How to Love Your Blog Again

Every relationship can grow stale at some point. That's why partners go into marriage encounter weekends, or why self-help books suggest dating your spouse as if you had just met for the first time.

For bloggers, the relationship between you and your blog can also grow stale. What was such an exciting adventure when you started it now seems ho-hum, or worse still, a daily chore you just want to get over, like brushing your teeth or making your bed.

Here's how to fall in love with you blog again.

Rekindle the Spark: Breathe New Life Into Old Blogs

Reinvigorate, rekindle and rejoice. Breathe new life into an old blog with these tips:

Enter a blog challenge: Blog challenges can give you a reason to blog again. Blog challenges are online fun contests centered around a theme. "30 posts in 30 days" is one such theme, the A to Z blogging challenge is another. Each time you enter into a blog challenge, you're pitching your blogging talents against the contest rules. For me, entering one of my four blogs into the A to Z challenge helps get my creative juices flowing again.
Enter a contest: Another fun thing to do is to enter your blog into a contest. You'll find awards competitions from magazines and websites as well as popularity awards given from one blogger to another like the Liebster Awards. It's all in good fun, and the added excitement can make you fall in love with your blog again.
Start an idea file: Back in the days when I wrote for magazines, I kept a clips file or an ideas file. It was essentially news stories that sparked my interest. When I encountered stories like that, I'd clip them and keep them on file. Sometimes just going through my ideas file would spark new, fresh ways of looking at a topic. Then I'd go off and tackle my own research and have a new story at hand. You can use internet bookmarks to keep your own online clip file or use Pinterest to make a file for future inspiration. Just remember not to rewrite or reword an existing post from someone else. It's still considered plagiarism even if it's in your own words.
Talk to your readers: By this I mean get out from behind your computer and actually mingle with the folks who read your blog. If you write about antique cars, go to a car show and listen to what people are talking about at the car show. If you're a recipe blogger, visit a cooking supply store or try a new restaurant. Get back to your roots and find the inspiration among your readers and target audience who inspired you to start your blog.
Make an idea calendar: The creative well can run dry just when you least expect it. One way I get around this is to have an idea calendar for each blog. It's a printed blog planner (I like Sarah Avilla's planner at My Joy Filled Life. It's $4.95 but well worth it). I have posts noted for each week, so if there's a week when nothing immediately comes to mind to write about, I can flip through my binder and choose an idea. You can accomplish the same thing using a notebook. List the months of the year and ideas for posts that come to mind for those months. Maybe April is spring, Easter, new clothes, shopping, and September is back to school, new year, whatever. Having ideas at the ready can be a lifesaver when you feel like you just don't want to write anything more

Fall in love with your blog again. Find ways to rekindle that passion you once had for writing.

by Jeanne Grunert

5 Surprising Reasons Why Blogs Fail

Do you know the reason why blogs fail? You might think it's lack of interest, or maybe poor writing, but I'm here to share with you the 5 surprising reasons why blogs fail...and how you can turn that frown upside down and get your blog back on track.

Blog Word Cloud

5 Reasons Why Most Blogs Fail

One of the goals that I set for my website, Home Garden Joy, is to increase my site traffic and decrease my blog's bounce rate this year. It's not an easy goal. With WordPress reporting 74,652,825 blogs on their site alone, it's tough to crack the blogosphere with zippy content.

I decided to join a link party or blog party this year to help boost traffic to my own blog. A blog party is an online event in which a group of bloggers bands together to share, promote, and help each other with their blogs. As part of the blog party, I visit at least 60 to 100 different blogs each week. That's a lot of blogs!

Because I'm now reading so many blogs, in so many different categories than my own, I've gotten a really good sense about what makes a great blog, a good blog, and a boring blog. These 5 tips are derived from my own experiences reading 100+ blog posts a week.

