Podcasts are undeniably sexy and growing in popularity in transportation and logistics. But make sure your written blog is optimized and consistent before you go all-in on audio and video.

Even if you produce a popular blog, you might fall short of your objective: generating search traffic and qualified leads.

Search engines rely on text-driven algorithms for indexing and ranking content. But search engines can’t index and rank podcasts’ audio and video content in the same way. That’s a huge drawback.

Searchability is just the leading argument for writing rather than recording content. Here are six more reasons to prioritize your written blog.

Blogs boost retention. Logistics are loaded with topics like transportation strategy and warehouse automation that require study and constant learning. Blogs aid when it comes to information intake. Research shows people remember more when they read it than they do when they hear it. Plus most people learn from close study and repetition. With a blog, you can re-read a section over and over rather than replaying a section over and over…which gets annoying.

Text provides efficiencies. For a fast information download, choose text. People on average read 280 words per minute (WPM) while the normal speaking rate is 150 -190 WPM, according to Psychology Today. Additionally, the ability to skim and zero in on the text you want is a bonus of blogs. Even if a podcast has a scrub bar with cursor images, finding the audio and video info you want can be hit or miss. 

Printed words provide freedom. Written blogs and podcasts both provide ways to consume content fast or slow – or skip sections all together. It’s easier with written words, though. You don’t have to rely on an app to change speed for starters. Also because you can see what you’re skipping. (Ever push the advance-15-seconds arrow on your smartphone and then obsess over what you might have missed? Or fast-forward too far in advance and end up going back and listening to the whole thing anyway?)

Updateable blogs live longer. We all know how quickly technology, the economy and freight spot rates change today. Podcasts that reference current conditions are quickly outdated, whereas a blog can be easily updated. It’s very useful to have solid evergreen content that can live on and on with subtle updates. 

Repurpageabilty. The flexibility of written words enables marketers to easily repurpose content for different markets like automotive parts shippers or personal care products sellers. Blog posts can be repackaged in short form for social or email marketing. They can also be repackaged in long form for ebooks and whitepapers.

Sit-down versus drive-thru. The ability to watch a video or listen to a podcast on the go enables multi-tasking. But if you want prospects’ full attention, you’ll have to give them something they can study and evaluate. Written posts that can be pondered and shared among team members aid group decisions in B2B. They provide tangible reference material for the thoughtful. 

No doubt dropping branded podcasts consistently is an impressive feat. High quality video or audio content can be an awesome addition to your site…as long as you still have written blogs covered.

It doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. If your podcast production isn’t leaving enough capacity for your blog, reach out to me at conrad@conradwinter.com. I’m happy to tell you how I keep transportation and logistics companies’ blog content moving forward.

LinkedIn gets all the attention these days. Blogs too. And sponsored content. But for many reasons, an eNewsletter deserves a place in your marketing mix.

Newsletters have this magic quality to them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent out my own and heard back from someone that says “Your timing couldn’t be better…”

They may not seem like the sexiest form of outreach, but they are invaluable. Here are 10-1/2 reasons to newsletter.

1 – A valuable part of your sequencing strategy. Ever find yourself hesitating to send yet-another “Hey, just checking in” email? Your newsletter is a great excuse to “pop by.” It’s not an apple pie, but it is something thoughtful, valuable and unique. 

2 – Make up for not blogging regularly. A weekly or bi-weekly blog can be a challenge to produce. But a monthly or quarterly newsletter may be more achievable and keep you from going completely dark.

3 – Reassure people you’re still out there. It’s not exactly a given considering how quickly things change these days. Prospects need to know. Your newsletter tells them that—just by showing up in their inbox. And when they open it, they’ll be rewarded with value, insight, information, a smile, you name it.

4 – Promote services prospects may not think of you for. Customers and prospects don’t always know every product or service you offer. I’m often surprised by this. But honestly, why should they? It’s our job as marketers to tell them. Use a newsletter to widen their lens like Flexcon Containers did in their quarterly newsletter created by Brightwell Design with my help.

5 – The right cadence for your vertical. Some markets are unlikely to read a weekly or bi-weekly blog from you. In these cases, oversaturating recipients can desensitize them. But sending an occasional and high-value newsletter can condition recipients to expect something good.

6 – Showcase changes. It’s good to get ahead of the news when you reorganize or reposition or rebrand. Newsletters are an appropriate setting for these announcements and for you to frame them and how the changes benefit customers.

7 – Drive recipients to your website. It may have been a while since they’ve visited. I like the newsletter tactic of emailing snippets from longer articles that readers need to click for more. Getting recipients to your site is the name of the game. Here’s an example from Flexcon’s “Space Issue.”

8 – Your name and subject line can be enough. Just showing up in a prospect’s inbox can be enough to remind them of their need…and there you are, ready to help. If they click in, great. If they immediately reply, even better.

9 – Show the people behind your business. Readers of newsletters are interested in taking a deep dive. That makes them the ideal venue for profiling the employees behind the scenes that make your brand. Here’s how Flexcon profiles their team members.

10 – People appreciate you staying in contact. Prospects need you—or may need you someday. A newsletter helps you stay in contact with prospects without obligating them to have a conversation right now. Your newsletter tells them everything they need to know: you’re still out there, still interested and ready when they are.

