I didn’t FEEL like writing anything today. But I wrote anyway…

Feeling blah happens to the best of us

Call it the blues. Call it feeling blah. Call it writer’s block. Whatever you call it – the fact is you don’t feel like writing anything today. You might have had a bad day or maybe you’re sick. It’s tough to write when you feel like watching TV or checking your email or sending friends updates on Facebook.

But having an iron butt and being able to sit in your seat banging out a blog post is something you KNOW will bring you closer to your business goals.

What to do about feeling blah

With the exception of physical illness, 9 times out of 10 your blah feeling is in your head. One of the ways to deal with this is to manipulate your mind, take control of your thoughts and change your state.

Change your mind

Find things to dwell on that you’re grateful for. Think about positive experiences or successes you’ve had. Think about all the people who love you and care about you. Focus on how great you’ll feel once you write this blog post and it’s finished.

Change your body

Eat something that will nourish you. Go for a run. Sit in the sun and drink some coffee. Listen to some music.

The goal is to break your state of mind and get yourself into a state that can be productive and write anyway.

How to actually write [tips]

So let’s assume you’ve worked on getting your body and mind into a productive state. Here are a few specific techniques for writing your post.

• Focus on other people’s problems. Think about problems your customers or prospects are having and focus on helping them solve these. Write about the specific steps it will take to solve these.
• Focus on specifics. When I’m feeling blah, the more specific I can get with my post the easier it is to write. I try to focus on one tip or technique and make that the driving force behind my writing. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated.
• Go with how you’re feeling and use it. Sometimes the feeling you have can be the genesis of a post. If you are feeling confused and blah because a vendor is giving you the run around – write about it. Write “5 tips to deal with uncooperative vendors” for example.
• Start by outlining. Outlining is my best writing tool. If you want to get really fancy check out MindMeister Mind Map software. It’s free to use and can help you organize your thoughts visually. Whether you choose an outline or mindmap – get your thoughts on paper.

Imagine your outcome

A good friend of mine once said “A true professional does the job no matter how they feel that day.” That quote has always stuck in my head. Imagine being able to write no matter how you feel.

I would recommend that you close your eyes and feel what it is like to have a finished blog post. Imagine yourself feeling accomplished and at ease knowing you FINISHED.

Today’s Action Steps

• If you found this post helpful please share with others.
• Leave a comment below with your best tip on how to write when you don’t feel like it.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by Jar0d

Personal branding includes finding ways to stand out among the crowd. I already wrote about becoming a rockstar. Here are five quick ways to stand out online in a sea of other voices.

1) Promote other people

I hear the fastest way to a man’s heart is his stomach. (For all the women out there who would like to cook for me, the previous statement is indeed true :-)

Well in the same way…

…The fastest way to a blogger’s heart is making comments and helping to promote their blog. If you do this consistently, you will be seen as an ally. You will stand out from the crowd. Read about my concept of having a Target 10 here.

2) Make and post videos

There are a lot of people who simply will not get in front of a camera. Do it and you’ll instantly stand out from them online.

3) Know thy customer or audience

The more you know your customer the better. You need to cater your content to your community.

4) Post every day

I can barely find enough good information. I can find plenty of information – just nothing good. And the ones who do have good stuff post once a week or less. I forget about them.

Don’t fall into this trap. I used to tell people that posting to their blog was sufficient. I’ve completely changed my opinion on this and now say that unless you are posting at least once each weekday – you aren’t serious about growing your business online.

Post each day. Make a schedule so that you can determine what you will write about ahead of time so you don’t get writer’s block.

5) Write How To content

Another thing people want is specific how to content. If you post one “how to” article each day (and it’s good), then you WILL stand out online. And please don’t mess around with ambiguous or cute titles. Be freaking direct please.

Today’s Action Steps

First, if you found this article helpful – please share it with people who would benefit from reading it.

Second, write down in the comments the technique that you will implement today. Sketch out how you will stand out online.

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by TMAB2003

Last week, the drama/thriller movie Inception was released across the United States. I had an opportunity to catch the midnight showing and I’m glad I did. Without blabbering too much, the movie was excellent and it leaves you thinking when you walk out of the theater. I recommend seeing it if you can.

