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What makes you pull a book off the shelf and look inside? The publishing industry spends a fortune on jacket designs because a good cover will increase revenue. But with book sales, the cover only takes you so far. A cover design that doesn't appeal to the target audience affects sales. To make money in publishing, you need good reviews and word of mouth recommendations. Of course, you only get those results with great content.

Designing a Marketing Asset
An October 2010 conference at the Radcliffe Institute for Advance Study and Harvard University, Why Books?, featured a session dedicated to design. Led by Timothy Jones, Art Director of the Harvard University Press, Why (Design) Books? discussed the many ways design influences the success of a book and not always in the intended way. Book covers are often redesigned for different countries. Titles also change. Have you ever noticed a paperback version of a book with a jacket different from the hard cover? Chances are the original design didn't work the way the publisher expected.

Judging a Book
It's not all about the cover. More and more people are looking for their content online and publishers are doing everything they can to keep people reading print editions. The first business book I noticed using design as a reading aid was Body And Soul: Profits with Principles — The Amazing Success Story of Anita Roddick and The Body Shop . Published in 1991, the reviews mention the way illustrations, photographs, images and pull quotes are used to enhance the text. Roddick was a pioneer in business and, as it turns out, blazed a few trails with content, too.

The convenient truth of An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore's book on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, relied heavily on design to attract the masses to a scientific argument. Gore gives credit to his wife, Tipper, for understanding his topic matter needed to be presented in a visual, easy-to-read format. Personally, the book disappointed me because I wanted substance. However, the book was a publishing success and Gore achieved global recognition for his views on climate change.

The Brand Gap solution for time poor people
Substance comes with a price and you pay the bill with your time. When a friend recommend Marty Neumeier's, The Brand Gap I told her I would hold it until my holiday when I had more time. She assured me it was an easy read and she was right. The Brand Gap uses bold type, images, and lots of hooks to keep you turning pages. I got through the 208 pages in just over a day and was glad I did. The book was full of great ideas and the design made it easy to read.

Designing Your Long Content
An attractive cover will encourage people to take a further look. For blog posts, newsletters and other short forms of content, a good design is usually enough. What about books, eBooks and long presentations? Can you get by with an attractive cover and let the content stand on its own? Probably not. Design is a critical factor in getting and keeping readers. When every part of your content has a design element applied, your readers will stick with you right to the end. Investing in design enhances the chances your content will become an asset to your business.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

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Those people that form the collective `they', as in the `they say', would have us believe confession is a cleansing process and leaves you in a state of relief and satisfaction. After writing my last post, Confessions of a Content Marketer, I find I'm still bubbling over with little secrets and haven't found much release. Maybe I didn't do it right. Or maybe I just haven't finished the job. Either way, I'm going to continue with the confessional theme and let you in on a few more truths from a content marketing professional. Here goes.

I don't keep track of my analytics
Here's the problem with analytics. They're habit forming. They make promises and give you hope. Analytics make you think you can make a few tweaks and pretty soon you'll be getting rock star traffic. But analytics can't do anything a lot of passion, consistency and good writing can do for you. I find when I focus on the statistics I lose site of the goal producing quality content people want to read. I spend more time trying to game the system. Interestingly, when I immerse myself in the planning and writing required for a good content marketing strategy, I get results.

I make up quotes
There's a big difference between marketing and reporting. A media release has a specific purpose and is always well-defined within the scope of the project. It's easy for me to put words in the mouth of the client. It guarantees their message is presented exactly as the audience should hear it. It also means my writing job is easier because the manufactured quote flows with the story. Of course, the client always signs off on the content for distribution so there's no liability of misrepresentation on my part. You know what? I almost always get the same comment back, "You said that much better than I would have." I've yet to meet a client that wasn't appreciative.

I'm not attached to the words
Copywriting and creative writing are two separate things. While copywriting has elements of creativity involved (see the previous confession), my writing is for the benefit of a client. If they want a change, I'm not going to get upset. I'm not emotionally attached to any of this. I have reasons for constructing a piece of content in a specific way and I'll defend those reasons. Still, most of what I write is a product for a client and the client is entitled to have what they want. Ask for changes. My feelings won't be hurt.

