In this podcast discover how to make blogging a part of your marketing arsenal.
Tim Reid and Luke Moulton talk to Darren Rowse (AKA ProBlogger), one of the world’s most prolific bloggers on well … blogging! Listen in and you’ll discover exactly how to use blogging for your business.
About these podcasts: The Small Business, Big Marketing podcasts are characterised by plenty of banter between the hosts Tim and Luke who’ll typically kick off with nuggets of advice and tell shaggy dog stories as they warm up to the episode's topic. Sit back, relax and enjoy! And share your feedback below.
Proponents argue that cloud computing will deliver wonderful productivity gains at low costs. So what is it, and could it be useful for your business?
The cloud is arguably top of the list of seismic shifts in the computing world in recent times. Having grown from the fringes just a few years ago, cloud services were valued at more than $70 billion in 2010, and are projected to grow by almost 20 percent per annum for the next 5 years. It’s anticipated that cloud services will contribute more than $175 billion to the global economy by 2015. That’s a lot of dollars!
But what is it? The name “cloud” is taken from those cute little network diagrams with a couple of computers, a couple of squiggly lines and a fluffy cloud in the middle joining them all up. In reality there is something in that cloud, and for most small business users that will be a bank of computers in a server centre hosting your application.
In the past, businesses of all sizes have installed computers to store their data and run their applications. Businesses with more than a single employee have installed servers (and hired IT people to manage them) to allow their employees to share that data. With a cloud solution, organisations are able to effectively rent a small slice of capacity in a server centre (via the apps they sign up to), taking away all the issues around maintaining their own hardware.
This might mean paying for a hosted email service (rather than installing your own exchange server), paying for a file data storage service rather than storing data on your own file server (and managing security, backups and so on), or paying for an application such as customer relationship management (CRM), payroll or accounting rather than installing the equivalent applications on your PC or server.
This is generally taken to mean a little bit more than simply taking an existing (desktop) solution, putting it on a remote server, then paying to access that on a monthly basis. The ability to do that has been around for a decade or more, and you may have heard suppliers of this option referred to as application service providers (ASPs). Cloud solutions differ from ASPs in a number of crucial ways:
1. Most cloud apps involve sharing of the actual software. For example, with Gmail (one of the most widely used cloud solutions) users are moving from each having their own copy of a mail program (such as Outlook) installed locally on their PC, to sharing a common instance of an email solution hosted somewhere in the cloud. This is commonly referred to as “multi-tenancy” – lots of different users with their data in the same database, running on the same program (rather than lots of copies of the same program).
2. Most cloud apps allow you to sign up for a monthly fee, and exit again anytime you want to. This is very different from having to buy software upfront, which if it is not suitable for your business you are then stuck with (it is often very difficult to sell software second hand).
3. With what are generally referred to as “web 2.0” applications, users are able to share data on-line, in real-time. In this way the cloud opens up opportunities for collaboration (either within a business, or with clients or external service providers).
This is the first article in a three-part series. The next article will cover some of the claimed benefits and potential dangers of the cloud, and the final article in the series will look at some specific applications, and compare desktop and cloud solutions that might be suitable for small businesses.
Have you embraced cloud computing yet, or are you still considering your options?
You’ve perfected the content for your brochure, blog, newsletter or media release, now it’s time to craft a headline that stands out and draws your readers into your message.
Your headline should:
Grab your readers' attention
Engage them
Intrigue them
Compel them to read on
The power of a headline shouldn’t be underestimated. Use intrigue to lure your readers into your article or blog; a ‘How to…’ to resolve a problem; or a summary to set expectations.
A headline can be used in conjunction with an introduction or an image, and should be tailored accordingly – just as it should for the audience it’s targeting.
It may be short, but a headline is arguably the most difficult and creative part of the writing process. Here are a few tips on writing powerful headlines.
Know your readers
Who is your audience?
Your answer will determine the style, tone and length of all of your written content – including your headline. Just like the rest of your marketing communications plan, your headline should be tailored to meet the needs of your audience.
Characteristics
Always short and sharp, a headline should reflect the objective of your communications piece, whether the objective is to educate, persuade or inspire.
Your headline should suit the style of the content – it could be quirky, intriguing or motivational. Or you could simply go for the shock factor.
