You might not realise it but right now, as your read these words, there are people looking for you.
You might not know who they are and that's a pity, because you should. Because once you got past the “getting to know you” bit, it could turn into a glowing, mutually beneficial relationship that lasts for years. So why isn't this relationship happening? They don't even know you exist! You might just be two ships, passing in the night. But you have the ability to change this and become like a light house they'll spot from a distance. To do this doesn’t require an elaborate plan or a serious dent into your marketing budget. It’s just a case of addressing three words: Search Engine Optimisation. Here’s 5 ways you can boost your SEO rankings and get found- so easy you'll kick yourself for not having thought of them already! #1. Research Your Keywords You want to use the same keywords your target audience are using when they search for you. So if you own a real estate agency in North Lakes, you'd want your main keyword phrase to be something like ‘Real Estate North Lakes’ or even ‘Realty North Lakes’. Sure, you might have a lot of competition covered by the main keywords- but what about the secondary search terms? This is where your area of speciality comes into play. What do you provide that your competitors don’t? What sets you apart from the rest? Overall, your priority here is to understand the language your target audience uses when they go searching for a business like yours. #2. Optimisation You want to have a reasonable amount of quality content on your website and across your social media platforms. I’m not talking about stuffing your content full of keywords (the bad old-fashioned way), although it might help if you update your meta tagging to include terms that are reader-friendly. I’m talking about including a page for legitimate testimonials from happy customers (get video testimonials whenever you can), a Q&A section and a page with profiles for each of your staff. Content like this is useful for your site browsers but also for online search engines like Google. If you’re a local business, you definitely also want to include a ‘Contact’ page with a business address, primary phone number and an embedded GEO site map (which can be done easily, here: http://www.geositemapgenerator.com) #3. Google Local Local Google+ pages gives you more exposure, while also helping you to open up a two-way communication path with your customers by responding to reviews and creating post updates. You can find out more on Google+ here: https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2293053/google-places-for-business-vs-google-local #4. Consistency Inconsistency can have a negative effect on your online presence, which is why you need to be consistent when you list your business name, contact number and address across all of your online pages. This makes search engines like Google happy, and it also makes your customers happy. Make it as easy as possible for them to know who you are and how they can get in contact with you. #5. Get the word out there Collecting reviews from happy customers on Google+, or via video testimonials, is one of the most traditional (and most authentic) ways to stand out online. Make it easy for your customers- let them know they only have to write a review once (if writing one) and if they don’t have a Google+ account, that's ok. Let them give you their glowing review via Facebook or even LinkedIn instead! Whether they want to write your praises or speak them out loud, the most important thing to remember is: always be authentic. Don’t bribe them or ask for positive reviews. People can spot a fake easily. You're better than that, anyway. The best word of mouth is when it’s genuine. I’ll leave you with these easy action items to think about (and act on) for now- but next week I’ll have a further 5 tips that'll do wonders for your SEO rankings. In the meantime? Let me know how you go covering these 5 steps! Sharing your success stories is always welcome. Lately, all I’ve been hearing about is Pokemon Go. People wandering around like zombies, staring at their screens- and I’m the uncool one sitting here at my laptop and writing? I feel like I’ve time-travelled back to the late 90’s, the way so many people my age are out to “Catch ‘em all”. It got me thinking about another old craze that I couldn’t get into… Come with me now, back to the mid 90’s. Paul Keating is PM, flannelette is in fashion (hang on…), Oasis and a guy called Hootie (with his Blowfish) are getting major airtime on the radio, only a handful of people you know have internet access and the most valuable stock owned by your average Primary School kid is their collection of basketball cards. But personally? I don’t get the hype about them. If you dig basketball you’d buy a ball or the jersey of your favourite players or wear your teams’ cap. I’ve got a ball and a hoop above the back patio at home, myself. But why throw away money on glossy pieces of cardboard with player pictures on them? This is an early case of me feeling “different” from my peers. I’m never ostracised for not embracing the fad- I just don’t understand the fuss... ...Then my Scout group plans to hold a special “Collectors Night” where we all bring in something that we collect. I imagine that (like at school) I’ll be one of the only kids who doesn’t care about having Shaquille O’Neal, John Stockton or Vince Carter’s image on pieces of glossy cardboard. But I’m 9 years old and slightly worried that if I bring my collection of model cars- a collection I take great pride in- that the guys will think I’m weird or “a baby”. I don’t lose sleep over this scenario, but lamenting how “everybody else will have basketball cards” is enough for Mum to actually go and get me a pack of cards to take along. Should I pretend to care about basketball cards and blend in? Or should I take my big plastic container of model cars to Collectors Night and risk standing out? In the end, I decide to take my modest and freshly bought pack of cards along...
