Business Blogging – Velocity Media

19 January 2015

Four content marketing mistakes you need to avoid

There is no questioning the benefit of content marketing. But while attracting and converting customers with valuable, relevant and consistent content can yield a significant return on investment, not everyone gets it right.

To ensure you do, here are four of the biggest content marketing mistakes businesses frequently make so you can make sure you avoid them.

Mistake #1 – Thinking like a marketer not a publisher

When it comes to content marketing you need to think like a publisher not a marketer. A marketer’s focus is on selling, where a publisher’s focus is on producing interesting content that engages readers and keeps them coming back.

Your content should build your credibility and expertise and showcase your value in such a way that readers see the benefit in working with you without you having to push for the sale. Sales naturally come when you add value.

Mistake #2 – Being inauthentic

When customers and potential customers sense inauthenticity they lose faith and you lose followers. To build credibility in your content marketing you need to be authentic.

To ensure you are being true to yourself and your brand you need to know what you stand for, why you do what you do, who you are targeting, what they want and why you are using social media. When you know this you can then establish your tone of voice, personality and the content that aligns with both you and your target market.

Mistake #3 – Unoriginal content

There is nothing worse than reading blog posts, books and resources that are a regurgitation or blatant copy of someone else’s content.

While it is only natural that some content will be similar when you have a similar viewpoint or process to someone else, you can always find a way to make it your own. It could be through using a personal anecdote, a case study of a client, your professional experience or approaching the topic from a different angle.

Mistake #4 – Publishing for the sake of publishing

We’re all told about the importance of regular content. In fact it’s drummed into us so much that often regularity gets prioritised over quality.

The result? We publish content we know isn’t our best, prescribing to the theory that something is better than nothing. But it’s not.

You can lose credibility and followers if your content isn’t valuable to your readers. Missing a blog because you can’t think of anything to write is far better than publishing something that is irrelevant or of a lower standard.

Amanda

7 April 2014

Six tips for quick, easy and effective content marketing

While we know how important content marketing is when it comes to generating interest and sales and have the best intentions of keeping our blogs and social media updated, the time investment can often cause these tasks to sneak further and further down our list of priorities.

Thankfully though there are ways you can minimise the amount of time you spend while still gaining all of benefits, like these six tips for quick, easy and effective content marketing.

1. Know your purpose

Most businesses get on social media and start blogging because they have heard they should be doing it. While this is true for the most part, when you don’t know why you are doing it, what you want to achieve by it or who you are targeting, you can end up using the wrong platforms, share information that isn’t relevant or engaging to readers and ultimately waste valuable time.

By working out the purpose of your content you uncover what information you should share and write about, provide a level of consistency with your writing and are more likely to increase both your readership and sales through targeted, relevant content and calls to action.

2. Theme your content

If you find you are wasting time wondering what you should write about or share, look at theming your content around a certain topic or area of specialty.

For example you could theme it by the day on social media like I do with “Marketing Monday” where I only share marketing tips that day, or you could have an extended theme over a week, fortnight or month that also carries through on your blog depending on what your readers are interested in.

3. Write status updates and blogs in advance

A lot of time can be wasted in researching, brainstorming and writing daily status updates and last minute blogs. While some days you might know exactly what to write, other days you can hit a creative block and struggle to come up with something informative or entertaining to share, causing undue stress and wasting precious time stuck in writers block.

To make your life easier, set aside a day or half day to write up a month’s worth of blogs and social media updates so you are always at least one month ahead. This way you have the ability to be spontaneous if there is a blog or update you want to share that strikes during a moment of inspiration, and have the benefit of high quality information going up on a consistent basis.

4. Take advantage of inspiration

When a moment of inspiration does strike, briefly jot down your idea and an outline of the post and keep thinking of more topics. Often we get stuck writing the post from start to finish, which can lead to missing more content ideas. Instead use your moment of creativity to think of more topics and tips to share.

Should there be a post that comes before the one you just thought of? Should there be one after? Have their been any questions about your industry or area of expertise that would make a good post? Could one tip be turned into several?

Often starting is the hardest part so when your ideas do start flowing give yourself permission to keep brainstorming.

5. Allocate set times for social media monitoring

Social media when left open can be one of our biggest productivity killers. To avoid the temptation and make your social media time more effective and targeted, allocate set times throughout the day to update your status, participate in the conversation and monitor your engagement.

If you find you keep slipping down the rabbit hole of social media memes, updates and information set an alarm so you can keep yourself in check.

6. Schedule updates

With consistency being so important, scheduling your content can be a great way to ensure you have regular content being published regardless of how busy your schedule is, or whether you are in the office or away.

Scheduling can also help you minimise the time you spend on content marketing platforms being able to upload in one hit and avoid the distraction of constant social media checking.

Do you have any tips for effective and efficient content marketing?

Amanda

25 November 2013

Five business blog post ideas that are sure to be a hit with your readers

Have you ever felt the frustration of finally making the time to sit down and write that blog or article you’ve been meaning to only to find that all of your ideas have dried up and you can’t think of anything to write about?

We’ve all experienced writer’s block at some point, even those of us who write for a living have days when where we can’t seem to think of any more words to say.

So what do you do when inspiration doesn’t strike? You look at what topics you know well and what types of blogs readers love reading, and in no time ideas start flowing. To help get you thinking here are five business blog posts that are sure to be a hit with your readers.

1. How-to’s

Look to solve a problem for your reader or save them time by providing tips, tricks and guides. It could be based around your areas of expertise like “how to get more leads with less effort” or your personal experience, talking about what you’ve learned, what you’ve done, what’s worked or what hasn’t like “five valuable business lessons that can make or break your business”.

Also try reverse how-to posts on mistakes to avoid or what not to do. Often these are more popular than ordinary how-to’s because we tend to move faster away from pain than towards pleasure.

2. Interviews and profiles

Most of us are sticky beaks by nature and love a good interview or profile on someone well-known or interesting.

It could be a rags to riches story, an inspirational story about overcoming great odds or an interview with a successful business person on what worked for them, whatever it is, find a way to make your interview more interesting and different by taking a different angle or finding out little known facts.

3. Lists

Who doesn’t love a good list? Whether it’s a bulleted list, numbered list, checklist or cheat sheet, lists are great for making complicated topics simple and they have a habit of making life easier in general. Not sure what list you could do? Here are some examples “ten apps that will save you time, money and effort”, “eight business resources you won’t want to live without” or “what you need to bring on the day to ensure a successful event”.

The more relevant and comprehensive you make your list, the more likely your readers will share it and keep coming back to it again and again.

4. Shortcuts or hacks

What’s better than a list? A shortcut! We’re all on the lookout for ways to do things easier, quicker, better and cheaper that’s why shortcut posts are so popular. Think along the lines of “seven shortcuts to help you grow your business in record time” or “six life hacks that will buy you more time”.

5. Insights and trends

As an expert in your industry you have access to information that is not readily available to others, information that could provide great benefit to your readers.

Are you noticing any patterns or trends within your industry? Are there any predictions being made and why? What insights could you give on the current and future happenings of your industry or areas of specialty? Include statistics, surveys and facts along with practical ways to use the information to make your post even more compelling.

What blog posts have you found popular?