Ready? Here's why most blogs fail:

What's the point? Many bloggers have a hazy, unfocused blog that tries to cover everything under the sun. Today they're writing about parenting issues, tomorrow about fashion, and on Friday, home decorating. That's not to say that you can't do this, but if you do decide to cover a multitude of topics, make sure you do in a fresh, fun way. Having your blog structured around particular posts on a certain day of the week, such as Foodie Friday or whatever can give it structure. Keep your blog focused around one major topic and similar related topics. Structure in blogs, as in art of music, is a key to a successful blog.
Where do I look first? If you have 17 ads blinking and screaming at me, all boldface type, no discernible headlines, and giant blogs of text, I'm skipping your blog and heading elsewhere. Don't try to cram your blog with every advertiser you can to make money. Focus on just a few or even none if you're starting out. Purchase a good blog template if you're not used to designing a blog. My site host, Web Design of Palm Beach, did an excellent job on the original layout of this website. I purchased the template for my blog, Home Garden Joy, on Etsy. Blogs can fail due to poor design. Hire a professional graphic designer to design your blog or purchase a license to a good stock template. Poor blog design turns readers away.
Nothing new here. When was the last time you updated your blog? While you don't want to be a slave to blog updates and send out several day, you also don't want to let months rush by without at least one blog post. A good rule of thumb is to post 3-5 times per week if you want to grow your blog. Blogs can fail from lack of attention. Frequent updates signals your readers that you've got something to say. Don't neglect your blog.
Nobody cares about you: Unless your blog is about an experiment you're doing or your life, and you're doing something incredible, I have to say this straight out: nobody really cares about you. If all your posts are about what you want for your birthday, your last pedicure, or the coupons you found online, you're going to bore your reader to death. Many blogs fail because they are written all about the writer and not about the audience reading the writing. Write with your reader in mind. What do your readers want to know? That's what you should write.
Be original: Even though I don't want to know every detail of your pedicure, I do want you to be yourself. I'd rather read the writings of a truly original person than to read a poorly reproduced carbon copy of someone. Be yourself. You can't be anyone else. If you love puppies and heavy metal music, let your readers know that. Just because Blogger A is famous and Blogger B seems to be making a lot of money doesn't meant that A and B know what they're doing. They may be lucky, they may have good sponsors, or they may just have hit on a hot topic. I know of one writer whose blog gets 30,000+ hits a month. Now, I could copy what she does...or I could continue to be an original and grow my blogs in my own voice, style and tone. She's popular...but I'm not her. Blogs can fail when you try to copy someone else's style or tone, even if they're popular. Be yourself. You can't be anybody else.

Building a successful blog takes time. I know that there are stories out there of people who have managed to build a smashing success in six months, a year, or two. Good for them! Congratulations! For more writers and bloggers, success takes time. It takes practice. It takes blogging, day or night, day in and day out, until finally you hit that sweet spot known as success, however you define success.4

By Jeanne Grunert, President, Seven Oaks Consulting. Jeanne is a freelance writer, blogger and novelist with a background in internet marketing. This post originally appeared on Acorns, the content marketing blog of Seven Oaks Consulting. Feel free to link to it. Reprints by permission only.

by Jeanne Grunert

Use Images Legally Online

I love vintage everything...vintage fashion, vintage style. I subscribe to several vintage blogs and read them avidly.

Over the weekend, a blogger whose work I've long admired shared a Valentine's Day post. Included in the post was a vintage image that appeared to be scanned in from a magazine. She included a Flickr credit under the image with a link to the original. I was curious. I've asked several vintage bloggers where they license their images, and I never heard back from any of them. I'd love to know since I'm always on the lookout for vintage images for one of my clients and finding and licensing them can be tough.

Flickr Licenses and More

If you're using Flickr images to decorate your blog posts or websites, you need to understand the difference license levels that content owners can apply to their photos. Flickr uses the Creative Commons Licensing system. This is a voluntary, non profit licensing system whereby content creators can affix one of several licenses to their works. Each license grants different permission levels for the use of the work.

Some licenses grant permission to use an image for commercial purposes. This means that the use of the image on a website that displays advertising is allowed. Other images require attribution. You must state the photographer's name and link to the license in order to use the image legally. Still others allow the use of the image, but you may not modify it.