10-1/2 – Impress recipients by doing something that’s hard to do. Let’s face it. A regular newsletter is hard to pull off. You have to commit to deadlines. Plus you have to come up with something fresh for every edition. That can be challenging. When you do it, rest assured, prospects are impressed. It says something about you. Recipients half-think this will be the way you handle all your business—with quality, consistency and originality.

Newsletters can be hard, but they are so worth the effort. I hope this newsletter inspires you to crank up your own newsletter machine. And if I can be of assistance with the writing, please reach out.

Nothing beats spending three days with your people talking about shared areas of interest. 

The Transportation Marketing and Sales Association’s annual conference provides a prime opportunity for people in the business to dive deep into topics closest to their hearts. There’s nothing like it in the industry and its rare to find an association this big that’s this niche-y in any industry. 

So what did my people talk about during those three days in June? Nothing less than the biggest ideas in the business—brand building in the age of personal brands; the AI content question; diversity, equity and inclusion; great big content-generating ideas (my favorite topic) and more.

If you missed this chance to be with your people, don’t worry. You can read my recap below. Or better yet, you can attend TMSA’s 2023 Executive Summit—a similar, but supercharged shortened version of the annual conference that’s coming up in October. 

Here Are My 5 Top Takeaways from the 2023 TMSA ELEVATE Conference

1 – Go a Little Bananas Differentiating Your Brand 

The Savannah Bananas President, Jared Orton provided the opening keynote and a compelling lesson for marketers on delivering an authentic and agile brand experience. He outlined minor league team’s shaky roots and the revelations and bold decisions which led to them landing a winning formula for their brand.

The lesson of knowing your customers and creating an experience for them – even if it runs counter to convention – is the foundation of their brand.

Many touchpoints combine to make a brand and customers loyal to that brand. Orton’s trial and error tale highlights how the hard work of extreme customer-centricity pays off. 

The Savannah Bananas provide a powerful case for 3PLs regarding the power of a well-differentiated and customer-obsessed brand. It brings up important two questions that are commonly sidestepped: what is the true differentiator of your brand and who are your ideal customers? 

2 – How 3PLs Keep the Killer Content Flowing

Coming up with a continuous flow of fresh and relevant content is challenging.

When you find just the right campaign direction that interests prospects and fuels continuous content marketing – you know you’ve struck gold. 

Examples of big ideas in content marketing in the transportation and logistics space were in full evidence during TMSA’s Trailblazer awards ceremony.

ITS Logistics won a Trailblazer award for their Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index. This monthly report sources proprietary data to provide the prognosis of ports across the U.S. It was a huge hit with clients and prospects and the unique index has been cited in national media. 

Knowing your market and what they’re interested in is the key to successful content marketing. Another 3PL I spoke to has made the leap into NASCAR sponsorship and has sponsored a popular country singer.

Keeping the content flowing is a never-ending challenge for 3PLs. Finding a sweet spot like the prior examples removes the burden of deciding what your next post will be—which is often the hardest part of all.

Every brand has an unconventional content-generating idea waiting to be supported, written about or podcasted about. What’s yours?

3 – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Takes Front Seat

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a hot issue in every industry.  Transportation and logistics is no exception. DEI was featured prominently on three occasions during the conference. 

Aspects of DEI discussed during the TMSA conference included the business benefits of a diverse workforce, practical advice for logistics providers encountering bias at clients, and the creation of a DEI Taskforce at TMSA.

The industry is showing hopeful signs of progress. 

The Women in Trucking Association reports the percentage of professional drivers who are female increased 3% from 2019 to 2022 to 13.7% and female executives make up 36% of leadership in transportation. (FYI, I wrote an article for Women in Trucking’s Redefining the Road publication about trucking technology that’s attracting the next wave of female drivers. Read it here.)

Marketing and sales play a tremendous role in promoting DEI within organizations, and improving conditions within the population of 14.9 million who work in transportation will do much to further DEI in the workplace at large. Does your company have a formal program yet?

4 – The Role of Employees’ Social Networks Is Huge

It makes sense to encourage employees to post about company goings-on. In fact, leveraging employees’ social networks is a tremendous untapped opportunity for logistics companies. Samantha Jones of Rocket Shipping pointed out in her presentation “Your People are your Brand” how people tend to have way more followers than companies on LinkedIn. She made a case for considering job candidates’ social profiles during the hiring process.

There are limitations to the strategy, though. Employees are either active on social or they aren’t, she says. In other words, good luck getting that SME or executive to start posting if it’s not something they’re already doing.

So what can you do? Ghostwriting for company officials can backfire because the authenticity isn’t there, Samantha says. 

It might not be all or nothing, though. As a ghostwriter, I am used to channeling other people’s voices. I can interview a reluctant SME or edit their words into authentic posts. Are your SMEs not posting regularly on LinkedIn? What are you doing to help them?

5 – Should AI Write Your Content? 

This was an irresistible topic for attendees. Comments ranged from skepticism to practical uses.

One presenter liked it for turning podcasts into blog posts. Collaborating with AI to see what kind of ideas are created for generic and market-specific blog content was another use cited by a conference attendee.

A skeptical marketing leader for one logistics company simply asked the question, “What about doing good work with original writing?”

A marketing leader from another 3PL felt AI tools couldn’t replace writing that relied on interviewing people.

