Content

  • Creating Shareable Content That Sells

    Ever wonder what makes some social media posts, videos, or blogs “go viral,” while yours are lucky to have 3 shares and two comments (if it’s a good day). While it might seem like some well-kept secret that only the gurus know. The truth is it’s easy enough to create shareable content, if you put some thought and creativity into your efforts. But keep in mind your marketing should always have purpose and circle back to what you offer in your business. It needs to match your business products and services. So, don’t get caught up in the bright shiny objects that seem cool but aren’t in alignment with your goals.

    Visual Content Is on the Rise

    Videos, images, graphs, charts, infographics, etc. are some of the ways that we can best reach our ideal audiences and are a must have in order to compete in tomorrow’s marketplace. According to this infographic on Social Media Today. From 2019 to 2020 46% of businesses will rely heavily on visuals as part of their marketing strategy.

    So what kind of visuals have been used most frequently in businesses recently?

    Stock Images 40%

    Original Graphics (E.g. Infographics) 37%

    Charts and Data Visualization 12%

    Videos and Presentations 7%

    Gifs and Memes 4%

    But there’s more…

    Even though the above were used more often we need to know what got the most engagement?

    Original Graphics 40%

    Videos and Presentations 23%

    Charts and Data Visualization 20%

    Stock Images 12%

    Gifs and Memes 5%

    So, as you can tell this data can help you with the question

    “What do I do next in my marketing”.

    Are your creative juices going crazy right now with these stats or are you already freaking out because you see video and presentations are at 23% (some sources have this even higher) and you hate seeing yourself on camera? Trust me you are not alone. The “Fear of Public Speaking” is real and it has a name Glossophobia and is said to affect over 75% of the population.

    Even though it’s a scary step it can be overcome with practice, patience and the power of positive thinking that you can do it. I know for some that’s easier said than done so it might take some professional training to help you get more comfortable. I get that.

    But keep in mind, we are trying to grow your business and if you are a small business or entrepreneur than more than likely you are your brand. So, if growth and profits are tied to our bottom line then we must think more like this quote.

    “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

    It’s about growing and stepping into a bigger version of yourself.
    What do you need to do that you haven’t already tried?

    So maybe you’d prefer to go the other route for now and do
    something more like Original Graphics?

    Everyone Loves Infographics

    Whether you want to know more about how coffee is grown, or
    you’re looking for ways to boost your blog traffic, you’ll find a variety of
    infographics to fill you in.

    These colorful, easy-to-read graphics share vast amounts of
    data while still entertaining an audience. By condensing numbers and stats down to easily digestible bite-sized pieces, you can make valuable information highly understandable for any audience. Even better, your market will be happy to share (and share and share).

    If you’re not artistic, or don’t have the skills required to
    create your own, you can hire designers or use a tool such as Piktochart
    to quickly make infographics your audience will love.

    **Pro tip: create an embeddable link for your infographic
    and encourage other blog owners to share it on their sites. You’ll
    automatically drive traffic from every site that posts your content.

    Create Some Eye Candy

    So, let’s look at what are the biggest trends for 2019 for
    your other graphic options.

    Futuristic patterns, vivid color palette’s and bold fonts
    are what’s happening today! Bold fonts that make them easy to read on mobile and stand out. Mobile marketing is super important, and we need to make sure that whatever we do looks good on those smartphones that are attached to everyone’s body these days.

    Bold typefaces and fonts are all the rage for brands. Deep your toes into it and experiment. Check out companies that we use to help us create graphics. I recommend Stencil and PicMonkey because they have templates that you can use and make your own without starting from scratch.

    Color, color and more color make a brand pop and grab
    attention. So be intense, colorful and bright in your marketing. Don’t be afraid to be BOLD. You can still minimalism but use color verses the old muted tones. That’s so old school.

    Next let’s talk shapes. It’s like fashion we need to look at
    using geometric shapes and abstract patterns. Have fun and get creative. Even
    if you use stock images look for the ones that look more natural and place some
    fun elements into them.

    Need more ideas look at the big brands out there and see what they are using in their marketing to fuel your ideas.

    Here’s an example of a graphic that pops with color and utilizes shapes.

