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We preach it every week.

Attract the right kind of traffic by creating exceptional content.

Engage your audience so they know, like, and trust you. Let them know you’re the likable expert who’s going to give them the information (and eventually the products and services) that won’t let them down.

Then use smart copywriting and conversion techniques to turn those raving fans into customers.

No, it’s not paint-by-numbers, but it is a proven, systematic way to build your business.

But sometimes I hear people say, “Geez, that sounds like a lot of work.”

Well, ok, I’m going to give it to you straight. It’s work.

But a lot of work compared to what? Digging latrines? Losing your mind in a cubicle farm? Spouting half-baked opinions on a reality TV show?

So let’s break it down … building a business our way versus building a business by other people’s methods.

Want more? Follow the ‘via’ link…

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In the past few weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with colleagues, partners and in some cases, clients, about blogging and the challenges of keeping a blog up and running.

Most of those conversations come down to one thing: Content.

Do you have enough to say to sustain a blog? Do you have strong enough opinions and takes to cut through the massive sea of clutter that is the open Web these days? And, maybe most importantly, do you know what to look for when it comes to content your customers or audience might be interested in?

That last one is the key point I want to focus on today. So many brands, when they start blogging, think too myopically about blogging. I need to talk about my product or service. I need to talk about my company. I need to talk about what my product or service can do for my customers.

Sure, that’s part of the mix, but in my view, it’s actually a pretty small part.

The much larger portion of your blog’s content should focus on everything AROUND your product or service.

It never ceases to amaze me that many of my client buys the logic of purchasing a blog enabled website but falter when it comes to actually producing content. After all, what is a blog post but an email to the world about who we are, what we do, why we do it and the ‘world’ in which we do it? You can follow the ‘via’ link above to get ideas for thinking like a blogger. Comment or ‘connect’ to discuss how this applies to you and your organization…

  • Valuable to me, not to you. It has to be valuable to your consumers (not to you). All too often content produced at the corporate level is self-serving at best and thinly veiled advertising at worse.
  • Unique perspective. While there is a ton of content that is based on similar content that already exists, no one can bring your perspective to it. It’s your perspective that makes the content unique, and it is your challenge to nurture your content and discover your unique voice, so that more and more people find the value in those unique perspectives. As Oscar Wilde once said, “be you because others are already taken.”
  • Shareable. Value content gets shared. It not only has to  impresses the consumer, but it must be of such quality that the person consuming it feels like they should share it with the people they know because it will also be valuable to them. Great content gets shared not because you have a widget that makes it easy to share, but because it’s truly valuable.
  • Findable. Value-based content gets found. In search engines, online social networks and offline. The audience dictates the true value, and the content that is valuable gets linked to, talked about and shared. All of these little actions make the content you are producing that much more findable to those who are looking for it – and for those who will just stumble across it.
  • Curate the content. Because there is so much content being created, another way to create value-based content is to curate what already exists and focus (like a laser) on what is important to your audience. Nobody will have the ability to read everything that is being published, so any organization that can make sense of the mess is one that is adding tremendous value. I’ve seen great curation happen on Blogs, in Podcasts and in email newsletters. Becoming a respected curator adds value.
  • Value that I can count on. In a world where any one individual can publish their thoughts in text, images, audio and video instantly (and for free) to the world, it’s hard to tell what is the truth, what is opinion and, ultimately, what has value. Any organization that is creating content must be trustworthy, non-partisan and credible. It’s that last word (“credible”) where your time and energy should be spent. Before publishing any piece of content, ask yourself: “how credible will my organization be perceived once we hit the publish button?” The organizations that produce credible content are the organizations that are creating value-based content.
  • I tell my ‘students’ that the difference between a thinker and a thought leader is that while they both have a point of view, the thought leader publishes content that is ‘searchable, findable, knowable, usable, shareable’ and through that process they may become ‘credible’ — the six ‘ibbles’ of content marketing! You can follow the ‘via’ link above to go to the source if you’re interested in Mitch Joel’s perspective. You can also follow @danavan on Twitter for lots of great ideas on the topic…

    For small businesses, looking “big” online isn’t so much about appearing as a large company when they’re not. Its about being a big resource for prospects and customers.  As the popularity of content marketing and brands as publishers heats up with large companies, many small businesses still have the advantage of being nimble and adaptive to new ways of engaging customers.  That ability to experiment and implement quickly as well as creatively can be a big advantage.

    Here are a few ways small businesses can use content marketing in combination with some SEO and Social Media Smarts to be a “bigger” resource for their  online customers.

    You can follow the ‘via’ link above to go to the source if you’re looking for good ideas that will help a small business establish a thought leadership position. Comment below or ‘connect’ above so we can talk about how this applies to your business…

    Change … and it’s not the kind rattling around in your pocket.

    We’re talking about the kind of change that keeps you up at night. The kind that makes you wonder why, for all your marketing efforts, not enough folks are finding and doing business with you.

    What can you, the small business owner, do about it?

    For starters, start thinking like a media company, because that’s the first step to reaping the huge rewards that come from content marketing. And it can work for any small business.

    Yes, even yours.

    Follow the ‘via’ link to go to the source and listen to the podcast…

    Is Content Marketing a Necessity For Your Brand?

    You can follow the ‘via’ link above to go to the source and read the rest of the article…

    Five Reasons Professional Services Firms are Well-Suited to Social Media

    Professional services firms are pioneers in content marketing.   Consulting firms, law firms, accounting firms, engineering firms and architects:  these are the professions that invented idea-based marketing.  Since the early 1960s, professional firms have invested heavily in bylined articles, publishing, seminars, webinars, podcasts and conferences.  But they’ve been slow to embrace social media.

    According to a new survey – conducted by BlissPR, Bloom Group and the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) – consultants spend roughly 18% of their thought marketing budgets on social channels, up from 5% in 2005.  Over the next five years, firms expect the percentage to climb to roughly 33%.

    While challenges abound – including cultural issues, resource constraints and the need for integrated traditional/social marketing plans – savvy firms recognize that social media is here to stay and are adapting accordingly.

    Posted via email from e1evation, llc

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