All photographs, illustrations and copy (words) published online are immediately granted copyright protect and "All rights reserved" even if the artist doesn't state it. That's because under United States law, copyright is granted the instant an artist creates a work.

When a photographer shares something online, yet marks it with "All rights reserved", he's taking a further proactive step to state, "You can use this for reference or you can email me for permission. But you can't use this image without permission."

The End of the Story

I hesitated a few minutes before dropping the blogger a quick note, with reference links to some great articles about proper use of photographs, just as a friendly, "Hey, did you know this and hey, if you don't pay attention you might be in a lot of trouble, and hey, I care!"

Her response to me was astonishing. Not only did she justify the use of the image, but she wouldn't take it down. She claimed (and she may be absolutely correct) that when she downloaded the image, it was done so legally. Just because the photographer or image owner changed the copyright on it doesn't mean that she has to take it down.

I'm no legal scholar. I'm not a lawyer. I do know far too many people who have been embroiled in dreadful copyright extortion schemes. Many even used images legally, as I've done with this post, paying a licensing fee to the company from which I downloaded the image. A simple mistake in how you use an image online, no matter how innocent, can lead to a lot of stress and potential heartache.

Use Images Legally Online

The moral of the story? Use images legally online.

Take your own images. That's the very best way to make sure you don't run into any legal issues!
Make a screenshot of the license if you download from Flickr. It may seem silly, but if the image owner changes the license later, you'll have proof that you used it correctly at the time of download.
Learn all you can about image copyright. Never use Google Image Search to find an image for your blog. It is terrible at finding the original image source or the person from whom you can license the image.
Understand the various Creative Commons licenses before you download images. Read licensing terms on any stock photo website.
Avoid free photo sites such as free wallpaper sites. Some sites are unscrupulous and swipe images from photographers then make them available to the public. You are on the hook for the legal issues involved in using the image, not the free wallpaper website. Many have clauses in their terms of use that put the burden on YOU. Know what you are getting into when you download and use photos.
Purchase stock photography and use it under license. If you're not sure you are using it correctly, contact the company. I had question for Deposit Photo on how I could use their images, so I contacted their Customer Service department. They were pleasant and helpful, plus I now have a written transcript of my chat with their customer service agent who granted me permission to use the image for my stated project.

As for the blogger I emailed, I'm disappointed. She seems to think that she can slap a credit link on a photo and use it as she pleased. Giving credit is nice, but it doesn't absolve you of legal responsibility if you use an image improperly.

Everyone makes mistakes. The internet can be a forgiving place...or a very unforgiving one. Don't take a chance. If you are a content creator like me, a writer or blogger, take your own photos, learn how to license them properly, and avoid getting into trouble using stock images.

For more information:

By Jeanne Grunert, President, Seven Oaks Consulting. Jeanne is a freelance writer, blogger and novelist with a background in internet marketing. This post originally appeared on Byte by Bite, the content marketing blog of Seven Oaks Consulting. Feel free to link to it. Reprints by permission only.

by Jeanne Grunert

Don't Rely on Free Sites for Your Small Business Website

A small business website is absolutely essential today to acquire, retain and create loyal customers. Self- hosted websites, or sites that you pay to have hosted online, are the smartest, safest option for most businesses. Why?

Once upon a time, there lived a young couple who were eager to make a home for themselves. They were newlyweds, and with all the enthusiasm of newlyweds, they set out to find a house they could afford. But they couldn't find anything, not even a fixer-upper, that was within their price range.

A friend suggested they rent his aunt's home. His aunt was going into a nursing home and didn't want to sell her house, but was willing to rent it. "Don't worry," the friend said, "When auntie dies, I'll sell you the house at cost, at this very low price, so you will have it forever."

Now he was a good friend...a great friend...so the couple never got the agreement in writing. Friends don't bail out on promises, do they?

The house hadn't been updated since 1952. It needed new windows. It needed new doors and a new roof. The lawn was ugly and bare. The inside and out needed paint and new carpet. The couple set out with a will, doing the painting themselves, even installing new windows.

