Content Marketing Archives - Page 5 of 13

Charting Your Own Path

The challenges you face in starting a business are different than any other thing you’ll do in your career. Episode 131 is a summary of my 10-part series about the early days of my small business – my strategies, successes, and mistakes – so that you have somewhat of a roadmap in your own journey.

The New Marketing and Sales

Ethical marketing is not an oxymoron. Respectful, soft-touch marketing not only feels better, but in light of today’s consumer behavior, it’s also more effective too. But it requires a mindset shift, and that we unlearn some of the “conventional wisdom” about marketing.

Productizing Your Knowledge

If your business involves teaching or training, then you are in a good position to create “knowledge products” out of your expertise. Whether you sell these “outputs” or use them for customer acquisition, a little planning up front can help you work towards something bigger in your content strategy.

Building Your Email List

Email is your conversion instrument. It’s 40 times more effective than social media in this regard, so building your email list is one of the most important things you can do for your business. It pays to get started early, with a plan for segmentation and some simple automation as well.

Producing a Podcast: Pros and Cons

Have you ever thought about starting a podcast? It’s a great marketing tool, which is why I’m a big proponent of podcasting. Let’s take a look at the criteria for deciding whether or not it could be a good strategy for your business in particular.

Creating Effective Cornerstone Content

Cornerstone content supercharges your efficiency. It not only carries some the sales load, but it’s good for SEO too. With a little investment of time up front, it can pay dividends for years to come. Let’s look at why cornerstone content is so important, what it can do for your business, and a simple guide for how to get started.

How to Create a Marketing Quiz for Lead Generation

People like to find out about themselves. A quiz can be a fun and useful way to introduce people to your product or service, in a much more indirect way. It’s your opportunity to show that you understand their needs, and to start building enough trust to earn a transaction. Let’s go over the principles of designing the perfect marketing quiz.

GDPR and Email Marketing: A Simple Set-Up Guide

What is GDPR and how does it affect email marketing lists? Here’s an overview, with a practical way to be GDPR-compliant but not have to lose all of your subscribers. If you haven’t done this already, it’s not too late – but it’s time to take action so that you avoid a potential claim (and hefty fines).

Making the Fear Disappear

We all start out scared. But in order to be successful, you have to learn how to quiet the voice of fear in your head. It takes time, but making the fear disappear puts you in a position of power. You make better decisions, attract better customers, and produce better outcomes.

Surviving the First Few Months of a New Business

In the early days of a new business, structure is critical. Otherwise, how can you be sure that you are spending time on the right things – and that you are building something that your customers want? Episode 124 is about testing your initial assumptions to make sure you’re on the right track.

Finding Mentors and Models

What makes a great mentor, and more importantly, how do you know who will be the best mentor for you in particular? Here’s a rundown of the key things to look for – and key things to avoid.

Day 1 of Your New Business

The sooner you start interacting with and learning about your audience, the better. This starts on Day 1 of your new business – it’s too important to let it wait. A side benefit is that it gives you a system and structure for creating worthwhile content to serve your audience. Let’s take a look at exactly how to do that.

So You Want to Start a Business?

There’s so much to learn when you are starting a business, and the challenges that you will face are as unique as your own fingerprints. It will be up to you to chart your own path, but it helps to have a map. That’s why I created this 10-part series, taking you through my process as I built my own business.

Creativity Is a Business Imperative

You can draw people in with your creativity. Or you can repel them with annoying ads. We have a choice, and my strong belief is that the storytellers and artists will win, while the aggressors and interruptors will lose. Let’s commit to making every interaction with your audience either educate, inspire, enlighten, or entertain.

Advertising Offset Credits: Calculating the Cost of Ad Pollution

If we look at advertising like pollution, could we make the worst offenders pay a price for making us suffer bad ads? In this week’s episode, I explore the concept of Advertising Offset Credits and the cost of aggressive, self-serving advertising.

More Speculation About Facebook’s Future

There are some big changes coming to Facebook. Continuing the thread from last week’s episode, here is some speculation on how this might affect the Facebook Ad platform and a major change to the News Feed that Facebook is currently testing outside of the U.S.