When it comes to content marketing, social media has become an essential part of most smart professionals’ marketing plans. They know that without a social presence, your online brand can appear outdated and unapproachable.
However, social media marketing isn’t as simple as a lot of business owners anticipate. Posting a tweet or a Facebook update now and then isn’t going to cut it!
Harnessing the power of social media can be achieved by using the following practices. Read More→
From what I see, many small business professionals struggle with writing compelling newsletter content. It’s not easy. You need to be interesting, personal, AND remind them of your products and services.Try too hard to do both… you end up confusing and losing readers.
The trick to creating compelling newsletter content is simple:
You’ve got to connect with readers in emotional ways and offer solutions to their problems.
When I’m working with my clients on their newsletters, I often find one of two problems (or both): lack of clarity and lack of connection. Read More→
I am frequently asked if business newsletters are still relevant, or if blogs, social media, and videos have replaced them. My response? When done well, a newsletter is very important for staying in touch with clients and prospects and a great way to build credibility and trust. In spite of all the other social media outlets, e-newsletters and printed newsletters get results.
In fact, when I ask clients if they’re getting results from their e-newsletter — if it’s worth the time, effort and money — professionals say:
“I just met with the COO at a company where I’ve been coaching. He told me that the employees (the ones I coach) forward him my newsletter. He said, ‘They want me to read it because they feel the content is often pertinent to what’s going on at the company.’ There are over 100 employees at this company and I’ll soon be asking if I can send everyone my newsletter.” Read More→
Are you keeping your business blog fresh? If you’re like me, and you’ve been blogging for a number of years, chances are some of your links may no longer work. This guest post, from Susan Boggs, offers tips for successful bloggers and blogs on how to find and correct broken links.
In a perfect world, we would always know exactly what the Big Search Engines want from us and our business blogs, always and without a doubt. We would engrave them into stone and follow them judiciously. Our blogs would rank high for our keywords, and life would be wonderful.
Ah, yes, nirvana.
Unfortunately, in this world we call the Internet, blogging is not always quite that simple. The good news?
Life is still wonderful. Read More→
If you want to grow your reader base, that is, if you want to get found and get known online, small businesses and entrepreneurs will offer prospects and clients online information for free, such as a white paper, a report or a compelling article. This is part of the CAST acronym for ways to grow readership.
CAST Your Net: A is for Assets
I’ve been blogging about ways to grow your reader base using this memory device:
Content
Assets
Social Media
Track
I’m referring to digital assets, or content that is offered as a service to your readers. Your assets should range from free to fee: Read More→
How easy is it for you to get found online? Are you attracting the kinds of readers who could be your ideal clients? Here’s a quick 5 question quiz to reveal how well you’re doing:
5 Question Quiz
If you are struggling in any of these areas, here are some steps you can take to get found. Read More→
How to get found online. That was one of the most common answers we heard to the question, “What is your biggest struggle?” during our recent client interviews.
In my last post, I shared why SEO and content marketing fit together. While your blog needs good Search Engine Optimization, it has to start with quality content. But what exactly is the definition of quality content? Isn’t it subjective?
Epic Content Marketing, by Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute, offers a framework of criteria that I have adapted for coaches and consultant. (It is based on six principles that anyone can and should apply to their writing, whether it be for their business blog, e-newsletters, or e-books and websites. It’s great advice for any consultant and small business owner responsible for getting found.) Read More→
A Note from Patsi: This week’s guest post is about SEO and content marketing and it’s really important. Why? Because if you write your own blog, you may think that quality content is all you need to get found online and attract clients. It’s not.
I don’t care how good your writing is or how important you are as a thought leader in your field. Your blog needs good Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. But don’t let that scare you. Here’s what you need to know, from guest author Derek Iwasiuk.
For a long time, search engine optimization was all about tricks and tactics. People used to do anything as long as their sites rank at the top and they get the much needed traffic. Some of the techniques that website owners used to get to the top were totally unethical causing outcries from various quarters. This, however, has completely changed thanks to the updates made to the major search engines. If you inquire from any SEO company, they will tell you that nowadays, it is all about content marketing. Here are some of the reasons why you should invest in lots of content so as to rank high in search results.
On its part, SEO issues demands. There are lots of things that you need in order to succeed in search engine optimization. Be it links or any other, you need to make sure that you use the ones that will actually make your site to rank high. Content marketing on the other hand fulfills those demands. It is what you use to make sure that there is enough for professional SEO services. It therefore goes without saying that at the end of the day, the two are just one. Read More→
Content marketing is challenging, but it’s also the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. What more satisfying way to market professional services than by writing from the heart? When you address the problems your readers experience with your own knowledge, experience and wisdom, you help others AND build credibility authentically.
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I do not believe in new year resolutions. And, I am not really convinced that goal setting, even marketing goals, is always the best thing, either. (Research has proven this.)
But, I do believe in strategy, clarity, planning and focus. Each year I pick a word, One Word to focus on. No matter what I am doing, I think about implementing that word, in every way I can.
For example, a few years ago my “one word” was “Care.” When I think about expressing care for my clients and readers, it shows up in the quality of my work:
If I really do care, I want to get my marketing message heard by more people. It’s not about selling, it’s about being of service.
Last month Kris and I spent some time interviewing clients. We really wanted to know how we can best be of service. (Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the social media and content marketing channels available, especially in the always shifting future.)
What we learned is that while business continues to improve for our clients, their 6 big content marketing struggles are:
What about you? Are these the biggest challenges you face with your content marketing?
If we weren’t able to connect with you, and you have other questions about content marketing, writing on the web, or creating an ebook, please let us know. Send us an email: patsi@writingontheweb.com or kris@writingontheweb.com
For the next few months, we’ll spend time focusing on these areas, and make sure that we can offer you good, useful information that can help you get found, get known, and get clients.
Oh, and happy new year, or as they say here in sunny Mexico, Feliz año nuevo!
How do you create an emotional connection with your blog readers? More importantly, how do you get them so inspired they want to take action, like join your list, opt-in, comment, or buy something? Here are some psychological secrets to keep in mind.
When writing on the web – either in a blog post, a newsletter or other forms of content marketing, readers are more likely to respond to your offers of service or products if there is a resonance between you. An emotional connection is forged when your reader experiences being on the same ‘wave length’ as you. This can be done several ways.
I have to warn you: this is not always easy to do in an email, ezine or blog. Why? Because people are so different, and what is appealing on an emotional level to one is averse to another. Read More→