The premise of the movie is that within your dreams, your subconscious releases information, often which is secret or personal. This process if called extraction. However, it’s a two way street; information can also be planted, or incepted, into your subconscious, causing you to make decisions which you might not normally make.

I’ve been thinking about this idea for the past week and I’ve come to realize that we should all be “incepting” ideas into the minds of our readers, followers, and friends. Why?

Wanted: Leaders

It’s pretty easy to go with the flow; it’s not hard to get up each morning, head to work, and get into a habit of just coasting through life. But this isn’t how it was supposed to be.

Every person is good at something. Whether its knitting, computer hacking, or finding great bargins, everyone has a talent that shouldn’t go to waste. For some reason, however, a lot of people don’t use their talents. They think coasting through life is easier, and more rewarding, then sharing information with those who want to hear it.

The world needs you to incept others. You need to plant ideas and knowledge in the lives of your followers in order to change the world. We need you to be a leader and to show that the ideas you plant can be brought to life and used to better society.

Yeah, whatever.

Sure, I might sound like I’m a little off my rocker, but I’m not. I promise. Think of it this way:

You are good at SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
You know a handful of people who would like to know more about SEO but you don’t share your knowledge.
Those four people, who could be paying you close to $70-$80 an hour, take their business elsewhere.
You’re broke and can’t take your significant other on a date.

Or, maybe you’d prefer this outcome…

You are good at SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
You know a handful of people who would like to know more about SEO and you arrange to meet them about their needs.
Those four people, who could be paying you close to $70-$80 an hour, pay you $90-$100 an hour because you do good work and are willing to share ideas and strategies.
Your significant other loves you because you have a well paying job and can pay for dates.

Which would you rather have? Unless you’re out of your mind, you’d probably pick the second scenario.

Everyone needs to learn something at one point or another in their life and you might be the person who can teach them.

Your ideas are powerful and can help shape the cores of many businesses and lives. Not only are you getting paid but you’re also forming partnerships and bonds with individuals who might help you out later down the line.

Don’t sit around hogging the information; share it and incept it.

Do you know what the fastest spreading virus is? An idea.

Go out and make it happen.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by raja4u

Writing is important. We all know that content is one of the most important aspects of a business and without writing, you can’t produce content. Needless to say, it’s pretty critical that you have a good handle on writing, or a good editor, before you disseminate valuable content to your customers.

Wait–don’t leave yet. If you’re the guy or gal that thinks writing isn’t your strongest quality, you’re not alone. You don’t need to be good at writing to succeed; you only need to know the critical elements that create writing success.

There is no better role model or influence to turn to than Seth Godin. Seth Godin is a business/media strategist who takes pride in helping people. However, his books don’t always top the charts and his blog is rather short and simple. He understands the important aspects of writing and he goes from there. You can do that, too.

Connection

One of your foremost goals when writing should be to connect to your audience. Frankly, without a connection, you have no audience. Who wants to read something that isn’t appealing or interesting? I know that I don’t.

Creating a connection with your audience will get you far in your career as a writer. Seth Godin creates connections using stories, one-liners, and memorable but short quotes to get you thinking. It’s like he is right next to you holding a conversation.

Also, connections enable readers to keep coming back to your content. If they can relate to you one time, they will long for that connection the next time.

Memories

Our memories map out our lives. Memories of happiness will encourage us to continue on a certain course and painful memories will guard our hearts forever. When writing, make sure that you create good memories for your audience. You don’t need to be a super sophisticated writer to create memories. You don’t need to pen brilliant words. In fact, all you need to do is be authentic and down to earth.

When you’re authentic with your audience, they trust you and they begin to open up to your words. Make sure that you captivate them with your realness and use that to create positive memories for your readers.

Remember, positive memories come in handy when you release new content because those people you’ve touched will recall their experience with you and will return the favor time and time again.

Value

You’ve heard us talk about it before and this isn’t the last time we’ll touch on it: creating value for your customers is much better than anything else. If your customers know they are getting a product with a high value, they a more willing to be repeat customers and spread the word.

Value does not mean a low priced product. Sure, lower prices might be more appealing at first but if you can provide free content that has a large value, you’ll immediately attract potential customers and win market share.

