5 Landing Page Mistakes You Need to Avoid
With a strong social media and content strategy in place, getting visitors to a page can be simple. The tough part comes after that, when you want to subtly direct someone to perform a very specific action on that page. A landing page is all about one thing: conversions. The goal is to design a layout with the right copy and imagery to persuade someone to give you something (usually an email address). That is easier said than done, especially when we visit thousands of web pages each day and become immune to clever marketing. While you could spend hours reading about the must-have elements for the perfect landing page,…
Everything Works Out In The End
Wise words from Michael Hyatt For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
My Review: The Best WordPress Form Plugin
Finally! A WordPress forms plugin that’s easy and powerful! If you have ever tried building a “Contact Us” form or email newsletter subscription signup, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of creating a custom form to allow your visitors easy conversion. I’m excited to review a brand new tool that eliminates the frustration of building custom WordPress forms. It’s called WPForms, and it’s a drag & drop WordPress builder that allows you to easily create contact forms, subscription forms, payment forms, and other online forms with just a few clicks. They literally took the pain out of creating online forms and made it easy. WPForms was created by the same team behind the…
Inside Scoop: One Writer’s Tips on How to Find and Work With the Best Freelance Writers
As a freelance writer, I’ve worked with more than a dozen companies. From startups to agencies to lifestyle brands, I’ve seen (almost) all of it. I’ve worked with some amazing clients, and some not-so-amazing ones. I’ve seen the right way to hire a writer and the wrong way. I’ve worked with clients who need to be in 24/7 control and ones who generously give me free reign. And I’m here to tell you everything that I’ve learned. Here are my top tips for finding and working with the best freelance writers. How to Find and Hire Freelance Writer 1. Understand Your Content Needs Before you start interviewing freelance writers, you…
To get more clarity
To get more clarity, take a step in the direction of the destination. Wise words from Michael Hyatt For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Feeling Stuck? Here are 5 Content Marketing Ideas to Reinspire
Content marketing has had a great year. It was the most important digital marketing trend in 2015 and 70% of content marketers created more content last year than in 2014. You may have dabbled in content marketing with blog posts, videos, or infographics, but let’s make sure it’s a top priority this year. Here are five inspirational content ideas to implement to get out of the rut: 1. Design an Offer: Think outside of a blog post and create a gated piece of content that you can leverage for lead generation. You create something of value (an e-book, white paper, or webinar) and users have to fill out a form…
Should You Invest in Paid Advertising to Attract More Website Visitors?
When you’re doing everything you can to generate conversions and revenue from your website, the last thing you think about is spending money to make money. If you just wait around and hope that your target demographic will stumble upon your website and magically convert, you’ll end up costing your business more money in the long run. Sure, there are many free strategies to attract website visitors, but none can guarantee the same results as paid advertising. Why should you use paid advertising? Here are the top three benefits: Immediate traffic: If you have a relatively young website or create a new landing page, it’ll take a long time to…
Working on the Right Problem is more Important than Working Hard
Running fast in the wrong direction will not win a race. Make sure you are working on the right things rather than just working hard on things. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Inbound Marketing for Real Estate Professionals
As I have said before, social media marketing is really relationship marketing. It stands to reason, of course, that it should be used for relationship-based businesses like real estate. When I first started researching the real estate industry, I was shocked at the fundamental lack of successful, prolific, and strategic use of social media (and inbound marketing, at all) by real estate professionals. Listen, folks, this is not rocket science. This is business science. Real estate professionals should be using inbound marketing, especially social media, to build relationships with people ready to make the largest buying decision of their lives. Why is this not happening more?! [Tweet “Real estate pros…
How to Fire a Client [3 Scripts!]
We spend so much of our professional lives fearing that we’ll get fired from our jobs that when the tables turn, we have no idea what to do or say. Becoming a freelancer, consultant, or owning your agency means that you have the power and flexibility to take on the projects you want and work with the clients you like. That also means that you’ll inevitably be faced with firing a problem client, which can be as scary as getting fired yourself. Here’s a quick guide about why you’d want to fire a client, what to say, and how to do it: Why Would You Fire a Client? Not all…
Leadership Is
Wise words from Glennon Doyle Melton, a part of Michael Hyatt’s Influence & Impact Summit, 2015 For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
What Stood Out: Week of February 21st 2016
Welcome to this week’s edition of What Stood Out As you may know, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership each week. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: SnapChat Now Lets Everyone Pay to Design Geofilters Snapchat launches $5 On-Demand Geofilters; users design snap overlay graphics & draw geofence on map for filter availability, up to 5k sq ft; can share…
How to Create 8 Pieces of Content in 2 Hours
You don’t need to forgo a night’s worth of sleep to create quality content. Nor do you need extra caffeine or superpowers. The secret to creating a ton of quality content in a short amount of time is to repurpose existing, successful content. This saves you time and effort, allows you to reach new audiences, and makes your content stretch even further. [Tweet “Repurpose existing, successful content to reach new audiences and save you time.”] Repurposing is about taking a published blog post and breaking it up into smaller pieces of content in new formats. In order for your repurposing efforts to be successful, we recommend that you have a…
Trading Urgent for Important: Husbands
Timely share by my friends at Fierce Marriage following my post this morning. Husbands, it is critically important that we prioritize our most valuable resource: our time. View this post on Instagram As men, it's so tempting to chase career goals before family goals. Society applauds financial success and positional prominence. However, if those things come at the cost of loving your wife and kids well, something is terribly amiss. As a man, your first calling is to love Christ. Your next calling is to love your bride, then your children. Finally, you're called to love others in Christ's name by perpetuating the message of the gospel through discipleship. Somewhere…
Replacing Urgent with Important
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we place priority on events on our lives. From taking care of our children to finishing work projects, it is easy to become overly focused on the urgent and lose sight of the important. [Tweet “What if we commit to being more intentional about spending our time on what is important; not just what is urgent.”] A late night email from a client may be urgent; but it is more important than quality time with your spouse? Or spending 30 minutes with your child in the morning over hot cocoa rather than forcefully tackling the To-Do list. Each day, we are blessed with…
What Kind of Content Should You Create: Long or Short?
