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.
A Simple Example of Ethical Business Practices
It’s worth highlighting ethical business practices since they are often the exception to the rule. This week’s episode breaks from the regular format of the show and presents a story from an experience I had last weekend.
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.
Google Plus Is Shutting Down: What You Need to Know
Google Plus is shutting down on April 2, 2019. Here’s a quick overview of how (and why) to download all your data before it disappears forever.
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.
More Than Just a Showroom: Web Strategy 201
Competition on the Web is tough. You can’t just hang your shingle and expect people to show up. A basic website isn’t good enough anymore – it needs to function as a PATHWAY for prospective customers. Here’s how to make your website carry more of the sales load for you.
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.
The One Word That Diminishes Your Work
People don’t mean to diminish your work, but that’s exactly what they are doing when they use this one insidious little word. It undervalues your expertise and experience by making it sound simple – as a way to sell you on doing something, paying you less than you’re worth, or not paying you at all.
Build, Connect, Optimize: The Three Stages of Good Marketing
A solid marketing plan has three stages, depending on the growth cycle of the business. In the season finale of Marketing Without the Marketing, I take a look back at the past year and how this has influenced my most recent projects.
SEO and the User Pathway
SEO always starts with a simple query. But it doesn’t end when the user finds your site. For SEO to be truly effective, we need to set up a pathway to serve the user more than once so we can build trust over time. And of course, this needs to be set up and ready to go before the first visit.
SEO Is More Than Keywords
Yes, keywords are important to SEO. But when you boil it down, SEO is about providing relevant, useful content to your human users. Google is able to measure what happens once the user gets to your site. Is it a good experience, or are there things you could be doing better in serving your users?
SEO: Write for Humans First, Robots Second
Google’s Web crawlers are assessing your website with every interaction. Are people getting what they need from your site? It turns out that when it comes to SEO, what’s good for humans is good for robots. Let’s look at some of the biggest factors that affect your ranking and how they are in tune with the human side of marketing.
SEO: Understanding the Google Algorithm
What is Google looking for in your content? While they are famously secretive about their search algorithms, Google reveals important clues with each major update. Let’s take a look at the key search factors and how to apply them to your SEO strategy.
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.