Recent Posts
By Melissa On July 1, 2009
No Comments
Content marketing can go by a lot of different names such as private media, branded content, customer media and so on, but they are all essentially content marketing. This is probably one of the best ways to make sure your marketing is being truly effective.
One definition of content marketing is: a technique of making and distributing valuable and relevant content to bring in a much defined target audience with the over all objective being the creation of sales. Basically this is a way to reaching out to your customers and potential customers in a way specifically designed to attract them to you and keep them coming back.
Content marketing is all done without overtly trying to sell a product; it is intended to educate and inform the customers. With typical marketing, the goal is to make a sale and the product or service is the main point of the approach. Content marketing is very different from this approach and has proven to be very effective.
The idea around content marketing is to deliver consistent and useful information to the customer. In return, they will reward the company with their business and, over time, their loyalty to the brand. This form of marketing creates a bond between the customer and the company. This bond is a very hard one to break and results in ongoing business over time and a loyal customer.
Traditional marketing is becoming less and less useful as customers are able to skip commercials or change the channel on the TV. Ads in papers and billboards are not interactive and provide no real help to the customer. Pop-ups on the Internet are another way advertisers try to market their products but this can be ineffective as more and more people use their pop-up blocking tools on their browsers to avoid these invasive marketing tactics.
Content marketing breaks the mold completely and as odd as it may seem, the customer is the one who searches out the information they need. Not only do they remember where they found what they needed, they remember who provided the useful information as well -and this is where the marketing comes in.
Potential customers will buy from a company they trust and feel has the same interests as they do. This is why providing helpful advice and information is so very important to this marketing strategy. Most of the time, the people reading information on a web page don’t realize they are being marketed to as they read the content.
Recent studies have shown 70-80% of people who were surveyed, felt more comfortable buying something from a company they trust. Content marketing builds trust, because the customer begins to look forward to your next content installment and may make decisions based on the information given.
By Melissa On June 29, 2009
No Comments
Content Marketing is a type of marketing used to increase sales by creating and delivering high-quality information to potential customers as well as current ones. Content marketing goes hand in hand with another type of marketing called network marketing (or social networking) because more people can be reached by using both together.
With the use of network marketing, you are able to reach out to more people and create more leads. This can also generate more sales over time. By combining the two types of marketing, you are able to reach more people with your valuable and informative content. This will create more interest in your products or services thus increasing sales.
You can generate ongoing leads using both content and network marketing. You can create your content in almost any form imaginable, using articles, videos, audio, e-books and teleseminars. All of these forms of content can be spread across a massive social networking base using websites such as MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Here are some important things to remember when beginning this form of marketing:
Set yourself up as an expert in your industry. When people feel more comfortable coming to you for information they are more likely to listen to your suggestions. They will see you as someone who is giving them loads of useful information and content they can use to solve problems, save time and make money. Over time, they will begin to follow you and want to know more about you and your business, which will lead into sales down the line.
Your prospects or customer base will begin to share what you have taught them. This is called viral marketing. The basic premise involves people becoming so impressed with the information you have shared with them, they then share it with other people. This process goes on repeatedly. In fact, through the Internet, it can go on for years. This is, without a doubt, the best part of content marketing since the information is being shared with no further interaction from you.
It is very important the content you are sharing is valuable and informative. If you are providing people with useless information, no positioning in the world will matter because they won’t feel as if they are being helped in any way.
Generating leads with content marketing is not hard to do. The process just takes a little practice to find the right places to place your content for your target market and the right type of information to share. Once you have some ideas and information, get involved on social networking sites. Join like-minded groups and start contributing tips and tidbits to the group. Don’t go in for the immediate sale or use spam as a selling tactic or this will immediately turn people off.
Start slowly and offer short nuggets of highly informative content and then offer a link to read more. Once people go to your collection of articles, video or audio collections you can really let loose and bring them to you and your products.
By Melissa On June 26, 2009
No Comments
Once you have your content ready for people to read and use, you need to make sure they are able to find it. There are a number of ways to get this accomplished for a price but there are also ways to get your content distributed free. Here are five ways to distribute your content that won’t cost you anything at all.