Another industry leader expressed doubt that AI could ever replace the experience and insight of a human writer. What do you think?

The conversation is sure to be considered at the 2023 Executive Summit in Chicago, October 11-12. I’ll be attending. You? Let me know. I’d love to say hi.

Photo credit: www.freepik.com

When you mention a great new program (offering, service) to a prospect and they say “yeah, send me something” a sell sheet is what you send. 

Its purpose is to convince them that what you’re offering is perfect for their needs and unique among all other options out there, whether it’s freight brokerage, warehousing or drayage.

Do it right and you’ll earn a place in a prospect’s mind as their potential solution. 

Do it wrong (i.e. in an irrelevant, diluted or unprofessional way) and your brand will be forgotten at best, or tainted at worst. 

Are your sell sheets overdue for a revamp or refresh? Do an SUD test to determine if they are Substantive, Updated and Differentiated.

Two Important Things about Sell Sheets – aka 1- or 2-Pagers and Slicks: 

1. You need them when you need them. When you want to follow up with a prospect or you’re going to a trade show, you have to have something to reinforce what you’re selling. The sell sheet is that something. Without it, you’re empty handed.
2. A sell sheet represents the perfect crystallization of what you’re selling. This exercise is essential because it organizes your thoughts and provides core language and positioning your team can align on. Don’t be lazy. Putting thought and care into creating a sell sheet is worth the effort. (And if you need help, let me know, wink wink.)

Sell Sheets Occupy an Important Point in the Sales Funnel

Your service is perfect for prospects – you know it is but they don’t yet. 

You know it’s just what they need because you’ve seen their challenges before and you created your program or solution precisely to solve it. 

Even if you have the chance to explain this to your prospect, they’ll forget it. Sorry, but your prospects have way too much going on to remember your details. So help them remember you with a sell sheet they can read, refer back to, file for later or forward to their team.

Think of your sell sheet as an awesome elevator speech that doesn’t dissolve into the ether. It has staying power – and it’s there to direct prospects to a next step when they’re ready. 

Different Types of Sell Sheets – It’s Okay to Have More than One

There may be situations that require a different type of sell sheet. For the Food Shippers of America Conference, you’ll need one for your company and another for the food vertical. For the Mid-America Trucking Show, you’ll need one promoting your company and another promoting career opportunities. Here are five types of sell sheet to consider.  

For the Company: Your sell sheet should say who you work with, why you’re different and a high-level view of what you offer. Give a taste that leaves readers wanting to know specifics.

For a Service: Create a sell sheet promoting a single service line like freight brokerage, warehousing or drayage. You could even do sell sheets to highlight services within services like kitting or flatbed hauling.

For a Solution: If you have a comprehensive solution that combines or customizes services, your sell sheet can explain how you meet needs and/or address a specific challenge, such as managed transportation, subscription order fulfillment or Walmart transportation consolidation.

For a Program: If you have environmental, social, governance initiatives or similar programs, 1-pagers providing details are useful press materials and conversation starters. 

For a Vertical: You could have a sell sheet for each vertical, in which you highlight your company’s expertise in verticals like food and beverage, automotive or building materials. Demonstrate how your services provide the perfect fit. 

Five Keys for Successful Sell Sheets

1. Persuasive message. Address a pain. Clearly differentiate your strengths. And present the benefit of every feature you list.
2. Be brief. Satisfy scanners by making it easy for them to find what they need fast. Use subheads, bullet points and short paragraphs to make text inviting like little morsels on a plate.
3. Singular focus. Don’t try to do too much. One service, one program, one vertical is enough. It’s okay to leave details out. If you leave readers wanting more, it can prompt them to reach out, which can spur a conversation or move them further into the sales funnel. 
4. Branded look. Make sure the design of sell sheets matches your brand identity on your site and everywhere else. Consumers like consistency. Brand cohesion across media and touchpoints are the mark of professionalism and strengthen your message. 
5. Call-to-action. Spur a next step. Make it clear. Make it compelling. Offer a demo or intro call. 

This sell sheet for a cruise-booking platform addresses a market opportunity for prospects and is brief and focused. It has a compelling headline “Profit from…”, and instead of a subhead, it uses an eyebrow, “Galileo Cruise. Part of…” for clarity. 

The Sell Sheet Format I Favor

Write a headline that gets attention by imparting a compelling benefit, a memorable attitude or strong claim. 

If your message is long, use a subhead to break it up. I often use an attention-getting headline paired with a subhead that delivers the straight line. 

The first things readers see on a sell sheet are the headline, subhead and logo. That combination needs to communicate what you do, for whom and why readers should care.

Write an intro paragraph or few short paragraphs that presents the problem your service solves for and then briefly explains why your service is the best solution. When space allows, it is a bonus to touch on why other companies or solutions out there can’t compare. 

Bullet points can be used to express top features and benefits that readers definitely need to see in order to decide whether you are a viable candidate for their needs. So make them clear, short and scannable. Once again, highlight benefits. 

Bullet points can also be used for credentials statements also referred to as social proof. What achievements can you list that demonstrate you’re the real deal. Awards won and KPIs met are fair game. 

Got a great client testimonial? Use it. Social proof and an endorsement can be the nudge that tips the scale in your favor – and makes your company a must to include in the RFP. 

