News about brand journalism, content writing and blogging from Dena Weigel Bell.

June 7, 2018 by Dena Weigel Bell

Finding the Passion in Your Writing

When I’m meeting with a new client I often hear, “I want to start a blog but I don’t know what to write.” A legitimate claim, to be sure, but one that is not impossible to remedy.

Most business owners enjoy a passion for their jobs that can’t be easily found in other types of work. They’ve worked hard to build their companies and they see the great vision they had long before they opened their doors come to life. They are happy to share their story when they talk to their customers but when their fingers hit the keyboard their heads can often overtake their hearts, leaving them stuck in writer’s block.

Find the Passion in Your Work

Fight writer’s block by reconnecting with the passion you experience in your everyday work. Take a moment to reflect on those aspects of your business that you look forward to most and begin there. Is it finding a new product or service to offer your customers? Is it taking on a new project? Or, maybe it’s collaborating with people who challenge you and show you new ways to do things better. Whatever drives your enthusiasm most is a great place to start zeroing in on topics you will speak about with a passionate and authoritative voice.

If you need an exercise to give your creative mind a jolt, take a moment to write a list of the things you love about your work. This will be just the beginning of a list that will supply you with ideas for several blog posts.

Say It Like You Mean It

Are you afraid your writing is not compelling enough to attract an audience? To combat a “flat” voice in your writing think about the emotion you feel when you are inspired while working. How does it feel to complete a difficult task, or the moment you find just the right product for a customer and you know you’ve opened the door to repeat business. How about when you’re dealing with a stressful situation? Dig into the reactions you have to good and bad situations and you’ll find the right voice for your topic.

The next time you find yourself saying, “I don’t know what to write” think about the passion you find in your work every day and that’s where you’ll find your next great blog post!

August 2, 2017 by Dena Weigel Bell

A Comment on Net Neutrality

In what has become a very active marketplace, unrestricted access to the internet has become an vitally important tool to communicate, share, advocate, innovate, and conduct business online. In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled in favor of “net neutrality” as a way to preserve unrestricted access for every internet user in America, but there are powerful forces fighting to control the internet and they are threatening to fundamentally change the way the internet lets you communicate with your customers.

What is Net Neutrality

The FCC’s ruling builds on a series of previous laws dating back to the Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860, which govern the control of mass communication and states in part that communications must be “impartially transmitted in the order of their reception, excepting that the dispatches of the government shall have priority…” In a subsequent law called the Communications Act of 1934, telecommunication companies were designated “common carriers” and subjected to Title II rules.

Flash forward 83 years and we are facing another challenge to our online business communications—this time brought to us by former Verizon lawyer and newly appointed FCC chairman, Ajit Varadaraj Pai. His challenge to a 2015 ruling in favor of net neutrality wants to redefine the role of internet service providers (ISP), such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T, and allow them to take control of all the data shared across their broadband services.

Why Does Net Neutrality Matter to Your Business?

The challenge to net neutrality is not only about selling your data—an important aspect, obviously—it’s also about limiting the online marketplace by slowing down lines of traffic in order to favor others. In other words, removing net neutrality rules opens the doors for your internet service provider to make you compete for broadband access with larger competitors who can pay more. This will effectively remove an equal chance for consumers to find you and, I believe, goes against the democratic principles of capitalism and free and equal trade in the marketplace.

If net neutrality is overridden internet services providers like Verizon will be able to control your content and the traffic flow to your website through their telecommunication channels—an immense amount of control over the information we rely on to do business.

Follow the history of the battle for net neutrality with this helpful timeline,

“Net neutrality: How we got from here to there.”

If you’re wondering just how far this fight could go and what the implications could be, take a look at the 2014 Netflix v. Comcast case where it was ruled that the ISP was purposely slowing down traffic to the entertainment site in order to pressure them to commit to a less favorable fee structure.

Do you really want to have to compete with your largest competitor for ad space on the web? Are you ready to pay triple the ad price to get your foot in the online market? If net neutrality is dismantled the landscape of a fair and equal online marketplace will be lost to large corporations, and not easily taken back.

And, by the way, they can also manipulate news sites, giving them the power to push stories that will affect not only your business but also the trajectory of the entire market.

The Fight for Net Neutrality

So who are the big players in this fight to protect open access to the internet?

Along with Tom Wheeler, the former FFC chairman under President Obama who paved the way for net neutrality, the fight for net neutrality is being taken up by the founders and CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, to name just a few. Next month, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and Jeff Bezo, CEO of Amazon, are scheduled to appear before Congress to testify to the importance of net neutrality. The question is; will these internet heavyweights be enough to go up against the lobbying juggernaut that is already in place by the telecom corporations.

