Category: Sales & Marketing

Article Contributed by Neil Cavanagh

All search engines use backlinks to help determine rankings and for your small business website to position highly in search results. It’s widely recognised that obtaining quality back links to your site will certainly help with your position in major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

This beginner’s guide gives an appraisal of some of the various types of site where you may be able to promote your own website, but be careful not to just publish links anywhere. Creating backlinks in the wrong places can damage your rankings as the search engines may penalising you for using “spammy” link building practises.

Finding where to blog and write guest posts to help promote your website can be a challenge all in itself. Make a start by considering relevant niche sites first and those that are specific to the industry that your company operates in. By targeting article and blog sites that compliment what your business actually does, you’re far more likely to get recognised by both the search engines and potential prospects to your website.

Hunting down blogs

One way to quickly find blogs is by using Google’s own blog search http://www.google.com/blogsearch With this facility you can easily search blogs for keywords to determine other blogs that could be covering similar topics that you can write about.

Sources of inspiration

Writing an interesting article can be tough; personal experiences of particular subjects are useful for facts and you should try to avoid writing an essay on the basics of an approach. It won’t do you much good just copying and re-wording articles from an online encyclopedia.

Unique, interesting and factual content is very important; most editors will use a tool such as copyscape to ensure that any work you send them has not been published elsewhere.

Checking out an article site

It’s really important to have a good look around a site before applying to guest post. Try to get a feel for the topics they like to cover, are they business focused or technical? Look at the style of writing too to determine how informal you need to be.

Many editors have a process for submitting guest posts and may require that you pitch an article to them first before submission, so ensure you read any guidelines before you start writing. Not following these guidelines can easily upset editors and harm your chances of getting an article published.

Getting an idea of how each site ranks.

Whilst nobody is sure for certain how sites are valued by Google and exactly what metrics they are currently using to rank site popularity for specific keywords. Moz OpenSiteExplorer can help give you an idea of how a particular site ranks by Page and Domain Authority for specific URLs. This will give you an appreciation of how much traffic the site is likely to carry. As a rule, the higher the Authority the better the link is likely to be. You may also find that the higher the authority the more effort you’ll need to put in to get a guest post published!

You can also use OpenSiteExplorer to get a list of your competitor’s links. This will give ideas of the type of sites that they have targeted in the past for outreach opportunities.

How can I get my article published?

Remember that high ranking websites may receive hundreds of article pitches per month so it may be worth spending a bit of time trying to get noticed by the editor. So how can you go about this?

Article comments

Can you add any informative comments to articles? Most comments usually need to go through some sort of approval process so it’s very likely that the editor will notice them; link off to other relevant content in your comments if appropriate, but don’t over self-promote.

Adding Value to other people’s work

If you can offer something to complement someone else’s work, you may be onto a winner.  Producing graphics or artwork to accompany another person’s article or by displaying a useful way of interpreting any statistics. Stuff like this can really help you get noticed and you’re far more likely to get your work published or a link-back in a credit for what you’ve done. If you can put an infographic together, it’s very likely you might be onto a winner!

Re-tweeting

If you like an author’s post can you help them out by sharing their article through your own social media profiles or by liking it on Facebook and Linkedin? Re-tweeting can be a low value favour, so don’t expect great rewards in return.

Content Inspiration – What to write for my article?

It’s not always easy to come up with new inspiring content for guest articles, but here are a few tips:

Personal Experiences

Have you been through any interesting processes lately such as new marketing activities, networking events or trade shows? Can you share the success (or failures) of these with other people by telling your own story?

Article and Forum comments

By looking at article comments on both your own and other people’s posts by other readers, can you come up with a new article that answers any frequently asked questions that pop up on a range of posts?

Website content Audit

If you’ve already got content on your own website, or guest posts on other sites check out how much they are been accessed or shared; this will give you a good idea of which types of articles are working best.

Turning to Twitter

You may think that Twitter is treacle for updates, but it truly is a great place for outreach opportunities. The Twitter Advanced search is very powerful and allows you to search for URL’s, tweeters and keywords. This can really help you home in topics and find influential tweeters that may be interested in sharing or publishing your new article.

Analysing Tweets with FollowerWonk

If you want to find the truly best outreach opportunities on Twitter, it’s well worth taking a look a FollowerWonk which helps give a great summary of high value tweeters that you may want to target. Not only will FollowerWonk find the tweeters, it also gives a great summary of their followers, how many people follow them, number of tweets, age of twitter profile and social authority. Social authority like domain and page authority gives an idea of how influential a Twitter user is.

Once you’ve run a search query you can download the followerwonk results to Excel.

Keeping track of outreach opportunities

If you’ve reached out to an editor with an article pitch, try to keep track of your outreach activities in a spread sheet, by doing this you can follow up any older pitches and it ensures you don’t contact the same editor twice! Try to record the following details:

• Outreach method – Facebook message, email or twitter direct message?
• Date
• Pitch – What you’ve sent the editor for consideration
• Website – the URL or the site you’re hoping to publish on
• Result – Has the outreach activity been successful.

