Content marketing can dramatically change your business and attract a new audience that you've never reached before without it. In this SlideShare teaching you'll learn how to make awesome blogs, eBooks and videos that will ignite your business and attract solid sales leads.
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Ignite Your Business with Content Marketing
1. IGNITE YOUR BUSINESS WITH CONTENT MARKETING
STERLING PERRY -CEO, SENT MEDIA MARKETING
#IGNITEBIZ
BLOGS, E-BOOKS & VIDEOS
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2. Housekeeping
Today’s hashtag: #IGNITEBIZ
Follow @sentmedia
A few minutes of Q&A at the end of each section.
You can also tweet your questions to @sentmediausing #IGNITEBIZ
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3. The Purpose of Today’s Workshop
To show you how to create content for marketing: creating and sharing relevant, valuable information that attracts people to you and creates trust, credibility and authority for your business and that ultimately converts visitors into buyers
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4. What you’re going to learn
How content marketing can ignite your business
How to write successful blog posts.
How to create an E-book that people will want to read.
How to make truly engaging videos.
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5. The Case for Content
Interruption marketing (traditional advertising) is not enough.
Customer behavior and expectations are shifting.
61% of all purchase decisions begin on a search engine.
Everyone is the media. Everyone is a publisher –including you!
Unlike any other form of marketing, content marketing doesn’t have an expiration date. 5
6. What is Content
Content is a broad term that refers to anything created and uploaded to a website.
More than words and images on a page; an embodiment of your brand.
Good content can quickly become the soul of your brand to the online world.
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7. What Can Content Do for You?
Attract customers.
Educate your buyers about a purchase they are considering.
Overcome resistance or address objections.
Establish your credibility, trust, and authority in your industry.
Tell your story.
Build buzz via social networks.
Build a base of fans and inspire customers to love you.
Inspire impulse buys.
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8. The Key to Igniting Sales is to create online content and optimize it so that it appears on the first page of search results when your customers search for you or the products or services you sell.
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10. What’s a blog
A collection of articles that provide helpful, valuable, educational and remarkable content to your target audience.
By providing this value, blogs can easily and effectively draw prospects to your website.
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11. Top blogging platforms
Wordpress.com
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Bolt.cm
The best place for your blog to be is on your website!!
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12. 43%
OF COMPANIES HAVE ACQUIRED A CUSTOMER THROUGH THEIR BLOG IN 2013.
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What Blogging Can Do?
HELP YOU GET MORE CUSTOMERS
DEMONSTRATE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
BUILD AUTHORITY AND TRUST WITH PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS
13. Want more visits, leads & customers
Each blog post you publish it is seen as an indexed pages on your website.
Each page is an opportunity to get found online. The more indexed pages you have, The more opportunities you have to get found online.
Each blog post is an opportunity to generate new leads.
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15. Define Your Purpose
Who is your audience?
Who is your competition for your audience’s attention?
What is the focus of your blog? What is it about?
What goals are you trying to achieve?
Have you set metrics for measuring those goals?
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16. Set a reliable schedule
How often should you blog?
At least Twice a week is optimal. Tuesdays and Thursday are optimal.
Set your own schedule
Produce a few posts at once and then publish them throughout the week
Use your calendar app
Brainstorm a few topics and main points and then schedule when you’re going to write them.
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17. Mix it up
Mix short and long posts
Meatier posts and less serious posts
Timely posts and timeless posts
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18. Move beyond written word
Spice up your posts with imagery to help further your point.
Images
Embedded YouTube videos
Charts
Infographics
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19. Consider Your Length
“The Mini Skirt Rule” -Your posts should be long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to keep it interesting.
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20. Learn how to write killer headlines
Pique curiosity
Use superlatives
Use surprising or odd analogies
Be specific
Simplify a complex subject comprehensively
Be contrarian
Use numbers, especially odd numbers
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21. Design is important
Your blog should have style and personality
If you don’t have the resources to hire a designer; there are numerous templates for every publishing platform available online at minimal cost.
Items every blog needs:
Subscription by email
An archive of Recent posts
Social sharing icons
A clear way for someone to contact you
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22. Create momentum
Include relevant calls to action or triggers on each blog post.
Usually in the form of some companion content:
E-book, webinar, cheat sheet, etc.