They did a lot of work on a home they were sure would be theirs someday.

Now you know what happened next, right? They were just renters. The old aunt died, and suddenly the nephew realized he had a valuable, newly painted and fixed up property...to sell. The asking price was way outside what the couple could afford. They complained, but too bad. Out they went, the house was sold, and they moved on to their next apartment.

The story I've just told you is true. It happened to a relative of mine. And it goes to prove the old adage: NEVER build on rented land. In other words, if you rent a property, don't invest in it! Whoever owns the land gets whatever improvements you've made on it. Period.

Now what does this have to do with a small business website?

The Importance of Owning Your Own Small Business Website

How many small business owners do you know who rely on "rented" property for their websites? I'm talking about the businesses who insist that their Facebook page is their web page, even going as far as printing the URL of their Facebook page on business cards and brochures in lieu of a web address.

Others build websites on free hosting platforms. They're doing the same thing--investing in rented land. They have no guarantee that the site host won't discontinue the platform.

[Tweet "The importance of owning your own small business website. Free sites are dangerous!"]

I went through that exact experience with ivillage. Do you remember ivillage? It's faded from memory, but back around 1999 it was the bee's knees. I had my email account with them and set up several free websites for hobbies and my freelance writing. Then they decided to discontinue their free web hosting and email service. Ooops. Gone. My stories, everything I'd published online vanished. I had to scrambled to copy it all down before the site was removed.

Ditto with Yahoo Geocities. Remember Geocities? A great source for free websites...until Yahoo decided to discontinue their free service. Then they moved to SiteBuilder, and I had my business site hosted with them for over a decade. THEN they decided to shut down their service on that software, too. They'd still offer hosting, but only with their templates or your files. They discontinued the easy to use software that let me run a great retail site.

Can you see a pattern here? As a small business owner, I absolutely need a strong, robust and well-optimized website. I have several sites now, two of which I host with Web Design of Palm Beach. (I highly recommend them, by the way. Great service, reliable hosting, fair prices, USA-based.) I now own my own land, so to speak, so the "house" I build on it in terms of my blog content and other content is mine.

Relying on a free web service, free blogging platform or worse, a social media website to host your online presence is like the couple in my story making repairs and improvements to a house they don't own. At any moment, the homeowner can snap his fingers and kick you out and take what you've invested. It's his right and your tough luck.

You do realize, of course, that a social media site or another platform can do the same with your business site? And then where would you be? You'd lose all that time and money invested in your site. You'll have to throw away the business cards, bumper stickers and t-shirts printed with your "website" address because it wasn't really a website at all.

Invest in yourself. Own what you build. Although at first it may seem like a strain on your wallet, in the long run, it's money well spent to build and own your own small business website.

custom image you tube If you're ready to build your own small business website, hire a professional marketing writer to craft engaging, search engine friendly text. Invest in professional writing services for a better return. Contact me, Jeanne Grunert, "the marketing writer", for great service and superior writing that gets results.

by Jeanne Grunert

Content Marketing Example: Gerbils on a Train

Have you seen the PSA (public service announcement) "Gerbils on a Train?" It's a great example of getting your point across by telling a story. While not specifically content marketing, it is a terrific video that's part of an overall content marketing strategy from the Ad Council and the Children's Oral Health project.

Here's the video. Turn the music up. The music and the tiny engineer cap on the gerbil makes me smile every time.

Content Marketing Example:

Gerbils on a Train PSA (Linked from YouTube/AdCouncil)

Why This is a Great Content Marketing Example

Content marketing should move consumers from awareness to interest, engagement, and education before their final purchasing decision. While kids aren't buying anything in this campaign, and neither are their parents, the 2x2M campaign (the sponsors of this piece) are trying to get you to "buy" an idea. Buy in can be treated the same way as buying a product or service when it comes to marketing, and this video makes the case for how it can be done effectively.

