How to get more out of your blog content

One of the most frustrating things about writing a long piece of content is feeling like only a few people saw it and hours of your time writing had almost no impact.

There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to blog content that will help you feel like it was well worth the time invested. It’s as simple as making sure that nobody (including you!) thinks of your blog post as a “one and done” piece of content.

1)   SEO juice

Quality content on your website will help you rank higher in search engines (otherwise known as search engine optimization or SEO). Even if you just think of SEO as being there to help you rank higher in search - that alone is still not a bad reason to create good content for your website (some businesses get most of their leads through search!).

Every time you create new content, your website is crawled by the search engine bots. So, when you create new blogs posts, make sure you’re using the kinds of words you want to be found for. You should also keep your blog posts to a minimum of 300-500 words for them to be considered quality, and whenever possible, link to other pieces of your content within your site and try to get other people to link to your content from their web sites.

2)   You’re giving people a reason to visit

Without new blog posts, there isn’t much of a reason for people to keep coming back to your website. How many times can you promote your ‘About’ and ‘Sales’ pages and expect people to take the time to come and visit again?

By consistently creating new content that you know is of interest to your audience, you have an opportunity to entice them to return and make them feel like they’re getting value out of what they’re reading.

Once you have posted new content, make sure you tell your audience you created the content. Post it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and on Pinterest. Also send an email to your mailing list letting them know you created the new content.

If you don’t tell people you created new content, they won’t know to go and look – so, promote, promote, promote!

I once heard you should spend as much time promoting a post as you spend writing it, if not more. Keeping that in mind will help you figure out just how much effort you have to put into getting people to see it for you to feel like it was worth writing.

A few other tips for promoting:

• Share it multiple times – on Twitter you can share it 5-6 times over 48 hours easily. On Facebook you can share it again 24-48 hours later.

• If you’re worried about seeming repetitive, use ICYMI. It stands for “In case you missed it” and recognizes you’ve posted it before, but that you know not everyone will have seen it.

This next piece is really critical:

3)   Don’t forget about it.

Once you’ve promoted the content, plan to share it again over time. Not all of your content may be evergreen, but if it is it, plan to share it again in two weeks, six weeks and nine weeks later. You may even want to schedule it to share again in those time frames while you’re posting it the first time. It will save you time and make sure you don’t forget to keep re-sharing it.

4)   Reuse pieces

Don’t think of your blog post as just a blog post. Take pieces of it and do different things with it.

Reuse it as a script for a short video, take quotes out and share as tips on Twitter or create visuals and share on Instagram. 

Creating great content can be time consuming, but if you make that time well worth the investment then you will see results - results that make it easier to keep doing. By making sure the content is being properly promoted and shared on a regular basis, you’re going to see far more results with one piece of content than you did before.

Spend some time thinking about the content you’ve written in the past – how can you apply these things to it now?

Content creation made easy

Does content creation feel stressful and time-consuming and is, therefore, one of the things on your to-do list that is constantly getting bumped and never done?

The following ideas will help you get the ideas out of your head and on to paper. By doing this you will have a great mix of inspiration and partially created content that you can use in many different ways.

So where do you start? Start by asking yourself: What is something you want people to know?

For example, the following statements are things certain businesses would want their audience to know:

"Drinking more water is good for you."

"There's no ONE way to success, you need to find the best path for you."

" Facebook Live is a great way to connect with your audience."

It starts with one statement

Come up with one statement - something that isn't specifically about what YOU do, but something that you want your audience to know you believe and something that will help your audience.

Now write that statement at the top of a page (a Word processing document, at the top of a page in a notebook, wherever works for you). Remember: your statement is something you believe, something that will help your audience and something that will reinforce what you do and sell.

Next come the ideas

Fill the page with ideas about that statement.

They can be one-liners, they can be tips, they can be testimonials that show how effective it is when people buy into your statement. They can also be inspirational quotes, theories, stories, or they can be whatever else happens to come out.

For example, for the above statements those business owners could say:

"Drinking more water is good for you."