1. Social Networking – Social networking is the hottest promotional tool available online at this time. There are a lot of sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Digg and others who have opened up a world of marketing for online businesses. Through these tools you can establish trust, expertise and gain a sold following of people who want to know what you think and can do for them.
2. Article Directories – These sites are comprised of article listings written by just about anyone and on any subject. The articles are placed specifically for use on these types of sites. They rank well on search engines because they rely heavily on SEO and also provide links back to your website. This is another great and free way to show your expertise and knowledge in your chosen field thus bringing more people to you and your site.
3. Blogging – Blogging is probably one of the most useful ways to bring someone to your information and website, specifically, guest blogging on other websites. Doing this can increase your exposure to an increasing number of people as you are able to link your information in your blog posts. The owner of the blog can also promote your site by placing links to your site around their blog. You can also offer to swap posts with other blogs and increase your traffic by bringing their followers to your site.
4. Give it Away on Your Website - One of the easiest ways to distribute your content is to offer it as a free bonus on your website. Everyone loves getting something for nothing, so package your content as a PDF or even an audio download and let your site visitors download it for nothing. Don’t even ask for an email address in exchange. Instead, just give it as a gift and you’ll generate good will.
5. Using Local Listing Services – This tactic is especially useful if you have an offline business with an online presence. Google and other search engines have local area listings, so when someone does a local search they will find your website. This increases your chances of being closer to the top of the first page in search engine results. This is a great way to increase your online visibility with absolutely no cost to you. When local customers find your website, they will be even more likely to look to you for their information needs, which will in turn lead to more sales.
The biggest tip is to never stop the process of using new content to promote your business. There are always new ways to get your name out there, but providing free content that solves a problem for your customer will never go out of style.
By Melissa On June 24, 2009
No Comments
Content marketing is the best way to get information to your clients or customers. This is also the perfect way to gain the trust of your customers and increase your sales. The problem is choosing the most effective type of content and presenting it in an attention getting manner. Here are some tips on choosing the most effective content for your content marketing.
1. Point out the competition’s mistakes. People, in general, want to avoid painful experiences as much as possible. Pointing out all the ways your competitors fail to make life easier for your potential customers works to your advantage. Top ten lists on this kind of thing such as “10 most common mistakes” or “10 things you don’t want to do” are especially effective in driving people to you, rather than your competitor. I’m not saying you should specify or point fingers at specific competitors here. That’s not professional. Instead, use general statements and point out what makes your company better than others.
2. Give out industry “secrets.” They are not really secrets but if you let people think they are then their trust in you grows. Create content with bulleted lists showing how to do things faster and easier or how to make something work better. People love lists about things because lists are easy to filter through and pick out those points that pertain to them specifically. They also help people retain the information.
3. Organize it for them. One of the biggest hurdles for some people is the organization of certain things. Do the work for them by giving them plans and ways to organize things to make their life simpler. If you can make something straightforward and easy for someone, they will appreciate it and repay you with their business.
4. Answer common questions. When you’re discussing a common problem or situation, people tend to have the same questions. By providing the answers before someone even asks the questions, you make them feel more comfortable. It gives them the impression your company truly cares about them and their needs because you’ve taken the time to learn what they want or need.
5. Latest trends reports. This is a way to help your clients and customers keep up to date with the latest information from your company. This type of content lists the newest information or technologies and explains them in an easy to understand fashion.
Effective content marketing is all about continually giving the client or customer whatever information they deem useful. It demonstrates to prospects your company is paying attention to the needs of their clients and responding in an resourceful and expeditious manner. If the frequency and/or quality of information begins to slow down, your client base will begin to find another source of information, taking their sales dollars with them.
Making use of a freelance writing service is a good way to fulfill the needs of consistent and effective content writing. By using writers to help create your content, you can easily continue to provide fresh, new content. Once you have the articles, reports and other documents, offer them to your customers freely through email or a blog. Not only will your customers thank you in replies and comments but, more importantly, with their continued loyalty.
By Melissa On June 22, 2009
No Comments
The simple task off adding quality content to a site can mean the difference between generating more sales or driving away prospective customers. Creating something unique and creative enough to grab the attention of the reader is the key to a successful business.
There are a few simple ways you can increase your sales with content. The following are a few examples of ways to bring in the customers and keep them coming back for more.
