In content delivery be the tortoise, not the hare.

Welcome to the last installment in a three-part blog series about how to ensure you’re reaching all members of your target audience, taking their content processing preferences into consideration. (Click here for the first installment and here for the second.)

Last Thursday I gave you some ideas of ways you can diversify the content you create for your business, in an effort to reach more members of your target audience and today I have some more suggestions for you.

Don’t forget the dessert. Not all readers are created equal and they don’t all utilize RSS feeds. Offer your readers another option that allows your readers to subscribe to your blog via email. Feedburner offers this option within your administrative settings. But if you really want to show off, Aweber takes this to another level by allowing you to create Blog Broadcasts! Similar to a Broadcast message, the same where you would send out your e-Zine, a Blog Broadcast allows you to use or create your own custom template (hello…branding!) and send your blog posts out to subscribers at whatever intervals you choose. I use it on my blog and love that it is totally automated so my subscribers never miss a post…you know…because they’re so busy they may not have time to visit my blog to see what’s new.
Articles. There are many ways to get your content out there and publishing your articles to various sources is definitely a must. How do you do this? Let me count the ways: 1) submit them to article directories, 2) republish your e-Zine’s main article to your blog, 3) republish your e-Zine’s main article to its own web page, thus creating an article directory on your own site, 4) create an RSS feed specifically for this article directory that people can subscribe to, and 5) allow others to use your content in their own publications – just remember to specify the rules first.
Give your content a voice. When you’re ready, try adding audio and/or video to your content. People can read your e-Zine, blog, or articles all over the Internet, but nothing compares to being able to hear or see you. No, it may not be live and in person, but it is definitely the next best thing to being there. With video and audio, people can relate to you so much better, they can feel your enthusiasm, and they can hear the tone in your voice.

To say that your business should encompass ALL of the above and suggestions I offered last week might be a stretch…or is it? You’re not expected to create all of these forms of distribution in a day…a week…or even a month. Can it be done? Sure, but it isn’t necessary. Remember the Tortoise & the Hare? Slow and steady wins the race, and if you can begin incorporating just one new form of content distribution each month, or every other month, then you have a powerful, viral mechanism to grow your business, increase your subscribers, and build a following.

Diversifying the Content you Create

On Tuesday we talked about the importance of keeping the content processing preference of your target audience in mind and how, for example, you are essentially blocking out those who don’t like ezines when that’s the only type of marketing you do. (Catch up by clicking here.)

Today I’m going to go over some different types of content you can create to connect and communicate with all of the different types of people who make up your target audience:

Electronic Newsletter (also known as an e-Zine). I know this one is daunting to some business owners, but it doesn’t have to be. Set up a schedule, stick to it, and send pertinent, relevant, and useful information to your subscribers. Besides being a great tool to keep in touch with your audience, it is so easy for them to share it with others, putting your message in the inbox of more people than you sent it to.
Archive it. Not publishing your previous electronic newsletters in an archive on your website would be like having a library with one shelf of books…only the most current one out there. Ridiculous, huh? Well imagine someone visiting your site for the first time. They see you have a monthly e-Zine about how to make widgets…and they are really into widgets. But they want to make sure you know what you’re talking about and that subscribing to your e-Zine won’t litter their inbox with a bunch of rubbish, so they look for your newsletter archive. When they can’t find it, they move on. Why? Because they wanted to SEE exactly what they were signing up for. We forget sometimes that in a world full of email, instant messaging, and being behind the scenes that people still actually want to see, touch and feel what they’re getting. And since they technically can’t touch, YOU can give them the opportunity to SEE past issues and get a FEELing of what it is about.
Post your expertise on a Blog. Posts do not have to be full-blown articles. Short entries are great – remember we live in an information world and we are overloaded already. This also makes it easier for you to keep up with a regular schedule…and you MUST post regularly or you’ll lose your audience.
Feed your subscribers. Having a blog without an RSS feed is like not asking, “Would you like fries with that?” It’s actually kind of pointless. Show your readers how to subscribe to your RSS feed and make sure it is prominent on your blog. If they can’t find it, they’ll lose interest and you’ll lose a possible subscriber.

