Archive for Content Marketing – Page 24

6 Ways Blog Formatting Engages the Reader’s Brain

What are the two most important parts of your business blog post? Most experts will tell you this:

  1. The headline
  2. The call to action

The headline is what gets read and spread. It’s your “shout-out” on social media sites, in feed readers, email updates. It’s the bait on your fishing hook which draws people over to your blog site to read your stuff.

Writing magnetic headlines is crucial. And you know yourself that a well-crafted headline gets more traffic than a bland one.

The call to action is what gets you business results and turns readers into clients. Even when it’s not a direct “go-buy-click-here” request, it’s part of your funnel process. It starts the participation process.

But hold on there, wait a minute. There are 6 ways to format your blog posts that will  help prime your readers for action. It happens before you ask readers to do something. It must happen, otherwise your readers won’t even read your complete post, they won’t get to the call to action part.

You must engage their brains. You must get inside their heads by triggering unconscious desires and thoughts.

Okay, that sounds a bit oowy-woowy and sneaky, maybe even dangerous. I’m not talking hypnotic suggestions or even tapping into Freudian drives of sex or fear…(although, heck, that sure works, too!)

But if your blog content doesn’t appeal to one of several persuasion triggers (reciprocity, social proof, etc.) then you’re not doing enough with your posts. Your readers may scan your post, without getting their thought processes going, and move on.

It’s not complicated. You’re probably already doing it (unconsciously)! How?

1. Every time you tell a story, you’re tapping into primitive drives to listen and pay attention. As humans, we’re wired to sit up, pay attention, and become alert when someone says, “Let me tell you a story…” Read More→

How to Convert Readers into Clients on Your Blog

If a blog is the best marketing tool on the planet, then how does it convert readers to clients?

It may seem like a stretch… like building a bridge over a river and leading readers across. Dare I attempt a pun … like, how do you lead them Over the River Buy? (Please don’t groan while I’m trying to entertain you…)

What’s the most important thing to remember when you’re writing for your business blog? I’m not sure I can answer that in a simple sentence, but let me try. I always say that providing solutions to problems is important, but then there’s…:

  • Write useful, relevant posts that exceed reader’s expectations
  • Educate readers, but try to entertain them while doing it
  • Engage readers, get them to think, stimulate new ways of looking at something
  • Enrich people’s lives, save them time, energy or money
  • Share resources that can help readers
  • Unravel the mysteries, make something complicated easy to understand
  • Provide a road map with directions on how to do something, including memory short-cuts
  • Build trust with readers so they ask for products and services Read More→

How to Use Content, Blogs, and Your Brain to Grow Business

There were three great resources launched this week for learning how to use the Internet to market your business.

All you need is your smart brain, a computer, and a few tools to create content that attracts clients.

One of these resources is completely free: the newly launched Content Marketing Institute. This is a new site developed by Joe Pulizzi to teach you how to master content marketing strategies to grow business.

The other two new programs carry a small fee:

  1. The Ultimate Traffic Formula is a $49 program on how to get more blog traffic. It’s packed with Time-Saving Tips for Smart Blogging, including audio files, workbooks, and two bonus ebooks: Get Them in the Door: Using Blogs, Email and Social Media for Retailers, and How to Start Business Blog
  2. Start Blogging Today opened their virtual doors last week: This is a comprehensive how-to blog training site authored by Grant Griffiths and Michael Martine that I highly recommend for both newbies and people who aren’t getting blogging results. Read More→

Content Marketing Institute Teaches
How to Market with Content

There’s a new kid in town and he’s got game. If you’ve ever wondered about what all the buzz is about with Content Marketing and how it impacts the way you market your business online, you’ve got to meet this new kid. He’s named Content Marketing Institute, but I just call him CMI.

He’s the brain child of Joe Pulizzi, of Junta42, one of the leaders of the Content Marketing movement, and the founder of the Top42 Content Marketing Blogs list published every quarter. I am proud to be a contributor and advisor.

Here’s the challenge. Many businesses are still operating under the mistaken assumptions of Web 1.0 and even 2.0 where you put up a website and spend money on pay-per-click and wonder why it’s not bringing in leads or business.

In today’s interconnected social media world, you’ve got to do more, and know what’s smart or not. Otherwise, you waste time, energy and money doing the wrong things. But there’s so much new stuff, it’s confusing.

  • How do I develop a content marketing strategy?
  • How do I create content that my audience will find valuable?
  • What are the best content marketing tactics for my audience and expertise areas?
  • How do I best manage the content marketing process? If I decide to outsource, how do I do that?
  • How do I measure what’s working (and what’s not) to make changes?

And unless you’re a big corporation with staff (and even so….) it’s hard to know where to spend your money and time. Read More→

How is Playing Tennis Like Blog Writing?

