Category Archives: Cheap Tricks

Low-to-no cost tools, tricks, hacks, resources and advice for freelance writers, journopreneurs, marketeers and other content creators.

The Amazing Content Strategy Generator You Didn’t Know You Needed

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To know me is to know that I’m rarely short of ideas…  Implementation is another thing entirely, especially when it comes to blog posts.

That’s because it’s not just about writing anymore. It’s about Tweet-able tie-ins, Pinnable pics and Klout relevance. It’s not what you write, it’s how you market it and who sees it.

How to use the Content Strategy Generator:

Copy this Google doc and type in a keyword. No, really, that’s it.

That’s where this crazy-cool Content Strategy Generator Tool (CSGT), created by Daniel Butler of SEOgadget, comes in. Enter a keyword and find out exactly what topics are making headlines and trending, being “liked” and shared… and much, much more.

There’s so much application here: digital journalists and freelance writers can use the generator to see how much coverage stories have already gotten—a great way to discover new angles before you pitch an editor. Bloggers can see who might be interested in reading (and re-tweeting) their latest posts. And of course, if you find yourself with a paucity of ideas related to your primary topic, this is a great place to start.

Photo by adihrespati
ᔥ Content Strategy Generator Tool, Daniel Butler ↬ ProBlogger

The Marketing hack I used to break into travel writing

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Daunted by the masthead? Trying to break into magazines produced by a multi-pub conglomerate?

You could literally spend days researching yourself silly before you finally click “send” on your LOI or query. Or you could try this shortcut:

Email other writers who already have a relationship with the editor you want to write for.

This approach works for a few reasons. First, that writer has probably been where you are. They get how hard it is to break into a new market. Two: they may have inside info you don’t that will help you tailor your pitch. Finally, it’s always nice to email a query with a name your prospective editor will (or feels she should) recognize.

So far I’ve gotten nothing but positive responses. One writer wrote back with the email for her editor. Another let me know her website wasn’t currently hiring freelance bloggers (information that wasn’t on said website) but asked me to forward a résumé and clips instead for a internally posted gig.

The first connection landed me an assignment with a top inflight publisher.

And I think this will work in the future for other travel-oriented publications, markets where my story idea—most likely my experience of a particular destination—doesn’t present much competition for the writer I’m connecting with.

Put your pics to work: 4 Ways to spice up your site with photos

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An unusual view of Sydney’s Opera House.

Since going premium, I’ve been exploring LinkedIn’s groups more—especially ones where I can get an inside view on the industries I write for and about.

I’m not exactly in every group’s industry. But marketing myself and writing about the green, travel and business sectors have given me unique insights to contribute, like ways to use images to jazz up, say, a travel company website—a question asked in one of my groups today. My comment got so unwieldy long (and I’m trying not to be one of those walls-of-text commenters) that I decided to blog it instead:

Here are four tips for travel professionals and other marketeers looking to spice up their websites with images.

1. Size—and alignment—matters
On the web, vertical photos, left- or right-aligned “above the fold” (the point where people have to scroll down to keep reading), are more effective than huge horizontal shots for websites and blogs, with the text below the fold. Every click and scroll matters and you want people to get to your text as soon as possible. This lends itself well to portraits, just make sure that your text wraps around the image. This slightly techy tutorial breaks down 90 percent of what you need to know about styling photos—from captions to code.

2. Take a cue from Beyoncé
In a recent Trip Advisor survey, 60 percent of travelers reported using travel apps. So travel companies, restaurants and hotels should definitely optimize their images for mobile device usage. This may require resetting your content management system preferences (WordPress, for instance, has a setting for this) and selecting an image that is large, uncluttered, hi-def and uses central composition. Fortunately we can look to Beyoncé for inspiration. Here’s an NPR story that talks about how the singer’s videos bring more thrills to mobile devices by centralized, uncluttered composition, close-ups and a minimal background. If it works for Beyoncé, it’ll work for you.

3. Use pictures worth 1,000 clicks
No one will thank you for boring images—even if they can see them on their phones. Here’s some inspiration for using color, texture and culture in photos. (I might pass on that Photoshop idea, but the others are solid.) Another idea: cut the text and tell your story through slideshow galleries with captioned images like the New York Times does.

