Marketing/Public Relations

Copyblogger Makes Writing Your Blog Easier

June 25, 2010 By Lisa

The blog Copyblogger is as addictive as chocolate, and if their blog posts had calories, I’d go over my daily limit! If you haven’t taken the time to check out this blog bursting with useful and practical writing and SEO tips, drop everything and read one, two or as many blog posts as you can.

I try to read one post and then click off, but I can’t help clicking on the links to other posts. An hour later I have to stop reading and get back to work. A few of my favorite Copyblogger posts are:

The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. The first tip is to be prolific:“The more you write, the better your writing gets.” Another tip is to be concise. Short paragraphs, bulleted points and numbered lists keep your readers interested.

How to be Interesting. (I read this one twice, thank you!) It’s important to be wrong as well as right and to surprise people by doing the opposite of what you normally do. Also, make people laugh.

20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. The truth hurts and Copyblogger isn’t afraid to be direct about your blogging skills. This list of 20 questions will make you take a close look at your blog to figure out what’s working and what’s not. This list is invaluable to anyone wanting to improve his or her blog.

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity Tagged With: copyblogger, improving your blog, SEO, Writing

Getting Started With E-mail Marketing

June 24, 2010 By Lisa

Guest post by Wendy Lowe

For small businesses, e-mail marketing is one of the best tools available to increase revenue and awareness of what you’re offering. However, a lot of people don’t know where to start.

Here is a great list to get you on the road to effective e-mail marketing.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Take a step back and think through what you’re trying to accomplish. The best way to do this is to see things through your customer’s eyes – what would they want?

What type of information would attract attention and get people to open, read and act on your e-mail [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: Campaigner, e-mail marketing, marketing your business, Wendy Lowe

Believe it…You Can Make Your Blog More Credible

June 23, 2010 By Lisa

You can spend hours a day working on your blog, pouring your heart out or sharing everything you know about your area of expertise. But how do you make your readers believe what you’re saying or feeling? Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger blog post, “12 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts More Credible,” will give you a few clues.

Use rich, vivid detail. When you use rich, vivid language, words that paint vivid pictures in your reader’s mind, she tends to believe what you are saying because she can see it for herself. Storytellers are amazing and can draw in their audience with their words. It’s a skill that takes time to master (I’m still working on it) but being able to illustrate a story with [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Improving your web site, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: Blogging, Darren Rowse, improving your blog, making your blog credible, ProBlogger

Martha Stewart Whips up a Batch of Social Media Tips

June 17, 2010 By Lisa

When I think of social media, Chris Brogan and Brian Solis come to mind, not Martha Stewart. So what does this culinary queen and media mogul know about social media? Apparently a lot. In a recent blog post, Jesse Stanchak of SmartBlog On Social Media highlights a few of the social media tips Stewart shared during a recent speech. With almost 2 million Twitter followers and 72,000 Facebook fans, Stewart’s tips are worth following.

Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. At its core, Stewart said, social marketing is about finding your own voice and communicating your brand’s personality. It’s easy to do what everyone else is doing and hope for a good response. Mix it up, break the rules and be willing to let others see the real you.
Find yourself a good co-pilot. Throughout her keynote, Martha Stewart tossed questions and remind-me-later asides at Eliad Laskin, her all-purpose technical guru. At some point you’ll realize that you can’t do everything and actually, you shouldn’t. Find someone who has strengths in areas you don’t.
Go where your customers are — and remember that everyone’s a customer. Instead of picking one platform, Stewart advises finding ways to adjust your pitch to reach the different communities that form online. My Twitter and LinkedIn accounts are all business while my Facebook account combines aspects of both my business and personal life.

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients Tagged With: Facebook, Martha Stewart, social media tips, Twitter

How to Fill Your Blog With Content, Not Crap

June 4, 2010 By Lisa

Trying to think of a new blog post every day can be challenging and at times frustrating. But considering all of the information available on the Internet, finding new blog ideas comes down to being resourceful. Or in my case, eating chocolate.

