Get in the Habit

If you’re not yet convinced you only have to look at studies by companies like Hubspot showing that inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing or the change large brands like Coca-Cola are making to their marketing strategy.

So if many are aware of the pro-active part content can play in marketing, why are so few using it?

Buying Out

Unlike other types of marketing from agencies or other 3rd parties, content marketing doesn’t work as well when outsourced. The tone of voice, subject matter and consistency of both, work best when they come from inside a company. Internal knowledge leads to specific use of terminology, can highlight relationships the writer has with products or the company and really good content just oozes passion.

The fact content is most effective when produced in-house, and cannot easily be tasked to an agency, creates a barrier to entry for many businesses.

Okay, content marketing is important, it’s best produced in-house, but how to fit content production into an already busy workplace?

1. It’s All In The Plan

Using a content calendar should not be underestimated, pre-planning and committing content to particular dates will result in a more consistent output. It is also easier to assign content production once you know what and when something is to be produced. As with other must do work, when given the right level of importance within the work day, content marketing is not always the burden it first seems.

2. Turning On The Tap

Writing on demand can be tough enough for a seasoned professional, let alone when content production has been made an additional part of your day job. You need stimulus to allow you to output content of interest so that it does not cover the same ground. A useful way of doing this is to read associated articles, news items or blog posts that are related to your area of work and that you can share an opinion on.

Writing about something topical has the added benefit of creating interest. Maybe it’s a change in the law that effects your industry, a new invention that may impact your customers or even a celebrity that has interacted with some part of your business sector.

3. Catch A Habit

Once you get in the flow of noticing opportunities to create content all you need do now is create it. To do this on a regular basis you need to make it a habit.

At first, even if you can’t think what to write or say into a video camera, write or say anything, everyday. Once you get in the habit of doing it ideas will flow out in your creation time. You never need publish anything you’re not happy with, but by committing to an action each day you’ll produce more content and of higher quality.

4. Focus

You have a plan, you’ve got the tap turned on full and you’re addicted to creating content like a 90 year-old chain smoker to nicotine. Now is the time to focus.

You need to look for opportunities to create content around specific areas in your sector. The more defined you can be the better. Let’s say you’re in financial services, try producing a series on mortgages, where regulation allows. This will highlight your expertise in this area and if you make the content connected, potential customers will come back to consume the next episode; all the time you are building trust, your brand and demonstrating your knowledge.

5. Now Apply It

You can use this methodology in any industry, in Business to Business or Business to Consumer, when selling services or products. Once you get the routine going, the time and effort is minimal, and the cost negligible.

The big bonus is that many other parts of your business will benefit from the regular content; giving you something to share on social platforms, create discussion around in online groups and even bolster your search engine optimisation.

If you try it, do let me know how you get on. I assure you it will be some of the best marketing you ever did.

Coca-Cola's Content 2020

You have heard me say it before, but it’s true, content is the bedrock of your online marketing, whichever way you choose to slice it.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re creating it or curating it, each plays a different role, the quality and focus of that content will determine the success of your marketing campaigns.

And if you still don’t believe me, then maybe Coca-Cola can convince you?

The big red international corporate giant that we have all grown up with, has pitched it’s marketing dollar seriously in the content arena, with it’s Content 2020 strategy.

It wants to create stories that add value and have significance in it’s market so that they engage with the audience. Although the stories will be individual and stand on their own, the stories will be connected to a common theme.

They aim to inspire participation, but the point that got me was that they saw inspiring their agency and staff as important as inspiring the consumer. Now that is Board Level Buy-In!

In all they want to create a Culture of Creativity that delivers results.

To prove a point they have produced the following videos that explain their plans in a very engaging manner.

What do you think to Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LerdMmWjU_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwIq-8GWA8

Thank You

Well this is it my final post of 2011. Thank you to all those that have visited my web site, given their feedback and shared my content. You made my efforts feel worthwhile.

