In the world of business, I am sure there is not a Universal List of Marketing Laws; but I do have a list and for me many of these “laws” are actually myths.
One of the biggest myths is that marketing “gets” you clients. Wait a minute, you say. Isn’t that what marketing is for, getting you clients. Ah, I see you have bought into the law/myth. Perhaps this myth that Marketing “gets” you clients is actually #1 on your list.
Even though I train many people how to present well on video, I have not been using it as much as I know I could on social media platforms. This got me thinking and I began to research the answer to this question, “Exactly how important is video in social media today?” Some would say, “it’s absolutely everything”, and many have built successful social media marketing campaigns solely around video.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. The most important part of your blog post is your title. How well you write, how well-researched your content is, or how pretty your images are means nothing if you can’t get readers to click through and start reading your post. And the single most important thing when it comes to getting readers’ attention is your blog post title.
It’s also the most important on-page factor when it comes to SEO. So if you’re hoping for lots of free traffic from Google and all your favorite social media sites, you need to get good at crafting great blog post titles.
The key with great blog post titles is to strive for a balance between a title the search engines will like and one that your readers will find interesting and engaging enough to make them want to click on it. To get that balance just right, start with a keyword or key phrase that you want to rank for in the search engines.
Open up your favorite keyword research tool – like the Google Keyword Planner for example – and play around with it until you come up with the keyword or key phrase you want to rank for.
For the sake of illustration let’s say our keyword example is “best blog hosts” and the post will be a review of five of the best hosting companies for WordPress blogs. “best blog hosts” is the keyword we want to rank for in this example.
Now that we have the keyword, it’s time to make it interesting for our readers. There are plenty of different ways to turn our example keyword into an interesting blog post title. Here are a few ideas:
Do you see how this works? Start with the keyword and then try to think about why your readers would be looking for this information. Focus on what’s in it for them by sharing content that will help them out.
Last but not least stay authentic and stick with your own style. This is particularly important if you’re an established blogger. Don’t just copy and paste the blog post titles above. They may not reflect the style and tone of voice of your blog posts. In other words, they may not be you. Balance the need of the search engines to easily find what your content is about and the need to keep things interesting for your readers, with your own voice.
You may find it helpful to write a few different blog post titles down and then chose the one that resonates most with you (and hopefully with your readers). If you do this, you won’t need to resort to a cute baby smiling to get people to read your post. Love to see what titles you come up with.
No matter what kind of company you have, you need to be blogging. Even if you don’t consider yourself a writer or blogger, it’s essential because your business blog offers another touch point with your customers and It’s easier to do than you think.
Here are 5 reasons why you should blog:
Like social media, your blog gives you a chance to connect with your current and potential customers on a more personal level. While your website is a static page that simply tells them about your business, your blog is interactive. It’s a way to start a dialog where they can leave comments and get to know you better. Your blog gives your business a human face. Make sure that you use it as a way to humanize your business. In order to connect with your readers, be active and reply to each comment they leave.
One of the best things about a business blog is that it gives you an opportunity to establish your expertise and build your reputation. You can blog about things you know. For example, if you’re a law firm, blog about simple legal questions people have. If you’re a cleaning company, share some easy house cleaning tips. Your blog shows your website visitors what you know and this engenders trust in your business. People like to do business with people they know, like and trust.
Blogging offers a much more effective and lower cost way to promote your business than other methods. If you want to place advertisements on other sites, this costs a bit of money. Other costly methods don’t make the same kind of impact that a blog written by you does. You also get information on your target market through their reading behavior and comments. Thus you know what problems they are looking to solve and you can offer them the right solution. When you are coming from a place of serving your customers and helping them, they will come back for more information.
Adding a blog to your static website is a great way to attract traffic from search engines. The search engines favor sites that have fresh, updated content. If you write just one blog post per week, you’ll see more searches coming your way, especially if you choose a few good keywords for each post. Write two or three blog posts a week and you’ll really see your traffic climb. If you are making these posts relevant to your audience, you will also see more comments and these also act as fresh content in the eyes of the search engines.
Through your blog, you can tell your customers about your products and services. Let them know about discounts, special offers, new inventory items and offline events that you’re participating in. You can also add a feed to your social media sites so that every blog post shows up there as well.