Twitter makes our lives easy. We know that our posts have to be 140 characters or less, and if we include a picture and a hashtag or two, we should be good. [Tweet “Effective long-form content is ~2,416 words. Daunting as it seems, it is achievable. “] If only content creation had the same parameters. Instead, we’re left wondering how many words our posts should be and if it’s worth spending hours of time on a long article rather than pumping out short, frequent posts. To help you find the best content mix, here are the benefits of both long-form and short-form content. The Benefits of Long Posts Long-form content…
Blogging Ideas: How to Become a Better Content Creator
Did you know that, according to HubSpot’s 2015 Marketing Benchmark Report, companies that blog 6-8 times per month generate over 2X more leads than companies that blog just twice a month? Valuable content is the meat that attracts visitors and leads to your company. Making the commitment to an increased blogging frequency should significantly increase your lead flow. [Tweet “Stuck for blog ideas? Consider taking an existing post and updating it with new information; then republish!”] Coming up with blogging ideas can be tough. If you need a little help finding blogging ideas, here is a list to inspire you: Read Industry News Because news is always, well, new, industry news sources…
When You Can’t Lead Others
If you are unwilling to make the journey, it is impossible for you to lead your team through it. Wise words from Citizens Creative House; photo by Jeff Marsh Studios For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
I Am Not A Salesperson
I love this image found on Britney Jones’ Facebook profile. She is a stylist for Stella & Dot, the fashion and jewelry retailer. But she is not defined by her title. I suspect that any reader of this site could easily identify with the title “Salesperson” or “Marketer”. In fact, in my last reader survey, nearly 80% of the responses self-aligned a variation of those positions. But that is not what makes us who we are. We are made up of smaller, yet more important attributes. For Britney Jones, she is a wife, a mom, a friend. Those are the attributes that make her who she is, and the attributes that make…
Lead Gen: You’ve Generated a Ton of New Leads…Now What?
We place a lot of importance on increasing website traffic and generating leads. We spend time on social media, pay for advertising, and maintain a blog all to get people to come to our site. We test button colors and landing pages to find the best way to convert those visitors into leads. You get a long list of email addresses. Then what do you do? Lead generation is only half the equation; how you nurture the relationship is equally important. Click To Tweet Lead generation is only half of the battle. Once you generate those leads, you need to figure out what to do with them. If you don’t communicate…
Why People Resist Change
One of the most common reasons people resist change is their focus on what they will lose, or the cost of their decision. Instead, focus on what you will gain as a result. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
5 Myths About Content Marketing
Content marketing is everywhere. Eighty-eight percent of B2B marketers use content marketing and it was the most important digital trend in 2015. However, there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. How often should you be blogging? Should you be producing more videos? How does a blog post really become viral? To help you improve your content marketing efforts in 2016, we’re debunking the biggest myths in content marketing: Myth #1: More Is Better Reality: With thousands of new blog posts published every day, marketers can feel pressure to keep up and post something on a daily basis. However, a successful blog has nothing to do with frequency. Quality…
What Stood Out: Week of January 31st 2016
Welcome to this week’s edition of What Stood Out As you may know, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership each week. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: Pagevamp Allows admins to turn Facebook Pages into a website. The app creates scrolling header image with profile photos. Additionally, it formats previous Facebook Page Posts into individual blog entries on the new site.…
The Best Way to be an Anomaly is to Act Like One
The best way to become an anomaly is to act like one. – Gary Vaynerchuk For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Managing Data Islands Now a Required Skill for Marketers
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Export Contacts Import/Merge Sort by Conversion Remove Duplicates Manually look for trends Painstakingly identify a dozen or two contacts that fit the criteria Wonder if you forgot anyone…. did you export from the customer list? What about the folks from your last webinar? Sound like a nightmare? The truth is, we use a lot of different tools to run our business. We have accounting, estimating, lead pages, lead generation, email marketing, social media fans, followers, webinar registrants, customers, high-value customers, folks who have requested a demo, people to follow up with, contracts expiring, people who mention you online, lead nurturing, lead qualification and grading,…
Inbound Vs Outbound Marketing
This article was originally published in 2012. Amazingly, it is still accurate. Today’s consumer is bombarded with upwards of 3,000 advertising interruptions each day. Marketing and advertising budgets are being stretched and sales people are working harder. All this to generate a massive amount of noise within the population, but not a tremendous amount of return on investment (ROI). [Tweet “Traditional media is a one-way, one-message horse. Inbound marketing is a conversation.”] Finally, brands are starting to realize social media is a medium to communicate with their customers, but, often, the same traditional tactics are bring used on social media as have been used for decades in more traditional, one-way, methods…
If You Don’t Understand Respect, You Are Not Capable of Serving
Service, and ultimately leadership, is based upon a keen understanding of respect. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
The Best and Worst Ways to Generate Leads
There are the best and worst ways to do everything. There’s the best way to write subject lines, there are the worst ways to use Facebook, and there’s the best way to design a homepage. But what are the best and worst ways to generate leads? It’s easy to invest money in social media, email marketing, and content marketing, but do they really work and are they worth the money? [Tweet “Lead generation is a pot of gold for every digital marketer; but we must avoid fools gold.”] Here are three of the best ways and three of the worst ways to generate leads: 3 of the Best Ways to…
Writing Down Your Goals Changes How You See The Situation
In order to stay focused and on track, you must have record of your path. Writing down your goals serves as a map to guide you through unforeseen circumstances. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
A Preview of Tomorrow’s Event
I am hosting a free digital marketing question and answer session tomorrow. Register today to save your spot and remove roadblocks holding your marketing from hitting your goals.
