Lesson #9 How To Market Your Content To Increase Subscriptions
Is Just Getting By Enough For You?
Marketing is letting the world know who you are, and what you've got to offer. It real y is that simple.
Yes, we can dig down into the nitty gritty and build detail around that but at a fundamental level that's what we are doing.
Everyone is marketing every single moment of the day. All day every day you market yourself and your business by virtue of just doing your thing.
You will get business this way and you'll probably make an ok living. But is that enough for you?
Putting a plan in place to market your service is a sensible thing to do, and when you execute that plan you're likely to get improved results.
If you don't have some degree of structured marketing effort in place it's akin to speaking in an empty room.
In order for you to deliver your message effectively there are a couple of things you need to know and have in place.
1. Who you are and what your business represents (Why you are in business).
2. The people or market you want to serve (be very specific).
3. What desire you fulfill for that market.
4. What product or service best represents this desire.
These things may sound familiar... right? We went into these elements in detail in the earlier lessons. These are vital elements to have boxed off if you are to make good progress.
Once you analyse your motivations deep enough you will have the answers to these questions and you will be able to move forward.
So lets assume you have these in place.... what next?
You now have to decide how you will deliver your message to your chosen niche.
The fact you are here reading this means you have selected the internet to deliver your message and that's a sensible choice.
But where do you start?
For small or medium businesses getting started online here's what I'd suggest you should do.
I can hear some of you sighing already...
"I don't have time to blog once per week" I hear you say. Well if that's you, you should just forget it. You just wasted your entire time digesting this course.
It's time to extract the finger and get blogging. Blogging is content marketing at it's best and it allows you create a community around your business who will support you, and help you build your business.
When you make a commitment to blog once per week, solving readers problems along the way, you'll slowly but surely establish yourself as an expert and people will acknowledge this.
YOU'VE SIMPLY GOT TO COMMIT TO BLOGGING!
If you are not going to do it yourself, then get a staff member to do it. Hire a freelancer to do it.
Whatever way you have to make it happen, make it happen.
What To Do If You Have No Audience
Have you got a LinkedIn Network?
I bet most of you have. If you are on LinkedIn you can get started blogging today. You don't even need your own website!
I'd advise you build your own WordPress site and blog from there. Your own platform on your own domain is very important for your brand.
LinkedIn gives priority to posts that are published using Pulse (Their blogging platform) so you can reach more people than you will by publishing an LinkedIn update.
Get on LinkedIn Pulse once per week and write a blog post that solves, or addresses a common problem for your chosen niche.
Note; Include A Call To Action A Call ToAction is a specific action you want your readers to take i.e. "Get a Free This or That", "Sign Up For Updates" etc
You're building your list remember? So ask your readers to sign up, subscribe, join your community.
Check out this post I wrote a little while ago that shows you how to write a blog post
2. Social Networks (Select 2 Only)
I'm suggesting you only select two social networks for a very good reason...
You won't have the time to manage any more than this. Out of the two you choose, one will be the primary where you will put most of your social media effort.
Important Note; Social Networks are fine and can help you spread your message, but be careful not to pour all your energy into them. Social Networks are fickle things and they can devour your precious time, money and effort. Use them by all means but do not depend on them Build your own Digital Platform using WordPress and draw your readers to you.
When you choose only one or two networks you allow yourself the time to know them very well , and figure out what works and what doesn't.
Forget trying to perfect Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, you just won't be able to be effective enough to make them count.
I've got accounts with all these but I only really put my energy into Twitter. LinkedIn gets some of my attention and probably deserves more, but I try to keep it tight.
I strongly suggest you do the same. Pick one or two and get to know them well . you'll be more effective that way.
This is where you will make good ground. Once you get into the flow of blogging once per week, begin to seek out influencers in your space and make a connection with them.
But don't jump in too quick!
Remember when you were a kid, that other kid who wanted to be your friend but was so all over you it made you want to run away?
Or remember that person you dated you a few times and they were almost looking to move in with you after a couple weeks?
Well this is the same as dating. You've got to take it handy to see if they suit you and you suit them.
Begin by reading their material and subscribing to their newsletter. Drop a few comments on their blog and make them useful.
Slowly you'll begin to be seen and then you can approach them via email and request to write a guest post. Once you start guest posting you'll get exposed to wider audiences.
So there's three things you absolutely must do to begin marketing your business online.
1. Blog once per week (Just Do It!)
2. Choose only 2 Social Media networks and get really good at working them.
3. Start Guest Blogging
Marketing doesn't need to be complex, just do the simple things well and you'll get results. Don't take on too much or you'll burn out.
