Posts Tagged ‘tips’

Giving Too Much Away and a FAQ Case Study

Kind of a mixed bag in my round up this week though the articles are loosely tied to creating great content. If you are worried about “giving too much away” then give “Claim Your Oscar” a read. (BTW, I honestly believe that in our current marketing climate you can never give too much away.) If you are a looking for a fresh idea to create more content, then check out “Using a Social FAQ….” It is an interesting case study. Answering FAQs (in any format) is an excellent source for content.

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Blogging for Website Traffic: The Art of Blogging

If you followed along with our previous post, then you have researched and found some awesome keywords for your website. (If not, feel free to skip back and read Part 1: Intro and Part 2: Keywords.) Now it is time to get to the real meat of the matter, the blog post. There is no secret to writing a great post but there are few guidelines to follow:

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Weekly Roundup: Checklists for Stellar Marketing

The only thing I love more than a helpful marketing article is one that gives me a manageable list of action items—a road map to success ff you will. These two articles do just that. The first one talks about your global internet marketing strategy (not just throwing a website up and calling it a day). My favorite tidbit is when he says that you need a blog for online success and then suggests you not only put your blog on WordPress but build your whole site using it. As a WordPress user, fan and proponent, I couldn’t agree more.

27 Ways to View the Web Beyond Your Site

The second article touches on the importance of local search and how several big names in the Online arena are making bids for smaller companies doing local well. The best part? The list of Action Steps for local marketing at the end of the article. There is only a handful of items and they are all things you can easily do in less than an hour.

Why Google Wanted Groupon and What It Means to Your Local Business

Weekly Roundup: Blogging and Keyword Research

5 Incredibly Useful Research Tools Your Competitors Don’t Know About

Solid research is key to success in the SEO game. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest thing for a business owner to do on their own. The process can be a little complicated and absolutely time consuming and the best tools are not cheap. However, this article lists 5 solid tools for marketing research that are free. I especially recommend the YouTube Keyword Tool and WordTracker Question Search for anyone who is blogging (video or text) and wants to keep their post relevant and optimized to pull in traffic.

Should a Blog be Your Social Media Hub?

If you have just considered adding a blog or already have one but not sure about its use, then read this article. I love the idea of your blog being an online hub especially if the blog is integrated within your website. It is the perfect place to collect resources to share and post your own news and thoughts. If it is built within your website (not a separate site) then it also serves as tool to draw visitors further into the site and encourages repeat visits. It becomes not just an education tool but also a lead capture system.

5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Outstanding

Now that you are fired up about blogging, you may need a little help creating awesome content. This article offers five easy to follow and common sense tips for creating outstanding blog content. It is a must read for anyone who is blogging or thinking about starting one.

Blog Your Way to Corporate Success

Though it is a book review for “Corporate Blogging for Dummies,” this post has a nice voice, a few useful tips and a funny intro about spam comments that all business bloggers can relate too. The article is worth a read as is the book for anyone starting out or feeling frustrated.

Weekly Roundup: Tips for Creating a Strong Relationship

5 Ways to Let Prospects Sample Your Brilliance

This is a welcome article if you are struggling with the “close” in your marketing and sales. Many times when I am talking with clients, we discover that what is broken in their marketing in not the product or service but how it is being pitched. Especially in the case of high dollar services, prospects need to sample your expertise and try out your methods before committing their checkbook.

By rushing straight from the nice-to-meet-you stage in a relationship to buy my $1000 service, you scare them off. When spending that kind of money prospects want to feel confident that they are getting something that works, that they want and is worth the large price tag. Providing several smaller, free or low-cost offerings along the way helps lower the sticker shock and barrier for entry.

This post list a couple of solid strategies that can be worked into any businesses marketing plan and will give prospects the opportunity to try before buying. We use several of the techniques at 910 West and have had great success so we know first hand that it does work.

Turn Customers Into Stark Raving Advocates With a Customer Development System

I have been working on my own customer development system (though not is such fancy terms) for a few months now. It dovetails with a conversation that I with my business coach last summer. He told me that 70% of my marketing efforts (time and money) should be focused on my current clients. That is far above what I was doing (and most of the businesses that I work with too) so presented me with an opportunity to expand my marketing. So far, I have implemented a couple of programs and have a few more in the planning with great success. If you are struggling with this or just want to know more, this article will give you the steps you need to get your own program started.

Weekly Roundup: All About Facebook

Facebook is still the hottest (and most difficult) marketing game in town. These articles provide some strong how-tos and ideas to improve your presence and engage your fans.

Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide

You will find this article helpful, even if you are already using Facebook as a marketing tool. The first half covers how to adjust the privacy settings on your personal profile to prevent any questionable info getting out to your business contacts. I get asked this question all the time and this walks you through the process step-by-step. It is a must-read for anyone using Facebook for business.