Now, if writing gives you a case of the willies, don’t despair. Blogging isn’t like writing the Great American Novel. Focus on the wants, needs, interests and questions of your customers. Write short, conversational posts as if you’re speaking directly to them. Pick something related to your business and share your expertise with them. Your business blog doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel; it just needs to be helpful and engaging.
If you would like help getting started or just need more ideas, you can download my e-book “Blogging Brainstorming” at www.blogadaychallenge.com. This is the first of a 10 article series on Business blogging to help you thrive as a business blogger. Look for my next article, “Where to Start with Your Business Blog” tomorrow.
Thought I would do something fun for today, the 23rd of the month. Here are some reasons why 23 is the greatest number of all time as stated by www.urbandictionary.com I changed # 8 to It is Tennis Day because that is important to me (see my blog post on “Why I am addicted to Professional Tennis”) and #12 because, come on, we all need to celebrate International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. Enjoy!
1. a prime number, as are 2 and 3.
2. Michael Jordan’s number.
3. the NBA record for most consecutive points scored by a single player in a game, done by none other than Michael Jordan.
4. the number of chromosomes in a human sperm or egg.
5. the angle between the earth’s magnetic and rotational axis.
6. the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees N Latitude.
7. the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 degrees S Latitude.
8. Tennis Day
9. the most quoted Psalm in the bible (“The Lord is my shepherd…”
10. the number of people executed in “A Tale of Two Cities”
11. the smallest number of people for which there is at least a 50% chance that two will share the same birthday.
12. International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
13. one of the “Lost” numbers on the television show….also the sum of two of the other numbers (8 & 15)and the solution to 42-15-4=23, all of which are also Lost numbers.
14. the number of times Caesar was stabbed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
15. has been prominently featured in the following: Serendipity, Futurama, Star Wars A New Hope, Monty Python The Life of Brian, Seinfeld, The Big Lebowski, The Matrix Reloaded, and Die Hard III among MANY MANY other movies.
16. the number of flavors Dr. Pepper claims to be a blend of.
17. the number of distinct orientations of Tetris pieces.
18. the sum of U2, the greatest band ever. U is the 21st letter of the alphabet.
19. the number of letters in the latin alphabet.
20. the number of the Illuminati.
21. the letter W in the english alphabet, a letter with 2 points down and 3 points up.
22. the smallest number of integer sided boxes that tile a box such that no two boxes share a common length.
23. the only US president to serve between nonconsecutive terms of another president (23rd president Benjamin Harrison serving between Grover Cleveland’s terms).
I love Sundays as they are a time to spend with family, a time for self-reflection, a time to review the past week and plan for the upcoming week.
Getting people to visit your blog is essential to building a following. Of course, to get traffic to your blog you first need to write great content. Once you’ve got the content, focus on promotion. Here are a few ways to promote your blog.
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest can help drive traffic to your blog. You may already have accounts with social media sites. You’ll want to consider whether you should create a separate account for your blog.
If you want to keep your personal and professional life separate, it is a good idea. However, if your personality is your blog, then your social media accounts should be under your personal name.
You can use your social media page to interact with others who are interested in your topic and to drive traffic to your blog. In addition to interacting, sharing, and commenting on relevant information, you can share snippets from your blog and link to your posts. This will help drive readers to your blog and help you develop a following.
What keywords do you think people will use to find your information? For example, if you’re blogging about nutrition then someone might search “how to eat right or what should I eat to be healthy.” If you have posts on that topic, with those keywords, your blog will show up in their search results.
You can identify potential keywords in a number of ways. One is to pay attention to trending topics and hashtags on social media. What keywords and hashtags are people using? You can also use keyword tools like Google’s Keyword Tool, https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner.
Use keywords in your blog posts and your title where they logically fit. Don’t try to pack your posts with keywords, it doesn’t work and can backfire on you. And you always want to write quality content – focus on your readers first.
Great blog post headlines entice people to open your posts. They’ll share, link to them, and like them perhaps before even reading all of the content. Great headlines often pique curiosity or they evoke an emotion.