The premise of the campaign is that in the span of two minutes, or about the time it takes to watch a silly video, children can brush their teeth, keep their teeth healthy, and prevent future tooth decay and tooth pain. This video is part of a series of PSAs and other advertisements featuring silly videos, video games, and other things children do for two minutes to make its point: two minutes flies by when kids do what they want. Two minutes isn't a lot of time to spend while brushing your teeth!

Another bonus of the campaign is that parents can download the videos and play them on a tablet while kids brush their teeth. Children who can't tell time yet can be taught to brush for as long as the video is playing, thus helping them learn the "two-minute rule" for proper oral health.

There are five factors that I think make this campaign a total winner, a great content marketing example and content marketing best practice:

Appeal: The content (video in this example) appeals to both the target market (parents, who need to understand proper oral hygiene for their children) and the "buyer" (the child, who must "buy into" the idea or he won't do it.) It's a win on both levels.
Creative Direction: It uses a simple, catchy piece of content that has everything going for it for both target audiences. Adorable gerbils riding around on toy trains? Check! Catchy music? Check! Hey, my husband and I found the video online and played it one night just for a laugh. Don't judge. It's a great example, however, or why it's a good piece of content. We don't have children and aren't their target market yet even we loved it. How wonderful is that?
Multi-Purpose Content: It functions as both a content marketing video and a useful give away. You can watch the video for the sheer lovableness of it or as a parent, download it as a timer for your kids to brush their teeth. It works on both levels.
Integration: It's part of an integrated awareness campaign that includes multiple content channels to reach the "decision makers" (kids) and "influencers" (parents).
Engagement: It engages without talking down to the target audience or without preaching to the influencers. When creating content around a serious topic like oral health, the tendency can be to go overboard with seriousness. Yet people tune out serious messages or worse, make fun of them. Remember the egg in the frying pan and the "this is your brain on drugs" campaign? Serious topic, serious message, important message, but it became fodder (pun intended) for late night talk show hosts and Saturday Night Live skits. It takes a delicate balancing act to strike a humorous, gentle note while engaging your audience in a serious topic, and this video hits the bull's-eye.

So that's my take on the content marketing example, Gerbils on a Train. The video above is linked from YouTube, and you can follow the Ad Council link to learn more about the talent behind the campaign.

You can make your own marketing videos using Lumen5. Download the videos and use them in your content marketing or contact us for help.

contact Want to have your company's content marketing featured as a case study? Contact me. And be sure to learn more about my content marketing and freelance writing services. Great content can help you engage customer interest, convert browsers into buyers, and build your brand online. Let's talk about your content marketing!

by Jeanne Grunert

The Numbers Myth

I was speaking with a friend the other day about my fiction writing goals. Some of you know that in addition to being a content marketer and freelance writer, I'm also a novelist, penning tales of mystery and imagination with a strongly Christian flair. That means tales of the supernatural where good guys win, bad guys lose, and playing with magic is dangerous.

It also means that commercial publishers probably aren't interested in many of my stories. They have expectations for their genre which my work doesn't fulfill. That's okay with me. Self publishing means I can bring my work directly to the public and let them decide if they like it or not. (Generally, they do).

My friend was helping me winnow down my goals for my forthcoming novel, I Believe You. She asked me, "What do you want to get out of it?"

"I'd rather have 100 raving fans than thousands on my email list who will never buy and aren't interested in my work," I answered honestly.

It struck me then how much we marketers play the numbers game when it comes to our marketing campaigns. Take social media, for example. As a freelance writer, I'm often asked by potential clients what my Klout rank is, or how many Twitter followers I have, or how many Facebook followers and so on. Potential joint venture partners often set thresholds for their list marketing campaigns, stating outright that unless you have 10,000 email list subscribers, they aren't interested in partnering with you and so on.

That's a shame, because frankly, 10,000 email list subscribers are absolutely useless if they don't care about your stuff.

Many consultants and coaches have gigantic lists because they've done all the right things to build their lists. They've offered enticing free gifts, set up autoresponders, taken out ads, participated in calls...you get the picture. But their lists are worthless because the email addresses they've collected are filled with people who have no intention of purchasing from them - ever.

