How to Overcome the “Shoulds”

by Elle Ray | May 13, 2014 | Small Business Advice

We All Resist Doing What We Know We Should

We know we should exercise more, eat less, get more sleep, relax more often, play with the kids and take more vacations. As small business owners, we know we should clean our tools, make more cold calls, update our marketing brochure and write a weekly blog. But too often we just don’t do what we “should” do.

working instead of playing

Procrastination, that devil of idleness, can lead to a whole host of issues. Never mind the weight gain and lost business opportunities. Forget the bags under your eyes and the slipping of your website ranking. Those are just the consequences. How about all that guilt and the negative messages we send ourselves about how we’re failing? Face it, no good comes of procrastinating on doing things that are good for us.

And yet at the same time, no good comes from the “shoulds.” Here are our tips for overcoming the dreaded “shoulds:”

Stop Talking

Stop the endless chatter about what you have to do and follow the old Nike saying: “just do it.” Too often, says author and sociologist Martha Beck, we kid ourselves into thinking we are making progress when all we’re really doing is adding more verbiage to our stories and our “shoulds.” We discuss, plan and talk about the issues in meeting after meeting, but we end up with the same results at the end of the day: nothing done and going home with more remorse to keep us tossing through the night.

Get Real

It takes a lot of courage to face the truth. Whether you’re afraid of failing, not sure how to move forward or just plain not interested in those things hanging out on your “should” plate, there’s a reason that you’re not getting the important stuff done. Instead of trying to force results, take a step back and figure out what is standing in your way and work on removing that obstacle. Take a class, delegate, accept the status quo or change directions. Get counseling if necessary, if that’s what it takes to get real. Do something to drop the sack of rocks in your “should” bag, and you’ll sleep like a baby.

Find Help

Business owners in general believe they are strong, confident and capable. Without those characteristics, they’d be working in a cubicle collecting a safe paycheck every week. But oftentimes, it’s those very same independent streaks that keep them stuck and full of “shoulds.”

It’s the really strong, confident leader who admits to not having all the answers. It’s the smart entrepreneur who asks for help. Join a support group, hire extra help or just read a helpful blog. Chances are that someone else has felt the same way as you do and carried similar fears and doubts to bed each night. The odds are pretty good that someone else has found solutions they are willing to share. All you have to do is ask.

Like us.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.

Do You Still Need a Newsletter?

by Elle Ray | Apr 25, 2014 | Small Business Advice

Has Your Blog Made Your Newsletter Irrelevant?

Image courtesy of Andy Newson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the past, newsletters were a useful tool for communicating information to your customers and stakeholders about your organization. They tended to be lengthy, full of notices, updates, a couple of decent articles and maybe even a few ads for your products or services. Newsletters typically were sent via normal mail as well as email.

With the advent and mainstream popularity of blogs, however, the newsletter of old may in fact be obsolete and a waste of time, effort, information and resources. Considering the amount of time consumers read marketing collateral material, you may actually get more bang for your buck by circulating your blogs instead of trying to craft an in-depth quarterly newsletter.

Newsletters vs. Blogs

You can use a blog post in ways that you never could with a newsletter. For example, you can post it on your social media sites, send it to your email lists, use it as a guest blog on other industry sites and shorten it for mobile communications.
Instead of sending out a newsletter, send your blog to your email list instead. Your existing and prospective clients will appreciate the targeted brevity of your information, and you’ll benefit by putting your company name in front of their eyes.
When you send a newsletter by email, you often have to attach a PDF file, which is the electronic format of the newsletter. Many of your customers, however, may not bother to even open the attachment. You can solve this problem by putting your blog post in the body of the email instead.
Keep blog topics straight and simple. With a weekly blog, you can touch on one subject at a time. In a newsletter, important information can get lost among the multiple stories and topics.
A newsletter doesn’t help your website page rank. Posting fresh content every week on your website through your blog posts pleases the search engines and gradually raises your page rank.
Single-topic blog posts can reinforce some keywords or add others, giving your website added strength when it comes to attracting new visitors. Newsletters can’t do that.
If your company does decide to do both a blog and a newsletter, each must include different information.

Blogs Are Better

According to Penn State University, a blog is a much more reader-friendly communication tool than a newsletter. A blog has more uses and is more likely to be read than a newsletter with multiple articles. But you don’t have to give up on your regular quarterly communications; just break it up into blog posts and put them on your website. The benefits are obvious.

