Why are you not getting the results you want online? Do you remember when the thrill of getting started online was a big dream?
So often we forget about when we wanted to get started online, we get caught up in all the things we need to do. We forget the basics. We look for that one simple easy way to get things done. When we just need to plug into a successful system and follow a simple set of rules. Once we have the traffic we want, then we need to tweak it and make it fun. If the tweak reduces results, just remove the tweak.
Here is 7 basic things you need to get results with your online content creation..
- The first thing anyone will look at after reading a blog post is your “About” page; make it pop.
Imagine someone reading your “About” page and becoming so excited about your story, they want to reach out and connect with you. When you create an “About Me” page that tells them a story, shares with them your journey, and sells them on why they should do business with you, your inbound marketing leads will go through the roof.
Last year I attended a mastermind event where none of us knew each other. The coolest thing was having someone tell me they remembered visiting my website, reading my blog and found the “About Me” page to be so interesting. So make your page memorable.
- Do not use your blog posts as a direct selling place; use them to inform and give visitors a desire to click on where you lead them.
You can always tell the new people in almost any field: they make all their marketing sound so “sale-sy”. Yes we need to make sales, but blogs are designed to help people by actually sharing with them something that will help them.
A few years ago, while sitting in a night club with a friend, we watched as this pretty woman come in. One by one all the desperate men walked over and tried the best one liner they could to get the invite to sit down and talk. Both of us being married men found the idea to be just like marketing, almost like caveman marketing. The words they were using were just like the cave man idea of “knock them out with your club and drag them back home.”
Blogging is so simple-easy: it’s about sharing what you know and actually helping readers. Then make a call to action so you can and connect with those that want more help.
- Do not rely on S.E.O. (search engine optimization) only, create content about pop culture and newsworthy items people are talking about NOW.
One of the greatest quotes that helped most with building my business was from James Malinchak. He said he could not tell one way to get 100 people to attend his event. But could find 100 ways to get 1 person to attend.
When you hear people teach about blogging you almost always here in the same sentence “SEO” or “search engine optimization”. So many content creators build entire blogs and web pages that focus on this. BUT if you create it but never go back to update it, the search tools in sites like Google and Yahoo will begin to pass you by. With all the online tools people can learn most of your tricks to getting traffic to your site, so do not rely on only one way.
With every piece of online content you create, think of this: “What will they be searching for today?” The idea of relating what you do in your business to what is going on in the world could work to your favor.
For years my RockerLifeCoach blog was all about life growth, using Rock ‘n’ Roll songs and lyrics. If anything happened in the news about anything Rock ‘n’ Roll, it was used in my blog the next day. People would be searching the topic online and would find my blog. So make your blog post about the news item, BUT relate it to something you are sharing about in your business.
We cover 7 other areas of how to get traffic at our conference every spring and fall.
- 5 basic steps to create a money-making blog.
The biggest question asked about blogging is, “Can you make money?” The simple answer is, “YES, you can, but you need to do it right if you want to do it long-term.”
Sure, there are stories of people who created one great online video or viral blog post. You can make a great cash in, but the percentage of people who create content that never goes viral is about the same as people who head to Hollywood to become a movie star and only end up with a guest role.
Follow these 5 steps to be successful long-term and it will not take going viral to make money:
-Get Started. The biggest reason people are not successful at anything is they never get started. You’re reading a book about jumpstarting things in marketing. Take what you learn in this book and get started.
– Create Content. To make anything work online you must have content. You need to write something, make a video, make a podcast. Once you have this you can move to the next phase, getting readers.
– Get Traffic. This is the biggest stumbling block. As mentioned above people here create with SEO in mind and believe the readers will come. You must find ways to get traffic and get them to your site. Yes, social media is great, but you need to build your business. And social media can change; you control your site. Once you get them to your site now you can build the relationship.
– Build Community. Once you have traffic – readers, viewers, and consumers – on your site, you now need to build the relationship with them to help them. When you build community and make it all about them, they want to come back. But then inside your community they want to help others in the community. Writing this chapter for Katrina is all about community. In all the places I’ve been, Katrina has one of the best communities. She helps them with what she knows, she asked us to write this information to help you grow. In return you became part of her community and you want to do the same by helping people.
– Monetize. Once you have your community built you now know what needs they have. You now know who to connect in the community. In the online world we monetize this in many ways. One is to refer people to what they need and get paid a commission or affiliate fee for sending them. You can also ask your community for the help they need. If you are a creative person then create the products or services they need and offer it to them as a product sale.
These 5 steps are what every successful online marketer does. They get started with something new; they create content to market; they market to find readers; they build a list and community and then they create a way to make money from it. Follow these steps and watch your blogging turn into actual money.
- Create an assembly line to make your blog work
Ever wonder why those who succeed get better and better? And those that come and go never succeed?
In the 1980s I heard Dave Del Dotto speak. He said something that has stuck with me till this day. “You can be successful at anything if you first have a system, then have disciple to follow the system.”
I’ve always been a black-and-white kind of guy; to become creative and do it regularly took creating a system. An assembly line. Set a time to create your content each day, then set a time to edit it, a time to post it, and create marketing for it. Then it’s just about repeating the process.
- Always ask them to subscribe to your videos and share with their audience.
Here is the biggest tool you need to get them to come back: when creating videos, podcasts, or written posts, always throw in something asking them to subscribe. At the end of every video or blog post we make this simple statement that grows the number of people who come to read or watch our content:
“If you liked what you read today, hit the subscribe button so you can get notified when we create again. AND if you have received value from this, please share it with your friends and tell them what you learned. Thank you. I’m Tim Gillette and I’ll see you next time.”
- Take action on the things you learned.
I hope these basics helped you. Here is one final tip: the book you are reading is filled with great information and strategies from some very successful people. Do more than just read them. Actually, do something with them. If you need more help with blogging check our next Blog and Video Conference in Dallas at BlogandVideoCon.com
Now go take action.
Tim Gillette
Tim Gillette is a Speaker, Award winning Blogger, Best Selling Author, and Host of the Blog And Video Con hosted in Dallas Texas every fall and spring. Join the list to get updates how to make your online marketing Simple Easy at www.NotTomPetty.com
