Today’s publishing industry takes fewer chances on new authors. Having a strong author platform is one way to show that you are a low-risk investment. Why has this gotten even more important to publishers? Let’s take a look at the shift in power dynamics and what it means for authors trying to get signed.
Optimizing for Search: Blog Strategy 201
Each post you publish is an opportunity to get found by a future customer. Let Google help you. Optimizing for search is one of the best things you can do for your business blog, and it should only take an extra 5-10 minutes for each post. Episode 151 goes step-by-step through my SEO Treatment Plan.
Ethical Marketing Is Not an Oxymoron
Aggressive marketing tactics might have been effective in the past, but today’s consumers are more savvy. They see right through the lies, deception, and whitewashing. Ethical marketing is the only way to set yourself apart – to treat your customers with respect.
Using Instagram for Blogging
A recent article in the New York Times showcased some high-profile influencers and celebrities using Instagram for blogging. It begs the question: With people connecting on mega-platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter – is blogging still worth it? Could Instagram ever replace blogging?
Creating a Pathway to Purchase: Web Strategy 201
What happens when a visitor arrives at your site? Do you have a pathway set up to guide them from that first visit through dozens of points of contact until they become a customer? If this isn’t all set up in advance – Web, blog, social, email, and online store – there’s little point in getting traffic to your site.
Beyond Getting Traffic: Web Strategy 201
We are obsessed with getting traffic to our websites. I want to challenge that concept, because let’s face it – random traffic doesn’t do that much for you. Web Strategy 201 is getting beyond just “traffic” as a goal and making your site much more active in the sales process.
Content Marketing 201: Beyond the Basics
Have you noticed that some of the basic strategies behind your website, blog, social, and email marketing have started to lose some of their effect? That’s because content marketing is now mainstream, with everyone relying on the same set of tactics. Time to level up with Content Marketing 201.
The Internet Is One Big Rickroll Now
The promise of the Internet has been ruined by advertising. There is no article you can read, video you can view, or social feed you can scroll through without being interrupted by some advertiser’s desperate attempt to steal your attention. Every time I experience this, I feel like I’ve been Rickrolled.
The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints
The interaction between you and your customer is unique to your business. But the “customer journey” has some common waypoints as we go from attracting that initial set of customers to developing a stable of loyal advocates.
Growing Your Audience: Taking Your Talent to the Next Level
The best way to showcase your talent is by activating word-of-mouth marketing. Your message will travel further and faster in the hands of others. Growing your audience is not a passive process though. It requires a strategy, one that can seem counterintuitive at first glance.
SEO Is About Serving People (not Google)
People are at the heart of your SEO efforts. So let’s look past the keywords, page rank, and site traffic for a second and focus on the real point of SEO – connecting with your potential customers. SEO is about building the apparatus to find the people who are already out there asking for your help – and the pathway to deliver that help.
SEO Is a Key Part of Any Marketing Strategy
SEO helps you tackle one of the most difficult parts of any business – finding new potential customers. What’s more is that Google will help you do this for free. Episode 135 is an overview of why it’s worth the effort to learn even just a little bit of SEO so you can take advantage of its marketing power.
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.
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.
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.
Why Pinterest Is on the Rise
Pinterest is often overlooked for business purposes. That’s a shame. Because Pinterest functions more like a “personal utility,” there’s potentially more alignment between a consumer’s goals and your business solution. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your message welcomed instead of avoided?
Fixing Facebook: Why the Current Plan Will Fail
Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to fix the ills that have plagued Facebook over the past 18 months. There are 5 reasons why his plan won’t work.
Facebook Zero: What It Means for Small Businesses
In the season premiere of Marketing Without the Marketing, we jump right into how the upcoming Facebook algorithm change is going to affect YOU as a small business owner. There are 3 big ramifications, and 3 things you can do to prepare yourself.
Most Downloaded Episodes of 2017: Marketing Without the Marketing
Marketing Without the Marketing is a podcast about using content strategy to build an audience. Here’s a list of the episodes that listeners downloaded the most in 2017. If you’re new to the podcast, this is a great place to start!
How to Start Writing a Book
Writing a book is a huge undertaking, not to be taken lightly. But it can be incredibly rewarding too. In my experience helping hundreds of writers become authors, here are the considerations for if and how to start writing a book (for beginners).