Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

A new SEO strategy that can turn your website into a customer magnet

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marketing seo, optimization, internet, tricks

I’m going to share an idea with you today, which will help you get far better results from your website. It’s a subtle change, yet it can have a massive positive impact on your sales.

The SEO challenge

There has always been a problem with search engine optimization (SEO). It’s to do with that word: optimization. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, optimize comes from the Latin optimus, which means  best.

The challenge comes when you want your site to be best for search engines AND best for people. When you want your site to put search engines first, and simultaneously put people first.

By default, most small business websites focus on making their SEO as powerful at attracting search traffic as possible. They then have a common problem. Sure, people will visit their site from search engines, but they attract way, way too few sales or client enquiries.

This happens because you have to optimize differently for search engines, than you do for people. So people arrive on these sites and leave just as fast as they came. Here’s just one important example of how optimizing content for search can ruin your sales results:

  • Search engines value over-long content. The more words the better.
  • People value brevity. The fewer words the better. They want you to get to the point. People are busy and if they can’t quickly find what they need… you lose them.

Why am I sharing this?

I spoke with 2 business owners last week. They are in different industries, yet they have the exact same problem. They can’t convert web traffic into sales. They needed to know why.

In both cases, their websites were search engine optimized and the reading experience was poor. Long, rambling pages and constant repetition of keywords and key phrases, to keep Google happy. They were attracting traffic, but dangerously few sales.

In each instance, I recommended a subtle shift in their SEO strategy.

Keep the search engines happy, but optimize for people

There’s a balance you can strike, which works beautifully.

Make your website search engine friendly, but optimize your content for people.

Make sure your website uses good, clean code. And use alt tags, title tags and meta tags, etc, correctly. Install a powerful SEO plugin, so you can present an SEO friendly version of your site to search engines. I use and recommend Yoast’s SEO Plugin for WordPress.

But make your site a people first experience.

Write with your prospective customer at the front of your mind. Give them what they need. Use words that will convert them from readers into customers.

There’s another huge benefit to this approach

When you get the balance right, not only will you attract traffic from search engines, and convert more of that traffic into sales… you’ll also find more people share your website with their friends.

Why?

Because you put them first.

You wrote with them in mind.

And when people find a website that truly talks to them and their needs, it forms a connection. The kind of connection that inspires trust. Only when people trust you, will they buy from you or recommend you.

3 Proven ways to attract massively more customers

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attract sales leads, attract clients

If you want to attract far more sales leads or client enquiries than ever before, today’s message is for you.

I’m going to share the 3 main reasons why sales leads dry up. More importantly, I’m going to give you some ideas, tips and recommendations on how to put things right.

So, let’s get March 2017 off to a flying start.

How to open the floodgates

When sales or client enquiries slow down, there’s always a reason. This is good news. Because once you identify the reason and put things right, the sales and enquiries come flooding in.

Since starting my marketing business in 1995, I have seen the same 3 causes of this problem repeated over and over again. Here they are, along with some ideas on how to open the floodgates!

1. The marketing message you’re using isn’t good enough

In which case, you need to create a more motivating message. You need to start by making sure your service is as valuable as possible. Then communicate that value to your marketplace with crystal clarity.

Tip: I want to help you avoid a common mistake here. Spend some time reviewing the guarantees, promises and range of services offered by your competitors.

Why?

Because without knowing what you are competing against, you don’t know how compelling your guarantees, promises and range of services are to a prospective client.

It’s possible that competitors have copied your U.S.P. Or perhaps something that was rare or unique when you first offered it, is now commonplace.

It’s also possible that competitors have “upped their game” and you need to improve your service accordingly, to regain a competitive advantage.

You need to know. Then you can adjust and stand out from the crowd again.

Tip: A cornerstone of successful marketing, is to have expertly written, motivating copy. It’s not enough to offer an outstanding service, if you’re failing to get that message across powerfully. You need marketing messages, which inspires people to buy from you or compels them to hire you.

Relax. You don’t have to do a thing with this one. I can do it all for you.

2. The message is fine, but you’re not reaching enough new prospective customers with it

In which case, you need to find a more effective way to reach them. The best advice I can give you when it comes to reaching your prospective clients is this: Be where their attention is.

