Why You Shouldn’t Buy Anything On Black Friday And Cyber Monday
Black Friday and Cyber Monday is just around the corner, and consumers are looking forward to lining up for hours in front of a Walmart to save a dollar or two on 100 rolls of toilet paper. In this video, I explain a better way to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2zn1WLH via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2zkr9Gq November 21, 2018 at 11:34AM
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How To Create A More Likeable Brand And Attract More Customers
Your brand is very important when building a business because it will sky-rocket your product growth, and even your bottom line. However, many people simply don’t spend enough time understanding their brand, and what they can do to increase awareness. Even though, this won’t destroy your bottom line, it will definitely take longer to get people attracted to it. If you ask any business owner, they’ll tell the MOST important thing you can do for your business is build a “LIKEABLE” brand. When people love your brand they’ll be comfortable purchasing products, and services going forward. For example, When we think of Donald Trump we think of luxury hotels, casinos, and condo’s…right? When we think of Apple, we think of innovation and excellent products with longevity. Your brand once marketed the right way can carry your business to a completely new level. However, it’s important you know how to do this to get optimum results because there is NO point in marketing if you can’t show any results. Let’s get started, and go over some of the best ways to create a likeable brand online. Your feedback and opinion will be greatly appreciated. The Value MattersMany people start purchasing products because they see the value it brings to whatever they are doing. This means it’s important outlining the value whenever you get a chance. As a matter of fact, this should be your number one objective going forward because this can translate into enormous revenue. For example, many of us try to get the conversion, and fail to show people the value, however this approach will destroy your business. Here’s why? When you focus on conversions your still NOT securing the purchase or deal. Someone buys a product and/or service because they see the value it brings to their business or even personal life. We buy iPods because it helps us run longer since we can listen to the music we want. The iPhone brings everything at our finger tips which is important because it helps us run our business more efficiently. Using a word pressor makes it easier for content writers to get things written down with very little error because of the “review” tools built in. Whatever the case, it’s important you always show people the value so they need to purchase instead of having a choice. The more they feel it’s too valuable, the more they feel they’ll need it in their life which will just increase conversions going forward. Next, Here are some constructive ways to ensure this get’s done correctly… Create a video – one of the best ways to show value because you can cover so much in a short period of time, and in great details. Video tutorials are way better then text because they are to the point, everyone understands them, and NOT everyone wants to read lengthy content. Free Trial – Many of the top companies offer FREE trials so people can test out the product. I have bought so many after testing out what it can do for me. I recommend offering a FREE trial so people can play around with the interface pulling out the value. Testimonials – A great way to show people the value is by having people who have used the product leave reviews. When others see what it has done for regular consumers, they are more tempted to buy in the long run. Brand EngagementYou’ve noticed how many online businesses or even corporate ones are going out engaging with people marketing their brand. It’s because people love to buy a product or service which they are familiar with, and know the people running the business. This is why corporations like Apple, Coke, IBM, Facebook, and others all throw huge events to promote their brand. The more you are physically engaging with people, the more momentum you can build. You might be wondering how this can apply to your business online…right? Facebook.com is an online business, and they still throw events to engage community people. Same with aWeber.com (I’ve been invited), and this has helped them build a connection with me because I’m still a customer till today. Here’s the point I’m making: Your going to have huge competition in your niche so it’s important you build a strong relationship with your customer base. A personal relationship can be the defining factor between you, and your competition. Here is one of the MOST cost effective ways to do this right now: Make sure you have a comment box on your website or blog because you can answer questions as they are written. For example, anytime a product or even content is written, you are going to have people leave comments, it’s important you answer all of them. This way you are clearing up a debate or even providing more information on a product you are promoting. In the end, it’s important you build engagement with your brand because people will appreciate your business more if there is a face to put with it. Many companies work from the front end, but you never really find out who the person is behind the brand. This can backfire as people still don’t feel comfortable when buying going forward. Understand The Changing TidesOne of the ways people destroy their brand is NOT utilizing some of the key marketing channels they have available. Everything is constantly changing because technology is moving very fast so it’s important you keep up to date with all the trends. As marketing changes people start using other platforms to find information, and if you don’t market your brand on any of the new ones, then your brand becomes obsolete. This means it’s important you are always up to date with how, and where you should be marketing your business. Here are some things to keep a close eye on which I’ve noticed: Content writing – The way we write content is changing so fast that we should incorporate the new strategies as they become popular. For example, recently the usage of long-tail and LSI keywords is very important because these help attract people to your brand. The more people you can attract to your website, the better for your brand. Networking – This is very important these days because it’s all about getting your product in front of people. I’ve noticed social media has made everyone more valuable so people are looking to network to promote. Do some serious outreach, and connect with others in your niche who are willing to promote your brand. Remember, this does work both ways, so