Attracting Ideal Clients

Article Marketing Tips to Attract your Ideal Clients

People often ask me what is a good strategy to position them as an expert online.

There are many strategies that will do this. One of the fastest and easiest is to simply write an article.

An article is about 400 to 600 words. You should focus on one topic and keep it simple. I like to add a numbered series of tips.

Be sure you include a byline at the end of your article.

Here are are 3 tips to leverage your articles:

1) Post your article on Article Directories

One of the best article directories is ezinearticles.com.

You can set up a free account and then submit your first article.

2) Post your article on your blog

You may want to change the content when you post your article on your blog.

Article directories don't like it when you submit articles that are being used elsewhere. So, change the title and alter the content.

There is no need to include your byline if you are posting the article on your own blog. If you publish someone else's article from ezinearticles.com, you have to include the byline.

3) Share your article on social media

After you post your article, be sure to post a message on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites to invite other people to read your article.

Want an extra incentive to write articles?

Participate in my Article Writing Contest.

Click here for details on my Article Writing Contest  

 

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing & Social Media Expert

Blog Whisperer Jerry Kennedy Reviews Crush It from Gary Vaynerchuk

Jerry Kennedy, the Blog Whisperer recently wrote about Gary Vaynerchuk's book Crush It. Jerry says,

"He writes about the importance of building your personal brand as it relates to major markets.  A lot of Fortune 500 companies are still quite wary of allowing their employees to share their connection to the company online along with their employees’ personal online presence. Companies should heed the advice Gary has in encouraging businesses to allow employees to further a company’s brand via their online presence and online connections. Companies not doing this should realize they are missing an untapped marketing resource."

Jerry brings up a good point. This is a huge untapped marketing resource for many companies. I will be giving a presentation on Twitter to a group of strategic marketing professionals in a few months. One of my messages is that their companies should encourage people to blog and to use social media. This is a challenge for a lot of companies to give up control of their message. But, in reality, the control they think they have is an illusion.

People are already blogging about your company. They are already posting on social media. And if they aren't, you're missing the boat!

So, heed Gary's message and get into action. Expand your online presence and your online connections.

Use GoogleDocs to Write Blog Content - Part 1

GoogleDocs is a great tool for writing and tracking blog content. I have used a lot of strategies to write blog posts. I’d like to share some of these methods so you can learn from them.

Methods to write blog posts:

-Typepad/Wordpress

The disadvantage of this method is that you end up with a lot of drafts and it obscures your posted content (on the back-end). I’ve generally found it best to write my blog content outside of the blogging platform and then copy and paste when the content is ready. There are exceptions to that rule.

-Notepad

This is one of my favorite tools for creating web content. It is a simplified form of content without any of the underlying code that comes from a Word document. The disadvantage is that line breaks are sometimes an issue. You may end up having to go through your post and change the line breaks manually. One disadvantage is that Notepad does not have spell-check. And I don't know about you, but I occasionally spell words incorrectly.

-Microsoft Word

Word is a great tool for writing any kind of document, but you often run into issues when transferring to a web publishing tool. Word has a lot of underlying code that can be misinterpreted when published on the web. For an example of this, simply copy and paste a document into your blogging platform and then click the html button. You will see all sorts of strange code. (Not good.) When you actually view the published web page, you may see strange characters.

-GoogleDocs

I have used GoogleDocs for writing blog content for a few weeks. It seems to work pretty well. You can create folders and documents. The text transfers well into my blogging platform. (Note that there is sometimes a lag time after you save something before you see it in the folder. It’s a little unnerving, but it shows up within a few minutes.)

In Part 2 of blog post series, I will share details about how I track blog topics. (Hint: I make a list of topics that I want to write about in advance.)

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing Expert

The Power of Simplicity

Think about your marketing. What are you doing that’s repeatable and duplicatable?

There is a power in simplicity. Too often we try to make things too complex. This is bad. You will be much more likely to repeat something that is simple.

When I coach clients, I’m often surprised at how much they are doing that has minimal to no benefit. There’s a simple rule in marketing and sales: Focus on revenue producing activities.

What are some of the marketing activities you can do that will yield the best results?

-Lead generation

-Lead conversion

-Email marketing

-Creating a new lead capture page

-Creating a freebie (Irresistible Free Offer)

-Creating an online sales page

-Pay per click advertising

-Product launches

-Joint ventures

-Affiliate marketing

-Blogging

-Social media activities

-Promoting live events

-Online video

-Posting articles on article directories

-Posting your business profile on a directory

These are all great ideas. And there are many more.

Learn more about how to improve your online marketing.

Want more ideas to market your business online?

