Content Marketing

Content Marketing – A Basic Guide

Want to move forward into the new decade with a successful plan in place? Create a content marketing plan.

Content Marketing is the process that allows a company to market their business by providing quality content to attract new customers. It’s not about selling – it’s about building the relationship. It’s not about interrupting a customer to bring you your message – it’s about letting your customer request the information that’s right for him or her and moving forward at their own pace.

If you’ve been marketing for a while, (and by awhile I mean 5 years or more) you’ve probably focused on advertising. Your goal with every form of marketing is to promote you and your products and your business. Not so with content marketing.

Content marketing is about building value and trust. It’s about having quality content available in many different formats, and letting your customers and prospects decide what’s right for them.

Start with a blog
One of the reasons blogging is taking the Internet by storm is the ability to add content whenever you choose. Start with my site TheSocialGhost. I started it with the sole premise of providing quality content on how you can utilize content to the best of your ability. My goal is to give you quality tips every week, and help you understand how important content is. Do I have services available like ghost writing? Definitely. And I promote them in subtle ways (how’s this for subtle!). But I also know only a few people that read this post will have any interest in ghost writing at all. Most are looking for ideas they can use to build on. And because I know the importance, I’m willing to share my knowledge freely to help everyone understand blogging and content marketing a little bit more.

A blog puts you in the drivers seat. A blog gives you the control to add content whenever you choose, day or night.

Build with a list
Having a blog is great, but it’s the list that really makes your business profitable. Because without a list of clients and prospects to market to, your business has little value.

So once you have your blog in place and you’ve started to add quality content, its time to build a list. In the simplest form, you can do that by promoting your RSS feed, and having people sign up to monitor your new posts. Or take it to the next level and offer a free report, whitepaper, audio or video recording, and have people sign up for it. (Have you signed up for my free audio file? It has a ton of quality content.)

This list is your golden tool for building all the business you desire from this point forward.

Add in a little social
Why is social growing in leaps and bounds? Because it allows you to freely share content in any way you choose.

Have you ever Googled yourself? What comes up? Especially if you are a small business, you need to monitor this all the time. You can control what’s coming up by feeding in content. We have huge followings on Facebook and Twitter. When we link to a post, we can drive thousands of page views with just a couple mentions on social sites.

The key is to get the following and the comments rolling on social sites that you can’t control, and lead them right back to the content you do control on your blog.

Don't forget to download your FREE Blogging Planner today.

Blogs can benefit any website but don’t worry if you can’t do all the writing yourself … you can hire a ghost blogger for that!

Content Writing For Top Performance

What is the secret of content writing? How can you write content for your site in such a way that it attracts the attention of both your readers and the search engines?

Ultimately, it starts with your readers. When people come to your site, whether they’ve been reading for years, or have just found you through the search engines, you’re ultimate goal is to have them attracted to your writing style. content writing

In just a few moments, you want your reader to be able to really get into your story, see him or herself in your writing, and have the desire to move to the next level. To take action.

The easiest way to become better at writing is to create your blog posts like you would be telling a story to a potential customer. How would you speak to them?

“Selling isn’t fun and most people don’t enjoy it.”

You may agree with that sentence, but does it really motivate you to want to take the next step or to find out more about what the person is saying? Compare that to:

“Jane hated selling. She hated it so much she almost decided to close her business because of it. She loved working with the clients, making them happy, and following up with them after the sale. But it was always the initial meeting that made her nervous. She never wanted to come across as a used car salesperson. She didn’t want people thinking she was pushy.”

If you hate selling, you can instantly feel Jane’s pain. You can put yourself into her situation, and feel exactly what she’s feeling. You also want to read more of the story – what happens next? Does Jane shut down her business? Or does she find a solution?

That’s the way you want to write. Let your writers feel what you are talking about. Bring out the details. Describe the situation how someone looking in would see it. Describe it from one person’s point of view.

Great books always pull you in because they tell a story. They make you want to read further because you want to find out what’s next.

Do the same with your blog.

Do this with every post. And do it between different posts. Make people move from one spot to the next.

The more you can pull them in, the greater they will stick to your blog. And the bigger the chance of them becoming customers in the future.

[Need help with your own content writing skills? Why not hire a ghostwriter? We’ve been writing online and blog content for clients for over 8 years, and can help you reach out to your target audience, and find new ways of bringing in business.]

Don't forget to download your FREE Blogging Planner today.

Blogs can benefit any website but don’t worry if you can’t do all the writing yourself … you can hire a ghost blogger for that!

Website Content Writer

Have you ever stopped to think about what your website really says to the reader? That’s what a website content writer does – they focus on what your site says, and how it reads to prospects and customers that visit.

One of the first questions I ask when someone hires me as a website content writer is:

What do you know that your prospects and clients don’t?

This question begins building on what you know by being an expert in your field. It helps to gather information on what your clients need to know, and how to share it with them in a way that means something to them. But it doesn’t stop there. website content writer

What do you learn just by being in the business that would be of interest to those that may do business with you down the road?

Even though you’ve been in the business “forever” and know everything about the industry, your clients and prospects don’t. That’s why Google is currently being searched 31 billion times every month – people use it to get the answers they are looking for.

That’s the type of information that a website content writer gains and uses to fill your site and your blog with quality content. It’s about educating your client first, and selling to them second.

Whenever I mention blogging and content marketing to people I network with, I usually hear the same thing, “I just don’t have that much to talk about”. If that’s your tendency as well, let me ask you a few questions:

Tell me about your business.
Why is your company different than others?
Who has been your favorite client?
What excites you about working in your industry?

If you’re like most people, you’ll come alive. I’m sure you can talk for hours on your business – you probably do so everyday. I’m sure you’re very passionate about what you do, and know a lot about your industry. You probably have a ton of experience, and really enjoy being able to help people with your services.

That’s what you blog.

Talk about your favorite client.
Talk about how you saved a client hundreds of dollars a month.
Talk about the research you do to find the perfect product for each customer.
Share your expertise.

Do you get it? Then it’s time to start blogging – and filling up your web presence with good, quality content. Whether you need a blog, or a website content writer, we can help you start attracting clients online.