make sure you know what you’ll be offering in return. Video Marketing – Think about how much marketing is done on YouTube.com? You can post a video showcasing your products, and this can generate enormous buzz to your business. However, you have to ensure you use the tools to get videos done, and don’t wait around because your competition will steal your audience. Changing Your BrandThe most successful brands are always changing as time goes on, and this has allowed them to keep their customers while attracting new ones. If you look at Apple, for example, they have always introduced new products, and been able to conquer the tech world. It’s this ever changing progress which allowed them to come back from almost going bankrupt a few years back. Steve Jobs new survival has to do with giving your customers what they are looking for, and making sure you stay ahead of your competition. With that said, What are some strategies you can use to stay ahead of your competition, and change your brand? First, I would research my competition, and find out how they are changing the products we share. I always look at email service providers because you have so many of them available. What I’ve learned is that one will make progress, and the others will soon follow. I believe they all research each other finding ways to improve their product while NOT falling behind. Next, Pay close attention to products and services which reflect your brand or are relevant. For example, when I build a computer I’ll always pay close attention to what new hardware is available to add. The same can be applied to your business by looking at how advances in technology can help create a better product. Tech companies use this approach all the time. They’ll add:
In order for people to continue to like your brand, it’s important you continue to change your brand so it’s attractive. The more they feel it’ll provide value, and make their life easier the more they’ll stay loyal to your brand. However, many businesses fail to stay ahead of the changing trends when it comes to the products they develop. Incorporate Consumer OpinionAlways collect feedback on your products, and make sure to incorporate what your customers are saying. In the end, your products are going to be purchased by those who find them valuable so when they provide feedback it’s usually a great way to improve your brand going forward. You’ve noticed every time you buy a product you’ll have a survey to fill out about your experience…right? This is because companies understand the value provided by their customers, and how this can help increase the bottom line. People buy your products, and the less they buy the bigger the IMPACT on your profits. I encourage all of you to send out a survey to your customers or even readers asking them about ways you can improve their experience. Once you have gathered all the results, it’s important you implement what they have said. I would start from the MOST common, and move down the list then ask new customers for their opinion to see what they suggest. You’ll notice over time you have tided all the loose ends together. Final ThoughtsIn the end, it’s all about finding what works for you, and what doesn’t. Companies spend millions of dollars building their brand, and much of the money is spent finding ways engage the customer. The more you engage them, the better for your brand. For example, when a customer “LIKES” your brand, it increases:
If you haven’t started to implement these strategies, then you might want to do the following: Start by going over all of these strategies again, and start to implement them into your brand. The key is to do this ASAP so you can start to track the results. It’s only when you start tracking the results, you’ll be able to find out what optimization strategies you should be sticking with. It will take some time to implement all of these strategies, however going forward you’ll be able to increase brand “LIKEABILITY”. The strategies you ultimately use will depend on the type of niche your involved in. Some will work better then others, however building credibility for your brand is very important to keep growing as a business. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2Q8NoZH via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OUcO8A November 21, 2018 at 10:10AM 11/20/2018 0 Comments Free Time and the Dot Com Lifestyle
Free Time and the Dot Com Lifestyle
Growing up in your family home as a child, the only space you likely had to call your own was your bedroom. That is, if you didn’t have to share it with a sibling or two. This meant you were mostly confined to somewhere around 100 square feet. Within those 100 or so square feet, you’d put up posters of your favorite rock stars, display some of your favorite toys, and wish you had more room for your growing accumulation of stuff. More Room for Everything?When you moved away for college or got your first full-time job, you may have moved into a humble one-bedroom apartment with 700 square feet. You suddenly had all this “extra” room and yet you quickly found a way to fill it. You found more places to put your collectibles, more space for your accumulating library of books, and a couple more closets for even more clothes. But you filled it. And it was full. And let’s be honest. Most of it was junk. Eventually, you upgrade to a starter house with 1,500 square feet, then a bigger house with 2,000 square feet, and so on and so forth. Each time that you do, you experience the same feeling. Look at all this “extra” space! You get all excited about having all this extra room. Inevitably, you find a way to fill it all with furniture and knick-knacks, and you feel like you’re running out of space again. And so, the cycle renews again and again. And there’s no turning back. By the time you accumulate that incredible Internet wealth and buy a $2 million house in cash, there’s no way you’re ever going back to that 700 square foot bachelor pad. There’s just no room for your big living room furniture, your giant home office desk, or your custom poker table. If anything, now you need even more space so you can get a pool table. The Perception of TimeSo, what does any of this have to do with making money online and the dot com lifestyle? It’s because time and technology work in exactly the same way as how we treat the square footage in our homes. Modern advances in technology have greatly helped us become far more efficient than ever before. Instead of sending an important document via courier, which could take a few days to get to its destination, we can email a PDF instantly. Instead of waiting to develop film from our cameras, we can see the photo we took instantly on our camera’s LCD display. Everything is faster and more efficient. We should have all sorts of free time, but each time we “free” up some time, we inevitably