You wouldn’t believe how often I hear statements like this. And from intelligent, engaging and interesting people. People who are professional and well-spoken.

Without a doubt we fear writing. But why? I’ve thought about this questions a bunch over the years. But seldom have I considered writing about it until the lovely April Groves left a comment on my post 3 Easy Steps to Creating a Web-based Business yesterday.

In 3 Easy Steps, I (and Matt Cutts) suggested that the second step to creating a successful online business is to start a blog. Why? Because it helps you engage directly with your target audience. It’s also the easiest way to begin driving traffic to your site and, hence, have the opportunity to grow your business. Here’s what April said:

I completely agree…but, I’ll tell you… When I present the blogging idea to people I know, the writing aspect scares most of them to death. I hear “But I can’t write” more times than I can count. My best counsel is for them to try writing the way they talk. It goes right to the heart of authentic. But, if you have other coaching suggestions to this block, I’d be all ears.

So why do we fear writing so much?

What I find most interesting is how the belief that we ‘can’t write’ is completely and utterly made up. At best, it’s something we took away from our junior high or high school education. Really, the idea we can’t write is thrust upon us because it just happens to be the opinion of our teachers. It’s not ours – unless we believe it.
But are they right? And can it change?

No, they’re not right. And yes, it can change.

I was one of those students who couldn’t write – so said my teachers. While I excelled at science and math, I could never write. Or at least that’s what I was told. And when I look back, they may have been right – at the time. But it certainly didn’t help to be told I couldn’t write each time I got a paper back.

And yet I sit here today with hundreds of blog posts – the great majority of which are written well enough that hundreds of people like you have wanted to engage me in conversation. Each of those posts has brought some value to people’s lives, their blogging and their business. And I don’t care whether I follow traditional writing methods. I care about communicating with you. So as long as I can do that, I know, without a doubt, that I can write.

So what’s the difference between what I’m writing today and what I was doing in school – other than a few decades of life experience, focus and a bit more maturity?

I think it’s relaxing and letting go of how I was taught to write. Forget the 5 paragraph model. Forget sentence structure and grammar (for the most part) and just write. Just get the words out from your mind. Let them move through your arms and dance you fingers on the keyboard just like they move up from your throat to create symphony between the tongue, larynx and lips when you speak (okay, so I went a little overboard). The point is – let go, and just write.

And for God’s sake, forget that you were ever told you can’t write. Because you can! With the blog – if you can speak, if you can communicate thoughts and ideas, you can write. And you can certainly blog.

I agree with April – write like you speak. Think about writing as a conversation and write that way. All of us can speak at least well enough to be understood in a conversation. So treat blogging like it’s a conversation. And remember that you, the blogger, get to start each conversation, you get to choose the topic and the way of looking at the topic. Then, invite the world to respond.

People care much more about what you want to communicate, what you want to share and how valuable it is to them then they do having beautiful, flowing prose. If you can write like that (communicatrix, I’m thinking of you), great. But if not, just ‘talk’ with people through your keyboard. They’ll learn far more about who you are, how you see things and how you can help them with their problems.

And that’s what leads to sales.

So what do you think…can you write (you should know the answer by now)? What was the biggest thing that you feel hurt your confidence in your writing? And how did you overcome it? I’d love to hear…and so would the people April talks with.

In truth, having a web-based business isn’t difficult.

What’s difficult is getting really clear about who you are, what you do and who you do it for. The problem is, there are tons of approaches for doing this which sometimes leads to confusion. Do I need to write a business plan? What about vision? Etc. The questions are many, but the answer are endless.

Of course, once you’ve answered the questions about your business, you have to ask a whole other series of questions around marketing. What system? What mediums? How best to reach our target audience? Etc. This can lead to even greater confusion, frustration and waste of time and money than the business development quesitons.

This whole process can be really big. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to simplify it. Because, really, developing and growing a business isn’t as hard as we make it. Basically, we need to create a compelling service – one that solves a problem that people need solved. Then, we put our service in front of the people who have the problem. That’s really it.

So it’s really very simple – especially with the internet.

