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 They know that without a social presence, your online brand can appear outdated and unapproachable.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→
When it comes to a business newsletter, your brand is perceived in a blink of an eye.
As I shared in my last post, your newsletter should build trust and confidence with your readers. It should include tips and information that invites your prospects and clients to take action. Your newsletter is a representation of you and your business. It’s a part of your brand.
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 starting a new blog? What should you include in your blog if you want to use it to attract clients?
I’ve been talking about how to start a blog in my recent series of posts. Your next step is to look at your design – content is king, but if your design stinks, visitors won’t get past the banner. They won’t stay, they won’t get to know you and they won’t subscribe to your blog. Read More→
A Note from Patsi: This week’s guest post is about social media and it’s really important. Why? Because if you want to engage your business blog readers and grow your reader base, you need to use social media. We’ve been writing about the CAST system for effective blog content:
Content (compelling)
Assets (free)
Social Media
Track
This post, by guest author Paul Wilberforce, looks at the common mistakes you should always avoid. Here are Paul’s 7 Social Media Mistakes Bloggers Should Avoid.
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→
Is your blog content compelling? Are you attracting new readers, engaging with them, and growing your reader base?
In my last post, I shared an acronym that you should be using when writing blog content:
Content (compelling)
Assets (free)
Social Media
Track
Hemingway did not have the technological advantages that we have, nor a blog, but he knew how to engage his readers. As Larry W. Phillips describes in Ernest Hemingway on Writing:
Congratulations! Your reader base has grown to 5,000! You had 4,277 hits on your blog last month, and 737 legitimate comments!
If you’re a solo professional trying to get found online, these numbers could be PDG: pretty darn good. Small businesses, however, might find these figures PDA, pretty darn awful. My point is whatever the size of your biz, you want to grow your reader base, increase hits on your site, and stimulate comments, on your blog, social media, and LinkedIn.
If you’re not seeing growing numbers, take heart; you’re not alone. I know this because it’s one of the frequent concerns and questions my clients have: “How do I grow by reader base?” Here are 4 techniques you should be using to engage readers, and grow your reader base.
“Quality online content” depends on what business you’re in, who your ideal clients are, and how you can reach out and attract them with your solutions. Here’s a memory device when writing for your blog or website. Read More→
Oh no! If I Googled your business name, what would I find? Are you easy to get found online?
It is a sinking feeling when you’ve created quality content for your site that’s been optimized for content and keywords, and it’s still not showing up on the first page (or pages!) in a search return. So what can you do?
Downshift. While search engine sites should discover and index your site automatically, if you’re not showing up, or you want to improve your search engine ranking, try manually submitting your URL. You can do this quickly through Google, here, or Bing, here. 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→
