Smog Testing | Is Your Website Copy too Hard to Read?

I was recently reading through numerous white papers and a few ebooks about copy writing for the web and came across a few interesting thoughts about what we write and the need for SMOG testing (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook).  In my own experience as a web site builder, I get to read and learn about many businesses and industries.  Often times I am sent material from a client to post or use to construct a web page. 

Writing is certainly a gift and some people can do it and some cannot.  I don’t do a bad job of writing and have a few folks I rely on when I get stuck.  Beyond making thing readable, how about understandable?  When you are writing it is rather important to think about a few factors.

1. Who is your audience? 
2. Is your information filled with jargon and industry buzzwords? 
3. Is your copy written above what your intended audience can comprehend?
4. Have you written too much to get your visitor to take action or move beyond your home page?

If you are wanting to know the reading level and clarity to the copy you are writing I suggest you do some SMOG testing by visiting the following sites:

1.  WordsCount

2.  SMOG

I hope you get good results and your SMOG testing will help you “clear the air” and your content so it can be best understood and enjoyed by your target audience.

 

Michael Mock

Socialnomics: Shiny New Toys or Power Tools?

Over the weekend I received a TON of email about social media and social media marketing.  I have become a student of promotion of ones brand, idea, or cause on the Internet.  I also talked to a few folks about this craze or fad as some people are labeling the new Web 2.0 applications and have been asking, “Do you think this whole social media thing is going to last?”

Surprisingly enough when people find out I am a social media evangelist and enthusiast they immediately act as if I am the ice cream man.  Like small children they almost gleefully jump up and down and begin to barrage me with all kinds of questions.  I share some of my thoughts and advise freely with them as I do see this as a new and exciting age of technology.

But let me ask you to watch the video below and then answer for yourself is the entire social media “thing” just shiny new toys or power tools?  Maybe these applications are like Christmas presents that we so eagerly desired, but soon abandon for other more interesting things in a few weeks.

Let me know how you feel about this and what do you think.

Dee and I over at Technology Workgroup are preparing a large scale course on Social Media and Business.  Look for more information in upcoming post about how to get this training for your own business.  You can also sign up for our monthly news letter and get a free eBook on Twitter for beginners entitled “Twtitter for Twwetless Tweeple” as out thanks for becoming subscribers.

My Real Boss: YOU! (Or the new rules of marketing 101)

I recently attended a small business startup workshop and one of the keynote speakers talked about the formula for traditional marketing and its classical 4 “P’s”, being Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. We have all heard that in some class dealing with business through the years so it is nothing new. I was to be the keynote for the following day and present the ideas of using social media for business. Most of the participants in the room were not “millennials” or even “Gen Y or X”; a large number were baby boomers. I began my address with an apology to the marketing instructor I followed as I told the room and then explained why.  To meet the demand of those users, (a whopping 72% of people), who turn to the internet for information and purchase of goods and services that rules had to changed. There was now a fifth “P” to marketing called Participation.

Today, the consumer is no longer subjected to or will even accept a marketing engine that talks at them not to them. Brands are offering more goods and services and even sampling their wares to the public now more than ever. Consumers are now in control as Web 2.0 has started making them the voice to be heard and obeyed. Providers of goods and services are now engaged in social media marketing for business promotion. The days of buying shelf space are over. As a company seeking market share and desiring to keep buyers loyal to your products, transparency is the key. To be seen on the Internet, the word on the street marketing tactic is a powerful weapon used by businesses. Enter the fifth “P” or Participation it allows your and the customers to converse, cooperate, and collaborate as you build your brand, together. This in turn develops a concept I learned working in retail sales as creating a “Lifer” relationship. I wanted to be perceived as the expert that my clients knew and trusted, and would return to buy from in the future.

So now I said of all of that how about something useful, like how will my business execute the fifth “P” of marketing or Participation? There are four steps that need to be completed to insure one’s ability to maximize the Participation factors in promoting your goods and services.

1. The first step is to discover what people are saying if anything at all about who you are and what you do. In order to do this you will need to use a few tools that are easily implemented from the web. I personally like Google Alerts. It is a service offered by Google which notifies me by email or as a feed about the latest web and news. It lets me know if new web pages appear in the top twenty results for my Google web search.

2. The second step is to create awareness about your brand and you can do this by using social media tools to your advantage. Blogs, Facebook, even Twitter can be used to promote brand awareness among both current and perspective clients.