I have also made many new friends online this year, too many to mention and only a few I have met in person, such is the way of the world nowadays. A special thank you to Dino Dogan of Triberr.com in particular for introducing me to many like minded bloggers whom I now work with on a regular basis.

Having already written about My Books of 2011 and Top Tools & Applications of the year I thought I would finish the year off with my top 10 viewed posts of 2011. Let me know which was your favourite in the comments below.

Happy New Year
Sean

1. 12 Ways To Get New Followers On Twitter

Here are 12 ways you can get new followers, there is something for everyone. Some of these tips take more effort than others, but remember, the key is to always add relevance and value for your potential audience.

2. How To Tweet All Day & Still Do Your Job

In this video I show how, in 20-30 minutes a day, you can use Google Reader combined with BufferApp to Tweet all day without it effecting your job.

3. Why I Took Guy Kawasaki Off My VIP Twitter List

When the number of people you follow on Twitter grows to a certain level one of the issues is keeping up with what everyone is saying, especially if some of those you follow are prolific Tweeters. This is where Twitter Lists work well.

4. Why Amazon is Likely to Open a Bricks & Mortar Store

My thoughts on why I think Amazon will eventually open stores on the High Street.

5. 7 Ways to use Twitter Lists

Are you getting enough out of Twitter? If you think you could be doing better Twitter lists could be your answer.

6. 14 of the Best Location Based Marketing Apps for Business

Mobile price comparison, recommendations and offers, all based on location can drive business and encourage customer loyalty. Here are some of the best Apps in this sector.

7. ROI in Social Media: Taking the Numbers Out of the Equation

If you do Social Media you know it’s not the numbers that count and that what you do on a daily basis will take time to come to fruition. So how do we get away from the numbers when the Board want to see growth, the CEO requires an ROI and your boss wants to measure your performance?

8. How to Get More Traffic to Your Blog

We are always fixated with wanting more; more money, more time, more followers and more traffic. In fact, we focus so much on what we want we overlook doing the things that get us there. Why?

9. A 4 Step Beginners Guide to Content Curation

If there is one thing I love more than engaging with people online it’s sharing useful content with them via Social Media. It’s a good job too, as content curation plays a major part in developing social relationships.

10. Best Profile Photos to Increase Followers

Looking at the effects of changing your avatar (profile photo) on social media sites.

Sean's Week On Twitter

I’ve spent the last few weeks studying copywriting, driven by a desire to improve my writing skills. This journey lead me to discover some great individuals.

The first was Roy Williams, known as the Wizard of Ads; a controversial figure who is very direct in his approach to marketing and the author of three books more about psychology than writing.

Then there’s Claude Hopkins who published the Science of Advertising in 1932, much of which is still relevant today, and one of the pioneers in the industry.

From here I ended up subscribing to the podcast of a carpet cleaner and an estate agent, Joe Polish and Dean Jackson of I Love Marketing, their’s is a captivating show; two small business owners turned full-time marketers commanding audiences world-wide.

These guys led me to a person that I wish I had known about before he passed away, Gary Halbert. A former encyclopedia sales man who understood the value of the written word, his archive of newsletters is freely available online and well worth reading.

I have acquired so much knowledge in the last few weeks and have spent nothing, that’s right, not one penny. Amazingly for an industry that is built around the art of selling, everything I ever needed to know from the best in the business was available to me for free.

Why would this be? Information and ideas are only valuable if they are acted upon. Knowing that many would still come to them for the deeper meaning behind their words, they can command I high price for the one to one consultation that many reading their free content would desire.

If you can write, publish freely, don’t be afraid of sharing your knowledge. There are greater rewards to be had; the meaning behind your words is what many are willing to pay for. In the words of Brian Clark author of Copyblogger; don’t forget The Writer Runs This Show.

Now on to my selection of links for Sean’s Week On Twitter; this week we have six of the best in SWOT #18. Your feedback is always welcome, enjoy.