Now, in a perfect demonstration of how shorter entries are just fine, I’m going to leave you hanging here and you can come back on Tuesday for some more ideas. Really, do you have time to read anymore at my little old blog today anyway?

Didn’t think so! See you next week.

Start spreadin’ the news (better)

Newsletters are one of the most popular marketing tools used to market small businesses today. Whether you’re sending a printed newsletter via snail mail or an electronic newsletter via email, it’s a win-win for everyone. For the subscriber, they benefit from receiving up-to-date information about your business; helpful articles, promotions and giveaways. For your small business, this is your opportunity to stay in touch with your audience. The beauty of the whole thing is, they’ve given you their permission to market to them!

In this post, we’re gonna focus on electronic newsletters, also known as the sophisticated and sleek-sounding “eZine” or the regular old email newsletter.

An eZine is a really great tool for many reasons:

It’s cheap. No commercial printing with a hefty price tag involved.
You can send one out almost instantly. You don’t have to wait 7-10 days for it to be printed, then another 3 days to prepare the mailing, then another 7-10 days for the recipient to receive it via snail mail depending on whether you mailed it 1^st class or bulk mail, and again, no postage required.
It works. It’s the ideal opportunity to keep in touch, gain feedback from your subscribers, customers, and potential customers, and to gain new subscribers…a new audience for your business.

Now just hold on a second. Before you decide to jump on the newsletter bandwagon, there are a few crucial elements to consider. Even if you already have a newsletter, you should be following these tips so consider this a refresher and if you’re not doing the following, then make it a point to rework your publication so your readers get the most value.

Tips to be the best you can be-Zine:

Stand out: People receive tons and tons of email every day and there’s a lot of junk to wade through. If you want your electronic newsletter to get opened, your email subject line better catch your reader’s attention in an instant because if it doesn’t, it’s never getting read.
Size Matters: HTML emails can be great…unless you’re using font size 4. You’re not sending a newsletter to a 13 or 20 year old in most cases. Be sure to use fonts that are easily readable for all of us and at size that is appropriate for everyone.
Build it like Cliff Notes: No one has time to read everything that comes into their inbox, especially if it’s the length of a Stephen King novel. Your newsletter should allow subscribers to easily scan the document to determine which parts they are really interested in. Your text should not be crowded, paragraphs should be spaced and headings should be easily noticeable with larger text and/or a different color.
Personalize It: Lose the business or corporate tone and have a real conversation with your subscribers. Kind of like I do here with my blog. The way I write to you is the way I would actually speak to you face-to-face. Make your newsletter fun to read, interactive, and involve your reader by asking questions or for participation. They’ll make yours the newsletter they’re sure to read every time it arrives.
No News is Better than Fluff and Sales: If you don’t have anything to say, then skip it all together. If all you’re doing is broadcasting how great you think you are, or your entire newsletter is nothing but buy this and buy that, you’re better off utilizing your time doing something else. All you’re doing is talking and never listening and your subscribers know the difference. They won’t be fooled with all your sirens of “only the first 10 people who purchase,” or “get this but only for the next 2 hours.” They’ll unsubscribe faster than you can say “My friend, so and so, is offering my subscribers the world for only $19.95.”
Lighten Up: Skip the oodles of images and media and give them what they want…great content. If you have an audio or video, link it back to your website.
Full Disclosure: Your subscribers want to know their email is safe in your hands. Be sure you have clearly stated your privacy policy and they know where to find it. Also make it easy for them to unsubscribe by making it easily visible at the bottom of your newsletter.
Plano Text: If you’re intent on having an eZine design that is dependent on tons of images, be sure to always include a text version as well. Not everyone turns images on in their email client and some opt to receive text only emails just to keep things nice, tidy, and neat.

Last but not least, you need a good distribution company to deliver your newsletter and so you can track your subscribers as well as who is opening what messages and clicking on what links.

We’ll talk about that in detail another time. Until then, I hope you’ll take what I’ve given you today and apply it in your own newslettering!

Ciao ‘til Thursday!