3. The third step is to analyze the impact and activity of your brand. What gets measured will get used. Look at your blog visits, search for yourself online, and see if there is any “buzz” about you. 4. After you have completed the first three, you now need to Participate. You need to get off the wall and mingle! Comment or post to blogs, send e-mails, set up and be involved in forums on your website where customers can talk to you about their challenges, and even go so far as to allow clients to post testimonials about your brand and company.

In short, participation means giving the customer permission to criticize as well as praise the goods and services of your company, ensure you are being inclusive in the entire process of creating brand loyalty. Make the path to these actions clear and assure your clients that you are genuine in your interest in them and hold their loyalty to you in the highest esteem.

If all of this seems like a lot to get your arms around, well maybe someone like Technology Workgroup can help. We are getting pretty good at helping both business and individuals successfully employ social media and empower their clients some of which are now raving fans!

-See you online

Michael Mock

Technology Workgroup

You should follow us on Twitter

@techworkgroup

@mmock

I’m on the Wagon (Band Wagon That Is)!

Ok, so I am getting more than annoyed with my “friends” on Twitter who think Twitter is the latest place to broadcast like pirate radio.  I have un-followed so many people in the last week for yelling at me to buy their crap.

I also have been more than disappointed with the Social Media Experts who are not really wanting to be social other than to say “Hi thanks for the follow what can I do for you today?”  Like I just walked into J.C. Penny’s or Footlocker.

So with that in mind let me see if maybe I can repeat some basic ground rules for using Twitter from a business stand point.

1.  Community-  Be a neighbor not a nuisance.  I know you sell books and software and SEO secrets.  At the end of the day I don’t care.  I am looking to be part of the block.  Let’s talk about our kids in sports, our favorite beer, or TV show.

2.  Collaborate- If I have a question and you are an expert how about a hand?  I don’t necessarily want you to give me an answer to all of my problems, but hey a little direction is nice.  It builds trust in you.  Maybe an action like that will allow me to trust you enough to buy your last book on “Firing my Boss”.

3. Contribute- Have interesting and useful stuff to say.  Give me a reason to believe and “get” you and your message.  I do have folks I follow that know the value of having expertise and know about the karma of “Pay it Forward”  Actually solved a hardware issue with an expert pointing me in the right direction.

4.  Care- About someone other than yourself.  Today a real friend on Twitter needed help finding an important update for some software for a business machine.  I have some mad Google search skills. There is a post on here about that.  Anyway, I went to work and got that update located.  Not my problem really, but I made it my problem because I care.

5.  Consider- Everything you post is there forever.  The Internet NEVER forgets.  There are really only two types of people on the Internet those who give and those who take.  Where would you like to be weighed and measured?

So enough ranting and time for rest. I talk about products and services on Twitter and believe that it is very useful as a tool to promote my business, but I am so much more than the products and services, at the end of the day I am the guy who loves to talk about me and you and what a great sunset in that big old sky.

I Have an Opinion About That

During an  update on Facebook I made a remark about not knowing what to do before I had Wifi in public while visiting the hospital during my wife’s recent surgery.  On of the posters said I should read one of last years magazines on the table in the waiting room.  More interestingly though was the thoughts of my favorite designer Alex who had this to say about magazines, “Did Dan say something about a magazine? What are those? Are they anything like a blog, because if I can’t tell the world what I think about what I’m reading, I”m just not interested.”

I had to smile to myself and I must explain that Alex is a twenty something who obviously loves social media.  Alex “gets” social media and uses it as a regular part of his daily life.  He and I often swap ideas about the latest app that comes along that helps up better manage all of out various feeds, lists, and on line persona.

I also had to be a bit sad, as there are a great number of folks who don’t get social media much.  I have a marketing group I am part of and one of our members believes that social media is another channel to broadcast his message, my mom finds social media a waste of time, and others liken it to an evil cult that has brainwashed us into drinking the kool-aid of the worldly masses.

I have really gotten involved pretty heavily and even created a bit of business teaching or as I put it evangelizing the benefits of social media.  I am working to educate people in the various ways social media can improve, influence, empower, and even liberate.  Social media isn’t some passing fad, it is a main stream part of life.  A recent article in the New York Times found a large majority of us are checking email, texting, or on line socially even before we eat or have coffee.  Social media is the best way for many of us to communicate to a broad spectrum of people in an efficient way that was never before possible.

I blog, tweet, post, and text large amounts of information daily and in the midst of all of that touch the lives of at least 500 people.  I have found tools that are easy and I enjoy using.  Think about that for a moment tools that are easy and fun!  I overheard a conversation this weekend from a group of soccer moms that sat behind me at a sporting event.  They were chirping away about their new Black Berries and Smart Phones.  The killer apps that kept them all connected and on track.  How much they loved texting and tweeting from their phones.