That’s why I was excited when I found Matt Cutts‘ 3-step process to building up a really good site (read: business). Take a watch:

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Matt Cutt’s 3-Step Process

1. Create a compelling service – spend the time to create something people can love.
2. Start a blog – get links and engage in conversation.
3. Smart marketing – SEO and have something interesting to say.

Pretty simple, right?

So if I was taking Matt’s 3 steps and putting them in my language, I’d say:

1. Create a service, you love, that solves a problem that needs solving. What are you good at? What do you love? What is the need? Bring these three questions together and you’re on your way.
2. Start a blog – and learn how to use it. First write, and write often. Join in the conversation on other blogs immediately. Learn about linking and link often. And really learn how to use one of the social networking sites. You can get to the others later.
3. Get the word out and be authentic – Matt says if you use WordPress, much of your SEO is handled for you already. I’d say 80%. The other 20% is in the details. So worry less about SEO in the beginning and more about the quality of your content. And have something interesting to say – but say it in your way. Be a real person because it’s people that people want to do business with.

So if it’s this easy, why don’t more of us do it? What gets in the way? And why do we make it so difficult?

What do you think?

(note: image, Joe Walking Up The Steps from hip.kids on Flickr)

I’ll be the first to admit it…I love blogging. It’s done nothing less than enhance the way I do business; opening relationships and opportunities that just weren’t available before I started blogging.

So I’m a huge advocate for people who want to begin blogging. As a matter of fact, while I still design and build websites (and blogs), I’m doing far more coaching and consulting with people who want to use their blog to increase their reach and grow their business.

One thing I’m constantly doing is suggesting blogs that new bloggers can read to learn more about blogging. And it’s been my intention for quite some time to create a list of blogs as a resource for new bloggers. These would be blogs and bloggers who I hold in high regard and who I, myself, continue to learn from.

But it looks like my colleague Drew McClellan beat me to the punch. He’s just released his New Blogger’s Toolbox. The Toolbox is a listing of bloggers who many of us consider great resources for learning the art of blogging. And since his list is pretty much the same as the one I’d put together, I thought I’d simply recreate here for you and all the people I speak with about blogging.

Drew also divided his list into useful categories. So here you go:

Chock Full of Practical Tips

• Converstations
• Creating Comments
• Yotophoto
• Daily Blog Tips
• Logic + Emotion
• Business Blog Angel
• ProBlogger
• Perfect Blogger
• Internet Marketing Monitor
• WebWare

Living Lab on Writing Compelling Blog Posts

• CK’s blog
• Priscilla Palmer
• Noah Brier
• I’ve been mugged!
• Electric Venom
• Styles of Blogging
• CopyBlogger
• Copywriting Maven
• Modern B2B Marketing
• Servant of Chaos

How to Build Community

• Viral Garden
• Sparkplugging
• Dawud Miracle
• Robyn McMaster
• Noah Kagan
• Christine Kane
• Come Gather Round
• Create Business Growth

Teach Marketing Tools

• Lonely Marketer
• Drew’s Marketing Minute
• Todd And
• Duct Tape Marketing
• Diva Marketing
• David Meerman Scott
• Small Business Marketing Mavericks
• Russell Davies
• Greg Verdino
• Jason Lonsdale
• Matt Dickman
• MP Daily Fix
• BizSolutionsPlus
• PodPress Forum
• Seth Godin
• CrapHammer
• Blogopreneur
• Hee Haw Marketing
• Conversation Agent
• Note to CMO

Welcome Wagons for Newbies

• Successful & Outstanding Blogs
• Converstations
• The Good Blogs

Contributors to Drew’s Toolbox:

• Robyn McMaster
• C.B. Whittemore
• Lori Magno
• Janet Green
• Joanna Young
• Paul McEnany
• Mario Vellandi
• Richard Cockrum
• Ryan Karpeles
• Liz Strauss
• Lewis Green
• Patrick Schaber
• Gianandrea
  
• Facchini
• Chris Brown
• Spinning Silk Multimedia

Thanks Drew, for putting this list together and making it available to all of us. You know, if you combine this list with my Ultimate WordPress Resource Guide, you’ve got just about everything you need to be a successful blogger.