5 Digital Marketing Resolutions for 2016
Exercise more. Eat healthier. Take control of your finances. A New Year always signals the onslaught of personal resolutions (some kept, some quickly forgotten), but have you made the time to come up with some professional New Year’s resolutions? The beginning of the year is the best time to reevaluate your business, set new goals, and push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s time to freshen up your blog, choose quality over quantity, and define success on social media. Here are five digital marketing resolutions for 2016: 1. I will stop using social media without establishing clear goals Many businesses fall into the trap of tweeting or posting on…
Its Not Us vs Them
It’s not “Us vs Them”, in business, we must decide that its “Us Helping Them” For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Your Digital Marketing Questions Answered … for free
I talk to entrepreneurs each day who struggle with using digital marketing to move their business forward. They ask questions like: I know I need to be using social media to promote my business, but what do I do? I see other brands doing a contest on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest. How are they doing it? How do I get more people to my website? How can I find people who are interested in my product? How do I use Google Local or Yelp for my business? How much does it cost to make a Facebook ad? Do Facebook ads really work? It seems so confusing? I…
How Does Content Marketing Generate More Sales?
It’s easy to attribute increased web traffic or social shares to content marketing. The tricky part is connecting cold, hard sales with a blog post or e-book. It’s a common misconception that content marketing is only good for brand awareness or boosting traffic, but it can also have a powerful effect on the bottom line. Here are three ways that content marketing can generate more sales: Attracts a very specific, qualified prospect Different types of content attract different kinds of leads. For example, you could argue that a company blog is kind of a free-for-all. You may have a very focused blog (let’s say it’s about B2B public relations), but…
The Best Tools for Tracking and Growing Your Social Media Engagement
As soon as you start investing in a social media strategy for your business, you’ll run up against the challenge of proving its value. Stakeholders will inevitably ask you how to measure success on social media, and they’ll want to see numbers and graphs illustrating the hard numbers and business benefits of Twitter, Facebook, and other channels. Of course, it’s easy to track the number of followers or fans you have over time. But, it gets tricky when you need to show how Twitter helps with brand awareness or how Facebook boosts word of mouth marketing with your potential customer base. [Tweet “Social media marketing should generate revenue for you;…
What Stood Out: Week of January 3rd 2016
Welcome to this week’s edition of What Stood Out As you may know, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership each week. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: 7 Ways Productive People Stay Focused (Inc) I’m a huge fan of productivity and think we should all be actively aware of increasing our efficiencies in our professional and personal worlds. Here are seven…
Who You Surround Yourself With Matters
Who you surround yourself matters. Find those who support you, challenge you, and better you. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Checklist: Social Media Content Calendar Must-Haves
“Staying organized” is one of the most popular business resolutions. Whether it’s as simple as decluttering your workspace or as complex as revamping an existing process, improving organization can save you time, reduce stress, build confidence, and ultimately save money. Get a jumpstart on your New Year’s business resolution by creating a social media content calendar. One of the easiest ways to stay organized, a content calendar maps out all social media posts for the upcoming weeks and/or months so you can better align your overall marketing initiatives and help improve accountability by assigning writers and deadlines for the team. So where do you start? Here is our ultimate checklist…
The World Is Yours
To stand out today, you just need to show up and apply yourself. This is both a sad truth and a wonderful opportunity.