I had a brilliant marketing professor at NYU who used to ask at the start of her advanced graduate course on direct marketing, "What is a good response rate?" Someone would always be fooled into shouting out a number: 1%, 10%, 5% and so forth.

None of those are good response rates if you have a list filled with junk names. You can have 100,000 subscribers to your list but if only 1% are truly connected with you, then you have a response of 1,000 people. I can have 1,000 deeply interested followers and get 100% response when I publish a new Kindle novel because these are people who are absolute fans. Would you invite me to be your J.V. partner with just 1,000 followers on my list, even if I know that they are perfect for your offer?

Don't let numbers fool you. Big lists are just that - big lists. It's not quantity that counts, but quality. Go for quality by putting forth your best effort, truly connected with people you care about, and letting your work speak for itself. It's counter intuitive to all the hype out there from every guru of this or that, but it's what I've found to be best for people who truly care about their work and want to make a sincere and direct impact.

by Jeanne Grunert

Long Form Content Ranks Better

A new report from QuickSprout underscores what many content marketers have known all along: longer copy ranks better with Google's search engines.

The report, available from the QuickSprout website, provides details on the company's study of page length, ranking and conversion. Among their findings:

The average page length for content that ranks among the top 10 search results Google is at least 2,000 words.
The better a site ranks, the more content it has.
Overall, Google's search engine algorithm prefers content rich sites.

Why should longer content help with search engine rank? Longer content keeps people on your website for greater lengths of time than shorter content. If I can see at a glance what you're trying to say, I might click away quickly, resulting in low time on page and high bounce rates. But if your content requires me to focus on what you are saying, draws me into the page, provides insights or useful information, and keeps me reading, I'll stay on your site longer.

Longer website content also tends to get more inbound links. These inbound links are strong signals to Google's search engine algorithm that a web page has merit.

Lastly, social media users tend to favor longer content, even if they're not aware they're doing it. By studying sharing patterns on Facebook and Twitter, QuickSprout determined that a post with 1,500 words or more received 68 percent more tweets and 22 percent more Facebook likes than a post under 1,500 words.

Are You Ready for Long Form Content?

Long form content for content marketing programs takes skills and finesse. You can't just keep blabbing away and stuffing keywords and expect to get the same results as a thoughtful, in-depth and insightful long form article.

As a long form specialist, my freelance writing services include extensive research. I have a gift for finding excellent original research from well-regarded and reputable sources to support the theme of your article. My writing is also creative, engaging, and insightful, which will make your content highly shareable, too.

If you're interested in receiving an estimate on your long form content projects, please contact me.

Irony: This post is under 500 words.

But you now what? Sometimes you only need a few words to say what you want. Sometimes, short copy is appropriate. Know when to use long form or shorter copy in your content marketing programs is what I do best.

by Jeanne Grunert

Content Marketing Case Study: The Whole Seed Catalog

This week's content marketing case study focuses on an excellent example of content marketing: The Whole Seed Catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

If you're a gardener, then you probably know about Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This seed company, founded by Jere Gettle in 1998, sells heirloom, non-GMO, organic seeds. Sounds simple, right?

Their marketing, however, is anything but simple. The 2016 Whole Seed Catalog is like a symphony of excellent content marketing in one gorgeous, can't-stop-looking at it package.

Here's what this company's content marketing gets right:

The catalog tells a story. From the first page, where the reader is introduced to Jere and his family and their life's mission to preserve historic seeds to the stories from the seed growers around the world, we're drawn into this amazing global community of gardeners. It made me want to run out and start gardening immediately even if it was only January.
The pictures are gorgeous. The cover looks at first glance like gemstones stacked one on top of the other, but it's actually a close-up photograph of corn. CORN! Beautiful, gorgeous, multicolored Indian corn. Inside, each plant is featured in color photographs that also capture the people who raised the seeds.
Throughout the entire seed catalog are sprinkled well-written, in-depth stories that support the Baker Creek story. These stories or articles explain what GMO seeds are and why the company believes they aren't good for the environment. Other stories share the history of various plant varieties or stories of the people who grow them.
Each item's description includes all the relevant information you'd expect to find in a catalog, such as item number, price, growing season, cultural information, etc.
The catalog's layout is clean and easy to read.
The paper quality is excellent.