Smarter Newsletters

If some of your clients still prefer to get a hard copy they can hold in their hands, you don’t have to get rid of your newsletter. Just be smarter about how you spend your writing and formatting time. First, ask your customers to opt in for a printed version to cut down on postage for your snail-mailing list. Then put together four or five of your best blog posts into a newsletter format and print it out for them. It’s a win-win situation.

At Ray Access, we’ll gladly share more about our experiences with online blogging — and even do it for you if you’re too busy. We also can pull together content for your newsletter customers and give you crisp new copy on a regular basis for all your followers.

The Aim of Quality Content

by Elle Ray | Apr 6, 2014 | Content Provider

Why Your Website Needs Useful Content

Everyone has been telling you that you need “quality content” on your website. They repeat it so often and with such verve that you have begun to believe it. After you realize how difficult it is to produce content that’s actually useful, you take a pause and wonder: “What’s the point of all this?” Well, you’ve come to the right place. Let us explain.

What Is “Quality Content?”

Ray Access provides quality content

We first have to define what we mean when we refer to quality content. There may be many subjective definitions for what constitutes quality content, but here at Ray Access, we like to simplify, simplify, simplify. To us, quality content is just useful information: how-to tips, solid advice backed by facts or insightful articles that can actually help a reader reach a decision. Think of this way: Quality content is something that readers would want to share with their friends.

For example, let’s pretend there’s a company called Asheville Plasterworks. They make plaster-of-Paris masks and puppets. It’s a niche market, but they supply the local theater companies and make one-of-a-kind pieces for city parades. On their website and blog, they might feature information about the history of masks, how to incorporate puppets in a school project and what kinds of “green” materials they use to make their products. They have vision and imagine what their readers might want to read about. This quality content will attract a new audience, which is one of the things a website should do.

Why Quality Content Works

That was one example, but there are many others. Quality content works because it attracts people and turns those visitors to your website into customers. Quality content not only differentiates your company, but it also describes the benefits of your products or services.

When visitors arrive at your website, they’ll scan for whatever is useful or important to them. If you can supply that information, they’ll be grateful. They may become a customer. They may even share a link they think will benefit others, or they think it’s especially funny or practical. When your website reaches that level, you will know you have quality content.

The Goals of Quality Content

So what are the goals of quality content? They are:

To get you noticed in the sea of the Internet
To draw new people to your website
To convert visitors into customers
To get people talking about your company
To establish yourself as an expert in your field

But the way to reach these goals — and this is important to learn — is to give stuff away. Not swag or prizes, but information. If you can actually help people, they’ll remember you. If you can give them something that they want or need, they’ll be more likely to recommend you. They’ll be more likely to spread the word about you as your informal ambassadors. They’ll be more likely to buy from you.

On the other hand, if you lure people to your website with the promise of help, but you don’t deliver what they’re looking for, they’ll move on. They’ll forget you. Or worse, they’ll spread the word that you’re unreliable.

So give your audience what it wants. Provide quality content. If you can’t do it on your own, quality content is what we deliver. Every time.

3 Simple Things to Do to Become a Better Writer

by Elle Ray | Mar 23, 2014 | Writing

Anyone Can Benefit from These Tips, Even You!

Here at Ray Access, we are professional writers. We became writers the old-fashioned way: we worked at it by writing and rewriting. You can too. Here are three simple things you can do to improve your writing skills.

1. Read

read what you want to write

That’s right: reading helps your writing. Ideally, we suggest that you read the types of things you want to write. If you want to write science fiction, load your shopping cart with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark. If you want to write for the newspaper, read — not scan, but really read — everything from the local rag to the New York Times. And of course, if you want to blog, read other blogs. Like this one!

Here’s how it works: when you read, your mind takes in the words on the page, the ideas behind those words, and the way the words are strung together. Before you can write like a genius, you have to know what a genius writes like.

It’s also important to read a variety of authors, so when you begin to write, you don’t subconsciously copy the tone and cadence of the one you like the best. A little of that likely will happen anyway, but your influences gradually fade as your own voice becomes stronger.

2. Write

Write every day Like any skill, writing requires practice to improve. If you wanted to become a better baseball pitcher, you’d have to practice throwing. To become a better carpenter, you spend years refining your skills and knowledge. Writing is no different.

Now you’ve probably heard that writing is an “art,” meaning it’s something only artists can do. At a certain level, that’s true, but very few people reach that level. For the rest of us, writing is a craft, like knitting or driving. The more you do it — when you have the intention of improving; when you do it consciously — the better you’ll get at it.

The best advice for becoming a better writer is to write. Practice every day. It doesn’t matter what you write about or how good that writing is. Just keep writing. Keep a journal. Your writing will improve the more you do it.

