Archive for Online Marketing – Page 11

Online Persuasion: Creating Desire

How can you appeal to readers’ emotions on a business-oriented site? Online persuasion works best when you appeal to both the logical and emotional centers in the brain.

If you want to write content that persuades readers to take action, you write about emotional triggers AND provide reasons to act.

Many online content marketers misunderstand what it means to “appeal to emotions.”  How exactly do you bypass the conscious thinking brain and instantly connect with readers’ emotional centers, out of their conscious awareness?

It’s easier than you might think. Stephen Denning writes about this in his book The Secret Language of Leadership, and these lessons for leadership communications are applicable to writing web content.

Here’s a diagram of how many business professionals traditionally write content when they want to persuade people to take action:

The traditional communication approach follows this sequence:

Define the problem ► Analyze it ►Recommend a solution

Effective content marketers, however, follow a unique, almost hidden pattern:

Grab the audience’s attention ► Stimulate desire ► Reinforce with reasons

When language follows this sequence, it can inspire enduring enthusiasm for a cause and spark action. Read More→

Website & Blog Headers: 5 Keys for Branding

What are the key elements to a custom blog header that work well for online content marketing?

Your header contributes to your blog branding, and also helps readers decide if they want to stay and read or subscribe.

How do you like my new look? I’m talking about the new header and colors… Since switching to a WordPress a couple months ago, I decided to give this blog a face-lift while I was at it.

Suzanne Bird-Harris of Websites in WordPress did the graphic design for the header. If you’ve ever thought your site could use a little face-lift, this is a no-brainer! For a reasonable fee, Suzanne can transform your blog and give it a whole new look with a custom header.

A big thanks to my friend Paul Hart who took the photo.

Having a blog header is obviously an important element to online content marketing. It’s the first thing new visitors see when they land on your blog.

Here are the key elements (you’d be surprised at how many smart professionals forget to add their name, their photo, or the benefits to readers…)

  1. The title (branding elements should define the area of expertise and be memorable)
  2. The author’s name
  3. What’s in it for readers if they stay to read?
  4. Who is the blog for, who is the targeted audience?
  5. An attractive photo

These elements may seem obvious, but often, when working with clients, they are so close to the blackboard, that they forget key elements. I’ve even seen one professional include everything in the header, but forget the title of the blog.

Another common error is being too vague about the topic and the targeted audience.First time visitors shouldn’t be confused when they arrive.

As Malcom Gladwelll writes, people make up their minds in the blink of an eye…

The Brain Science of Online Persuasion

What has brain science taught us about how people are persuaded to take action online? And, how can we use that wisdom when writing content that serves to market ourselves and our businesses?

These two questions have been fueling my mental energy for the past few years. As a journalist-turned-psychologist, turned-online-content-marketer, you might imagine that these issues keep me up at night … or not! I believe this is important stuff for any professional who wants an effective online presence.

Here’s what I see as an important shift in online marketing tactics. It has significance for you if you’re trying to create content for your own business.

Business persuasion skills, whether for presentations in person or for web pages online, have always centered on problem solving using rationality and logic. Smart professionals believe that people make decisions based on clearly laid-out arguments and intelligent thinking.

  • What’s the problem?
  • What does this mean to your target audience?
  • Why hasn’t this problem been solved?
  • What is your solution?
  • What should people do now?
  • What will happen if they don’t?

Business professionals approach online content marketing and writing for the web with this mentality. It makes sense and there’s nothing wrong with it… except it’s probably not getting good results.

Ad people, however, copywriters and marketers don’t use this approach. The people who write ads for TV, or print, or direct mail letters have been using persuasion tactics that appeal to emotions rather than reasons. Read More→

Blog Marketing: How Readers Find Your Business

What’s your favorite excuse for not blogging for your business? Here are some that I hear:

  • “I don’t have time to blog.”
  • “My clients aren’t surfing the Web reading blogs.”
  • “Oh, that means I’ve got to write about my business every week?”

