Cat's Eye Writer

5 'Twitter Teasers' That Get More Click-throughs for Your Old Blog Posts

When a post moves off your blog's home page—no matter how spectacular it was—it stops getting visitors.

What if it happened to be  a post you were particularly proud of? But maybe all your readers were on vacation the week it came out. Or you wrote it just one month after you started blogging, so only three people read it.

And one of them was your mother.

Attract new readers to your old blog posts with social media 'teasers'

You can use Twitter and Facebook to bring new life to old posts if you package them up in irresistible teasers. Every reader you entice through a teaser, with a link to a past post, is a potential new subscriber. At the very least, if she likes what she sees, she'll stick around and dig deeper into your site.

Because you have intrigued her.

Your problem, though, is that on Twitter and Facebook, everyone is promoting their blog posts. You are just another voice clamoring for attention.

Some people think they can rise above the noise by shouting:

Read my post on how to choose a hosting service!

Others just write a dull recap:

How to Get More Twitter Followers  (yawn)

But when you promote a blog post on social media, you must do more than just announce the topic. Your teaser has to catch the attention of busy people and make them interested enough to click through—all in a quick nanosecond of time.  

5 'Twitter teasers' that get more click-throughs

The same principles that apply to headlines work for teasers. But a teaser with unique copy—a question or something else— can get an even better response.

1. Start a story and stop in the middle.

Fiction writers end each chapter with a scene that makes us turn the page to find out what happens next. Your Twitter or Facebook update is just a mini-version of that.

Recent example on Twitter:

Man scribbles idea for love button, gets embarrassed, then...

This was a post about—well, I won't tell you, but don't you want to know the end of the story?

2. Make your reader curious.

Propose a question that makes your followers so curious that they just have to know the answer, which, naturally, your blog post will answer.

Examples:

Does who you hang out with on the Twitter playground have anything to do with your learning style?

or

Do women give more to charity than men? 

3. Use a little old-fashioned fear.

As humans, we are afraid of many things. One of the biggest fears is that we will be seen as not very smart.

Example:

These 5 writing mistakes will make you look stupid. Do you make any of them?

4. Go against conventional wisdom.

If your post challenges something we have always thought was true, if you introduce a little controversy, we will sit up and listen.

Example:

Customer surveys can hurt business.

Everyone writes about the benefits of asking your customers the right questions. So how can customer surveys hurt us?  I wanted to know, so I clicked through.

5. Mention someone famous.

Refer to someone people know and/or respect.

Example: 

Chris Brogan told me to write this.

Just be careful that you are talking to the right audience. Now, in talking to the Twitter crowd, throwing out Chris Brogan's name works.

But in a workshop for realtors, I used this example and got a few puzzled looks.

Lesson: a person who is "famous" to you is not necessarily someone others would recognize by name.

This teaser tweet used both the famous name (a "celebrity" in the social media world) and the curiosity factor (what in the world did Brogan say to her?)

When the reader clicked through, the full headline was, Chris Brogan Told Me to Write This: Ten Guilty Pleasures.

In it, I took up a challenge Chris threw out in a post. He was talking to bloggers who complained about how hard it was to come up with post ideas. In the post, he listed 100 topics we could write about. I picked the topic of "Ten Guilty Pleasures."

Did Chris really tell me to write it? Well, yes he did. (Me and about 50,000 other bloggers.)

How about you?

Have you experimented with different types of teaser tweets to get more readers for your blog posts?  Do you think this strategy could work for you? Do you have other ideas?

Team Blogging: Will Hanging Around Smart People Raise Your IQ?

Back in my Halls of Academia days, I taught gifted students. Kids who just happened to be smarter than me.

The first time I said,  "I don't know the answer to that, but I wonder how we could find out," I felt stupid.

But, as the years passed, I realized this super-charged, creative environment was actually making me better—more inquisitive. 

Smarter.

Because I was hanging around with people (granted, little people) who had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a deep need to find "another way" to solve a problem. And it rubbed off on me.

For Bloggers By Bloggers

In a way, I feel like I'm back in that 'gifted classroom.' Learning, absorbing, sharing. Because I've just joined the team of For Bloggers By Bloggers.

I've heard the estimate of the number of blogs online to be anywhere from 133 million to 180 million. At times it feels like it's impossible to rise above all that noise.