What Stood Out: Week of December 28th
Every week, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: How This Millennial Entrepreneur Is Disrupting the $10 Billion Wine Market (Inc) Hard work, a passion for the product, and intimate knowledge of her ideal customer means early success for entrepreneur, Mary McAuley. Find Anything in Basecamp 3 (Basecamp) We don’t use Basecamp, but I love…
Success Takes Time. Don’t Quit
The idea of an ‘overnight success’ is a myth. Do not buy into this fallacy. Work hard, don’t quit. Success takes time. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
4 Little-Known Tricks to Supercharge Your Social Selling Strategy on LinkedIn
In the world of social selling, LinkedIn can seem like a no-brainer. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, LinkedIn was designed for networking professionals. It was built to facilitate the sharing of personal work details and helps users target very specific types of people. If that isn’t a salesperson’s dream social network, I don’t know what is. While LinkedIn’s very nature caters toward social selling, it isn’t as easy as it seems. LinkedIn has created blockers, like InMail, to stop you from directly connecting with people you don’t know. And, more importantly, you have to walk a very fine line between annoying prospects and starting a relationship. To maximize your social selling success on LinkedIn,…
What Stood Out: Week of December 21st
I hope you and your family had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas! Every week, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: 7 Feel-Good Examples of ‘Joy Marketing’ Campaigns (HubSpot) 7 Ways Productive People Stay Focused (Inc) The Best Public Speakers: According To The Internet (Ethos3) Top 8 Products You Need to Try in 2016…
Must Be Present To Win
To be relevant in today’s economy, you have to be where your customers expect you to be. No longer is it enough to “be” on social media, to have an ecommerce store, or have a blog … You must have the means in place for your customer to meet you where they are; to speak their native language. If they speak SnapChat, be responsive there. If they speak Vine, be alert there. If they speak Facebook/Kik/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram/Blab/Messenger/YouTube/SMS/WhatsApp/Tumblr/Whisper/Yik Yak/MeetMe/SlideShare, show up ready to play. Being accessible is one thing; being present and attentive is something else.
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What Stood Out: Week of December 14th
Every week, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t always fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: How Many Of Your Daily Activities Can Be Automated? (HBR) The Very Best Things to Do In Your 30s to Invest In Your Future (Inc) The P.T. Barnum School of Self Promotion (Bidsketch) 5 Tips to Making More Money as a Freelancer Running Out of…
The Key Ingredient In Your Business Is You
You are your greatest competitive advantage. No one else in the world has the skills and knowledge you do. Accept this and use it for good. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
The Cost & Value of Qualified Leads
According to a recent study by Ascend2, 70% of B2B marketers cite improving the quality of their leads as the most important objective of a lead generation strategy. Spending time on less-qualified, or even not-qualified leads, is a costly initiative for any B2B entity. Not only is the sales team’s attention divided, but they spend an incredible amount of energy and time on folks who are not likely to close. [Tweet “It’s not enough to just get more things done, you focus on doing the most important things.”] It is imperative for organizations to examine their current lead generation efforts and evaluate where time and resources could be better spent. The first…
What Stood Out: Week of December 7th
Every week, I review thousands of articles relating to marketing, business, productivity, or leadership. While many of the posts are insightful and well-written, some truly rise to the top and challenge my thinking or offer a new perspective. Often, these gems don’t fit into the traditional topics covered on my blog; nevertheless, they should be shared and discussed. This week, these pieces stood out: Business Professors Need to Spend Time In Companies (HBR) Past performance is not indicative of future results (Seth Godin) My first 30 days leading HubSpot Partner Innovative Marketing Resources (IMR Corp) (Nick Sal) REI’s #OptOutside campaign: 10 times more conversations than any other brand (Business Journal)…
Love and Leadership
Love and leadership are remarkably similar. Successful leaders understand the importance of forgiveness and owning their mistakes. Image from my friends at Fierce Marriage For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
3 Marketing Automation Ideas for Small Businesses
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could automate all your emails? And never have to type out another introduction email or thank you email again? Well, now you can. Sort of. [Tweet “Marketing automation can be intricate, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.”] With marketing automation, you can automate all your business emails. You trigger emails to send based on certain criteria, like sending a thank you email after someone refers a friend to your website. And the best part is you don’t have to type a thing. It all happens automatically and behind the scenes. Contrary to popular belief, marketing automation is not reserved for the Amazons of…
Mailbox Alternatives
Zero inbox. Inbox control Email management. Whatever you want to call wrangling your email inbox into submission, I’ve counted on Mailbox for years. With news that creator Dropbox is shutting down my second favorite email management app, I can admit that I am moving into the 5th stage of grief: acceptance. Mailbox was, as far as I can tell, the pioneer of swiping to temporarily archive your messages to help you get to Zero Inbox. Literally having zero messages in your email box. Productivity experts hailed it as “the way” to manage your email woes and regain control over the black hole of business today. I dabbled with zero inbox,…
Living The Life You Deserve: Intentionally
In school, work, and play, it is easy to get swept up in the moment and lose sight of the longterm goal. The number of things demanding our attention seem to grow each day. It is hard to keep from being overwhelmed or consumed by everything. Of course, in the “Play” column, getting swept up in the moment can be healthy; we need to be able to operate without boundaries. In work and school, however, we must exercise a little more discipline in how our time is used if we want to be proactive rather than reactive. This is living with intention. [Tweet “When we operate within the bounds of intention, we are giving…
Stop Waiting. Start Creating.