  • What do they read?
  • Where do they go?
  • Who do they listen to?
  • What do they watch?
  • Whose tribe are they members of?

Find out. Then look for opportunities to reach out and connect with them.

For instance, I built the initial readership of Jim’s Marketing Blog from a newsletter I’d started back in 1998. However, after switching to blogging in 2008, I got my NEW readers from outreach on Twitter. Back then, Twitter had a massive and active community of small business owners – the exact market for my services.

I connected with small business owners on Twitter, then placed useful information on my blog, which I shared on Twitter. It worked. By being where their attention was (Twitter), I was able to build a large blog readership, which has generated regular client enquiries ever since.

Important: Today, Twitter is far less effective as an outreach tool. You’ll get much better results from a Facebook Page, Instagram or Linkedin.

I share lots of tips and ideas, which don’t appear on my blog, over on my Facebook Page. Join me!

Then there’s frequency.

Frequency is extremely important, if you want to reach a growing number of new, prospective customers. You need to make sure you’re getting your message out there often enough.

For example, if you publish blog posts or newsletters, make sure you’re publishing them regularly. If you want to get more leads from your blog, start publishing useful posts at least a couple of times a week. If you use newsletters to reach prospective clients, publish something useful every 10 to 14 days.

Don’t expect an infrequently updated blog or occasional newsletter to be a frequent driver of new sales or client enquiries. Regular contact with your marketplace allows you to be “front of mind”. This is marketing-speak for being the first person or provider they think of.

That’s exactly where you need to be.

Here’s more information on how to be where their attention is.

3. Your clients, former clients and contacts are not sending you enough referrals

In which case, you need to find out why. The answer is almost always connected to the customer experience you provide. Allow me to explain.

A remarkable customer experience gives people a story worth sharing. It gets them talking about you.

Here’s the good news: It’s never been easier for people to recommend you. Plus, their reach has never been larger. There are currently almost 2 billion people on Facebook alone. These people are actively looking for interesting stories (or experiences) to share with their friends.

Our job as business owners, is to provide those share-worthy experiences. They already have the sharing tools. What they need from us is the story! Need help?

Moving forward

If you improve in those 3 key areas, it will transform your business. It has to.

The key is to get moving.

To take action.

So please, don’t just find these ideas interesting. Use them.

Don’t let greedy amateurs get you down

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marketing , help, advice

Martin (not his real name) emailed me with a great question. I promised to answer it here, as it’s a marketing problem that a lot of people struggle with.

He wanted to know why only a tiny fraction of his newsletter subscribers ever hire him. Martin’s an experienced, professional copywriter. It’s important to point out that I looked at Martin’s newsletter and it’s superb. His range of services look compelling too.

He explained: “They grab all my free advice Jim, but lack the decency to even say thanks for the hours I put in. I’m just about ready to quit.”

Martin wanted to know if I have the same problem and how I deal with it. Here’s my answer. I hope you find it useful.

This is exactly as it should be

First things first. This happens to everyone who uses content marketing. And the more successful you become, the more visible the issue becomes. I know the writers behind some of the world’s most successful newsletters and blogs. In every case, it’s only a tiny minority of their readers who hire them, buy from them or thank them.

And that’s EXACTLY as it should be.

Most people who read this message have zero intention of ever hiring me. A tiny percentage will even bother to thank me for the free information I provide to them. The vast majority just grab it. They have no interest in the thousands of dollars I spend every year, to get the “free” advice out there. No thought is given to the fact I help their business. They just take.

And that’s EXACTLY as it should be.

Why? Because it’s what they’re supposed to do! Remember, these people are not the prospective clients I write for.

No.

These are the amateurs. The freebie crowd. Those who lack the entrepreneurial sense to invest in expert help. So they’re attracted to “free stuff” like moths to a flame. (read this)

You can’t use content marketing and not expect to attract them. You can’t ask people to subscribe to a free newsletter (or free anything) and not be inundated with freebie hunters. To think otherwise is naive.

Expect the freebie crowd to arrive. BUT never write for them. I don’t write for the freebie crowd. Neither should Martin. And neither should you.