List Capture – The easiest way to build a list of potential customers if to offer something on your website for free. It could be as simple as a free report detailing more information about your product or a free copy of an eBook you have written. Enticing the customer to want to sign up for something will allow you to retain a list of customers to use to further in your marketing efforts.
Promotion – Promoting your product throughout the content of your website is the best way to get a customer interested. Place a graphic of your product and make it clickable so when a customer clicks on the image they will be taken to a sales page about the product. Once the customer is there, give them the option to either buy the product or receive more information about the product. This again, allows you to develop a list of potential customers who you can then market to.
Keywords – Perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site and gain customers is by writing content rich content with keywords for greater search engine optimization (SEO). Providing these keywords will help your website reach the top of the search engines and bring more customers to your site. Knowing which keywords to use requires some research on your part.
There are many sites on the web, which will allow you to plug in a word and display how many people search for it on the web. Use these tools to plug in some of the keywords from your content and then properly place them throughout your content. It needs to be placed organically so the content remains in a natural, flowing manner and not forced.
Implementing one or all of these strategies will help get sales coming in and keep them coming in the future.
By Melissa On June 19, 2009
1 Comment
The Internet is made up of millions of websites, all of which offer something different yet all have the same purpose; they want people to read the content on the page. This is where compelling content creation can help. Compelling content is the best way to create a stir about your website, therefore increasing traffic and building a client base.
There are important steps you need to take when writing content for your website. Here are few to think about when planning the content that makes it onto your site.
• Be creative when writing your content and keep it simple for the reader.
• Try to connect with the reader by telling a story in relation to your product.
• Engage the reader by using humor or an upbeat attitude throughout the website. No one likes a monotone speaker and the same goes for boring, dragging content on a site.
• While writing, use an active tone to call the customer into action.
• Pepper the copy with SEO rich keywords to increase page rankings.
The main goal is to keep the reader interested in what they are reading. When a reader, especially online, loses interest you are at risk of losing a potential customer. The customer wants to feel a connection to what they are reading, so presenting the content in a casual tone and providing valuable content, will keep them coming back.
Compelling content doesn’t have to just be in article or sales copy form. There are other ways to create quality content and keep the reader wanting to learn more about your product or service.
Non-text options to add to your website:
• Graphics and Pictures
• Videos
• Podcasts
• An Interactive Forum
• Outside Links
• Online Games
• eBooks for Download
• Testimonials
• Newsletters
The more compelling, quality content you have to offer, the longer amount of time your visitor will spend on your website. The more interactive the site is, the more someone will recommend the site to a friend. Quality content and compelling text and visuals will not only make your site stand out amongst the rest; it will solidify your place in your market.
By Melissa On June 17, 2009
No Comments
There are a lot of different ways to get your product, service or website in front of potential customers online. Marketing with content is one of the most effective ways to do it. Here are 5 tips to making your content marketing stand out from the rest and work in your favor.
1. Varying Media Types – Don’t just rely on one specific style of delivery for your content. While articles are very useful and the most common form of content marketing, using video, audio and holding teleseminars are all equally appealing options to readers. Some of these take a little longer to create, but they all have their advantages. Using multiple forms of content delivery makes it easier to reach a larger audience.
2. Social Networking – Social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Digg are perfect vehicles to create your business networking contacts. You can link up with people who are interested in your service and even create partnerships with other people to increase your exposure.
3. Referral Programs – Use your clients or customers to help bring in more people through referral programs. You can offer a reward for the people they bring in or make it a contest for whoever brings in the most over a certain period of time.
4. Affiliate Programs – Set up an affiliate program so you can have other website and blog owners online market your content for you, while also referring people to your products or service. The ability to earn a commission on any sales they send your way is a must for this type of program. This costs you nothing unless the affiliate sends you a sale, but drives people who are interested in what you have to offer to your site and increases the chances for a sale.
5. SEO - Search Engine Optimization is the means to better placement of your website at the top of online search results. This is a fantastic way to position your content in those search results directly related to your product. The more keywords you are linked to, the more likely people will find your content through online searches. There are free tools available to help you streamline your keyword efficiency.
Using one or all of these marketing techniques, will bring the customers to your website and have them already interested in what you have to offer.