Zynga’s Project Z: A Facebook-Powered Social Network for Games

You may not recognise the name Zynga, but it’s the company behind the enormously popular Farmville game on Facebook. One of the problems of being reliant on a single platform is that you are beholding to any changes they make. In a bid to avoid this Zynga have cleverly leveraged Facebook itself to start their own Social Network for gaming.

Facebook user engagement up 31%, ‘Like’ feature is key driver

As the ‘pundits’ opinions of Facebook ebb and flow there is one sure thing, users are not feeling much angst toward the mammoth changes Facebook are making to the platform. Engagement with content continues to grow, making it commercially difficult to ignore as a platform to reach out to consumers.

Social media ROI: It’s not about immediate results

Warning, this is a long article, but it covers a pet subject of mine; the investment in time that is required to get a return from Social Media. If you’re reading my blog you probably already get it, but it’s still worth a read for ideas, if you need to influence others.

21 Ways to Save Minutes Each Day

With so much demand on our attention, every minute we can save is precious. Whilst there are countless books on time management, sometimes a tweak to our daily routine can be all that’s needed to make a difference. Hopefully you’ll find a gem or two in this list.

A Conversation With Stephen King

Now you may not appreciate this post, you may even see it as ‘link bait’. It’s not what it implies in the title, but this is why I liked it so much. On one hand it is a bloggers ramblings, on another it is a lesson about your ability to define what you say and to whom. If you write regularly you’ll empathise with Jack B, an author of 39 unpublished books and 3 screenplays.

Baking the Perfect Cake

Content Marketing can make a positive impact on your business. In terms of types of marketing, it is probably one of the most effective and longer lasting a company can implement. But it can be difficult to implement it correctly.

In fact the web is full of companies with poorly executed content strategies, and many of these aren’t even blogs, just plain old web sites that haven’t been given much thought.

Many companies still haven’t moved on from the “take company brochure and put it on the web” mind set.

Poor execution usually comes down to a lack of investment in time and planning, with a good sprinkle of misunderstanding mixed in; a recipe that leads to a cake that just doesn’t rise.

Follow these easy steps to ensure you bake the perfect cake every time.

The Right Ingredients

To make a basic “Content Marketing Cake” that gives you a return on investment you need:

1. A quality product or service

Without this all the marketing in the world is not going to build you a sustainable business. If you product or service does not offer something different to the rest of the market, adapt it so that it does. Give it focus and a niche from which you can drive a differentiator.

2. Market knowledge

Don’t be a pretender, you’ll get found out. To be able to add value with your content you are going to need knowledge of your marketplace. If you run an existing business you should already have this. To ensure you maintain it, keep up with the latest industry news and events by reading widely.

3. Passion and enthusiasm

You’re going to need passion and enthusiasm in abundance. For Content Marketing to work you have to be consistent, and initially you are going to need to output something everyday, whether you publish it or not. You need to get in the habit of producing content some will not be good enough to go live, but all of it will be valuable in terms of experience.

The Right Equipment

So we have the ingredients, in the right measures, ready to be mixed. Now we need to put these together in the right way to ensure our cake rises every time we bake one. The elements required for this are:

1. A Chef

You need to find someone who is going to bake regularly for you. If you fancy baking yourself then all the better. Just ensure that whoever is charged with this role has the right ingredients available to them. Yes you can employ an external person, as long as they can get under the skin of your company, market, product and service.

2. Time

Do not make the mistake of thinking Content Marketing is a quick and easy alternative to other forms of marketing. It can be a far more profitable form of marketing with far greater longevity than other types of campaigns; it is not a quick fix! If you try to take your cake out of the oven too early it will flop.

Not only do you need to allow enough time for the cake to rise you need to give the Chef enough time to bake. How much and how long will depend on the type of cake, this should be defined in your planning and strategy.

3. The Oven

The most effective type of oven is one that circulates the warm air evenly around the cake. It is set at the right height for ease of access and the contents are clearly visible whilst cooking. The ideal oven for Content Marketing is a blog. The blog platform is purpose built for “cooking content” and more importantly allowing the wider world to access it.

The Right Method

Okay we have the ingredients and the equipment, now we need to put these together in the right way.

