1. What do you want to give people? A successful blog is not about self-promotion. It’s about creating and sharing content that others benefit from. Example:  Guy Kawaski’s blog is titled How to Change the World. What HOW TO is your focus?
2. Who do you want to reach out to? Identify your audience. What do they need? What do they want? Then reconsider your answer to question #1. Does your audience seek/want/need the type of information that you are sharing? If not, you need to find a new focus.
3. How can you create a niche? Think about what you have to offer through your blog, then take a look at what other, similar blogs are like. What will be different about yours that will make it a blog that people want to read instead of another?
4. After you have identified what you have to offer, the next BIG question is … How is it going to benefit you? How is your blog going to drive customers and/or build your reputation? Your blog isn’t about you, but it still has to serve your online marketing goals.

January 21, 2010

Contact: Jennifer Bondurant, 573-837-4741, jenny@catchphrasepr.com

CatchPhrase Joins Spa Shiki to Support Haiti Relief & Development Fund

AUXVASSE, Mo. – Now through January 31, 2010, Spa Shiki at the Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, Mo. will donate 10 percent of all online retail sales to the American Red Cross’s Haiti Relief & Development Fund. Spa Shiki’s marketing partner, mid-Missouri-based CatchPhrase Communications has agreed to match the spa’s donation.

All retail products purchased through the spa’s Web site will qualify. Purchases may be made at www.spashiki.com.

“The need in Haiti is overwhelming,” says Spa Shiki Director Ann Brown. “At Spa Shiki, we want to do our part and recognize that every donation, big or small, makes a difference. We would like to encourage our guests and others to give.”

For more information, please visit www.spashiki.com or www.catchphrasepr.com.

ABOUT SPA SHIKI

Located at the Lodge of the Four Seasons on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, Spa Shiki is one of the largest resort spas in the Midwest and was featured on NBC’s “Weekend Today” as one of the top values in the United States for a spa getaway. Providing skilled therapists that receive continual education through the American Spa Therapy and Education Certification Council and more, the Japanese-themed Spa Shiki offers a comprehensive array of health and wellness treatments and is dedicated to educating guests on the benefits of spa. Spa Shiki is a member of the International Spa Association. Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks is one of the world’s largest manmade lakes, covering 1,150 miles of shoreline.

ABOUT CATCHPHRASE COMMUNICATIONS

CatchPhrase Communications is a mid-Missouri-based marketing and public relations firm. Focusing on clear communication, CatchPhrase Communications offers writing, editing, marketing and media relations services. For more information, call (573) 837-4741.

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Click here to download a PDF of Disappearing Acts, Chapter 1.

A Synopsis of DISAPPEARING ACTS

A Novel by Jennifer Bondurant

Edie Monroe pretends her 17-year-old son Sean is not having sex behind his closed bedroom door with some girl she’s never met. Safe in his bedroom, Sean’s girlfriend Mandy pretends that sleeping with him will erase her childhood memories of abuse. When Edie and Mandy can no longer ignore each other, they must face the pasts they are each haunted by. For Mandy, it’s the nights spent with her mother’s boyfriend. For Edie, it’s the day she left Sean, 5 years old, standing alone and barefoot on the sidewalk and drove away.

Set in America’s heartland, DISAPPEARING ACTS is a 76,000-word novel of Edie’s and Mandy’s alternating first-person narratives, as each discovers that running away from the life she feels trapped in forces her to face reality. When Mandy convinces Sean to run away with her, the novel parallels her journey with Edie’s summer of 1976, when she ran away from her husband and son. A tragic incident brings the two women to a shared loss that impacts each life in a different way.

Focus on your reader instead of yourself, and you’ll improve the reader’s comprehension.

Don’t focus on yourself. If you don’t present your information effectively, no one will read it. Make it easy for the reader by taking into account how the reader will encounter the text. Woolfrey focuses on the online text …

When writing online, write short sentences, short paragraphs, says Woolfrey. Why? Because your reader is scanning the screen, not sitting down to enjoy a long article. It’s easier to focus on small pieces on the computer monitor.

