Blogging Archives - Page 17 of 68 - Jim Connolly Marketing

Stop using buzzwords in your marketing. Seriously. Stop it

By Jim Connolly | July 11, 2016

There is no shortage of buzzwords or people who feel the need to use them.

Intersection.

Growth-hacking.

Ruckus.

Pragmatic.

Disrupt.

Paradigm.

… these buzzwords and many others, are used by people in an effort to appear informed or relevant. Interestingly, buzzwords do neither. They have the exact opposite effect when people read them or hear them.

Here’s how buzzwords work against you.

They make informed people cringe. Not a great idea, if you want your peers to take you seriously or recommend you.
They confuse the uninformed. A bad choice, if you want people to understand your message. And you do. Right?

In either case, buzzwords work against you. When it comes to marketing, write your copy in a way that your ideal client will find easy to understand.

Always aim for clarity.

Why?

Because clarity sells.

7 tips to turn your blog into a lead generating machine

By Jim Connolly | July 8, 2016

Here are 7 tips to help you get massively more sales leads from your business blog.

Blog Tip 1: Have something to say that’s worth reading

People have never been busier than they are today. Equally, there has never been so much choice regarding what they can read. For a blog to attract readers and then retain those readers, it needs to offer something, which is meaningfully different. The majority of blogs don’t do this. They are predictable. They have no distinct voice. They simply add to the noise.

The key is to tell us what you think. Give us your opinion. Not an echo of what everyone else is saying. Allow your personality to shine through your words. Only by embracing your unique perspective can you hope to stand out, grab people’s attention and then inspire them to keep coming back.

Blog Tip 2: Show up regularly

We can’t expect people to return to a blog, even a well-written blog, if there’s seldom any new content for them to read.

If you want people to visit your blog regularly, publish new content regularly. Keep your blog fresh. The more often you publish useful content, the faster your readership will grow.

Bonus: When a new reader arrives on a blog, which has been regularly updated over a period of months or years, they get a powerful message. They can see that the blogger can be relied upon to stick with a project. Before a new client speaks to me, they already know I can be relied upon. This helps build trust. It makes the decision to hire me a great deal easier. Think about that for a moment.

Blog Tip 3: Create a powerful initial impression

It has never been easier or less expensive to have a professional looking blog. Despite this, many small business owners use ugly, outdated blog themes. As a result they look amateurish. People tend not to treat information on amateur looking blogs very seriously. We expect professionals to look professional.

Publishing useful ideas on an ugly looking blog, is like a restaurant serving you a delicious meal… on a dirty plate.

Think about it: There are only 2 reasons why a business would operate behind an amateur looking blog:

They think it’s OK to allow poor quality work (design) to represent them and their values.
They can’t afford a professional looking blog.

Neither of those options reflect well on the blog owner.

If your blog looks tired or dated, invest in a new blog theme. One that creates a powerful, positive impression. This sets a professional tone for what your visitors are about to read.

This leads on nicely to the next point.

Blog Tip 4: Be visible on mobile devices

An increasing number of people view the internet using their phones or tablets. If a site is hard to read on their mobile device, they leave. Despite this, an alarming number of business blogs are still not mobile friendly. In other words, they are hard to read or navigate when using a mobile device.

Almost all modern blog themes are mobile ready. However, if your theme is more than a few years old, it’s worth checking how it looks on phones and tablets.

If your blog doesn’t perform well on mobile devices, you will lose visitors before they even start reading what you have to say. Depending on your industry, you could be offering a bad user experience to 80% or more (and growing), of your potential readers!

Blog Tip 5: Stop selling

Most small business bloggers turn almost every post into a sales pitch. Instead of being interesting and offering useful information, these posts read like a series of thinly-disguised advertisements. The challenge with that approach is that people are not interested in reading ads, linking to ads or sharing ads with their friends.

Instead, focus on contribution. Be generous. Provide answers.

Remember that the process of giving and receiving, starts with the giving part. Offer valuable information, which people will want to read, link to and share. Then, when they need to hire an expert, they already know who you are. They’re also massively more likely to hire you, because they’re familiar with you and your expertise, via your blog posts.

You’re a safe bet.

A reliable option.

So, hiring you becomes an easy decision!

I place a call to action below each post, welcoming readers to get in touch if they’d like me to help them. However, selling my service is never the subject of the post. It’s all about offering useful information to the reader. Always.