And yet, if these same professionals realized that a business blog is the best way to get found online, the best way to connect with potential clients, and the pathway to turning readers into clients, they might see things a little differently.

Here’s a drawing I made that shows how readers find your blog and become clients.

There are over a billion people connected to the Internet. I’m willing to bet my lunch money that quite a few of them fall into the category of “your ideal clients.”

It’s not likely they go online looking for you, your business or your blog. I’m not saying that. But they do go to search engines and they type in questions with keywords.

And they do  go to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Here’s what this looks like, how readers find your blog, in this Smart Draw diagram I did:

Like any diagram, it’s simplified. Read More→

Attractive Content: Speak to the brains

How do you write content that attracts readers to your products and services?

I read somewhere that most of what goes into our brains never reaches our conscious mind:

Our five senses are processing 11 million pieces of info per second. Of these only 40 enter our conscious awareness.

Which means our subconscious mind does a terrific job of filtering what we need to pay attention to.

And…which is why there is new research about how to reach consumers based on how the brain works: neuromarketing.

The brain is made up of three parts, the old brain, the mid-brain, and the new brain. The first two are operating out of our conscious awareness, and they help decide what we need to become aware of.

What this means is that most of the time, we’re operating on auto-pilot. Especially when it comes to TV, but maybe we’re cruising when we’re online and even reading. We scan while thinking of other things. Read More→

Top 100 Women Creating Online Income Streams

Thank you Milana Leshinsky. You’ve been an inspiration to me for the last few years. And now this comes as a special honor, to be included on your list of Top 100 Multiple Income Streams Women.

Here’s what Milana tells us about why she created this list:

Although Internet marketing and information marketing is still dominated by men, there are many women who are building their multiple income streams empires.  In the next few posts I’ll be featuring some of the most successful women entrepreneurs who turned their passion into a multiple income streams business online!

First, here are the criteria I used to identify them:

  • Content-rich blog
  • High quality web site
  • Clear strong personal brand
  • Prominent free giveaway
  • Book or signature product
  • Information products
  • Coaching programs
  • Live events
  • Membership programs
  • Use of audio and video
  • Active community

I can’t say I currently participate in all of these income streams, but I have at one time. And please note that Milana doesn’t say  “Passive Streams of Income” here.

None of these income sources are passive, although many are automatic. All require work, promotion, and constant “minding the store.” Don’t let anybody tell you online income products are “passive.”

I am very honored to be among such a strong list of creative women, who are pioneers in each of their own ways. Be sure to check out these women on the list.

Milana herself has forged the way for many independent women and work-at-home moms. She has a talented ability to create and sell popular information products, membership programs and telesummits. If you don’t know her yet, be sure to visit Milana.com.

Milana came to this country from the Ukraine, to study music. Even though English is her second language (or maybe 3rd or 4th?), she communicates to others with clarity and passion.

As her tag line says, she helps “awaken your fortune within.” She brands herself as “your multiple income streams business coach.” Who wouldn’t want to work with a coach like Milana who certainly walks the talk?

Quality stands out and leaves a memorable mark. Listen to her speak and tell her story about how she quadrupled her income in one year and now works less to have more time with her family.

Content Marketing Ideas: Rethinking Blogging

There was a time I was in love with blogging… I had already been in the business of content marketing for 5 years on the Web, using an old-fashioned website platform.

In 2004, I started blogging. It changed my life and opened doors and filled a few piggy banks. But my lover wasn’t really “the blog.” It was being able to speak with a world-wide audience. It was like magic.

Writing on my blog is my way of reaching out to people looking for ways to write content on the Web so that they can get found, get known and get new business.

A blog is still “The best darn content marketing tool on the planet!” But it’s not about “the blog…”

This year I switched from Typepad to WordPress, and I’m creating a new banner to reflect the changes.

When’s the last time you reviewed your site or blog banner?

For a while now I’ve been playing with some ideas. The name will remain the same, but the tag line will read,

How to Use Online Content Marketing to Get Found, Get Known, and Get Clients.”

