In the last episode (You as a Customer), I asked you to look at how you behave as a consumer your evaluation process, your criteria, and your buying process. It’s a good exercise to sit on the “other side of the table” so that you can have empathy for your customers. It helps you construct and present the right […]
You as a Customer (Turning the Tables)
How do you behave as a consumer? What's your evaluation process for a new product or service? Looking at your own process may offer some insight into how you present your offer to your customers and prospective customers. In working with clients and in my own business I find that a regular reminder about empathy […]
Social Media Strategy for Brick and Mortar Businesses: Interview with Laura Nunemaker (Episode 40)
Social media is often a big challenge for small business owners. Running the business itself is so much work how can you find the time to do the extra work of social media? And how can you make sure that those efforts actually yield a result? These are real challenges for real businesses. And in […]
How to Get Publicity and Other Media Coverage: Interview with Chris Well (Episode 37)
The great thing about content marketing is that it has allowed people to do their own marketing. You can develop your own voice and reach your audience directly. Having a fully developed content strategy involves more than just content marketing, though. Sometimes you'll want to employ traditional channel marketing as a part of your overall […]
Building Your Online Authority (Episode 36)
Start by helping one person. It sounds simple, but that's all it takes. Solve a problem for someone, and you've just taken the first step towards building your online authority. Then do it again. Repeat this enough times, and two things might begin to happen: They keep returning. It becomes a habit. What happens when they […]
Optimizing Your Content for Searchability and Discoverability (Episode 35)
Getting found is difficult in today's world. By producing something that you think will be of use to someone, you've taken the first step. You have a voice, you're at the podium. You're off to a good start. So why aren't people listening to you? Why aren't they paying attention? The problem is that, for […]
How to Create Brand Advocates (Episode 34)
There's a great book called Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force by Rob Fuggetta. I reference it in the episode, and I'm assigning it to my students this term. In it, the author describes how advocacy can't be purchased. In order to be effective, it must be genuine and given willingly. […]
Thank You to My Listeners
I wasn't going to post this week, but I couldn’t stop myself. Lately I've been overwhelmed by gratitude. Thank you to all my listeners. Thank you to all my readers. Thank you to all my Twitter peeps. You all inspire me. Thank you. And thank you to the random folks out there who share your […]
Social Media Marketing: Choosing Your Channel (Episode 27)
In any content strategy, the delivery is almost as important as the content itself. Either it's supporting your core message or it's working against you. That's why channel selection is so important. There's no one right answer you have to find out for yourself. So, continuing the discussion from the last episode about making real connections, […]
Social Media Marketing: Making Real Connections (Episode 26)
The whole point of using a content strategy for social media is to make connections to build an audience and develop trust. Social media is an important part of that strategy, one of the Three Pillars of Online Branding. Social media is easy enough for anyone to use, but getting the nuances down is the […]
How to Get Past Writer’s Block
In a way, writer’s block is just an excuse. I'm kind of mixed about it, though. While I want to be like those writers who forge ahead no matter what, there are definitely times where I get stuck. When the creativity doesn’t flow. The best advice I can give is to keep making forward progress […]
What the World Doesn’t Need (Episode 17)
How often do you hear this? The world doesn’t need another book about X. The world doesn’t need another product that does Y. The world doesn’t need a new app that does Z. Do we really want people to stop innovating? Because that's the sentiment in this toxic phrase. I want people to keep trying […]
You Haven’t Tried Everything
Saying that you’ve tried everything is a form of giving up. Don’t let yourself use that as an excuse or an easy out. The nuances matter, which means that you need to keep making small adjustments. Keep iterating. Find small successes where you can. Embrace the failures too, they are immensely valuable. The “culture of […]
Ideas vs. Execution (Episode 14)
Ideas are a dime a dozen, even the great ones. It’s what you do with those ideas that counts. And of course, the execution is always the difficult part. You start with a good set of assumptions. After all, you know your audience. You do your research to challenge some of those assumptions. You test […]
New Online Workshop: Grow Your Business with Content Marketing
Join me in a 3-day online workshop designed to help small business owners develop an online presence and start finding and connecting with customers. We’ll cover the basics of content marketing so that you can start making an impact on your own business immediately.
Who Can Benefit from Content Strategy? (Episode 2)
Every business uses content in some form or another. Think beyond the obvious things such as a blog or a press release. Your slogan or tag line? Content. Your Powerpoint pitch deck? Content. The last e-mail campaign that you sent out to your customers? Content. When you boil it down, every single contact with a […]
New Podcast Series: Marketing without the Marketing
How can you promote yourself or your business without coming off as self-promotional? This podcast will show you how to use Content Marketing to create connections and build the trust of your audience. Hosted by Michael Boezi, Content Strategist at Control Mouse Media https://controlmousemedia.com.