And to create impact, your headline could incorporate a notion of time, emotion, humour or urgency. Here are some examples:
Ask a question: Does your webpage contain a glaring mistake?
Solve a problem: Overcome writer’s block in seven easy steps
Arouse a passion: Help fight poverty now
Give a reason to read on: Ensure your business reaches its full potential
Context
Your headline could be a link on a webpage without accompanying text – your challenge is to stimulate enough curiosity or give a compelling enough reason for the reader to click through.
Or, it could be displayed alongside an image or above an introduction. This allows for more creativity and ambiguity.
How to write a killer headline
Allow your world to inspire you. Look at magazines. Listen to music. Look up some famous sayings.
Identify your keywords and relate them to back to your inspiration. Use a thesaurus.
Brainstorm and write down as many potential headlines as you can. Then play with the words – mix them with your other options or shuffle them around.
Try to find rhyming words or use alliteration. Or convert your keywords into a metaphor or well-known phrase.
Put yourself in your readers’ shoes – what would make you read on or click through?
Give yourself time to review your headline choices – and use the one you keep going back to because it has a great ring.
What techniques do you use to come up with hard-hitting headlines?
A week at a creative writing festival in Ubud got me thinking about the parallels between good copywriting and the craft of storytelling.
It felt rather self-indulgent to spend a week surrounded by inspiring ideas and mingling with creative minds, with daily massages thrown in for good measure - but it was just what I needed to recharge my soul and my laptop fatigue, and it also recharged my thinking about my copywriting business.
I’d always thought of creative writing as the opposite of what I do everyday, which is write the persuasive messages that other businesses need me to write. I assumed that fiction authors get to write about whatever pops into their imaginations.
But I’ve now realised that the ‘rules’ for telling stories are the same across all genres, from novels to websites. And perhaps if we focus more on telling stories about our businesses, we might make our marketing messages more compelling, and less like they fell off a business jargon production line.
What is a story?
To make a piece of writing or communication a story, something has to happen. Let’s think about the typical ‘About us’ page, which is one place where a business can tell its story. Does anything happen?
More often than not, ‘About us’ pages are self-absorbed twaddle about ‘driving shareholder value’ or ‘delivering on our promise’. There may be unsubstantiated claims, or abstract ideas like ‘excellence’. Without a story these have no meaning to the reader, who has typically arrived on that page looking for a reason to be interested in what you do.
Don’t be boring
Business clichés like the ones above are boring and lack substance. Give your story a hook and lure the reader in with concrete examples.
I recently met someone at a networking event who ran a small business developing software. Refreshingly, his first words to me were not “I deliver innovative end-to-end custom-built state-of-the-art software solutions”. They were “I just helped someone save two days a month on their accounts invoicing.” Now, that interested me – I wanted to find out more about how he did that and what his customer now did with those two days a month.
Give your story context
One of my blue-chip clients just won a global award for best website at a US digital summit. I’m not going to pretend I wrote that site, although I wish I had. But I did ask them what made their site stand out, and the answer was story-telling.
They are part of a huge multinational business, but this site tells local stories in a local context. Real stories about opportunities, risks and issues the reader – their local customers - can identify with. Exciting ways this business is making an impact. Tangible results that have made a difference to their clients.
Instead of having long navigation pages about their products and services, they’ve brought the business to life.
They could have talked about innovation until they were blue in the face, but instead they simply illustrated the idea with a few good stories – the who, where, why, what and how of innovation.
Why are stories important?
Stories keep us interested. They make things clear and easy to understand. And most importantly, we remember them.
You can use them just about anywhere in your business. An elevator pitch in 30 seconds? The introduction to a proposal? Your website landing page? A PowerPoint presentation? Yes please – keep those stories coming. Especially in presentations.
Putting your story together
Since time began, the equation for telling stories has been hero + obstacle + resolution = happy ending.
So, make your business the hero. Your customer’s problems or needs are the obstacles. How do you resolve them to create a happy ending? There’s your story.
How do you use storytelling in your business, and what response do you get from your customers?
If you feel hungry for a change within your current solo venture, it could be time for a radical reassessment of your strengths. Here’s how it’s worked for me.