The catalog isn't free. I received a free copy because I am a member of the Garden Writers Association, but the cover price of this book is $9.95. I'd say it is well worth it. I actually brought my copy with me to the salon while getting my highlights done. As any woman will attest, that means hours of styling, coloring and drying...and I was engrossed in my seed catalog. Can you imagine reading a seed catalog so intently?

Content Marketing Tips

All in all, the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog gets an A+ from me for its expert content marketing.

Great content marketing hits the sweet spot between informing customers about products and services, entertaining and engaging them, and yes, selling products. Some content marketers talk about the undersell or soft sell, and some pretend that they don't want their content to sell anything at all. While content marketing isn't direct marketing (it's not about the direct sale), your content marketing programs should always support the consumer's choice to buy your products or services. Information is the key to helping people move along the decision ladder, ultimately choosing YOUR company to do business with among the many companies available.

That's where the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog hits all the right points. It's incredibly informative while simultaneously being entertaining, and that's not easy to do in a market saturated with seeds. Seeds aren't particularly high margin items, and it can be difficult to invest in marketing them. But because garden seeds are everywhere for consumers to purchase, you've got to make customers understand why your garden seeds are different or better than other companies'. And that's where Baker Creek gets it right.

They are selling a different product. They invest time, money and resources into finding heirloom seeds - seeds passed down through generations of gardeners, families and communities. These seeds are free from genetic tinkering by humans and are open-pollinated. Some are said to be more nutritious or tasty than commercially grown varieties. Others are quite difficult to find among the large commercial growing operations. Baker Creek tells a unique story, and because they tell it well, consumers understand what sets them apart and why they should shop from their catalog.

Would You Like Your Company Features as a Case Study?

I'd love to share YOUR company's content marketing case study here. Please contact me and share samples of your firm's content marketing program if you'd like to be featured on the Seven Oaks Consulting content marketing blog.

by Jeanne Grunert

Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers

Do you have a business blog? If not, why not? According to HubSpot, business who run a blog receive 67 percent more leads than those who do not. I don't know about you, but I'd sure like to get 67 percent more leads than my competitors.

Heather over at the Virginia Bloggers Club (of which I'm a member) has written a great post, The Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers. A good blog can generate leads, improve your search engine rank, and drive more leads, traffics and visits to your website at a minimal cost.

Read Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers.

by Jeanne Grunert

Samples of Freelance Writing - Don't Write Them for Free

If you're asked for samples of freelance writing by a potential client, do share published samples. These can be samples you've published on your own - on Medium.com, on your blog, on your website. Or, they can be samples of published work completed for your clients.

But whatever you do, do not provide free samples for a potential client written specifically on their chosen topic. Any company serious about hiring pays a small stipend, even a fraction of the actual cost, to show good faith and good will to freelancers.

If you're a company considering writers, please do not ask them to do a test article or sample for free. Why? Watch this video.

Samples of Freelance Writing: Asking for Free Samples Is Not Industry Standard

Writers, companies hiring for freelance work do need to see samples of your work. But they should not ask for free samples of freelance writing. I have had 'samples' published by such unscrupulous companies.

Instead, provide samples as follows:

Your own website and blog - yes, it is okay for you to write your own blog and use that as a sample
Published works - anything published with your byline is great! Do share it.
Samples of client projects (with their permission)

Paid test projects, on the other hand, are fine. If a client asks for a sample of your freelance writing work and is willing to pay even a small amount, that is acceptable.

Here's a more in-depth article I wrote about "writing on spec" - a term which means writing on speculation, or with an eye towards future work. It never or almost never works out. Professional writers, do not write for free on speculation or in hope of getting an assignment.

by Jeanne Grunert