Today something amazing is happening – thousands of websites from all around the country are taking place in a massive blackout to raise awareness about two pieces of legislation that could change the Internet, and our lives, forever. Twenty-five years ago it was hard to imagine have access to any information that you like from the comfort of your home. As a dedicated library nerd, the Internet was like a dream come true. It introduced me to my husband (and therefore created my kids). It’s given me an incredible career working with other passionate small business owners from across the globe. For all it’s faults (vain social media updates, useless humor sites and ass hat make money online marketers to name a few), the Internet is an incredible phenomenon that has changed the way we interact with information, with one another and the world.

That’s why it’s so incredible that websites are taking a stance on these bills that would severely limit the access we have to information. Information empowers. Information connects. And if these bills pass, our ability to do both will be severely limited. I do not think it is a surprise that these bills were presented and are being debated hot on the heels of the nationwide and worldwide uprising of the Occupy protesters – most of whom have been connected with one another via the Internet.

But despite your political leanings, if you’re reading this blog, chances are you have a business that is at least partially run online. Here’s some essential reading of the implications of these bills for your business.

• What Is SOPA? Startup Offers One-on-One Tutorials (mashable.com)
• SOPA and PIPA, What it Means for Small Business (scrappyface.com)
• End Piracy, Not Liberty (google.com – with a petition to contact Congress)
• Internet Blackout of the Day (thedailywh.at)
• SOPA’s Kind of Like That (WeForgotOurName)

I’ve signed the petition – have you?

When you take on the role of becoming a publisher for your business and a source of information in your industry, your options are wide open. You can create a series of videos. You can publish blog posts regularly. You can develop infographics. The list goes on and on.

The sheer number of choices can make content marketing intimidating. Some companies may just push it aside and think “well get to it someday” and then concentrate on other forms of marketing that are less effective and more costly.

I’ve got some bad news for you if you fall into that category. Someday has arrived. Your customers are looking for information. They want to work with a company that has expertise. They are reading more about the topic online before making a purchase. If you’re there at every stage of the sales cycle, you’re going to be the one they turn to when they are ready to purchase.

Rather than try to do everything at once with content marketing, focusing on just a few key content pieces will get you the best results. Here are three pieces to use now to start claiming your stake in content marketing and getting more prospects and sales for your business.

Target your content marketing with these three pieces.

1. Blog Posts

Blog posts are the starting point for a solid content marketing plan. They feed the needs of both your audience and search engines. Blog posts give you the opportunity to give your audience actionable, helpful information that will assist them with their goals related to your product or service. For example, if you’re an email marketing company you’ll publish blog posts on getting the most out of email marketing, using web marketing techniques and connecting with your audience via email. If you’re a dog breeder, you’ll blog about selecting the right dog for your family, how to raise a puppy correctly and how to train your dog. Blog posts like these are helpful, interesting and show your audience that you’re an expert at what you do.

Furthermore, blog posts are very search friendly. They keep your website fresh and up to date – which search engines love. In addition, you can optimize blog posts for specific terms that will boost your rankings and give a bigger presence in search engine results. And the cherry on top? Blog posts are very shareable. Social media users and content curators are looking for fresh and interesting information to share. By publishing a blog, you’re increasing the chances of getting social media traffic as well.

2. White papers.

White papers give you a chance to explore a topic in depth in a way that is just not possible with blog posts. White papers are a content marketing goldmine. They provide you with the opportunity to display your expertise and be truly helpful to your target audience. It’s one thing to tweet about a topic and it’s another to create a 10 page guide to a specific aspect of that topic.

White papers give you the ability to take a stand, which is essential if you want to stand out in the marketplace. The helpful and detailed information that you offer in your white paper can make an impact with your readers. In addition, you’ll have the perfect tool to use email marketing and build an opt in list of prospects. Offer your white paper in exchange for the email address and name of website visitors. And don’t forget to promote your white paper on social media once it’s been released.

3. Newsletters

Once you’ve grown your list with a white paper, you need to keep your audience engaged. A regular newsletter is a perfect way to do that. Whether you publish weekly, biweekly or monthly, a consistent newsletter will build your relationship with your  prospects and help you turn website visitors into loyal buyers. Email marketing can support your social media and blogging efforts as well.

A newsletter takes your relationship with your audience to the next step. It’s less transient than social media. With email marketing, you’re reaching your audience right where they’ll pay the most attention – their inboxes. Regular newsletters give you the opportunity to share your blog content, offer additional insight and let your prospects know that you are there to help.