And, if you have a blog that you think should be included that isn’t, please let me know in the comment box so I can add them and pass them on to Drew.

Also, in the future I’ll be sending lots of people to this page as a resource. So if you have comments on how any of these bloggers have helped you, please include it below…and know you’re helping someone who is learning how to blog.

(note: image Confused from An’veula on Flickr)

A couple of days back I was speaking with a client of mine. She’s a life coach who wants to know better how to use the web (and soon her blog) to increase her marketing reach and, ultimately, her business.

We spent the better part of an hour talking about how a blog, when used well, can become a hub for creating buzz about her business. But as we talked, I could sense there was something I wasn’t communicating clearly enough for her to understand.

She was focusing on how her blog would get her in front of so many more people than her static website and how those people would “just convert to clients.”

Of course it doesn’t just work like that. People don’t just become clients for no reason. And just because we’re blogging doesn’t mean our business will grow.

So I asked her to describe how she’d write a blog post to me. She said she’d simply write about what she does, how she helps people and what problems she can solve. She knew from our previous conversations that she wanted to use her blog to build conversation with her readers. And she was clear that she needed to followup with her commenters.

It all sounds pretty good, right? But something was missing for me. Then I asked her what the point of having the conversation in the comment box with her readers. She told me to convert them to clients. So I asked her, “do you see your readers and commenters as prospects?” Her answer was, “Certainly!”

So I asked her, “What about you, your family, your life…are you planning to share any of that through your blog?”

“Why would I,” she responded? “I don’t want them to focus on my life, I want them to do business with me.”

Ah, now my fog was lifted. I knew what she meant – that she wants to use her blog to draw perspective clients that she can then interact with and convert them into clients. But she was unknowingly leaving something out…the relationship.

Sure, there’s lots of ways to market your business using your blog. How I use mine is to build relationships with people. I don’t see you, someone reading my blog, as a reader (though I’ve used the term) nor a prospect. Rather, I see you as a person; someone who has some interest in what I have to say. Hence, I have interest in getting to know who you are. That’s fertile soil for a relationship.

So I share with my client how I’ve found relationships to be the key to growing my business successfully over the years. I’ve learned that when I let the relationship lead the way, the business end of things takes care of itself. I’m not talking about relationships over business. I’m talking about the relationship part of business leading the way.

That’s one way I’ve found conversational blogging to be so powerful. The comment box creates a space for us to have a conversation. Over time, that conversation can lead to a relationship. Some of those relationships can be acquaintances, some friendships, and some business relationships. And each on different levels that grow organically.

When I shared all this with my client (we went over our hour), she got it. Not only did she get it, she was invigorated by the potential to touch people. And while she wasn’t, yet, completely clear how to ‘lead with the relationship,’ she had a sense of how it worked.

So how has blogging helped you create conversations that have led to relationships? What type of relationships have you built? And how have those relationships benefitted your business?�

If you blog do you really need a newsletter?

That’s the question I asked the other day which led to an interesting, and in some cases spirited, conversation. I love that we have the space and freedom to openly share our opinions. And I’m grateful that you feel comfortable enough to be open and honest here, in our comment box.

One statement that was made a few times in our conversation is how your newsletter content shouldn’t be separate from your blog content. So should your newsletter articles be different from your blog content?

This is a question that I get asked often. And my answer has evolved over time. At first I thought, “yes, they should be separate.” But now I feel the opposite. Your newsletter subscribers should be able to find your newsletter content on your blog…AND, before they get your newsletter.

Why?

Let’s think about the purpose of an e-newsletter. While it serves many, the main reasons you have a newsletter is to keep in contact with people who have some interest in your business. In doing so you want to give them valuable articles that can help them, build trust and pitch products and services. In other words, your newsletter is about building a relationship.

Yet a newsletter is quite limited in how it does this. Basically, you send it out and it arrives in subscriber’s inbox. They decide to read it or not. And if they do read it, they decide whether they’re going to select one of your offers. That’s pretty much it. The relationship and trust are built through multiple editions and by giving them great content.