For Bloggers By Bloggers is the first site I've seen whose sole purpose is to get you to that amazing place, where your blog is noticed. Read. Talked about.

All of us are passionate bloggers who are committed to your success. We'll share tips, resources, tools— and everything we've learned to help you shorten your learning curve.  For beginning bloggers and those of us who have been living this grand adventure for years.

My new 'smart team'

I'm humbled and honored that Danny Brown invited me to join the For Bloggers By Bloggers team. My fellow bloggers include:

Danny Brown: Compassionate, humble, smart. Partner at Bonsai Interactive in Toronto, and the founder of For Bloggers By Bloggers, Danny is an award-winning blogger and a leader in the field of using social media for social good. Follow him on Twitter at @DannyBrown.

Joey Strawn: Funny, insightful, animal lover. Joey is President of Empty Jar Marketing in Nashville, Tennessee. He works with local and national businesses to increase exposure and brand with digital marketing strategies. Follow him on Twitter at @joey_strawn.

Frank Dickinson: Inspiring, creative thinker, world famous sushi eater. Frank advises solopreneurs and small businesses in the areas of Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, social media and personal development. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankDickinson. 

Aaron Lee: Passionate, global thinker, social media addict. Aaron is an International Marketing student, part-timer Internet marketer and owner of the blog,  AskAaaronLee. Follow him on Twitter at @askaaronlee.

You are going to love For Bloggers By Bloggers.

Visit and take a peek. If you like what you see, I hope you'll subscribe. I'll be writing about the content side of blogging there.

What about you? Have you ever felt better, smarter, just by teaming up with the right group of people? Do collaborative projects excite you?

Tell me what you think in the comments.

Most Quotable Lines from BlogWorld 2010

It was a blurry, fast forward experience, my first BlogWorld.

I got to meet some of the people I have admired on the social media playground, including:

• my cyber-pal Cindy King, cross-cultural marketer, sales strategist and managing editor of Social Media Examiner

• the uber-smart, funny John Haydon, social media strategist for nonprofits

• Becky McCray, small town-small business social media expert and author of the popular Small Biz Survival blog

Most Quotable Lines

Information overload for sure. Sessions were buzzing and the networking was off the charts. I leave you today with just the most quotable lines:

Mari Smith, Facebook marketing expert, on 7 ways to measure your social media success:

1. Reputation Factor: What are you known for?

2. Influence Factor: Do people listen to you?

3. Engagement Factor: Are people talking to you?

4. The Reach Factor: Do you grow your platform organically?

5. The Expert Factor: Are other people interviewing you?

6. The Known Factor: Do other influencers refer to you?

7. Monetization Factor: What's your value

Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger, on how to use social media right:

"You are selling you. Get other people to talk about you. That is what it means to be remark-able."

Sonia Simone, Chief Marketing Officer of Copyblogger Media, on the difference between your blog and your business:

"'Free' is not a business model and a blog is not a business. Blogging is an attraction strategy."

Darren Rowse, Australia's top blogger and founder of ProBlogger and Digital Photography School, on how much content you should give away:

"Give 90 percent of your stuff away and sell the remaining 10 percent. (That's the Bikini Marketing Strategy.) "

And, my post-BlogWorld news:

I came home from BlogWorld with two things: a wicked upper respiratory virus and an invitation to join the blogging team at the brand new site, For Bloggers, By Bloggers. I'm very excited!

Together, we hope to give you the blogging tips you need to help you maintain and grow a successful blog. If you blog—or are thinking about starting—come on over and join the conversation.

How to Get More Blog Traffic: CatsEyeWriter's 30-Day Facebook Update

I'm sitting on a plane right now, headed for Las Vegas and BlogWorld 2010. (Watch for my next post. I'll be sharing some good stuff from there.)

For now, this is the next installment in the reports of my Great Facebook Experiment. About a month ago, I posted my 90-day Facebook goals. 

First of all, I am a little surprised, but I'm actually enjoying the Face.

While Twitter is a little hit-and-miss and doesn't support back-and-forth discussions well, I'm liking the ability to track conversations on Facebook. 

I like the tagging feature so when someone says something about me, I'm notified and I can go in and continue the comment back. 

I've also noticed that proposing a question or solving a problem for someone is easier.