  • I write for people who take their business seriously.
  • I write for people who are commercially intelligent enough to invest in their businesses.
  • I write for people who have respect for themselves and for others.

To put it another way, I write for professionals. Professionals are the people who show appreciation for your work. They’re the people who hire you. They totally get it.

Where it gets tricky is this: Professionals are ALSO attracted by free stuff. That’s why content marketing is extremely effective, when used correctly.

Content marketing and intent

The key difference between the 2 types of people who consume your content can be summed up in one word. Intent.

  1. When a professional consumes your content, they do so with an open mind to hiring you or buying from you. If they see enough value, they’ll get in touch or make a purchase. These amazing people contact me throughout the day, every day. Sometimes to ask about hiring me. Sometimes to say thanks. Sometimes to tell me how my ideas have helped them overcome a problem.
  2. When an amateur consumes your content, they don’t have that same intent. The amateur sees the free stuff as the end result. It’s the much mentioned entitlement mindset. That’s why they never bother to thank Martin, me or any other content marketer. They believe they’re entitled to it.

Once you understand the intent behind the 2 groups of people who consume your content, everything makes sense. It also frees your mind to focus on generously contributing to the marketplace.

5 Extremely powerful questions to help your business thrive

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marketing, marketing help

Today, I have 5 powerful questions to help you and your business thrive. Each question comes with a suggestion, to point you in the right direction.

1. Are you earning trust by setting self-imposed deadlines?

A great way to build trust is to deliver on a promise.

Think about it: Telling a client that their project will be ready “by the end of the week”, is way less powerful, than telling them it will be ready, “by 9am Thursday”.

Tip: Set deadlines and then deliver. When a client trusts you to deliver on your promises, they are extremely unlikely to seek out another provider. They are also massively more likely to recommend you to their friends. I wrote about this here.

2. Are you taking business advice from a proven expert?

Never take business advice from someone, who hasn’t already achieved what you want to achieve.

For example, avoid marketing consultants who have to attend networking groups, because their own marketing doesn’t generate enough leads. There’s a powerful signal there. Avoid SEO companies, who sell their services via email. It’s a sure sign THEIR OWN SEO isn’t generating enough inbound sales leads. They’re hardly the people to help you.

Tip: Before you take advice from anyone, check their credentials. Unless they can demonstrate that they’ve achieved what you need to achieve, avoid them. This includes free advice online. Incorrect, free advice can prove extremely expensive.

3. Are you attracting daily sales or client enquiries from your website?

If not, you’re needlessly missing out on a wonderful opportunity. My blog generates client enquiries multiple times every day. Your site can be a business generating machine too. However, it needs to have the right strategy behind it. Invest in getting this right or you’re leaving money on the table every day.

Tip: Don’t copy what you see other sites doing. Almost every small and medium sized business blog or website I see, is failing miserably.

4. Are you associating with the right people?

We tend to grow in the same direction as those we associate with. Mix with the wrong people and one day, everything they have will be yours.

Think about that for a moment.

Tip: Get intentional regarding the network of people around you. Choose to associate with those who have either achieved what you want to achieve, or who are committed to the same goals and aspirations as you.

5. Are you learning from past mistakes or repeating them?

For a lot of people reading this, 2017 is already looking a lot like 2016. You deserve better than that!

Tip: If you are facing the same old frustrations, it’s because you’re repeating the same old errors. For better results, you need a better strategy. Find someone with the skills to help you move your business forward. And remember point number 2; only take advice from someone who’s achieved what you want to achieve.

I hope you find these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope something here inspires you to take positive action.

Content Marketing: Here’s why your readers are already your clients

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attract sales leads, attract clients

Thank you for being such a valued client. Yes. I’m talking to you!

Consider this for a moment: A client is someone you provide a service to, who pays you. I provide you with a service (ideas to help you grow your business). And you pay me. You pay me with your attention. That’s why they call it paying attention.

So, I’m the service provider and you’re the client.

What this means to you and your business

I have a question for you. It’s simply this:

How would your newsletter or blog improve, if you already regarded every reader as a client?

Well my friend, for starters, you would treat your content marketing as a top level business activity. You’d also aim to be as valuable to your readers as possible, after all, you want to retain your clients. And you’d strive to be helpful too, because your content marketing would become part of your overall customer service.