Remember a call-to-action. What would you like readers to do? Visit your site? Request a case study? Do a demo? Spur a next step and if possible, make it enticing. 

Check out this 2-pager I did for NAFA Fleet Management Association’s fleet management 101 educational series to see these features in action.

Make Outstanding Sell Sheets Your Secret Sales Weapon

What if your sell sheet was so good that a prospect felt like they had to save it or act on it? It’s not beyond the pale when you consider that most companies don’t really put a lot of consideration at all into creating their sell sheets. A sell sheet that was more than a fact sheet and that actually presented a unique solution to prospects’ needs would stand out. 

That makes sell sheets somewhat of an unrealized opportunity. Ready to explore the potential of your sell sheets? Want to build an arsenal of powerful sell sheets you could fire off to prospects or proudly pass to trade show attendees? Let’s talk. 

If your webpages and sell sheets aren’t Substantive, Updated and Differentiated, you’re missing opportunities to sell.

I’ll tell you a little secret: prospects really do need, and want, you to sell to them.

Companies picking ecommerce fulfillment providers, shippers deciding on their next TMS and importers figuring out the best way to move their cargo—they all need to know what your company can do for them and why you’re the best option for them. 

They need that. So give it to them. 

Everyone’s talking about content these days—from videos and e-books to blogs and white papers—but it’s not the content that does the selling. 

That’s the job of marketing materials like these:

• Web pages for services, solutions provided, technology offerings
• Sell sheets for services like transportation or ecommerce fulfillment
• Solutions sheets addressing verticals like fashion, electronics or food & beverage
• Topical literature like a digital or printed brochure describing sustainability initiatives
• Capabilities brochures for trade shows, press kits and follow-ups
• Email marketing, including drip campaigns and e-newsletters
• Ads for digital and the occasional print ad that comes around

Don’t get me wrong: providing prospects with insightful, informative content in the form of blogs, e-books, case studies and more is critical in the transportation and logistics space. It’s how companies attract prospects, gain search traffic, establish credibility, create connections and more.

But…

In the hustle to fill pipeline and gain search and woo prospects with valuable information, I’m wondering if companies’ copywriting on things like web pages, sell sheets, brochures, emails and ads is being neglected.

Who’s minding the store when it comes to selling? I’m not sure these things are getting all the attention they deserve. 

One way or another, the materials that sell your company, its services and its solutions need to be well-written. And whoever is doing the writing needs to apply the time and the skill to doing it right. Whether that’s the marketers in your organization, your in-house writers or your interns who are doing the writing isn’t the important thing. Making sure these important materials are working as hard as possible for you is. 

How do you know if your marketing materials are working as hard as they should be? Do an SUD test by asking if they are Substantive, Updated and Differentiated. 

If your marketing materials fall short on the SUD test, your team may be giving them short shrift, and it’s time for a rewrite or refresh. 

Is it substantive?

Are you providing the information a prospect needs or assuming they’ll fill in certain blanks? Prospects have a mental checklist of what they need in a service provider. They use it to qualify and compare your company to others. For example, their list might contain warehousing, ecommerce fulfillment services, national distribution, consolidation capabilities or value-added services. 

If you sell it, say it. 

Next, don’t just be a checklist. Explain what makes your offerings superior and unique. To be scannable is one thing; to provide no substance is a sin. Prospects are reading your materials because they want information—give them generous, juicy details. 

Is It Updated?

If you’re growing and adding services or vertical specialties, your materials need to reflect your current state. Supply chain is changing fast and your services and solutions are probably changing just as quickly. You want to emphasize services that address the greatest demand and future opportunities. Some examples are D2C fulfillment services, technology that provides supply chain visibility, and programs supporting supply chain resilience. 

Prioritize updating or creating materials to highlight hot offerings. Don’t assume your market’s perception of you has evolved and that they know all the new strengths your company has added. Even long-term clients and colleagues can be in the dark about your new warehouses or investments in a WMS or automation. 

Is It Differentiated?

This last criteria is the hardest to fulfill for harried inhouse writers with a full plate of content needs or busy marketers who are stretching to fill all the gaps in their marketing materials. 

The reason? Just getting projects done is hard enough. Making them different, finding unique features and highlighting insightful benefits is a creative exercise. 

It’s easier to create a sell sheet for your LTL offering when the criteria is that it just has to be on par your competitors’ sell sheet. It’s harder when the criteria is highlighting how your company does it, how it’s totally unique and how the benefit is so much better. 

It’s competitive out there today. You have to stand out to be noticed, remembered and chosen. That takes messaging that leaves a special impression or inspires a prospect to decide they must talk to you. 

And writing like that takes time and effort, even for people like me who have been doing it a long time. 

Is It on Your Radar?

Now’s the time to emphasize Substantive, Updated and Differentiated writing in your foundational marketing materials while 2023 is still young. Let me know if you need help. Happy to SUD-test your materials and share my views. 

Three TMSA events explore the impact on driver recruitment and provide best practices for hiring and holding onto them.

The transportation and logistics industry is feeling the effects of the Great Resignation the same as every other industry, maybe even more so. After all, trucking was short 80,000 drivers before the pandemic even hit.

The Great Resignation has compounded the shortage for drivers as well as workers throughout the supply chain—at every link from port to pick line and every level of organizations. The same forces that led 4.3 million Americans to quit jobs in August 2021 and 4.4 million to give notice in September have led to “panic recruiting”—a term used by Seth Becker, vice president of recruiting operations at Randall-Reilly, one of the top driver recruitment advertisers in the country.