I wrote about these three big marketing challenges a few days ago, and I’ve blogged about them over the past five years.

Without doubt, people who use the Internet to market their services must find ways to solve these three issues, or they won’t stay in business long.

You might notice there’s nothing in my new tag line that mentions blogs, blogging, or WordPress. Because, just as I predicted a few years ago, it doesn’t matter if you’re blogging or not. What matters are results.

(I predicted the buzz about blogs would die down simply because everyone would be using a blog platform, such as WordPress, to build and manage their websites as well as blogs. The blur between the two has already merged.)

We’ve been told that world-wide, there are a billion people online, and we can reach a global audience for free. So it doesn’t matter if you’re using a traditional website platform or WordPress, or even Blogger (well, why not?), if that’s working to get you found, get people to know, like and trust you, and you’re converting readers to clients.

It’s not the messenger, it’s your message. It’s not how you do it, what matters is that you do it effectively.

For myself, I’m constantly learning, reading, and evolving (hopefully!)… I’m not sure where I’m going to be in 5 or 10 years, but I am intuitively following a direction. I’m sharing these ideas here with you, about changes to how we process Web content and marketing, and would love to hear your thoughts. Read More→

Blog Checklist: 10 Items BEFORE You Publish…

What is a good checklist before you publish on your blog? I’m preparing some learning modules for a content marketing presentation and came up with this checklist of 10 items. Tell me what you think.

Here’s what happens, usually. You’re in a hurry, you write up a short post (300 words), hit publish, and then realize you’ve forgotten to write the headline… or select tags… or add any links or images!

Well, it’s easy to go back in and update your post… but what if the phone rings, you have a crises, you get distracted (this is my world)… and you’re stuck with an incomplete blog post.

Reminds me of going out of the house with your zipper undone…

So here’s my handy-dandy checklist to whip out before you hit publish…

  • Pick the topic, find a hook, tip, trend
  • Write 350-600 words (educate, entertain, engage, enrich readers)
  • Format post (bulleted lists, etc.)
  • Write headline (compelling yet clear, keywords)
  • Add image
  • Add links, including to your own previous posts
  • Check grammar, typos
  • Identify tags, categories
  • Search Optimization, (use Scribe SEO, All-in-One SEO Pack, YARPP)
  • Connect with social sites (use Sexy Bookmarks, etc.) Read More→

3 Biggest Challenges for Online Content Marketing?

What are the three biggest challenges to marketing your business? I know, I know, there are so many, but if you could distill them into the most crucial for online content marketing, how would you do it?

(I’m always asking you, because some of my readers are very smart and think of things I don’t. So please feel free to add to this by leaving a comment…)

To me, it’s these three that count more than anything:

  1. How do I get found by the people who need my solutions?
  2. How do I get them to know me, like me, and trust me to do business with?
  3. How do I get clients? Convert readers to buyers?

Get found, get known, get clients… there’s a lot that goes into creating content on the Web that leads to results, and each marketing task, each piece of content, each program you offer, falls into one of these categories or challenges.

I did a survey on this in April, 2010: Readers say that getting traffic, building a list, and converting readers to clients are their biggest challenges. It’s still a matter of findability, creating trust and getting people to take action.

Get found: What does this mean?

You’ve got to be easily found when an ideal client sits down to the screen and looks for solutions to their problem: Read More→

Content Marketing Results: Landing Pages Rule

How do you get readers to take action? Short answer: a landing page. (Also known as a sales page, squeeze page)

You can’t get results from  all the content you’re creating and publishing on your blog, e-newsletter, social media sites, unless eventually you send people to a landing page and ask them to take action.

Otherwise, you may be creating a great brand, great thought leadership, great content… and so what? Sooner or later, you need to ask your readers to actually do something. You need a landing page to do that.

Landing page definition: An attractive, compelling page:

  • Published on the Internet that is
  • Optimized for search engines and
  • Designed to persuade a defined group of readers
  • To take one specific action Read More→