Blog Tip 6: Make blogging a high priority business activity

Most business bloggers regard blogging as a low-level marketing activity. So they starve their blog of the resources it needs, in order for it to be a lead generating machine for their business.

They’ll happily spend time every day using Facebook or Linkedin, yet they invest very little time building their blog. As a result, their blog never gets the momentum it needs.

In addition, business owners will often place their blog on a cheap hosting account. This can lead to lots of down-time. Cheap hosting usually causes blogs to run slower too. People won’t hang around for a blog to load. So get the best hosting you can afford.

Treat your blog as a high priority business asset. Invest in it correctly and you’ll end up with a powerful marketing asset. One that grows in value all the time.

Blog Tip 7: Play the long game

A key reason why so many potentially great blogs fail, is that the owner quits too soon. Their expectations are unrealistic and it’s not always their fault.

The internet is packed with content marketing gurus, spreading bullshit. They say that if you use their “system” or buy their latest piece of junk, you can turn your blog into a goldmine in weeks. It’s snake oil… snake oil designed to exploit people, who don’t know better.

Even if you are doing everything correctly, it takes time for you to attract (and keep re-earning), the attention of a sizeable, growing readership. Business blogging is not an overnight success proposition, so play the long game.

I hope you found these tips and ideas useful. More importantly, I hope they inspire you to get the most from business blogging.

Tip: You can get my latest ideas delivered direct to your inbox, for free, right here.

How to turn your blog into a Customer Magnet!

By Jim Connolly | June 24, 2016

This is a very important post. If you want to get more business, feedback and recognition from your blog, this could be exactly what you need to know.

The post was inspired by an email I received from Shannon. She kindly gave me permission to share part of it with you. Here’s the core challenge she wanted help with, along with my answer and lots of tips and examples to help you build a successful business blog.

Here’s what Shannon wanted to know:

“I’ve been blogging for close to three years now. It’s been frustrating to say the least! […] I have no idea what I’m doing wrong and I’ve followed the advice from [she mentioned a very well known blogging site] totally. I’m just about ready to quit. Can you take a look at my blog and tell me what I’m missing?”

I did take a quick look at her blog and it’s exactly the same as countless other business blogs, following the same, general blogging advice.

Here’s what the challenge is and how to resolve it!

Blogging is exceptionally effective

I’ve worked in marketing since 1987 and nothing I have used, studied or witnessed, comes close to the marketing power of an effective blog. Period.

So, why has Shannon and the vast majority of business owners, seen such poor results?

Without doubt, the main reason is that blogging is often touted, incorrectly, as the written equivalent of painting by numbers. In other words, you follow a set of rules and success will follow. This myth persists because it’s repeated by well known bloggers, selling generic courses and programs on how to grow a successful business blog.

The polar opposite is actually true: The CLOSER you follow the same general format, rules and techniques as everyone else, the LESS likely you are to achieve anything worthwhile from your blog.

Here’s how I created one of the world’s most popular marketing blogs, using a more individual approach.

I didn’t SEO my posts

I decided to write for my readers, not Google. This gave me the freedom to express my thoughts, rather than SEO my thoughts.

Shannon’s blog posts are written using SEO software. This means they are often too long, just so she can reach her minimum SEO word count and keyword density. Posts that should be information rich and 250 words long, are filled with fluff to make them more SEO friendly. It has totally robbed her of her voice and individuality.

Google likes it. However, it reads like crap. As a result, Shannon attracts drive-by traffic, rather than client enquiries.

Tip: Read this – Stop writing for Google. Really. Stop it!

I didn’t guest blog

I focused on building my readership, by producing the most useful content I could and then made it extremely easy for people to share it.

This approach works even better today than when I started in 2008, thanks to the popularity of social networking sites.

Many bloggers waste their best material on other people’s blogs, because their blog guru convinced them it’s a great idea. Guest blogging is one way to build your readership, but certainly not the best. [Or the second best.] Shannon told me that she has guest blogged a lot, with nothing to show for it.

She’s not alone. People tell me similar stories all the time. And it’s heartbreaking.

The solution is to build your own platform. Put your best stuff on your own turf. If your content is useful enough, 1 reader will get you 1 more. Those 2 readers will do the same. Before you know it, by turning up regularly with useful information, you will have built your own community of engaged readers. A subset of them will go on to become clients.

Just don’t sell yourself short. Don’t be someone else’s unpaid content provider!