Success requires action. Planning is great, but a plan without forward movement is useless. Stop waiting. Start creating. From Michael Hyatt For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
How to Deal with Client Change Requests During a Project
We’ve all been there. Your client emails you three weeks into a project and requests a major change. This isn’t the kind of change that requires some minor copy edits or design tweaks. No. This is the kind of change the necessitates a complete redesign or a total revision of the project scope. [Tweet “You can’t stop clients from requesting project changes; but you can turn them into opportunities.”] The bad news is that you can’t stop this from happening. All clients will inevitably change their minds at some point during a project. But, you can set expectations and mitigate these changes so you keep your sanity and save your…
Remove Frustration with Social Media Scheduling
Have you ever felt overwhelmed trying to manage your brand’s social media accounts? Or wake up in a panic wondering if you have published a time-sensitive promotion to your social media followers? What about the feeling of being chained to your computer or mobile device to maintain a consistent presence? It’s time to put an end to those feelings. [Tweet “To get started with social media scheduling, use a calendar to map out all upcoming promotions.”] Social media managers overseeing their brand’s online presence can sometimes feel that they always need to be accessible or publishing the latest content. During off hours, this need can cause those around you to feel neglected…
Create a Culture Where The Customer Is Respected As the Sole Reason You Exist
Create a company culture where the customer is the center of all you do. Because they are. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
What if Giving Thanks Included More Giving
In this season of giving thanks for our many blessings, what if we consider increasing our emphasis on “giving”? Consider what you have to give to each of the following: Your customers Your employees Your visitors Your favorite charity Your family Your friends Your competitors Your ___________________ It’s commendable to give thanks. It’s honorable to give. Happy Thanksgiving
4 Keys of Successful Agencies
In real estate investing, there are a few key strategies successful investors use to mitigate their risk: Never over-extend yourself Buy in a single market that you can monitor, study, and understand Never buy based on emotion Look for an angle to add value to an existing investment Never manage a property from a distance [Tweet “With the right principles in place, the particulars take care of themselves.”] Running your agency or consultancy is no different. Whether you are just starting or looking to grow, these strategies can make or break your business: Your Time Is Limited Do all you can to outsource what others can do. Develop a process to…
Content Marketing For Any Industry
Content marketing is a scalable way to reach exactly the right person, at exactly the right time. And it works for any industry. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Overcoming Objections to Inbound Marketing [Blab]
What We’re Blabbing About Freelancers, Agencies, and Consultants: Have you ever run into sales objections when proposing inbound or content marketing services to a prospect? This week, we discuss how to address and overcome these objections – including the dreaded cost vs value objection. If you are stumped on how to overcome an objection we did not answer, tweet either of us and we will be glad to help. The Shaun & Sean Show: Live on Blab Thursday at 12pm EST + 9am PST About the Shaun & Sean Show The Shaun & Sean Show is a live broadcast between inbound marketers, Shaun Nestor and Sean Royer. Nestor operates a digital…
Questions From ‘Generating Sales Leads Using Social Media’ Workshop
Thank you to everyone who joined me last week for “Generating Sales Leads Using Social Media” workshop. We had a lively question and answer session at the end and I want to publish some of the questions that we covered. [Tweet “Don’t forget about your past customers; they have valuable insights that they will happily share with you.”] I will be hosting an encore presentation, you can register here: Without further ado, here are some questions asked during the last social media workshop: Recommended Tools for Social Media Scheduling Debbie asked, “What tools do you recommend for social media scheduling?” Great question! Scheduling your social media posts is one…
Your Superpower
How many people on this planet can say they have done all the things you have done? How many others have faced the same trials and sorrows? How many can boast of having the same emotions, reactions, viewpoints, bias, suspicions, opinions, hypothesis, and feelings? [Tweet “You have something to offer. You bring something unique to the table. You are you. “] Exactly zero. For better or worse (depending on how you choose to view it), this set of experiences defines our life’s fingerprint. It is your superpower. When you speak, it is the sum of your whole life. When you make a decision, it made from your exclusive perspective. When you create,…
Everything Is Easier When You Don’t Concern Yourself With What Everyone Else Is Doing
Everything is easier when you don’t concern yourself with the actions, opinions, or passive comments of others. Stay focused on your calling and realize your success. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Selling on Social Media Workshop – Today
Have you ever struggled to generate new sales leads using social media? Or maybe you feel like social is a massive time suck that takes you away from running your business? In today’s free, online-based workshop, I will be covering how to combat these feelings and how to use social media to generate qualified sales leads. You can register here. For many business owners, there is a fear of using social media. For some, it is the fear of running out of things to say, for others it is the fear of “always selling” to long-time supporters like friends and family. While these are real fears, there are also real…
The 3 Best Social Media Calendar Templates (for Free!)