But your newsletter can be so much more in building trust and relationship.

Imagine if your newsletter article was only the beginning of a conversation. With it, you simply kicked off an interesting topic that could be discussed, debated and shared easily. You would gain and your readers would as well. And, the conversation would go much further toward building trust with your subscribers.

Well, isn’t that was a blog does?

So forget exclusive content for your newsletter. Your readers likely don’t care if your content is exclusive or not. What they care about is whether the content adds to their life or their business. And if you help them, they’re going to want to get to know you better. And that’s what your blog can do.

Use your newsletter to direct them to the comment box on your blog. Create conversation…build relationships. Let your newsletter become the beginning of an interactive exchange between you and people who are interested in what you offer.

If you’re doing this already, I’d love to hear your experiences. If not, let’s talk about why? And if you’re opposed to publishing all your newsletter content on your blog, I’d love to hear more. So let’s talk…

Don’t you want your blog to be noticed?

Sure, we each blog for different reasons. Some of us want to express our views or write about something we love. Others of us want make a buck or promote our business. And some just want to share their lives with others.

Regardless of why you’re blogging, it’s likely you’re doing so to get attention.

Now, I don’t mean that in a childish, acting out way. I mean that you want to be noticed; that you’re writing to gain an audience. And you want your audience to so something whether they’re just reading and commenting, clicking link ads or answering a survey. So you want attention – you want to be noticed.

But what do you when suddenly no one seems to be paying attention to your blog?�

That’s the question that Liz Strauss asked me our latest one2one conversation.

As a blog and business consultant and coach, I get asked questions like this all the time. After all, the far majority of us blogging are doing so because we have something to share. But it’s hard to share when no one’s listening, right?

So what do you do when no one seems to be listening?

First of all, how do you know no one’s listening? Just about every blog that’s been around more than a couple of months sees some traffic – even it it’s a trickle. So people are listening. Okay, so they may not be listening, or even reading, but that trickle of traffic is finding you.

So you need to set criteria for evaluating whether people are paying attention or not. Doesn’t matter what you decide as the criteria, as long as you have some method to measure it. It could be traffic stats or referrals sources. It could be Technorati ranking or number of feed subscriptions. It could be how many comments you’re getting or how many ad click-throughs. Really, it doesn’t matter what your criteria are. Just be sure that it has meaning to you and it can be measured.

Once you have your criteria, you’ll want to begin measuring it. If you’re focused on comments it should be easy because your blogware (WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, etc) will show you comment stats. If it’s traffic, you’ll want to look at your server stats either through your hosting company or a service like Google Analytics. Technorati, feed subscriptions, and click-through ads will all have ways of measuring your what’s happening.

Why measure? Because it gives you a more objective sense of what’s happening on� your blog. Sometimes what you sense is happening just isn’t accurate. For instance, if you’re blogging for the conversation you’re probably interested in the number of comments your posts get. So if the number of comments goes down, it tells you that something in your writing isn’t helping your readers create conversation. In this case, you’d go back, look at the posts that have few comments and compare it posts that got more comments. What’s commonly different between them? It could be content, style or wording. Find what’s missing and write your next few posts with those elements in place – and measure what happens.

If your traffic’s dropped, look back at your stats and see why. One place to start is with your referrers. Are you getting the same amount of traffic through your referrers? If not, find out why. Compare the headlines from your most popular posts and those that are less popular – see a difference? Also, think back to those higher traffic times and consider what you were doing then that you’re not doing now. Maybe you used to comment more on other blogs and you’re not now. That’s easy to remedy.

In general, you can almost always measure what’s going on with your blog. After you’ve set the criteria that’s important to you, it gives you a place to spend your time. That way you don’t have to be bogged down with the many aspects of your blog – you can focus on the one to two most important parts.

Probably the biggest thing is to remember that blogging is for your readers. So if you can’t figure out why it seems people aren’t paying attention to your blog, ask your readers. As in a post and elicit comments. Maybe even email a number of readers and create a dialogue with them. They know why they read your blog better than you ever will. And if they like you, most will be more than happy to help. So ask.