Sometimes, a simple change of perspective can lead you to massively better results.

Are you using the right kind of marketing for your business?

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immediate Marketing results, fast marketing results

Many small business owners make the mistake of using the wrong type of marketing for their business.

For example, did you know there is a huge difference between Internet marketing sites and marketing sites? Well, there is. If you’re using ideas from the wrong type of site, you’re wasting your time and your money. As you will see from an example I am about to share, if you get it wrong it will seriously damage your business too.

First, here’s what you need to know about these VERY different types of marketing site.

Internet marketing sites

Internet marketing sites focus on how to make money online and have well-known Internet marketing gurus behind them. Here’s how to spot them: They mainly sell (and show you how to sell), software, online marketing courses, digital products, etc. The BIG get rich quick product right now is online courses.

They usually market their products to you… AND show you how to make money, doing what they do. That’s why there are so many of these sites out there. They are intended for people who want to sell low priced, Internet only products or services.

Marketing sites

Marketing sites, including Jim’s Marketing Blog, are a lot less common. They focus on ideas to help you increase sales and grow a successful business. Most, like my own, don’t cover affiliate marketing or make money online products or services at all.

The wrong type of marketing for an accountant

I was prompted to write about this, after being emailed by a new reader. She’s an accountant, who started her business just over a year ago. She contacted me after a marketing consultant identified why her marketing wasn’t working. She wanted me to share her experience with you, to stop others from making the same expensive mistake.

Here’s an excerpt from her email, published with her permission:

“I read a ton of big name marketing blogs and did what they said; at least the things that seemed to make sense to me. Anyhow I invested over $2000 on a bunch of marketing software, on-line courses and forum memberships. None worked for me. Finally I instructed a local marketing guy to get expert help. He took a look at my website and emails and said “woah!!”

[…] He explained that I had been marketing my service like some nasty affiliate product!!”

She ended up with a site that’s hurting her business and damaging her professional reputation. I took a look at her site and here’s what I saw:

  • Blog comments from affiliate marketers, using SEO loaded keywords instead of their names.
  • Nasty looking ads for 2 affiliate products.
  • Sensationalist blog post headlines, designed to attract drive-by readers.
  • Pinch pages, to sell her services.
  • An automated Twitter account, which she told me is part of a Twitter resharing network.

All in all, she had wasted thousands and done nothing more than make her site look cheap. She’s now in the process of unpicking a year’s worth of damage to her reputation and her business.

Use the right type of marketing for your business

The type of marketing used to sell cheap software, get rich online crap or affiliate products, is totally different from the kind of marketing required to sell your services. The level of trust required to hire a coach, accountant, lawyer, designer, therapist or consultant is huge.

When a service provider wants to attract new, high quality clients, the make money online approach to marketing is not only ineffective, it’s toxic.

Match the marketing you use, to the type of business you want. Unless you sell Internet marketing products or affiliate products, think twice before using ideas from Internet marketing sites.

Success leaves clues

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marketing advice, marketing help

When it comes to marketing, success leaves clues. By following these clues and learning from them, it’s possible to significantly improve your marketing. Allow me to explain.

Consider the following:

  • The last marketing email, which you were motivated to open because it had a powerful subject line.
  • The last marketing email you read, which persuaded you to take action. (To ask for information, pick up the phone, make a purchase, etc.)
  • The last blog post you read, which you were motivated to bookmark, save or share.
  • The last advertisement you saw or heard, which motivated you to make a purchase.
  • The last service you experienced, which impressed you so much that you wanted to tell your friends about it.
  • The last newsletter you received, which you forwarded to your contacts.

How to turn clues into results

Each of those marketing examples motivated you to take action. And they each contain a clue, as to why the marketing worked. To uncover the clue you need to answer this question:

What can I learn from this example of marketing success, which I can adapt and apply to my own marketing?

Next, write your answer down. This is really important, as you don’t want to risk losing your best ideas. Also, by writing your answers down, you’ll start to develop a gold mine of useful marketing notes.

Is this approach as effective as hiring a proven marketing professional? No. Not even close. But if you can’t afford expert help, it’s one way to make better marketing decisions.