With a 140-word maximum, social media sure seems like it was designed to be quick and easy. You can write a message and upload a photo to Facebook in under 30 seconds, or craft a blog post and immediately publish and promote it to your followers on LinkedIn Pulse. But, while social media is constantly being touted as the fastest way to communicate, many companies are doing the complete opposite and taking their sweet time to plan and craft their social posts. [Tweet “Unless you’re sharing what you ate for lunch, posting on social media requires forethought, strategy, and planning.”] Unless you’re sharing what you ate for lunch, posting on social media…
Aim to be a Trusted Advisor, Not a Vendor
It is so much better to be considered a trusted advisor rather than a vendor. Look how you can help your client reach their goals, rather than simply satisfying your own. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Making the Most Out Of Your Holiday Marketing [Blab]
What We’re Blabbing About With the holidays approaching, marketers and business owners around the country are scrambling to make the most out of their marketing. Whether you have an ecommerce site or physical store, you won’t want to miss Sean Royer and me discuss how to use your online marketing to drive sales this holiday season. The Shaun & Sean Show: Live on Blab Every Thursday at 3pm EST + 12pm PST About the Shaun & Sean Show The Shaun & Sean Show is a live broadcast between inbound marketers, Shaun Nestor and Sean Royer. Nestor operates a digital marketing consultancy from Seattle, Washington and Royer operates Synecore Technologies out…
Free Workshop: Using Social Media to Generate Sales Leads
Like I’m sure you’ve experienced, generating high-quality leads for your business is increasingly difficult. Buyers have changed, their buying habits have changed, and — thus, our marketing must change. I know it is incredibly challenging to attract the right type of prospect, but social media helps build the bridge between brand and consumer. I invite you to join me for my next free workshop on how to use social media to generate sales leads. In this one hour workshop, I’ll cover how to avoid the time suck of social media, how to out-perform your competition, and how to attract prospects to you. I look forward to seeing you and helping…
How to Get Prospects to Respond to Your Email
The average person receives 85 emails per day. And we only spend 15-20 seconds reading each one. With numbers like these, sending a cold email to prospects seems frightening. How do you make sure your email doesn’t get lost in a sea of newsletters, personal correspondence, spam, and other sales pitches? [Tweet “Instead of introducing yourself or explaining why you’re reaching out, start your email with the focus on the prospect.”] Luckily, by spending some extra time carefully choosing your words, cutting the fluff, and crafting a clear call to action, you can greatly increase your odds of getting a prospect to respond to your email. Here’s how to get…
3 Critical Elements of a Successful Social Media Sales Strategy
Imagine showing up to run a race and learning that there is no formal course. Or that your cross-country road trip partner has not planned a single detail between point A and B. Such is the same for marketers using social media without a clear goal. [Tweet “Creating an ideal customer persona does not lock you into an exclusive contract with this audience. It serves as direction behind your messaging.”] Any social media marketing should be driven by a strategy. Having a map or blueprint of your action helps keep teams accountable, helps maintain consistency, and helps track ROI — the return on investment — for your social efforts. What…
A Social Selling Strategy
A social sales strategy does not need to be overly complex. If you focus on providing value to your prospective customers, you will see success. It’s that simple. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
3 Must-Have Strategies for Social Selling on Twitter
If you could say anything to a potential customer, what would it be? Now, what would it be in 140 characters? [Tweet “The distance between a prospect and a business can be crossed with a simple “@” sign. #socialselling”] Today, the distance between a prospect and a business can be crossed with a simple “@” sign. Thanks to Twitter, there has been no easier way to directly communicate with our target audience, for free. For consumers, it means 24/7 access to information and knowledge. For businesses, it means limitless interactions with the people that matter most. Social selling, the act of using social media to interact with prospects, has become a powerful…
Blab Just Changed Personal Branding With Live Embedding
I talk a lot about content marketing and personal branding. Moving forward, nearly every person will be their own “brand” regardless of their current employer. This is even more relevant for consultants, industry experts, coaches, authors, advisors — those of us whose livelihood depends on successful personal branding. [Tweet “For advisors and consultants, using Blab’s live embedding feature is a must for branding continuity.”] Blab’s Announcement This week, red-hot startup, Blab announced that users can now embed live Blabs on their own websites. This is awesome because your audience will see live Blabs, and never need to leave YOUR page. They can watch, chat, and call in — live. After the Blab is…
30 Marketing Ideas for the Modern Marketer
Sometimes it is hard to keep the creative juices flowing. With all the tasks vying for our attention, plus fighting social sharing overload, it is difficult to maintain “freshness” in our marketing. Here are 30 ideas that you can use in your next marketing campaign to mix things up. Remember to track the results; if we can track it, we can improve it! Here are 30 inspirational marketing ideas for the modern marketer Pick a quote from an older blog post and link to it on Twitter / Facebook Make a previous quote into an inspirational graphic and share Combine 4-5 blog posts into an ebook to make a downloadable offer Create…
Celebrating Servitude
When we celebrate an attitude of servitude, we will find ourselves lifted up. For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Freelance vs Agency: Which One Is Better?
Zero commute, working in your PJs, doing your laundry during the workday — freelancing sure sounds appealing, doesn’t it? But then you think about happy hour with colleagues, learning from incredibly smart, experienced colleagues, and working with big, national brands. And then agency life sounds pretty sweet, too. [Tweet “Agencies come with security, while freelancing brings flexibility.”] It’s an age-old debate: agency or freelance? Freedom vs stability? Autonomy vs relationships? Freelance vs Agency: Which One Is Better? There’s no right answer, but here are some pros and cons of each: Freelancing: The Good Let’s start with arguably the biggest benefit of freelancing: flexibility. You can work where you want, when…
Better Marketing
Once a year or so — usually around this time — I feel internally challenged to step up my writing, better my consulting, and improve my marketing strategy. Last year I launched Daily Marketing Minute, a 90-day personal challenge that was opened to the public. [Tweet “Better marketing doesn’t feel like marketing at all.”] This year, I’m fascinated with an aspect of true marketing: ads that people share. Regular people. Sharing ads. Now that’s marketing. What does it take to create an advertisement that delivers so much value that consumers are eager to share their experience with others? There are examples, here, here, here, here, and here. Those are the popular ones. But there…
You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take
Some motivation to GO FOR IT! A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 23, 2015 at 9:28am PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
People Will Never Forget How You Make Them Feel
People will NEVER forget how you made them feel. For better or worse. A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 20, 2015 at 9:32am PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
Fall Down 7 Times, Stand Up 8
Success comes from not giving up. Keep up the fight, you’ll see your victory! A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 16, 2015 at 6:56pm PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
How Important is a Mobile Friendly Website to your Business?