3. Solicit Constructive Criticism

seek objective criticism When you feel you’re ready to share your writing, find a person or a group who promise to be brutally honest. Sharing your writing with your mother or your best friend might be nice for them, but it usually will not improve your writing. You need an objective, impartial reader.

Writers need feedback. Writers need to have their work read. It’s the primary reason Mark left the lucrative field of technical writing: no one reads technical manuals except other technical writers. Mark needed a broader audience. You will too when you suddenly find yourself writing.

So continue to read, write every day, and seek outside feedback. These are three things you can do, in order, to become a better writer. Writing a blog post will no longer feel like climbing Mount Everest. Composing a letter or email will no longer take all day. And maybe someday you can join the ranks of professional writers, just like Linda and Mark of Ray Access.

Website Blog Ideas

by Elle Ray | Mar 4, 2014 | Blog Writing

Eight Proven Ways to Get Your Juices Flowing

A drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway can spur ideas

Writing in Asheville rarely leaves our creativity time to go dormant. Around every corner sits a new and intriguing idea, an exciting question or an entirely off-beat take on an old suggestion. A brief walk through downtown or a quick drive up a mountain highway can get your ideas juices flowing. And it’s during those times that you need to prepare for your blog.

Too often, we hear of bloggers who sit down at their computers and expect to create a sensational piece that will draw readers in and excite their imaginations. We all want to create the kind of reading experience that will make our customers stand up and pay attention. But if we wait until the last minute to tap into the well of ideas, the flow may just not be there on demand.

What’s a Blogger to Do?

The following suggestions are what keep us at Ray Access in tune with our creative juices, maintaining a flow of ideas for our blog (and yours if you’re a client). Here are our tips for coming up with your own website blog ideas:

Keep a highlighter handy at all times to help you remember a great idea you got from a newspaper or other published print source.
Carry a small notepad and jot down ideas when they come, no matter where you are. Stick one on your nightstand because the brain can get active when we begin to shut down or just after waking.
Call yourself and leave a message you can listen to at a more appropriate time when you get struck with inspiration.
Bookmark news websites or industry articles that get your thoughts all wound up and activated.
Throw out a challenge to friends and family members at dinner to give you blogging ideas. And then write them down before you forget.
Put yourself in your customers’ seats and think about what they might want to know.
Perform a keyword search every couple weeks to see what’s trending on the big search engines and incorporate those ideas in your own topics.
Read, read, and read some more. The fact is that writers read. Not only will ideas for topics jump from the pages, but you’ll become a better writer too.

We hope these ideas stirred up some inspiration for you. No matter where you are, capture those ideas for later, when you’re ready to write. We do, so we have lots of ideas. If you run out, we can deliver 25 new topics for your blog for 25 dollars.

12 Tips for a Better Business Website

by Elle Ray | Feb 13, 2014 | Website Content

How to Get a More Profitable Business Website

You can’t escape it. Sooner or later, you’ll need to provide business information — in writing — to clients, prospects, the government or the public at large. Whether you run a small business or occupy a small corner of the org chart at a multinational corporation, you need to be able to formulate a persuasive sentence.

you need to be able to write

If you’re one of the many businesspeople who lack writing skills, you should practice more. As more of your communication ends up online, more people will be influenced, either positively or negatively, by your words. Improving your writing can result in marked improvement in your business options. There’s no substitute for practice, but here are a few pointers to put you on the right track.

1. Less is more.

On a website, concision matters. Ironically, as written information becomes more important, people are less willing to read. Use words sparingly, cut out the florid prose and avoid meandering sentences. As Zorro taught his son: “Get in, make your Z and get out!”

2. Avoid jargon.

No one likes reading about “blue-sky solutioneering” and “strategical synergies” that ultimately mean nothing. If you mean “brainstorming” and “opportunities to work together,” simply say it. While jargon can be unavoidable when writing for a specific audience, use plain language whenever possible.

3. Write once, check twice.

It’s hardly fair — typos happen — but people judge you for those mistakes anyway, and harshly. To cut down on those mistakes, proofread immediately after you write and then again hours or even days later. Nothing is more embarrassing than a stupid typo in an otherwise fine document.

4. Write once, check twice.

writers get help Yes, again. This time, re-read your work to catch errors in tone that might cause trouble. For instance, if you’re upset or angry, you may write something you don’t actually want anyone else to read. Make sure your work says what you want it to say and how you want it to say it, before letting it reach its audience.