In a recent blog post HubSpot, a company that offers Internet marketing software and strategies, shares “10 Ways to Keep Your Blog Full of Content.” Many of their strategies are doable and best of all they cost little to no money to implement. A few of them are:

Think Beyond Text — You could create a blog post with pictures taken at an industry trade show. For a day, remove text as a possible form of blog post content and think about other content types that can be valuable to your readers. Yes, it’s time to pull out the video camera and get to work. I use a flip video because it’s small, reliable and the videos are easy to edit. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Improving your web site, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: HubSpot, Internet marketing, Small business

A Solid Core is at the Center of a Strong Business

June 2, 2010 By Lisa

A few years ago I signed up for Pilates classes to get in shape and to build my core. I finally quit when my flaky instructor showed up on the first day and then missed a few classes. She had a great core, but a bad planning system.

In a recent blog post, New Marketing Labs, LLC president Chris Brogan stresses the need to develop a strong core. In this case he’s referring to your database, your email marketing, and some kind of community of prospects. He describes his four core tools of marketing.

Database – Your client and prospect list, your database, is the base of everything. If you don’t know who your customers are, who your next customers will be, then that’s where you start. Brogan uses BatchBook by BatchBlue for his contact database. Constant Contact is another database manager to consider but a product endorsement by Brogan carries a lot of weight. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office technology, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working with clients Tagged With: BatchBook, Chris Brogan, Constant Contact, copyblogger, Internet marketing, New Marketing Labs, Small business

Think Creativity Over Cash When Marketing Your Business

May 24, 2010 By Lisa

Marketing your homebased business can be challenging and frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. In another Working Naked post, a few entrepreneurs shared their low-cost, highly effective ways to market their businesses on a budget. A few more entrepreneurs share their marketing secrets.

—Leslie Guria, SpeakingBonanza [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working with clients Tagged With: Balancing home/office Life, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Small business

Don’t be a Dummy…Learn Smart Ways to Market Your Business

May 21, 2010 By Lisa

The folks at Copyblogger are no dummies. They know that if they fill their site with valuable advice about writing a blog and marketing online, their readers will want more. What kind of people are they?

Obviously they’re brilliant, generous and Internet savvy because they’re offering Internet Marketing for Smart People, a 20-part, free email course and continual newsletter. This course is down and dirty, quick and easy and best of all, packed with useful advice about Internet marketing.

Check the Internet and you’ll find hundreds of programs that promise to give you the “secrets” to Internet marketing. Sometimes you’ll see a photo of a guy on his yacht who wants to make it perfectly clear that he’s made a fortune from Internet marketing and you haven’t. My advice? Shop carefully and if you can get a high quality marketing course for free, grab it immediately.

After you’ve read through the free course, check out Copyblogger often. You won’t believe how much information is on their site. I never leave Copyblogger without learning at least one new thing. They know everything and I want to know it too (insert evil laugh).

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: copyblogger, Internet marketing, Making money from home, marketing small business

A Book You Can’t Ignore

April 8, 2010 By Lisa

Hugh MacLeod

Do you know someone who can motivate others without even trying? Meet Hugh MacLeod. Through his wildly popular blog, gapingvoid, and the cartoons he draws on the back of business cards, MacLeod motivates, inspires and shares his views on everything from being creative, to looking at the world around you, to keeping yourself grounded. His book, Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, is a must-read (more than one time) that’s filled with cartoons, insight and tips that are worth reading and more importantly, following. A few of my favorite tips are:

The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours. The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.

If your business plan depends on suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the “creative bug” is just a wee voice telling you, “I’d like my crayons back, please.”

Merit can be bought. Passion can’t. The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working at home Tagged With: creativity, Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody

Cost For Free PR: Your Time

March 16, 2010 By Lisa

mktg It’s hard to find someone who isn’t looking for ways to get more publicity and market more effectively to clients. I’m constantly searching for articles with helpful PR and marketing tips that I can apply ASAP. These two articles will get you started in the right direction.

Doing it on your own
PR firms can help a small business grow but not everyone can afford to hire a firm. That means it’s up to you to spread the word in hopes of being featured in a national article, doing an interview on a national show or being included on a popular blog. The tips in the post “6 Ways To Get Press For Your Startup Without Hiring A PR Firm” are a good guide for getting the word out. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing/Public Relations, Working at home Tagged With: Marketing/Public Relations, Public relations, working from home