If you’ve been spending the last two years of your life with your eyes glued to your smartphone, then you probably haven’t noticed that everyone else is doing the same thing. While this new lifestyle isn’t exactly helpful for our social life, it has huge upsides for businesses, giving you a powerful way to directly connect with consumers.
Why Content Marketing Can Be a Bad Idea for Your Business
Do you remember the video of skydiver and BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner breaking the speed of sound in the Red Bull Stratos project? Or Google’s interactive, timely Google Doodles? These are just two examples of successful content marketing, where brands are engaging consumers in a completely non-promotional way. Content marketing has taken off in the past couple years (what is content marketing? Learn more about it here). In fact, 72% of marketers feel that content marketing is essential for their business. It is a fun, authentic way for companies to connect with their target audience and build awareness and brand loyalty. [Tweet “72% of marketers feel that content marketing is…
23 MORE Industries That Can Benefit From Content Marketing
A few weeks ago, I wrote a list of 23 industries that can benefit from having a strong inbound or content marketing strategy. Since then, I’ve thought of 23 more that should have been included in the first list. If you think you cannot benefit from a plan that attracts the right people, at the right time, with the right information, you’re sorely mistaken. Without further ado, here are 23 more industries that can grow and attract new customers through content marketing: Tradeshow Hosts / Promoters Freelancers Educational Institutions Accommodation & Hospitality SaaS Long-term Health Care / Retirement Home Debt & Credit Repair Personal Assistant Organization DIY Services Warehouse, Storage, and Distribution Employee…
These Two Words Are Prohibited In Sales & Marketing
“How do I squeeze more business out of an existing customer?” “I am preparing an email blast to my list…” These two words: squeeze and blast are prohibited in my office. When talking about our customers, we should not use words that invoke some sort of adversarial separation between us and them. This is not a battle to “squeeze” more dollars out of our customer by “blasting” them with interruptive advertising. [Tweet “When talking about our customers, we should not use words that invoke some sort of adversarial separation between us and them.”] Our Language Creates Culture How we speak to one another broadcasts underlying characteristics — both positively and negatively. When we are preparing…
No One Is You — That Is Your Superpower
You have a unique perspective that no one else can create. This is your competitive advantage in everything. A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 6, 2015 at 4:24pm PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
I’m Not Here to Be Average; I’m Here To Be Awesome
I’m not here to be average. A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 3, 2015 at 8:30am PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
How to Respond When Someone Asks You for Coffee [Template]
How many “Do you want to grab coffee sometime” emails do you get each week? To clarify, these are not the fun, catch-up sessions over a hot cappuccino. These are the “do you want to meet for coffee so you can give me free advice about my business” types of coffee invitations. One or two of these requests can be flattering and easy to accommodate, but the issues arise when you get handfuls of these every week. [Tweet “How you handle ‘Let’s do coffee’ requests says a lot about you as a business person. How do you respond?”] What do you do? How do you decide who is “worth” meeting and…
Great Customer Service is the Result of Two Things
It’s easy to show up. It takes guts to care. But that’s what sets us apart from everyone else. A photo posted by Shaun Nestor (@shaunnestor) on Sep 2, 2015 at 7:43am PDT For a complete collection of my quote cards, click here.
7 Simple Social Media Tips
Social media is a revolutionary method of communicating with fans, followers, prospective customers, and Strangers (those who you, likely, would not otherwise reach). Even more compelling is the ability to use social media to reach your competitor’s circle of influence and — quite frankly — steal them away. Here are 7 simple social media tips that will start you on your way to building a brand of awesomeness (more on that coming soon!) 1. Listen, Then Talk Just like a cocktail party, social media is an on-going conversation discussing every known subject. Rather than taking a traditional “sales” approach and blasting your message into the discussion, listen. What is the…
Understanding Customer Personas
Understanding customer personas, sometimes called ‘buyer personas‘ or ‘buyer personalities‘, is an important first step in the inbound marketing process. Knowing the overall personality of your customer, where they live, their age, their interests / hobbies / likes / dislikes, makes marketing to them much easier and relevant. It allows you to add contextual relevance to their needs. Customers Come First Connecting with your customers is the single most important thing to your business. And without it, your products don’t sell, and you lose your customers to your competitors, more often than you care to admit. Now that we’ve gotten that out in black and white, it’s time to talk about how…
How Social Media is Changing the Sales Process
There is a fundamental shift in sales today; and your competitor knows it. Old marketing methods are producing old results. It obviously isn’t working the way it used to. There is a gold rush for education as companies scramble to sell to a more knowledgeable buyer. Smart marketing and inbound marketing principles are beginning to move into traditional markets. This leaves a narrowing window of opportunity for brands to get onboard. [Tweet “Effective use of social media shortens sales cycles and wins more deals.”] Socially-Adept Websites Smart companies are changing their websites from simple online brochures to complex marketing platforms that display contextual content based on the individual visitor. Yes,…
Why Do I Only Hear From You When You’re Selling?