And, while my main reason for creating a CatsEyeWriter biz page was to drive more traffic to my blog, amazingly, I got my first new client from a Facebook interaction last week.

I answered a couple of her questions and pointed her to a timely blog post. Turns out she needed help with the exact topic of my post.

This Facebook skeptic has been converted.

30 days later: Is it still working?

I had four goals going into this. Here is where I am:

Goal 1: Build a base of 1,000 fans by January 15, 2011.

30-day stats: Okay, this one is tough. I now have 130 fans.

Next step:  I want to grow them organically, but, still, I need to step up this campaign. Haven't built a separate landing page yet, so that's next on my list. Join my Facebook fan page for more blogging tips and helpful resources.  

Goal 2: Increase overall blog traffic by 50% by January 15, 2011.

30-day stats: These numbers are up a little from last report, with a 26% increase in traffic comparing pre- and post-Facebook. Good numbers for just one-third of the way into the experiment.

Next step: I will continue with my biz page updates 1-2 times a day. Next week, I will be blogging from BlogWorld in Las Vegas, so that may skew the results in my overall traffic stats.

Goal 3: Increase blog traffic from Facebook by 40% by January 15, 2011.

30-day stats: In week one, I was happy to report a 29% increase in traffic from Facebook. Now, after 30 days, Facebook traffic is up by 33% over pre-experiment stats.

Next step: On November 1, I launch my new Comment Buddies program. More about that later. But the basic idea was to pull together a group of my Facebook buddies who blog.  We will be supporting each other with blog comments and promoting each other's posts from time to time. The goal is to increase traffic and reader engagement.

Goal 4: Increase blog traffic from Twitter by 25% by January 15, 2011.

30-day stats: Week one saw a 16% increase in traffic from twitter because my new Facebook friends pushed some of my posts out to their Twitter streams, too. My stats show that traffic from Twitter is up 19% over the 30-day period.

Next step: Campaign to increase my Twitter followers and, as a result, traffic to my blog from Twitter. If you'd like to connect on Twitter, I'd love to do that.

Have you taken the Facebook plunge with your business? What do you think about the value of biz pages? Has it worked for you?

Oh, I almost forgot!

I'm appearing on this week's podcast of the hugely talented Beth Buelow's The Introvert Entrepreneur. The podcast was posted today. 

We're chatting about how we can honor our introvert strengths in the writing process. I had so much fun talking to Beth. 

Watch for my next post from sunny Vegas and the Mandalay Bay Conference Center. It'll be all about my BlogWorld adventures.

Blogging in the Desert: BlogWorld 2010

It's been raining steady here in Puget Sound for the last 24 hours. Mushy wet drops. Pacific Northwest slug weather. It makes all the lush green that surrounds us throughout the year, but we pay for it.

My next stop—just three days away—is the 90-degreee, dry desert heat of Las Vegas. From damp moss to the oven.

BlogWorld!

Poolside parties, poker, karaoke, catered events that happen to be free.

Oh, yeah, and I guess I should mention the business networking. It's worth the registration fee alone to meet some of the people I've tweeted and 'Facebooked' and Skyped with.

And the incredible sessions during the day. I'll be sharing with you some of what I learn in workshops like:

• The Brand of You- Social media thought leader Mari Smith shows how to establish a strong online brand and build a profitable information empire.

• SEO for Blogs- C.C. Chapman and Jim Turner talk about how to maximize your blog for increased visibility.

• Saturday Keynote- Brian Clark and Sonia Simone (Copyblogger) and Darren Rowse (ProBlogger) show us how to make money with our blogs.

• From Blog to Book- Brian Solis and four others—authors and publishers— give us tips and information for turning our blog content into a published book.

And these are just four of the amazing sessions scheduled. I'll be posting from the conference next weekend, so watch for that.

Oh, and my new friend and fellow blogger, Patty K, wrote her first ever guest post, "(Not) Hiding Behind the Introvert Card." Check it out. It's on Beth Buelow's The Introvert Entrepreneur blog.

Talk to you again next week.

Do Your Readers Understand Your Business?

Last week, one of my favorite bloggers, Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz, threw out a simple question in her blog post, What Do YOU Do? The Un-Meme Redux.

She made me think.

I like that. Thinking is good.