Facebook me!  Get with me on LinkedIn.  Give me your value added proposition in 140 characters or less.  This is all on a personal level, I now have the ability to befriend and become a fan of a myriad of businesses I spend money with, I can contact the developer of software I use  or author of the last book I read and tell them how much their work means to me …or not.  And believe me I have and I  must tell you that some of these on line contacts have become off line friendships that would have never happened in the past.  Professionally I have be able to be accessible to my clients in a way that could or would not have happened as little as three years ago.  I love talking to my fans and clients one on one.  My relationships are just as important on screen as they are face to face.

I have an opinion and so do you.  How many times have you said,” I’d love to call that 800 number or I am going to write the owner and tell them off.”  Social media has now placed a great number of companies brands, mine included, squarely in the hands of you the consumer.  And those of us wanting to survive and flourish in the digital age will need to continue to meet you where you are.

Looking forward to serving you tomorrow and every day!

Michael Mock

Improving Your On-Line Image

I have been involved with the 30 Day Challenge presented by Internet Marketing genius Ed Dale.  I am very intrigued by the countless numbers of people who join in every August to participate.  It is a demanding and thought provoking 30 days of information to help you make a single dollar on line.

Now I know some of you are thinking just a buck?  Is that all he is going to help you do is make one measly dollar?  You are going to give up 30 days to get a single George Washington?  That’s crazy talk!  Yeah, I know.  But think about this.  What is always the hardest part of anything?  Doing “it” (fill in the blank here) for the first time.  And after you do “it” (once again fill in the blank) the first time and succeed, you want to do “it” over and over.

That is not the real reason for my post though.  I have seen a large number of posts about pen names and blogs.  I write this blog and use my real name.  I registered for a domain name and had to use my real name.  Some people are very uncomfortable using their real names   because of a number of other people who prey upon other both on line and off.

I have clients that wants to be a voice and a face to other potential businesses and clients.  The problem they experience though is a way to be themselves without revealing their identity.  Let me see if I can clarify this a little better.  We work with a non-profit organization.  The person tasked with the  administration of the website also wants to start doing some social media, but doesn’t want to be “herself”  My co-owner (wife) made a fabulous observation and suggestion.  You don’t have to be, but you have to be.  Huh?  She went on to further explain.  Is there a King in every Burger King?  How about a Wendy in every Wendy’s?  I don’t think so.  But everyone knows the icons of the businesses and relate to these characters as the persona or image.

Our local bakery is a hipster named the Breadhead.  He has a real name, but very few people know it.  His on line persona is an icon of a baker with a paddle holding a round loaf of bread that resembles a peace sign.  You can follow him BTW on twitter @breadheadbakery.  But he is successfully building a brand around that image.  He interacts on Twitter and Facebook.  It also acts as his “gatekeeper”.  To get to him you’ve got to go through the Breadhead.

I recently taught a class on Facebook for Business and we discussed how YOU the consumer are now in charge of a great number of things that I call my business.  My brand is in your hands if I really want to be included as a product.  NASCAR learned this lesson and epitomizes it.  No one is more brand loyal than a NASCAR fan.  My brother in law will only drink Miller Lite because his driver is sponsored by them.  He only drives Chevys because his driver drives one.  It makes me laugh, but NASCAR fans have an image in their minds and support the labels that ride around on the oval.

So to make my brand your brand I have to do certain things.  I need to be transparent.  I need to offer value.  I need to be courteous, kind, funny sometimes, helpful, and honest.  I need to really listen when you talk.  I need to work at being your friend and partner.  Overall I can be an icon or a label, but it has to be one you can trust and embrace as your solution.  You can find a content managed web site builder or a social media instructor pretty easy these days.  I can’t find clients that easy.

So I guess in short, if you want to be the voice of your business as an icon, a picture of a stuffed animal, or an animated movie clip that is fine.  but play by the rules of being a good friend.

• Be helpful
• Be nice
• Be honest
• Be cooperative
• Be constructive

People forget my name pretty quick, but my company name stays stuck in peoples heads. That has something to do with the fact I have made it a priority to be a friend long before I do business.  Sure easier to take help from a friend than someone you just found in the search engines.

Michael Mock

Google Search Phrases to Save Time and Effort

Today one of my favorite design geeks Alex; posted he was scouring the Internet to find some work.  Not unusual for a free lance designer to be spending his morning engaged in such activity…but he needs to use his precious time giving love to his craft of design not looking for work.  Need a good designer check him out here ==>GenerationXAlbums

I suggested he use the follow search phrases to get his lead hunting done more efficiently.