The key to all this is to see what works for you and your readers and what doesn’t – or at least what works less well. Blogging is a bit of trial and error – even if you know what you’re doing. Even Darren Rowse is still experimenting with Problogger. So be willing to explore things, try things and see how they work.

Which is what leads me to my next question for Liz…

What have you thought would work on your blog that bombed with your readers? And what did you learn from it?

You know, I’m not just asking Liz, but you too. Let’s see if the comment box can carry two conversations – one about what to do when people aren’t paying attention to your blog AND the other around what have you tried that’s bombed with your readers.

Daphne Gray-Grant knows writing. As a Publications Coach she works with corporate writers who want to do their work faster and better. So we know she’s faced writer’s block.

If you’re a blogger, a business owner, or a writer of any type, I don’t have to explain to you what writer’s block is. You’ve almost certainly had it. I know I have. And Daphne’s suggestions have helped me work through the blocks when they come.

Daphne’s not blogging yet and so she’s graciously allowed me to reprint her article, Twenty Best Ways To Beat Writer’s Block, which went out on her newsletter the past couple of weeks. Both of us hope you gain from it. Enjoy

Twenty Best Ways To Beat Writer’s Block

1. Write something else. Most of us who write professionally have a hierarchy of horribleness. That is, we know which projects are going to be a little bit awful and which ones will be tremendously awful. My advice? Start with a less awful one. Procrastination, yes, but it’s productive procrastination. (You’ll be happier to face the Project of Doom once you have a bit of good writing under your belt.).
2. Ask a series of questions. Stuck? Instead of writing your article or report in the “normal” way, brainstorm a list of questions your readers are most likely to wonder about. Then answer them. This may take only minor editing to turn into the “real” report or article.
3. Write an email. This is a variant on the old trick of pretending to write to a friend. But verisimilitude is important. To maintain the “this isn’t really work” illusion, you must write your piece in the body of an email. (Just use “move block” to copy it into a word processing document when you’re done.)
4. Change your setting. We all get bored and stuck in ruts. You may be dreading writing because you’re dreading your office. So move to another room. Try the kitchen table or the cafeteria. Or decamp to a coffee shop. It worked for J.K. Rowling.
5. Go for a walk or run. There’s lots of evidence that we think better when we’re moving, so take your writing on the road. Just be sure you have a way of capturing your thoughts. A small digital recorder does the trick very nicely.
6. Do a brain dump. Sometimes you just need to get all the information out of your head and onto paper. Mindmapping, which I’ve written about many times before, can be very useful for this. Take a blank piece of paper, turn it sideways and write your topic in the middle. Draw a circle around it. now draw some lines radiating out of the circle (like spokes on a wheel) and write down all the other words that come into your head. Draw circles around them, too, and join them to the spokes. Keep going until your head is empty or until you feel, “aha! Now I know what I want to say.”
7. Write the headline or title. A headline or title is a bit like a poem. It must distill your big idea into a very few words. It must also be catchy. When you write the headline first, the entire direction of your piece is likely to become more clear. This will make writing substantially easier.
8. Find your best time for writing. We all have our own biorhythms. I used to be a night owl. It was my best, most productive time for writing. In recent years, I’ve turned into a morning lark. Now I do my best writing at 6 am or earlier. But I’m a disaster by 11:30 am because my blood sugar is crashing and I’m starving. As Socrates said: Know thyself. Identify your predictably “good” times and use them. Don’t try to write during your bad ones.
9. Tell yourself you have to write for only five minutes. This is the trick they teach to runners. Okay, so you don’t feel like exercising today. Well, pull on your sneakers and tell yourself you have to run for only five minutes and then you can quit. Many times you’ll discover that the simple act of starting will give you enough momentum to continue. It works for writing, too.
10. Stretch. Even if you’re not blocked, you should do this. Stand up. Reach your hands to the ceiling. Now, clasp your hands behind your back. Straighten your shoulders pushing back against your shoulder blades almost as if you were trying to get them to touch each other. Those of us who work at computers all day tend to spend a lot of time hunched forward. This kind of stretch is not only good for your back, it’s also invigorating. Breathe deeply a few times, too. Oxygen stimulates the brain.