There has been a strong showing of support for net neutrality from the masses, too. During the Fight for the Future’s “Day of Action” protest, over 2 million comments and 5 million emails jammed the FCC’s website and 124,000 calls were made to Congress asking for net neutrality protection. Battle for the Net, another protest organizer, reported tens of millions of protest messages on popular websites, like Netflix, Airbnb, Reddit and Medium, and on Facebook, Zuckerberg’s comment on the issue elicited more than 83,000 likes. People are taking notice to what they risk losing with the end of net neutrality.

What You Can Do To Protect Net Neutrality

The fight for net neutrality is heading into the fourth quarter and we need as many players on the field as possible. If your business relies on the internet to conduct business, I urge you to take action. Follow this link to Free Press, a non-profit group fighting for the protection of net neutrality, to find out how you can make your voice heard, and send a message to Congress and the FCC that net neutrality is imperative to the fundamental belief in a free and equal online marketplace.

February 3, 2017 by Dena Weigel Bell

A 6 Step Guide to Handling Crisis Communication on Your Blog

When an important event occurs traditional journalists immediately fly into action to be the first reporter to get the word out to the streets. They gather facts, capture compelling or informative images and deliver the package to appropriate media outlets for publishing. The need for speedy comment on breaking news is no different in today’s digital world, and if you don’t have a good plan in place to shape a story about your company you leave its reputation vulnerable to being defined by people on the outside, including your competition.

“I think one of the biggest faults in the past few years has been the concept of real-time marketing. To me, it’s like panic marketing or no-time marketing, where we just think reacting to things is our best method.”

—”Scott Stratten on Un-Marketing, Being Authentic and Going Viral,”

Public Relations Tactics, December 2016

With a myriad of communication channels offering ever expanding and more diverse delivery options, crisis communication can be a slippery slope, but don’t worry because your company’s blog is your best defense against rogue storylines.

Reuters, that dependable news icon, has come up with a series of story formats that takes readers on a journey through a breaking story from the moment an event occurs, until all the details have been captured. I’ve come up with a similar guide for company blogs, based on their “Drill for Breaking News.” Let’s start with language:

Reporting on a Crisis

Clarity is vital when reporting on a crisis; use simple nouns and active, present tense verbs, and no causal slang or jargon. Be careful not to release unverifiable details and refrain from using ambiguous or alarming word choices—you don’t want to foster an image of poor or manipulative language.

The Alert

A news Alert is the first report of a bigger story and should published as soon as an incident occurs.

Craft a headline that will attract the right audience, using only the most important fact as a hook and giving only the known details in the body of the text. Your final sentence should inform readers that it is a breaking story and more information is yet to come. An Alert should run around 100 words.

The Brief

A Brief is a more thorough explanation of what is happening at the moment, typically in bullet point format.

Use links to any additional information that sheds light on the situation, such as reputable newsies or official comments from key players at the scene (fire marshals, police, etc.) found on their websites. Stick with language that people outside the normal audience can easily digest and keep it fact based. Any Updates added to a Brief after the Brief has been published should be included above the original information with a line separating it from the rest of the text.

The Newsbreak

A Newsbreak puts the facts into context and begins shaping the story.

When writing a Newsbreak think of the questions a reporter would ask and include all the “who, what, where, when, and why” information you can report on at the time. Always source information you’ve gathered from other reputable information outlets and include links to the information you’ve referenced. While your publishing goal should be 15 minutes after the first Alert, accuracy is the most important part of a Newsbreak. Using quotes from knowledgable sources—a CEO or Project Manager—are great additions to reinforce your content’s information and underscore the validity of the facts presented. A Newsbreak is typically one to two paragraphs long.

The Update

Updates carry the breaking story forward with fresh developments, reactions, and added context and analysis.

Always include the word “UPDATE” in the tag and headline and attach it to the event’s most recent published Alert or NewsBreak. If a series of updates occur be sure to number them accordingly and add an Advisory Line under the headline to let readers know what has been updated (e.g. damage report specifics). Keep the word count to 200 words or less and publishing should happen as soon as you’ve been able to confirm the new information that is being reported.

Subsequent Updates

Subsequent Updates are tidbits of pertinent information that is forthcoming as an event continues to unfold, acting as a fact gatherer on an emerging story.

Subsequent Updates provide the least available, but most important information and analysis. Don’t make a change to the original Update if it is not needed and retain factual material from earlier posts if you can. Keep Subsequent Updates brief, sticking to 100 words (approx.).

The Wrap-Up

The Wrap-Up is the all-inclusive story, offering an broad snapshot of the overall event after a significant amount of the story or the beginning phase of the story has taken place.

This is where you get to fully flesh out the image you want for your company, so bring everything you’ve got to the table in your Wrap-Up—facts, quotes from key players, timelines, reactions, background information, context, and color. Start off with the hardest news and weave in significant developments from more than one dateline, source or update (with appropriate sourcing). Tailor the information to the image you’re creating for your company, provide only the essentials being reported, and speak with authority and just enough emotion to elicit the right response from the audience. The typical word count for a Wrap-Up is 800 words.

