This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
From what I see, many small business professionals struggle with writing compelling newsletter content. It’s not easy. You need to be interesting, personal, AND remind them of your products and services.Try too hard to do both… you end up confusing and losing readers. The trick to creating compelling newsletter content is simple: You’ve got to connect with readers in emotional ways and offer solutions to their problems. .
When it comes to creating or growing your newsletter email list , you need to stay on top of managing it so it brings you clients. Successful small business professionals don’t have a lot of time on their hands, but they understand the importance of staying in contact with their prospects and clients. Sending newsletters with relevant useful information is a great way to keep connected, but it needs to be done as efficiently as possible.
Have you noticed what great business newsletters have in common? They’re easily scannable; that is to say, you can easily scan the newsletter to determine the topic, the key message and what action the writer wants you to take. That’s why newsletter design is so important. I’ve been writing about business newsletters (relevancy and branding), and great newsletters also have a lot of thought put into design and layout. .
When it comes to a business newsletter, your brand is perceived in a blink of an eye. As I shared in my last post, your newsletter should build trust and confidence with your readers. It should include tips and information that invites your prospects and clients to take action. Your newsletter is a representation of you and your business. It’s a part of your brand.
I am frequently asked if business newsletters are still relevant, or if blogs, social media, and videos have replaced them. My response? When done well, a newsletter is very important for staying in touch with clients and prospects and a great way to build credibility and trust. In spite of all the other social media outlets, e-newsletters and printed newsletters get results.
Are you keeping your business blog fresh? If you’re like me, and you’ve been blogging for a number of years, chances are some of your links may no longer work. This guest post, from Susan Boggs, offers tips for successful bloggers and blogs on how to find and correct broken links. In a perfect world, we would always know exactly what the Big Search Engines want from us and our business blogs, always and without a doubt.
Are you starting a new blog ? What should you include in your blog if you want to use it to attract clients? I’ve been talking about how to start a blog in my recent series of posts. Your next step is to look at your design – content is king, but if your design stinks, visitors won’t get past the banner. They won’t stay, they won’t get to know you and they won’t subscribe to your blog.
How do I start a blog ? . I hear it all the time: smart professionals, who are great at what they do, don’t know how to start a business blog , and probably wouldn’t have time to blog even if they did start one. Last fall Kris and I spent some time interviewing clients. We really wanted to know how we could best be of service. What we learned is that while business continues to improve for our clients , and many are having tremendous success with their blogs, others had let their blog lag
How do you use your blog analytics ? There are many easy-to-use blogging analytics tools out there, but the really successful bloggers know their results and tailor their blogs accordingly. This is the fifth element in the CAST system for effective blog content : C ontent (compelling). A ssets (free). S ocial Media. T rack. Here are the top five practices in business blog tracking, using analytic tools, and what to do to improve the performance of your blog so that you and your business blog get
A Note from Patsi: This week’s guest post is about social media and it’s really important. Why? Because if you want to engage your business blog readers and grow your reader base, you need to use social media. We’ve been writing about the CAST system for effective blog content: C ontent (compelling). A ssets (free). S ocial Media. T rack. This post, by guest author Paul Wilberforce , looks at the common mistakes you should always avoid.
If you want to grow your reader base, that is, if you want to get found and get known online, small businesses and entrepreneurs will offer prospects and clients online information for free, such as a white paper , a report or a compelling article. This is part of the CAST acronym for ways to grow readership. CAST Your Net: A is for Assets. I’ve been blogging about ways to grow your reader base using this memory device: C ontent.
Oh no! If I Googled your business name, what would I find? Are you easy to get found online? It is a sinking feeling when you’ve created quality content for your site that’s been optimized for content and keywords, and it’s still not showing up on the first page (or pages!) in a search return. So what can you do? Downshift. While search engine sites should discover and index your site automatically, if you’re not showing up, or you want to improve your search engine ranking , try manually
How easy is it for you to get found online? Are you attracting the kinds of readers who could be your ideal clients? Here’s a quick 5 question quiz to reveal how well you’re doing: 5 Question Quiz. How easy is it for someone to find you doing a search for answers to their problems? What comes up for your name? What comes up for the keywords that describe what your business does?
How to get found online. That was one of the most common answers we heard to the question, “What is your biggest struggle?” during our recent client interviews. In my last post , I shared why SEO and content marketing fit together. While your blog needs good Search Engine Optimization, it has to start with quality content. But what exactly is the definition of quality content?
A Note from Patsi: This week’s guest post is about SEO and content marketing and it’s really important. Why? Because if you write your own blog, you may think that quality content is all you need to get found online and attract clients. It’s not. I don’t care how good your writing is or how important you are as a thought leader in your field.