I use site: URL “search term” to search a site without having to browse the whole thing.  I quickly found numerous leads without having to hunt through a job site.

ex: site:http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ “web design” got me 103 returns from google for web design in Akron/Canton.

site:http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ “graphic designer” Got me 21 returns.

Save time and maximize your efforts to getting the job, not looking for it.

I included the chart for your reference and good luck!

Google Shortcut	Finds Pages That Have…
minolta camera	the words minolta and camera
ski OR skate	either the word ski or the word skate
“gimme five”	the exact phrase gimme five
cotton -picking	the word cotton but NOT the word picking
Die Hard +2	movie title including the number 2
~bus	looks up the word bus and synonyms
define:exile	definitions of the word exile
bring my * here	the words bring my here separated by one or more words
+	addition; 978+456
-	subtraction; 978-456
*	multiplication; 978*456
/	division; 978/456
% of	percentage; 50% of 100
^	raise to a power; 4^18 (4 to the eighteenth power)
old in new (conversion)	45 celsius in Fahrenheit
site:(search only one website)	site:tusco.display “custom point of purchase”
link:(find linked pages)	link:technologyworkgroup.com
#…#(search within a number range)	minolta camera $200…$300
daterange:(search within specific date range)	egypt daterange:200508-200510
safesearch: (exclude adult content)	safesearch:breast cancer
info: (find info about a page)	info:www.genxalbums.com
related: (related pages)	related:www.genxalbums.com
cache: (view cached page)	cache:google.com
filetype:(restrict search to specific filetype)	web design filetype:ppt
allintitle: (search for keywords in page title)	allintitle:”adidas” running
inurl:(restrict search to page URLs)	inurl:southpark
site:.edu (specific domain search)	site:.edu, site:.gov, site:.org, etc.
site:country code (restrict search to country)	site:.br “honduras”
intext:(search for keyword in body text)	intext:shower
allintext: (return pages with all words specified in body text)	allintext:tropical island
book(search book text)	book Love is the Killer App
phonebook:(find a phone number)	phonebook:Microsoft WA
bphonebook: (find business phone numbers)	bphonebook:Intel OR
rphonebook:(find residential phone numbers)	rphonebook:John Smith Dover OH
movie:(search for showtimes)	movie:The Shining 44622
stocks:(get a stock quote)	stocks:goog
weather:(get local weather)	weather:44622

Hope you can put this to good use.

-Michael

One Hour of Free Consultation

I just finished up an email to a businessman I  consult and do web design work for.  He asked me a few really good questions about using Twitter.  I recently finished an eBook (which you can get by signing up for it ==>HERE) that addresses most of it, but let me give you the conversation and let you see if it is helpful.

Michael,

I have started a Twitter for my lacrosse team I coach @greenhslacrosse. Will your book and/or presentation at TweetUp on August 10th address how I can build brand awareness more or less for that situation?

-Rory

Here was my response.

Rory,

In Twitter is it a matter of following people when you get started.  These days most folks are attempting to garner followers and don’t care who they are.  You are seeking quality people to follow such as players, fans, and probably other coaches.  The Twitter book that Dani proofread for me has some tools in the last few chapters that talk about getting people to follow you as well as finding people.  I found that having a good profile and making some tweets that are relevant to the subject will get you found and followed.

For example, post a few tweets about lacrosse with say a link to an article.  Do this a few times.  Add a link to your team site.  Mention the school.  Others are using automation tools that are watching twitter for keywords that are of interest.  They then will follow you.  You just need to follow back.  The other thing is branding your stuff.  Every email should contain a link to your twitter account.  I also found that I have had an increase in followers in how I word that call to action.  I used to just say:

“I’m on Twitter @mmmock”.

Now I say, “You need to follow me on Twitter @ mmock”.  Much more compelling.

Perhaps you could suggest, “Love lacrosse? Follow me on Twitter @mmmock”.

I just searched twitter for #lacrosse on TweetDeck and pulled 72 post.  I would check the profiles of those twitter accounts and start following them. They would more than likely follow you right back.  Instant audience.

Most online marketers are hosed for business because they don’t have an audience.  In a matter of days you will.  One caveat social media is about conversation.  Don’t strictly use it as a place to be the “used car salesman”.  Be helpful, offer material of substance and on occasion make a pitch about fund raisers or team sales.  Good ratio is 1 to 2  in every 10 posts.