Carriers are jacking up wages and giving big signing bonuses to lure drivers and warehouse workers. And in today’s labor market, transportation and logistics companies aren’t just competing against each other for hires. As it stands, there are 10.6 million job vacancies in the U.S. economy, according to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trucking companies are competing against everyone from construction companies to ecommerce fulfillment providers for talent.

The other major challenge for employers is meeting new expectations of employees. Greater job satisfaction, work-life balance, advancement opportunities, higher wages and better benefits are driving the Great Resignation movement. Employers ignore these at their own peril. Proof is in the numbers: there are also currently 1.6 million members of Reddit’s r/antiwork thread (the unofficial social media headquarters of the Great Resignation.)

What’s your recruiting strategy for the Great Resignation?

If your job is hiring truck drivers, warehouse workers or managers for any facet of logistics, you don’t need the big numbers to remind you of what you’re seeing first-hand. Things have changed. Hiring and holding onto talent requires an employee-centric mindset and committed, hyper-competitive recruitment tactics. In today’s environment, companies need to learn to treat job candidates and employees more like customers and less like human resources.

TMSA members will have the chance to hear how and share best practices of their peers in TMSA’s upcoming Recovering from the Great Resignation Virtual Roundtable to be hosted by Jill Schmieg, founder and chief strategist of Sol de Naples Marketing on February 17th. This event follows two recent webinars that touched on the topic, TMSA’s Driver Recruitment Case Study with ITS Logistics and Randall-Reilly as well as TMSA’s New Year, New Trends, New Opportunities webinar.

Together, the three programs provide end-to-end insights for how to hire and hold onto drivers in this tough employment market. Here are some of the highlights from recent events:

Driver-centric programs form the foundation of successful driver recruitment.

According to co-presenter of TMSA’s Driver Recruitment webinar and ITS Logistics Marketing Director Patrick McFarland, the Reno-based 3PL has doubled down on its driver-supportive culture and communication practices.

In addition to keeping pace with pay increases (three to four of them during the pandemic) and offering significant referral bonuses, McFarland says ITS upped its driver communication game through a monthly newsletter to drivers and annual town hall for drivers and senior leadership called the Big Transportation Forum. ITS also overhauled their orientation process in 2021. “I know a lot of companies statistically out there, they lose drivers in the first 30 days. And I think a big part of that is if they didn’t have a good onboarding process. So that’s something we’ve really put a lot of effort into and it’s really paid dividends,” McFarland says.

Making the shift to treating drivers more like customers than employees starts at onboarding. Delivering on expectations determines whether the hire will stay. Becker, a co-presenter of the Driver Recruitment webinar, says his firm’s research indicates 83% of drivers who quit shortly after being hired blame their decision solely on the orientation process.

“So many times we hear this. Drivers are told one thing and then they get to a company, and it’s an entirely different experience. We are micro sensitive of that,” McFarland says.
Becker explains that the influence of the “experience economy” is very much at work with truckers today here. Drivers have expectations about service and how they’re treated as consumers in their personal lives that they carry over to their work life, he says.

Employee retention is as important as recruitment in today’s labor market.

The Great Resignation, it’s causes, impacts and remedies were featured in TMSA’s New Year, New Trends, New Opportunities webinar. TMSA Executive Director Jennifer Karpus Romain and BlueGrace Logistics Chief Marketing Officer and TMSA President-Elect Mark Derks provided insights into conditions that have led to this new movement characterized by people taking time to reevaluate priorities and what they want—and with technology, being able to take new paths in their careers, Karpus Romain explained.

She says stresses from the cost of living, day care gaps and everything-pandemic are driving the big rethink. Changes in the perception of work and the rise of the gig economy are opening possibilities for workers, causing them to reconsider, and often quit to go out on their own.

The large number of smaller carriers today is evidence of this. Truckers are redefining the rules by going into business for themselves. DOT data indicates that companies with fewer than 6 trucks make up 91.5% of America’s almost 1 million carriers.

The Great Resignation is leading truck drivers and all workers to look for better conditions and better pay. Derks says companies need to dial up their strategies not just to recruit new employees, but to make sure they remain employees. Increasing pay and benefits are at the top of the list, but so is flexibility. The desire for more time at home applies as much to drivers as those in sales, operations and administrative positions.

Aside from addressing those top three asks from today’s workforce, Derks names two other benefits that companies can highlight in hiring and retaining workers. One is providing the opportunity to work with leading-edge technology. The other is offering paid training. Both are of value to employees looking to grow their careers.

Answering the needs and desires of your people doesn’t end once they’re in the door. In this market, drivers and all employees can always be looking. Derks says the best line of defense against the poaching of employees is what you’re providing in terms of leadership, pay and conditions.

Employee stress is a condition Derks says to keep a close pulse on, too. He mentioned two programs Blue Grace is using to monitor stress and address conditions before they create unnecessary pressure on employees. ActivTrak helps monitor overactivity that can lead employees to burn out and quit. Ginger is an app that gives employees anytime access to behavioral health counseling. Derks says BlueGrace also sometimes outsources weekend work and late night work to relieve pressure on full-time employees.