We all want to be valued. When you’re writing, make sure that you give away as much information as possible. Don’t hold all of the cards because the more hidden you are, the less people will trust you.

Creating connections, memories, and value will help your writing stick.

Seth Godin is a master at writing and you can be, too. Take some time this week to practice connecting, making memories, and creating value through your writing. You might actually surprise yourself…

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by Right Brain Resource

If you ask some bloggers, they’ll tell you that when they write a blog post, they’ve created a work of art.  Without a doubt, their blog post is the best on the Internet and it should be making the front pages of Digg and Delicious, not these other hacks and their stupid content. They’d say, “Seriously, who would ever choose to read these stuff over my awesome blog posts?”

If you’re one of those bloggers, I have news for you…

Your blog post doesn’t cut it. A work of art? No, it’s a work in progress at best.

Do you think that when Michelangelo was sculpting his ultra-famous David statue that he was satisfied the first time? Or the second? Maybe on the third but probably not.

What about Da Vinci? Was the Mona Lisa right the first time or did he have to do some extra work? He’s not here to tell us but I’m probably thinking it wasn’t an instant hit.

I could list hundreds of artists, movie producers, writers, and business folks who didn’t get it right the first time but I think you get the point.

Believe it or not, your blog posts are in the same boat as the David statue and the Mona Lisa; they aren’t perfect the first time around.

Humble Pie is Good for the Soul

I’m right there with you; it’s tough to humble yourself and realize that your work, life, and passion isn’t the best on the first time around. We naturally want to be good at everything we do but we’re not.

It’s extremely important to humble yourself and become a person who revises work instead of creating soul-satisfying material the first time around. If you do, you will be able to develop your writing style more than you can imagine.

Since I’ve started blogging two to three times a week for Folk Media, I’ve become a better writer. For example, I never used semicolons but now I try to implement them often in my writing; they just make things flow better (and look cooler). Also, my writing used to be fluffy and off topic. Not so much anymore.

Revising my blog posts for Folk Media has given me a better sense of my style and has allowed me to grow.

Humbling myself to a position of a writer AND editor can work wonders for your content and progression as a blogger or writer.

The Challenge

I normally would challenge you with something like, “Try to go back and revise at least five of your most recent blog posts.” Well, that’s well and good but it’s not what I think would be the most beneficial to you.

Instead, I’d like for you to commit to becoming a writer and editor for the next 60 days. It’s two months that you might have to work a bit harder but it will be worth the work.

We’re going to call this the 60 Day Editing Challenge. In this timeframe, there are no specific requirements to meet; whatever works for you is what I want you to undertake. Instead of just writing, posting, and repeating, throw in some editing here and there. Go back and revisit some older posts and see what you can improve. It could be call of your content or only a select few articles.

On Sunday, August 29, the challenge will end. Starting now, I’d like to hear your experiences with incorporating editing into your blogging mix. It could be a success story or a challenge you’re facing. I want you to email me and let me know your thoughts and comments about what you’re undertaking.

I hope that you can become a better writer and editor in the future and not just the next 60 days. Its a process that takes time to develop but it will help you for the rest of your life.

Don’t let your blog posts suck any longer; take some initiative and edit your copy after you’ve posted it. Remember – masterpieces aren’t created the first time around. Practice and hard work really do make perfect.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by JJR

If you’ve ever watched Napoleon Dynamite, you know that Uncle Rico is famous for his ideas.  In 1982, Uncle Rico planned to play pro football (and he would have had the coach put him in during the fourth quarter of the state championship) but he also thinks he can sell nylon polymer and female enhancement drugs for some hefty profits.  Without a doubt, Uncle Rico doesn’t put all of his eggs in one basket.  Well, neither should you.

[If you've never had a chance to check out the movie, watch the clip below to get a taste of Uncle Rico.]

Some companies take only one approach to social media, whether it’s blogging, Facebook, or Twitter.  Sure, having a Twitter or Facebook account is better than nothing but it’s not the desired plan.  It’s important to diversify your strategy.  If you want to have a solid plan for the future, be sure to invest your time into a diverse social media strategy, including blogs, social networking sites, and email marketing.

Why Diversify?