I do my best to make your content sound `unofficial'
Unless you're working for the Politburo, you're content shouldn't sound 'official'. I would argue governments should work harder to make their content less official too. Why? Because you want your readers to keep reading. You want them to be interested in what you have to say. You don't need to pander to them or `dumb down' your writing; you just want it to be more readable.

It's nothing like Mad Men around here
I started this post at 4:00 am. I haven't looked in the mirror so far. I made a pot of coffee in the dark, not wanting to risk my morning solitude and possibly wake someone in the house. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. A lot of what gets done in this office is a long way from glamorous. None of that matters because copywriting and content marketing is not about me, it's about the client and their goals.

Maybe it's a bit unwise to be open about life as a content marketer. I'm not exactly exposing a soft underbelly here. My goal is to give people an idea about my experience in content marketing and, more generally, in copywriting. A certain amount of mystery surrounds the profession but, mostly, it's just a lot of solving problems for people that want to improve their business. As all businesses move towards a publishing strategy thanks to the internet I hope these confessions lend insight to others working with content.

What would surprise someone about the way you do your job?

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Image credit: brew precious drops by Muffet, on Flickr

I was speaking to a prospective client today about web copy he wanted refined for a new website. As I reeled off my recommendations, I hoped he hadn't looked at my own website too closely. Why? Because my website is in dire need of a good content scrubbing. It's scheduled in for a quiet day which, so far, hasn't arrived. Now that I'm in a confessional spirit, why not spill it all?

Nothing is ever perfect
I can't think of a single thing I've written, EVER, that I wouldn't change given the opportunity. Even articles I really liked when first published, don't stand up to my own scrutiny over time. I was heartened to read Joe Pulizzi's 13 Commandments of Content Marketing. His fifth commandment goes like this:

Perfection is the enemy of good enough. Leonardo could paint the Mona Lisa only once. If you wait for perfection, you'll never distribute content of any kind. Great content doesn't have to be perfect. Frankly, there is no perfect.

Great content isn't enough.
The hard truth about content is no one gives it a second look if it's not worth a second look. Like the brainy girl in high school the one with a great personality your content will be lonely unless you pretty it up. Enlist the help of a graphic designer if you want what you've written to be popular.

Procrastination trumps enthusiasm
For reasons unknown to me or legions of other writers, I often wait until the last minute to tackle a project. Even when it's something I'm excited about, for a client I love, I can still manage to arrange my schedule so I've got just enough time to make my deadline.

Writer's block is a lot of hooey
Writing is not rocket science. It's not even chemical engineering. Sitting down and staring at a blank screen isn't writer's block; it just means you haven't disciplined yourself to write. It's amazing how many writers find the best thing to cure writer's block is a deadline or an impending pay cheque.

You have to practice
The best writers I know write every day. Why? You have a writing muscle. Trust me on this. Neglect regular exercise of that muscle and it atrophies. Ask anybody. Better yet, take a two week break from writing and then try to knock out a 500 word article in an hour. Good luck on that.

Errors slip through
I'm the kind of reader who comes unhinged when I find a grammatical error in something I'm reading. Spelling errors, incorrect word usage – e.g. there, their, they're – and punctuation mistakes all make me stop dead in my tracks. I'm not kidding. Every week someone points out an error I've made no matter how stringently I try to avoid it happening. It used to bother me but now I view it as a gift. With digital media it's easy to fix a mistake.

Consistently developing and publishing good content is the key to an effective content marketing strategy. When you're spinning a lot of plates, one of them is bound to drop and break. The best content marketers focus on production and don't worry so much about the mechanics and technicalities of every word they put down. Getting your content into the hands of the people that want to read it is the goal. If that means my own website waits for a while longer, then so be it.
What would you confess?

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Related Posts:

• Excuse Me, that's Not a Word[*]Spelling it Out[*]The Website Conundrum: Design vs. Content

Image Credit: Stephen Weitzman's 1992 Sculpture "Whispers" In Sligo-Dennis Avenue Park (Silver Spring, MD) by takomabibelot, on Flickr

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll be familiar with asset based marketing and the importance of content and design in any content marketing project. Both budget and time need to be apportioned to each element to produce a product that will become an asset to your company. I recently came across a great example proving this philosophy and I want to share it with you.

