Patricia H Browne

Easter dinner is an odd place to be talking about using the web to market small businesses, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday.  A niece wants to begin a writing career and my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law (yeah…) runs a small custom fine furniture business with her husband.  What started out as two conversations quickly became one.

 I began by talking to my niece about using e-zines and online resources to launch her writing career.  There are many, many sources hungry for her expertise (education) and many outlets to spin articles.  She really got the concept of writing for these sources, and linking back to her own site with a archive of additional ready material.  She can position herself as an expert, get some publishing credits to build on and get some experience.  The key is linking.  She needs a website of her own to link back to and, as she builds her archive of articles, linking within new articles so that interested readers can find out more.  And the more links you have, the higher your ranking.

My sister-in-law’s sister-in-law needs a slightly different approach.  While she can write articles about fine furniture, surface care, refinishing tips, etc, I told her that she should probably concentrate on two other areas: reciprocal links with designers they work with and registering domains that reflect search engine strings.  For example, they are located south of Boston and make custom tables.  I suggested she Google her competitors and then come up with some domains.  Southofbostoncustomtables.com, finecustomfurnitureboston.com.  Domain registrations are so cheap that it makes sense to register a dozen or so likely search terms and then set up redirects to your website. 

While Easter dinner is not the usual venue for talking Internet marketing, I was happy to share some expertise while we were passing the potatoes.

Winter often brings endless days of grey skies
    which only manage to lighten to a dull, sodden white.

Days when we long for even brief glimpses of sunshine

So when the sun does come out,
    and the sky is bluer than even the sunniest July day
    I find excuses to take the dogs out and refill the bird feeder
    I stand there, eyes closed,
    Cold air swirling the leaves that escaped the rakes of November

And let the sun warm my face

The birds skitter near me at the feeder,
    anxious to see what delicacies I have added
    The titmouse and chickadee have no fear of me,
    and scold me for remaining close
    Even as they swoop and land and grab a greedy mouthful of seed
    They are close enough to almost touch,
    but I respect their courage and scold them back
    Reminding them more than once
    that I am the bringer of their bounty
    They don’t care

The other birds hang back, timid,
    waiting for me to go back behind my window

But I stand there for another moment,
    feeling the sun, savoring the tiny inroads of warmth
    Not knowing when the next gift of a perfect sunny day will appear

That is why I only scold the dogs a little
    when they want to go out for the second time this morning
    They want to point their noses in the air and catch a scent of spring

Poets can write about “darling buds of May” and rhyme June and spoon
    Soft summer days are an easy target

It’s the winter sunshine
     Rare and handed out like a precious gift
     That I appreciate

My daughter showed me a great new website, Pandora which is an online music streaming site.  You can enter a favorite song or artist and create a personal “station” built around that style.  You can also select from existing stations - there are dozens of formats and sub-formats.  You can vote with “thumbs up” “thumbs down” and view why that song was selected for your particular station.  You can skip past songs (unlimited).   As you vote and skip, the station becomes better at selecting songs for you.

I have created a couple of stations based around favorite songs and also listen to the pre-programmed “New Age Pop” frequently.  You can skip ahead if you don’t like a song.  No rewinds or music on demand, but it’s a great way to get exposure to artists you might not otherwise hear.  The service is free (there are ads on the page, but I just play it in background so I never see the ads) or there is a paid version which gives you more places to hear (on your web-enabled cell phone, or through a wireless in-house server device).  They also have a mash-up feature (QuickMix) which lets you choose which of your online stations you want to combine.  (Big and Rich with Classical Violin anyone?)

A great service for music without interruption which you have some control over.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This is one of my favorite poems.  I think it personifies the struggle to keep going even when everything is telling you to just give in…and he completely captures the absolute silence and loneliness of out in the woods in a falling snow.  There is no sound except for the quiet of snowflakes landing softly.  The harness bells would sound like a fire alarm in all that silence.  And perhaps it is that very comfort of another creature which allows him to keep on, to rouse himself to fulfill promises which he might not want to keep. 

The perfect beauty of well chosen words. 

When asked to speak, my first questions are: what do you want the audience to take away?  What should my audience do after hearing me?  This sometimes puzzles the people who ask me to speak.  But it is the heart of a great speech.

Many speakers have a standard speech which they deliver, almost regardless of their audience.  While I certainly applaud the economy of this approach, it does a disservice to the audience.  For example, when I talk about creating a website, I want to know why I have been invited.  If I have a group of small business people who are trying to make every marketing dollar do triple duty, they have a completely different agenda than a group of high school students who are considering a career.  My speech to the business audience may actually dissuade some owners from creating an elaborate website - which is a good thing. 

For example, a small, local landscaper in a Boston suburb may only need a page or two describing their services, contact information and showing some photos of their work.  An elaborate site, while pretty, is not going to make his business attractive to the 99.9% of the world-wide audience who could view it.  Let’s face it, the guy’s not going to Peoria to mow lawns.  He needs to meet with clients at their site to estimate and sell services.  A website will probably not persuade anyone that one lawn service is better than another.

A high school student will be evaluating my speech from a completely different point of view.  They need a completely different approach.  Depending on the group, the speech may be about careers in web design or the latest technology.  Same topic, different needs from the audience.

If you think this is all wrong, consider this:  At the dedication of a cemetery, a noted public orator was invited to be the keynote speaker.  He was world-renowned for his speaking skills.  Tens of thousands of people showed up just to hear this guy.  He spoke without pause for over two hours.  After he finished, another speaker, invited only as a courtesy, stepped up to the podium.  He unfolded a single sheet of paper with 272 words written on it.  It began:

 ”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is widely considered one of the greatest speeches ever given.  He captured, in a just a few words, the pain and suffering of those who had “consecrated the ground” of the cemetery and the resolve to hold the Union together.  Today, no one remembers Edward Everett’s two hour speech.  It is the few, well chosen words by Lincoln that rang true and are still with us today.

So…the next time you are asked to speak, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Your audience will thank you!

Every truly great accomplishment
               Is considered impossible
                                     Until SOMEONE actually does it!

Author: unknown

Shoot for the Moon…

Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars…

Author: Unknown

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lighting and a lightning bug.

 Too often what I read reflects the writer’s haste in getting something written rather than a thoughtfulness of choice.  Good writing is like poetry or backpacking.  Every word chosen, every shirt packed should be just the right word, just the right shirt for the job.  Just as in backpacking, overstuffing paragraphs with extra words does not usually have a better end result.  Too often, it just means more stuff to wade through to actually get at the meaning.

My thought for the day:  chose each word like you had to carry it across mountains.  Don’t use six words when three will do.