P.S: To get you started, here are dozens of proven marketing ideas.

New Year’s resolutions: How to make them work

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marketing blogs, marketing help

You know the story.

  • Your local gym will have 300% more members, because it’s January.
  • Thousands of abandoned blogs will have new posts published, because it’s January.
  • Business owners worldwide will set new targets, because it’s January.

And by March, almost all of these will revert back to their old ways.

That’s because setting a target or goal, simply because it’s January, brings very little motivation. Once January passes the motivation fades. Gyms are emptier, blogs are quieter and business owners slide back into their comfort zones.

However, some will succeed! These are the people who make a resolution to improve… a powerful and highly motivating resolution.

New Year’s Resolution?

The Oxford Dictionary defines resolute as: Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering. When you set yourself a target or goal, with purposeful, determined and unwavering commitment, you succeed.

So, if you want to be one of the magnificent minority, who set and achieve their New Year’s resolutions, don’t set them just because it’s January.

Instead, give yourself some BIG, compelling, inspiring and motivating reasons to achieve your goals. Then resolve to achieve each of them with purposeful, determined and unwavering commitment.

IMPORTANT: Don’t set puny goals. The more exciting your goal is, the greater your motivation to succeed will be. Here’s a short post, which explains how this works. It’s from one of the greatest minds that ever lived: A Goal Setting Tip From The Genius Of Michelangelo.

Once you’ve set and achieved these exciting goals, set some more. Remember, there’s no need to wait until January!

Finally my friend, I wish you and your family, health, happiness and peace in 2017 and beyond.

Content marketing: How to find all the time you need

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content marketing, marketing tips

People often ask me how I manage to write as many articles as I do. They know how regularly I publish on Jim’s Marketing Blog. They also know I write articles on my creative thinking website and wonder how I find the time.

So, here’s my big secret

Are you ready? My big secret is that I don’t watch television. The average person watches between 3 and 5 hours of TV a day. This changes somewhat from country to country. For example, in the United States, people watch an average of 4.3 hours of TV a day.

This means I have an extra 30 hours a week available to me. I use some of that time to write.

The question is, what could you achieve, if you were to give yourself the gift of another 30 hours a week, every week?

How to crush the feast or famine cycle

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marketing help, marketing advice

If your sales results are too erratic or you find yourself in that feast or famine cycle, this post is written just for you.

Most businesses offer products or services, which people are only interested in when they have a problem. If your business provides the answer to a problem, there’s a very good chance you’re using the wrong marketing approach.

I’m going to explain why and also show you how to get it right.

Knowing you before they need you

Coaches, accountants, designers, dentists, trainers, financial professionals, lawyers, translators, consultants, etc., are only sought after, when someone has a requirement.

Here’s the thing: If they already know who you are, before they need you, you are massively more likely to earn their custom, than some provider they have never heard of. For instance, my most recent client had been a subscriber of mine for months, before hiring me.

I once heard Mercedes’ head of advertising say, that if Mercedes focused on showing people advertisements, the week before they were about to buy a new car, it wouldn’t work. So, Mercedes focus on getting their marketing messages in front of us when we’re kids. Then, when we’re 35 and are thinking of buying our first luxury car, we think of Mercedes.

Whilst that approach is too long-term for most small businesses to consider, the advice is sound. It’s all about the client or customer knowing who we are, before they need us.

Switch from short-term gambits to a long-term strategy

Make marketing an ongoing part of your business, not something you do when you lose a client or when sales are down. Remain relevant to your marketplace. Stay in their mind (sometimes called ‘front of mind’). Keep earning their attention, through strategic, useful, permission-based marketing.

In a nutshell: If you want great, long-term results, you need to make great, long-term plans.

10 Things to start today, which your future self will thank you for

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Here they are in no particular order.