find a way to fill it all up again. And then, once again, we run into the all-too-familiar situation where we feel like we don’t have enough time to do the things we want to do. If only there was a way to be more efficient and free up our time, right? It’s true that blogging is not passive income, but developing a steady flow of residual, passive income is the ultimate goal when it comes to achieving the dot com lifestyle. It’s figuring out how you can remove yourself from your online business so that it can effectively run itself… or at least scale it in such a way that you don’t need to work nearly as much as everyone else and still earn more than everyone else. Spending Where It MattersHow you choose to fill your time is just as much a personal decision as is how you choose to fill your home. It makes sense that you want to upgrade and expand along the way. It’s perfectly logical that you don’t want to be stuck in a single 100 square foot bedroom for the rest of your life. But you do expand and get yourself more space or more time, be much more mindful of how you choose to fill up that space. Are you going to spend it creating memories with your loved ones? Growing your business further? Or are you just going to fill it with more mindless garbage and nonsense that won’t actually add any happiness to your life? from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2r4WEQt via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2PHzTjZ November 20, 2018 at 10:39AM
3 SEO Tips to Drive More Traffic in 2019
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is one of the most essential parts of your digital marketing strategy. It’s how websites and pages get ranked on Google and other search engines and greatly affects one’s visibility, engagement, and conversions. SEO makes it easier for search engines to find the best content, bring in organic traffic, and match consumers with their appropriate business. Without it, it would be nearly impossible to get your stellar content noticed — even if it is the best. But times are changing, and with that, so are SEO trends. As Google continues to revise its algorithms, the structure for how to rank higher and boost visibility changes. It’s essential to keep up to generate more leads and bring in conversions. Here are three tips to drive more traffic to your content in 2019. 1. Optimize your site performanceYou want to make sure that when someone clicks through to your website, there’s as minimal lag as possible. If we have the attention spans of goldfish, then one of the most essential parts of driving traffic is having a website that loads quickly. Google includes page speed in their search ranking algorithms because it’s essential to the user experience (UX). It’s helpful if you use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to track how fast or slow your site loads for users. Image optimizationBy now we all know that images are great for helping our content come alive. However, images if not optimized for web can slow down your site big time. Thankfully, there are tools to help you compress your images and make your site load faster, which is crucial for SEO. Check out tools like TinyPNG or Kraken to compress your images for faster loading times. Content delivery networkA content delivery network, or content distribution network (CDN), could also help you optimize your site performance for better traffic. It’s a system of servers distributed to deliver web content to users depending on their geographic location. In other words, a CDN keeps your web pages sturdy, speedy, and reliable so that they load for users no matter where they’re at. Cloudflare is a popular CDN you can use that moves static files closer to visitors for a more secure internet experience. It accelerates mobile links, uses its private network to navigate visitors through the simplest, least congested paths, and adjusts how content is delivered to users based on what device they’re using. 2. Revamp content with vigorThere are many ways you can optimize your content to drive more traffic: Rewrite old articles that have the potential for success. Put more focus on keywords and centering your articles around them for better search engine rankings. Create long-form content. It not only performs better in search engines for greater visibility, but studies show it also earns more backlinks and is more engaging to your readers. When it comes to content promotion, long-form brings in more shares and user engagement. Think about it: if your content is longer, it makes sense that users will spend more time interacting with it. Overall, it’s an important part of SEO optimization because it increases conversions. Utilize other forms of content in your posts like audio, video, and images. In a study done by Render Forest, it’s expected that by 2019, 80 percent of Internet consumption will be video on a global scale. Images are a good way to spice up content and give it a refreshing look. 3. Invest in keyword researchKeyword research is everything when it comes to SEO. It tells you what phrases and keywords attract customers, what they’re looking for, and why they’re interested. It shows you what topics are high and low in demand and you can use that to your advantage to rank higher in Google. You need to know all these things if you want to drive more traffic to your site next year. Using refined keywords also ensures that the right kind of audience is being directed to your site. It’s a waste of time for someone searching up local plumbers to get redirected to a hair salon. Keywords make sure that only the best, most fitting content gets ranked to the top of search engines, and that’s why it’s so important. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to search for keywords that are most sought after but need more content. Next, you need to create a list of keywords that your consumers are looking up in relation to your content. Long-tail keywords, which are longer and more detailed phrases, are essential for SEO as they’re more specific and get noticed by search engines faster. According to Wordstream, 50 percent of searches are four words or longer. That means it brings in organic leads and traffic that convert to paying customers easier than other methods because the consumer is coming directly to you. The more targeted, the higher the conversion rate. Once you’ve created a list of keywords to use, let’s say for a blog post, come up with similar phrases. This is to see if similar phrases or keywords rank high with low competition compared to the others. If so, that’s your goldmine. Over to youIf you’re looking to boost traffic and leads to your site, these tips will help get you started. It’s critical not to overlook things like content length and page speed because these either enhance or break the UX. Optimizing already existing content also helps your visibility rate. With the right strategy, your content could be first ranked on Google. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2DwWY1v via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Fx4Z9m November 19, 2018 at 06:29AM