8 Powerful Ways to Use Facebook Landing Tabs

I have been talking a lot lately (both in this blog and in person) about jazzing up your Facebook business page. Custom landing tabs are the absolute best way to make your page stand out and grab visitors’ attention. Read this article for ideas on using landing tabs in your Facebook business page.

The Inside Scoop on How Intel Manages Its Facebook Page

I was skeptical when I first started reading this article. Intel is such a large company that I wondered if anything that they did (with their giant budgets) would be realistic for more small business clients. The theme of the article is engagement and that is something that can be done with any budget. If you are having trouble engaging your fans (getting them to respond to you), then this article will give you some ideas on how to solve that problem.

Weekly Roundup: Landing Pages, Event Marketing, and Ignoring Social Media Truths

In addition to social media, this week we cover two other powerful marketing tools—landing pages and events. The latter has a strong social media slant for those needing a fix but it should get you thinking outside of Twitter and Facebook marketing for at least a minute.

Landing Pages Are Your Secret Conversion Weapon

Landing pages are an interesting part of the marketing tool box. They have been done poorly for so long (think MLM and direct sales pages) that they are easy to dismiss as cheesy. On the other hand, a well-thought-out page may be just the thing to convert a looker to a buyer. I have recently advised several clients to add strategically created landing pages to their marketing tool box—should you add them too?

12 Ways to Market Your Event With Social Media

I have worked on two sides of the event marketing industry—as a part of the marketing team and also as a presenter. Getting the word out about your event to the right people is crucial for success. Social media presents us with a whole realm of possibilities and people to target. This article provides concrete suggestions on how to use social media to market your event. This is a must-read for event planners and business owners who host events.

7 Social Media Truths You Can Ignore and Still be Successful

If you are just starting out in social media or feel like your efforts are drifting, check out this article to learn what is important and what you can ignore.

Weekly Roundup: Social Media Takes a Time Out

This week we take a break from social media and online marketing articles and look at a couple of more generic business and marketing related topics.

Tips for Taking Better Photos

Laura Segall is a Phoenix, AZ wedding photographer who also happens to be a client and good friend of mine. She recently enlisted my help to choose a presentation topic for the local Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) chapter. She had the brilliant idea of talking about how to take better photos—something any good bridal consultant (and self-marketing business owner for that matter) should know. This post is the written version of that presentation. It is a quick read full of helpful, practical, and most of all easy to follow tips. I often have clients who want to use their own photos in their marketing materials and most of them are just awful. If you are going to take your own photos, then you should absolutely read this article and follow Laura’s tips for improving them.

These Jobs Ain’t Coming Back

As the owner of small but growing business, I am seeing first hand how much small business contributes to our economy. A good friend of mine was recently laid off from her state job, which could have been devastating to her family except that I happened to be in need of a talented graphic designer. We started out working on a per-project contract basis, but if all goes according to plan she will be working full-time for me within a year. This article captures that concept and proposes that supporting small businesses is the way to get more jobs into the economy. I agree!

How To Talk To Small Business

Selling to the small business owner is very different than selling to a larger company. As this article discusses, small business owners are not spending someone elses money (they way a purchaser for a larger company is) but instead taking money from their own pocket and needs. When selling to a small business, you need to keep this difference in mind and tailor your approach.

How to Create a Google Places Listing

In a previous series, we covered how to Optimize Your Business for Local Search. Creating a strong Google Business listing (using Google Places) is an important part of that process. We created this quick presentation, to show how to make the most of your Google Places Business listing. It is a short video and the process is pretty easy. The whole thing should take you less than an hour—happy optimizing!

Weekly Roundup: Branding, Facebook Success and More From Blogs

This week’s roundup is a strange mix of marketing advice and how-tos. I am not going to say more than that…read on and judge for yourself.

Mundane Marketing Magic
This article caught my attention because I have recently been asked to bid on a re-branding project and have the topic on my mind. It is a good reminder because I get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running a business that I forget that everything I do is a reflection of my brand. When I am on a deadline I am more worried about getting stuff done, than how I am doing it reflects on my company. This article is a good reminder that everything we do in our business is marketing and should reflect your brand.

Hiring a Designer? Eight Things to Look For
If you are thinking about re-branding your business or simply creating a new marketing piece, changes are you will need the help of a graphic designer. Use this article to help you pick a good one!

4 Proven Steps to Facebook Page Success
As a nod to our two very successful Facebook Page workshops last week, this article will help you get started if you find yourself struggling with what to put on the page. It presents a simple formula and makes it easy to make a great Facebook Business Page.

3 Simple Ways to Re-purpose Your Blog Posts for More Exposure
If you are already blogging, then pat yourself on the back. Simply put, it is the easiest, quickest way to make your website a traffic magnet. This article gives you ideas of how you take those posts and give them legs—submitting posts to article directories (linking opportunity anyone?), creating an audio version, or share it with the world.