  1. Dream bigger dreams. Big, inspirational dreams are far more motivating than puny goals.
  2. Get into the habit of walking daily for 30 minutes. It will improve your life in so many ways. This Stanford study agrees.
  3. Too busy for a 30 minute walk? Get serious about solving your time management problem. This will help you.
  4. Focus on what you want. Not what you fear.
  5. Stop aiming for perfection. Instead, strive to be better than you were yesterday.
  6. Look for opportunities to step up and lead. Your marketplace desperately needs leaders.
  7. It isn’t the 1980’s — So, instead of focusing on closing sales, focus on opening relationships.
  8. Start a blog or a newsletter. If you already have a blog or newsletter, start taking it seriously. Here’s how to become an overnight blogging success.
  9. Avoid toxic influences. Everyone and everything you connect with has an impact on you. Choose wisely.
  10. Stop waiting for things to improve. Instead, plan for improvement, then work the plan.

I hope you found those suggestions useful. More importantly my friend, I hope you do something with them.

Attract sales, leads and new clients

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marketing blogs, marketing help

If you want to attract more clients, sales or sales leads, you’ll LOVE today’s article.

I need to start by sharing one of the cornerstones of great marketing. It’s simply this: Focus on your prospective clients and their needs, rather than your own needs.

Some call it paying it forward.

Others call it contribution.

You can call it whatever you like, but it’s the same thing. Focusing your efforts on the other person and not on yourself.

Why?

Bring the marketplace your seed, not your need

I live in a rural village. It’s coming to the end of harvest time. Ask a farmer about the harvest and she’ll tell you this: If you want a bountiful harvest, you need to bring your seeds to the soil. Not your needs. You can tell the soil how much you need a great harvest. You can pester the soil for months with selfish requests… and nothing productive will happen.

The marketplace is very similar. It doesn’t give a shit about what you need!

This is why pestering people for leads at networking groups is such a soul-destroying waste of your time. It just makes you look needy. The same is true of sending strangers marketing emails they never asked for. Ditto, posting needy marketing messages on social networks. All of these are super-low leverage and reflect poorly on you and your brand.

That’s what self-focused marketing looks like. You see it every day. And it has never been less effective.

Here’s a way better alternative for you to consider.

Attract sales, leads and clients

The thing is, you don’t need to pester anyone. Your prospective clients present you with an opportunity to plant as many seeds of contribution as you want to. [Think about that for a moment.]

For example, I reach tens (and tens) of thousands of prospective clients daily, by giving away as much useful information as I can via my blog and social networking channels. Without pestering anyone, I generate sales, leads and enquiries from new clients every day.

However, to earn that privilege I have to consistently focus on you. I have to uncover your needs, so I can deliver valuable, free information that will be of use to you and your business.

The bottom line is that the process of giving and receiving, starts with the giving part. If you want to receive more, give more. They say: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

So start today

Give value, not pitches.

Be useful, not annoying.

Offer help, not deals.

Attract attention, not scorn.

Repeat tomorrow.

So, are you building a tribe or writing drive-by content?

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marketing tips

Why do the vast majority of small business owners see such poor results from their content marketing? Why isn’t it attracting sales or new client enquiries every day?

The answer is that almost every small business is making the same mistake. And this mistake makes it impossible for them to succeed.

Here’s what you need to know, in order to get the best possible results.

Content marketing and leaky buckets

The problem with trying to fill a bucket, which has a big hole in the bottom, is that the water flows out just as fast as it flows in. It’s a never ending task, unless you get a new bucket or fix the hole.

Most content marketing advice, including that written by many so-called experts, is based around the idea of treating your content marketing, like a bucket with a hole.

  • It’s about attracting drive-by readers with ‘killer’ headlines.
  • It’s about churning stuff out, rather than publishing useful information.
  • It’s about using a cookie-cutter approach, like hundreds of thousands of others, which makes you and your content invisible.
  • It’s about SEOing your thoughts, rather than expressing your thoughts.

Seth Godin said it extremely well:

“The copywriter/editor who trades in meaning for lists, using calculated SEO keyword loading and sensationalism designed to attract the drive-by audience, earns the privilege of doing it again and again, forever.”

It’s like trying to fill that broken bucket. It’s also the total opposite of growing a tribe.

They drive by

The thing about drive-by readers, is that they drive by. They are attracted to hyped up headlines and quickly go from one, “The growing trend that will scare the crap out of business owners everywhere”, article to the next.

If your content marketing is based around chasing them, you’re making life way too hard for yourself.