The Method is your Strategy, it’s where you need to define your budget in terms of time and resource. The Method will vary dependant on your overall objective, though there will be one constant; the return will be directly related to the investment, in terms of time and resource. The Method is your starting point.

If you need help defining The Method for your Content Marketing cake get in touch, I’d be more than happy to help.

iPhone 4s - Please Sir, may I have some more?

Was Tim Cook’s finest hour underwhelming?

Now Steve Jobs has stepped down Apple seem to be in a rush to say something. Following announcements from Facebook and Amazon, there was an expectation of a great follow-up from Apple. But it didn’t come.

Is This What Happens When The Vision Is Lost?

I think it’s a bit early to believe Apple have lost their way already. Yet they probably felt under-pressure to release something. They would have seen the raft of anticipation for the iPhone 5 online, it remains a mystery why they have not acknowledged that fact.

The iPhone 4S is a “nice” improvement and probably an encouraging nudge to those still holding onto the iPhone 3, to upgrade now. iOS5 is nothing to be sniffed at, but we already knew about that, and Siri doesn’t really do that much for me, as impressive at it is.

Apple Really Had Nothing To Say

Maybe we have been spoilt of late with the fanfare of the Facebook Timeline, the strategic positioning of the Amazon Fire. But this is all the more reason to ensure to only “ship” when you have something to “ship”.

I have many half finished blog posts and gaps in my blog schedule from days where I really didn’t have an opinion. Those posts remain in draft where the words had run dry because my thoughts were not that compelling.

Had they been published I would of dumped on you a mass of words in no particular order, solving no issue and offering no opinion.

Although “shipping” is very important, and you should “ship” regularly don’t feel you are forced to by some invisible barrier. You have a choice, ship with passion, with feeling, and impact if you can.

Under-delivering is often worse than not delivering at all.

How did you feel about Apple’s announcement?

Read Some More

Up until a few weeks ago I had a Content Curation methodology I was happy with, then something changed.

Part of successful Blogging is reading a lot, and I mean a lot. I have often got 2 or 3 books on the go. I’m scanning Twitter and Google+ hourly, I subscribed to some key source newsletters, download white-papers and have hundreds of feeds in Google Reader.

As well as Blogging, it’s part of my day job to ensure I am aware of the latest trends online.

A by-product of this media consumption is Content Curation; sifting through the news and sharing what I feel is relevant to the people I spend my time with online. Hopefully, saving them the time and effort of finding the information themselves.

Enter the iPad

The iPad for me is the most fantastic tool when it comes to productivity, in terms of content consumption. Now I can carry every book (Kindle), PDF (Stanza), web site article (Instapaper), idea (Evernote) and RSS feed (various), with me.

Anyone that has used RSS knows how unmanageable it can quickly become if you get behind on reading your feeds. At the same time you have this immense feeling of not wanting to miss anything.

I have used various applications to parse these feeds and a while ago I settled on Flipboard & Zite. Both of these iPad apps can draw in RSS feeds from Google Reader, then present them in a magazine style interface to make for natural reading, an “e-magazine” if you like.

It was great, each morning I would open my “e-magazine” containing only the content I wanted to see. Interesting articles I would then Tweet out as I read. Only one problem; I read quite a lot, and fast. Between 7am and 8am my stream would be a flurry of Tweets. Anyone following me who didn’t follow too many other people would have had their screen filled with messages, yuk, very spammy.

To resolve this issue I would copy and paste the Tweets into HootSuite and schedule them to be sent throughout the day.

This was okay for a while, but a bit labour intensive; even with multi-tasking on the iPad my flow for reading was interrupted and it just didn’t work too well. I put up with it though, as I preferred this to be seen as spamming people online.

Recently a solution to this problem has appeared and changed my behaviour, improving my work flow.

Introducing the Buffer App

You feed Buffer your Tweets and it will automatically schedule them for you throughout the day. You can login to the web based interface and rearrange Tweets or add extra time slots. You can even upgrade to a paid account to allow you to Buffer more Tweets.