DMC Lamborghini Aventador and More Crazy Cars at Cars And Coffee
There were some really crazy cars at this week’s South OC Cars and Coffee, including an insane Lamborghini Aventador with a DMC body kit, and a Lotus with the craziest shifter mode I’ve ever seen. Check the video to see it all, and more! from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2Dtv6vi via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2RZvtSf November 18, 2018 at 10:09AM
Dot Com Lunch At Krave Asian Fusion Restaurant
Krave Asian Fusion Restaurant in Irvine serve crunchy, savory and non-greasy Korean Style Fried Chicken. They use a special frying technique that renders out the fat from the skin and transforms it into a thin crackly crust. Then they hand brush the sauce of your choice onto each piece of chicken. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2S2yDVD via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2QRkN8b November 17, 2018 at 09:04AM
5 Reasons Why Your Content Marketing Efforts Will Fail
Content marketing is a tough strategy to implement because there are so many small things you have to keep in mind. These factors will influence how successful your campaign is, and the future of your company. Many bloggers don’t pay close attention to the small factors, and then when their content marketing fails, they scrabble to find out what happen. Over the years I have worked with so many bloggers in different industries making sure they easily transition into content marketing. I have learned a lot, and would love to share some of the key reasons why many of them failed within their efforts. It’s important to note, I have also failed several times with content marketing because I truly underestimated the game. Out of 20 or so reasons, I have narrowed it down to the top 5 which you should be paying close attention to. Some of you are already in transition, so it’s important you make the tweaks right away. One of the strategies you’ll hear about is your ability to track results. This is very important because you need to find out which factors influenced your bottom line. If you have a clear indication of this, then you can make the tweak to better improve your chances. Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated within the comment box below. If you have any methods which you feel work better then others, I would love to hear about it below. BudgetingOne of the main reasons why content marketing has failed is because you have chosen NOT to think about the budget. I’ll emphasize it’s important to make sure you plan your budget weekly, and monthly or you’ll fail at content marketing. Many of the failing companies chose to plan budgeting every month, however this has cause them to drain their budget very quickly. Even though content marketing can be done for free, it’s important to note, you have the option to invest money in paid advertising. One of the best ways to do this is on Facebook.com through social media. Why? It’s so easy to target specific niches, and even your audience which is amazing to collect all the statistics you need to move forward with your strategy. However, Facebook, if not controlled, can be very expensive on your budget. I have seen budgets of $2,000 (planned for the month), drain within a week. It’s because the PPC fluctuates quickly since different rates apply to different days, times, competitors, etc. Next, This is the same with other PPC networks so you have to keep a close eye on your budget or you’ll drain out very easily. The bottom line is you have to keep a close eye on your budget and plan hourly, daily or even weekly so you can start making the tweaks more quickly. The faster you can optimize the more CTR and conversions you’ll get which is better for your bottom line going forward. CompetitionI must admit competition does have two very scary faces. What do I mean? First, competition is awesome if you’re just starting out because you can learn a lot from them. By researching your competition, you can find out about your audience, traffic, content, social media followers, etc. This means you can streamline the rate at which your blog will grow because you have all the information you need. One of the hardest things when starting a blog is to find out what works and what doesn’t, however your competition has essentially laid out the blueprint for you. Use this to your advantage and gather all the details you need to push your content marketing in the right direction. However, Here’s the problem. When trying to fully copy your competition when it comes to content marketing, you’ll be bidding against someone who has a larger budget then you. Your competition has probably been in business longer which means they have more money to burn. If you’re just starting out and marketing on those same networks or channels, then you will pay a very expensive price. This might even destroy your complete budget which will slow down your marketing efforts. This is why I have always encouraged my clients to have their own system in place. It’s important to be creative with their strategies because if you don’t then you’ll be doing the same EXACT thing like your competition. This is NOT hard to apply because you have to do a few things:
In the end, Your competition can be both good and bad for your business. It’s important you are patient so you can pull out the good from both these areas. If you can than you’ve just increased the likelihood of survival in an industry which is very tough. Traffic vs ConversionsWhat does this mean? Here’s something to think about the next time you are looking over your traffic data… How much of that traffic is actually converting into sales, profits, etc.? No point in having loads of traffic coming to your page if none of it is converting. This is a waste of time and effort because you rather have little traffic, but it puts money in your pockets…right? As content marketers, we make the mistake at viewing the wrong data because in the end traffic should equal conversions. When we see a lot of traffic we lay back and don’t bother optimizing, however you are losing on valuable conversions using this approach. This is why I encourage all of you to make sure you are constantly tracking so you can tweak afterwards. Here’s a few things you can do right now to improve your chances… First, you have to have a solid tool to track what’s been going on when visitors arrive on your site. Without a way to track your visitors, it’s going to be even harder to make those tweaks which ultimately will convert. I would suggest using a tool like Google Analytics because they will