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Rick Cooper
Online Marketing Expert

Drive Traffic by Commenting on Blogs

There are many reasons to become a blogger. One of the best is simply to generate leads. And yet, the challenge is always to get people to your blog. You can't generate a lead unless someone lands on your web page.

So, once you are in the habit of blogging and you have the ability to capture leads, then you simply need to send more people to your blog.

Here's a simple technique that people often overlook. Many people look for the more challenging or complicated techniques. I look first to do the simple things that will drive traffic and create backlinks to your site.

The technique is simply to comment on other people's blogs.

It's a simple idea in concept, but how do you actually implement it consistently?

Here are 3 simple tips:

1) Compile a list of blogs where you can post comments

It's not enough to simply post a comment once and you're done. To be effective, you should post periodically to different blogs. When you get started, post a comment on a site once per week. Then, later cut back to once or twice a month.

Engage Other Bloggers in Conversation

Why this often? First, you want to engage the other blogger in dialogue. It's just like connecting on a social networking site. If you post often enough, people will remember who you are and you will become friends.

In addition to that, if they like your ideas, they might actually feature you or their blog. Or, they might share a resource you offer.

2) Keep your comments short

Remember, this is their blog. Don't write a novel, keep it brief.

If you feel compelled to write more on the topic, write it on your blog. Then, link back.

Don't include a hyperlink in the body of the comment. See the next section for more details on how to send people to your blog.

3) Link back to your blog

When you post your comment, you have the opportunity to include a link back to a website. There will be fields for name, email and website. But, where should you send people? Should you send them to a lead capture page, a website, or a blog?

In general, the best approach is to send people to your blog. If a person is interested in reading blogs, then they will probably be interested in reading another similar blog.

So, should you send people to the home page of your blog? The SEO experts say that it's best to include a link directly to one of the posts on your blog. Pick a post that has similar content to the one you are commenting on. Or, write a new post and link to it.

Are you in the habit of commenting on blogs? Or, is this a new idea for you?

If you want more traffic to your blog, then try this strategy. And be sure to pick some high profile blogs to comment on also. Make sure the topics are relevant. If you're writing about organization tips, don't comment on a political blog. Different audiences, different interests.

Set a goal now to comment on 3 blogs in the next 2 weeks. And while you're reading this post, take a moment now to comment on this blog. Make it happen!

Rick Cooper
Marketing Coach

Capitalize on your Knowledge

What are you doing to leverage the knowledge you have to grow your business? You have a unique skill set and information that other people want to know. Are you really using that information strategically?

There are many ways that you can use the information in your head to communicate and educate clients and prospects.

Here are 3 methods to share information that will provide value.

1. Post to a Blog

One of the best tools to create a name for yourself and begin to build an audience is through a blog. Many people like to read information on blogs, and they're a great tool to generate organic traffic on the internet.

The technology can be overwhelming at first. There’s a lot to learn. The good news is that you can find people to help you. Just set a goal to start a blog and start taking action.

2. Write an article

Articles are extremely versatile. You can post them on sites like EzineArticles.com. You can also include articles in your own email newsletter, or even print an article to hand out.

Keep your articles to about 400 to 600 words. Make them simple and easy to read. People have limited time, so get to the point. Pick a topic that people will be interested in.

3. Write a Special Report

At some point, you will realize that you need a resource to offer as a lead generation tool. One of the best resources you can create that will have value is a special report. Typically about 8-15 pages, it's a short document that focuses on solving a problem or communicating information that your ideal clients want to learn.

Repurpose your Content

An interesting point to consider is that you can take the content from a special report and break it into 5-7 articles. You can repurpose content to leverage it in numerous ways.

Writing is a learned skill. You can improve your ability to write. It takes practice.

Commit to write something every week. Produce something and share it with others. This will build your self-confidence and encourage you to write more in the future.

Rick Cooper
Marketng Coach

Grab Attention with a Compelling Headline

Copywriting is an art as much as it is a science. It takes commitment and creativity to craft copy that will engage your reader. You need to know who you're speaking to and what their needs are.

One of the most important elements of any copy is the headline. And whether you are writing a direct mail sales letter or a sales page for a website, you need a great headline to grab the attention of your prospect.

Since the headline is usually the first thing a visitor will read, make sure it compels the visitor to want to read more about your product or service.

A great headline should instantly engage your prospect and get them excited. A poor headline will distract them and make them leave your site.

4 tips to write an effective headline:

• Make sure the headline addresses the problem of your web site visitor.

• Capitalize the first letter of every word in your headline to attract more sales.

• Highlight important words to attract more attention to them.

• Always use a large bold font. Make sure the headline text is larger than any other text on your sales page.