Naomi's question was, "Do your readers understand your business?"

A few days later, a new friend, pajama-wearing motivational speaker (I know, it's kind of weird, but isn't it cool?) Patty K, answered Naomi's question in a post of her own.

Still, it seemed like a silly question to me.

My readers know what I do for my clients.  Don't they?

They must. I blog about stuff every week. Sometimes more often.

What Naomi found out

Now Naomi is one of the smartest Internet marketers in the business and the author of the wildly popular blog, IttyBiz. Still, two years ago, she got an email from a regular reader who asked a question that stunned her:

"So what do you actually do for a living?," she said. 

Could it be that a regular reader and commenter on her blog, someone she has shared emails back and forth with, could not even know what her business is about?

The IttyBiz Challenge

Naomi's wake-up call made her focus on not just what her blog is about but what her business is all about. What she does to solve her clients' problems.

Now, she is challenging us to do the same.

Her questions are good because they help us get to the heart of not only what we do, but why we do it. I decided to take the challenge. 

Naomi's questions, my answers

1. What's your game? What do you do?

I'm a blogger and copywriter. I offer writing and coaching to help people develop a stronger, more unique online presence with blogs and online bios that attract their readers' attention and convert them to customers.

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

People fascinate me—always have. I read every biography and memoir I can get my hands on.  And bringing out each person's uniqueness—through their blogs, about pages and social media bios—is a challenge I jump up and down just thinking about.

Okay, it's also one of those creepy knacks of mine. But isn't it the best possible place to be: when what you love to do and what you do well intersect?

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

I work mostly with crazy-smart, talented professionals with service businesses. The business or life coach. The realtor. The therapist. Anyone who makes a living selling the amazing stuff that’s inside their brain.

They either agonize over every word when they write or they could do a crackerjack job, but they just can't find the time. Some of them just need a little coaching to get into the groove of writing their own blog posts and bios.

Of course, others say, "Please. Just do it for me."

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

I was a teacher for many years. I understand all the ways people learn. I know how to show people shortcuts to make them better writers and bloggers. So now I'm the coach who is best at helping people think in different ways so they don't get stuck in The Land of Boring Blogs. 

Oh, and I can say, "Four knives will be sufficient in Swahili." Try to find another blogging coach who can do that. 

5. What's next for you? What's the big plan?

I want world peace, for sure. But after that, I'd like to complete my blogging blueprint book, publish my memoir, write the Big Book for Creative Thinkers, and start an online blogging class.

One more thing.  I want to get that four-ball juggling thing down. I definitely want to do that.

Do these questions resonate with you? Do your readers know what you do?

Try them on for size. You may find some gems that will also work well in your about page. And, speaking of about pages, after my post last week, one of my subscribers, who also happens to be a friend (David Billings, AKA Sparky Firepants),  sent me a message.

"Great post, Judy," he said. "It inspired me to rewrite my about page."

David did an amazing job, without a speck of help from me. You can see his shiny new about page here.

If you take the IttyBiz Challenge, leave a comment with a link to your blog, so we can go see your cool answers.

5 Tips for Writing an About Page that Connects with Your Reader

The 'experts' will tell you that your about page is one of the most important spots on your blog.

They are right. In fact, on the CatsEyeWriter blog, my about page is consistently the second or third most viewed page.

Because the first thing a new visitor wants to do when they are intrigued about a post I've written is find out just who this CatsEyeWriter person is.

They are curious. 

What the 'experts' are wrong about

For every expert opinion on how to write the 'perfect' about page, you'll find an equal and opposite one.

"Keep a professional focus," says the expert of stuffiness. "You need to separate business from  personal."

"It's all about credibility. Your degrees and post-graduate work count the most," says the guru of self-importance.

"Be 'authentic' and talk about some mistakes you've made," says Mr. Warm and Fuzzy.

All of these people are wrong.

Because there are no about page rules—except for one.

Now some of you have heard me say that a good about page must have certain pieces.

That's true. But you must also find the right mix of personal and business—the recipe that makes the most sense for you.

The right ratio of business and personal is determined by the kind of business you are in, who your customers are and how you have built your brand.

So each about page is unique.

You do not want a reader to visit your blog and wonder what you do. That would be a bad thing.