provide you with all the information you need like: location, referrals, bounce pages, landing pages, and even search queries. With GA, you’ll be able to build a solid profile of what has been working, and what hasn’t. Next, It’s time to implement some of the content marketing changes you know or have learned in the past. The key is to implement these changes then make sure you are tracking the conversions so you know if they work or don’t. This will take time because you’ll need solid data accumulated over 30-60 days. Anything less won’t give you a chance to really test out the strategy so you can end up making a huge mistake. This will be hard in the beginning, however as you start to implement some content marketing strategies, you’ll know what to look for going forward. Here’s the bottom line, Make sure you know how to differentiate between traffic and conversions. You have to know these are two separate things because in the end it’s all about conversions. It’s this which brings in the profits helping you establish your bottom line. Let’s jump into the final factor… Networking MattersI have expressed this several times because outreach can connect you with the right people in your industry. These people can put the word out about your content which will drive enormous traffic to your blog. Not to mention, this traffic will be for free WITHOUT any monetary investment from your side. However, I still see so many people NOT take the time out to network with those influential people within your niche. Next, Without reaching out to the right people in your niche, it’s going to be hard to get those solid backlinks which will have a benefit on your content marketing. Sometimes what’s needed is a solid organic push to get your content marketing going in the right direction. It’s important to note at the same time, the less time you spend on outreach, the more your competition will be spending. For example, all the missed opportunities have to go somewhere, and in MOST cases your competition will be reaching out to these influential bloggers. Do a quick search in Google, and start building a list of bloggers you can reach out to. This will keep things clean, and right to the point. You can track the entire progress by writing down emails sent & received within excel. This spread-sheet is a great way to keep an eye on these which you have to follow-up with at a later time. Get started now by heading over to Google, and doing very niche specific searches within your industry. Final ThoughtsNow that you have a solid breakdown of why your content marketing efforts will fail, it’s important you start by going through the list writing down the main points. Why is this important? Simple… It will make it much easier for you to implement the strategies right away. The last thing you want to do is have to read through this content, and pull out the tips when you are ready to get started. By creating a list, you’ll be able to stay 100% focused, and research each factor further before you get started. I’ve noticed when I write down things first, or even summarize then I have an easier time acting on my vision. Secondly, it’s a great habit to get into to because blogging has a lot to do with organizing. If you can organize your material, then you’ll be able to access more quickly. This means you’ll have a jump start on your competition which will give you an edge later on. Remember, with solid organizing, you’ll be able to schedule topics, write content, hire employees, and keep an eye on everything at the same time. Third, when you have things written down in a neat organized way, you’ll have an easier time tracking the results which again is very important when blogging. For example, you want to know which strategy works compared to others, and the way to do this is to track each element. You want to keep a close eye on location, audience, landing page, search queries, etc. After you have all the data, you’ll be able to eliminate which content marketing strategies don’t respond to your bottom line. I always track because in the end there is NO point in wasting time since it can be used somewhere else more productive. Here’s what you need to do step by step… Read through this content, and make notes on all the important factors. Go through each of them, and apply them to your blog. Make sure you take time so it’s done properly, and you can start to track results at the same time. You need 30-60 days of data to find out what’s been working, and what’s not. With this data, you can pull out what strategies you want to keep because they help with your content marketing, and you can continue to optimize going forward. If everything is done properly, you’ll see growth in your content marketing which will help you accomplish your bottom line going forward. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2Ft6aXs via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2ONwP0E November 16, 2018 at 04:09PM
How to Step Up Your Content Marketing Game: 4 Tips
Almost every marketer will gladly tell you that content marketing is the top way to drive traffic to your website and increase revenue. There’s a very good reason all of the best marketers feel this way. Content marketing generates three times the leads of outbound marketing and it has the benefit of costing a staggering 62 percent less. Now, we know what you’re thinking. “I’ve tried putting out content for my business website’s blog, and it didn’t seem to have a strong impact.” The truth is, many people come to this conclusion without wondering one simple question — why? There’s a reason that content isn’t working for your business. Instead of assuming it doesn’t work, think about why your last batch of blog articles left you listening to crickets with no substantial revenue boost. If you’re here to learn how to step up your content marketing game once and for all, prepare to learn how the most successful companies create killer content that gets results. Research Your AudienceIt seems obvious, right? Research your audience before you post content. Believe it or not, an alarming number of business owners fail to dig deep into their targeted audience. Because most people have access to the internet all day, every day due to the inventions we all have like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even video game consoles, people are exposed to brands more than ever before. Social media scheduling app, Buffer, reports that people are now exposed to around 10,000 brand messages every single day. Due to this surge of brands in our face 24 hours a day, many companies get overlooked. You have to “speak” directly to your audience in order to get them to engage with your business. There are plenty of ways for you to gather information about the people who would be interested in your content. You can create surveys for those who shop at your site (perhaps offer them a coupon for participating), use your website’s analytics to gather information, or look at the people who are going to your high-ranking competitor’s websites. The people who like their content are typically going to be the ones who enjoy the kind of information you’re offering. Create Content with ValueHow many times have you visited a blog only to find nonsensical information filled with information that’s not even remotely helpful? Did you want to go back? The obvious answer is a resounding “No.” When you’re trying to step up your content marketing game you have to not only think about your audience but think about what information is going to be relevant to their lives. Most people browse blogs because of the following reasons:
While crafting your content, make sure you can answer one of these three requirements — the more, the better. Are you offering them broad information about a specific topic? Are you answering a specific question about a topic? Are you qualified and expressing an opinion about a topic of an event? Share, Share, ShareThe last time you created content for your blog, did you make sure to share your content on all of your social media platforms? If not, you missed out on a key opportunity to expose your blog to a wider audience. You should always make sure that you’re keeping up to date with your latest blog post and pictures on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. It’s possible to diverse your content to make it easier to post to multiple platforms. For example, if you discussed a piece talking about email marketing statistics of 2018, you could create an infographic and share it on your Instagram with a link to the post. Small tweaks like this can result in an explosion of traffic and sales. All you need is one piece to go viral and your business’s name is on the map. Not only do you have to share your content, but you have to also make it shareable. When people visit your website they should be able to share your blog posts in a couple of quick steps. You can make it a breeze by adding social media share icons to your blog so someone can simply click the button, and bam, your content is instantly shared with their friends. It’s even possible to add “like” and “follow” buttons so people who discover your content organically can like and follow your social media page. Sharing your content is crucial and if you want to step up your marketing game you have to make the content to social media (and vice versa) flow seamless. Have Clear Goals in MindIf you ask most business owners what their “goal” is when creating a blog, you’ll likely get a simple answer like, “I want to grow my revenue,” or, “I’d like more followers.” There’s nothing wrong with these broad goals, but you must narrow it down and come up with specific, long-term goals. Ask yourself questions like, how much do you want to make in revenue due to your content marketing? How many new email subscribers do you hope to get with this batch of content? How many more unique page views are you looking to get this week? Month? Year? You must ask these questions because they play a key role in goal setting. When you create goals for your business, you can follow up and tweak your formula over time. If you say “I want more revenue,” and make an extra 100 dollars, is that enough? Probably not. Instead, set a goal like 1000 extra dollars a month. If you reach your goal, great! Look through your analytics and make sure that the increase in revenue correlates with the new blog posts. However, if you only make 500 dollars, you can go back through and find out what you did wrong. Your analytics are key to figuring out what you need to change and what’s working. If your content on email marketing is getting tons of views, but content on customer service is oddly quiet, it might be time to ditch the customer service content and shift your focus to email marketing. ConclusionContent marketing is a mix of trial and error, luck, and skill. The good news is luck plays a very small role in how well you do. You can control the trial as well as your skill. The hope is that this piece gave you some insight as to why your blog and content marketing is on the decline or not moving at all. Tweaking the way you write, the audience you target, your sharing methods, and your goals can help you turn your website from no traffic to reputable powerhouse if you keep at it. There is no instant key to success. You have to work hard and keep at it. Constantly evolve your content, toss out the things not working, and improve on the things you’re doing well. Before long, you’ll be a content marketing whiz! from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2zUIKUR via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2K6e1cd November 15, 2018 at 09:56AM
The Only Thing More Important Than Quality Content
If you clicked through on this blog post hoping to find some sort of magic bullet, some magic formula for near instant riches where you can get rich quick and retire on some tropical island, I’m sorry to say you’re going to be disappointed. It doesn’t exactly work that way. You might see the fast cars and fancy mansions of the Internet’s rich and famous, clamoring over that kind of dot com lifestyle. Some of these folks might look like they just popped out of nowhere, but the truth of the matter is that they were indeed an overnight success, years and years in the making. And yes, this very much applies to bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters too. When it comes to online content creation, regardless of the actual format, you’ll frequently be met with a couple pieces of rather common advice. First, you’ll be told that you need to stop waiting for all your ducks to get in a row. You need to stop telling yourself that you can’t launch your YouTube channel yet, because you need to wait until you have the right camera. Just get started. That’s the first and most important step. If you don’t get started, you’ll never know where you might go. Second, you’ll be told that content is king. More specifically, you’ll be told that quality content is king. If your stuff is no good, nothing else you do is going to matter anyway. It won’t matter if you’ve mastered the art of long-tail keywords and latent semantic indexing for search engine optimization. If people find you through Google and discover that your blog is a heaping pile of trash, they won’t come back, you won’t grow your audience, and you won’t make a dime. That’s the simple, hard truth. Above all else, quality content is of paramount importance. It’s also not enough on its own. In fact, it’s not even the most important thing, really. It’s the second most important thing. Maybe. Consider this scenario. An upstart blogger has a wildly infectious personality, clever manner of writing, and remarkably