Test and Tweak Your Headlines

It’s amazing how much one single change to a headline can increase your online sales. Always test and tweak your headlines until you are satisfied with the results. Ask for feedback from clients, prospects, mentors and coaches.

Rick Cooper
Marketing Coach

Keys to Create Content for your Blog

One of the challenges most bloggers face is what to write about on their blog.

Internet expert Joel Comm writes about this subject on his blog. In his post, "How to Decide What to Write About," Joel states:

"People are always search for how-to do this or that. Just go to Google and search for "how to" and see how many millions of results are returned. In fact, if the search engines like my blog than I can come up on the first couple pages for the phrase "How to decide what to write about." Wouldn't that be interesting?"

Click here to read the full post

I find it helpful to brainstorm a list of topics. You can even create a mindmap starting with one idea in the center and then adding ideas around it.

Above all, writing on a regular basis takes practice. Find the time to write daily. Use simple language and write with a specific audience in mind.

Good luck and happy writing!

Rick Cooper
Marketing Coach

Attraction Marketing Secrets: How to Use your Blog to Attract Clients

Posting to a blog is a great way to attract clients. The internet is an amazing source of information and you can provide value by writing a blog and sharing your expertise.

People often turn to blogs because they contain specialized information. You can build an audience and attract clients if you post quality content that educates and informs people.

So, how do you get started with a blog? Here are a few quick ideas that will help you get started.

1. Select a theme and a title

A blog is a communication tool. It allows you the capability to share information that other people will find useful. In order to create a resource that people will come back to, you need to limit the topics you write about. You need to select a theme.

You also need to select a title for your blog. And you should consider using the title for the website domain or url.

2. Choose a design

Writing consistently to a blog can position you as an expert. It can help to increase your visibility. It can also help you to establish strong relationships with influential bloggers.

One of the ways you can communicate your expertise is to use a professional design for your blog. Many of the online blogging tools like Typepad offer a variety of professional templates. For a more customized design you can find a Wordpress designer who can create a customized design for you. Another tool you can use is Blogger. It’s simple and easy to use.

I use both Typepad and Wordpress. I love Typepad. I can create as many blogs as I want. Wordpress is flexible, but it’s a pain to have to debug the code at times.

A Blog is a Communication Tool that Allows you Attract Clients!

3. Add navigation options

One of the unique characteristics of a blog is the ability to sort and categorize posts by category or period (day, week, month).

Many blogging tools will allow you to create tabs with different content. This makes the blog more like a traditional website.

4. Write blog posts

One of the most challenging aspects of creating a blog is to actually post content over time. Many people create blogs but few actually post content to their blogs consistently over time.

One of the ways to simplify this process is to create a routine and create an ongoing series of posts on a topic. This is similar to the way newspapers have columns, a daily or weekly article on a topic.

For example, this blog post is part of a series of blog posts I wrote for an ebook. I wrote the ebook and now am posting to my blog one at a time. This also gives me the opportunity to optimize each post before I publish the ebook.

5. Add an opt-in box

One of the reasons to create a blog is the ability to generate leads. You can use a blog to generate leads by adding an opt-in box and offering a free resource people can opt-in to receive.

Starting a blog is a great way to share information that provides value and positions you as an expert. Select a theme that will attract attention and that you’re passionate about.

Post content to your blog consistently. Repurpose content from articles, teleseminars and classes. You will demonstrate your expertise. You will build a following. You will attract clients who want to work with you! Happy blogging!

Looking for more strategies to market your business online? Attend my Free Teleseminar on How to Market your Business Online. Click here for more details:http://bit.ly/3EhOB5

Rick Cooper

The Attraction Marketing Expert

Time for a Change – How to Improve your Blog

Make your blog more relevant and effective. Have you ever felt like your blog was ready for a facelift? What’s holding you back from making the change?

I recently decided to make some changes to my blog. I just felt like it wasn’t looking as good as it could.

How long did it take me to make the changes? About 10 minutes!

How did I do it? I used Typepad. I’ve had the opportunity to use Wordpress, Blogger and Typepad. While Wordpress sites look great, they’re not the easiest to change. And you might need help from a Wordpress developer to make the changes.

I haven’t used Blogger in years, but the interface seemed a little clunky to me. Maybe it’s changed since then.

On the other hand, Typepad is easy and flexible. It’s to blogging what Constant Contact is to email marketing: simple, flexible and cost effective.

If you feel like your blog is due for a change, then just do it. You can make a plan if you want, but it’s okay to just pick a new template and go with it. Change doesn’t have to be hard!

Rick Cooper
Sales & Marketing Success Coach