The best part for me is that I can email Buffer my Tweets from within which ever application I happen to be reading in at the time on any platform.

This means that on the iPad I am now back to skimming through my RSS feeds far more efficiently. I now use the Reeder App as I can scroll through many more feeds at a time looking for content, and within a couple of clicks email any relevant articles directly to my Buffer.

 The Sin of Automation

Yes this is automation, of a sort. I would argue that it is to the benefit of others, as much as myself. I am still curating the content, ensuring it is something I believe will be of interest, I am just automating when it is sent.

In addition I am also engaging on Twitter in real time throughout the day when time allows.

Using this method everyone wins and gets value from it.

Agree, disagree? I would love to here your views. If you do follow my Tweets, do you find them relevant and have you noticed a difference?

8 Secrets of Success

Did you know the TED website is a mountain of inspiration for bloggers?

If you are ever stuck for something to write about, need a different angle on a business idea or would just like another view on life. I’m certain you’ll find it there.

This lunchtime I was procrastinating over my next blog post; to kick start myself into action I chose a random video on TED.

This is where I came across Richard St. John and his talk about success. Richard is the author of The 8 Traits Successful People Have In Common and is a “serial success” in his own right. A milionaire entrepenuer, with a black belt in Judo, 50 marathons to his name and having reached the summit on 2 of the world’s highest mountains, the guy is Mr. Success.

In his talk he takes us through the 8 traits of success, gained from 10 years of interviews with over 500 people, all in just 3 mintues!

Whilst watching it I recognised a reflection of good blogging practise; the things we write about and encourage others to do every day online:

1. Passion

To blog successfully you must have passion about your subject matter. It’s what keeps you running on empty, the keyboard clicking into the early hours and the relentless shipping of blog posts regardless of reward.

2. Work

Blogging is hard work. That virtual lifestyle, passive income or 4 hour work week, it’s all attainable, but to get it you have to put in the hours. You know what though, by the time you get any good at it you won’t notice how hard you’re working.

3. Focus

To keep on track and blog on a daily basis takes focus. Blogging isn’t just about the writing, it’s about networking and engagement. To do this well and consistently, to give enough time to each area requires you to have a focus on the task at hand.

4. Persist

You have got to keep going. When your last post flops or nobody Re-Tweets your link, you need to have the stubbornness to shrug it off and carry on regardless. Through persistence you will break through the invisible wall, the other side of which is a downhill ride.

5. Ideas

Learn to be creative, you’ll need to generate idea after idea. A lot of bloggers fail because they run out of ideas. If you want to succeed you need to get good at spotting opportunities to comment. If you want an endless pool of ideas to draw upon, you need to read widely and often. Learn to notice the world around you, how it impacts on your area of interest, take extensive notes.

6. Good

Not only do you need passion for your subject matter you also need to be proficient at it. The web is full of bloggers writing about how to make money online, most of which have never made a penny. Avoid giving advice on things you know little about, you stand a chance of getting found out. Nothing will destroy your credibility quicker. If necessary study your subject matter, blog about your journey, make it real.

7. Push

Push the boundaries of your abilities, if you’re blogging 3 times a week try blogging daily. Set yourself targets for comments, subscribers and page views. Improve your writing skills, vary the type of posts you write, set yourself challenges and offer to do talks for free. It all helps you maintain interest and stops you from getting complacent. Live outside your comfort zone, permanently.

8. Serve

Before you can expect to receive anything from your efforts you need to give, and give without condition. Continualy help others to get where they want to go, serve them well and before you know it you will be rewarded many times over.

The main theme that runs through all of this is passion; if you have passion for what you do in abundance, the pathway to success is easy. Enjoy the video and be inspired:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bbMQXQ180

What will you watch on TED today?

Beach Sunset

This very much depends on the role your blog plays within your business.

If your blog is “your business” then taking a break whilst on holiday or vacation may not be an option. If it is a part-time affair then taking a few weeks out a year may do no harm.