But I only have these as back-up. I figure taking something different- something like my crate full of model cars- might actually be worth the risk? So there I am at our Scout Collection Night, with my big plastic container of Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Micro Machines and Burago models. And they turn out to be a hit. I get into a discussion about Formula 1 with one of the Scout leaders, the other guys all go through my collection and admire the condition I’ve kept some of these cars in. Even Scott (who has the biggest collection of basketball cards in our Scout group) checks out my haul with genuine interest. In the end, I don’t even need to get my basketball cards out. My crate of cars ends up being the biggest and most keenly examined collection on the night... That night was over 20 years ago so the exact details have been erased by time, but I still recall my pleasant feeling of surprise at how popular my collection turned out to be. It felt like I was in a strange dream where everybody found my collection as interesting as I did- except that it was really happening. The older I’ve grown, the less I’ve felt the need to “blend in with the crowd” for the sake of it. Still, as a young business owner sometimes I wonder if doing it “my way” is worth the risk? But in a world where people tip-toe carefully and allow the fear of rejection to straightjacket their true expression and flair, we crave people who dare to stand out with spotlights, fluros and fireworks. Don’t hold back from sharing your real passion with people. Let it shine through in your marketing, your branding and your interactions with them all. If you want to be that bright light who attracts leads, you’ve gotta be somebody who stands out from the masses of beige. And the key to this is daring to be authentic about what you love. Not everybody will be your “type”, but people will take notice of you- and respect your authenticity. Not only will you breathe more easily knowing you don’t have to pretend- but next time your leads are ready to spend big on someone who sells or does what you do? It’ll be your name that flashes into their mind. Not bad when it equals money in the bank, huh? If you'd love to be 100% authentic with your leads (no tricks, no smoke-and mirrors, no bullshit) and command top dollar in the process, then let's arrange a consultation. It's free, so get in while slots are still available. That's if you're the rare type who'll dare to be different... In the words of W. Clement Stone, "Do it now": [email protected] Spiders. Cockroaches. Canetoads. See one of these creatures and otherwise calm, sane adults will cower into the corner and break into a sweat. I dislike the latter two because they’re an unwanted pest that destroys our native fauna, or because they turn a delicious meal into garbage fodder in a split second.
Spiders? I’m good at identifying spiders that can be left alone against those you should try to capture or kill instantly. The Huntsman is big and scary looking, but harmless. The Golden Orb Weaver can be a thing of beauty when the sunlight shines on its’ golden web. When I was 11, we caught a deadly Funnel Web at our old place and as it sat in the glass jar I regarded it with fascination, not fear. There’s another thing people widely seem to fear and hate in equal measure, but I love. In fact I could even say I get pumped for it: Public speaking. I don’t need to picture the audience naked or repeat “I can do this!” until I’m hypnotised. I don’t need to take deep breaths to fight off a panic attack while clutching a sick bag. The more people there are watching me as I stand before them and begin to speak, the more at ease I feel, the more I believe that at least a few people in that audience will connect with me and even take an interest in me or my message. I’ve discovered that often, the personal is universal. What gets us going, gets them going too. What makes us laugh, makes them laugh as well- and if they don’t, I just shrug, say “If I seem a little strange, well…that’s because I am” (to quote Morrissey) and that seems to resonate with them. Fact is you’ll never please everybody, so why worry about the inevitable? I’ve given business presentations, class presentations, made speeches at friends’ parties, speeches at my own parties and even had a friend entrust me to be the M.C at his wedding- and always felt at ease. So while these common fears have never rattled me, there’s one thing that used to give me that “public speaking” anxiety. Furthermore, beneath that leg-trembling, heart racing, stutter-inducing fear lay a powerful desire. It was like gazing across a raging, stormy sea and sighting the promised land. But there was no sea (usually) and what I’d sighted wasn’t land… It was the prettiest girl in the room. She would catch my eye- either a girl I knew or a complete stranger- but the feeling would hit me the same. A dizzying cocktail of arousal, fascination, frustration and self-loathing, all at once. In my awkward teenage years, I’d resort to playing wallflower. I’d keep in the background, occasionally glimpsing the beauty I saw, hoping that somehow I’d be gifted the chance to speak to her. If she could be there right in front of me with none of her friends about? Then