11. Give yourself permission to write badly — really badly. Many times we’re blocked as writers because we’ve raised the stakes too high. “This report will make or break my career,” we tell ourselves. “My income depends on this sales letter,” we fret. Those thoughts may be true, but set them aside while you’re writing. If you simply must beat yourself up, do it when you’re editing.
12. Ask yourself, “have I done enough research?” People often worry about over-researching as a form of procrastination. This does happen, but, interestingly, I find the problem is more typically the reverse. People often try to write before they have the raw materials to do the job properly. This inevitably leads to much staring at a blank computer screen. Before you begin to write ask yourself: “If a friend, partner or colleague grilled me on this topic, could I answer most of their questions easily and in plain English?” If not, continue your research without feeling guilty. (Hint: Make sure your research includes more than facts and figures. You need stories, anecdotes and colour. These are what will make your writing come alive.)
13. “Speak” your writing. Most of us have no difficulty talking. So go with the flow and dictate your words into a tape or digital recorder or even your voicemail. If all else fails, ask a friend to interview you.
14. Prevent interruptions. Okay, I don’t need to tell you this, but turn off your email and shut down your browser. No pings. No “control + m.” No peeking. Email, blogs, checking online forums and surfing the web will keep you busy — and unproductive. Instead, use these interruptions to “reward” yourself when you’ve finished your writing. To avoid non-digital disturbances, I also like popping on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones (these are also excellent for keeping children at bay if you work from home.)
15. Break your writing job into a number of smaller tasks. This is the oldest time-management trick in the book — use it because it works. Do many small jobs rather than one big job and the work will feel less onerous. Here’s how you can divvy up your writing work: print out research from Google; go through your research with a highlighter or sticky notes; interview people; make a mind-map; write a rough draft; rewrite an early draft; copy edit.
16. Reward yourself. If you’ve worked hard on a piece of writing, give yourself a prize. I don’t recommend double fudge brownies for obvious reasons, but there are lots of other options. Allow yourself 15 minutes reading blogs. Call a friend. Play some music. Buy a Moleskin notebook. Get a cappuccino.
17. Turn off your screen so you can’t see what you’ve just written. This tip does depend on your ability to touch type, but if you have that skill, it’s the single best way to stop yourself from endlessly editing your work when you ought to be writing.
18. Limit your writing time. Work expands to fill available time (Parkinson’s Law.) Writing thrives under constraint. (Daphne’s Law.) I know this sounds counterintuitive but we often give ourselves too much time to write. Don’t set aside a day for that report. Tell yourself you have to do it in two hours. Remember how productive you can be just before going on holiday? Create the feeling artificially by limiting your writing time.
19. Pretend you’ve phoned a friend and said, “Guess what?” Then continue the conversation by explaining the key elements of the topic you’re writing about. What makes this technique so effective is that it follows a natural progression. Because you’re telling a story, you’ll start with the most interesting material, give detail where it belongs and end by reinforcing the point you want to make.
20. Read a short but good piece of writing that’s similar to the kind of piece you need to complete. Get yourself a folder for essays and brief magazine pieces you can dip into for inspiration. If you write sales letters, you probably already have a “swipe file.” That works too. For extra reinforcement, you can even re-read some of your own writing. This is often a welcome reminder that while writing can be awful, having written is the most wonderful feeling in the world.

I’ve used a number of these myself. And many, such as 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 & 18 are part of my blogging routine – especially when I’m stuck.

Pretty good tips, huh? And practical. That’s what I love so much about Daphne’s newsletter.

If these tips were helpful, subscribe to her newsletter, Power Writing, where weekly she publishes practical tips for improving your writing – and the speed of which you do it. It’s one of the few newsletters I still subscribe too myself.

So how do you deal with writer’s block? I know you get it… Have you had success with any of Daphne’s suggestions?