As a small business owner, you need strategies to get the word out and to keep your name in front of prospects and customers. Blogging and e-mail newsletters are a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader.

1. STORYTELLING: BUSINESS
BLOGGING & EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
(e-MARKETING SERIES)
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
February 15, 2012

2. Polling question #1
• Do you currently have a blog or newsletter?
– Yes
– No

3. Did you know that…
• A prospect needs on average 7 exposures to
you before they buy
• People buy from people they know, like, and
trust
• When you first find a prospect they may not
be ready to buy
• You need a keep-in-touch strategy with
previous clients

4. Today we will cover
• Why you should consider having a
newsletter and a blog
• How to get started doing both
• How to write content that people will
want to read
• Technology options
– Easy-to-use and inexpensive options
• And much more!

5. Blogging vs. newsletters
• Actually, best practices are very similar

6. Best practices for both
• What would make a reader want to read it?
• Do’s and don’ts
– Do ask yourself: Why should the reader care?
– Do try to provide value
– Don’t pitch all the time
– Do set up a schedule and keep to it
– Do include a clear call to action

7. More best practices
• Keep it short!
• Chunk the text
– Nobody likes a sea of words – it’s intimidating!
• Use pictures
• Make it visually scanable
• Use subheadings
– So people can decide easily if they want to read
the whole thing

8. Polling question #2
• Newsletters help you:
– A. Get the word out about your business
– B. Keep in touch with people who aren’t ready to
buy just yet
– C. Keep in touch with customers
– D. Offer incentives like special coupons
– E. All of the above

9. Now for newsletters
• What value could you provide in your
newsletter and what “sweeteners” would
make sense with your business?
– Best of the Web (be a curator)
– 5 tips or Top 10 (or whatever)
– Informational articles
– Coupons
– Special offers
– Complimentary consultation

10. Newsletter options
• HTML or plain text
• Pros and cons
• Why I do what I do
• Hint: Know your customer!

11. Newsletter example 1
You are receiving this because you signed up for updates from Point A to Point B Transitions. If you no longer wish to receive these,
you can opt out at the bottom of this e-mail - but we will miss you.
How are you doing with your 2012 goal-setting? I am doing some serious soul-searching both personally and for my
business. I have some big plans for the New Year. How about you?
RECORDING - Goal-Setting for the New Year: How to Set Your Business Up for Success
I did a teleclass with Victoria Cook and Cathy Presland. We talked about goal-setting for your small biz. Yes, it's that time!
You can listen to the teleclass here. (Other teleclass recordings can be found on SoundCloud here.)
Brand Aid (TM) Sessions hit the big time
My signature Brand Aid session is now posted under "Business Resources" on CarolRoth.com. You can get $200 off as a
member of Carol's community. Are you struggling with your image and messaging? If people don't understand what you
do or if you know that you need to update your website or blog, you might want to take advantage of this offer. The ROI
will be almost immediate. And remember, when you invest in your business, clients will want to invest in you.
New on ChicagoNow.com | Successful In Chicago
I share what it feels like to achieve a goal and to be authentic in Walking your talk feels great! (Includes some pretty
pictures.)
Be The Boss magazine November article
My latest article in Be The Boss magazine is on page 54. Check out Using Virtual Mentors to Boost Success.
A sincere thank you and gift for referrals
Thank you so much for supporting me and my business. In December as a special thank-you offer, refer a friend and get
a personal Envisioning Session for your career or business. This will be a one-hour session where we brainstorm
strategies and goals for 2012. All you have to do is e-mail your friend, copying me, to introduce us, and then you and I can
set up a time for your thank-you Envisioning Session. This is one sweet deal that you won't want to miss.
Have we connected?
Please "like" the Facebook Fan Page, and connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter.

12. Newsletter example 2

13. Newsletter example 2 (continued)

14. Newsletter example 3

15. Newsletter example 3 (continued)

16. Polling question #3
• How do you determine what the right format
is for your newsletter?
– A. Pick something really pretty
– B. Go with plain text because it is easy
– C. Find something that works with my brand
– D. Understand how my audience likes to see
information
– E. Use a combination of C and D

17. Delivery services you can use
• Delivery services – free / low-cost
– MailChimp
– Constant Contact
– AWeber

18. And you can amplify by
• Asking newsletter subscribers to share
your newsletter with others
• Utilizing your e-mail signature as a
marketing tool
Catherine Morgan
Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
877.672.5333
Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
http://www.pointatopointbtransitions.com
**Please join our e-mail list (monthly updates) and "like" us on Facebook**

19. Newsletter frequency
• Once a month?
• Twice a month?
– I saw a study that said twice a month was
the ideal frequency
• Very few folks can do weekly
• It is more important to be consistent

20. Who can you send it to?
• Highly recommend using a double opt-in
• Do not add people to your newsletter list
without permission
• CAN-SPAM Act
– Must have your mailing address listed
– Must have an opt-out link
– Can’t use deceptive subject lines
– And more

21. Polling question #4
• Is it OK to add someone who gave you a
business card at a networking meeting to your
newsletter list?
– A. Yes, because they are going to be interested!
– B. Yes, if they gave me specific permission
– C. No, it is a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act

22. Why are blogs all the rage?
• Allow you to demonstrate your expertise
• Can establish you as a thought leader
• Search engines love fresh content
= Google juice!