Content marketing is challenging, but it’s also the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. What more satisfying way to market professional services than by writing from the heart? When you address the problems your readers experience with your own knowledge, experience and wisdom, you help others AND build credibility authentically. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I do not believe in new year resolutions.
Do you know how to blog for your business using personality yet remaining professional? No, seriously – there’s an ongoing trend to be personal with blogs. I see it everywhere – blogs, email, newsletters. If you’re writing for business, you want to connect with your readers by using personal stories. But how much is too much? Rohit Bhargava’s written a whole book about this, filled with examples of how companies are successfully using personalities to market their business prod
How do you create an emotional connection with your blog readers? More importantly, how do you get them so inspired they want to take action, like join your list, opt-in, comment, or buy something? Here are some psychological secrets to keep in mind. When writing on the web – either in a blog post , a newsletter or other forms of content marketing , readers are more likely to respond to your offers of service or products if there is a resonance between you.
Are you writing stories with feeling on your business blog? If your blog post doesn’t resonate emotionally, you can’t do a good job of building relationships, inspiring trust, and moving people into taking action. As I mentioned in my last post , great blog content appeals to people who are both thinkers and feelers. To do this, blog writers need to get real with readers – they need to step away from their anonymous masks and get emotional.
Is your blog content writing appealing to both thinkers AND feelers ? If you aren’t appealing to these two types of communication (and decision) styles, you’re missing half of your readership potential. When I’m blogging, I like to cite studies whenever I write about a concept, to prove my point. In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 6: Psychological Types , noted psychologist Carl Jung identified four primary functions of consciousness: Two perceiving functions: Sensation and
Building a product funnel on your blog is key to making all your hard work profitable. As I explained in my previous post , a great product funnel provides your readers with an opportunity to get to know you, like you and trust you. You make compelling offers to your readers that they can receive from free to fee: Some information for free, immediate download, no strings.
Are you building a product funnel on your blog? In my recent blog posts, I’ve been talking about ways to earn money blogging using two different methods: Sell products directly through your blog (or website). Sell products or services because of your blog , or indirectly. These are two key elements of a product funnel – a key internet marketing strategy that will help ensure that you are not leaving money on the table or missing opportunities to solidify the relationships your hard-earned cont
Do you know how to write blog posts so that they actually get read? Some people think blogging is easy : Write it and it will be read. If you’ve ever written a blog post , you know that’s not true, and it’s hard to craft a post people will read. This infographic was created for Salesforce Canada and it says it all; it will help you put together a share-worthy post.
Do you know how to make money blogging? Let me ask you this: Are you earning money because of your blog? If so, your blog is a means of indirect sales. As I talked about in my last post , there are two different methods you can earn money blogging: Directly. Indirectly. How to Make Money Indirectly from a Business Blog. A quick review: When I speak of earning money directly from a blog , I am referring to methods such as advertising on your blog, sponsorship on your blog, sale of products or se
Can you still make money blogging ? Or is it too late to get in to the game? As I shared in my last post , the blogging has rapidly changed, but it’s not too late to start a blog, or turn your existing blog in to a source of income. The first step is to identify your blog goals – you’ll want to keep these in mind as you consider the ways you can earn money directly with a blog.
How do you make money from business blogging? This is a question I was recently asked by a friend. It seems like a straightforward question, but the answer is complex. Most blogs aren’t profitable, but people devote a great deal of time and energy to them. There must be a good reason, no? You need to understand how to use business blogging to suit your business goals.
How are you doing on your business blogging strategies for 2015 ? Have you been hitting the targets and benchmarks you set for yourself? I don’t believe in making New Year’s resolutions, but after 15+ years working with executive coaches and consultants , I know that having clearly defined goals and expectations for a business blog or website is critical to help you get found, get known, and get clients.
Business blogging can be frustrating for professionals. Does this happen to you? You sit down to (finally!) write on your business blog, you’ve done a bunch of research, you’ve created lists, outlines and even saved a few great blog post drafts, but you haven’t actually published any of your content… There always seems to be one more thing to check before you pull the ‘publish’ trigger.
It’s the rainy season here in Mexico – a great time to do a lot of reading, writing and recovery – at least, that’s what I told myself when I scheduled my shoulder surgery. But I’m having trouble with my blog writing. And now I’m stuck. I’ve got Blogger’s Block. (Yes, even experienced bloggers can get stuck from time to time.). So I pull out my bag of great blog post tricks, and determine where I’m stuck in the process.
