The Article Writer

Yes, I did it again — I helped launch a new blog — this time for a customer of mine, online jeweler James Allen.

The idea of having a blog with the site was something we tossed around, deciding two months ago to go for it. As with many businesses who run a blog, it can be a drawn out process, making sure that everyone is in agreement and that all of the administrative, writing, editing, and security needs of the blog have been met.

For you freelancers who provide content for customer’s websites, do not be surprised if your client wants to expand their horizons to include a blog. Although the style of writing is different from writing copy, you can probably make that transition with ease. Besides, if you are already familiar with the company and what they sell, you are a natural for blogging for them.

I’ll be blogging here as usual and on my other blogs, but also for James Allen. Please stop by when you get a chance to see what the James Allen blog is all about!

Sometimes a blurb can go a long way toward helping stir up interest in a newsletter than what an average length article can do. A blurb is a pithy paragraph that gives out enough information to generate an I want to learn more about this subject response from the reader.

Most blurbs are one paragraph in length and contain no more than 100 words. Alternately, two or three smaller paragraphs can also be effective, depending on the space available.

A blurb can be particularly useful when you want to attract attention to a topic, without setting aside an entire web page for an article. A link at the end of the paragraph such as More Information Inside can generate the desired click through to the rest of your article or to the product that you are selling.

Blurbs are particularly good devices when placed on the outside of a newsletter, especially for one that has been tri-folded and gets mailed out. One part of the two exposed folds of the newsletter contains the address, while the other exposed area is usually left blank.

Use the blank section to make your pitch to compel the reader to open the newsletter up and continue reading it instead of pitching it in the trash.

Some of my newsletter clients specifically ask for a blurb to go with the main article I am writing for their newsletter. I try to find some way to tease readers to open up the newsletter, by using carefully selected words, but not too many of them.

As China gears up to host this year’s Summer Olympics, I can’t help but notice what a lousy image problem that the Jolly Red Giant has to contend with over the next several months.

There isn’t any getting around it — China remains a communist nation, one that is embracing capitalism at the same time. Here in the west, in the U.S. in particular, the communist side of things isn’t emphasized all that much — gee, we don’t want to hurt their feelings or have them get mad at us or something….

Anyway, back to the image problem.

The Ghost of Tiananmen Square — Inasmuch as the party leadership (Communist Party, that is) would like to forget the event, June 4, 1989 is a day that untold millions will never forget. China, in a bid to suppress a protest, turned on those demonstrators killing hundreds, perhaps thousands in the process. To this day, human rights activists continue to expose China’s forced labor camps, mistreatment of dissidents, and the curtailment of free speech among other offenses.

Dissent Groups Are Still Very Much Alive — The Falun Gong, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, et al, are very active within the country, with separatist-minded regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet giving the authorities the most problems. China’s revelation of a recent hijacking attempt was too vague to believe and likely a way for the central planning committee to tell dissidents to back off or else.

Product Quality Is Deplorable — Sure, not everything made in China stinks, but when pets die and tainted paint is found in children’s toys, consumers have every right to be concerned. Blaming it on changing standards and foreign designs just doesn’t cut it — if consumers perceive your products to be inferior, they’ll stay away.

Beijing Is Terribly Polluted — Ethiopian marathon runner, Haile Gebrselassie, is the best example of an athlete who is concerned about Beijing’s air pollution problem. Gebrselassie (who has asthma) mentioned on BBC recently that he would not run the marathon; instead, he stated that he would participate in the 10,000m event. Oddly, the BBC broadcast mysteriously disappeared when it was aired in China. You, think?!

Personally, I’m glad that when it comes to marketing my work is with small businesses, an easier area of concentration. I’ll be watching the Olympics this summer in part to see the athletes in action but also to observe how the People’s Republic of China handles what just could be a major publicity disaster in the making.

Do you, Baidu?