    Don’t Forget About Blogging It’s Still Relevant

    Writing a blog post? Well it’s got to be longer these days. Don’t
    just skim the surface of a topic. Dig deep. Provide as much information as you
    can on the topic and bring along these amazing visual elements we have been
    looking at. Keep in mind, we all still go to Google to find stuff to feed our
    minds. Why not be one of those resources?

    Bigger is better and gets more attention because it’s
    hopefully offering the good stuff people are looking for. Google still loves fresh content! Today’s blogs however
    need more words. According to Hook
    Agency
    posts of at least 1,000 words are more likely to be shared than
    their shorter cousins and favored by Google. 1705 is the sweet spot for SEO. So,
    don’t worry about attention spans. Readers have proven they want good info and
    they don’t mind digging into a long post to find it.

    Let Your Personality Shine

    No one wants to read or share another “me too” post. Not you
    and not your audience.

    What they do want—and what they’ll happily share with their
    friends and fans—is personality-driven pieces that aren’t afraid to take a
    stand.

    Be a giver and educate your audience. Don’t hide the good stuff
    behind a pay gate. People want solutions and if you provide them with some,
    they will become your followers. I give FREE information all the time and I’ve grown
    a few successful businesses because of it. Don’t get me wrong we need to make
    money to survive but if you have a great sales funnel, strategy and plan that
    will all come.

    It’s easy to form a connection with someone when you feel
    like you know them personally. And what do you do with your friend’s content?
    You share it, of course!

    It doesn’t take much to be shareable. Just be yourself, be transparent, and be valuable. In short, just do what you’re already doing, only with a little bit more creativity, generousity and planning. Remember if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

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  • 6 Ways You’re Using Copywriting and You Might Not Realize It

    When you hear the word “copywriting” what comes to mind for you?

    Wikipedia describes it as “the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.

    So, the fact is, copywriting is more than just sales messages. In fact, as an online business owner and marketer, most of the content you produce could be called copywriting at least in some sense. After all, if you’re creating content with the ultimate goal of selling something, that is by definition copywriting.

    Facebook

    Sure, we all like to hang out on Facebook and chat with friends and family, catch up on the latest funny videos, and enjoy a mindless “quiz” or two. But for businesses, Facebook is much more than that. It’s a place to connect with potential clients, and that means that when you’re sharing your latest blog post or program with your business friends, you have to keep good copywriting in mind.

    LinkedIn Profile

    What makes you stand out from the other businesses online or in your niche? Your LinkedIn profile is where you share what makes you the best person to solve your ideal client’s problems. It’s where you shout about your credentials and let your ego run the show. Think of your LinkedIn profile like a resume, and be sure to list your most impressive qualifications, achievements and personal quality.

    Your Website About Page

    Here’s your chance to have some fun while blowing your own horn. It’s important to know that the about page is often the most visited page on a website, so it’s a critical piece of your overall brand and message. The purpose of your about page is to entice people to want to learn more about your services, so be sure to include a call to action on the page.

    Blog Posts

    All blog posts have a job to do. Maybe they’re meant to lead your reader to a sales page. Perhaps you’re asking for readers to subscribe to your mailing list. Maybe your blog post is designed to start a conversation. Or maybe it’s just sharing great content and inviting readers to learn more by clicking on related posts. Whatever the job, it’s copywriting that entices your reader to take that next action.

    Twitter

    Two hundred and eighty characters is precious little space for creating compelling content (but at least it’s not 140 anymore), yet that’s exactly what you must do if you hope to use Twitter as part of your overall marketing strategy. Think of tweets like email subject lines, and craft them to convey as much information as possible while still enticing readers to take action.

    Email

    Whether you’re sending an email about a new product or service or simply letting readers know you have a new blog post up, your email definitely qualifies as copywriting. In fact, even the personal emails you send to prospective clients contain what we would call copywriting.

    The fact is, copywriting is everywhere in your business, from your sales pages to your invoices. Whenever you ask a reader to take some action, you’re writing copy, and the more comfortable with the idea of it, the better (and more natural) you’ll become.

    Copy writing after all is going to be the best way for you to persuasively make the most impact on your business by drawing the attention and interest of your ideal client and get them to take a desired action.