I removed comments

It was almost exactly 3 years ago, in summer 2013, when I removed the commenting feature from my blog. Blog commenting is a vestige from the days before social networks. It was also a huge time suck for me, as I often got 2500 spam comments a day.

It was still a tough decision though. The only other person I knew who’d done it was Seth Godin, and he had a very different reason. But it was the right thing to do. So I did it.

Back then, I was attacked. Social media gurus said you HAD TO have comments on your blog or it wasn’t a blog.

Today, the mood is changing.

Since I removed comments, other popular blogs including; Chris Brogan and Michael Hyatt, have followed suit. Top news sites have done the same, including CNN, Reuters and ReCode. And they’re absolutely right.

My point is that you need to question perceived wisdom. Then if you believe something needs to change, do it your way. Don’t wait for someone else to tell you. Be prepared to lead. We need more leaders.

Shannon has comments enabled and she gets very little feedback. Many comments are from people trying to get backlinks or score free advice from her. This lack of so-called social proof, does nothing to enhance Shannon’s reputation. It also makes her blog look like a ghost town, when prospective clients check her out.

I didn’t pump my posts with buzzwords

Disrupt, ruckus, growth hacking, big data, intersection… buzzwords like those fail twice.

Firstly, they make informed people cringe.
Secondly, they confuse the uninformed. That’s a bad idea if you want people to understand your message!

Shannon’s blog uses lots of content marketing buzz words. This, combined with the keyword loading she does for her SEO, means readers have no personality to connect with.

I made 1 rule and stuck with it

I made a rule, which I have stuck to since 2008. It’s simply this:

I will only publish a post when I have something useful to share and I’ll make sure I find something useful, often.

This means I often write when it’s easier not to. I also update older posts daily, to keep the information relevant. Blogging is a primary business activity for me, rather than something I fit in. As a result, I write when I’m extremely busy, when I am tired and even when I’m not feeling great.

Your rules

The Internet is packed with sites that offer largely the same, general advice on how to build a successful blog.

You should avoid it.

Their advice seems to make sense, until you consider that by following it, you become invisible – lost in an ocean of millions of other bloggers using the same, general advice.

If you’re following what they say, you will be able to identify with Shannon’s situation.

In short: Your blog needs to be as individual as you are. Otherwise, you’re invisible.

Tip: This post asks an important question: Bloggers: Are you 1 question away from 10,000 daily readers?

How often should you publish blog posts?

By Jim Connolly | June 12, 2016

marketing blogs, content marketing

Karen from Delaware emailed me with a question earlier.

“I’d love for you to post on your blog every day like Seth Godin does. Is there a strategic reason why you don’t?”

That’s a good question. The answer is that you need to match your publishing model to the business model behind your blog. Allow me to explain.

My publishing model

It’s easy… very easy, for me to publish something every day. However, my business model doesn’t require me to keep tapping you on the shoulder [reminding you I’m here] with daily posts.

Why?

I market just 2 services via my blog. There’s a limited number of clients I can work with and every post generates client enquiries.

Daily publishing, [which I did a few years ago], caused me to receive way too many enquiries. The huge momentum created by daily publishing is disproportionate to the few additional posts I was publishing each week.

If I decide to change the blog’s business model, so my income is primarily from the sale of products or advertising, I will need to adopt a daily publishing model of at least one post a day. It’s all about getting the balance right for what you want to achieve.

The daily publishing model

Whatever his motivation, Seth Godin uses a business model that rewards daily blogging. His blog is a kind of single author book store. Every post displays a carousel [on the left of each post], which is stacked with around 20 or so books.

His superbly written, daily posts are what create traffic to his book store. Visitors to his book store are also extremely well targeted, because the topics covered on his blog match those in his books. If you like the posts, you’ll love the books. Seth’s daily publishing model also pre-markets his books, by referencing new books in his posts long before they are published.

So…

You arrive on Seth’s blog.
If you like Seth’s posts, you may buy a book.
If you don’t buy a book, you may still decide to share the post you’re reading with your social networks.
By sharing the post, others will visit Seth’s blog.
They too may decide to buy a book or share the post.
A cycle is created, which is fed by daily content.

That model clearly rewards daily publishing. Fewer posts would equal less traffic, fewer subscribers, fewer shares and fewer sales.

Getting your balance right

The key take-away here is this: Your blog publishing model should support whatever you want to achieve. So, choose the best frequency for your business, rather than copy what someone else is doing. Their approach could be totally wrong for you.

