Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Is your business a service? Top 5 reasons to blog (and more often)

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In a recent chat with trust marketing expert Kristen Beireis, we discussed how blogging is such a good tool for people who provide a service. Here are the top five reasons to be blogging (and more often):

  1. Content marketing works. By giving prospective clients a taste of what you think and how you help, you help them get to “know, like and trust” you and see that you are a good match to meet their needs.

  2. You like to write. Of course you can get help with this task (wink, wink), and of course you can learn how to do it better (nudge, nudge). But if you're someone who naturally likes to write, then blogging will be a pleasurable task that never feels like “marketing.”

  3. You love to help. Obviously you provide a service because you like to help other people grow, improve, learn and change. Providing valuable suggestions and solutions via your blog is just another extension of that helping activity.

  4. You have a creative side. Maybe you don't get to use it all the time in working with your clients or managing your business activities, but it's there and just itching to get out. From the different types of content you can write to the multitude of blog design options, blogging gives you a creative way to grow your business and serve your clients.

  5. You have more time than money. Blogging is a very inexpensive way to attract people to your website where they can join your community, enter your marketing funnel and sign up for your services. And there are smart ways to manage your article writing time.

If you've never considered blogging, please look over these reasons again and see if they make sense for you. If you're already using writing as a marketing tool, e.g., sending a monthly newsletter, consider making the shift from newsletter to blog.

Please let me know if you have any questions about how to get started with blogging. 

How different types of online content can help you build a relationship with your ideal client

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For more information about these three different types of online content, please see the Content Marketing à la Carte series.

While I commented briefly at the end of the series that one type of content isn't better than the other (it's a matter of personal preference and the suitability of your message), I wanted to talk more about how your choice of content will help you build relationships online.

The thought piece

A thought piece naturally positions you as a leader in your industry, particularly if it challenges or innovates a commonly-held practice or opinion. This creates a level of comfort for your ideal client that you are a credible expert. It can also set up a structure for your work together (such as my self-assessment for content marketers). 

How you can help it along: Surround yourself with a community of fellow innovators who support you to express your original ideas. Let thought pieces happen naturally in their own time, and then highlight them in your blog or newsletter. Invite some of your most influential industry colleagues to read and comment – sometimes they're the ones you'll most connect to with a thought piece.

Remember to balance: Some potential clients won't spend the time to read a longer or deeper piece, and others simply are not interested in your musings or theories – they don't want to watch you figure it out, they just want you to tell them what to do or show them how others are doing it!

The connective piece

A connective piece naturally positions you as a trusted resource for your ideal clients – both a connector who knows a lot of people and a maven who has a lot of good information to share. The connective piece also does a wonderful job of nurturing your relationships with your peers, encouraging reciprocal links and referrals when they happen to run into your ideal clients.

How you can help it along: Be on the lookout for information and resources that will benefit your ideal client, whether that's from a colleague or a "competitor." Trust that there is enough work for everyone and that the right clients will be attracted to you if you express yourself authentically.

Remember to balance: Potential clients want to see some original content from you, both theory and practice – it reassures them that you have something to offer.

The core piece

A core piece naturally strengthens your ideal client's trust that you will be able to help them with their problem. By delivering bite-sized pieces of your unique solutions, you give them a taste of what the experience of working with you will be like.

How you can help it along: Listen to what your clients and readers are telling you and asking you. Give them the solutions they're looking for, not just the ones you think they should have (Alicia Forest and I discussed this in an interview).

Remember to balance: There's not much of a downside to publishing a high volume of well-written core pieces, other than the fact that your ideal client would likely enjoy seeing different types of content from you. And mixing it up can also keep your creativity stoked!

Each type of online content has a role in your relationship-building efforts, and balancing between them can help maintain your rapport with your reader. If you usually stick with one kind of article, challenge yourself to write a different one this week. Want to go further with the challenge? Aim to write at least one of each type over the next month.

How to leverage your written content: 25 great things you can do with 500 great words

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When you pour your heart and soul into writing an article that really hits the mark in providing solid value for your target audience, it's sad to think of it only getting one chance to shine in the world. But that's exactly what happens for so many entrepreneurs who write articles as a strategy to build relationships, trust and credibility with prospective clients.

Maybe you send the article out in your monthly newsletter. Maybe you post it on your blog, if you have a blog. Maybe you post it to your website. 

What a waste of your brilliance to only use it once!

Here is just a sampling of the many ways you can leverage your content in an integrated marketing strategy. This will not only keep you on the minds of your prospective customers, it will fuel your own creativity to think of more and more ways to play off that one original article.