Study the headlines that you click on. Ask yourself why you clicked on it. What attracted your attention to the headline? Also, think about what your audience might be interested in. And finally, pay attention to the headlines that your readers respond to.
Consider seeking guest blogging opportunities. As a guest blogger, you’ll write and publish content for other bloggers. You gain a new audience and the opportunity to promote your own blog. Make sure that you’re posting on blogs that are relevant to your blog topics.
For example, if you’re blogging about fitness then you might guest blog on a sports nutrition website. You want the audience to be people who may be interested in your blog and you want to add value to the blogger whose site it is.
Spend time surfing the web and find other bloggers who are relevant to your own audience. Start commenting on their blogs. Begin developing a relationship with relevant bloggers and provide thoughtful comments. Generally speaking, comments will attract attention from other commenters and blog readers. You can generate traffic, and opportunities, when you interact with other bloggers.
Once you have people coming to your blog, you are in a position to begin profiting from their visits. As a blogger, there are many ways to profit. They include, but aren’t limited to:
For any of these models to be effective, you need to create a community of followers who get value from what you write about. You want your visitors to come back to your blog again and again.
We will take a look at how to how visitors come back again and again in the next post. Let me know how these tips work for you.
Recently, when I polled my audience about what they procrastinated most about in their business, 40% reported that it was making sales calls. Now, I believe I have a good idea why this occurs and it begins with the lack of a strong foundation.
You see, when someone begins a business, it often is because they had a strong passion about something; whether it is baking, or physical training or any one of the many other small business ideas out there. And in the beginning, there is a passion and excitement that is very effective at getting some customers. The business owner thinks “I am on my way because see how easy it was to get customers.”
But passion about your service or product just gets you so far. Once the business is becoming more established, customers begin to look at you a bit more closely. They want to know that you “get them and their needs” and this is where the foundation needs to be solid or your customer’s will lose confidence in you. This is where the fear of sales calls begins to take hold.
Answering these questions gives you clarity regarding whom you do your best work with and what you do for them. Knowing this also gives you confidence and language with which to start a conversation with your ideal clients.
And the best sales calls are those that sound like a conversation. And suddenly the phone won’t seem so intimidating.
So go out and engage your ideal clients in sales conversations; after all no business can grow without selling something.
Recently I posted a poll asking business owners what areas of their business they most procrastinate in and 50% of you answered that videos was the area you most avoided. Now, we know that videos are a really powerful way to connect with your audience. It takes a bit of time and practice to master video marketing, but it’s not hard to do at all. Along the way, you’ll make mistakes that serve as learning experiences but these mistakes can also slow you down. Here are some common mistakes people often make when they get started with video marketing. Learn from these so that you can avoid them and speed up your learning curve.
With so much going on in our lives, the ability to get more done easier and in less time is priceless. Here are 7 quick tips to how to concentrate with greater ease.
Hobbyists know the pleasures of intense focus. The hours go by like minutes. Some call this flow and starts with desire. For each task, find something you really like about it and focus on that component. This will allow you to complete the task quicker and with more joy. Practice will make allow you to get to a state of intense focus easier.
If you’re hungry, have a healthy snack before beginning the task.
By the time you notice you are thirsty, your brain is already dehydrated. Keep water handy and drink it throughout the day.
Some people need quiet to focus. Others need background hum. Experiment to discover your best setting, soft music or rock or white noise. Use this to help you concentrate on the task at hand. Remember that music can give you energy so if you are finding yourself needing a boost, play some music. Emotion is Energy in Motion so you can adjust yours.
These minor, distracting thoughts are called “niggles” and are the thoughts that hang out at the back of your mind. Jot down distressing thoughts that cross your mind so that you can worry about them later, if you must. Getting them out of your mind will lessen the effect they have on your ability to get things done.
The ability to concentrate is not dependent on IQ or natural aptitude. It’s a muscle strengthened by practice. Track the length of time that you can pay attention, and extend it a little bit each day.
Spotters in search planes are switched frequently. After a while, it’s impossible to keep the mind and eyes sufficiently focused. Give yourself breaks. Stand up and stretch, do a different activity, or go and play as a well-earned reward.
And when you are done with your task, celebrate! Success breeds more success so create mini-wins and you will be getting more things off your plate in no time flat.