One of the concerns professionals ask me about when they’re starting a new blog is this: “What if I run out of things to write about?” They’re concerned that they’ll start repeating themselves and become boring or bored.

This is not something to worry about and I’m going to prove it this week. There are 1,001 ways to write the same thing over and over again, and have fun with it!

For example, as I write this post it’s 6 a.m. and I’ve got the French Open on TV. I’ve set out to write another post about… how to write better blog posts. This is something I’ve written a million times. How can I make it different or compelling?

A quick search of previous posts and I’ve found a couple of other blog posts about blog writing and tennis:

  • 5 Blog Writing Lessons from the French Open Tennis Championships
  • French Open Tennis: More Business Lessons
  • Writing Better – Lessons from Tennis

Maybe I’ve said it all using tennis metaphors, but I don’t think so. The point I’d like you to take-away is that no matter what your main message is, there are many ways to frame it using different themes and analogies.

What sports or hobbies do you know that ties in with the business blog you’re writing? Use your imagination. Have fun with it. Chances are, your readers will enjoy it also.

How to Start Blogging Today:
It’s never too late to be a noob

Ever wished you could start over? Take everything you’ve learned and pretend to be a “noob’… a newbie blogger? Start with a fresh blog, and see what happens?

Okay, maybe not trash everything, but start afresh, with your current know-how, with a fresh design, a new focus, and improved clarity.

Sort of like when you move and unpack everything, sort it out, get rid of unnecessary stuff…

You can. There’s a great new blog training program that’s launching today: Start Blogging Today. I’ve been give access to their private membership site. I wanted to find out if this program is something I can recommend to some of my clients who are just starting out with a business blog.

It is. Drumroll, trumpets and confetti, please. I highly recommend Start Blogging Today. If you’re new to online marketing, or just starting a blog for your business, don’t waste time and money. Read More→

You Don’t Have a Traffic Problem

Ever since I put up my first website in 1999, I’ve heard people talk about SEO (search engine optimization) and how to drive traffic to a site.

There’s a ton of stuff posted about “traffic secrets,” as if there were some sort of magic formula and once you knew it, you would be making Internet millions.

In preparing for the Ultimate Traffic Formula workshop I’m doing today with Michael Martine of Remarkablogger, I came across a post or an email he wrote where  he admits that calling our workshop The Ultimate Traffic Formula probably sounds a bit presumptuous. Read More→

3 Drivers of Blog Traffic: The ICE Effect

It doesn’t really matter if you call your online efforts content marketing,  online marketing, blog marketing, or a chihuahua. What matters is results.

Are you getting results from the Web? If not, where do you need to improve? The minute someone lands on your blog, do they say, “Hey, a chihuahua I could really love!” Or, “This blog’s for me!”

What’s your challenge when it comes to using the Internet to attract clients, sell them your products or services, and profit in your business? For many of my clients, the problem is how to stand out and how to get found.

You may be unique, but unless the right people are finding you on the Web, your efforts are wasted. There are really two challenges, as I see it:

  1. Branding: you need to clearly and quickly identify your uniqueness in a memorable way
  2. Visibility: you need to be easily found in multiple places on the Web

When good branding is combined with good visibility, you get great findability.

This Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 4 p.m. ET, I’m presenting a workshop on how to get more blog traffic. Read More→

The Psychology of Content Marketing with Blogs

Why do business blogs work so well to attract new clients? For that matter, why is it I’ve declared them to be “The Best Darn Marketing Tool on the Planet!

When it comes to writing on the Web, a blog is a great way to get found, get leads and get clients.

There are a couple of reasons blogs work. For one thing, there are over a billion people connected to the Internet looking for information.

According to Technorati, there are over 170 million blogs… maybe more, but then a lot of those may be abandoned.

When search engines do a good job of indexing content on the Web, they match up search requests with published content. Since blogs are content-rich and frequently updated, they provide fresh keywords for search engines to index.

Someone looking for a solution to their problem, or answers to their questions, clicks on links that are offered up on a page of search results. Those links could be to web pages, blog posts, videos, or podcasts, it doesn’t matter. Read More→

Scattered Marketing, or Content Marketing Google Map?

I can get lost for hours over on Google Maps, what about you? I love the way you can zoom in from a 10,000 foot view down to the cars (or horses) on your street.

In my case, I can see boats out on Lake Chapala.

I was surprised to find they even have this in Mexico now, although it’s limited to certain areas. I can’t zoom in to see the horses down the street, but I can get as far as to see the swimming pools in my neighborhood.

Which would be a great feature to have for your business, right? Imagine you could get a bird’s-eye view of what people see of your business on the Web, then zoom in to see the different places you’re showing up on the Internet…

Do you have a map for your marketing? Most people I talk to don’t. In fact, some people I know use the spaghetti strategy: throw a lot of stuff out there and see what sticks, what works. Read More→