Category : Content Marketing

  • 6 Tips for Creating Compelling White Papers for a B2B Audience

    Posted Aug 4th, 2011 By in Content Marketing With | 2 Comments

    White papers are more commonly used by B2B companies than B2C companies. This is because B2B companies are ready to dedicate their time to find out more about the solution and the product. Every B2B company needs a white paper to help market itself better.

    Some of the points you need to keep in mind while creating white papers are:

    1. Avoid direct selling – When you write a B2B white paper you need to forget about directly selling your services. B2B white papers only work when you sell your services in a subtle manner. You can write it persuasively, but you need to forget about using testimonials, call to actions that pressure readers, etc.

    You might think that this indirect way of selling will not work, but when it comes to white papers subtle selling works really well.

    2. Address it to a single person – Many writers think that when you write it for a business you’re writing for a whole bunch of people together and they need to address them as a group of people. It’s true that many people are going to read it, but they’re going to read it alone. You won’t have a group of people reading it together. This is the reason why you need to address your reader as a single person with a “you”.

    3. Keep it simple – It’s is common for businesses to use hard to read language in their white papers as they think that it reflects on the company. They think that making the white paper hard to read will make their company look sophisticated. But using complicated words could actually work against you.

    Your white paper is normally 6 to 14 pages long. It could take a lot of time for someone to read it and people who normally read white papers are busy decision makers. They are looking for white papers which are simple and quick to read. If they read a white paper that is hard to understand and keeps them visiting the search engines for answers and making it longer to read the white paper, they will just abandon reading it.

    This is the reason why you need to simplify the writing and look up meanings for every word and write it in a detailed manner. This will make it easy to read and more busy decision makers will read it completely, which will give it the opportunity to do its job of generating leads. (more…)

  • Wake Up Your Readers with Copywriting Spice

    Posted May 6th, 2011 By in Content Marketing With | No Comments

    The recipe for spicy copy always includes salt – lots of it – fresh hot pepper such as a jalapeno or Serrano, and earthy-flavored herbs. Without spice, your copy is tasteless. It reads like every other piece of website content or advertisement or brochure.

    At best, readers forget spice-less copy. At worst, they don’t read it at all.

    Next time you sit down to write, bring the salt, hot pepper, and herbs with you to the keyboard. I’m about to show you how to add the spice your copy desperately needs.

    Salt for Headlines and Imagery

    We’re visual creatures. Readers need pictures for engagement. The good news is that it’s simple to find free stock photography or use your own photos in marketing materials. It’s also possible to suggest an image without any pictures at all.

    The best headlines evoke an image.

    The importance of headlines cannot be stressed enough. There are even books written on the topic. Headlines matter that much.

    But for the purposes of this article, let’s make it simple and say that your headline should address a problem your reader has and that you’re able to solve. It should also reference a concept that’s easy to grasp and one that will cause the brain to automatically conjure images.

    What if the article to this headline read: “How to Make Your Copy More Interesting”? What kind of pictures would you have automatically thought of? Nothing interesting comes to my mind.

    “Wake Up Your Readers with Copywriting Spice” produces countless images for me…alarm clocks, people sitting in front of computer screens with wide eyes, salt, peppers, etc. (more…)

  • 10 Ways to Piss Off Your Readers So They Never Become a Customer

    Posted Feb 10th, 2011 By in Article Marketing, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing With | 1 Comment

    Are you unknowingly writing articles that simply annoy your readers? If you are making the 10 article writing mistakes below, then I’m sorry to tell you – but “YES!” you are.

    10 Ways to Make Sure Your Article Readers Do NOT Become Prospects and Customers…

    1. Over-promising and under-delivering in terms of content.

    If you make an outrageous proposition or a huge promise like (Lose 30 pounds in 30 days) in your article title, then you better make sure you back up your claims. For example, when I wrote the article, “How to Promote Your Book to the Top of the New York Times Best Sellers List,” I showed the exact steps we took to help Dr Mark Hyman achieve that status.  Within our article, we shared our case study and provided valuable information for authors.

    2. Too many errors.

    Whenever I make an occasional grammar mistake (or when I pronounce a word wrong) my GetLinkedInHelp.com business partner Kristina Jaramillo has to correct me. She’ll do it in a lovingly way (as she is my partner in business and in life) – but she has to point it out every time because to her it’s like taking your fingers and making the screeching sound on the blackboard. Do you want your readers to have that kind of response because you simply did not take the time to proofread your articles?