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  • 7 Ideas for Your Live Streams

    I’ve been blogging about LIVE streaming a lot and will continue to do so because it’s such a HOT way for you to market your business and it’s only going to get bigger according to all the experts out there like Buffer. Check out their post “The State of Social Media 2016” where they talk about how video content marketing is only going to be growing even bigger in 2017.

    Twitter saw the value in this and bought Periscope before it even released its product. Facebook invested a lot and continues to do so in Facebook LIVE. Be prepared to see a lot of video in your feeds.

    I know that most people are confused as to what to broadcast since many people can find being in front of a video camera intimidating enough so I thought I would put some ideas together for you. It’s easier when you have a plan.

    Repurposed Content

    PeriscopeIf you have been doing online marketing for a long period, there is a pretty good chance you already have a blog or website and have been actively filling it with content. If so, you can use the content from your website as material for your broadcasts. In fact, you can set up a weekly broadcast and discuss one post each week.

    The key to doing this correctly is to make sure you are consistent with your broadcasts. Do them the same day and same time every week. Make sure to have a question and answer period at the end as this is how to get people coming back.

    One way to entice them to join the broadcasts is to offer to give something away but only to those who attend the broadcast. The freebie will be announced at the end. It’s a good idea to make the freebies valuable so they will want to get one each week. A list of great tips is one idea on what to give away.

    Content from Private Label Rights (PLR)

    A lot of people are not familiar with PLR or Private Label Rights/White Label Content. It’s a less expense option than having a ghost writer especially if your trying to keep your budget low. PLR offers you content that you are licensed to make your own so you don’t have to always write from scratch. Our sister company PLR for Business  is committed to producing quality information and products for your business content needs.

    The great thing is that you can take a PLR product and use it in many ways to like live streaming topics. This will help you stand out as an authority which builds the trust needed for your audience to keep coming back.

    Tutorials

    People love to learn new skills. By using broadcasts to teach them something new is going to bring them back repeatedly. This is a great method for engaging your audience with valuable information.

    The topics that you can broadcast about are only limited by your imagination. This is one of those situations where you want to think outside the box to come up with ideas that others are not.

    Roundups and Industry News

    People often don’t have time to find information online or don’t know how to do much more than a simple Google search. If you provide regular broadcasts containing information about the key companies within your industry, you will find your audience to be quite receptive to this.

    You want to make yourself the authority in your industry. Be the person that everyone goes to for information surrounding your niche or market. Scan for news stories and interesting facts about the people in the industry. This can also be a great way to network with these people by letting them know ahead of time that you plan on talking about them in your broadcast. They may even invite people in their own network and lists to sit in on the broadcasts.

    video streamingProduct Reviews

    Most people look for reviews when they are researching products online. Doing so in a broadcast takes it to a whole new level. People will pick up on your emotions as you tell them what’s good or bad about the product being reviewed.

    Product Demonstrations

    It’s one thing to read about the features of a product, but another altogether to see it demonstrated live. The difficulty here is that you need access to the products being demonstrated. But guess what? You can reach out to the product creators and ask if they will send you the products for free. They may be quite receptive to doing this, especially if you are showing the features of their products live on a broadcast. Don’t expect them to be receptive if you don’t have good things to say about the products, though.

    Interviews

    I’ve mentioned this one before but it’s a good one. People love to hear from industry experts via interviews. If you can manage to invite someone who is an expert, this can make for a great broadcast. You will probably need a selfie stick to pass the camera back and forth or just seat next to each other.

    Keep in mind there are new apps being worked on as we speak to bring you together with a co-host via your smartphones and desktop for Facebook LIVE. But don’t forget Google Hangouts on Air still lives as part of YouTube Livesteaming options so you can still do them there for now.

    As you can see, the only limits on what to broadcast are the ones you put on yourself. Use these ideas as well as others to become a leader in the live streaming space.

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  • Captivating Your Audience with Blog Content

    BlogWhat I love best about blogging is that it’s not like English class where you have to use perfect grammar and syntax. It’s more like a conversation where you use your own voice and language for your posts.  Don’t get me wrong. You still want people to understand your message so you want to write well and you also don’t want to use too much lingo or techno jargon that not everyone is going to understand unless that is the only audience that you speak to.