Keeping workers, drivers and employees happy and healthy addresses the heart of the unmet needs fueling the Great Resignation. It’s only one of many strategies that can help companies work through today’s recruitment and retention challenges and create an employee experience that leads to sustainable success.

Don’t miss TMSA’s Great Resignation Virtual Roundtable on February 17th.

The Great Resignation is one of the biggest and most unexpected impacts of the global pandemic. Its effects on the transportation and logistics sector are distinct and begging to be unpacked. This is a Virtual Roundtable you don’t want to miss. If you’re a TMSA Member, Register here. And if you’re not already a member, maybe this is your opportunity to join?

Recent video work for Flexcon Containers shows the possibilities for a natural, scripted video.

When it comes to company videos, everyone says to keep it natural. That’s a good idea for customer testimonials or employee interviews where rough edges only make the footage more authentic and believable. But for demos, like a lot of people are doing for virtual trade shows lately, keeping it natural can be a challenge. 

Communicating important points and doing it in a flowing manner in a limited amount of time requires a script. You simply have to work it out in pixels first; otherwise you risk production hell of shooting excessive takes and wrestling with difficult video edits. 

So is it possible to craft a script that’s purposeful, structured and natural? I think so. 

Read this mini-case study of a demo video I created with Brightwell Design for Flexcon Containers below. Or cut to the chase and see it here.

Case Study

Flexcon Containers Demo Video: Scripted Meets Natural

Background: Third-generation family-owned and New Jersey-based, Flexcon designs and manufactures container systems that play a critical, behind-the-scenes role in some of the largest, most advanced ecommerce operations in America.  I recently partnered with Brightwell Design to create a demo video promoting Flexcon’s ecommerce container solutions that featured Flexcon President, Ken Beckerman. 

Challenge: The video covered a lot of ground and had too many details to just wing it because we might overlook something by accident. We also had a lot of fantastic stories, insights and tips to include in 6 minutes. We needed structure and a tight, efficient read.

Solution: My approach for helping Ken stay natural was to interview him over the phone beforehand in order to capture the anecdotes, passion and personality traits that make Ken, Ken. Then I wrote a script that tightened up his stories and language, organized his points and smoothed his transitions between subjects. 

Outcome: The result is a video that is infused with Ken’s creativity, commitment and enthusiasm—and that packed a lot of information into a short period of time. The video provides a window into the Flexcon brand personified by Ken, while seeding the company’s leadership in the ecommerce container space. Having a polished script written in Ken’s voice enabled him to focus on his delivery not figuring out what to say next. 

Theoretically, coworker-sourced content should work. 

You have subject matter experts (SMEs) who are willing to write blog posts. Some may even be aggressive in suggesting pieces they’d like to write. That’s great for your brand – company technical experts are the most credible source of information for buyers – and it can be a boost for employees’ careers. 

SME Posts Build Brand Credibility Company technical experts and academic experts are the two most credible sources of information for buyers, according to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer.

Depending on how big your company is, if enough of your SMEs chip in, you might be able to get a couple of posts a month — and who couldn’t use more editorial contributions?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that easily. Most content or marketing managers know that a content calendar based on consistent, high-quality blog posts from colleagues, is hard to sustain. 

So is it feasible to rely on coworkers to blog for you? Are your expectations too high? And are there ways to improve your success rate? 

The answer is ‘yes’ to all of the above. Posts contributed from SMEs within your organization can be a vital contribution to your blog. However, it is unrealistic to assume the process and output will be predictable and dependable. The truth is, many conditions are out of your control because people have other priorities and SMEs are busy people. 

Nevertheless, there are things you can do to define expectations, guide the process and facilitate when roadblocks occur. Here are a few.

Make it real. Whether you call it pestering or project management, you have to do it. When a colleague suggests a topic for a post or commits to write a post, confirm it by email and set a deadline. Ask what they need from you and set them up for success. Follow up to see how it’s going as the deadline approaches. Your contributor needs to know you’re taking their post as seriously as they are. Their thoughts and words are valuable, so treat their post accordingly.

Make it easy. The better the direction you provide, the more predictable the result. So give your contributing writer the topic and the angle. Provide an outline and template (i.e. format, word count and examples of past posts.) If they are having writer’s block, provide prompts to start their thoughts or questions that will guide their ideation. What you’re asking for may seem crystal clear to you, but for someone who’s not used to writing, a lack of direction can be stifling.

Know when to make a move. If your SME is having a hard time, there are ways to intervene and keep the project on track. 

1. The first is to try an interview or Q&A approach. This works when your SME has plenty to say but may just be lacking the vision for how to turn their words into a post. If you can’t get your subject on a Zoom call, send a questionnaire.
2. The second is the ghost-brid approach. (A hybrid of ghostwriting and editing.) This works if your subject is trying but failing on account of self-editing. The trick here is to extract their rough draft at an early stage so that you can fill in the gaps. If they literally have nothing, ask them to write a stream-of-consciousness screed and tell them you’ll fix it. You’ll need to do a lot of editing, but at least you’ll have the benefit of starting with text that’s written in their tone and ideas that come straight from their head. It’s something, and a writer or editor can work with this.
3. The third is to ghostwrite the post for them. When your deadline is looming and your SME is ghosting you, it’s time to ghostwrite for them. Schedule an interview, assure them they’ll have a chance to review the text before publication and get down to business. A good ghostwritten article does more than present the ideas of the subject; it captures their personality by using the subject’s speech patterns and mannerisms. So during the interview, probe for unique insights and anecdotes. Doing this makes the post authentic. 