Good question and the quick answer is that it will meet the needs of your potential customers.  Normally I’m not the type of person to recommend doing many things at once but when it comes to managing social media profiles, it’s good to have a few.

Not every potential customer is going to be on Twitter or Facebook.  If you have a profile on each site, you can theoretically reach double the amount of customers.  Who doesn’t want to do that?

Instead of attempting to have a client create a Twitter account just to follow your updates, why don’t you meet them on Facebook?

Meet your customers where they are and they will listen to what you have to say.

Do It Well

Although he had a good idea to diversify, one of Uncle Rico’s many faults was the fact that he didn’t do anything well.  Take note; this is not what you want to do with your social media profiles.  Don’t become complacent with your Facebook or Twitter account.  If you’re going to be present on Facebook, make it known that you’re there.  If you’re going to tweet, distribute content that is worth following.

No one wants to know an Uncle Rico so make sure that you “do” social networking like the best of ‘em.

Displacing Your Doubt

If you’re about to jump into social media or only have one active profile, you’re probably thinking that I’m crazy.  And you have every right to think that.  In all honesty, I don’t have any solid proof or numbers to show you.  I can’t convince you with tangible data that says, “You need to have multiple social media profiles to be successful.”  And, to tell you the truth, I would think I’m crazy, too.

Fortunately for you, I’m not crazy.

The doubt that you’re feeling is natural.  You’ve been ingrained to resist change and new ideas.  You’re constantly bombarded with messages telling you that change is bad, safety is the way to go, and risks should be minimal.  However, that’s not the case and in life and it’s not the case with social media.

In order to keep up with today’s shifting culture – a culture that is focused on individuals and not corporations – you need to make an impact with your clients and customers.  Where are your clients and customers?  The Internet.  How do you capture their attention and make them lifelong consumers of your goods?  Meet them where they are and do it well.  That’s it.  If you meet a need, they’ll come back for more and right now, there are millions of people on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube that need your product.  You just need to find them.

My challenge to you is to subside your doubt and implement multiple social media profiles and to do them well.  If you aren’t effective with your profiles, take a step back, re-order, and try again.

Don’t be like Uncle Rico.  Don’t be a living-in-the-past, doubtful, and selfish social media manager.  Serve your customers and meet them where they are.  If you try it, you’ll wonder why you waited so long.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by scifisuzi

Images are everywhere – no matter if we look outside or in the darkest room.  Our mind still captures an image and stores it for future use.  Mental images are important because they allow for you to recall a person, place, or thing.  For example, when you’re lost and you pass by the local movie theater twice, you know that you’re going in circles.  In addition, mental images serve as compliments to what we hear, guides for our actions, and much more.  Images are essential to our lives…

…and our blog posts.

Blog post images don’t serve as your guide for life but they do have a significant impact on your reader.  In order to be an effective blogger, you must know how to incorporate effective images into your writing.  Choosing not to use images or using ineffective images can hamper your progress and reputation as a blogger.

The good thing is that using powerful images effectively isn’t hard.  It can be easily mastered and will make a difference in your blogging and your impact on readers.

Truth #1: Create linkbacks to your website.

On the Internet, stats and ranking are everything.  No matter where you turn, someone is talking about ROI or Google page rank.  Oftentimes, bloggers get tired of hearing about these things because they don’t know how to increase their page rank or use ROI.  Let me in on a little secret:

If you want to increase your page rank, create linkbacks using your images.

It’s pretty simple.  Whenever you pull an image from a royalty-free site, such as Flickr or stock.chng, leave a comment on the image saying that you used it for your blog post.  Be sure to include a hyperlink to your site and not just a passing mention.  The more you get your name and URL out there, the higher your page rank will go.

Truth #2: Choose relevant images.

Relevancy is probably the most important criteria for evaluating effective images.  As a rule of thumb:

If it’s not relevant, it doesn’t belong.

When you are browsing the ‘net for images to include in your post, please pass on the images that do not pertain to your post.  Yes, that dog doing tricks might look cool but it has nothing to do with chemistry.  Your readers will most likely remember your post by your image.  If the image you choose doesn’t match your topic, you’re confusing the reader and chances are slim that they’ll think about your post again.  Make it easy for them; choose relevant images.

Truth #3: Name your images carefully.

