Archive for Online Marketing – Page 32

Content Marketing Review: Sales Autopsy Alive & Kickin’

DanSeidman Dan Seidman of Sales Autopsy was the lucky winner of a Content Marketing Review in our random drawing. Dan is a keynote speaker who provides unique sales training based on his best selling book, "Sales Autopsy: 50 Post-mortems Reveal What Killed the Sale."

Dan provides excellent examples of great content marketing through his web pages, book, articles, and unique products. For this reason, Dan's Content Marketing efforts get a 4 out of 5 possible stars.

I rate my content marketing reviews on the following criteria:

1. Grabs readers' attention
2. Focuses on solutions to problems
3. Educates and informs
4. Entertains and engages readers
5. Inspires action
7. First page search results for main keywords

Dan's site is particularly strong for grabbing people's attention, providing solutions to problems, and entertaining readers. He also offers a variety of ways visitors to the site can get information, respond and engage further with him. He offers video, audio and text for readers.

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7 Blog Writing Steps BEFORE You Check for Keywords

Lady-tennis-forehand I was working with a new blogging client (let's call him Andy) yesterday who was stuck. Andy had written about 10 blog posts which he saved as drafts because was worried about key words.

Now there's a learning curve involved in writing for your blog, and there's no way around it. The only way to learn to write good blog posts is to write and publish blog posts. Saving them as drafts won't work.

You can practice your serve on a tennis court by yourself too. But until you serve the ball to someone on the other side of the net and keep score in a game, it really doesn't count.

Here's what I told Andy. When you sit down to your "compose a post" page, focus first on these steps:

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The Big Mexican Tweet-Up at Dona’s Donut Shop…
6 Reasons to Use Twitter

BlogSquadAug9-08032  I'm not a real big user of Twitter and the other popular social networking sites online. Sure, I believe in their value, no doubt about it. I'm just not big on socializing with strangers, period.

But I may be changing my mind. Here are my 6 reasons to set up a profile and use Twitter a couple times a day:

  1. The movers and shakers are there. I don't know about you, but I like to know what the trend setters are up to. I like to know what's going on so I don't get taken by surprise when a major shift happens.
  2. The buzz is there. Here's up-to-minute stuff, really up-to-minute. If pirates are shot and a captain rescued, I learn about it first from the Twitter buzz.
  3. I track keywords like "content marketing" on Twitter and I can read blogs I've never heard of before that talk about this topic.
  4. Some of my favorite clients use Twitter and I can learn what they're doing. If I see an opportunity to help them, I jump in.
  5. My competitors are also using Twitter, so I can keep tabs. I can even look for opportunities to jump in and help them, you know, turn them into partners instead of rivals ;-)!
  6. My blog posts are fed into Twitter, and new readers come from there to find my posts. Twitter is a good way to drive traffic to your blog, and Twitter readers tend to comment more.

But here's the most fun thing that happened this week on Twitter: I ran across two people who were tweeting how beautiful Lake Chapala looked on Easter Sunday here in my village in Ajijic, Mexico. We're having a Tweet-Up today at the local donut shop!

My village is only 15,000 people or so, and only maybe 20% Gringo, so what are the chances of encountering a Tweet that comes from a neighbor across the street from me? Thomas Hellyer is a real estate professional who lives with his family just two doors down from me.

MejicoJoe "Mejico Joe" lives only a couple of blocks away. It was through his posting of a photo view of Lake Chapala from his roof top that I found him on Twitter, which led to finding Thomas. I don't even have keyword alerts set up for local words like Ajijic, Mexico, or Lake Chapala but maybe I should…

If you're not yet using Twitter, or haven't understood it's value, give it a try. Check out Patsi's on Twitter and follow me. I'll follow you back.

If you've had any similar stories from Twitter, please share, I want to hear from you.

P.S. Here's my little photo animation with music of a recent walk around Ajijic and back home

Content Marketing: How to Win a Free Review

Napkin-sketches-people
 
What challenges do you face when it comes to writing great content that markets your business? Do you feel as if you've got the whole "content marketing thing" under your belt?

Or are you like many professionals, scratching your head every time a new buzz word like this gets started?

How do you know if you're "doing" content marketing right? How do you know if it's going to work for your business, in your niche, with your clients?

And, come on, let's get clear. How do you know if "Content Marketing" isn't just another way of dressing up sneeky copywriting tactics to look like they're goin' to Church?

I have an idea. Actually, you'd be helping me out as much as I'd be helping you to understand how Content Marketing works for your business.

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Website, Blog, Ezine? 3 Questions, 1 Big Fat Suggestion

Http-yoursite
Here are the top 3 questions I get emailed about:

  1. If I don't have a website yet, should I start a blog? (Or, if I start with a blog, do I really need a website?)
  2. If I have a blog, should I also do a newsletter? (Or, If I have a newsletter should I do a blog?)
  3. Should I go with WordPress or Typepad for my blogging platform?