Using blog posts, white papers and newsletters you can develop a consistent and effective content marketing plan that will build your brand, create more leads and help your business thrive.

Image credit: cliff1066

Picture this: you’ve just bought your first home but there are a few problems. The kitchen counter isn’t quite how you’d like it. The bathroom hasn’t been updated since 1985. The spare bedroom is painted in a puke green. In order to get your house where you want it to be, you need to spend some money at Lowe’s and some time in your work jeans making things just right.

Facing a content marketing plan is a lot like renovating your home. There is a lot to be done but you know once you get both feet wet you’ll be a lot better off. Starting and implementing a content marketing plan can’t be done overnight, just like home improvement. You need a plan with clear intentions in order to get either project done.

Intentions are essential for success with content marketing. They give you and your copywriter a clear goal to shoot for. They help define what type of content will be produced, where it should be published and how to measure it’s effectiveness.

If you’re not sure what your intentions are for content marketing, here is a simple step by step process that you can use to make your life (and your copywriter’s) a heck of a lot easier.

1. What do you want to accomplish?

Content marketing can help you increase leads, convert those leads, develop better relationships with your current customers, reach out to new potential partners, upsell customers and a variety of other business related goals. But one piece of content isn’t going to do all of that.

Each piece of content in your content marketing plan has a specific job. A web page that is designed to attract new leads isn’t going to be written the same as a web page that is for current customers.

Before you hire a copywriter and implement your content marketing plan, you need to get specific about your goal. What do you want to accomplish with this current investment in content? What is your biggest goal for your business? Like home renovation, content marketing is never done. There are always more blog posts to create, new resources to collect and website updates that need to be made. Instead of focusing on all of these goals at once, you need to get clear about what you want to accomplish with this specific content marketing project.

2. What type of content will accomplish that goal?

You could paint your ceiling with a makeup brush, a 2 X 5 sponge brush or a paint roller. All of them will get the job done – but the roller is going to take less time and be effective. Your goals for content marketing will determine what type of content you’ll use.

Need to spread your idea like a virus? A video or infographic will do the trick.

Want to increase customer loyalty? Try using a insider’s guide white paper or delivering great content via email.

Using the right kind of content for the job will help you eliminate the overwhelm of “What do I publish?” and zero in on the technique that will work best.

3. How will you measure success for your goal?

When you’re doing home renovation, you have a specific end point in mind. You’ll know when the kitchen has been completely remodeled (and then you’ll likely move on to the bathroom or rip up the carpet – it never ends!). But with your content marketing, the end point can be kind of fuzzy if you don’t carefully define your goals.

Having clear intentions naturally leads to clear end points. It’s not clear enough to say “I want to increase my traffic.” You need to look at your traffic stats and give your goal a number. “We want to increase traffic by 50% in 3 months” or “I want to get 75 opt ins to my free report in this month.” Knowing the measurement for success will also help your copywriter put together the right positioning and call to action for your content. Trust me…your results will be a heck of a lot better.

If you’re just getting started with content marketing or want to use it more in the coming year, get clear. Clarity will bring definition, organization and better results to any content you use to market your business.

Is small business seo important? Consider this – did you know that online searchers are more likely to click on organic listings than paid ads? Study after study shows that the top three listings for any given keyword get the most traffic. That’s why it pays to spend time and money improving your small business SEO. With a targeted SEO strategy that includes seo content writing, you can boost your website’s rankings and start getting more relevant traffic to your site.

Unfortunately, the SEO industry is chock full of half truths and outright lies about what SEO is, how it works and how an agency can help you. As web copywriters, we often get referrals from SEO agencies who want to integrate content into their offerings. Most of these arrangements work out just fine, but a few times it’s been clear that these clients were being led down the wrong path.

As a small business SEO buyer, what can you do to protect yourself? It all comes down to education. The more you know about the SEO process, the better you’ll be able to spot a scam SEO company. The same goes for managing SEO in house. You need to know the most common SEO mistakes so you can avoid them.

1 – Misunderstanding the SEO Equation

This is one of the most common SEO mistakes, and more often than not it’s caused by SEO service providers. While I would love to tell you that SEO content and SEO content alone will get you ranked, that’s just not the case. I might sell more web copywriting packages but it wouldn’t do my clients any favors. Although there are several components that go into the algorithm that search engines use, you need to have the basics covered – on page and off page. Your site content needs to be optimized for your keywords and you also need to have links coming into your site with those keywords. Any SEO company that tries to emphasize one over the other is doing you a disservice. And if you’re doing SEO in house, be sure to balance your on page optimization with off page backlink building.