If you’d like to get more from your blog or you’re thinking of starting a blog, here are a few free resources to help you.

Here’s how to launch a successful blog.

This explains how to make your blog stand out and build a large, valuable readership.

Ever wondered if you need to write long blog posts or if short posts are OK? Well, here’s the answer.

This is a list of 7 blogging mistakes, which you need to avoid.

How to overcome Writer’s Block

By Jim Connolly | June 2, 2016

Have you ever suffered with Writer’s Block?

If you write a newsletter, produce scripts for podcasts, YouTube or you publish a blog, it’s likely you struggle sometimes to produce the volume and quality of written content you need. Here are some proven ideas to unblock your writing and make you massively more productive.

I hope you find it useful.

People who struggle with Writer’s Block tend to fit into one of the following groups:

Some of them struggle to find things to write about. They need ideas or inspiration.
Others know what they want to write about, but find it hard to get their thoughts on the page.
And some people have challenges with both of the above.

Let’s take a look at those challenges and how you can overcome them.

Writer’s Block: Finding something to write about

Here’s some good news: There’s no excuse at all for business writers, who say they can’t find topics to write about.

At least there won’t be, after you know what I am about to tell you!

To uncover a limitless supply of relevant topics to write about, you simply need to do the following:

Look in online business forums or Facebook Groups and Linkedin Groups, for the most frequently asked questions from your marketplace. Then write about your answers to these common, pressing questions. Obviously, you should stick to questions related to your industry. This will provide you with countless, relevant topics.

If finding things to write about was causing your Writer’s Block, that will get you unblocked.

Writer’s Block: Finding inspiration

What if you need inspiration to write, yet you work in a small niche where there are no forums or groups discussing common problems? When this happens, we can learn a lot from artists.

Think about it: Unblocking Writer’s Block is not so simple for artists. How does a poet, storyteller or lyricist find inspiration for what to write next? Fortunately, there’s an answer. When we examine the most successful and prolific writers, we find they are driven to write by their passions. Anger, bliss, love, loss, loneliness, confusion, fear… these are all powerful subjects that have inspired writers for centuries.

When my pal Nile Rodgers and his friends were refused entry to Studio 54, they wrote a track about it. Initially called “F*#k off!”, it was later renamed “Le Freak” and became one of the biggest dance tracks in history. See below. [If you can’t see the video, click here.]

Focus on the things about your business, which you are most passionate about. A great place to start is to look at the problems that your product or service solves for your customers. For example, if you save them money, save them time, help them be more productive, make them healthier or wealthier… write about it. And write with passion. Regularly!

Tip: You don’t wait for inspiration to arrive. You command it to appear!

Writer’s Block: Getting your words “out there”

Some people fear what will happen when they share or publish their work. They often disguise this fear by calling themselves perfectionists. All perfectionism is rooted in fear. Fear of criticism, to be precise.

This fear leaves them seeking a perfect scenario; where everyone likes what they produce and no one criticises it. Because this balance is impossible to achieve, they produce nothing or play it safe and produce nothing worth reading. That’s what causes their Writer’s Block.

Thankfully, there’s a way around this too. Those who fear criticism need to start by accepting that nothing of value is universally liked. They need to understand that as creators, they have a decision to make.

Here’s the decision: They can either be criticised or they can be ignored. And in business, being ignored is not a viable option. The most successful business owners have learned to dance with criticism. They can’t ignore it, but they know it’s an inevitable part of being successful; both as a writer and business owner.

For example, most people do not own an iPhone. They don’t watch the number 1 TV show and haven’t bought this year’s number 1 bestselling book. All of those things also have critics, who vocally dislike them. However, it doesn’t stop them from being successful. That’s because you can’t have insiders [buyers / clients / readers], without outsiders [critics].

Writer’s Block be gone!

For most people reading this, the answer is simple: To beat Writer’s Block, write about the things your marketplace wants to know and the things you’re passionate about. And do it regularly. What you will find is that the more you write, the better you become and the easier it gets.

Yes, if you’re doing it right you will be criticised. So embrace criticism as an indicator that you’re on the right track and that people are noticing you. When you see criticism this way, it becomes something you welcome, rather than something you strive to avoid. This also makes writing a great deal easier.

I hope you find these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope they inspire you to get writing and overcome Writer’s Block.