Monthly Archives: March 2012

How a Twitter Experiment Landed Me a Guest Writing Blog Opportunity, plus other meaningful tips on Landing Your Own Guest Writing Opportunity

Posted in Blog, How To Tips, Twitter, Uncategorized by

Buying Twitter Followers

A Twitter Experiment Resulted in My First Guest Blogging Opportunity. (Photo provided by Paige Powers via Flickr)

As I work to gain readership for my own blog, I recognized the need to gain exposure by writing for other blogs. Guest blogging is the perfect opportunity to capture new readers. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, but I knew I had to try.

I often read other marketing blogs. You never know when someone or something will spark your creativity or address something that you hadn’t considered. In my research I came across a blogger, Kelly Kautz, who writes a blog titled One Woman Marketing. Kelly has a great blog targeted to marketing savvy solo entrepreneurs. Perfect.

I sent a note to Kelly asking if she would be interested in my twitter experiment on ‘buying Twitter followers.’ Before long, I was off writing my first guest blog entry. Boy, was I excited when my post appeared on Kelly’s blog in late January. I felt good about it. It really wasn’t hard.

If you are considering guest blogging as an option to promote your business, I’ve gathered a few tips to help you jump into guest blogging.

Blog owners who are willing to allow guest bloggers to write for them will want valuable, well-written, original content written by a knowledgeable source. As a guest blogger, you are representing the blog through your own words.

To be an expert in anything, you have to know a bit about the subject. Just saying. I don’t know much about a lot, but I do know about marketing. I’ve been doing it for 18 years and it still excites me. The problem lies in that I write my own blog on marketing, so coming up with something original that I am willing to give to someone else to publish was difficult for me. I have enough problems coming up with my own content.

Coming up with my content ideas was just the beginning of the journey. I also needed to find a blog that was not only willing to take a guest blog article, but also interested in the same topic that I write about. At this point, I hope you are wondering how to get started with your own guest blogging opportunity.

Guest Blogging Tips

• Find blogs that up your alley. Start with the blogs you read often and find valuable for your business. Do they accept guest bloggers and would your expertise fit along their themes. Also look at the writing style. Would your writing fit into their style?

• If you are struggling to find blogs related to your particular topic, try this little Google search trick: ‘your niche’ + guest post or ‘your niche’ + inurl:”guest post”

• Before you send a note to the blog owner, read through their blog. Look at recent and archive articles. Take note on what and how the blog positions certain topics. Identify if you can add additional value and what might be an interest to the blogger. In my case, I chose something that hadn’t been written about specifically.

• Subscribe to the blog, if you haven’t already. Feel free to add valuable comments as it relates to the posts and don’t be pushy by adding a sales pitch. No one likes that.

• Once you feel comfortable with the blog, send the blogger a personal note. To break the ice, I try to compliment the blogger on something I liked about their blog.

• Just like any sales pitch, don’t talk about yourself right away. It isn’t about you; it is about the blogger and his/her readers.

• Once you get to the point of what you can offer, be sure to explain your idea in a way that won’t offend the blogger, but show how you can add value. Then ask if this might be an interest to the blog’s readers.

• Don’t forget to share links to sample writings. This is completely appropriate when you are trying to sell your writing.

• Once you have identified interest, be sure to identify specifics such as deadlines, content review options, and your bio preferences. Most bloggers will allow the author to write two or three sentences about themselves or business and a link to their own website or blog. This is important because this is what drives traffic back to your own site.

• Keep in mind that the blogger ultimately has the right to edit your copy and if you’re not comfortable with that, then this may not be a good option for you. I believe most bloggers will work with you and not step on your toes.

• Be sure to do exactly what you say you’re going to do on time. This is without saying, but thought I should mention it.

• Once your blog posting is accepted and posted, follow the comments and jump in when you can answer a question. Also, make sure you share the blog with your followers by using the sharing tools on the blog site. This will help drive traffic to the blog where your article appears.

• I probably don’t have to tell you this, but I will anyway. If the blogger chooses to accept and publish your work, that work cannot be published elsewhere. It needs to stay an original piece of work.

Guest blogging is great for a number of reasons. If you are toying with the idea of blogging, guest blogging is a great opportunity to get your toes wet without jumping completely in.

OUCH! That Hurt. Overcoming Customer Acquisition Failures with Content

Posted in Content Writing by

customer acquisition contentWe can agree that in every business, customers are crucial. How you reach and talk to your potential customers is crucial to your success. There isn’t a magical answer to follow to gain more customers. Sometimes marketing is trial and error. Hopefully at the end of the day your wins overcome your mistakes.

When you pour your heart into something, like your business, it can sting when a customer chooses another product/service over yours. Sure many seasoned business owners are used to hearing rejection. It is all part of the game. However, for a rookie, it can sting.

Overcoming the rejection is important. Whether your intention is to move to the next project, not make the mistake again or try it again with a particular customer/group, it is important to learn from our mistakes. Before you move forward, quickly figure out what went right and what went wrong.

Earlier this week, I wrote an introductory proposal letter to a potential client. I did it quick and was multitasking at the time. I ended up not getting the project, but what hurt was the way I was rejected. The potential customer was rude in his response back to me, literally tearing me apart for my opening salutation. This may seem silly, but he is right. Though it stung a bit, I should have written a better opening that addressed his needs.

Writing Content for your Audience
• Identify who you are really targeting – it is incredibly important to write your content specific to your audience, no matter what media you use. Not identifying specific target audiences and understanding how they tick will take away from your efforts.
• Understand your media – how does your audience uses a certain channel – as internet, email, social outlets, mail, etc. Are they heavy users of the medium? Many companies are diving into social media, for instance, but may not know how their target audience uses social media and why.
• Know your audience’s needs and wants – identifying why a customer may want to use your product is an important step before you write your content. What problems do you solve and how can you make your customer’s life easier.
• Personalize your messaging will resonate with your audience – I get very aggravated when I get an email or direct mail piece that is either addressed to the wrong name or when the product they are selling has nothing to do with me or my family.
• Interesting content retains audience’s attention – you can entertain or stick to the facts, whatever your style, make sure your audience finds it interesting.
• Write to your audience’s level – You may be question this with a “duh,” but it is worth mentioning. Write your content at the audience’s reading level and level of understanding a particular topic.
• Always check your facts and grammar – nothing more to say on this point.

The biggest take away is testing your content. You may not have the time or expertise to test your headlines or content against a second version, but you do know when something is working or not working. If your content isn’t doing the job it was designed to do, then step back and reevaluate your efforts.

Content Writing is About Customer Benefits and Not You – Don’t be a Rooster

Posted in Content Writing by

content writing customer benefits

You think you know it all. In reality you may, but no one cares. When searching for new customers, your priority should be the customer. Period. Bombarding the conversation will not win new customers and here is an example.

As a marketing consultant, I read many marketing and business blogs. This helps me stay on top of my craft, but also shows me how others are succeeding. A few months ago, I happen across a marketing agency and I signed up for email updates. It looked interesting after I read a couple blog posts.

It turns out that every email starts with “Let me tell you why I am great and you are not.” It doesn’t actually say that, but it is how I felt after reading a few emails. For instance, the agency offered a webinar on “how to write like me.” Really!?! To me this is horribly cocky. Every week, I receive several emails stating why they are so great. Maybe it is professional ego, but this company turns me off.

Here is my point. Your customers need to know you know what you are doing. However, your customers aren’t dummies. So when writing for your audience, don’t blow yourself up to appear bigger than you really are. It isn’t about you, but rather how you can help your customer with his problem.