Use bold titles to point to segments of the argument. Why? You want to draw your reader’s eye to the important points. Face it – people scan text, especially on the screen. Use a tool (such as bold) to slow the eye down.

Title pages should be true, but controversial. For most people, encountering online texts  means flipping through pages quickly. You have to have a title that says what the site is about, but gives its focus in a unique way to stand out from the crowd. Web sites gauge the effectiveness of a site by its bounce rate – how quickly a user clicks on and then leaves a web page. The longer, the better. If your title does not accurately convey the content, then users will not stick around. Your online copy should grab the reader, be quick and to the point.

If you are working with a printed text, from a letter to a brochure to instructions for employees, consider how to best get your point across.

• Use larger type for readers who may have trouble with smaller type.
• Break text down into a logical progression. Write an outline first and check to see if it makes sense.
• Use bullets and numbering to keep the reader on task.
• Make sure your point is clear from the beginning. Don’t build up to your message; make sure your reader sees it from the opening.
• State a call to action. Does your text give a clear directive? Is the next step clearly defined?

CatchPhrase Communications will assist Stadium Grill in grass-roots marketing efforts and public relations, keeping in sync with the locally-owned and managed restaurant’s company culture, fostering community and developing personal connections between owners, managers, employees and guests. Stadium Grill is located at 1219 Fellow’s Place in Columbia.

With more than 10 years of experience, CatchPhrase Communications provides writing, editing, marketing and media relations services. CatchPhrase clients include Spa Shiki at The Lodge of Four Seasons and Four Seasons Homes at the Lake of the Ozarks, the Ovid Bell Press in Fulton, and more. For information, visit  call (573) 837-4741.

Twitter: What are you doing right now? Users create posts of 140 characters or less about what they are doing, seeing and thinking and build a follower base. Following is a one-way street: You can follow anyone (whether you know them personally or not), but they don’t have to follow you. Only your followers view your “tweet” when you post it, but it can be re-tweeted, which allows other people to showcase your message to their followers and so on. Messages are short, sweet and short-lived but still powerful because of their potential for viral distribution.

Facebook: Who are you? Users create profiles for personal use. Businesses create fan pages. When a Facebook user becomes a fan of a business, that fan status is listed on his or her profile page and becomes an element of their online personality. Facebook gives users and businesses the ability to showcase photos, videos and links and allows other users to take a look at what their friends are up to and where they’ve been — a greater slice of life than Twitter shows. People search for those they know on Facebook and then request “friend” status. Once you become a friend, both parties can see and exchange information.

LinkedIn: What’s happening with your career? LinkedIn, a social networking site that focuses on the professional aspects of your life, is all about business. Create a network of colleagues, request introductions through people you know, post your current projects and join professional groups. Relationships are built through contacts, which adds credibility to the network. LinkedIn groups also allow you to reach outside your circle and join in conversations that pertain to your industry and professional interests.

Jennifer Bondurant is the editor of Jefferson City Magazine and the founder of CatchPhrase Communications, a public relations and marketing firm.

The decor is enough to tell you have arrived, but the company doesn’t stop with the physical decoration to make sure guests know the Argosy is a unique experience. According to Ameet Patel, general manager, the casino wants its players to feel at home. Staff with up to 14 years of experience ensure that the regulars are known by name. The front desk staff calls 5 minutes after check in to make sure the room is satisfactory and to find out if you need anything.

Sure, they follow a script, but they don’t sound like they are following a script – and that makes a huge difference. When I walked into the casino floor, one of the attendants said, “You win today, okay?” And I believed he meant it. I didn’t win, but it was nice to know he cared. : )

The Argosy in Kansas City promotes a company culture that cares about the experience its guests and players have. It’s a corporate brand, but it lets its individual casinos make decisions about how to best serve its specific area and customers. The Argosy staff at every level appeared to support its culture of caring about the guest’s experience and regarded each guest as an individual who deserved attention. The result? A winning casino and hotel experience.

Look for my article on Missouri’s casino destinations in the winter issue of Show-Me Missouri Magazine.