5. Pay attention to names, titles and genders.

The one thing more embarrassing than a typo is calling Mr. Smith “Ms. Smith.” If you’re not sure about the spelling of a name, job title or gender, check with someone who knows (like an assistant) or use gender-neutral language. Get the names wrong, and your readers will question everything you write.

6. Save templates.

Whenever you write a blog post or article, save it as a template for future use. You can save time and avoid common errors by using an existing document when you begin a new piece. Keep the headers, bullets, references and company information so you just have to fill in the new content.

7. Be professional, not necessarily formal.

professional, not formal writer Business communication needn’t be formal. While formal language works for legal documents and job applications, it can obfuscate your meaning. Remember, however, that informal writing doesn’t mean being unprofessional. Keep personal comments and off-color jokes out of your business writing.

8. Remember the 5 W’s (and the H).

Your writing should answer all the questions your audience might ask: Who, what, when, where, why, and how. Who is your audience? What should they know? When and where will it apply? Why is it important? And how should they use it? Use the 5W+H formula to ensure your information is complete.

9. Include a call to action.

Business websites are meant to achieve a purpose, so include a call to action on every page. A call to action directs the reader to do something. Don’t leave it to your readers to decide what to do with the information you’ve provided; most won’t bother. Tell them what to do and how to do it.

10. Don’t provide too many choices.

Ideally, you shouldn’t provide any choices to your readers. Just tell them what you want them to do and why they should do it. At most, give them two options and ask them to pick one. Too many choices can lead to “analysis paralysis,” which probably isn’t the result you’re hoping for.

11. What’s in it for readers?

Effective writing describes benefits, not features. Your readers want to know how to make their lives better. For example, nobody cares that Windows 7 runs in 64-bit mode. What they care about is that 64 bits runs faster than 32 bits, and getting work done more quickly is a benefit.

12. Hire a freelancer.

If writing is not your strength, hire a professional writer. Freelancers aren’t just for marketing material; a good freelance writer can produce corporate newsletters, blog posts, wiki entries, and much, much more. Expect to pay $35 to $45 an hour for good writing. Anyone who charges less is either not very good or not very business savvy. Ray Access is proven content provider in Asheville.

Christmas in Asheville

by Elle Ray | Dec 24, 2013 | Asheville

Life Sneaks Up on Us When We’re Not Looking

We are always right on top of our deadlines when we’re working for a client, but at this time of year, we admit to getting a bit lax sometimes. Our blog suffers and our networking lags as we spend more time with our loved ones. Christmas in Asheville is about life, after all, not business.

Merry Christmas from Ray Access

But we wanted all of our contacts, and all of you who read our blog, to know that we’re still well and productive. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our Christmas List

For your entertainment and edification, here are some of our wishes for this holiday season and beyond:

May all our clients experience the joy of prosperity as their websites and their businesses gain traction from our content marketing efforts
May the Internet become a more reliable source of information (we’re talking about you, Wikipedia)
May the difference between good, useful writing and poor, keyword-stuffed writing become evident to all
May good layout, with captivating imagery and engaging infographics, become the norm throughout the Internet
And finally, may all our neighbors, friends and family eventually come to understand why we are so passionate about what we do

Merry Christmas to All

And to all a good, fruitful search. But if you can’t ever seem to find what you’re looking for on the Internet, it’s not because the information isn’t out there. It’s because too many businesses don’t understand the value of quality content. Ray Access can help you stand out from the crowd.

7 Tips for Writing Your Blog

by Elle Ray | Nov 24, 2013 | Blog Writing

The Worst Blog You’ll See Is the Outdated One

As we like to say: “If you aren’t paying attention to your website, it’s likely not paying attention to you.”

We can say the very same thing about your blog, a crucial extension of your site. A blog is an easy, inexpensive way to communicate with your customers. A blog can relate news that affects consumers, innovations they want to learn about, and invitations to hot events and happenings.

write your blog anywhere

But what if you’ve lost the steam needed to keep it up or you’ve just plain run out of time to add new posts each week? Here are seven tips for writing your blog:

1. Find Interesting Content

If you run into an interesting article or blog from another source during your everyday reading or research, you can write a short post introducing the other article. At the end of your short summary explaining why it’s important, include a link to it. If it’s truly interesting, your readers will thank you for sharing it.

2. Create a Calendar

Set aside an hour each week to write a blog or search for an interesting post to add to your website. Add it to your to-do list every week, and you’ll find the time. Don’t forget to allocate time to periodically brainstorm for new topics so you can devote your writing time to actual writing.

3. Organize to Simplify

Break down your schedule to focus on different topics every week. For example, choose the first week of the month to write about industry trends, the second week to write about economic forecasts, the third week for news-related or seasonal pieces and the last week to post a round-up of other blogs related to your business or your location.

