Archive for Attracting Clients – Page 5

Writing Services & Quality Leadership Content for Coaches

CCC Header 2014If you’re a leadership coach or a consultant to leaders you know how time-consuming it is to write quality leadership articles and blogs. Here’s a professional writing service just for you providing leadership articles for your newsletters and blogs.

And, you can get a 10% discount on annual subscriptions with Content for Coaches, if you order before Thursday, July 31, 2014.

If you’re interested, go to Content for Coaches Summer Sale, here.

This is a special opportunity to save money on new subscriptions for quality leadership content. Read More→

Newsletters, Social Media, Blogs:
What’s Best?

eNewslettersHave blogs and social media replaced e-newsletters? In a poll I did with professionals who publish a newsletter, people shared that they still send out regular e-newsletters, and told me why their subscribers like getting news:

“It helps me stay connected and it provides me with thought provoking ideas, and useful tools to be successful in life.”

Ask other professionals if they’re getting results from an e-newsletter, and then judge for yourself if it’s worth the time and effort (and money). Here are other comments I received:

“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.”

“The newsletter is an intimate way to stay in contact with clients and a non- threatening resource for potential clients to learn more about me and how my coaching can help meet their needs.”

“It has heightened awareness, helped build our brand and brought in inquiries, referrals and requests for information.”

“… when it goes out, I always receive emails from people I don’t usually hear from, telling me how much they enjoyed reading it, found my information timely and applicable, and in general, thanking me because they look forward to receiving it.”

“… when at business functions, I will often have someone say to me ‘I know who you are, I get your newsletter.’ I believe it keeps my name and what I do ‘out there.’ I see my newsletter as contributing to
my success. It makes a statement that speaks to my brand.”

Read More→

5 Goals for Your Blog & Website…
and One Big Challenge

A venn diagram showing dreams overlapping with reality to illustWhat goals have you identified for your blog and website? What do you want your blog to do for your business? No really, it’s not as obvious a question as it might at first appear.

I’ve been working with executive coaches and consultants for well over fourteen years now, helping them improve how they show up on the Web. In that time, I’ve seen a number of changes to the way websites look and function. It doesn’t matter if you use a traditional website, or a blog, or a blog as a website, the principles are the same.

Yet many professionals aren’t clear about their content marketing goals; their website and blog goals and expectations are vague. I made some notes for one client and thought I’d share them with you here.  I came up with 5 goals your site should strive to accomplish in the first minute or two. One of them is a big challenge… Read More→

Content Marketing by Blogging: Consistency is the Name of the Game

Woman playing tennis on court outdoors with racket in her hand

Content marketing through blogging is like playing tennis. You get results through consistency, practice and persistence.

Is your blog like my tennis, a hit or a miss? Are you writing posts that are clear winners for your readers? Are you serving quality, relevant content within the lines of your readers’ needs?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently returned from tennis camp in Texas. It was great: I played good tennis, and all the players that were there were good. As my playing improved through the week, I thought of how it applies to content marketing– specifically, blogging.

Persistence and control is the name of the game. My weak spot can be impatience: if I get impatient in a rally, my energy turns to aggression, and I’ll end the point with a whopping drive… clear out of the court.

I know people who blog like that. They write 600-900 words every few weeks, then wonder why they aren’t getting search traffic.

Blogging for your business doesn’t work that way. Steady as you go, writing at least twice a week, at least 350 words, focusing on the keywords that drive results for your business, mixing information with stories, always keeping the reader in mind. Read More→

6 Easy Blog Posts You Can Write to Attract Readers

blog-postsOne universal truth about blog readers is that fresh content will keep them coming back and reading your blog again and again. But there are so many kinds of blog posts that attract readers that it’s hard to choose. Too many choices lead to blog blocks. Here are six types of blog posts you can write easily and quickly.

We’ve talked endlessly about what to do when you’re in a blogging slump and how to come up with new content. So now, let’s talk about some types of blog posts that your readers might like to see: Read More→

How to Make Yourself Blog When You Just Don’t Feel Like Blogging

boomHere’s a tip for how to make yourself write a blog post when you’re totally uninspired. Use other people’s inspiration to motivate you.