A Side Note

Blogs and social media can be very effective in crisis management, but their effectiveness is diminished without the involvement of executives that recognize the power of getting the word out effectively. I recommend writing up a crisis management plan that includes a slot(s) for their comments during each step of the guide, beginning after the initial Alert.

January 25, 2017 by Dena Weigel Bell

Qualifiers: A Thought About Fact v. “Alternative Facts”

The debate has begun. Over the course of the last few months we’ve witnessed a swift and powerful change in regards to what constitutes generally accepted ethical behavior in professional communication. Specifically, the use of words and phrases that either produce a lie, or a statement of absolute truth, i.e., a “fact.” We commonly refer to these transgressions as being half-truths or white lies, but this week they’ve come to be known as “alternative facts.”

Word Choice Matters (Fact)

Whatever you choose to call it, when a qualifier is used to give meaning to a provable fact its sole purpose is to lessen the validity of the statement, turning fact into some form of fiction. We all know these sentences but I suspect most of us might not actively listen for them as we go about our day. I know I’m guilty of overlooking cleverly constructed sentences using words as common as “most” “least” “really” or “a great deal,” but I’ll be looking for them now. (Commonly used qualifiers)

I’m also going to look for words that indicate indisputable truth, such as “matter,” “actuality,” “proven” or “authenticity.” Most are fairly easy to catch because their meanings are much more definitive than qualifiers that are used to lessen or mask a proven fact. (Common words used to denote fact)

Along with qualifiers I’ll be listening for auxiliary verbs—words like “am,” “should,” “will,” “have.” Aux verbs are used to provide context to the qualifier (or main verb), expressing tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc., thus, telling the reader how the qualifier plays a part in the meaning of the sentence. (Common auxiliary verbs)

Qualifier words and phrases and auxiliary verbs are basic tools found in a professional writer’s toolbox. Using them properly within the content on your website or blog can greatly affect customers’ buying choices before, during, and after the point of sale. They make up the subtle marketing messages that deliver impressions, rather than just data. And, I would argue that its these subtle words or phrases that are the most important part of the message because “advertising research reveals that emotional response to an ad has far greater influence on a consumer’s reported intent to buy a product than does the ad’s content – by a factor of 3-to-1 for television commercials and 2-to-1 for print ads.” (Psychology Today)

When producing content for your business’s website or blog choose your words wisely, my friends, because at the end of the day it’s a strong, truthful message and good storytelling that wins the client, affects change, and furthers customer interaction.

Here is the official statement issued by the PRSA about the use of “Alternative Facts.”

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PRSA Statement on “Alternative Facts”

January 24, 2017 – Truth is the foundation of all effective communications. By being truthful, we build and maintain trust with the media and our customers, clients and employees. As professional communicators, we take very seriously our responsibility to communicate with honesty and accuracy.

The Public Relations Society of America, the nation’s largest communications association, sets the standard of ethical behavior for our 22,000 members through our Code of Ethics. Encouraging and perpetuating the use of alternative facts by a high-profile spokesperson reflects poorly on all communications professionals.

PRSA strongly objects to any effort to deliberately misrepresent information. Honest, ethical professionals never spin, mislead or alter facts. We applaud our colleagues and professional journalists who work hard to find and report the truth.

– Jane Dvorak, APR, Fellow PRSA, Chair of the Society for 2017

December 10, 2016 by Dena Weigel Bell

A Shout Out From Televised News

Typically, writing is a very solitary activity. You sit down at your desk, collect your thoughts, and let them fly out into the world through your pen or keyboard like baby birds leaving your safe, little nest. It’s a great job, but sometimes you miss the reassurance that what you turn out is connecting with the right audience in the right way. When confirmation does come it provides a writer with a great jolt of confidence that carries over into all the other work you do. Recently, I received this adrenaline shot when a client’s blog was mentioned by a television reporter during an evening broadcast and later posted online.

During an interview with Kirk Johnston of Shiloh Vineyards, Mike Cooper of the Hays Post’s “Community Connections,” gave the WaKeeney Travel Blog a shout out as the place where he first discovered the vineyard. I’ve written two posts about the vineyard so far and each time we’ve seen high numbers of comments, likes, and shares on both the blog and social media. Even long after the original post was published!

Longevity is just one of the many advantages a blog provides a business over their non-blogging competition. By regularly posting original content with effective keywords and links inserted, a blog increases a company’s chances to drive traffic to its website every time a new post is published. And, sharing that original content across social networks continues to capture attention far beyond the original publishing date. It’s a valuable marketing feature that a static website alone cannot offer–blogging surpasses both time and distance!

Thank you, Mike Cooper and the Hays Post, for giving the WaKeeney Travel Blog a shout out on “Community Connections!”

Click on the video below to listen to the interview and find out more about Shiloh Vineyard. The WaKeeney Travel Blog is mentioned at 14:45.