Archive for Content Marketing – Page 56

Linkbait Content: 6 Ideas for Article Hooks

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, September 14th, 2009

Fishing_businessman As you might have read, I'm doing some blog improvements with Easton Ellsworth and his Visionary Blogging program. One of the things we talked about was creating what he calls "linkbait content" for my executive coach marketing site, ContentforCoachandConsultants.com.

I'd like to share his linkbait ideas and some of mine, because these ideas for content are good and easy to translate for any niche.

Unless you are a techy-type, and into search engine optimization, you might not be clear on what "linkbait" really means to you and your online content marketing efforts.

Wikipedia defines Linkbait like this:

Link bait is any content or feature within a website that somehow baits viewers to place links to it from other websites. Matt Cutts of Google defines link bait as anything "interesting enough to catch people's attention." Link bait can be an extremely powerful form of marketing as it is viral in nature.

Here's why this is important:

Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, List Building Tips, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

Visionary Blogging Opens Eyes…

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Dog_pink_goggles It's really important to get another pair of eyes to look at your blog. No, I'm not talking about glasses, which make you see what you're looking at better. I'm talking about a different set of eyes, someone who doesn't see what you see, but sees the stuff you can't or don't see.

How do you find the right person to ask to give you new vision? Well, the funny thing about content marketing is that I'll remember the name of someone who's written an intelligent piece years before.

So when I got an email from Easton Ellsworth, promoting his new blog review program, somewhere in the back of my mind I remember some good stuff he wrote a long time ago. I can't remember what exactly, but I remembered his name.

I just signed up for his Visionary Blogging program, and are my eyes wide open! For a reasonable fee, (are you kidding? I mean, this is really cheap and worth a lot more than he's charging right now!) he's already given me some money-making tips for my other blog site and business. I can't share them with you just yet, I'm still working on them.

But I will share with you the casual email Easton sent out, with the links to click through if you're interested in getting some top-notch feedback for Visionary Blogging, including social networking advice. Here it is…

Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, List Building Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

Content Marketing Genius @Work:
Jonathan Kranz Reveals His Secrets

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, September 7th, 2009

Jonathan-kranz I'm proud to say I snagged a big fish to interview the other day futzin' around on Twitter. None other than Jonathan Kranz of Kranz Communications. Jonathan's everywhere on the Web these days, and he's so nice, he even called me for a chat about our favorite topic, content marketing.

It's getting so phone call's a real treat, I can only take so much email and Tweets! He's not afraid to pick up the phone and call to connect, just like real human beings used to do, back in the day…

Jonathan's a cracker-jack copywriter and all-around web savvy guy who knows his way around content and marketing.

So it's only natural that I feature him as our star content marketer for September! Here're a few of Jonathan's insights on how he does content marketing well. I found these insights really useful, and I hope you do too.

Dear Patsi,

Thank you so much for inviting me to participate on your blog! Below are my responses to your interview questions. Please don’t hesitate to call or write me if you have any questions or comments.

What does Content Marketing mean to you in your business?

Everything! I’m now in my fourteenth year as a copywriter and I’m seeing tremendous shifts in the way my clients market themselves.

I cut my teeth in direct marketing and in the mid 1990’s, getting a 3% response rate was considered very good. By the end of the 1990’s, expectations dropped to 2%, then 1%. By the time I got out of direct mail, getting even a half-percent response was considered an achievement!

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Categories : Content Marketing

Are You Working on U.S. Labor Day? Here’s How Not to…

By Patsi Krakoff
Sunday, September 6th, 2009

Flag_of_mxico In the U.S. it's a tradition to celebrate the first weekend in September as Labor Day. While most of Europe and Mexico uses the 1st of May to recognize workers, North Americans use the 1st Monday in September as an excuse for a 3-day vacation. And why not!

If you've noticed, many blogs have slowed down, and I'm just about to join them. But before I take a break, for any readers who may still be lurking online, I want to remind you of several important posts this week, you may have missed.

  1. Content Marketing with Blogs: Download a free worksheet, 15 Ways to Find Fresh Blog Content Ideas.
  2. 5 Reasons Content Marketing is Getting Harder: Don't miss this post, it's a good one
  3. Click & Vote: What's Your Beef with Blogs? I'd love to know what bugs you about blogging. Please vote.
  4. Help Keep Kids in School: Please help me celebrate my birthdays (all 4 of them) by donating to Los Ninos de Chapala y Ajijic.

PabloCat Signature Okay, now I am officially taking a break, and I hope you take time to spend with your loved ones, where ever you may be in the world.

Here in Ajijic, Mexico, they've put up red and green decorations in preparation for the Mexican Independence Day, September 16. It's beginning to look like Christmas…

Categories : Content Marketing

Content Marketing Poll: What Bugs You About Your Blog?