Check out my blog: www.mmock.wordpress.com  for some great material on social media and social media marketing.  I also am finishing up another ebook on “How to Get 1000 Followers in 30 Days”.  I will ask for proofreaders for that too so you might want a copy.

Also feel free to email me with questions or better yet, post questions and comments to my blog as it will help me keep active writing and answering.

There you go one hour of free consultation I hope that answers your questions and I will make an effort to address this either en masse or at round table discussion at our TwwetUp on August 10th @ Breadhead Bakery in Dover Ohio from 5Pm to 7PM.

Michael

If you have an other suggestions Rory would love to hear them.  Post them here so he can check them out!

Thanks,

-Michael Mock

HELP WANTED: I Have a Book That Needs Proofed

Good morning!

It is Monday and it sure feels like it.  I had a full and challenging weekend, but I don’t feel recharged and ready to go.  Despite the fact that I have created a bit of margin in my morning by running some of my regular Monday morning stuff last night.

My wife and I as Technology Workgroup, are prepping for a Tweet Up that is to held next Monday night in Dover, OH.  We are meeting at the Breadhead Bakery in downtown and even lined up some local business folks to talk and lead discussion.  We are slated to run from 5 PM to 7 PM and that is when Breadhead has his caffeine happy hour.  Specials on drinks and fabulous baked goods.  We have some shirts to give away courtesy of CDTees, and I want to offer my eBook on Twitter for new users.

Here is my challenge with the eBook.  I need it proofread.  I have been pretty busy and would like to see if some of my fans could give me a hand.  Would you sign up to be a proofreader?  Just follow the link and sign up. In the registration process you will find a link to download the eBook.  Pretty good arrangement as you get to criticize me, and get a free book.  I also will send anyone who lends a hand and send corrections and suggestions a pack of Twitter backgrounds that you could upload to your Twitter profile.

What do say?  Give me a hand, get a free book, and some twitter backgrounds for your time?

Sign up to be a proof reader here:  PROOFREADER

Thanks again!

-Michael

Social Media and the Balance of Power

Today my company (that I co-own with my wife) Technology Workgroup taught a class on Facebook for Business.  We love being social media enthusiasts and evangelists.  We are big believers in the “new” way of sharing information and exchanging ideas.  We also are enjoying sharing the things we have learned and allowing people to achieve better ways to promote their ideas, products, and businesses or organizations.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks I have found for most people though is their belief or misconception that social media will drive business to their door.  They have bought into the freemium model of marketing.  Facebook is free, Twitter is free, LinkedIn is free, YouTube is free, you get the picture.

TANSTAAFL (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch)!  Social media takes time to become a useful and powerful tool for promotion.  It also takes effort and focus.  As I said yesterday, forget yelling at the crowd, put down the bull horn, pull up a chair and sit at the table and talk to me, smile at me, thank me for being your friend.  Let me learn about the ways you can help me solve a problem.  Tell me a joke, share a little about who you are and what you are.

I also can appreciate the free idea, in this economy who can’t.  I just think that it is unrealistic to believe that putting up an on-line presence and expecting it to solve all of your problems is just naive.  There is no cruise control for social media, it is alive and will flourish,only of it is watered and feed.

During class today I did point out that a Fan page or profile for you business is only part of an effort to reach your clientele or prospective customer.  Facebook is HUGE and getting bigger every day, but just as a good marketing company, it is NOT the only venue.  I recently asked who owns the billboards, newspapers, and the radio and television stations in our area.  Not hard to believe that they are some how related to each other.  Imagine that!  All of these are enticing me to buy or engage.  The radio comments on a newspaper story and in turn the local tv station talks about the radio and newspaper coverage.  Billboards tout the best of all of those.  See the pattern here?

The same is true of using social media, Twitter points to Facebook, which in turn points to blogs and other sites.  LinkedIn and Plaxo get business together in cyberspace to collaborate.  It all brings us around the table.  Think about that and don’t see if like me some of your most fond memories have evolved from dinner time.  We laugh and share at our dinner table.  I have entertained perfect strangers at dinner that became friends and some even clients.

Think of it as a table with four legs, you need all of those legs to keep the table up and level.  Otheriwse it is a lopsided wobbly mess.  Kind of like thinking a Fanpage will save your business or get your message out effectively.

Watch in the next couple of weeks as Technology Workgroup is getting ready to release an eBook by the same title as the post “Social Media and the Balance of Power”.  It will be available both here on the blog and on the website www.technologyworkgroup.com you can also go over to the website and sign up for our newsletter and get on the inside track on how to get the book by helping me proof read  it before release!

Keep spreading the word and see me soon,

-Michael