goes from bubbly and fun to blah. Meh. Eh.

Not very memorable at all.

So there I was with this newsletter coming up in September, ready to send writing tips, special offers, links to this blog and Inky Clean’s latest news to subscribers. And I thought, if I worked so hard to brand the newsletter, why would I send people to this blog where the branding falls flat?

It was clearly time to keep filtering until every last drop had passed through my “You Filter” (or my Me Filter, or my Inky Clean filter, or…you get the point). So I went and hired someone to create a custom WordPress template for this blog that’ll match the Inky Clean site. I couldn’t be more excited about it, and I’m hoping that in the next few days the makeover will be complete.

I’ll make sure to let you know when it is (though hopefully, it’ll be pretty obvious). In the meantime, you can always sign up for my newsletter. Let me know what you think about the forms