But don't write a dry bio that leaves your visitor cold and feeling like there is no living, breathing person behind your business.  Because that would be bad, too.

So what's the  one rule?

Don't make it all about you.

About pages can be tricky because at first glance they are about you. But ultimately, you must connect your skills, abilities and interests to your client's needs. Keep that hat on as you write and you should do just fine.

5 tips for writing an about page that connects with your reader

Your reader wants to know know who you are, who you help and what matters most to you in this world. Here are five distinctly different about pages I wrote—four for my clients and one for myself.

1. Say what—but don't forget the why.  

Your readers want to feel your passion for what you do, but they also are interested in why you chose your life's work. For one of my clients, the turning point was the day he realized that he was seeing too many adults in his counseling office who had been sexually abused as children.

He decided to figure out how to stop the abuse before lives were ruined. And so he launched a cool program to teach parents and teachers how to talk to kids about staying safe. 

2. Tell us a good story.

Stories are just a part of us. They help us understand your personal journey—if that is important to who you are and how you are uniquely qualified to help us. We remember a good story long after the telling is over.

For one of my clients, a business coach, her story of going from 'broke, busted and disgusted' to becoming an award-winning coach and nationally renowned speaker was important to show that she gets being stuck, understands barriers to growth and knows how to get people on the road to living a life filled with passion.

3. Don't lead with boring credentials—even if they are important.

Most about pages don't start with a list of the person's degrees—and for a good reason. Names of colleges and pieces of paper do not excite us. When is the last time you hired someone based on what college they went to? One of my clients is a career development specialist.

His students and coaching clients expect him to have the proper credentials and he shares them—at the end of his about page. We decided to lead with the story of the  'accidental' job that caused him to take a huge leap— from forestry to career education—and why. Because it shows how important he thinks it is to find the life work you were meant to be doing, which is what he helps his clients do.

4. Tie in some relevant accomplishments.  

You can't talk about every activity you enjoy and everything you've accomplished in your about page. So focus on the things that increase our trust in you as someone who knows what you are talking about and who can also solve our problems.

I wrote an about page for a client's social media marketing blog. He also happens to be founder and president of Social Media Club Seattle, which gives him huge amounts of added credibility in his blog niche. So try to pick the things that are relevant to your business, your services, your blog.

5. Write in your own unique voice.

Show us some of the personality that makes you unique. I close my about page with 7 things you'd probably rather not know about me but I'm going to tell you anyway. At first glance, they may seem to be unrelated, but they do two things: They reflect my ever-present sense of humor and show my love of language, words and writing.

I'm a writer and blogging coach, so the facts that I've written three unpublished middle grade novels, I can say "Four knives will be sufficient' in Swahili and I wanted to be an interpreter at the United Nations when I was in third grade connect with who I am today.

Use these five tips to spice up your about page. And if you think you need some help with that, I'm here.

5 Evil Blogging Fears and How to Vaporize Them

I'm a blogging coach.

I love what I do. Because I get to help people discover who they are, who they need to help in this world and how they can do that with their blog.

But sometimes it's a little hard to get through all the muck. And when you finally figure out your blog's purpose, your content niche, your post categories, still those mean-tempered little trolls poke at you as you write:

What makes you think you can write?

Why would anyone be remotely interested in what you have to say?

Didn't you know that there are no interesting things left to write about?

Most writers come to learn that the first step to killing our fears is to admit them. When we say them out loud, when we name them, they lose some of their power over us.

Today we go head to head with five of the most common fears of bloggers. We'll take them one by one and vaporize them.

5 evil blogging fears and how to vaporize them

1. I can't find my niche.

If you haven't niched your business, you might think it's impossible to narrow down the content and focus of your blog. But that's not true.

If you think a little about what you are interested in—even passionate about— what your target clients care about, the thing you are the best at doing and a topic that has enough content, you are on your way to finding your blogging niche.

When your clients think of you, what do they think of first?   What do you have both tons of expertise and interest in? Make a short list and work from there.

 2. I won't be able to think of any good post ideas.

Stephen King, in his classic book On Writing, calls all those great ideas The Boys in the Basement.

They are there. You just need to let them out. To release them before they go poof.

Pay attention to where they are when they come to you. Some people get their best ideas in the shower. Others tell me it's when they're scrubbing the sink. Or driving. Or watching commercials or movies.