At the start of my solo career I offered copywriting services with a bit of editing on the side. I soon realised I much preferred editing to writing, so reworked my marketing to reflect this and thereby attract clients who needed a fix it up chappie rather than someone who can weave magic on a blank sheet of paper.
To this day, editing remains my strong preference.
Soloists shift around like this all the time. A fellow writer friend has gone from writing a variety of marketing materials to specialising in SEO friendly web copy.
In theory, you should identify your area of specialisation before embarking on your journey, but in reality you can’t always know what you’re really good at til after you’ve set sail. And surely ducking and weaving is part of what makes flying solo such fun.
The process of changing tack and figuring out strengths and preferences enables you to develop a niche, a Very Good Thing because as Tom Peters says, you’re either ‘distinct or extinct.’ Soloists are nothing if not distinct!
Sometimes a preference doesn’t find you, but a malaise within your current workstyle does. In that case it’s time to go back to the drawing board and re-examine your values, mission and purpose.
Once you’ve drilled down to the finer points, ask yourself “what am I good at?” rather than “what do I like to do?”
There’s a subtle but crucial difference here. When I did this exercise recently, I identified that I was really good at financial control, even though I’d have denied ‘liking’ this forever and a day. After all I’m a word person, right?
Also turns out I’m good at operational planning and strategic thinking. Me! Miss Head in the Clouds! Who’d have thought?
And I do love these areas of the business, just not by default. I’d have struggled to identify them had I not stopped to think in my quest for a refresh.
So armed with this new enlightenment I’m making a radical change to how I work in our little business and am handing over the role of controlling Flying Solo’s voice to someone new.
Having sat in the hotseat for five years I can tell you it’s a cracking role and I promise I’ll be a very cruisy Editor-in-Chief.
Have you made a similar shift in your work, or do you have plans afoot? Share your story below and don’t worry if you ramble on too much, I’ll tidy it up…while I still have the power to do so!
So you want to capture people’s details when they land on your website. What should you offer in return? And how can you best position it to entice people to subscribe?
Why you need a free offer
We’ve all heard about the importance of building a database, but simply putting up an opt-in form for a newsletter these days is just not going to cut it. Email addresses have the same value as your personal home address, which is not something people are willing to give out to just anybody.
To have the honour of someone giving you their email address, you want to make sure you give something of value in return. There are many ways in which you can offer this value: a special report, an audio CD, an introductory teleclass, a workbook, an e-course, a downloadable audio, a video or a checklist. The possibilities are endless.
If you don’t already have an offer of value on your website waiting for your clients to download it, then over the next week, I’d like to encourage you to spend time developing your free offer. And yes, I did say a FREEoffer!
Deciding what to offer
If you’re not sure how to begin, then think about your ideal clients, and identify some of the challenges they’re currently facing. Make your offer something that will solve one of those challenges.
From there, consider which delivery mechanism would work best for those potential clients. Would they prefer to receive an audio download or a white paper? Perhaps they might prefer a workbook or simple checklist. Because you know your ideal clients so well, you’ll easily know which method is more likely to incentivise them to opt in quickly.
Boost your credibility
There is now so much information out there on the web that it would be easy for your prospective client to do a search and find the information they are after. But who knows whether the information they stumble across will be the right information? They don’t.
You do. You know that when they land on your website, your offer is not only of high value and content, but it will give them the results they need. Your past clients have proven that your information works. Part of the role of your offer is to demonstrate your credibility.
Be generous
There may be no charge for your offer, but that doesn’t mean it’s not of high value. Don’t be scared to give something away that is of extremely high value and quality. You want your potential clients to remember you, and not your competitor up the road!
Now I’m not saying that you give away the whole box and dice. That just wouldn’t be a good financial move. What I am saying is that you give away the ‘what’ of what they want to know, but not the complete ‘how’. You want to engage them so that they come to you for assistance in the execution.
Make your offer easy to access
Your offer is created to bring prospects into your community so that you can stay in touch with them, continue to add value to their day through your services and products, and build a strong, trustful relationship with them. In addition to creating the offer itself, you may like to tweak your website to boost subscription rates.
Don’t forget that your offer can be promoted in more places than just on your website. For example, you could add it to your Facebook reveal or like page, as well as anywhere else you encourage people to opt in to your newsletter.
Do you offer freebies on your website? What advice can you give those considering one for the first time?