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

After doing some research and gathering referrals, you’ve finally decided on the expert you want to take over the design/web development/email campaigns/social media/SEO/marketing aspect of your business.

Good call! But keep in mind why you did this in the first place.

Most likely it’s because you know this area is not your forte and you’ve been muddling through it for long enough. You’ve been spending your “spare” time reading everything you can get your hands on regarding the subject and you’ve tried to emulate others’ success, but it just isn’t working for you.

Or maybe it did for a while, but we all know the only thing about technology that stays the same is that it’s always changing and it’s just too darn hard to keep up with those changes on top of everything else you do.

If you’re going to go through the trouble of hiring an expert to take something over for you then please listen to the suggestions and recommendations offered by the person you’ve hired to give you advice.

Don’t pretend you know everything and tell this person how you want things done when you’ve hired them for their expertise. You’re paying for that expert’s authority in her field for a reason so don’t jeopardize your end result by micromanaging and being overbearing. In a few months when you don’t see any results, you blame the service provider, and then move on to the next one…only to repeat your same mistakes over and over.

Don’t make this your story! This has happened to me time and time again when someone has contacted me with a horror story from their experience with a different service provider. I mean, I really have heard it all…from the high school or college students who couldn’t get the client’s website to work the way it should, to their 6-week web project that is now in month 10 of development, to the SEO expert who couldn’t get them anywhere near the top 10 on Google in a month, etc.

The thing is that while some stories I hear are legitimate, many of them are a product of having too many cooks in the kitchen. The head chef, with years of schooling and experience in top rated restaurants is working alongside the self-proclaimed chef whose family and friends always brag about their macaroni & cheese casserole. How do you think it goes over when this self-proclaimed chef is spewing out cooking tips to that head chef?

Your expert is an expert because they’ve been performing and perfecting their methods for a long time. They get results and they come highly recommended. So why waste time and money telling them the way you want something done – in many cases the same way you’ve been doing all along and getting nowhere? You’re pretty much setting yourself up for failure, aren’t you?

Do your business a favor. Listen to your expert and their recommendations. Have trust in them. Let them map out a new plan of action and then sit back and let them do all the work. Monitor their progress of course, but don’t interfere. Ask questions, ask why they’re doing something this way…go ahead, ask away, but let them do their thing. See where you are after a month and unless something is just horribly wrong, you must give it at least a couple of months to measure the success.

If you’re tired of the broth you keep ending up with, trust the person you hire to make it better and stay out of the kitchen.

Why Your Marketing Efforts Are Failing

j0387302 Have you ever heard the phrase, “It goes in one ear and out the other?” well, besides referring to my 4 year old daughter, I secretly think this of my clients or potential customers at times. In this case I’m referring to your marketing plan…you know that somewhat seemingly great plan you drafted when you first began your business. Or maybe you meant to or, as one client tells me, it’s all in her head. Well, in her head it will stay unless she actually puts the plan in writing and puts it in motion. (She’s heard this all before by the way)

So where is your marketing plan? There is no other way to say this, but marketing is constant. It is a process that never ends. It is not a one-time project. When you stop marketing, people WILL forget about you, or never know you exist. Keep your name and message in front of them and it doesn’t matter if you’ve done business with them before or not, the next time they are in need of your service or product, they will think of you first. Why? Because you’re consistent and have established a relationship with them. If they only hear from you once or twice a year, chances are you’re not going to hear from them.

One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is maintaining this mentality of only marketing when they need the business. Not only is this a very dangerous road to follow, but it is ineffective, time consuming, and this will not solve your problem. Sure it might get you one or two customers, but then there you are again a few months later wondering where you’re going to get your next client from to pay the bills.

If you’re like the client I mentioned earlier, then you might be thinking, “I don’t have the funds to market all the time.” I’m not sure why business owners discount marketing as a way to save money. I’m going to throw another well-known phrase at you now, “you have to spend money to make money.” Now where this phrase is somewhat true, it is not entirely accurate as I’m pretty sure it was coined before the Internet existed.