“We’re Back!” That is the subject line from a company haven’t heard from in ages. They were announcing their latest widget and telling me to buy now. Was I important to them prior to the launch? Why didn’t they warm me up? Why didn’t they court me? Why didn’t they woo me? Successful sales has always revolved around successful relationships. Successful relationships have always revolved around a successful balance of give and take. Selling to your customers is a relational withdrawal. Are you remembering to make deposits?
How to Write an SEO Post that Is Optimized for Google and Ranks on the First Page
Search engine optimization (SEO) is like a cat-and-mouse game between Google and content creators. Writers are always trying to meet Google’s search algorithm to make it on the first page and Google is always changing its algorithms to ensure that only the best content ranks. [Tweet “Google wants us to find what we’re looking for and as a result, it will display high-quality content over keyword frequency or backlinks.”] So, how do you win with Google? First, you must change your perspective on SEO writing. You are not writing a shell of a piece to merely meet Google’s requirements and include a keyword X amount of times. You need to…
23 Industries That Are Ripe For Growth with Content Marketing
Sometimes I wish I were in a different industry. Why? It’s not that I dislike marketing — just the opposite, actually. [Tweet “With inbound marketing, there is so much potential to out-maneuver your competition. Are you?”] But I’d really love to apply what I know about content and inbound marketing to promote my new business in another industry. There is so much potential for brands to outmaneuver their competition and dominate their industry if inbound marketing strategies are applied. Off the top of my head, I can think of 23 industries that could attract more customers, generate more revenue, and increase lifetime value of customers: 1. Beauty & Makeup 2.…
Four Elements of Social Selling
Last week, LinkedIn opened their Social Selling Index (SSI) to the public. I find scores like this fascinating, we have so much social noise out there, sometimes it is hard to know what is working and what’s not. It is nice to see the data to prove (or disprove) the sales and marketing trends we’re seeing right now. While this particular Index is still new, I don’t think it is a novelty scoring system. Social Selling is a very real aspect of modern sales. So, don’t think of this as another Klout. In fact, if I had to choose to increase my LinkedIn score or my Klout score, I’d pick LinkedIn. The last thing…
What Is Content Marketing?
Big data, native advertising, vlogging, content marketing. With new buzzwords cropping up every week, how do you know which new marketing strategy is actually worth pursuing? And which ones will just fizzle out and die, à la MySpace? While you don’t have to immediately start video blogging (vlogging), we do recommend that you pay closer attention to “content marketing.” This strategy is not a trendy, temporary buzzword, this is a tried-and-true strategy to attract, engage, and ultimately convert potential customers. [Tweet “Content marketing is basically a fancy way of saying, “Writing helpful stuff for your target audience.””] Content marketing is basically a fancy way of saying, “Writing helpful stuff for…
Professional vs Personal Social Media Profiles: How to Differentiate
Who are you? And who do you want to be? This is no ordinary existential crisis. This is a 21st century question we should all ask ourselves. Who do you want to be on social media? What is your brand? What do you want to broadcast to millions of people over the Internet? With social media, we truly have the power to impact how we are perceived. And, like it wasn’t difficult enough, we now have to answer these questions for our two identities: personal and professional. [Tweet “Professionals must be intentional about separating work and personal social media profiles”] Whether you are a freelancer, agency owner, or entrepreneur, you…
The Costly Misstep Agencies Make When Pitching A Prospect
Eight out of ten agency owners I speak with are making the same fatal mistake when pitching their services to prospects. That’s a full eighty-percent! Even more concerning is the misstep is so easily correctible. Once freelancers, consultants, and agencies realize how to fix this, they experience larger contracts, longer retainers, and higher close rate. Who wouldn’t want those things!? [Tweet “When you lead with value to the client, you close more sales at higher rates.”] So what do so many agencies do that cause them to lose the sale? They show the value for themselves, not the prospect. It sounds simple, yet nearly every agency I work with makes…
The Biggest Mistake You Can Make When Networking
Networking is not easy stuff. You’re constantly putting yourself out there in potentially uncomfortable situations, meeting strangers for coffee or amping up your small talk game at a conference or networking event. Then, you finally break through and meet that one connection who introduces you to his or her friends, and everything falls in place. You get a new job, you learn about your passion, you get a new mentor, you land a new client. [Tweet “Make a habit out of following up and staying on contact with your network.”] These relationships are hard earned and extremely valuable. And the single, worst thing you can do is let these relationships…
How and When to Start A Blog For Your Brand
I talk a lot about blogging. A lot. In fact, I have written nearly 400 blog posts about the benefits of blogging. I know my professional success would only be a fraction of what it is today without blogging. Simply, blogging is the reason I can pursue my passion of helping others grow their own business. Now that you know how important blogging in my own business, it may not be a surprise to learn that I think you should start a blog for your business immediately. You see, just like investing in the stock market, investing in a blog pays dividends over time. The sooner you start, the sooner you…