2 – Keyword Overkill

Too many keywords is just as bad as not enough. Businesses that have attempted to do their own small business SEO copy normally have sites that reflect their keywords but not the message that they are trying to convey. A sentence stuffed with three or four keyword variations is not going to appeal to your reader. This seo mistake can hurt your bounce rate, damage your online reputation and make you wonder if SEO is really worth it. Use keywords frequently and naturally, but don’t go overboard. A qualified SEO company will be able to spot right away if you’ve made this mistake. If they encourage keyword stuffing, or return SEO content that doesn’t read well ask for a refund. For in house SEO management, read your content outloud before you post it to be sure you’re not making SEO mistakes.

3 – Building the Wrong Backlinks

Not all backlinks are created equally! Building backlinks to quickly or from the wrong sources is one of the most common SEO mistakes. If you’re hiring a reputable SEO company, they should be able to tell you where your backlinks are coming from and ensure that they will give your SEO a boost rather than drag you down. The old principle like attracts like is applicable with link building. If you’re getting backlinks from sites that have been labeled as SPAM by the search engines, you’re more likely to get the same label. Your SEO company should be looking for links from related and trustworthy sites. The same goes for your in house SEO efforts. Build your backlinks wisely and you won’t have to worry about being dinged for their bad behavior.

Content without an audience is just like that old Zen proverb about a tree falling in a forest – if no one is reading it does it really make an impact? Your content marketing strategy should include a variety of publication and promotion steps that will increase your exposure, get your audience involved and boost the success of your content.
You’ve probably got the basics of social media promotion down. But did you know that there is a lot that you can do set the stage to make it easier to promote your best content and increase your success with social media?

Here are three keys that you can use in your content creation process to make it simple to highlight your best content with social media:

1. Use the social web to spark ideas for great content.

As you delve into content creation, you’ll find yourself asking “What is it that my ideal clients really want to read?” Thanks to social media, you don’t have to wonder anymore. You can provide content based on the needs of your market by simply looking at what they are asking about on social media.

When I’m on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIN, I keep my eyes peeled for questions related to my field or my clients’ fields. I copy them to Evernote and then it becomes simple to create a content plan each month. Best of all, this content plan is based on real world needs and not just guesses.

2. Set the stage with consistent involvement.

Let’s pretend that social media is a community. As a member of that community, are you more likely to listen to your neighbor that you see each day and wave to across the street, or a random stranger walking through the center of town yelling? Unfortunately, many small businesses play the “crazy person” role in their social media communities.

Your social media content –whether it’s your own or someone else’s – will get a lot more traction if you’ve been part of the conversation before. That’s why an essential part of content marketing strategy is curation – finding helpful information created by others that your audience will find interesting. It can help bridge the gap between your content production schedule and your need to share on social media frequently.

3. Cultivate a personality.

Small businesses tend to think in “we” instead of “I.” I’ve had to admit, making the switch from being a freelance copywriter to having a team of content creators has been a bit shaky because there’s a need to represent a “we” while still keeping the “I” and the personality in my content.

As a small business on social media, you’ll face the same challenge. Just because your Twitter ID and blog are under a company name, doesn’t mean that you need to be bland and boring. When you cultivate a personality and infuse your content and updates with a specific voice, you’ll find it easier to get attention for your best content. Need some examples? Follow @scrappy_face on Twitter. This small business marketing firm has done a terrific job of being personal (and professional) under a business moniker.

When you set the stage for social sharing, your content marketing plan becomes a lot more effective. Are you using these three keys? Which one are you using best?

I’m so honored to be featured again on SEOCopywriting.com! Check out my guest post on “5 Easy Keys to Small Business Content Marketing” and learn how to make the most of a small budget.

Inbound marketing – I’m sure you’ve heard the term. Popularized by Hubspot, it’s a way to define the customer-centric, content driven marketing model that has become the norm for many businesses. The rapid increase in information and advertising messages has resulted in a general population that is tired of being sold to. With inbound marketing, you lay the groundwork and the process to get customers to come to you, rather than you spending your time, energy and budget pitching at them.

With a focus on education, building a relationship and telling a story, inbound marketing relies heavily on excellent content creation. Through content, your inbound marketing plan can invite website visitors to become part of your story. You can increase your leads and opportunities through a “pulling” your prospects in, rather than “pushing” out your message.