Marketing Tip; Create an Editorial Calendar and enter into it your weekly marketing commitments. Then stick to it.
Bonus Lesson; How To Construct A Blog Post That Gets Massive Social Shares
I believe all businesses who have a presence online should be blogging to some degree, and if you are not blogging already well you should be. Blogging is practically a free way to market your services, once you are willing to take the long term view. If you need a short term result then you'll need to make Adwords an addition to your strategy.
1. An Opportunity To Get To Know Your Customers
In order to write an article that your customers value, you'll need to get into their heads. You need to understand who you are writing for and what their pains and desires are. Once you do this you can start marketing successful y.
2. It Forces You To Come Out Of The Numbers Game Mindset
The numbers game says you'll hit one in every ten. The more phone calls you make then the greater your results. Well , I can't stand it, and I don't recommend it, because it's soul destroying. It does not give you the opportunity to engage with the core percentage of customers that love what you do. It's a shotgun approach and it's stupid and naive. Blogging is about speaking the language and delivering content that your core customers/readers want.
3. It Gives You A Chance To Step Back
Taking 4 to 6 hours per week to write content specific to your customers needs, allows you a chance to take a wider view. Spending all your time in the trenches does not allow you deliver your customers what they need, and will lead you around in circles. Take time every week to find out what floats your customers' boat and give it to them.
Check out 1000 true fans by Kevin Kelly and read it.
The Structure Of A Great Blog Post
#1 The Headline
The Headline is the key call to action before anyone opens that link. It draws the reader in and asks them to open and read your article. If your headline is not compelling then you just won't get those clicks!
Newspapers know it, magazines know it, the editors of these publications know it, and you must too. If your opinion has been tainted by some of the less desireable publications online or offline, then get over it.
Your article doesn't have to be spammy and neither does your headline in order for it to work, but it does need to be compelling. If you've confused these two ideas then some work is required to refine your opinions.
Once you get over yourself, you can use this formula…
Quantity + Benefit + End Result
Here's an example;
"21 Ways To + Create Great Photos + Like The Pros"
The Quantity + The Benefit + The End Result
The three elements don't need to appear in the way I've shown them, they can be moved about in any sequence so long as the sentence makes sense and reads well .
Certain words generate emotion in the reader and are more inclined to cause them to click your headline. You need to use these words. Check out this article to find out more about good copywriting techniques.
Also check out CoSchedule Headline Analyzer It's a great tool that I use to develop my headline before I publish a blog post or podcast. I make sure I get the green light on the headline before I begin to produce the content around the idea.
A green light is a score above 70 and I am good to go.
#2 The Subhead
The Subhead allows you to further elaborate on your headline and give your reader more information about the contents of your article.
Using the same headline as above, our subhead might read like this; "In the post you can learn more about the tactics professional photographers use to get great results from their photos every time"
Amateurs admire professionals, they aspire to become professional or at the very least, want to produce results just like the professionals. When you afford them ways and means to do that then you get their attention.
They will want to engage with your content to find out how to do that, but you must present it in a way that coaxes them in.
#The Introduction
The Introduction is the part of your post where you will go further into detail of how your reader can achieve the results your promised them in the headline and subhead.
The Introduction is broken into three elements as follows;
1. The Problem
Here you will show empathy for your readers problem. Detail the problem in a few sentences but no more than that. Maybe use a story to show personal experience or that of a friend or someone you know. Make this a paragraph or two.
2. The Solution
Next you will highlight the solution. Again, using your own experience or your friend's, detail what you did to solve the problem and explain the relief you felt after you achieved it.
3. The Promise
Next you will explain in about 1 sentence, that you will now break down the details of what you did and the steps you took to solve the problem.
The entire introduction should cover about three or four paragraphs.
#4 The Body Content
This is where you break down your content into bite sized digestible pieces that your readers can follow and implement. Breaking your content out like this allows your readers to take action at their own pace and, if necessary refer back to your article for further steps. This is where the value is.
1. Use Bullet Points & Lists
Bullets and lists help break your content up and show each step one by one. They make your content easy to follow, just like what you're reading here.
2. Use Custom Images
Images help to make your content scannable and further digestible. They also help you reinforce key points that you want to make.
3. Use Tweet This
Using a tool like Tweet This allows you make the key points from your article available to your reader to share with their network, affording you the opportunity to spread your content further. Like custom images, they also allow you to break up your content.
4. Use Famous Quotes
I like using quotes, either my own or famous ones from experts. Quotations allow you to, again, break up your content so your readers can digest it.