effective research skills. He’s insightful and is able to boil down some rather complex and confusing concepts into simple language that almost anyone can understand. He writes a blog post that explores and illustrates truly novel ideas in totally unique ways. This is great content if you’ve ever seen it. And he’s lucky enough to have it catch some attention on social media, so the blog post gets shared around and he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame. But then the blog goes dormant for a couple days. Then a week. Then a couple weeks. Before you know it, he’s only put up two new blog posts in the last four months. Then, he unleashes a flurry of five blog posts in two days and the cycle renews. The problem here is that none of that initial success is sustainable, because this blogger lacks consistency. Consistency is arguably even more important than quality content, because it’s consistency that will fuel your long-term and sustainable growth. There are arguments for all sorts of different publishing schedules, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to stick with it. If you’re going to commit to blogging four times a week, then make sure you blog exactly four times a week, every week. Making use of an editorial calendar can help a lot with that. Over on my own blog, Beyond the Rhetoric, readers can expect to get a poignant or thought-provoking quote every Sunday with my Sunday Snippet series. They can expect to see a “speedlink” on the last Wednesday of every month with What’s Up Wednesdays. And they know that they’ll have a new vlog to watch every Monday too. The schedule is predictable and it’s consistent. The only way that you have any shot at achieving any semblance of success with your online content is to stick to a routine and to provide a consistent experience for your audience. This is no different than when you want to lose weight or when you train for an upcoming event. If you decide that you’re going for a run every morning, then you need to go for that run every morning. Skipping one day can lead to a rather unfortunate snowball effect. You need to show up every day and commit to your regimen. Do it well, do it better, and do it consistently. That’s “get rich quick” magic bullet to becoming an overnight success. It just might take some time to get there. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2FkcXCA via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2DlV97D November 14, 2018 at 09:36AM
4 Awesome Marketing Tweaks to Make to Your Blog
It’s important you have unique ways to build engagement on your blog. Over the years, we have learned a lot about the way people interact with blogs. This is cool because it allows us to keep up-to date with changing trends within the industry. Let’s explore some cool tweaks you can make to your blog to help WITH marketing. Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
The name of the game is sales, and people must know within a second or two of landing on your site exactly what you are selling. If it’s vague, unclear or hidden behind a lot of wordage you`ll have lost their interest. You lose their interest and you lose the sale which is going to completely ruin your bottom line. You have to be clear and bold with product placement. Entice the reader through blocks of text or Demonstration videos, and it`s important to be creative so you come up with unique ways to sell and market your product. A strategically placed demonstration video can add significant revenue to your monthly income. For example, despite the 3-minute length of their video, the Crazy Egg video has brought in an additional 21, 000 dollars per month because of the way they market to their customers and/or visitors. Telling your story is vital to the sale. People must understand what service you are providing, and what you have to offer. We recommend using personal accounts, and testimonials which shows potential customers the opportunity to understand the product. I also give them examples of my own personal experience because when people can relate to your own personal situations, they are more likely to see the value in the product or service you are offering. The data doesn’t lie. 37 out of 119 customers surveyed commented that they only became customers after reading personal stories. This alone shows the huge effect telling stories can have on your bottom line. Storytelling is a craft and you must master this craft to achieve results. You can use customer feedback to help build the foundations of your story. A survey asking customers what they know of your company, and how they would describe what you do is a very good place to start if you are just beginning the process.
Marketing involves understanding your customer and how they think. Not all people are visiting your site with the intention to buy but all visitors CAN become potential customers if use a few simple strategies. How you market your product is crucial in attracting attention but even more important is how you re-market your product and keep someone’s attention long after they have left your site. Consumers are always enticed by free information kits or coupons. Whether you are selling a service or a product, the possibility of getting a bonus for free is often very appealing to potential customers. These kits are generally sent out via email which can come attached with a weekly subscription to a product newsletter. This allows your product to remain in the customer’s consciousness and build awareness on a consistent basis. Building trusting and lasting relationships with your customers is the ultimate goal and you can do this by creating a series of at least 7 emails called follow-sequence which will highlight the product or service in a new and unique manner. Often it is time and information that will convince a customer to buy and the efficiency of an email strand can effectively accomplish this feat. Head over to your competitor, and you’ll see how they have effectively put together an information kit for their readers. I would focus on those which have been around a long-time so you can learn from the best in the industry. Re-marketing allows you to have an online presence in a digital era. Upon entering your site, visitors will be pixeled with a cookie which simply means that your advertisements will pop up on their browsing screen thus reminding them again of the services you offer. The ingenious part of this is that there already exists an interest so it’s just a matter of keeping the awareness alive. Many marketing networks now offer affordable remarketing package. Do a quick search in Google to find some which you’ll find very attractive. The business world is evolving quickly and so is the face of marketing. Push your business into the next stratosphere by adopting a few key strategies and you’ll be well on your way!