25 ways to re-use a great article

  1. Put the words in a different order (explore your topic from another perspective and write another article about it)
  2. Read the article out loud and make a podcast  (Audio Acrobat is a handy tool for this)
  3. Interview someone else about your topic (e.g., an expert, a colleague, a client)
  4. Create a poll about the topic (ask your blog readers and social networks to answer)
  5. Ask questions about your topic on your social networking sites
  6. Send the article out in a newsletter to your mailing list
  7. Post the article to your blog
  8. Link to your blog post on your social networks (you can set this up to happen automatically)
  9. Print your article out as a handout (add photos, graphics and your logo and contact information)
  10. Submit your article to a general article directory (e.g., EzineArticles)
  11. Submit your article to a targeted article directory (e.g., Coach Spotlight)
  12. Submit your article as a guest post to someone else's blog
  13. Present a tele-seminar about the topic
  14. Present a workshop about the topic
  15. Combine these words with other great words you've written and share them online (e.g., as an e-book or home study program)
  16. Combine these words with other great words as a printed book
  17. Create an actionable worksheet about the topic
  18. Start a debate about the topic (post a provocative statement to your social networks)
  19. Challenge another blogger to a duel (find someone with an opposing view and ask them to write about it)
  20. Send the article to clients or prospective clients who ask you about the topic
  21. Select some key words or phrases from your article and make them into a slideshow (add some photos and turn it into an online video)
  22. Discuss the topic in front of your webcam (and turn it into an online video)
  23. Create a diagram out of the topic (give your readers a visual map to follow of the topic)
  24.  Make a word picture out of your article (http://www.wordle.net/)
  25. Link a song (http://blip.fm/) or movie to your topic and share the connection with your social network

Please don't be limited by these 25 things, my friend. Go forth and turn your content into new and wonderful solutions for the people you serve. 

[Update December 31, 2012 – This article was originally posted on the snap! va marketing blog, until Karri Flatla moved on to a new career.]

Content marketing: Turning strangers into clients

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On a phone call last week, I heard: "Would someone really hire a stranger that they just found on a website? I provide a service – don't people need to be referred to me by someone they trust?"

An excellent two-part question, to which I'll write a two-part answer:

Turning strangers into clients

When a stranger lands on your website and they're greeted with information that will help solve their problem, they can very quickly turn from a stranger to a fan. If they really like what you've written, they may share it with someone they know or bookmark your page to come back to later.

But it gets even better if you're employing pink spoon marketing techniques (and hopefully you are!). Now, that stranger has now downloaded your free resource and given you permission to follow up with more useful information and ways to get to know you.

As you stay in touch over time, you won't feel like a stranger to that visitor anymore. You will feel like a trusted source of useful information, a valuable resource and the first person to consider when it's time to look for solutions.

Making referrals easier

When you take good care of a client, you make the person who referred that client look really good! With an impressive collection of informative content on your website, blog or social network profile, you can give your referral sources even more clout.

Imagine them being able to say, "Sorry to hear you're having trouble with X, Jen. I just read a fantastic article with some great tips – here's the link."

Just as your articles build trust with prospective clients, they also build credibility with potential referral sources, and give you an easy, no-pressure way to stay in touch with your network of colleagues.

So while it may not happen immediately (and sometimes it does!), I say YES, strangers will hire you just from seeing your website. IF your website includes some great content.

And for those who need a little social proof, your content can solidify your standing as the go-to expert in your specialty and guarantee a steady stream of referrals coming your way.

Why article marketing takes the prize

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There are so many ways to get attention and attract new clients for your service-based business.  So how do you know which is the right one for you? As you’ve guessed from the title of this article, I’m already quite biased about the answer.

Ads, cold calling and speaking, oh my!

Radio and television ads are usually too expensive for small service-based businesses to even consider.

Google pay-per-click ads or other forms of Internet advertising can be highly targeted, but can also get expensive and complicated to manage. As well, they do nothing to develop a personalized relationship with a prospective client.

Cold calling offers a chance to connect, but can be quite intimidating and puts the service-based business owner in the position of having to sell their service. Most of us need a lot of help with our telephone sales skills.

Networking is also wonderful for building relationships, but works best if you give before you receive. Service-based business owners who don’t want to give away their services (nor should they), often get stuck in the follow-up phase, because they don’t have anything valuable to pass along to their new contacts.

Speaking, if you like it and learn to do it well, is an excellent strategy for gaining visibility and credibility, but until you build up the platform to earn large speaker fees, also requires follow-up to stay in touch with people and inform them about your other products and services.

The fortune is in the follow-up

And that’s where article marketing comes in. Whether you’re cold-calling, networking or speaking, if you have valuable content that solves a problem for your target market, you can now follow up with confidence. Instead of selling, you’re giving. Instead of creating pressure or urgency, you’re building a trusting relationship. 

And if you’re not out there making the calls, meeting people, or speaking, article marketing can pick up the slack and find the prospects for you! That’s because unlike advertisements or cold calls, people are on the Internet every day actively seeking exactly what you’re giving – information.

Other benefits and applications of article marketing

Service-based business owners with a storefront business can apply exactly the same strategies, and augment by publishing a column in a community newspaper right in their neighborhood. Or enhance your article a bit for submission to a trade journal, newsletter or magazine that’s targeted to your specific audience.

Writing original content based on the very same solutions you have created to solve the problems of your target market can also help you to systemize how you deliver your services. More importantly, it gives people access to your solutions who cannot or will not ever hire you personally.

There are plenty of helpful ways to market your business, and you will be naturally more skilled at some than others. As you find the mix that works for you, please include some article marketing!

If you feel like you’re lacking the discipline, skill or structure that you need to apply the power of article marketing to grow your business, contact me to today about how I can help!