Me? I keep a little spiral notebook on the nightstand because often they pop up right before I fall asleep.

They'll also come to you if you listen to your clients' questions. Read other blogs in your industry. Watch and listen when you are grocery shopping or at the bank.

You'll be surprised the things you can turn into a blog post. But do keep a list.

3. I'm afraid my topics are 'too big.'

Once you have all those ideas, what do you do with them? You break them down into manageable pieces. And, yes, it can be scary looking at that big idea.

When I was a teacher, I helped my students sort, organize and refine their ideas with a tool called a mind map. Now there is sophisticated software for mind mapping, but I prefer the sweeping motion of a pen on paper. For me, it seems to release the Boys in the Basement.

To mind map, take one big idea and place it in the center of your paper. You can draw a circle around it if you'd like. Then, draw a line from that idea and write a sub-idea, which is part of the main idea, a smaller piece of it. Continue breaking the idea down until you have something manageable to blog about.

Example: My big idea is how to become a more productive blogger. So I put that in the center. That makes me think of developing lots of unique ideas. A part of coming up with ideas for me is keeping a journal for free writing.

Finally, I am down to something I can write about in a single blog post, and I did:  5 steps to becoming a better blogger by keeping a journal.

4. I'll never finish a post because I noodle with every freaking word.

I really get this one, being a perfectionist myself. All I can say is that the best way to get over it is to give yourself permission to write poorly.

Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, calls them shitty first drafts. Just let it all come out. Even if you think you have focused your topic, your first draft will probably end up way too long, with ideas that spread out and wander, like those spidery weeds on your lawn.

You'll have a few poorly-constructed sentences and half-baked thoughts (okay, maybe a lot), but you'll also find in that rambling first draft some good, unique and interesting stuff.

Get it all down. Uncensored. Let it sit in the compost pile overnight. When you go back to it with fresh eyes, you'll see where to cut, where to add, how to shape it into a post that doesn't wander from your main idea.

But save what you have cut because, though it might not fit this topic, you may be able to create a cool new post with it.

5. I don't know how to blog about my business without sounding like an OxiClean infomercial.

This one is huge. How do you go from the content marketing thing—providing tons of helpful information and advice—to getting your readers to take the next step: to hire you?

You can include a call to action in your blog post without screaming, "Buy now!"

One way to do it:  If you are blogging on how to solve a problem your customer has, in your closing paragraph, link to a page on your blog or website with a service your readers can purchase that solves the problem more completely. And here are five other strategies.

What is your biggest blogging fear? Tell us in the comments and help us out by sharing what you've done to get over it.

6. I am afraid it will give me a skin disease.

 This is just crazy thinking, but actually I read that one guy got a skin disease named molluscum contagiosum (here are some pictures) just because staying on a unhygienic chair when typing.

This is that last thing that you should think of.

Why it's okay to sell stuff on your blog—and 6 ways to do it

I love content marketing. I really do. Giving my readers tips, tools, advice. Building relationships. 

But will your blog readers leave if you try to sell to them?  

Not if you make your offers in the right place and at the right time.

So how do you move people from eager consumers of your free content to customers?

Not long ago I talked about one way to make money from your blog: by repurposing, packaging and selling your content in the form of an information product.

But you can do more, simply by leading the readers who are already fans to take the next logical step.

Do you make it easy for your readers to purchase services and products from you? You know, the ones you offer day in and day out—on your website and in other marketing venues?

Does your blog content point them in the right direction? Do they even know what you sell?

"Of course they do!" you say.

Really?

Put yourself in your reader's shoes. She is busy. She skims and scans your post to see if there's anything of value there. And most days she has way too much on her mind. 

Your readers need some direction. A little focus.

You can help them see not only how good you are at what you do, but how you can help them. And you can do it in a way that doesn't scream, "Buy! Buy!"

Because that's just gross.

6 ways to sell your stuff on your blog

1. Make it easy to find. The more visible your offerings are, the more likely a reader will click through. My friend Jay, a marketing pro, has a large "Work with Jay Ehret" graphic in his right sidebar with a  hyperlink to his services. I have my major services— blog coaching and blog critiques— in my top navigation bar.  Don't make them hunt for it because they won't.