The fact is you can do a whole lot of marketing, direct or indirect, that costs you absolutely nothing, and almost all of them are using the Internet. A few examples are:

Start Talking! Start a blog and share your expertise with the world. You don’t have to be a great writer…unless of course you’re a copywriter! Sharing tidbits is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Get Writing! Start an electronic newsletter, or eZine. It doesn’t have to be a book and it really shouldn’t be. Again, just sharing informational tidbits is enough. Be short, be concise and be helpful. You’ll gain subscribers and life-long relationships. DO NOT make your eZine a sales pitch or about selling them something.
Article Marketing! Everyone is an expert about something. Write articles about what you know and publish them in the myriad of article banks online. But don’t stop there. Post it to your blog, use them in your eZine, send them to your local newspaper editor, be a guest blogger on someone else’s blog, and the list goes on.
Press On! Did you send out a press release when you first started your business? Well, how’d that go for you? If that was the only one you sent out, I’d be shocked if you had an overwhelming response. In fact, I’d be surprised if it actually got picked up by your local media. The rules of marketing apply here as well. The media get hundreds of news releases a day and starting a business is not necessarily news worthy to them with all the world happenings. You have to be consistent, keep your name in front of them, and follow-up, but if you can get your release published, even if it’s the 5^th one you’ve sent, then you’ve made progress!
Be a Star! If you’re savvy enough, and not camera shy, grab that webcam you never use or your personal camcorder and video your way through marketing. Upload them to your own website or blog, add them to the many podcasting directories, upload them to YouTube and more.
Join a Clique! Remember back in high-school your status depended on what “clique” you were a part of? The Jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, the head-bangers, etc. Well, that’s NOT the type of clique I’m talking about here. I’m talking about networking. If you’re networking online, then find groups and forums that include your ideal customers and join in on the conversation. Don’t go there to sell them, just be helpful with your knowledge. Or if you market locally, then network in person with other business people. Your local papers will list networking events, or call and get an invite to your local Chamber or other networking group.
Get Social! If you’re not connecting with people on FaceBook or LinkedIn, just to name a couple, then you’re missing out. Find your friends, business contacts, associates, previous employers and co-workers, old classmates, previous client, family members, and more. Connect with them, set up your profile, and share useful information.
Get Twittering! Ok, if you’re not on Twitter, then I have to assume you’re living under a rock somewhere. Seriously, besides just being plain fun, even if you think telling people what you’re doing is just ridiculous because why on earth would anyone want to know what you’re doing, it is a great business tool! You don’t have to post your status 100 times per day, just make a consistent effort to a couple of times per day or several times per week. Post your status, what you’re working on, maybe a link to a new blog post or to your eZine. Again, don’t just post to sell people. It’s like getting spam and they will stop following you!

These are just a few ideas to get you going. If your marketing efforts are failing, then it’s time to reevaluate your methods. Of course there are plenty of ways to market using paid avenues. But that’s another post for another day and the point to this one is there are plenty of ways to market your business without paying a dime.

As a side note and to give you a perfect example using 2 of the above methods, I follow a local restaurant called Sal & Mookies on Twitter. A few weeks ago I saw a Twitter message from them – they were giving away 2 $100 gift cards to their restaurant. To enter all you had to do was to re-tweet their message using Twitter or leave a message on their FaceBook page. I of course sent a tweet out and then left a message on their FaceBook page…not expecting to win because I NEVER win anything. Guess what? I was one of the winners! Hubby and I loaded the girls up last weekend and headed over to Sal & Mookies for dinner. What they didn’t know was that we have never been to Sal & Mookies prior to this visit and all because I won a gift card. We’ve heard of them of course, we see their name all over town…they’re kind of famous around here, but we had just never been in all our years here. The point to all of this is that they will have a customer for life. Not because we won a gift card, but because they got us into their establishment, we had fantastic service, and the food was OMG good!

So be creative and don’t drop the ball on your marketing plan. Oh, and if you don’t have one, then now’s the time to draft one out and start implementing it immediately. You don’t have to do everything at once. Start small and work your way up to bigger things.

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Welcome to In The Worx! This blog is dedicated to the start-up business owner and the savvy solo entrepreneur...because after all, as business owners, isn’t everything always In The Worx?