By Melissa On June 15, 2009
No Comments
Producing web copy for a site is something, which if done correctly, takes some time to create. Many copywriters know the value of well-written copy and are constantly changing the copy on their websites to keep up with the demand of their targeted audience. The question is, how often should you produce new content?
It all depends on the type of content you are talking about and how well it is or isn’t performing for you. Let’s take a closer look.
Sales Copy Content
There are a few factors in determining how often you should change or produce new content. If you follow your rankings on any of the popular search engines and you see your rank drop, then you may want to freshen up your content to help move you back up the ranks. Creating keyword rich articles that can be distributed throughout cyberspace will help to increase your rankings and put you back in the spotlight.
If your site offers something for sale, it is wise to change the content up when you have a new offering such as a free or discounted offer. There is no need to completely re-do your entire website as this may confuse dedicated visitors when they come to the site in search of something they had found there before.
Obviously, if your site is doing well in attracting new visitors and subscribers, you probably won’t need to change your copy. However, it wouldn’t hurt to tweak it here and there to keep it fresh and on the search engines radar.
Tweaking the sales copy on your site and performing maintenance is suggested. However, if you’re one of the lucky ones whose copywriting produces quality leads and your sales are through the roof, then leave it and think of the old adage “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Blogs or Informational Site Content
If your content is in blog form, it is imperative to your readers to have fresh content an either a daily basis or every other day. A blog is something where readers want and wait for new content to be published. You need to keep this content as current as you can so in order to keep and increase your readership.
As for informational sites and article marketing techniques, the more information you can give visitors and potential customers, the better. Search engines love fresh content and so does your audience. Keep the quality content they’ve come to know and love coming and they’ll keep coming back again and again.
By Melissa On June 11, 2009
No Comments
The best content in the world won’t do any good unless there are people who are reading it. Marketing the content written for a website is one of the most important aspects in creating a site of value.
Knowing which form of marketing your content isn’t as tricky as it may seem. The Internet offers tons of effective marketing strategies and most are easily accomplished. The following are 10 ways in which you can market your content and start building your customer database in the process.
1. Create a Blog – A blog allows a marketer to constantly add new information targeted to a particular audience. Many potential customers will use a blog to get a better idea of the company they are dealing with. They also find out what you have to offer, such as product reviews, articles, reports and more.
2. Write an eBook – An eBook about your product or service can be written and distributed to current and potential customers. A fee could be charged, it could be offered as a free gift with a subscription to the site, or as a free gift to get people to your website, also known as viral content.
3. Create a Forum – Create an online forum where your customers can discuss the topic of your products or services.
4. Write a Newsletter – Create an newsletter detailing the latest happenings within your company and distribute it weekly or monthly.
5. Start a Podcast – Talk about your product or service and record it as a podcast. Require your customers to subscribe to the podcasts in order to capture possible leads or simply use it as a way to generate buzz about your products.
6. Put a Video on YouTube – Create a short but informative video about your website and post it on YouTube. Creating a link in your user information will allow people to go directly to your site after they have watched the video.
7. Set Up an RSS Feed – If you update your content on a regular basis, offer an RSS feed option on your site so customers can be alerted when you post new information.
8. Utilize Social Media – Social networking is on the rise and is one of the best ways to market your product to the masses – for free. Popular sites include Twitter, Stumble Upon and Facebook.
9. Webinar – Hold a live webinar on a topic that relates to your business. Charge a fee for customers to attend. Offer the webinar for a nominal fee of $1 to generate interest and build your client base.
10. Teleseminars – Record a sales presentation as a teleseminar and charge a fee for listeners to gain access. Yet another great way to capture lead information.
By Melissa On May 27, 2009
No Comments
Internet marketers love special reports. They’re quick to make and easy to sell, which means you can make money from them – fast. Plus, there’s more than one way to earn with special reports. In fact, I came up with a list of 30 ways!
But first, if you think you can’t possibly make your very own special reports, check out the Special Report Club. – and use the code “save10” to get $10 off your first month.
So here it is, my super list of Top 30 Ways to Earn with Special Reports:
1. Sell it – and keep all of the profits. The most obvious way of making money with special reports is to sell them.
2. Sell it through affiliates – and keep some of the profits. This is the similar #1, but your affiliates lead buyers to your sales page and pocket a commission from the sale.