Grow a valuable reader community

To grow a great community or tribe around your work, you need to attract the right people, retain their attention and earn their trust.

This means showing up regularly with useful information, rather than sensationalist, predictable content for the drive-by crowd.

It means avoiding so-called content marketing systems or anything, which claims to be a one-size-fits-all “solution“. All that junk will do is make your content marketing invisible. It will leave your content camouflaged, amongst the hundreds of thousands of others using the same cookie-cutter approach.

Instead, focus on building deeper connections with people who will value your work, share your work, call you, email you, hire you or buy from you.

Anything less is a waste of your time and will stop you benefiting from the amazing opportunity, which could be yours if you use content marketing correctly.

Don’t let the robots kick your ass

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marketing blogs, content marketing

If you’re currently churning out content, as part of your marketing mix, you’ll soon be in big trouble.

On Friday, the Guardian newspaper reported on a piece of software, which is capable of writing articles.

The end result reads like most of the content marketing out there. Somewhat dull. However, it scores way better than the average content marketer, when it comes to quantity.

From the Guardian’s article: “Founder Robbie Allen describes the program as a “natural language generation platform” which can be used to churn out data-driven articles faster than even the most nimble-fingered hack. […] Last year the company produced more than 1.5 billion pieces of content.“

You can’t outperform content software, when it comes to quantity.

You can outperform content software, when it comes to quality. You can also beat the snot out of software when it comes to storytelling, when it comes to emotion and when it comes to passion and meaning.

So, play to your strengths. Create stories. Be human. Connect with the community you serve. That way, you win. And you’ll keep on winning too.

How to grow your list in 3 steps

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content

If you write a newsletter or blog and your “list” is growing too slowly, this post is for you.

Toxic advice online

The Internet is packed with bad advice on how to improve the success of your newsletter or blog. So-called content marketing experts focus on things like; the best time to publish your work, how long your articles or posts should be and what kind of images you should use, how to SEO your work, etc.

These generic tips offer the reader no meaningful value. NOTHING that will resolve the actual problem. The reason no one reads Bob’s blog posts or Barbara’s newsletter, is not because they are published on the wrong day or at the wrong time, are the wrong length or lack the right images or SEO.

No.

The reason no one reads their work, is that it offers nothing new. It’s lacking in value. So, when people find it, they are not motivated to return or share what they have found. That type of blog or newsletter will never build an audience.

The actual solution?

It’s as easy and as hard as this:

  1. Have something worth saying and say it well. (In other words, provide massively valuable information and write it in a way that inspires your readers.)
  2. Put it where people can see it.
  3. Make it easy for them to share.

If you do that, your audience will grow. First, just 5 people will read it, but that’s fine. Why? Because they will love what you had to say, then share it with their friends.

Some of their friends will value what you have written and they too will share it.

Repeat…

To keep that process rolling and your readership growing, you need to focus on regularly having something to say, which people will value and share. This means learning how to write and having the courage to say it in your own unique voice.

So rich. So strange. So new.

I was prompted to share this with you today, after listening to a recording of the great Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. Before Thomas took to the stage to share his brilliance with a packed, New York audience, he was introduced to the crowd.

The MC then described Thomas’ poetry as: “So rich. So strange. So new”. You can listen to the MC here. [It’s just 10 seconds into the audio].

And it was. No one wrote like Thomas. He had something worth saying. He shared it with, initially, very small crowds. These small crowds of people then told their friends how amazing his poetry was. The media then discovered Thomas’ work and he became a worldwide success, whose work is celebrated today, more than 60 years after his passing.

Dylan Thomas didn’t succeed because he only wrote works that were a certain length.

He didn’t succeed because he only performed or published on certain days.

No.

He succeeded because his work was too good to ignore. Too good not to share.

Stop using buzzwords in your marketing. Seriously. Stop it

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stop, buzzwords, bullshit

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

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marketing blogs, content marketing

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:

  1. They think it’s OK to allow poor quality work (design) to represent them and their values.
  2. 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!

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marketing blogs, content marketing

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?

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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

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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:

  1. Some of them struggle to find things to write about. They need ideas or inspiration.
  2. Others know what they want to write about, but find it hard to get their thoughts on the page.
  3. 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.