For example, take a look at what you’re reading on the Web right now. If it’s good enough to catch your interest, maybe you can use that spark to create something new for your readers?

Here’s how I went from barely awake blog procrastination to publishing this morning.

You can tell a lot about a person just by reading the titles of the web pages they’ve got open. Right now I’m reading posts on Harvard Business Review:

  1. “How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want to”
  2. “The Daily Routines of Geniuses”
  3. “Stop Trying to Control People or Make Them Happy”

And one on Hubspot: “12 Inspirational Writing Tips from History’s Greatest Authors.” Read More→

Ebooks for Experts: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Write

Shortcuts Expert EbookI’ve been blogging recently about how experts need to publish their own ebooks as part of their strategy to get found, get known, and get clients through online content marketing.

Here are 10 questions to ask yourself before you write a single word of your expert ebook:

Download the questionnaire here: www.Ebooks4Experts.com.

Over 10 years ago, professionals started using blogs to communicate to clients. As co-founder of The Blog Squad, I proclaimed blogs to be ‘the best darned marketing tool on the planet!’

To some extent they still are, but the key for experts is to excel with quality content. A blog is only one channel for online content marketing, along with social media networking sites. Another key communication channel is publishing expert ebooks. Read More→

The Experts on How to Get a Book Published

Experts-Book-PublishingThe problem with going to a conference is that I always come away with a to-do list a mile long. But I love the rekindled passion and energy. Truly, the Publishing at Sea conference aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean was an explosion of information and ideas.

Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, captured a few learning gems on How to Get a Book Published on her post here.

Personally, I’m not trying to get a book published, but many of my clients are and I want to as informed as possible about the book publishing industry which is changing so rapidly.

In addition, I felt that getting to know the experts will help me refer my clients to trustworthy people when the time comes to market, publicize, print, distribute and use social media for books beyond the writing process. I can now highly recommend these fabulous book experts:

  • Judith Briles, is The Book Shepherd, and she’s helped hundreds of authors through all stages of the publishing process. She’s an amazing woman and published author. She founded AuthorU, a membership group specifically to answer the needs of writers. If you’d like to learn more, go to her site. Better yet, considering joining the Author U Extravaganza in Denver May 3-5. Read More→

Expert Ebooks: Getting Reader Research Right

Research-ReadersI’ve been sharing about how to start your expert ebook project right, by being clear about who your readers are and what they most want to know.

How should you go about reader research? For example, if you wanted to know how seniors are using the Internet, you could look at the Pew Research site.

How else can you research your readers so that you get this important first step right: How do you focus your expert ebook content on readers’ frustrations and challenges by discovering what those are?

The truth is it doesn’t matter how much of an expert you are or how much you know about your field. You still need to research beyond what you already know or assume.

Don’t skip researching your readers simply because you already have 20-30 years of working with people like them. I don’t care if you’ve got a Nobel Prize in Economics.

Do you think Daniel Kahnemann rests on his ground-breaking work in Behavioral Economics? No, he does not. He is continually researching and discovering more about how  theories apply to real people in the real world. His bestselling book Thinking Fast and Slow is written (and priced) for readers, not academics. Read More→

Expert Ebook Writing: 5 Steps to Get Started

5-StepsIf you’re an expert in your field and want to publish a digital book, how should you get started writing content?

  1. Write down 3 – 5 of your most compelling stories, ideas, nuggets, mistakes, or experiences you think interest your readers.
  2. What’s your point? (What’s your unique message you want readers to know that will impact their lives?)
  3. Write out a working title and a tag line that clearly states what the book is about and what it is designed to solve for readers.
  4. What’s your conclusion, what you want readers to do, think, believe, act on…? What’s your call to action?
  5. Write an outline that explains in a sequential order how you will provide benefit to readers.

(Please note that in each of these steps, the word “readers” is mentioned. Your readers are clearly at the heart of your book. In other words, you aren’t, they are.)

At this point you can continue writing or start looking for a ghost writer. Ask yourself, is it worth my time to learn how to do this and actually write the sentences, or hire a writer who already knows how to string together sentences, paragraphs, chapters from preface to conclusion, to notes, etc.? Read More→