Content Marketing Conundrum
As a writer, I've always been focused on words. I'm very happy to pore over a blank page filled with plain black type. Unfortunately for me, most people don't feel the same way. Let me share two hard truths about content.

Great content doesn't guarantee readership. If someone is not enticed to pick up your document, hang around on your website or respond to the call to action on your landing page, even the best writing fails.

• If content isn't being read, it isn't an asset to your business. You can spend ages researching, employ the best writers, and hire an editor to ensure every word and sentence is perfect. If no one opens your content because it's unattractive, all that marketing time and effort is wasted.

The Design Advantage
Writers have one weapon to entice readers the headline. A key element to copywriting success is being able to craft a great title. If you struggle to hook readers with your titles, you're going to have to come up with another tactic. Design is the way to do that. The better the design, the better response you get to your content.

Let me give you an example. I do a fair amount of public speaking on content marketing and social media. I load my presentations onto SlideShare. Each one is represented by a thumbnail of the title page. Last week when I was reviewing my account, I found a direct correlation between the quality of the design on the title page and the number of people who viewed the presentation.
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All the presentations have been available on SlideShare for 5-8 months. The content for each presentation is basically the same with variations for specific audiences. All descriptions and keywords for the uploads on SlideShare are similar. The groups I presented to were comparable in size. The major difference in the four presentations is the design of the cover page which serves as a thumbnail for the presentations on Slideshare.

The Take-Away
While my example is not scientific, the results are impressive. Even if I consider the title may influence the appeal of the presentations, it's obvious SlideShare users are attracted to design and prefer a professional job over my amateur efforts. Faced with this evidence from my own content, it's unlikely I will ever cobble together another cover page. I saved a little time and money but it cost me dearly 66% less traffic and no downloads whatsoever. The only two presentations I would consider an asset to my business both had strong elements of professional design. It's a startling result and a lesson worth remembering.

Where have you seen design improve your content?
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Do you ever struggle to find a topic for a blog post? I battled to find inspiration today. It's Thanksgiving in the USA, the country from which I originally hail, so maybe I'm having some sort of long buried resistance to working on a holiday. As I watched the clock tick away valuable writing hours, I knew exactly how to solve my problem. I'll let you in on a sure-fire way to find inspiration.

Fluoro-orange, it's so 1980s
On the bottom shelf of my desk sits a fat, fluorescent orange folder with "MKTG RPTS" scribbled across it. Inside is a jackpot of ideas. In the course of my normal internet surfing, I come across all sorts of surveys, reports, research findings, white papers and case studies related to my area of interest – marketing and content marketing. I rarely have time to digest the data contained in these reports when I come across them. I make a habit of printing a hardcopy of the best ones and jam them in my folder.

You're probably wondering why I don't use a bookmarking system. I do, but I've discovered a hard copy is an extremely valuable resource. I keep notes scribbled on the paper documents, key phrases underlined and highlighted, and post-it tabs on pages I know will be useful in the future. My current file has reports from:

• MarketingProfs
• Junta42
• Content Marketing Institute
• American Business Media
• Marketing Sherpa
• Social Media Examiner
• Hubspot
• Super Hero Marketing
• Unica
• Tips Products International

While some of these organisations were not familiar to me when I found their data, it's all proved valuable to my writing over the past six months. Flipping through the reports I can see exactly what ground I've covered in the past and, importantly, find nuggets of information I have yet to extrapolate into my blog. With research findings or hard data to kick-start the writing process, I can usually find the topic for a good post.

The Take-Away
I'm a big fan of technology but have discovered benefits to using an old-fashioned technique to motivate my writing. Digging through a worn folder loaded with dog-eared surveys is a great way to come up with new ideas. It also keeps me aware of annual reports and mindful of the time I need to start looking for updated research. Today, on this American national holiday of gratitude, I'm really glad for my old-school habit of printing and reading hard copy.

What do you do when you're stuck for an idea?
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