Sometimes you cannot beat good old pen and paper

When I left for a trip to France last week I had the intention of writing every day, needless to say the act of being away with family took priority over the normal day to day activities, as it should have. Not only that, staying in the remote French countryside, Internet access was haphazard, and with data roaming charges prohibitively expensive, access to the web for research, Twitter and other normal online activities were severely restricted.

On the few occasions I did attempt to write neither the iPad nor laptop were up to the sun’s glare around the pool; sand was not going to get a look in as far as either were concerned on the beach, and evenings held more family fun-time.

The effect of little conversation on Twitter and no blogging for a whole week?

My site traffic dropped like a stone. There was little effect socially, Klout accepting I may take a break, and people on Twitter still finding me interesting enough even though I wasn’t engaging much.

Based on previous week:

1. Blog traffic -50%
2. Twitter +30 followers
3. Klout score down 1 point

My traffic from search based results held up, but due to a lack of new posts I had virtually no traffic from subscribers or social media sources.

For me this was not disastrous, my blog is not my main source of income, but if it was this could have seriously impacted my bottom line. As I have outlined previously, blogging daily really can have positive effect on your site traffic. In contrast any slow down in your output can have a negative effect.

If you run a blog as part of your business you need to plan for those breaks, by either writing more beforehand or having others produce content whilst you’re away. Don’t let the thought of lost site traffic, and possibly revenue, effect your family break this summer!

How do you plan for those unavoidable gaps in your blogging schedule?

Team Work

When starting out blogging it can be tough. You’re writing every day, with little feedback, no audience and little to guide you on what you’re doing right, or wrong.

For a new blog it can take months, sometimes years to pick up a decent size audience. It requires consistency, and focus to succeed. At the end of a long day it can be very tempting to skip today’s blog post.

Being Part of a Team Makes it Easier

Triberr is a new, free service, that offers bloggers just that opportunity; to work with like-minded people, blogging on related subjects. It’s not just for individuals either, businesses can join in too.

The Importance of the Tribe

Many of the now popular bloggers have a fantastic reach when it comes to the number of people following them on Twitter and Facebook. This is a result of years worth of activity online, building up credibility and authority, but they didn’t do this on their own. It’s no accident that many of these popular Social Media stars are friends. Many connected years ago, when working towards similar goals, trying to find success online.

Mitch Joel’s podcast contained an irregular feature titled Media Hacks. This consisted of Mitch, Chris Brogan, CC Chapman, Hugh McGuire, Julien Smith and Christopher Penn, all fairly well known individuals in the online space, with at least one book each on a related subject. Unfortunately the feature has faltered, due to the participants commitments, and although it never was a purposefully self-promotional platform the guys did work hard to support each other to get to where they are now.

As a team it is much easier to grow and spread the word, using multiple networks to increase reach is much more effective than shouting in an empty room.

Connecting with Like Minded Bloggers

When you sign up for Triberr you can apply to join a Tribe, ideally you find one that has blogs on similar topics, because as part of joining the group you will also agree to help promote others.

Once you have found an appropriate Tribe you request an invitation; on acceptance you hook up your Twitter account and your Blog’s RSS Feed.

Now every time you make a new post on your blog all of your Tribe will Re-Tweet it, at scheduled intervals. Of course, when someone else from your Tribe posts it will also go out on your Twitter stream, which demonstrates why you should join like minded Tribes.

How much you get involved with other members is up to you, but commenting on their posts, following them and engaging on Twitter is encouraged. It should be easy too, as you are all interested in a similar subject.

As of today’s post I have around 1400 followers in my Twitter network; with the help of my Triberr network I am able to reach around 150k people with each blog post. This is the power of collaboration.

UK Bloggers

Whilst there are many groups already on Triberr, many members are US based. I am currently looking for more bloggers to join our UK Bloggers Tribe. As the name suggests it’s focused on UK based bloggers, to keep us all in the same timezone, blogging on Social Media related subjects.

Interested? Please fill out the form to request an invite.