I think it’s interesting to go through Google images and look at how many images use a naming convention totally unrelated to the subject of the image. (I know, I’m nerdy.) A majority of the time, the images are named using a word and then a string of numbers.  How is this effective?  It’s not.

When you’re uploading an image to your site for use, make sure you name it appropriately.  For the images at Folk Media, we usually name them according to our blog post.  So, the image you see above is named “four-truths-about-incorporating-images-into-your-blog-posts.”  This creates a better page rank for our blog post and it helps us organize the images on our server.  Make sure to effectively name your images.

Truth #4: Don’t be image happy.

Have you ever been to a website that is image happy?  Have you ever seen a blog post with an image before or after every paragraph?  It’s annoying isn’t it?  Yes, the images help the reader rest their eyes but they also distract the reader.  I don’t know about you but I can’t understand and remember an article if I need to look at 10 images in the process.

As a common courtesy, only use two or three images per blog post.

This does not mean full size images, either.  Keep your images small.  Remember, the images you include need to compliment the text.  They are not a replacement for words.  It is your job to deliver the message to your readers and your images are only supplementary to your words.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by ahmed76

Here is a list of recommended Wordpress plugins that we at Folk Media have used for our own blogs and websites and for our clients.

Fighting Spam – http://akismet.com/

SEO – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Category control – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/order-categories/

Comments – http://disqus.com/comments/wordpress/

Page display – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exclude-pages/

Share on Facebook – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/facebook-share-new/

Share on Google Buzz – http://www.clickonf5.org/google-buzz-button-wordpress

SEO & Sitemaps – http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/

Pages Management – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pagemash/

Social Media Sharing – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/

Share on Twitter – http://help.tweetmeme.com/2009/04/06/wordpress-plugin/

Share on Twitter – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools/

Visitor Stats – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/stats/

*photo by baboon

We’ll show you exactly how to create a website that looks amazing, attracts customers eager to buy what you’re selling and is easy to update and manage using a free tool called Wordpress (Even if you don’t know know anything about website code or HTML)

[The live teleseminar is over - register below to download the slides and audio]

Join us for a free teleseminar to learn why major companies like The New York Times, MTV and People Magazine use Wordpress and the exact steps you can take to produce a great looking website and attract customers.

Here’s just some of the keys you’ll learn by attending this event:

• How to make an AWESOME looking website for free using Wordpress. I’m not joking. We use Wordpress to design and manage the site you are on right now and we don’t know HTML or other web code.
• Wordpress is a free online publishing tool that makes updating your website easy and quick – we’ll show you exactly how this works with screenshots and graphics.
• Why using a Wordpress blog can be the smartest strategy for attracting customers and clients online.
• We’ll show you how using Wordpress to manage a blog is so simple you can literally START USING IT WHILE YOU ARE STILL ON THE CALL!
• We’ll talk about why Google loves Wordpress and how just by using Wordpress you will show up to potential customers in search results… which in turn sends customers to your site to buy what you are selling.
• We’ll show you how you can use Wordpress on your own website and can customize it to look how you want (YourBusinessName.com)
• We’ll show you how you can switch the look of your website any time by choosing from thousands of free themes.
• If used right – Wordpress is a “customer attracting machine.” The problem is most people don’t know how to set up and use it properly. We’ll cover the mistakes that you are most likely to make and how to avoid them.
• Plus: answers to all your specific questions. (In fact, feel free to ask some questions below).

I’m Joel Mark Witt and the publisher of Folk Media. Folk Media is on pace to help over 500 small businesses create, use and profit from a solid social media strategy in 2010.

Joining me for this training is John Lucchetti. He’s an expert at online marketing and a frequent contributor to the Folk Media site.

On the call, you’ll be learning the same Wordpress strategies we share with our private clients and which we’ve used to grow our own businesses.

I’m serious – we use Wordpress on all our sites – even this one. Look around and see for yourself what a simple free tool can do for your business. It’s very powerful.

What we’re going to focus on is a fast-start version of using Wordpress that you can implement right after the call. (or during the call)

We’ll talk about the power of Wordpress, the Wordpress tools for managing a website without sucking up all your time, and the step-by-step plain English instructions that you can start doing right away – without hiring any “guru” or agency!