4. Get with the Pingram
If you aren’t already on Pinterest, you should be—especially if you are in any way targeting women age 25-40. Brussels Airlines (full disclosure: I have a story in the May/June edition of their inflight magazine B-Spirit) has AWESOME pinboards chock-a-block full of travel tips, style and great photos of their “birds.” KLM also has boards dedicated to fan photos, vintage black and white images, a travel quiz and—my personal fave—package design. My Pinterest career started with a single pin—a garden planter or something equally lame. Within an hour, 40 people had repinned it. Now think of the exposure Pinterest could give your spectacular destination images. Or, because every pin tracks back to the site it was discovered on, your website. (You’ll want to make sure your images are pinnable.) Don’t have magical, expansive mountain views? Infographics are extremely popular on Pinterest.

You can find me on Pinterest here.

Photo by dicktay2000

Four cheap, green ways to research new magazine markets

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It’s easy to spend a lot of time and money researching the magazines you want to pitch, especially when you’re first starting out. You feel like you need to read a million back issues cover to cover before you can even think about pitching an editor.

Research can become a crutch, something this post by Linda Formichelli hints at. You’re afraid to put your idea out there. You’re afraid you’re going to get rejected. And so you overcompensate in the research department, trying to dig up every little crumb of information about a particular market. Linda has some great workarounds in her Bust My Excuse post.

Here are four tips and tools of my own that I use to cut the time, expense and carbon footprint of researching new markets:

1. Prioritize your reading by focusing first of relevant sections and then skimming the rest. For example, I’m interested in writing international stories for a women’s consumer magazine. Knowing how they cover new skin care trends is nifty but the time I spend doing that isn’t going to add that much value to my pitch, based on the kind of queries I usually write.

2. Search consumer and trade publications in database archives like Gale Infotrac, which are accessible through many local and university libraries.

3. Sign up for Feedly or other online content aggregator. A lot of magazines repackage their print content for online readers. Get the RSS feed for whatever section you want to pitch (or whatever section is closest—it’s not always a one-to-one correspondence). Sometimes I also add the general RSS so I can skim other sections. After a week of reading this feed, you’ve done 90% of your market research, painlessly. (While you’re at it, subscribe to the RSS feed for your own website or blog so you can, say, make sure it still works!)

4. Ask your friends and family for their old magazines. As a green writer, I’m really trying to be mindful of my paper use. Getting old magazines from friends and family is a great way to recycle. It’s also a fantastic way to get magazines you want to pitch but not necessarily subscribe to. For example, I got a stack of wonderful travel and lifestyle magazines from my stepmom who lives in Minnesota, markets I considered pitching because I travel to the Minn frequently.

Hey, fellow freelancers, what time-/money-/planet-saving tips do you have for researching new magazine markets?

Photo by thebittenword.com

And the winner is… Noisette Academy

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The Academy blog buttonLast week I randomly discovered Noisette Academy’s lovely site while trying to find cute social media buttons for my sidebar. Though founder @Isa Maria had me at Pantone, I was delighted (and impressed) to see all @NoisetteAcademy does to help creative business owners—mentoring, classes and quite a few free downloads.

I’m jumping on the March is Grow Your Business Month bandwagon. I may personalize that into March is Market Your Business Month—using Noisette’s adorable and downloadable Creative Business Growth Planner, of course.

Not to detract from the Academy’s e-courses and mentoring, but I think every freelance writer, creator and curator can learn a lot about online marketing just by visiting this site. My big takeaway was…

Great design can act as a multiplier for all your other marketing techniques. 

Take Noisette’s social media buttons. They aren’t just functional; they’re designed. The Pantone tie-in is industry-relevant and will appeal to design geeks. On their website, Noisette’s use of color and their whimsical aesthetic makes them seem fun, friendly, approachable and trust-worthy—all the qualities I would want in a mentor or marketing consultant. I also love all the free virtual swag like the Noisette badge above. What a great way to make it easy for people to add color to their websites… while linking back to your blog.

Image by Noisette Marketing