Your SMEs are busy, but their posts are invaluable. People make brands and their perspectives make brands unique. 

Get them posting — and if you need help with ghostwriting, don’t be afraid to reach out. A good ghost writer can be the bad cop you need to get your company’s leaders writing, posting and keeping their deadlines.

Marketing directors and managers wear a lot of hats these days. With the pandemic, I’m seeing their workloads intensify even more as their staff numbers dwindle and budgets for freelance are being cut.

On top of steering their all-important brands, they’re also performing an array of design, production, optimization and analytical tasks. But the place I’m seeing it the most is in the amount of writing that falls on their shoulders—everything from regular LinkedIn posts, newsletters and blog posts to campaigns, white papers, and videos.

So if you are a marketing director who’s already doing it all and writing it all, what do you do now? The answer: do it better and faster.  Here are 10 road-tested tips from a freelance copywriter in transportation and logistics to help you manage the new work load through the pandemic and beyond.

1 – Power through the procrastination.
Whether it’s a nag or an actual item on your to do list, it’s time to get over the hope that this is all going to end and you’re not going to have to write that “thing”—whatever it is. I’ve found that it’s that first step that’s so very hard. My go-to to just get that little jump that gets the writing train in motion is the Pomodoro Technique. The way it works is you set a timer for one hour, and you write. What you accomplish doesn’t matter: maybe you mindmap (a brainstorming technique gurued by Publication Coach, Daphne Gray-Grant) or outline, maybe you just start writing the darn post. The point is, after an hour, you’ll have something to build on, the project will be real—and you may just keep working now that you’ve got it going.

Pomodoro sprints are a way to keep your momentum going, too. After your first, take a break and then hit it again. Repeat until you’re finished. Don’t ask me why. Breaking up the work just works.

2 – Planning takes time, but it also saves time.
It’s easy to overlook your 30,000-foot view , your strategy and your personas when faced with a deadline. It’s hard not to be laser-focused on the deliverable you want so desperately off your plate. But you must. Force yourself to do the brief, even if you’re certain it’s all in your head. Don’t allow yourself to be lured into the weeds. On top of everything else you have to do, you don’t have time for a hard edit once you’re done. For me, twisting a manuscript back on strategy is one of the hardest things.

Know the basics going in: 1) Who you’re talking to, what you want them to do, what your key message is, and in the case of content, what stage of the funnel you’re writing for (awareness, evaluation or conversion).

3 – The “O” word – try this trick. 
No one likes outlines—the word tends to remind us of the torture of elementary-school English. Consultant and writer, Pamela Wilson offers a more palatable approach to the big O. Write headlines (iterate a bunch of them—more on that below) until you come up with one you love and simply must write to. Then write your subheads. (Sneaky, huh? you just wrote the outline without dragging your heels like a 12-year-old.) Next step is to write it. Wait a day if you can.

4 – Write a cr*p-draft.
The best lesson of my writing career was another Daphne Gray-Grant trick: you give yourself permission to write a horrid, awful, embarrassing first draft. No judgements. The only catch? You have to write it fast and forward, meaning no editing while you write. (Sounds scary, I know, but that cr*p-draft is never as bad as you think it will be.) When you’re done, guess what? You’ve done your first draft.

5 – Save perfection for the edit. 
With your draft in hand, the hard part is over. There’s just something about having a manuscript—good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It’s easier to improve writing than it is to create writing. So take the time to celebrate your draft and take a break (important point) before launching into the most important part of writing. Editing is when you make it good.

6 – Special tactics for ads, landing pages, videos and such.
Marketers who are expected to do it all with no budget will invariably face projects they’ve never done before. Take heart, there is always a method. When you don’t know where to start, it can help to think in terms of a document format. Sometimes when you create a form, it can free you to just fill in the blanks.

How would this hack work for an Eblast? The format would go something like this: Subject line, preheader text, headline, salutation, text blurb, call to action line, button. Why does this work? It breaks seemingly-insurmountable challenges into approachable pieces that you can write, and then go back and make better later.

7 – Iterate your way to good.
The difference between a post or ad or Eblast that reads like a strategy document and one that has reader interest, eloquence, cleverness or expresses a nugget of insight…is iteration. This was a big lesson of Luke Sullivan’s famous book Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. To come up with a really good headline or lede or tagline, you have to come up with a lot of them. There is no other way. That is really the secret. I know, you don’t have a lot of time, you have to get it out the door. But if you do have a little time—even if it’s during your edit—try to beat what you’ve written. The mind gets loose once the project is in motion—and that’s when the gems present themselves.

8 – Don’t let it languish.
All right. You’ve written it. Other people have to see it and approve it. They may improve it. (Let’s hope.) They may ruin it. (Don’t take it personally.)  Whatever happens, you have to manage it. Insist on clear, consolidated feedback. Your reviewers’ comments can’t conflict. Let them fight it out. Keep track of the rounds of revisions by keeping a running tally of reviewers’ initials and your corrections like this: SG_CW_SG_CW_SG_CW. In this example, Steve Garvey made three rounds of revisions which the copywriter (CW) executed. Why do this? It’s a gentle way of keeping Steve honest and ensuring he’s not going backwards.