Conclusion

It’s important not to get too disheartened with outreach work; it will take time but don’t just think of volume of links alone. You’re more likely to get a better reward for work that you’ve taken your time on and researched. Not only will outreach help spread the word, you could also make some beneficial relationships.

If your article’s content is truly inspiring, it’s very likely to save you a lot of effort in the long term as readers will share it naturally and link back to your work themselves.

About the Author

Neil Cavanagh is the owner of Xpress Data Systems Ltd. He has over 15 years’ experience as Chief Technical Officer in large organizations in both the public and private sector. Having recently launched CamisOnline, a production management tool, Neil is actively contributing advice to help businesses thrive on the web.

Article Contributed by John Boudreau

Most small businesses have enough trouble keeping up with the fierce foursome (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+) of the social media world, let alone thinking of ways to reach web visitors with images. The good news is this: you can handle it all. With just a little bit of planning and some understanding, you can be a social media guru, too!

First things first, you might be thinking: what does Pinterest and Instagram have to do with selling something? Well, you’ve heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” before, haven’t you? If you could use a photo to get your marketing message across, then why not try it! People respond well to graphics and images, and as a business owner, you want just that: a positive response.

The Social Media 4-1-1

Before I delve into some strategies you can implement to take advantage of photo-based platforms, let’s get up to speed on the basics of each platform.

Assuming you understand the fierce foursome already, let’s skip right to Instagram and Pinterest.

Instagram

• Instagram is an image-based social network.
• Users can access the social network on Smartphone devices, as well as their computers – however, they can only post images through their phones.
• Instagram accounts can be linked to users’ Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Users take photos on their iPhone or Android devices and can choose filters and borders before posting. Instagrammers can tag friends and followers, use hashtags, and blast out their images on their other social media networks.

With well over 100 million users (and counting) Instagram is on fire! With trends such as #tbt (Throwback Thursday), users have integrated the network into their daily lives.

Pinterest

• Online pinboard where users can curate content – complete with back-links within images.
• Users of the site “pin” photos of things they find online to their personal pinboard and others can “re-pin”, “like” and comment on those photos.
• The most popular pins relate to food, homes and children.
• The social network has been praised for being highly engaging and rapidly growing – it was the fastest website ever to break through the 10 million unique user mark.

When it comes to Pinterest, the most important thing to note is this: when people visit the site, they stay there. The average time spend is nearly 15 minutes per visit – users are engaged and they’re also motivated to visit other sites from Pinterest.

From January to February 20132, referrals increased from .85% to 1.05%.

Implementing a Strategy

Now that I’ve convinced you to add another platform or two to your social media strategy, you are probably wondering how you can do that. First, we’ll talk about best practices and ideas for your own content generation, and then we’ll touch on a system for managing your new strategy.

Photo-Worthy Best Practices

Start with some research. Search for your products on Pinterest and Instagram. Note which hashtags users are associating with them. Make use of those tags when you upload your own unique content. Find out two important things:

• What are people interested and engaged with?
• Where is there a lack of quality, engaging content? Can you provide your expertise?

Remember, although your end result is to sell something (of course, you are a business owner after all), you also want to think like a customer. The more you can engage the customer, and provide them with information and content that they want to be viewing, the better off you are at building a relationship. And when it comes to successful marketing strategies, relationship building is half the battle.

Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas that you can utilize on both Pinterest AND Instagram:

1. Infographics – Your company can utilize these to demonstrate statistics, fun facts, and other relevant information to your industry.
2. Photo Challenges – This can help your business reach out to existing clients as well as prospective clients. It does cost less to retain a customer then to earn a new one after all, right? With Fall approaching, maybe you want to start a photo challenge – what house is ready for the Fall with the best décor? Popular back to school outfits you found for less while shopping? Create your own hashtag for your company and encourage people to get involved by tagging their photos with it (and sharing on ALL of their social networks) and get people involved!
3. Connect To Local Events – When something is going on in your community, or at your business, the photos can be worth more than a lengthy email or newsletter. Show off what you’re doing.

How can I manage all of this at once?

I have two words for you: editorial calendar.

• An editorial calendar is a useful tool that can include all relevant information for curation and production of content for your social media marketing strategy.
• Use an Excel spreadsheet to get started.

What should you include?

1. Who – is responsible for this task?
2. What – type of content/image/strategy are you looking for?
3. Where – Is this going to placed (what platform)?
4. When – Will this be posted?
5. Why – is this going to help with the marketing effort of your company?

Ready, Set, Go!

Getting started is as easy as committing to creating the calendar. So get out there, do some research, and get excited!

Remember, your marketing efforts need to be focused on where your target market is – if social media is how to engage them, then what are you waiting for?

About the Author

John Boudreau, COO and Co-Founder of Astonish, has been in the insurance marketing and technology business for nearly 10 years. He works closely with local insurance agencies across the country to increase their share of the digital landscape through online marketing. For more ideas on using Pinterest in your business, check out Astonish Results reviews Pinterest, part of a blog series on the newer social media platforms. Before Astonish, Boudreau honed his problem-solving abilities while working as an environmental analytical chemist. He also founded Ion Marketing Group, a digital marketing company focused on the real estate industry. An avid musician, John plays the drums, the bass and the guitar.