I could relax. I’d chat to this girl cool, calm and collected. Despite the other guys who’d chat to her laughing and joking around like it was no big deal, she’d realise there was something different about me, and the rest would be history. But I discovered soon enough that life isn’t like the movies... The nice guy doesn’t get the girl just for having good intentions and existing in her world. So I passively kept my distance because I feared what might happen if she rejected me outright- she’d think I was “creepy”, her friends would all scorn me, and soon enough everybody would look at me like I was Gollum obsessing over his “precious” and wondering why I didn’t just scuttle back to my cave for being so disgusting and showing my interest in this girl. Didn’t I realise I only had a right to approach her if I knew what to do 95% of the time and improvised the other 5%with the straight-faced bravado of James Bond? Nope, I couldn’t risk all that. My night (and possibly any future chances) would be ruined! So instead I remained aloof, going home later that night with my pride still intact. But on the inside, I’d feel like one of those movie ‘loser’ characters unable to accept the painful reality that he’s a failure. I hadn’t been shut down. She didn’t throw her drink over me or act like I’d puked on her high-heels but….for how I felt, it might as well have happened. These inner punches can only wound you for so long before you die on the inside. I realised there was something worse than losing: not taking the risk of losing to begin with. I thought of the pro’s and con’s- if I did nothing, the best that could happen was no better than what happened anyway. But if I did something, if I took the chance? I could get rejected. I could be scorned as a social leper, quite possibly. But at least I’d find out for certain. I also realised there was some degree of a chance that the girl in question might not just tolerate me but even like me? The other possibility was mesmerising, even to imagine. That, for some reason, I might just make the same impression on her that she had on me. Even the thought of that was enough for me to decide the risk was worth it- however tiny the chance was of that scenario being the reality… Now, in all those years since? The “worst” rejection I ever got was back when I was younger and not yet the charming man writing this now. I was at out for a mates’ birthday drinks one night and I complimented a girl on her attractiveness as she passed. She said “That’s nice” and blew me off completely. Heaps of people saw me get shut down- even people who didn’t know me. Yet as she walked on without a look back I burst out laughing, having just learned everything I needed to about that girl in less than 5 seconds, and got another beer… On the other hand, whenever I meet someone who makes a great first impression on me I ignore the voice that STILL goes “What the hell are you doing”, and I go and talk to her, before I even know what I’m going to say. You know what? Sometimes great things actually happen as a result of just focusing on my desire instead of worrying about worst-case scenarios. Whatever happens far exceeds the feeling of doing nothing. I don’t know what (for you) is a spider. Or a cockroach. Or a canetoad. Or the most beautiful stranger in the room. But I know that feeling, how it rushes up and tries to take over all composure and thinking ability when you see it. So even though you know how great public speaking would be for your professional reputation, or how many opportunities open up when you go and chat to people in a crowded room at a networking event, the ropes of doubt restrain your progress. Losers are like the younger version of me. They go home unfulfilled, they don’t go anywhere of note because they don’t take chances. The fear of the worse case scenario takes over their feelings and the image in their minds. But for a winner, the image of success, of winning, the feelings that will come with it are the ones that dominate. That feeling becomes an addiction- an addiction that doesn’t rob you or leave you moping on the bus home. That feeling is the source of wonderful new things to come, possibilities to open up to you like a flower so you can enjoy its’ sweet perfume. But first, you gotta take the chance. As Mark Twain once said: “I’ve been through some terrible things in my life- some of which actually happened!” Last week, I took you through the first 6 steps of developing a procedure to write and post 12 blog posts. We covered all the pre-writing preparation work so with that done? Now is the time for your fingers to hit the keyboard (or the pen to hit the paper if you’re a romantic who loves to keep it old-school). Following on from this, here's the next step:
#7- Write It! You have the theme of your posts, summed up in a sentence for each of them. Now is the time to write! Don’t hold back, let whatever relevant ideas enter your mind manifest in the words you write. Go and be free! Don't put the handbrake on by stopping to go back and edit as you do this. Write until your hand is sore or your brain aches from glaring at the computer screen. The clean-up job comes later on... #8- Edit Before you start scaling back your drafts, ideally you should wait at least a day before you do it. Clear your mind, go for a walk, tend to other tasks, catch up with friends. You want to come back to your draft posts with a renewed mindset. This enables you to more readily identify what can be cut, plus what might have been left out of your initial draft. Ensure that every sentence of your post, in some way, advances the story. Crop out any pointless details, tighten the belt on any sentences that hang over. All of this decreases the risk of your reader losing patience and abandoning your post before they get to the end. Keep it as short and sweet as possible. Doing this will make the next step more effective- and it’s a major one… #9- Call To Action Once you’ve edited your posts, you want to drop in the element that’ll get the phones ringing and the renewed boost of sales ticking over. Include your call to action- that amazing offer they can't refuse. Whether you include this with every one of your 12 posts or leave it until the final post after you’ve hit their “sweet spot” and got them ready to buy, is up to you to discern (and if you still can’t figure out the best course of action, talk to me). #10 Distribute Include an image for all of your posts. Make it as interesting yet relevant to your post as possible. I have great respect for anyone who manages to include a seemingly irrelevant title image that goes on to relate to a single sentence from their blog. Then you want to distribute the link to your blog across all of your media platforms (be it marketing e-mails, LinkedIn, Facebook, posted on your website or wherever else). Leave no stone unturned, make sure it goes out to all the relevant platforms and the groups you can think of. The more you follow this procedure, the better you’ll be at writing 12 blog posts from start to finish, and the better you’ll be able to identify what hits and what misses in regards to your target audience engaging with your content and acting upon it. Now, while going through all of these 10 steps becomes easier the more you do it, there’s no avoiding the fact that it takes time. Even for somebody like me, it’s still a time-consuming process, and I do this for a living! So if you’d rather delegate this 10-step task to somebody else, I understand. I’d be happy to sit down with you and suggest how you can make it a bigger hit with your target audience, that translates into more repeat business and more money coming into your business. The consultation is free, but time is limited so get it scheduled ASAP. First in, first serviced. The beginning of brilliant blogging is just a click away! www.scribecopywriting.com.au/index.php/get-in-touch Writing 12 blog posts might seem like ‘Mission Impossible’ at first, but if you follow these 10 steps and follow them frequently, it becomes an automated process. As I’ve discussed, blogging is a great way to establish the relationship of trust with your target audience that is so crucial for long-term success. It doesn’t matter how entertaining your writing is- if people don’t trust you, they’re not going to buy from you. Building up that bond with your readers, where they come to see you as the trusted voice of expertise, usually equates to money in the bank. So here’s the 10-step process to writing 12 blog posts:
#1- Identify Expert Topics You want to brainstorm here and uncover the common themes surrounding the issues your target audience regularly face. What are problems they want solved? What are the questions they keep coming to you with? Your target audience is (ideally) a small number of people. Just 20% of your existing customer base are responsible for 80% of all the revenue that comes into your business. It’s known as Pareto’s Law and when you learn to identify who these people are and focus your marketing efforts exclusively on them, the money coming into your business will shift up a whole level. #2- Identify What’s Trending This is where you take a look at similar businesses or experts in your field. What are the problems they are solving? What questions are they answering? This can uncover the answers you’re providing that nobody else is and in that case- go for it! It also helps to identify anything you might have missed in your initial brainstorming session. A handy place to get this information is www.answerthepublic.com #3- Identify Communication Style (Tone) ‘Tone’ is important in getting your audience (your readers) to feel that you identify with them and understand them. Tone is essentially the language you use in your written copy. Often it’s a subtle element, but over the course of your blog posts it makes a notable difference to the “feel” of the article. That 20% I mentioned earlier? You want to write in a manner that they’ll identify with. Writing to an audience of teenagers is different to retirees, which is different again to people who generally have over a decades’ experience in I.T. Match the tone with that of your target audience and you go a long way to ensuring your blog posting has the desired effect. #4- Get the core elements of communication Where do you plan to distribute your blog? Will you send links via e-mail to all of your followers, contacts or subscribers? Will you post the links on your business or professional Facebook page, Twitter account or LinkedIn account? You