Here are the top 9 ways to use content to support your inbound marketing goals:

1. Website Content

This is the starting point for any successful inbound marketing plan. Your other techniques will bring traffic to your website, but if your website doesn’t build trust and tell a story, all that traffic will be for naught. Work to develop content resources that will help your prospects get passionate about your solutions and want to learn more.

2. Blog posts.

Blogs are the simplest way to support other inbound marketing techniques because they give you fresh content to share and discuss. Maintaining consistency with blogging can be a challenge, but you’ll find the process easier when you establish a plan and get support from trusted outsourcing solutions.

3. Email marketing.

Although sending out email blasts is traditionally an outbound marketing technique, it can help your inbound marketing goals. Rather than only sending email marketing messages when you have something to sell, develop a schedule for sending out informative newsletters with your latest blog posts and other tips. You’ll stay fresh in your potential customer’s minds and develop a profitable relationship.

4. Social media profiles.

No matter what business you are in, it’s very likely that your prospects are using social media. Your profiles are an important place to build trust and communicate your story. The terms you use on your social media profiles and the way that you present yourself can make a difference in your leads.

5. Social media updates.

Build your inbound marketing leads with updates and resources that your target market would find interesting and usable. Social media sites aren’t an invitation to promote yourself. Balance updates about your products or services with social media updates that highlight resources from others.

6. SlideShare presentations.

SlideShare is like the forgotten analog cousin of YouTube. Uploading your last PowerPoint presentation or creating one from scratch can increase your leads – especially for B2B companies.

7. White papers and ebooks.

These long form content pieces can help your company take a stand on an important issue, explain a complex problem, offer a unique solution or discuss industry trends. It’s important to share and inform rather than sell in order to get the most out of these pieces. In addition, you can repurpose the content as a series of blog posts.

8. Teleseminars and webinars.

Expose your business to more prospects by hosting one of these online events. Your content will reach audiences you may not have encountered before, and your presentation can be repurposed on SlideShare or as a series of blog posts.

9. Live presentations.

In the same vein as teleseminars and webinars, live presentations can introduce you to a variety of different prospects. Your presentation should be focused on solving one major problem for your prospects and encourage attendees to check out your website and blog posts.

Image credit: sparr0

Now that Breaking Bad is over for the season, and I’m going through withdrawals, I began to wonder – how did AMC become such a powerhouse for television dramas? It has a past as a storehouse for old classic movies. It’s hard to reconcile that with its current position as network with multiple Emmy wins for original programming.

In the space of just three and a half years, they’ve become the best place to find original dramas. Looking at their history, they showed off three principles that you can learn from in your inbound marketing efforts.

Listen to Your Audience

Although AMC originally started with classic black and white films, they shifted to delivering more current movies when competition increased. In order to stay fresh and relevant to their audience, they expanded their format. They changed their branding and started seeing an increase in viewership and in advertising dollars.

Lesson: Figure out what your audience wants so you can deliver that exactly.

Keep It Quality

Before AMC introduced Mad Men in 2007, their history with original programming had been slim at best. A miniseries there, an ill-fated reality series here. Mad Men was a bit of a gamble. Although there was a great deal of promotion prior to the premiere episode, the critical acclaim was what really built buzz for the show. The quality grew their audience and doubled their viewership between their first and second season premieres. They attracted people to them through quality. Word spread. Facebook friends chatted about the suaveness of Don Draper. Interior design blogs analyzed the details in each scene. Fashion websites showcased the retro style. Sure, they did their fair share of outbound marketing through advertising – but inbound really made the difference.

Lesson: Focus on quality instead of quantity.

Don’t Repeat Yourself

While AMC certainly could have done well with retro era dramas after Mad Men, they decided to keep things fresh. Abandoning their connection to old movies entirely, they began airing Breaking Bad in 2008 which follows the exploits of a terminally ill chemistry teacher who turns to cooking meth. The next blockbuster was The Walking Dead, a post zombie apocalypse survival tale. Having fresh and interesting shows keeps viewers coming back and the Emmys rolling in.

Lesson: Vary up your content to keep your audience coming back for more.

Do you agree? Can television teach us something about excellent inbound marketing considering it’s a primarily outbound medium? And what did you think of the Breaking Bad finale?

Image credit: Wikipedia

Getting your content in front of customers – and even more importantly – shared across the social web means that you need to get really clear about what they want to read. Shareable content that spreads your message, shows off your expertise and brands you as the right choice in your field needs to be tied closely to what your customers want. Finding content marketing topics that are appropriate for your audience and closely related to what they want to read will improve your results.