Here are my 3 answers:

  1. Yes (and yes)
  2. Yes (and yes)
  3. It depends

Don't you love it when I give short answers? So rare, too. Well I could go into all the reasoning behind my answers, and qualify each according to who's asking the question and what their needs are.

Here's my current thinking…

Check out the options offered by Men with Pens. They offer WordPress blog customization, web design, and copywriting services.

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Web Writing Tips from Brain Traffic: for Dummies, Smarties, Oldies, and Newbies

Man-and-pen
A great post over on Brain Traffic by Elizabeth Saloka. Here is an excerpt of her good writing for the web tips:

  1. Trim fat. Keep your content – sentences, paragraphs, etc. – short and sweet.
  2. Stay focused. As you’re writing, stop and ask yourself: Is what I’m writing relevant?
  3. Don’t exceed 60 words per paragraph. Better to break after one or two sentences.
  4. Honor thy bulleted lists. Three items? You should bullet. Ten items? Definitely bullet. This will help your readers quickly assess, divide, and digest information. 
  5. Avoid fluff and cutting-edge, innovative corporate-speak. Readers can smell it a mile away. 
  6. Speak to the audience as ‘you.’ Make them feel special, like you’re speaking directly to them. Remember, conversational.
  7. Talk like a human. Make sure you don’t sacrifice clarity for cleverness. Also, don’t get overly grammatical. Sometimes it’s better to break a few grammar rules than to sound stuffy.
  8. Stay grounded. Don’t fall in love with your writing. You’ll lose perspective. And, you’ll probably be less open to constructive client feedback.

Want to dig deeper? Check out the Brain Traffic blog, more about content strategies, and Kristina Halvorsen’s book recommendations.

3 Rules for Writing Content for Your Business Blog

Nib_tip
I just read a great post over on the Marketing Professor blog by Travis Campbell, 3 Rules for Using Twitter for Business. These same three rules should apply to all of your content marketing, but they are particularly relevant for writing content on your business blog.

(Travis must be doing this right, because I found him on Twitter and I'd never heard of him or his excellent blog before today.)

1. Have a Strategy. Here are some strategy points to consider:

Give them a reason to read: Is your content useful to your target market? Do your blog posts give readers insight into you as a person, as well as useful information?

Show them you care: You have to be more than a lecturer or teacher. Get real. Be human.

Mix it up: While building a profile for business, remember people ultimately do business with with people. Feel free to mix up your updates with some of your own questions, observations, and your personality.

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Content Marketing Pioneers: The Dawn of a New Era

Evolution
"Content Marketing" is the Buzz-du-Jour among marketers everywhere, both on and offline. But it really isn't anything new.

Smart marketers have been using these "new" writing techniques and content strategies for decades. Direct marketers, in their long sales letters, are expert at this. The "advertorial" has been around and used on the Internet for more than a decade. Aren't we just renaming copywriting techniques?

Why the big hullabaloo now? Why are so many experts rushing to get a Content Marketing book published? (5 Content Marketing Books You Need to Read) Why all the blog posts and Twitter Tweets … Content Marketing Top Blogs, Content Marketing sites?

Something's a-foot!

…I've always had a nose for shifts and major upheavals. Here's what I think is happening on a big picture level:

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The BS Bailout: Free Better Business Blog Writing Program Bonus

Splatted-tomato
I absolutely hate using my writing blog to promote a sale, so I ask your indulgence just this one time. Don't throw tomatoes.

Actually, you may love me for this, especially if you want to get your business blog spiffed up AND get a valuable bonus program on Better Blog Writing.

Now that I think more about this, you'll have a chance to learn about the 10% nuances that make a blog get results or not. Because that's often the difference between a blog that works and one that doesn't…it's often just the little nuances.

One of the best programs I ever did with Denise Wakeman as The Blog Squad was our Better Business Blog Writing Program. Here's how you can get it for free…

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The Blog Squad Bailout: Last Chance to Get a Blog Squad Blog or Makeover

Blogger-with-community
What do smart professionals do when they decide to start a business blog? They call The Blog Squad to set up their blog, and learn how to use it for business results. Or they get a Blog Squad Makeover for an existing blog.

However, you won't be able to do that after March 31, 2009.

March 31, 2009 will be the last time you can get blog set up and training with our personal attention. The Ultimate Business Blog Set Up Program is being taken off the market. That means you've only got a few more days to get your blog with our help. After that, we're outsourcing to other resources.

If you're smart, you'll take advantage of this last special offer, a 25% discount for this service. You'll save $500.

Even if you already have a blog, and especially if you're not getting results with it, you should read more about how our special coupon can be applied to an Extreme Blog Makeover as well:

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