3. Sell it through affiliates – and give them all of the profits. How does this make you money? Well, you build a list of buyers plus you can earn money on the back-end, either by promoting other products in the report itself, or as part of the sales process, or both.
4. Give it away – and build your list. Use the special report as an incentive for people to join your list.
5. Give it away – and make affiliate sales. Embed affiliate links in the report, and you can earn commissions by giving it away. Just add a “Resources” page or sprinkle affiliate links where appropriate.
6. Break it up into blog posts. A blog needs regular content. Write blog posts easily from a special report.
7. Give it away as a bonus to a paid product. Increase the perceived value of a paid product by including a special report – or several – as a bonus.
8. Combine them into an E-book to sell. Turn each special report into a chapter, add an introduction, conclusion, new title and cover, and you’ve got a brand new E-book to sell.
9. Combine related special reports into an E-book, to give away. Same idea as #8, but you give it away for list building and/or affiliate sales.
10. Combine related special reports into a physical book, to sell. Turn the E-book from #8 into a book that buyers can publish-on-demand, such as on Lulu.com.
11. Use it as a basis for an article. Get the most actionable points from the special report, turn them into an article, and submit it to Ezine Articles or another online article directory.
12. Create an audio version to give away, or sell. Some people prefer audio products they can listen to while they’re on the go or doing other things. Give in to their demand by converting the special report into an audio report.
13. Use a special report as the basis for tutorial videos – to give away or sell. Videos are hot nowadays, so turn a special report into video format for increased value.
14. Combine the audio and video versions into CDs and/or DVDs – and sell physical products. Physical products don’t cost a lot to produce, but have higher perceived value than digital products.
15. Use the special report as the basis for a series of marketing videos to build your list and/or drive traffic to your site. Get 3-5 top tips from the special report and turn them into a video you post on YouTube and other video sharing sites, for instant traffic for your blog or site.
16. Use it as the basis for videos to promote affiliate products. Similar to #15, but use the videos to drive traffic to products you’re affiliated with, using your affiliate links.
17. Make it a prize on your Twitter giveaway. Want to get more Twitter followers? Offer a special report to all your new followers.
18. Give it away in exchange for answering an online survey to do market research. Set up an online survey and give respondents a free special report for their time.
19. Make it a surprise bonus for your customers or subscribers. Delight your existing customers with a free special report they didn’t expect to get and make them loyal to you, for life.
20. Create a teleseminar out of the special report. Create a list of frequently-asked questions the special report addresses, and set up a teleseminar.
21. Make it a monthly resource in a paid membership program. Add useful special reports in the members’ resource area, or make it the featured content of the month.
22. Break it up into an E-course, to sell or give away. Chop up a special report to create an E-mail course or pre-recorded audio course.
23. Use the special report to create free Web 2.0 sites, such as Squidoo and Hub Pages. Create content for Squidoo lenses, Hub Pages and other Web 2.0 sites that promote your products and/or services, or affiliate products.
24. Break it up into autoresponder messages for your subscribers. Use the special report to give your subscribers useful information regularly.
25. Rewrite it to cater to a different or more specific niche. With a few tweaks, you can make a special report appeal to a completely different niche or market. For example, turn a general business report into one just for work-at-home Moms.
26. Use the content to create a mini-site for affiliate marketing. Set up a mini-site (5 pages or less) to promote an affiliate product. Get content from a special report.
27. Create a podcast. Use a special report as the basis for a podcast, which can be in audio or video format.
28. Use it as an upsell or downsell to another paid product. Offer a special report to buyers of a related product.
29. Turn it into a brandable report for your affiliates to use to promote your product or service. Let affiliates give away a special report to draw leads to your site or list.
30. Cull out the most actionable tips from the special report and turn each one into a Twitter Tweet. Shazam, you’re an instant expert.
Surprise! I actually came up with 31 ways. Here’s the bonus:
31. Turn special reports into hand-outs, checklists or even main resource materials for a coaching program.
Ready to make money with special reports? You can jump-start the process with a special report, sales page, e-cover and more done for you month after month. Find out how at the Special Report Club website. And don’t forget to use the discount code “save10” (without the quotation marks) to get $10 off your first month with Special Report Club.
Then all you’ll have to worry about is which of these 31 ideas you will do to earn from special reports!