want to be posting it on media platforms (and targeting individual groups in those media platforms) who comprise of the people in your target audience. You drop your line where the fish are! #5- Objectives What is the end result you want from writing your blog posts? Do you want more people to subscribe to your mailing list? Do you want more orders? More sales? Developing a stronger relationship with your leads and existing customers should always be one of the objectives- because that’s where the considerable time it takes to plan/ write/ edit/ post your blogs pays for itself. So with that considered, do you want your readers to come away with a better understanding of who you are, what you stand for and what drives you to do what you’re great at? #6- Storyline This should be planned before you begin writing each post draft. You want to look at the axis of your 12 posts. Is there a recurring theme in them? Is there a story you want to weave through them? Maybe it’s a step-by-step process you want to teach your target audience about, or you’re gradually setting them up and stoking the fires in them so that by the final posts they’re red-hot prepared prospects, ready for you to sell them on that offer they can’t refuse? You want to know what the subject of each post if before you write, and I encourage you to read my earlier post on achieving this before you go any further. The storyline is like the reference map for all the writing that follows. It helps you to identify whether you’re sticking on point or whether the subject matter is wandering off-course. Time is too precious to waste! Next week we'll take a look at steps #7 to #10, including the crucial final step that enables you to conquer the "Boss Level" of your blog posting and enjoy the spoils that come with it, to full extent. Stay tuned... Think back to some of the most memorable quotes in cinematic history:
“I’ll be back!” “I AM your father.” “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” “I’m the king of the world!” “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. Why is it that we know the reference and the movie they come from, even if we haven’t seen the movie? What does this have to do with writing a blog on the regular? Over the past month I’ve shared the key steps to keeping a regular blog- from brainstorming, to identifying the hot topics, presenting yourself as “the solution” and (last week) finishing with an offer they’ll find it hard to walk past. But following all these steps to the letter will still fall apart if you ignore one crucial element of writing- this applies regardless of whether you write a business blog, a personal blog, an instructional e-book or the next aspiring work of cult fiction: You’ve gotta KISS* No matter how life-changing your ideas or how fascinating your story is, if you trail off with pointless details your readers will trail off before the end. Mission failed. Your blog post is a highway with a tempting destination sign. Once your readers start the journey, you want to give them the shortest route possible to the end (the answer or shared discovery and then the special offer). Wandering details are like traffic jams and potholes. Get rid of them. Keep your post as short and sweet as possible. Stick only to the key details. Every paragraph, every sentence, should have a specific aim. Either it should be sharing information relevant to the narrative (the people in it, the places, data or facts), or it should move the story forward. To ensure you’re not leaving your readers stranded midway through your post, ask yourself: what is your post about in one sentence? If you can’t do this without a full stop or even a comma to break up the answer, there’s a good chance you need to split your idea into two or more smaller posts. For example- when I sat down to write this, I asked “What is this post about in one sentence?” My answer: Keeping your blog posts as short and sweet as possible. Making every sentence and paragraph directly relevant to the story will mean you get your message across in less time and with less words. Your readers will hang on from start to finish. Your key message will stick in their mind, like the memorable “short and sweets” from movie history I reminded you of at the start. If you want to discover how your message can instantly stick in the mind of your leads and existing customers, contact me today for your free, 30 minute consultation. I still have time slots available this next week. If you're one of the few who realise the difference between reading vs reading and taking action, I'll remind you of the words of W. Clement Stone: Do it now! Let’s see if we can’t take your marketing message from background ad to Blockbuster: www.scribecopywriting.com.au/index.php/get-in-touch * Keep It Simple, Stupid So by now you’ve done your research and you know what subject matter is molten lava for your target market. You’ve sat down and jotted out a list of topics that’ll have ‘em feeling the heat, with your own guaranteed sizzling solutions to back them all up. Maybe you’ve even sat down to write your draft posts by now and are on the verge of posting them to your website and social media accounts?
|
Ben MackieBen is the founder of Scribe Copywriting. Archives
August 2016
|