How do you create quality content that attracts online readers and yet works to promote the growth of your business?
Creating great content for your business blog is a what and how issue, as in what constitutes “good” content, and how does one produce that content so that it brings in the readers that a business blogger wants. Quality content stimulates reader/customer engagement.
Here’s what quality web content looks like: It’s short, sweet, smart, and funny: Read More→
I feel like we hear a lot of the same blogging tips over and over again. While it is definitely useful to know your blogging basics and how to boost readership, how about we change it up a little and offer some ideas on how to boost your blog in ways that you’ve maybe not thought about before?
Here are a few ways that you can get new (and old) eyes on your blog and keep them engaged. Read More→
If you want to write great blog content, tap into what makes you mad. Or, what makes your readers mad? Either way, we don’t get mad about things we don’t care about.
Great blog content is always about what your readers care so much about it keeps them up at night. It makes them angry. Blood-boiling, foot-stamping, screaming mad! Read More→
In the world of business blogging and content marketing, there’s nothing worse than a bore.
I know we’ve all seen bad content marketing – blogs that are irrelevant, outdated, full of incorrect information, typos, rambling rants and silly drivel. But what I find to be the worst is mediocrity. Read More→
Let me ask you a couple of questions about your business blogging. When you’re competing online with other experts in your field, what makes you stand out? How are your prospects (and clients) finding you among all the other blogs and sites online?
Independent professionals who use the Web for marketing their services can learn a lot from big businesses with big budgets. They hire professional writers to create compelling headlines and creative content to attract audiences to their sites. You can too.
It’s not expensive, but it does require some creative thinking. Here are some tips for good business blogging, simplified, as simple as ABC.
The ABC’s of Great Blogging
A. A great headline
B. Be original and offer insight
C. Create shareable content – Don’t be a bore
How do you know if your content is working for you? Everybody says they want more traffic, but quite frankly, traffic stats leave me scratching my head and saying “Okay, that’s nice…and so what?”
Maybe it’s because I’m not an analytical type, I prefer big picture thinking and gut feelings and intuition. But if I had a metric I could look at and be able to tell if my content is working, i.e. having an impact on readers, then maybe I’d become more analytical.
You know how those yearly physical exams give you a print out of your lab test and tell you if you’re in the “normal” range or not? Why can’t we have a report for our blogs? Or for e-newsletters? Or for overall Web content marketing?
On Monday mornings, for example, you log into your “Content Marketing Impact” account and get a free print out of how well your content has impacted readers:
![PinterestWarrior](<img src="http://www.gryffin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/eMB-PinterestWarrior.jpg" />)
Are you using Pinterest effectively?
Although you may have made excellent written content a part of your marketing strategy, it’s important to remember that there is more to social media than just writing a great post or article. In fact, one of the most important aspects of social networking is much more visual and not as textual as you might think.
The most popular shared items across all social networks are pictures, which shouldn’t be too surprising, given how many images we see on the web in a day. If you want your content to be not only seen but shared, it will be important to consider making image sharing a significant aspect of your game plan. Where should you start? Well, with Pinterest of course! Read More→
The thing to know about business blogging is that it’s a continual quest to make your blog better. One good post now and again isn’t enough; you’ve got to keep readers coming back.
Most of us don’t blog for the fun of it, we do it because we want readers coming to our website. We want people to actually read the content that we craft because we know it has value to them.
So how do we keep readers interested and coming back to your site over and over? Here are some simple ways to spark readers coming back for more:
Newsletters: What’s the best format to send yours so it gets delivered, opened, and read?
There is a definite divergence of opinions, but according to my readers, the preferred formatting and distribution method for e-Newsletters is HTML. Half of those who responded to my poll indicated they preferred HTML, and a third preferred plain text.
With more and more people using smart phones, iPads, e-readers, and laptops, does anyone prefer plain text? What about PDF files? (Either sent as an attachment, or viewed as a page on their websites.)
Here’s my perspective:
Can there be an ideal merge of both of these important elements – design for branding AND showcase valuable content?
How’s your e-newsletter? You may be doing all the right content marketing things (e-newsletter, blog, social media, articles, etc.) and still not get good results (get found, get known, and get clients!)
If all you’re doing is publishing good information, without personality, without offers, what’s the point? Last week I asked which was best for marketing: blogs, social media or e-newsletters.
I have written a “Shortcuts” list of questions to ask yourself when planning your e-newsletter and you can access it for free here.
I shared many positive comments on the benefits of sending newsletters. I also received an email from a client who lamented the poor results from her emailed newsletter. After a year she reported:
She asked what she was doing wrong. Here were some of her questions, followed by my answers. This would be a good time to check your own e-newsletter for opportunities for improvement. Read More→