2. Tie it into your posts. When you are writing on a subject and it fits, link to a service you provide that your readers can purchase. For example, if you are a realtor specializing in relocating seniors and you have published a post with downsizing advice, at the end, offer your free downsizing booklet with more tips when they schedule an in-home appointment. 

3. Mine your comments. You'll get ideas for new products and services that can turn your readers into customers. One comment might lead you to write a new ebook. Another might motivate you to create that perfect service that solves a real problem.

4. Offer occasional special deals. If you talk about a certain topic, offer a special promotion just for your readers. They'll feel appreciated and you just might hit someone at exactly the right time. Again, tie it to the topic of your post if you can. For example, a business coach writing a post on how to get the most from a Mastermind group might offer a special rate on her next 8-week group Mastermind series. 

5. Consider creating add-on products. Maybe you can turn that ebook that's selling so well into an audio version to reach people who commute a lot or who retain information better when they hear it. Getting your information product translated into other language can also boost your sales.

6. Carefully consider affiliate products. If you already use a product or service and can stand behind it—and if it fits your niche audience, place a couple of non-instrusive affiliate ads. Be sure, though that you identify them as trusted affiliate partners so readers know you hold them in high regard. And you are making a few buck from each sale. Just be careful with placement, so they don't overpower your site and turn it into one large billboard.

Have you thought about making your blog more of a direct sales tool? Do you already sell on your blog? Let us know in the comments.

Oh, I almost forgot. Two more things. I'm going to be in Portland, OR this weekend. Excited to be a featured presenter at the Biznik Lunch and Learn on Friday, September17^th! I'll be talking about six ways to fix a boring blog post headline. From there it's on to WordCamp Portland.

And, I'd love to see you over at my CatsEyeWriter page on Facebook. I'll be sharing good advice and content there, too, so click on that "like" button—but only if you'd like.

Amy and Bella: two girls connected by September 11

Amy lives on Oceanside, New York. Bella, in Renton, Washington.

3,000 miles and two oceans apart.

Amy doesn't know that her father became Bella's hero for a brief shining time. 

The connecting threads of 9-11

Amy Gardner is a high school senior today. So is Bella. 

They were both just 9 when two bombs disguised as planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers. Amy's dad Thomas was a firefighter with FDNY, Engine Company 59.

He was one of the ones who ran up the stairs to help when everyone else was running in the opposite direction.

He never came back down.

Sometimes we idealize our heroes, make them perfect and shiny and good. And when we do that, they become more of an icon and less of a living, breathing, human with hopes, loves and fears like the rest of us.

Amy's dad liked to take the family canoeing and hiking. He loved animals and volunteered for a wildlife rescue organization. 

He was full of contradictions.

He was studying to be a science teacher, but he also performed comedy on a Long Island radio station and had sold some jokes to Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller. He played hockey on a local team. And he gave time to the Bronx Zoo, walking excited kids through the exhibits.

Amy's dad was doing what he loved the day he died: helping others.

Who is Bella and how is she connected to Amy?

Amy lost a father on September 11 and Bella gained a hero. 

Bella (not her real name) was the little girl I was mentoring when the 9-11 tragedy unfolded.

Some of you have read this story. Some of you have not.

But looking at it through the lens of this particular year has helped me see that these girls are still connected.

Because this is the year both Amy and Bella will graduate from high school. Both have lost fathers, Amy through 9-11 and Bella through divorce.

Here is Bella's story again, nine years after the day that changed forever how we see our world. If you have read Bella's story, please pass it on to someone who hasn't .

Because we must never forget.

 A September 11 story

It was the day after the day.

September 12, 2001 was a Wednesday. I know because Wednesday was my mentoring day.

I swung into the parking lot of the elementary school not far from Seattle.

My friend was a smart, but troubled 9-year-old. I'll call her Bella. She was in the gifted class.

Bella loved to read. I brought her my old comics, like Little Lulu. She read them out loud and laughed hysterically at the strong, spunky Lulu. We made bracelets out of plastic jewelry and waved our hands at each other to see who could make the loudest clicking sound.

We played board games. Once she tried to teach me chess but she gave up. I could never figure out what move to make and she got tired of waiting. Sometimes Bella would come into the library, sit down and frown, arms crossed, swinging her legs. On those days, she didn't want to talk to anyone, not even me.