4. Invite Guests

Blogs are easier when others write it. Solicit guest posts. Read them over carefully before publishing, but letters of appreciation or customer stories make effective blog posts. Pose questions to experts and then print their responses to give your readers even more in-depth information about your business.

5. Maximize Your Efforts

Whenever you do write a new blog, post it to your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. In fact, it can work both ways. Why should a popular Facebook post be confined to Facebook? Post it (with the discussion) on your blog. Your friends and followers will appreciate some meat in their social links instead of just the day-to-day ramblings that so often fill the social pages.

6. Examine Your Goals

Every quarter or so, stop and review your goals to make sure you’re not spinning your wheels. If you started your blog to inform and educate your customers, are you using it for that purpose? Or have you moved on to actively marketing your business? Or are you using the blog to generate new sales? When you have a clear picture of your audience, it’s easier to write for them and keep topics on target.

7. Hire Us

If your business has taken off, and you no longer have time to write a weekly blog, contact us. We’ll imitate your voice and craft fresh new content every week to fit your calendar.

If you just can’t get motivated to start a business blog but you realize you need one, contact Ray Access, and we’ll handle the whole process, from developing ideas to turning in perfect copy. We guarantee original content, thoroughly researched and professionally edited. It’s what we do.

Offer Up the Goods

by Elle Ray | Oct 28, 2013 | Website Content

Web Developers Should Offer Writing Services

Consider this. If you’re a website developer, this blog post is for you specifically. But even if you don’t develop or design websites for a living, you can still learn something valuable here. Keep reading.

working together to delight your clients

Web Developers Are Pros, Right?

Web developers can implement stunning designs, rotating photographs, exploding menus and search engine optimization (SEO), all while creating slick, interlinked pages under a killer domain name. It’s detail-oriented work and it takes time, maybe months to get everything approved and built.

As a web professional, you launch the site after all this hard work. The last thing you expect is the first response you get from your client: that the name is misspelled or the information on the About Us page is unintelligible. They’re mad. You’re mad. And it’s totally avoidable.

Who’s Responsible for the Content?

Website developers usually tell the client that they just use whatever content was provided. The client often expects the content to look different on the new site or somehow magically transform into marketable prose. But when no one claims responsibility, the site suffers.

Web developers are not responsible for “fixing” a site’s content. It’s not your expertise. Yet how do you think the client feels after paying thousands of dollars for a brand new website — and the first time they see it, it’s disappointing because of the content? Probably underwhelmed. Maybe even embarrassed, even if they did provide the incorrect information in the first place.

The Quick Path to a Good First Impression

It’s easy to fix that problem, however, making you and your clients look better. More importantly, it’s easy to look like the pros you are to your clients. What’s the trick?

First, never allow a client’s site to go live without a professional edit from a writing service. Friends don’t let friends go out naked, so why should you let your clients go live without the protection of good review? Avoid a site that’s full of mistakes and erroneous information, even if that’s what the client gave you. You look like a hero if you catch their mistakes.

Offer Up All the Goods

Web developers who spend significant amounts of money marketing their services and landing new business often lose referrals because they can’t give customers everything they need. Small business owners don’t want to shop around for specialists to do each piece of their website. They want one-stop shopping. Maybe that’s even why they came to you in the first place.

Why do you think super duper box stores are sprouting up across America faster than a pasture of kudzu? It’s simple: Why drive all over town when you can get groceries, a new pair of jeans, tires for the car and a new toaster all in one place?

Now we’re not advocating a Walmart-type operation, just taking the finer points of the giant’s marketing techniques that work. Clients who don’t use professional writers and editors for their website content risk wasting every penny on a losing proposition. We can’t imagine you want that kind of reputation, even if you did nothing to deserve it. We stress “did nothing.”

Provide Added Value & They’ll Remember You

make your customers happy with your website In our conversations around Asheville with web developers and marketing professionals, we’re astounded that everyone doesn’t offer a writing services as an integral part of their virtual agency. There’s no better way to provide your clients with added value while boosting your own credibility than by having your own editing and writing services team working on every site before it goes live.

You can do all the analytics in the world and produce the best videos in town, but if the name of the owner if spelled wrong on the roll-out — look out. What do you want to be remembered for: the brilliant design and implementation … or the misspelling in the heading? You can either point fingers, waste more time on a project that should have been right the first time, or you can get to know us to do it right the next time. It’s up to you.

Save money, boost your credibility, satisfy your customers. Let us help you delight your clients.

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