     

    So let’s take a look at what you need to consider when writing blog content:

     

    Your Target Audience – Every single blog post should be written directly for your ideal audience. If you don’t know who you’re writing for, it will be hard to know what to write. If you keep in mind that it’s all about them and not you, you’ll write more captivating blog content.

     

    Focused Topics – If you know who you’re writing for, you also need to know what you’re going to write about and how you want your reader to feel about it before you start. If you can’t say in one sentence what you’re trying to tell your reader, you may need to stop and focus more.

     

    The 5 W’s – The basics each post should answer: The who, what, why, when and where of the topic Don’t leave things out that you think they already know, because your reader doesn’t have ESP and not every reader has the same level of understanding that you do.

     

    The 3 S’s – Each blog post needs to be short, simple, and scannable. People have short attention spans these days, especially if they’re reading on the run or while at work. By creating a blog post which has bullet points, your reader can stay focused on one topic at a time. Also, be sure to use plenty of white space in between to make it easier to read on screen, this will help you create a captivating blog post!

     

    Optimized Images – Using images and graphics is an important part of making a blog post look interesting to your readers. However, don’t forget good SEO, and always include alt image tags. Instead of just naming the picture, use the alt tag as a way to describe the picture. This not only helps disabled people enjoy your blog better, it also helps search engines or people who’ve disabled their images on mobile devices to read your content better.

    Your Voice – One of the most important aspects of writing captivating blog content is to remember who you are. While you’re writing for your audience you need to remember to write how you talk and don’t pretend you’re someone you’re not. Reader’s want to understand you and know you, and follow and read who you are. Only you can be you, so be the best you and bring on that wonderful personality of yours.

    Blogging


    Link Smart
    – Don’t put too many links within the readable content because it will be distracting to the reader. Maybe consider linking to like articles and blogs after the main content instead if it makes sense. Avoid links that go outside your blog if you can. I know that it’s no always possible. If you do link outside your blog make sure to create a new window so that your blog posts stays open while they are reading the connected content.

     

    Keywords – The meaning of your content is more important than keywords in many ways. You don’t want the concern about keywords to override the good information you want to impart on your readers. Plus, you don’t want to use more than three per page anyway. Any more than that and it can just get too crowded and make Google think your keyword stuffing which was a popular way of getting ranked before the new algorithms.

     

    Edit – After you initially prepare your content take a break and then come back to it and edit it. Usually, the editing process will produce far different and better content than you started with. If you have a virtual assistant or someones else you work with also have them read it.

     

    Promotion – The most important part about compelling and captivating blog content is to promote it. You can hardly know if the content is having the impact that you desire if no one reads it. Share it in places such as social media, RSS feeds and on emails going out to your tribe.

    Finally, it’s important to simply “do it“. So many people want to be money making bloggers, yet they never even get to the fundamentals of being consistent.  They learn, and learn, and think about it, but they don’t do it. Doing is what’s going to get you there. Doing is going to give you the practice you need to produce captivating content that gets results. I’ve seen what consistent blogging does for a business. It can be transformational in your traffic, opportunities and followers. So create a plan and stick to it!

    Contact Me Today….
    Contact MeIf you are stuck in moving forward on making your blogging dreams come true then consider being coached by me. I can get you on the inside track of creating compelling content, enriching your readers experience and helping you with your online branding & marketing. Just go here to get started today!

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  • 4 Tips on How to Use Your Blog to Build Your Email List

    One of the most important aspects of having an active blog is building your email list. You want almost everyone who visits your blog to feel compelled to sign up for your list. Your email list is one of the most powerful pieces of your online business. It allows you to have a closer relationship with your followers.

    So you need to think of your blog as a gateway to building your list which is essential. That’s why your blog needs to provide excellent, varied, regular and targeted content. Plus, don’t be shy, ask them to sign up. Make it apparent.

    4 Tips on How to Use Your Blog to Build Your Email List

    Excellent Content —

    For content to be excellent it has to be well-written, and targeted to a particular audience. Everything on your site needs to be accurate and above average from the normal site content such as your about page, to the rest of the content you put on your page from a blog post, to articles, to images and more.

