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5 things not to do if you want people to read your content

Do you feel like no one is reading your content? Why bother blogging, sending newsletters and creating other content if everyone is too busy to read it. Giving your clients and prospects valuable information is a proven way to market yourself. But how can you make your content interesting so people will want to read it? There are plenty of dos and don’ts to get you started. We covered some of the do’s previously, here are some don’ts:

1. Don’t just report the news or new developments. There are lots of sources for news. Yes there is value in passing along items you think might interest your audience, but you want to take the extra step. The real difference you want to provide is to talk about how the new development impacts the client’s situation. Offer insights and practical advice. That’s what will help you stand out from your competition.

2. Don’t be self-promotional. It is okay to talk about your activities and awards to demonstrate credibility. However, keep it to a minimum. Think of the 80-20 rule – 80% useful content; 20% promotional content.

3. Don’t use canned content. There are lots of sources of canned content. Even though the content can be well-written, it’s also very basic, generic and boring. It doesn’t focus on the specific issues of your audience, won’t be enticing to read, and doesn’t showcase your unique value proposition. It’s also “duplicate content,” – that is, content that appears on lots of websites. Google will penalize you for that and it will hurt you in search engine rankings.

4. Don’t worry about perfect grammar and syntax. Just recently I read a blog post from Top Rank Marketing that reminded me how we get caught up in writing like it’s a term paper. Write in a way that’s comfortable for a real person to read and also shows your personality. You can still be a professional and not have your writing feel like a treatise.

5. Don’t forget about headlines. A great headline entices people to read more. A lot of lawyers, accountants and other professionals write very dense factual headlines. Give your audience a reason to read on. Even if you can’t find a way to be clever or funny, make sure you’re clear about why they need to know something; how it’s helpful; and what’s the benefit or risk of not knowing.

It’s hard to create compelling content. Keep these tips in mind to help make sure your information gets read.

Do you need help producing great content that will attract clients? Contact me for a free consultation.

5 dos to help you create content that your audience wants to read

Is your content boring? Giving clients and prospects interesting and helpful information is a great way to attract attention and build trust. The problem is how to create the kind of content that gets read. This week I have a few Dos to help you get started developing engaging content.

1. Do answer real questions. I am consistently asked by clients and prospects – what should I write about? Among the best sources for content are the frequently asked questions you get from your own audience. Put together a list of them and start answering them. Don’t worry about giving away too much information for free. You don’t have to go into minutia with your response, but you do want to be genuinely helpful. Highlight what they should know about their problem and possible solutions so they see you know what you’re talking about and can solve their problems.

2. Do listen to your audience and talk about the issues they are following. Where do your clients and prospects turn for information on their problems? As a start you can ask your own clients, but then go deeper. Identify and subscribe to publications your clients read, set up google alerts to monitor areas of interest to them and use social media to “listen” to what topics they care about.

3. Do use stories. This is a great way to demonstrate how you help people solve their problems. Provide case studies and examples to let your audience see that you are dealing with others like them. They also personalize your work as well as your content. It’s more interesting to read a story, than a bunch of facts. And don’t worry; you can omit confidential/identifying facts without sacrificing the value of your story.

4. Do use the same terminology as your target audience. Speak to them in their own language. You shouldn’t talk to potential clients the way you would talk to your colleagues or referral sources. Using the right tone and wording not only will make your content more readable and interesting, but you will be showing that you can relate to your audience.

5. Do keep it concise. Sadly people’s attention span keeps getting shorter. According to Microsoft we’re now at 8 seconds. Think about format. Lists, headings, visuals, and other strategies can help you organize and relate your content in a more readable and compelling way.

Next time I’ll cover the Don’ts – 5 things not to do if you want to create compelling content.

Do you need help producing great content that will attract clients? Contact me for a free consultation.

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Customer Services

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Corporate Services

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Social Media

We focus on targeting the right audience to maximize your results.

Social media is an essential tool in marketing your business. It helps you stay top of mind with your existing contacts as well as attract and establish credibility with new audiences. However, the key to success is having a strategy and action plan focused on what you want to accomplish with social media.

We help clients develop and implement an effective social media plan. That includes focusing on the right social media channels to reach your audience and crafting a strong message and social media profile.

Sharing information is crucial for social media. We assist clients with creating compelling high-quality content and communicating it regularly to their targeted audience. We utilize both original and curated content to help you highlight your expertise to attract and retain clients.

Our work includes monitoring social media activity and making recommendations to improve results so you make the most of your investment.

Contact us to discuss how social media can improve your business.

Marketing Strategy

Successful marketing starts with a well-thought out strategy and plan.

Marketing often fails because firms do not properly target their marketing efforts. They engage in marketing without a clear vision of what to do and how to get there. As a result, they spend a lot of money on many different things with little to show for it.

For many firms, we act as a Virtual Marketing Director. We work with them to create and implement a strategic marketing plan customized to their needs.

Our Process

Step 1: Our work begins by assessing your unique value proposition, target audience(s), objectives, and competitors. We guide you in developing a brand to distinguish you from the competition as well as identifying your key markets and specific business goals.

Step 2: Next we work with you to determine where best to focus your efforts to help you accomplish your goals and maximize your marketing investment. We assist you in creating a realistic plan which takes into account your resources and budget. Our recommendations incorporate ideas for using your website, email, social media, search engines, public relations, and other appropriate marketing outlets.

Step 3: Once the plan has been developed, we look at how we can best support your marketing initiatives and provide the most significant impact. Often we continue to work with clients on implementation of their marketing plan and tailor our services to meet their needs. Our services encompass training and overseeing staff who handle day to day work as well as providing ongoing consulting and direction to improve marketing results.

Our goal is to deliver a strategic marketing and action plan to grow your business.

Contact us to discuss how we can help you develop a marketing strategy.

Content Marketing

No time for content marketing? 7 tips for successfully repurposing your content-Part 2

It’s hard to find time to market your firm. Writing and speaking are wonderful tools to showcase your expertise and help you build your credibility, but they are time-consuming. So you want to get the maximum value out of everything you do. Repurposing your content is the key to success. For every piece of content you create ask yourself – What else can I do with this? How could it be repackaged? In our last post, we covered the first 4 tips. Here are 3 more ideas to ensure you save time and money marketing yourself.

5. Convert written formats to spoken and spoken to written. Informally record yourself speaking about a topic you’ve written about. Then turn it into webinars or short video/audio clips. Or develop it into a seminar that you can present to a group of people. On the other hand, if you’ve spoken on a topic but don’t have it in written form, get it recorded, then transcribe the recordings to turn into articles and blog posts.

6. Change the tone. Content that was written for a particular audience can be revised for a new audience by changing the tone. For example, professionals typically communicate differently to other professionals than they do to their clients. You want to have a more conversational tone with clients. You also want to use the same terminology that your audience uses so you may need to change or explain things when you are speaking to a different group.

7. Simplify or enhance. This is related to tip #6. If you have content that was written for a peer and is very technical, you should simplify it if you want to direct it to an audience that lacks that level of expertise or isn’t interested in those issues. Similarly you may want to take a basic overview of a topic and provide a more sophisticated or in-depth treatment to match your audience. Even among potential clients, different groups have different levels of understanding – for example, CFO vs general counsel vs HR manager. You should also think about a simplified version as a way to help you draw people in. It’s the teaser and those who are more interested in the topic, can be directed to the enhanced version.

Creating content that showcases your expertise and successfully attracts clients is hard work. Hopefully these tips will help you to repurpose all of your content and get the most value out of your investment of time and money.

Do you need help with your own content marketing? Contact us for a free consultation.