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Businesswoman_in_stress What do you find most challenging when it comes to using your blog for marketing? Here are some sticking points that cause my clients problems, but I want to know yours: Take the poll at the end of this post, please.

What’s your biggest challenge with content marketing on a blog?

1. Content – what to write about
2. Content – finding time to post frequently
3. Getting more readers to the blog
4. Getting more readers to comment
5. Getting more readers to subscribe
6. Getting readers to download a free report
7. Converting readers to paying clients
8. Design issues
9. Finding time to comment on other blogs
10. Driving traffic to website and product pages

Take this simple poll to see how your opinion compares with others: (You can choose up to 3 items):

Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

Content Marketing with Blogs:
15 Ways to Find Fresh Ideas

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, August 31st, 2009

Ist1_2776388_coffee_cup Do you want to know how to come up with fresh, quality content for your blog without fail? Even if you're trying to write a post every day, or every other day?

I sit down with a fresh cup of Cafe de Olla every morning with this big question: what am I going to post about today? …followed by these other questions and thoughts:

  • What problem can I help web writers with?
  • What's a major concern for small biz owners trying to use the Web to attract clients?
  • How can I be helpful and add something fun, exciting or clever into my writing?
  • Who else is writing about content marketing that can inspire me?
  • What do readers want and need to know?
  • How can my next blog post educate, entertain, engage and enrich the lives of my readers?
  • …and, at the same time, how can I use content to build relationships, and attract the right readers, who need and want my products and services? (and help build my business)

I truly believe that a business blog is the best damn content marketing tool on the Planet! Honest. But it only works if you write every day or every other day – well, okay, at least three times a week. That's a lot of posts, and for me, it means an hour a day, sometimes more. But that's not bad, really.

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Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Easy Video Creation with Animoto

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, August 28th, 2009

I'm playing around with video creation, using a free service called Animoto, pretty cool tool. Let me know what you think. I just experimented with a few photos I had taken on a recent Sunday, relaxing at home.

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, Fun and Irrelevant Things About Patsi

Content Marketing with Blogs: Fishing for Business, or Catch-and-Release?

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Catching_with_money I had the best grilled salmon last night in one of my favorite restaurants here in Ajijic…which got me thinking about fishing…

I view business blogging as an attraction strategy, rather than an activity that earns income via ads. A blog is like a fishing net that you throw out onto the World Wide Pond to catch new leads, who nibble on your words like fish on bait.

I believe a blog is a powerful client magnet when done the smart way. It reverses the client chase. But few bloggers have a grasp on how to write effective posts on a business blog and what kinds of content make sense for their readers.

Content is key, of course. It’s the bait that beckons a fish to the hook. Your words — when you’re using keywords right — will attract the very people who are looking for the solutions you write about on your blog.

The tricky part is this: asking for business. You can do a bang-up job of attracting readers, but at some point you must ask for action. Otherwise, your blog is a catch-and-release system:

"Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog, here's some great information to solve your problem, have a nice day!" ;-0

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Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

5 Reasons Content Marketing is Getting Harder

By Patsi Krakoff
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Smart-pen I hate to be a purveyor of gloom, there's too much of that around these days. But I've been thinking about this and want to share my thoughts with you.

Here are some reasons content marketing is getting more challenging. There exists:

  1. A shift away from focusing on your products and services (what you know well)
  2. A shift towards the reader/customer and their needs (what you may not know very well)
  3. A business environment that is changing rapidly (what is unknown)
  4. More people online in your field writing about the same things (some better, some worse)
  5. A huge volume of content about everything possible, creating information overload for readers

Read More→

Categories : About Blogs, Content Marketing, E-Books, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better

Tough Times Call for Disruptive Innovations

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

 

SilverLining I've just finished Scott D. Anthony's new book, The Silver Lining: an Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times. It's well worth the read because it gives you a historical perspective on what happens in recessions, how new and exciting innovations come forth.

In fact, I based a new article on his book. Executive coaches can use this article in  newsletters and blog posts, if subscribed to my newsletter services over at ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com.

You can read a brief synopsis of the article here, on my content site.

The biggest take-away for me from the book was the fact that many of our biggest companies today were founded during recessionary times. Thirteen of the 25 companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as of December 2008, were formed during an economic downturn, including 3M, General Electric, Microsoft and Walt Disney.

Instead of trying to best their competitors, disruptors change the game. They typically transform existing markets or create new ones by focusing on convenience, simplicity, accessibility or affordability.

What are you doing to focus on delivering products and services that are convenient, simple, accessible and affordable?

Categories : Buying Content, Content Marketing, Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics
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