    3. Not enough beef.

    You really expect me to trust you and buy from you when you are giving me bits and pieces of information. Yes, 200-250 word articles are perfect for your blog as long as you produce highly-valuable, highly-informative content all the time. But if I’m reading your articles on someone else’s blog, website or ezine I need to see that you are the expert and I need you to give me a real reason to go to your website to grab even more information.

    4. Hard selling.

    If you are hard selling within your articles, you instantly lose credibility. Instead of being seen as an expert who truly wants to help others success, you’ll be seen as an advertiser.

    Also, trying to sell me within your article is like asking me to marry you on a first date. You have to build and nourish your relationship with me first. Provide rare gems that no one else is offering, then invite me in your bio box to grab a free resource such as a special report, ebook, templates, video etc. And, make sure this free offering provides real value – otherwise you are wasting your time.

    5. Writing in gigantic blocks of text.

    Big blocks of text are easy to get lost in. They also strain eyes and make reading difficult because it’s hard to scan, let alone read. In fact, a study shows that only 16% of your readers will actually read your article word-by-word. The rest mostly scan. (more…)

  • How to Overcome Writer’s Block Using the Secrets Revealed By One of Today’s Most Influential Business Thinkers

    Posted Nov 17th, 2010 By in Article Marketing, Blogging, Content Marketing With | 3 Comments

    Are you coming to the point, where you say to yourself – “Oh sh%t, I have to write my article or blog post?” Does the though of writing drain you? And, even though you know you need to write articles to get more website traffic, build your list, nourish relationships and increase your profits – are you procrastinating writing your articles?

    Then this new article is for you.

    Learn from Marshall Goldsmith (the man who is ranked one of the most influential business thinkers in the world by The London Times and Forbes) and see how you can apply his secrets for getting unstuck to your own article writing and marketing efforts.

    Why You End Up in a Writing Rut!

    As Marshall says, “Our default reaction in life is to experience inertia. We all tend to go where we have been going, do what we have been doing and say what we have been saying.” If you say the same story time after time after time, and repeat the same advice – it gets boring! And, it’s not only boring for the reading, but it’s boring for you the writer.

    Marshall’s Solutions for Getting Unstuck

    1. You need to challenge yourself to create new content — content that is not found anywhere else online.

    2. Change your approach to article writing. You have to ask yourself, “If I have to spend this time writing articles, how can I make it more meaningful to my readers and myself? Part of the answer is to find your passion and let it shine through in your articles.

    3. Stop saying later. The time is now. How many times have you said this to yourself, “You know, I am incredibly busy right now. And, given the pressures of work and home, I feel too over-committed. I simply don’t have the time and energy. I’ll write my articles later in maybe 2 to 3 weeks when things calm down.” The reality is that there will not be two or three weeks. It is always going to be crazy.  If you are not taking the time to build your business now with articles, it’s never going to happen. As Marshall says, “To get unstuck, you have to look in the mirror day after day, and remind yourself of the actions that you will take today.” It requires discipline – but once you get writing and get out of this rut, you will get more profits and it will be worth it.

    4. Get a peer coach – In a SUCCESS magazine article, Marshall mentions that he has a peer coach which asks him every day – “On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy were you yesterday? On a scale of 1 to 10, how meaningful was yesterday? How many minutes did you write? How many push-ups did you do?” This peer coach holds Marshall accountable. How do you hold yourself accountable to make sure you write and submit articles online and do the other marketing activities that will build your business?

    Follow these tips and you’ll be writing articles on a daily basis – just like me “your article writing and marketing expert!” You see, I write articles on a daily basis for my ezine, blog, article submission and for my social media efforts.  And, I never get bored.

    Guest Author: Instant Article Writing Template Creator Eric Gruber helps internet marketers and small business owners overcome writer’s block and end their writing rut fast so they can get more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get 3 of Eric’s article templates for free – so you can write your articles in 30 minutes or less. Get it now at http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

  • Poll: How often do you post a blog?

    Posted Oct 26th, 2010 By in Blogging, Content Marketing, Polls With | 7 Comments

    How often do you post a blog?

    View Results

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