    Tip: Get it edited, or hire a writer or VA, then you edit it. No one can write perfect content without editing. You also need to make sure that your voice is infused into everything you put out.

    Varied Content —

    If you put up the same form and type of content every week, people will get bored. Mix it up a bit and use slideshows, podcasts, video casts, eBooks, PDF downloads, apps and more. Your audience will be more excited to check out your content if they’re not sure what type it will be as long as it’s relevant to them.

    Tip: You can re-use content in one form and transfer it to the new form. A blog post can become a podcast, can become a videocast, and can become an infographic.

    home-office-336373_640

    Regular Content —

    If you aren’t going to focus on putting up content on a regular basis, focus on at least 4 blog posts a month. By doing so, you’re going to get the bang for your buck you’re hoping to achieve. Shoot for at minimum 4 blog posts a month and you will reap the rewards with a bigger email list and higher targeted traffic that is ready to purchase from you.

    Tip: To be sure you have plenty of regular content, brainstorm in advance using a calendar so you know what you need before you sit down to write it or hire a writer.

    Call To Action —

    Never forget your call to action. If you want people to sign up for your email list, you need to ask them. Your email list is the lifeblood of your business. If you build a targeted list you can give yourself a raise whenever you want to by promoting a sale, promoting your new blog posts, and getting your audience involved in product creation. The key is to ask them to do what you want them to do.

    Tip: Make it a habit after every blog, podcast, videocast, and so forth to remind users of your newsletter and your other offerings. If they read all the way to the bottom, or listened all the way to the end, then they’re going to want to know more.

     

    Using your blog to build your email list is one of the easiest ways to get action and a good return on investment from your blog. Fill your blog with useful, original, credible and friendly blogs that speak directly to your audience and you’ll discover that being a blogger is profitable and fun.

     

     

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  • Protecting Your WordPress Content

    Protecting Your WordPress Content
    Online security is a big concern for many online businesses today. How can you protect the hard work that you have put into your WordPress blog and site? How can you try and keep people from stealing your content?

     

    Unfortunately, “scraping” is what can happen.  This is when someone takes the content from your website and uses it as theirs by posting it on their website. Most people don’t even know that they have been scraped until they see the duplicate content or they have problems with search engine rankings because of it.

     

    Protect yourself from the beginning so you don’t become a victim yourself. You’ve worked too hard to build your reputation and your optimized content to have it tampered with. 

     

    Protecting Yourself and Your Content

     

    The reality is that you can’t stop someone who is set on stealing from you with any reliability unless you put safeguards in place.

     

    Here are some tips to get you all set up. Keep in mind at posting that these were up to date with the current WordPress version. We recommend that you always read about any plugin before you consider using them. Sometimes plugins don’t always play nice so always backup your site before trying new plugins.  This list represents some available plugins but there are more options. Visit WordPress for more information.

     

    * WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click –

    This WordPress plug-in protects the post content from being copied by any other site author. The plugin will keep your posts and homepage protected by multiple techniques (Java Script + CSS). According to the developer no one else offers this technique in any other plugin.

    *WP Secure Image – 

    This WordPress plug-in allows you to copy and protect your images. Protects from right click mouse saves, drag-in-drop, site grabbers and page save.

    Protecting Your WordPress Content

    *Copy Protect Web Pages and Media –

    This WordPress plug-in uses encrypted images to copy protect all media including image, Flash, PDF and video from right-click-saving and mouse-drag and prevent print screen and screen capture. This plugin can add copy protection to any page or post by simply adding a small CopySafe encrypted image.

     

    * Easy Mark

    This WordPress plug-in can automatically add watermark to images as they are uploaded to your WordPress media library. You can also watermark existing images manually (all at once or an every single image). Watermark can be an image, text or both.

     

    Protecting your website information is vital to your reputation and also making sure that someone else doesn’t profit from your hard work. So take the first step today and research into ways to save your content. Prevention is essential when running an online business.

     

    Have questions or need help with your website development or security? We can help contact us today. Use our contact form below.

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