23. How often should I blog?
• Benefits of posting on a schedule
(deadline/discipline)
• Just “post awesome” stuff (Scott Stratten,
UnMarketing)
– People spread awesome
• Blog posts at least once a week?
– Maybe 2x a month?
– (Do what I say and not what I do on this one)
– Yes, some big guys post every day. Don’t try it.

24. What can I write about?
• Anything that your target market would
find interesting
• Have you done your homework?
– Then you have a good idea about 1. who your
ideal customer is, and 2. what their interests are

25. Even if you are new you could
• Do interviews with people your customers
would be interested in
• Become a curator – sift through and find the
valuable stuff so you save time for people
– Time is a precious commodity!
• Eventually you will feel like more of an expert

26. Or you could try
• Have you read or seen something that
was interesting?
– Try using that as a foundation and create content
using that as a basis
– My friend Kelley C. Long did a great job with that
with her Financial Archetypes series
• She did a monthly review of the eight financial
archetypes presented in Brent Kessel’s book It’s Not
About the Money

27. How to write catchy headlines
• Lists: 5 Tips for…, 6 Easy Ways to…, 10 Best…
• How to’s:
– How to sell without cold calls
– How to fill your coaching practice in 6 months
– How to lose weight without giving up ice cream
(OK, wishful thinking on my part)

28. Another technique
• Provocative titles can work too
– But use this technique sparingly
– Examples:
• 7 Warning Signs Your Brand Sucks
• 10 Reasons We Won’t Do Business With You
• Google+ is a Waste of Time for Small Businesses

29. Headline example
• Don’t do this ”How to be Ready to Side-Step
the Obstacles Which if Left Unattended are
Guaranteed to Derail your Business Goals”
• Instead you could try “Business Goals: How to
Side-Step the Obstacles”
OR
“How to Achieve Your Business Goals and
Side-Step the Obstacles”

30. Polling question #5
• Which would not make good headline?
– A. 10 tips for writing hot headlines
– B. How to write a compelling headline that will get
your post read
– C. Writing a good headline is easy if you know how
to do it right and we can show you how
– D. Why your blog headlines suck

31. Blog writing tips (newsletters too)
• Make it so a reader can easily scan it to figure
out if they want to read more
– Shorter is usually better
– Chunk content so it is easy to read
– Use subheadings
– Use bulleted lists
– Numbered lists are good too

32. More tips
• Add featured images
– Studies show they increase reads
• End with a “call to action” to increase
engagement
– Ask a question that people can answer in the
comments
• Take time away from your post and then come
back to edit later when you are fresh
– This is critical (or find a copyeditor)

33. Mix it up
• Consider doing text, videos, audios (podcasts)
– Why? Adds interest
• YouTube is the #2 search engine and it is
owned by Google
– You can host your videos in other places but make
sure you have some on YouTube as well
• Blogs with videos tend to rank higher

34. Polling question #6
• Finding topics to blog about is really hard
– True
– False

35. Blog example 1

36. Blog example 2

37. Blog example 3

38. What platform should I use?
• Recommend using WordPress as your
platform. Over 71 million blogs use
WordPress.com. There are two ways to
use WordPress:
– 1. Free WordPress.com
• Why I picked this first and wish I had known better
– 2. Hosted WordPress
• A better choice most times
• Lots of people use WordPress for a website/blog combo

39. My new website is in WordPress

40. Other options
• Tumblr – Made a big splash last year
• Blogger – We were counting it out but maybe
shouldn’t since it is owned by Google and with
Google launching Google+…
• TypePad – Used by some big folks like Seth
Godin – but you should really go with one of
the others

41. Polling question #7
• Do you already have social media accounts for
your business?
– Yes
– No

42. If you don’t, you probably should
• Small businesses need to make every dollar
count and utilize low-cost and no-cost options
• Why miss out on free publicity?
– But yes, it will take time
– And as with everything else, you need to
show up consistently

43. Spreading the word
• Your list
• Social media
– Facebook
– Twitter
– LinkedIn
– Others

44. How and how often?
• Methods
– Manual vs. automated
– Frequency
• You will need to decide what is right for you
and your business

45. Encourage sharing
• Encourage readers to share:
– Make it as easy as possible for them!
• Use a good comments plug-in: DISQUS,
Livefyre, or something else that lets you sign
in with Twitter or Facebook
• CAPTCHA annoys people. *Do not use this*

46. Consider using an editorial calendar
• For content development
• For sharing (like a mini marketing plan)
• Possible tools
– Paper calendar
– At CarolRoth.com we use a calendar in Excel
– Have heard good things about the WordPress
editorial calendar plug-in

47. Don’t be intimidated – just get started
• New technology will take some time to learn
• Newsletter and blogging software is pretty
easy though
• FYI, if you know how to use Microsoft Word,
WordPress works similarly

48. Polling question #8
• So how do you feel about newsletter writing
and blogging now?
– A. I am still terrified
– B. I am going to give it a try
– C. I am totally fired up!

49. Questions?
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
877.672.5333
Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
http://www.PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
Twitter: @PointA_PointB