On the last teleseminar we had people from all over the world call in. Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Canada and Australia were just some of the places people joined us from.

On this call we have only 100 spots and expect to fill up fast. It is critical that you register for this free teleseminar now

After you register, leave your most important questions about Wordpress and blogging in the comments section below. We’ll answer them right here on the post.

*Photo by

In the digital age, we’re surrounded by different forms of media – audio, eBooks, websites, and YouTube videos.  We can’t escape them.  No matter where we turn, we are interacting with a piece of media that has a purpose.  For example, the parking meter payment center.  It’s there for a reason.  We use these different forms of media seamlessly as we go throughout our day.  However, have you stopped to think about what allows you to use that media?  Believe it or not, it all lies in the font.

Yes, I said it.  The font selection of the chosen media allows for an individual to effectively use the device.  Everything hinges on the font.  If a person can’t read the instructions or captions, how are they going to use the object?  Exactly…they won’t.

Choosing the correct font is important no matter what you’re creating.  Whether it’s a 500 page manual or a checklist for Sally the house sitter, font matters.

What can you do to choose the correct font and create an effective document?  How can your font selection work in favor of your product and not against it?

1. Know your purpose.

The first step to picking an effective and usable font is to know the purpose of your document.  Without that information, you’re unable to select various design elements, including the font.

If your purpose is to create a document that is laid back and non-invasive, you want to use a sans serif font.  A sans serif font does not use serifs, or the fancy “feet” found on some fonts.  Examples of sans serif fonts would be Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana.

However, if you want your document to look professional and informative, use a serif font, or a font that has the “feet” on the end of each letter.

This is Garamond.  See how this text makes my writing appear more professional?

Other serif fonts include Courier New, Georgia, and Times New Roman.

2. Choose readability over elegance.

As we discussed at the beginning of the article, a font needs to be readable to allow your audience to effectively use your product.  If your font is not readable, you will not attract a large amount of customers and, in turn, your exposure and profits are relatively non-existent.  When reading, people want to do as little work as possible.  They want the process to be natural, not forced.   So, when you choose a script font instead of a simple sans serif font, you’re making the reader do more work, which turns them off.

Which one is better?

3. Don’t change fonts too much.

Too many documents create confusion for readers by switching fonts.  I went to a website the other day to locate some information about a local business and I was bombarded with a different font on every page.  As a general rule of thumb, select two fonts and stick with them.  One font should be used for your headings and focus items (pull quotes, key instructions, etc.) while the other is used for your main text.  These are called complimentary fonts.  Take a look at various magazines and books to see how they use their complimentary fonts.  If you use more than two, your readers will be confused and will stop using your document.

4. Unless it’s necessary, don’t use Times New Roman or Arial.

This tip may shock you a little but it’s true.  Let’s break it down and think about it…

What do you think when you hear “Times New Roman” or “Arial”?  Most people would think something along the lines of standard, default, or basic.

What do you want your document to be?  If you’re like most people, you would probably say anything other than standard, default, or basic.

See the conflict of interest?

Yes, Times New Roman and Arial are great fonts.  Don’t get me wrong; both are very readable and effective.  If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be two of the most popular fonts.  However, they don’t breathe creativity and uniqueness into your document.  If you don’t want to go down the “standard” road with your font selection, choose Franklin Gothic Book (sans serif) or Garamond (serif).  They are effective but not used too often.

5. Use effective, not crazy, formatting.

Formatting is a big issue for a lot of people.  Most people don’t know what formatting techniques are effective and which should remain unused.  As a rule of thumb, you should only format key text, such as terms, phrases, or pull quotes.  Formatting your entire text will create too much work for your users and will lead to an ineffective design.  Also, try to stick to using only bold and italics.  Other formatting, such as underlining, can really throw a reader off. 

6. Try, try, try again.

Once you’ve decided on one or two fonts for your product, change them.  You don’t have to change them permanently but you should experiment with other combinations before coming to a final decision.  You never know, you might find a more effective font to use.

Font selection is critical if you want to design an effective document.  Fonts can really change perceptions, attitudes, and even the buying habits of individuals.  Make sure your font selections are on target.  You will be glad you did.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by hisks