Do you struggle with the creative process of writing blogs ? Do you cringe when you need to find a topic for your blog? You’re not alone. Over the past 11 years, I’ve written a ton of information about writing great blog posts and newsletters, as well as e-books, white papers and articles to increase your visibility. Sometimes it feels like I’ve already written as much as I have to say.
When it comes to business blogging , how do you save time and still get results? How do you make blog tasks so easy your cat could do it? It’s the dog days of summer but around our house that expression isn’t acceptable. Doodles and Buster would have a cat fit. Here in Mexico we’re in the rainy season, when the heat of the Summer is tempered by the cool nightly rains.
As I’ve shared in previous posts, the value of social proof — referrals, recommendations , and client testimonials — cannot be underestimated. Similar to how frequent, quality content enhances your website pages, social proof enhances your professional credibility. When readers learn from the comments from other people about your business, they become your most persuasive sales people.
There’s no doubt that social proof is one of the key ways people decide to buy or try your products or services. But if you don’t have a lot of clients, or you’re starting a new business or product, how do you get quality client testimonials ? I get asked about this by some of my consulting clients. Nothing can backfire and destroy trust and credibility more quickly than phony testimonials.
When writing on the web about your services or products, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of testimonials and client reviews. Social proof is such a strong persuasion trigger you shouldn’t limit these comments to just a page, but have them scattered throughout your web and blog pages. Know what works best for your content marketing strategies, especially when creating a website or blog, introducing yourself, a new product, or special promotion.
Why is social proof so important when writing on the web? This week I got a call from a person who wanted to buy a subscription to executive coach articles to use for her new newsletter. What sealed the deal? The testimonials from other subscribers. Recommendations, testimonials and client stories are a powerful persuasion tactic. It’s one of the key persuasion triggers that get people to take action.
Why is social proof so important when writing on the web? It makes the difference between converting a reader to a client and influencing a sale or not. This week I got a call from a person who wanted to buy a subscription to executive coach articles to use for her new newsletter. What sealed the deal? The testimonials from other subscribers. Social proof— recommendations, testimonials and client stories —are a powerful persuasion tactic.
How are you doing with your 2015 blog goals ? Are you publishing blog topics that include compelling, relevant content that solves the problems of your readers? A study on B2B content marketing has shown that 70% of businesses online have more content now than they had last year, and of these, 80% are doing so through corporate blogs. These smart professionals understand the effectiveness of blogs, but blogging is not without challenges: figuring out what blog topics to focus on, conducting appr
Are you an expert? Then you need to write and publish an expert ebook. Now. Before your field gets flooded with too many on the same topic (if it isn’t already). Trust me on this one. Just as business blogs caught fire in 2004-2005, expert ebooks are what smart professionals use as a key marketing tool to get found, get known and get clients. If you’re an expert and want to get found online, there’s no better way than to give visitors to your website or blog a free report that shows your e
I get calls from executive coaches and consultants who want to publish an expert ebook. They ask me for help, to ghost write either for or with them. The answer is yes : in certain fields, I am a ghost writer. I read a ton of books on leadership, and study how the big sellers on Amazon are written in this category. I can help you write an expert ebook on leadership.
Once upon a time, SEO met up with Content Marketing , fell in love, and vowed to never separate, to always work together in harmony. Anyone who’s been around the ‘Net a while understands a little about optimizing content so that the search engines can index it according to topic and relevance to readers. About ten years ago, someone decided to give a name to the type of marketing that occurs that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire an
All the data shows that people prefer doing business with authentic brands and authentic professionals. But how authentic is your blog writing? Do you sound authentic? And, how do you write authentically, anyway? In my last blog post, I shared 5-steps for a good bio/marketing message for an e-newsletter : Tell them who you are and what you can do to help solve their challenges.
'What’s the best kept secret of a newsletter bio? As I mentioned in my last post, your bio on your blog or website About page should be current and tell a story, rather than be a resume written in the third person. The same is true for an email newsletter bio. Unfortunately, I see many coaches and consultants use their resumes for their sidebar bio. (“Dr.
'When’s the last time you updated your bio on your About page on your blog or website? Smart bloggers know that this is one of the most visited pages: People want to know who’s behind a business. Personalities count. Yet many blogs and sites have a standard resume written in the third person, boring as all get-out. Certainly client lists are important.
'Do you use story telling on your blog or website ? For anyone involved in persuading others (i.e., everyone), success depends on cutting through the noise and clutter to make the sale or persuade others to adopt our point of view. Storytelling sells and persuades because it’s an innate skill that has evolved over centuries—something we all know how to do.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 46,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
218 
Let's personalize your content