On this particular Wednesday, Bella was quiet. She sat down, took out the set of blocks and started building, her tongue sticking out in concentration.

"What are you making?" I said.

"Towers," she said, keeping her eyes on the blocks.

My heart did a flip. She continued adding blocks until she had two blue buildings, side by side. She gently pulled out blocks on each side, about three-quarters from the top of each tower, so there were perfectly square holes on all sides.

Then she did an astounding thing. She lifted a black crayon, holding it with the thumb and forefinger. She made it climb, turn, then slowly push through the empty space, from one side of the tower right through the other side and onto the library table.

"See?" she said.

"If they just would have made the towers this way, with holes in the sides, the plane could have gone right through. And no one would have been hurt. Why didn't they make them that way?"

She frowned.

I swallowed. I didn't have any words.

Bella punched the buildings with her fist. The blocks fell across the table and crashed onto the floor. 

As the weeks went by, in my Wednesdays with Bella, we talked more about the terrorist attacks. She asked why the firefighters had to go in those burning buildings. She wanted to know if any kids died.

I told her the truth. I felt like she needed to know.

She said she never wanted to go on an airplane again. She walked out of the library, down the hall to her classroom.

******************************************************************************

One Wednesday four and a half months later, Bella and I sat in the library.

"I'm going to New York City for a writer's conference tomorrow," I said. "What would you like me to bring you back?"

I waited, expecting, I don't know what: a t-shirt, maybe.

"I want a picture of a firefighter," she said. She stared at me with huge brown eyes.

"And what I really want is an autograph," she said. She studied my face.

"I'll do my best," I said. "Hey! How about if I bring a picture of you and maybe a short letter, and see if I can find a firefighter to give them to?"

I had no idea if I could do this.

Bella's eyes lit up. She grabbed my pen and wrote:

                                                                                         Jan. 29, 2002

Dear Firefighter,

    Thank you for working hard to clear the ground at ground zero. I think it is very brave that you are doing what you are doing. Thank you.

                                                                                      Your friend,

                                                                                      Bella

 

******************************************************************************

I stood in the fierce Manhattan sun, in a line that wound down four blocks and around another two. Just as I got to the fence with its mementos and massive butcher paper wall, with thousands of messages of hope and sorrow scrawled every which way, I saw him.

He wore brown overalls, a blue shirt with an embossed fire department insignia and a navy blue baseball cap with red letters: FDNY. His name was JJ, from Engine 299, Queens.  His eyes widened as I told him about Bella. I handed the letter and photo to him.

"Wow," he said. "Tell her these are going up at the station." He waved the letter and photo. 

"She wants your autograph," I said.

"Are you kidding?" 

No, I said, it was the only thing she wanted me to bring back from New York.

He took the paper and wrote,

Dear Bella,

Thank you for being so kind and thoughtful.

 

                                    Your Friend,

                                   J.J. Kerns

Then he reached behind the fence and pulled out an FDNY hat. "Give this to Bella," he said. "Tell her it's from me."

He held up Bella's letter and I took a photo of him.

 

******************************************************************************

The next Wednesday, Bella was sitting on a chair in the library waiting for me.

"I brought you something from my trip," I said.

I handed her J.J.'s photo and note, which I had framed. Her eyes got big.

"Cool!" she said, jumping out of her seat as if I had just brought her the biggest, softest teddy bear from FAO Schwartz.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the FDNY cap. Her face sagged. She grabbed the cap and put it on. It made her look goofy, the way it covered her ears and most of her eyes. I helped her adjust the tab in the back.

Bella stood up. "I want to go back to my class now, " she said.

 She pushed the bill of the cap down and peered out at me.

I smiled. "Sure." 

I watched her skip down the hall, pumping her arm in the air. 

One horrific day. And four and a half months and 3,000 miles later, a genuine, heartfelt connection between a nine-year-old girl and her hero.

It's the one good memory I have from September 11. 

******************************************************************************

We have had nine September 11's since that gut-wrenching day.

Bella is now a high school senior. She doesn't need a mentor anymore. She's bright, achieving, just starting to think about the rest of her life.

Amy graduates this year, too. One chair will be empty in the stands.

Still, I wonder if  she knows the impact her dad had on Bella.

Because this I know

She will never forget.