9 – Proofread in a calm mind.
If you had to write it yourself, chances are you’ll have to proofread it yourself. Even though you’ve seen the document 5 times already, just do it. Don’t let a deflating typo slip through. (I’m still stinging from all the typos this post had when I first posted it.) Before you publish, take the time to read through every word frontwards and then backwards. (Old proofreader’s trick.) Do it while your mind is fresh and not at 1 in the morning. Your document can never be proofread enough. It will amaze you what you catch. (This post had 7–including one in the first sentence!) And after all your hard work, your writing deserves it.

10 – Great design is a writer’s best friend.
As a writer, I am surely shooting myself in the foot by saying this, but if you have a little budget—even just a tinsy bit of money—hire an art director or designer to make it look right. How your white paper, case study, ad or landing page looks is so important. Nice design can make sort of standardish copy into a very good piece. And it can make good copy into an awesome piece.

Conclusion: Good enough and fast enough.
Two final thoughts that may help make the writing process easier for you. The first, to paraphrase Steve Jobs, is that at some point, you have to “ship.” We’re our own worst critics, and I think that most of the time what we’ve written is better than our insecurities are telling us. When you’re under the gun (and as a marketing director, I know you are) ship when it’s good enough. 

The second is that one can never write fast enough—even when you’ve been doing it a long time. It doesn’t help to beat yourself up because you think you’re taking too long. Good writing keeps the marketing ball rolling by drawing leads, maintaining brand presence and motivating your team members internally. It’s worth the effort. So until this is over and you get your budget back to outsource, take the time.

It’s time to get past the frustration and get real. 

I get it. You’re busy. You have product people clamoring for materials for the upcoming trade show and meanwhile you haven’t done a blog post in months while your website redesign has been dragging along in the sitemap stage for-ever.

If it makes you feel any better, I see it all the time, especially in the transportation and logistics world: marketers unable to keep up with the demands of steady content creation on top of just keeping up with regular marketing materials. 

Let’s face it, we are always in a state of flux. No one will ever reach zero to-do list. Ever. There’s a term for thinking you can do everything, all the time forever: workaholism. 

I think what most companies should be focusing on is the essential, the achievable and the sustainable. 

Enough with thinking you’re going to produce a weekly blog post AND regular e-blasts AND social posts, not to mention the occasional gated content piece PLUS all the PowerPoints, webinars, campaigns and collateral your team is hounding you for. 

You do need to do something, of course, both to draw prospects to your site and direct them to the next step in your marketing funnel. (You do have a marketing funnel, right? If not, we should talk.)

That means content: blog posts, case studies, white papers, podcasts, how to guides, explainers, etc.—things that appeal to prospects at every stage of the funnel and are there to move them closer and closer to a sale with every view and visit.

But how do you do that? We’ve already established you have no time. 

My suggestion for how to prioritize is this: start with the basics, aim for evergreen pieces, be consistent, and augment as best you can along the way. 

At the risk of being really obvious, start by looking at your call-to-action on your website. Is it crystal clear what you want a prospect to do. Schedule a demo? Meet with a rep? Provide their email in order to download your guide? If not, fix that. It is priority one. 

As for the basics, ask yourself what prospects need at each stage of the marketing funnel.

Do they need how-to information? Then write a post that explains your service category to a newbie. 

Are they at the point where they’re figuring out their options and asking questions like, “If I was to do this myself, what would I…?” or “Are there companies out there that do X for companies like mine?” Write a post that lays out the possible paths a prospect in these shoes might take. (And of course be sure and include your service in the list.)

Are they at the point where they know what they want and are narrowing down their list of potential partners? Give them information that helps them in their decision. Avoid giving an outright sales pitch that might creep them out. Opt instead for topics like:

• “7 mistakes companies make in choosing an X provider.” 
• “When is the best time to invest in Y Service.”
• “10 things to look for in a Y provider.” 

Are they at the decision point and looking for clear and compelling reasons to choose you—or not? A post that presents your unique selling proposition with the voice of authority is a great call. Case studies too. Client lists and testimonials are valued by these prospects as well. 

Cover these basics. And be sure and choose evergreen topics, in other words, posts that will be useful for a year (or more.)

In all, we’re talking three or four blogs, here. Post them according to a schedule you can achieve, like say one every three weeks or once a month. 

Look at that, you’ve got your bases covered. The trick now is to determine what is achievable for you in terms of augmenting these posts so that you are building a richer and richer experience for visitors in each of your funnel stages. A couple of tips for this task: Be strategic; don’t post just to post or to stick to your schedule. Prioritize: Target your highest value prospects first and write to the hot button-topics those readers want to know about. 

The important thing is not to be stifled. Need a sure source of inspiration? Content Marketing Institute is chock full of suggestions. And if you need someone to help you hammer-out your content calendar and get posting, I’m here (you know, conrad@conradwinter.com).

P.S. I am the classic cobbler’s kid. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I, too, have not posted in months. What can I say? I really, really like working on other people’s stuff and not my own. So I really do get it. I feel your pain. And that’s not the end of it. Very ironically I admit, my call-to-action is off, as in my contact page is totally off-line at this time. (GoDaddy assures me they are on it.)

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