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4 Hacks to Help You Write Blog Posts

5/4/2016

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Blog Writing Tips
So you want to start blogging (cause you heard it's good for SEO and I said you should) but when you sit down to write something you find yourself staring at a blinking cursor?
​Here are 4 hacks that make writing easier summarized so nicely in this Podcast by Omar Zenhom at the $100 MBA Show. The objective of these hacks is to get your ideas down and get the ball rolling. Once you get more comfortable, you won't need these writing "training wheels" anymore.

Blog Writing Hack #1: Go for the "peak" first 
  • start with the climax of the story first (i.e. peak of the mountain), the meat of the article
  • now work backwards and write the introduction moving towards the peak (i.e. incline of mountain)
  • now work on the decline of the mountain, i.e. conclusion or summary

Blog Writing Hack #2:  Speak it, don't write it
  • use your phone dictation app and pretend you're being interviewed 
  • once it's in text format, you can edit/rearrange after
  • there are some best selling authors that actually write 'real' books this way!

Blog Writing Hack #3:  What, Why, How, Your Thoughts
Jot down your thoughts under these 4 headings, then rearrange/edit later.
  • What are you talking about? What question will your article answer?
  • Why is this important? Why am I writing about this?
  • How do you actually do what you're trying to teach? List steps.
  • Finish with your thoughts. What is your experience? Your opinion?

Blog Writing Hack #4: AIDA
From the book: This Book Will Teach You to Write Better
  • [A]: Get people's ATTENTION right off that bat
  • [I]: Get their INTEREST, give some interesting facts or ideas
  • [D]: Get them to DESIRE whatever you want them to do
  • [A]: Clearly outline the ACTION, what do you want them to do next? i.e. email signup

I'm also just starting to get into the habit of blogging (as you can tell by the small number of articles on this site currently) and I'm finding these hacks are extremely helpful with "getting it done" instead of procrastinating. 

So, tell me, what tricks/hacks do you use for blog writing? 
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2 Key Elements of Web Marketing for Small Business

4/5/2016

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By Christine Caddell
Recently I stumbled across the $100 MBA Podcast, which broadcasts  daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend. A recent episode with guest speaker Adam Franklin summarized the world of web marketing extremely well and thought I would share.

As a small business owner, yes you have a website but do you really know the key elements of your web marketing strategy? It can be overwhelming, but really there are only 2 main things to focus on:
  1. Your website
  2. Getting people to visit your site
2 Key Elements of Web Marketing

1. How good is your website?

This is your 'piece of land' that you own in the Internet universe, a virtual place where people can get to know you, trust you and eventually buy from you. First impressions are important. A hideous unusable website shows a lack of quality so make sure your 'house' is in order and properly represents you before you invite people over. 
  • How do they get to know you?
    • Website look/feel: 
    • Website usability: remember 60% of web traffic is mobile now
  • How will they learn to like you more, trust you?
    • Your blog... free no risk valuable content, 
    • Lead magnet (i.e. eBook, template): create a landing page to capture email addresses in exchange for your eBook
    • Email marketing: most effective way to stay connected with people
  • Once they know/like you, they start to trust you more and are more likely to  "buy" from you i.e. become a customer

2. How do you get people to your website (in-bound web marketing)?

If you build it they will come? I often chat with small business owners who are disappointed to learn that after investing a bunch of time/money on their website, their website traffic is still very low. There are millions and millions of websites, so how do you help people find yours?
  1. Google : optimize your website for relevant keyword phrases (SEO)
  2. Backlinks (inbound links) : this is a link on somebody else's website that points to your website. Links from popular, credible websites is a powerful signal to Google that your website is trustworthy and has authority and thus Google ranks your website higher in search results
  3. Social media / content marketing : this includes Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope, even Podcasts, email marketing. These are all types of social media platforms, different ways to publish and distribute content..... i.e. share the content you've created on your blog to which attracts people back to your website which allows them to know, like, trust and buy from you.

So to recap the 2 key elements of web marketing: ​

  1. Website: so people can get to know, like, trust you
  2. InBound Links: Google, Backlinks, Social Media / Content Marketing

$100MBA Podcast
How Your Web Marketing Universe Fits Together
Listen to Podcast
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