Weirding Word

Summer Strategy: Survey Target Audiences

When everything slows down for the hot summer season, it's the perfect time to reassess your marketing strategy, determine whether you're meeting client needs, and prepare for the busy fall.

As you review your goals and strategies, ask yourself what's working and how do you know it's working. Think about different strategies you might like to incorporate. Perhaps an e-newsletter isn't working with your target audience, but a more interactive blog is the perfect technology alternative. But how can you be sure a blog is the right step to take?

Survey your target audience.

Now, a survey can seem intimidating. You're thinking: "What questions should I ask?" "How do I write questions?" "Will my clients even do the survey?" "What's it going to cost to mail a survey?" However, it doesn't have to be intimidating or stressful. Here are some simple steps to implement your own survey:

Determine the focus. Keep the survey simple, by narrowing the focus. Don't try to find out everything about your customer's preferences all at once. Choose either satisfaction with services/products, or what they're looking for from your industry or type of business. But don't do both at once. You want to hold their attention for the entire survey.

Limit the questions. The shorter the survey, the more likely your clients are to complete it. Settle on 10 or fewer questions that zero in on your focus area. Resist the temptation to split off onto a tangent. This will also help force you to stick to the most important information.

Solicit comments. This is an excellent opportunity to get feedback. Use the last question as an invitation to write about their answers or add something not asked in the survey.

One of the best resources for developing and distributing surveys is an online survey service, such as Zoomerang or Survey Monkey. These companies allow users to develop surveys (or adapt a template), distribute them via e-mail, and even assign unique links for each survey respondent.


Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com


Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Excellent References—Not Just for Job Searches (Part 3)

In the first and second posts in this series, I talked about why self-published authors should cite sources in their books. In Part 3, I wanted to add a quick note on the quality of sources for whomever might be reading this blog.

Not all reference sources are created equal. How much stock would you put in something you heard from Brian that originated with his brother’s, sister-in-law’s nephew? How much stock would you put in something you heard from CNN? And, how much stock would you put in the original transcript of the United Nations meeting, which happened to be featured in a CNN report that Brian passed along some information on through the grapevine?

The transcript is a primary source, the news report is a secondary source, and Brian’s information is basically unsubstantiated rumor (or maybe a good lead). Brian’s news makes interesting water cooler conversation, but the U.N. and CNN make good sources of information to cite in a book. The first provides accurate information about the meeting and the second helps place that meeting in context. Throw in some journal articles, interviews with experts and data, and that’s the beginning of some good research-based writing.

For information on how to format citations, try The Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Handbook, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, or the style your editor or publisher recommends. Whatever you choose, consistency is most important in citing sources.

University libraries are an excellent starting place to learn more:

Primary Sources on the Web (University of Washington)
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/

Citing Sources (Duke University)
http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

What is a primary source? (University of Nevada, Reno)
http://www.library.unr.edu/instruction/help/primary.html

Library Research Using Primary Sources (University of California, Berkeley)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html

Repositories of Primary Sources (University of Idaho)
http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

Research and Documenting Sources (Purdue University)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/index.html

I also found this site interesting:

Research and Documentation Online by Diana Hacker
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/

Weirding Word (SM), a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, helps you communicate your ideas and information more effectively through tailored editing, freelance writing, publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt All rights reserved.

Excellent References—Not Just for Job Searches (Part 2)

In the first part of this series, I discussed the fact that references are the key to credibility in non-fiction writing. Without them, it’s just a story. References also build credibility in a more meaningful way—establishing a common body of knowledge.

As standard practice, researchers use other sources to build not only confidence in the material, but a shared understanding between themselves and readers. Admittedly, I used to view academics and researchers as pointy-headed snobs who just try to exclude others…not that some don’t use what they know to act like pointy-headed snobs. But, I finally learned that referencing other work helps create common ground.

By reviewing what other people have said, written and proposed, an author reminds her audience of what’s in the common body of knowledge, sifts out the information important to what she is presenting, and more effectively demonstrates how what she’s writing adds value to the discussion. At the same time, she builds the reader’s level of confidence in her reliability as an expert, source, etc. on the topic.

This is part of the reason for peer review in academic journals. People knowledgeable about a field and topic will know most (if not all) of the sources referenced by an author, making them ideal for critiquing the quality of the arguments or information presented in a book, article etc. Do self-published book authors need peer review? It certainly helps to get the viewpoints of others with a background in the topic, not to mention the potential for featuring a favorable quote on the back cover of the book.

In the final posting of this three-part series, I'll share some Internet resources.

Weirding Word (SM), a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, helps you communicate your ideas and information more effectively through tailored editing, freelance writing, publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt All rights reserved.

Excellent References—Not Just for Job Searches (Part 1)

This is the first of three posts on Weirding Word (SM) Blog about the importance of using references in non-fiction writing.

The value of references in non-fiction cannot be overemphasized—particularly history, philosophy and policy books. And this is the area in which I see so many self-published authors fail.

Excellent writing and storytelling only get you so far. If a book states that a specific Native American tribe lived in a particular region of the country, why should the reader take the author’s word for it? Perhaps it’s true. Maybe the reader himself is pretty sure that this is factually accurate. But, without references or a bibliography, where’s the proof to back up the author’s statements? Would any reputable publishing company buy a manuscript that lacks this basic level of reliability? Why should you?

What’s more, references provide the breadcrumb trail that leads the reader deeper into the topic about which the author is so passionate. Perhaps a young woman will read a concise essay on the dangers of nanotechnology to society, look into some of the sources listed in the bibliography, and launch an advocacy group to support the author’s work.

Is there a better way to maintain a following (and buyers) for future titles than to shore-up credibility through references? Even authors who write self-help books reference the results they personally experienced or the results their clients achieved. (More about reference sources in Part 3.) Taking an avid interest in something or someone doesn’t cut it. What is there to back-up the statements?

Weirding Word (SM), a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, helps you communicate your ideas and information more effectively through tailored editing, freelance writing, publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt All rights reserved.