Stumped for content marketing ideas? Here are five ways to find out what your audience wants to read.

1. Look to your frequently asked questions and customer feedback.

Your customer support department can be a great help with this step. If your company is getting frequent questions about your product or service, these make perfect content marketing topics. Look over recent customer service emails, review notes from incoming calls and find opportunities to turn questions into content. Creating content based on your frequently asked questions can help answer these questions for your customers long before they come to you to make a purchase.

2. Get news updates through Google Alerts.

Up to the minute news stories, popular blog posts and other website updates in your industry can be sent directly into your inbox with Google Alerts. Pick your keywords and select your delivery frequency (daily, weekly or as it happens). Review the stories to find trends and topic ideas that can be adapted for your own blog, email marketing messages and other content.

3. Pay attention to your analytics.

Your web analytics will tell you exactly which terms are bringing traffic to your site. If you find that a page, a blog article or a particular phrase is bringing a bee line of traffic your way, capitalize on that. Create a second post on the same topic. Look for ways to incorporate those keywords into your content marketing plans or use them to find new, related keywords that you can use for your content.

4. Analyze social media.

Social media gives you a great deal of insight into what your target market is talking about. Set up Twitter keyword searches to monitor the resources and articles that are already being shared. Look for popular LinkedIN or Facebook conversations that relate to your company’s industry. Spending just a few minutes on social media listening each day will pay off with a plethora of topics.

5. Conduct a survey.

The most direct way to find out what your customers want to know is to ask them. If you’ve taken the time to build up a large email marketing list or have a big social media presence, you can tap into these to find new topics. Use SurveyMonkey or a similar survey tool to create a short (3 to 5 question) survey. Give suggestions of content topics and ask what they’d like to learn about.

How do you come up with ideas for your content? I’d love to read your suggestions!

Photo credit: Shareski

“Email marketing is dead!” How often have you read this statement over the past few years? As Twitter, Facebook and now Google Plus have made their mark, social media experts have been decrying the death of one of the longest established online marketing methods.

There’s no discounting the power of social media:
• Twitter has 200 million registered users (Mashable)
• Facebook boasts more than 800 million active users. (Facebook)
• LinkedIN doubled its number of monthly visitors between 2010 and 2011 (Quantcast)

There’s no reason why your business shouldn’t be using social media in some form to increase your exposure, traffic and reputation. But this doesn’t mean that you should ignore or abandon your email marketing efforts.

Does Email Marketing Work in a World of Social Media?

In short, yes. Email marketing is still as important now as it was in the past. In fact, using email marketing and social media together can help you build two powerful marketing channels that your company can use to get more business.

Here are four reasons why email marketing is worth your time and budget:

Email marketing list members are committed.

Email marketing provides you with a list of people who are not only interested, but committed. Signing up for an email list requires a higher level of commitment than clicking “follow” or “liking” a post. Building a massive following on social media is one thing – but taking those relationships to a deeper level where you’re actually converting them to paying customers is another. When someone takes the time to subscribe to your email marketing list and confirm their subscription (through double opt in), they are ready to hear more about what you have to offer. They’re more committed than social media fans, and therefore a better target for your offers.

Email marketing lists give you more exposure.

Although you may have a lot more people in your social networks than on your email list, how many of those people are actually seeing and responding to your social media updates? Your level of competition, and therefore exposure, is bound to be increased.

Email marketing can help improve your targeting.

Ever tried targeting a message on Twitter? Hashtags only go so far. With email marketing content you can customize each message with dynamic content. You can personalize messages and segment your list so you’re sending only to those list members who have made a purchase before, or those who are new to your list. The possibilities for targeting are much more open.

Email marketing lets you build a relationship.

Email marketing newsletters and timely messages let you build a relationship with your ideal clients. You have the opportunity to give them quality content no matter what stage of the buying cycle you’re in. With each message, you’re showing that you’re a valuable resource. You’re showing you can be trusted. You’re showing that you’re the right choice when they are ready to make a purchase.

Using the Best of Both Worlds

Social media and email marketing aren’t either/or. They are both. Email marketing can help increase your social media followers. Social media can help build your list.

A 2010 MarketingSherpa study found that 75% of daily social media users said that email is the best way for companies to communicate with them, compared to 65% of all email users. This means that social media usage actually primes the pump for email marketing’s effectiveness. If your social media followers and fans are more likely to buy from your emails, why not use email marketing?

We recommend Boomerang, MailChimp or Aweber.

How do you use email marketing? Do you see a link between your social media and email list?