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23. Consider comment moderation
Due to spammers and trolls, you’ll need some form of comment moderation
Never edit comments that are posted by your readers, even if they disagree
Moderation should be used only to keep inappropriate comments off your site
Monitor for comments so that not much time passes between when the comment is made and when it appears on the site.
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24. Categorize and tag everything
The intent is to allow readers to click on those category names to find other posts you’ve written on the same topic
Think of several top level categories that describe the content you’ll be creating.
Create unique keyword tags for your own unique content. This makes it easier for search engines to find your content.
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25. Write the way you speak
Be casual, informal, friendly and accessible.
Be you.
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26. Don’t Overthink…Just Publish
Blogging is not journalism.
You don’t have present a balance piece of content.
Leave room development and the opinions of your audience.
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28. What is an E-book?
A book published electronically, designed to be downloaded and either read on a screen or printed.
It is a guide or technical brief.
Concept-centric, based on ideas and trends of interest.
Conversational tone
Sometimes, visually heavy
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29. What Can An E-Book Do For You
Stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as a leader and authority in your niche.
Generate Income.
Future Transactions.
Shorten Your Sales Cycle.
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31. Step #1: Create a Mindmap
A mindmapis a visual representation of your thoughts, and it’s a really cleaver way to see how your ideas relate to each other on paper.
Use the mindmapto layout the sections and chapters of your E- book.
http://www.wisemapping.com/ Free online mind mapping
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32. Step #2: Create an Outline
See the different parts of your E- book in the order they’ll presented to your readers
List you sections and subsections in a way that makes sense to your readers.
Spend some time think about the order from a rookie’s perspective
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33. Step #3: Tools You’ll Need
Microsoft Word is very feature rich and will allow you to easily create a professional looking E-book.
Microsoft PowerPoint –For more visually based E-books
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34. Step #4: Make a Template
Page Size
8.5” x 11” or 6” x 9”
Font
Arial or Helvetica work best
Paragraph styles
Pre-select the headings, subheadings, captions, bullets and the body
Header and Footer
Website, contact info, page numbers
Graphics and Logo
For branding include your website on each page.
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35. Step #5: How to Start Writing
You don’t have to start with the Introduction.
Start with a section you know you can easily crank out.
Write and save your E-Book in sections. Each section basically becomes a blog post that you can organize later.
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36. Don’t Forget to Include
Disclaimer and copyright page
A preface
An “About the Author” page
Links
Helpful tools and exercises
A Thank You page
Eye catching graphics
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37. E-book Best Practices
Share or solve. Tell don’t sell.
Have a little fun. Take a relaxed and casual tone.
Tell a story.
Give it an intriguing title.
Add a “Share This E-book with a Friend” callout.
Design matters
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39. Why use online video
Youtube–3 Billions views daily
800 million visitors monthly
2ndlargest search engine in the world
Your video content is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than standard text based content.
The best way to story tell. 39
40. What to Shoot
Why would the people I want to reach want to watch this?
They either want to be entertained or educated; or both.
What content would lends itself perfectly to video?
Diary-style, How-to’s, interviews, product walk thru’s, behind the scenes, tutorials, company stories, event videos.
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41. Equipment
Visual
DSLR Camera
Smartphone
Webcam
Audio
Lapel microphone
Built in microphone
Lighting
3 point lighting
Desk Lamp
Actual daylight is the best
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42. Editing Software
Window Movie Maker
Drag and Drop editing
Frame animations
Animated Lower thirds
Add audio and music as separate tracks
Directly uploads to the major video sites.
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43. Online Video Tips
Appx3-5 minutes max
More than a “talking head” mix up images and angles
Use text and music
Know your equipment
Get away from as much noise as possible
Beware of lighting & Shadows
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44. Online Video Tips
Be fairly close to the camera’s built-in microphone
Make sure camera is stable
Consider perspective and framing
Watch the video a couple times after filming
Smile, relax and have fun!
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45. Time to Upload
Title
Short, informative and to the point.
Search for related videos to find out what people search for.
Description
Content-rich, use URL’s, keywords
Tags
Tag your video with every applicable word or phrase
Tag names and companies
Thumbnail
Pick the most appropriate thumbnail for the video.
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47. The Key to Igniting Sales is to create online content and optimize it so that it appears on the first page of search results when your customers search for you or the products or services you sell.
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48. Want to Work With MeCall: 678-820-9577Tweet: @sentmediaEmail: Sterling@TheSentMedia.com
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