• Drinking water makes your skin softer
• Drinking water is good for your overall health
• Drinking water is better for you than sugary drinks

"There's no ONE way to success, you need to find the best path for you."

• People work differently to achieve their end goal
• Everyone has a different business and business model
• When something isn't working for you, don't just keep telling yourself to do it anyways, try to figure out a different way to do it that DOES work for you.

"Facebook Live is a great way to connect with your audience."

• Facebook Live is a great storytelling tool
• Facebook Live is convenient for both the viewer and user
• When you go live you don't need to worry about perfection, you're letting people connect to the real you (which they love) AND you don't need to worry about the perfect script, the perfect backdrop or the perfect makeup

Don't overthink it!

Set a timer for 15 minutes so that this doesn't become too onerous a task. Just see how much you can get out of your head that backs up that one statement. Every idea is worth writing down!

Then use this gold. How?

* Social media updates
* Group them together into points in a blog post
* Use them as the main points in a presentation or workshop
* Use them as talking points for a video
* Use them as a pitch or talking points to go on TV or the radio

Often we overthink what it takes to get content out of our heads when it's all right there. Brain dump it out and then figure out how you're going to use it, or get someone to help you (a virtual assistant is great for this!)

So... what will you write at the top of your page today?

The Ultimate Digital Marketing Bundle

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As an entrepreneur or business owner you probably know that you need to be online, but getting online with a consistent plan is sometimes easier said then done. Or maybe you don’t have all the necessary tools needed to fully implement your digital marketing plan? When you don’t have the tools and plans in place for social media and digital marketing, you can begin to doubt the importance of even being online.

Three big reasons you need a digital marketing plan:

1. Reach potential customers easier: For example, if someone is looking to purchase shoes they are more than likely going to Google shoe stores. If your shoe store does not have a website or online presence, then they may be overlooked by a shoe store who does have an online presence. Being online is your best chance to be discovered by a new client!

2. Showcase your products and services to a wider audience: Social media makes showcasing your products and services easier than ever before! With visual social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest as well as the visual additions of Facebook and Twitter, posting pictures and even videos of new and featured products has never been so engaging and exciting!
    
3. Engage and build relationships with clients: Whether it is through exclusive offers to just your newsletter subscribers or contests only for your Facebook fans, digital marketing not only makes it easier to engage with your clients, but the ability to quickly respond to queries and ask questions directly to your audience also makes building relationships easier.

All of the benefits of digital marketing make it very appealing, but for some, it can appear too time consuming. It is for this reason that I created the ultimate digital marketing bundle to get you started. It contains a wide array of tools an entrepreneur or business owners needs to create engaging content on a consistent basis – on their website, through their social media channels, and in a regular newsletter.

What's included in the Digital Marketing Bundle:

• 7-day Business Planning Challenge – This eBook will help make sure that you’re ready to tackle 2016 with the right business plans in place.
• Simple Start Basic – This eBook is a step-by-step process for figuring out what kind of content you should be sharing online on channels like Facebook and Twitter.
• Monthly planner – Use this worksheet to plan your online content on a monthly basis.
• Blog planning worksheet – Do you have a blog or are you planning on starting one? What is its purpose and what kind of content will you be sharing? This worksheet will get you thinking about that.
• Email marketing worksheet – Are you planning to send email to your audience? This worksheet will help make sure you’re thinking through the kind of content and what platform makes the most sense.
• Editorial calendar template – Plan out your content ahead of time in this excel spreadsheet so you know what you’re going to say and when.
• Analytics template – Keep track of your numbers on a monthly basis to see what’s working and what needs tweaking.
• Daily social media checklist - when you're online, what are some of the things you can be doing to make the most of your time?

So, what are you waiting for? Get started with digital marketing with this value packed digital marketing bundle - it's only $27! To get started – click here.

Tell your audience why you're worth their time

Once you've figured out why you're using online marketing, who you're talking to and what you want them to know, you have to convince people to pay attention. One thing business owners overlook when they ask people to sign up for their email newsletter, like them on Facebook or follow them on Instagram is sharing what's in it for them.

What are you giving your audience?