The bottom line in marketing is that you are only as strong as the processes you employ so it’s important to take the time to create a solid marketing initiative. Consistently measure to test out new strategies, and you’ll discover where you need to make changes. It’s important to mention that online blogging, and marketing is always about finding out what works. This means you’ll have to track data so you can find ways to optimize at a later time. Flaws and weaknesses are to be expected but it’s the constant revision, and adjustments that will help add profitability to your business. The online marketing world has a lot of competition, and those looking to use any tactic to acquire business. You have to embrace the competition. A strategy may be successful for a short term and then others may catch on. This is all part of the marketing game, and you must expect this so you can refresh your approach at regular intervals. Remember, I mentioned above how tracking your results is very important because it helps you keep a close eye on your competition. It also helps you determine what’s been working, and what needs to be changed. Lastly it’s important to create a diverse portfolio. Putting your eggs in more than one basket allows multiple channels to generate revenue as each drives a percentage of your overall profit. Marketing your business through a variety of different outlets increases the chances that a wide demographic will be exposed to the services and/or products you provide. Focus on what’s truly important; the marketing process. Don’t be afraid to be creative, and innovative in your approach and your business will reap the rewards.
The goal of a Call-to-Action Button is to convert browsers into buyers. Call-to-Action buttons include tactics such as free consultations, appointments or offers of downloadable e-books. All of these are designed to draw the customer in when they click on the icon. The promise of free products, and services increases the possibility that somewhere down the road browsers to the site might become valued customers to the business. To get a good idea of the call-to-actions available, especially those which perform, I like to visit competitor blogs to see how they are doing things. Remember, some have been in the industry for a long time so have tested out many of the methods. Here’s how to design effective call-to-action buttons: Location, color and button placement are the first things that you need to consider when designing your Call to Action Buttons. You want to ensure they are in a place where they can be seen for optimal conversions. If they can’t be seen then we can conclude they won’t be clicked. Consumers respond in different ways to color, for example, QuickSprout.com mentioned how SAP software solutions increased their conversion rate by over 32% by employing the color orange in their Call-to- Action Button. It comes down to trial, and error when deciding on the right color fit for your site. This doesn’t mean orange will work for you, but means color does make a huge difference. I encourage you try different ones until you find a combination that works The location of your call-to-action Button is also crucial. Some consumers prefer to read your story and understand what you are offering before visiting other links. Placing your button below the fold may actually be a more effective tactic. However, This can only be taken on a case by case basis so it is necessary to test different locations within your landing pages. Remember, again, it all comes down to testing everything…right? White space around your call-to-action button allows it to be more visible, and thus increase the probability that consumers will click on it. Providing credit card symbols, trust symbols or placing product logos around your Call-To-Action Button can help increase customer satisfaction and convert browsers to buyers. Here are some additional tips to follow going forward. Special Effects, Unique Slogans and Ingenious Exit Call to Action Buttons can be very effective customer conversion techniques. Many people I know have added flash to some of their buttons because this helps them stand out when visitors are on your page. Unique slogans such as “Show me my Heat-map” are creative ways to excite customers to click on your call-to-action button. For example, CrazyEgg.com who show’s bloggers their heat-map increased CTR by 20% by simply employing a button flashing with this text – “Show me my Heat-map”. They tested this strategy, and it had enormous results when optimized so they continue to implement it till today. Designing effective call-to-action buttons is the key, and over the year’s businesses have used psychology and creativity to harness untapped markets. Amazingly enough, utilizing a “don’t click” button can actually entice people into clicking on that button. Trust me, I have fell victim to this trick when I have been on a niche relevant blog. Knowing human psychology can help you market your service in creative and exciting ways. We all know how frustrating it is to wait in a long line to get into our favorite night spot only to discover the bar is empty. It’s awesome how call-to-action buttons, and advertisements which read “SOLD OUT” can actually generate interest in your product as the perception of desirability is what consumers are responding to. It’s all about enticing the reader, and giving them the idea that they might miss out on a cool opportunity if they wait too long. Utilize a variety of techniques and make sure you are constantly measuring your success rate. Call-to-Action buttons can be very effective conversion tools when used properly, but the process always remains the same. Create a strategy, measure your successes and make necessary adjustments on a regular basis. Persistency and consistency will drive your business to the next level if you take into consideration a few of these helpful hints, and put them into action! Final ThoughtsI hope you’ll use this information, and start applying some of these strategies to your blog going forward. It’s amazing how some of the call-to-action techniques have helped me double even triple my conversion rate. You have to make sure you take the first step, and implement these strategies right now. I know if you wait, you might get lazy and never get around to implementing what you have learned. Here’s what I need you to do… First, it’s time to go through this content again making notes on the important idea’s discussed. Secondly, please implement these strategies as they would apply to your business or niche. It’s important you do this right now because any delay will cause you to neglect going forward. A delay also means you’ll be gathering important statistics much later. Third, install Google Analytics because this tool is great for you to find information on how conversions have improved. GA will provide you the following:
from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2z613ac via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2T8HRRg November 13, 2018 at 09:06AM |
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