You need to figure out what your audience values and what you can give them.

There is too much content online for people to spend time reading things they don't care about. That means you need to really understand what your audience is looking for and give them that.

It's about them - not you. The happier you make them, the more likely they are to spend money with you down the line. You're building a relationship with your audience where they value you, your expertise and your content.

How do you know what they want?

You need to figure out the perfect blend between what you want people to know about you, what you're trying to achieve and what they want. It can be tricky to navigate this, so here are a few examples:

For me, I share content. I sell my knowledge, but I also give it away. Why give it away? People who follow me online are looking for knowledge and by giving them some for free they a) believe I know what I'm talking about, b) get a taste for what they could get by paying to work with me, and c) start to appreciate what they got for free and think of me as their go-to person.

Another example would be someone who sells cooking tools. Their audience wants to cook. What can they share with them? Tips on how to cook efficiently, recipes they can make, tips on cooking for a family or cooking for a party. They are giving them information that their audience wants while reinforcing that they sell great cooking tools that can make cooking even easier/better.

A third example would be a personal trainer. They need to convince people that they know what they're doing, share tips on things they can do now on their own, and demonstrate that they understand the demographic they want to work with. If they love to work with new moms, they need to share photos and articles about being a new mom, fitness for a new mom, understanding the difficulties of fitting fitness in as a new mom. That messaging, the articles shared and the things new moms would want to work on are very different than that of say a 45-year old man looking to get in shape.

Putting the pieces together to provide value for your audience, while not forgetting what you're trying to achieve can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. By breaking down each piece and then pulling them together, your marketing message will become clear.

If you need any help brainstorming, book one of my 45-minute coaching calls and I'll help you work through it all!

Create Facebook content by theming your days

We talk a lot about the value of having a plan when you’re creating content. Today I thought I’d talk a bit about how having themes for every day of the week for your Facebook page (or any of your social networks) can help you come up with content quickly.

What do you want people to know about?

First come up with some messages that you want to share with your audience: 

• Do you want people to know that using your product will save them time?
• Do you want people to know that you cook amazing meals that are healthy? 
• Do you want people to know that you’re an expert in renovating kitchens? 
• Do you want people to know that hiring a realtor is better than trying to sell their house on their own?

Create a list of broad categories of things you want people to know about you – just 2 or 3. This is going to help make sure that what you’re sharing is helping you achieve your goals.

Assign a certain kind of content to each day of the week.

For example:

Sundays you can share an article from someone else. There are all kinds of people writing incredible content that back up what you want people to know – that healthy food made from scratch is good for you, that exercising every day is important, that selling your home independently won’t always save you money. Spend a bit of time right now finding four articles that talk about something you believe in that would be of interest to your audience.

Mondays you can share a tip. Spend some time writing down four tips that would help your audience i.e., cooking tips, marketing tips, productivity tips, etc. 

Tuesdays you’re going to feature something from your website.  Go and browse around your website - what are some interesting things you want people to know about? Is there a page that tells me why I should buy something? Is there a testimonials page? Is there a free tool I could download? Find four interesting things and save the URLs for those pages and explain why people should be interested in having a look.

Wednesday ask a question from your community. Maybe it’s something about their favourite products or tools, or maybe it’s something about how they overcome certain challenges. Jot down four.

Thursday we’re going to play with Throwback Thursday (#TBT). Do you have old photos in the archives? Pull up four and quickly tell the story about a great event, about your first year in business, or about how much technology has changed since you opened.

Friday share an article from your website. You probably have all kinds of great content on your blog. Go find it and share it again – it’s still relevant. Pick four now.

Saturday we’ll go with something lighter because people like light on the weekend. Are there any jokes or comics you could share? I’m a fan of going to Pinterest and typing in key words to find stuff like that to share. Find four of these.

Do you see what I did there? If you find four of each of those things, you have a month of Facebook content already written and ready to schedule. It will take an hour or two most likely, but once completed you will have great content ready for the entire month!

Leave me a comment and tell me what your daily categories would be and if you think this would work well for you and your content creation!