Is your company making the most of the opportunities live shows and exhibitions offer? Exhibition marketing gives you the chance to approach new clients, increase brand awareness and cultivate business relationships – so why aren’t you making the most of it? The shows are a chance to hand out promotional products and branded merchandise and make more of an impact before your next big corporate event, so should be crucial dates in your calendar. If you’re keen to attend an event in the near future but you’re unsure of how to approach it, you needn’t worry; Stay Sourced promotional idea specialists have compiled this best practice guide to help you get the most from exhibition marketing this year… 

Scout motto: Be prepared

Preparation is key when it comes to live shows and it can take quite some time, as there’s a lot to consider. With human resources needed to organise the logistics of setting up an exhibition stand and putting together the perfect team – not to mention accumulating the merchandise, the biggest mistake you could make would to be leave it all until the last minute. If you act fast and give yourself enough time to plan ahead, you’ll have an increased chance of reaching your marketing goals this year with quality products. 

Where’s the ROI?

In order to be able to give yourself a reasonable budget, you must first have a clear objective. This will help you to plan your marketing activities and be able to put them into action cost effectively. You also need to determine what you want to achieve while you’re there, whether it be to simply raise brand awareness or to win more clients. This will help you to effectively plan your promotional giveaways. Knowing your final goal will help you to assign how much value it will return, which will help you to set how much investment will be required. 

Sing from the same hymn-sheet

Exhibition marketing is not just about handing out giveaways and branded items, it is a chance to present to potential customers and clients a professional, legitimate and friendly team. Appearances are very important, so investing in branded clothing such as polo shirts and promotional jackets available from Stay Sourced bearing your company logo that match your exhibition stand design and any promotional material will ensure people will recognise who you are and what you do at a glance. 

Stand out for the right reasons

If your company boasts a dedicated environmental policy as one of its key selling points, choosing an eco-product is likely to make people smile. On the other hand, passing out countless ill-designed flyers that are only likely to make it as far as the bin may make them scratch their heads and question whether that policy is just there to make you think more of them. Exhibitions are crowded spaces, so choosing products that people are more likely to pick up will help you to be remembered well into the future. 

Exhibition marketing does not have to be over complicated, in many ways it all boils down to good old fashioned politeness. Having an attractive exhibition is one thing, but having approachable people around them is priceless. If you create a comfortable environment this will put people at ease and allow them to take in the message you are trying to convey. It is also important not to have too many people as this would be over crowded. Less is sometimes more, so always keep this in mind when planning your exhibition and the staff that will be representing. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, planning is the absolute key to successful exhibition marketing.       

Consideration was provided for the editing and publising of this article.

Interviews can be a great way to understand and share the expertise of authority figures within your industry. To your readers, you give them access to the knowledge and know-how of veterans that have plenty to share which can be used in their efforts. As a site owner, you too gain a benefit because it helps build a working relationship with the individuals and, in many ways, allow you to create a sense of authority within your niche because of the association with said person.

Step 1: Choose the right service

There are many, many services at your disposal if you’re conducting interviews. Programs such as Skype can be a great starting point. Google+ hangouts, too, are a great alternative. If you’re trying to do a group interview and need to make an international conference call then you may want to seek professional hardware that can handle the load.

The best service is the one that works for your purpose.

Make sure it can handle the call and that you’re able to record the conversation.

But, before you can begin, make sure every individual in the interview knows that their voice may be used within your business which may have products, services, or offers. Putting this information on the table, figuratively, will prevent any hassle and let everyone know what’s to happen.

Step 2: Identify the key players

Spend the next day weeding through your list of contacts, top ranking websites for your industry, known authorities, published authors, and anyone you feel would be an ideal candidate for an interview. The goal, here, is to go after the ‘big guns’; they’re the ones that command a huge audience (you’ll want to get in front of these individuals).

Then do the following:

·  Begin lurking on their website and keep track of their projects and insights

·  Slowly integrate yourself into their community by joining conversations & providing feedback

·  Send over an email (or call them) with your idea for an interview

Yes, this takes just three steps but each is vital.

The first two, joining the community, will allow you to understand the individual so you can make an accurate guess as how to approach them. The latter is simply getting in touch. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find many individuals completely open to the idea of an interview because they’re easy to conduct, quick to produce, and can quickly grow their brand because it extends their reach.

Step 3: Ask the hard-hitting questions

Now is the time to ask the hard-hitting, difficult questions (depending on your interview-type, of course).

Traditionally, you’ll see many interviewers dodge a lot of the tough questions because they have a fear they may anger the interviewee but the problem, with this, is that you end up getting the same interview they’ve already done because it often involves the same questions.

Instead, let go of the ego and status and begin asking the questions you want to hear. Better yet, let your community know you’ll be holding an interview and have them submit the hard questions. The point is to get the most out of the interview which is often buried beneath the fluff.

Step 4: Edit and package the recording

Once the interview part is said and done it’s time to move onto editing.

Editing, contrary to your gut reaction, is actually quite easy using tools like Audacity (free) or premium programs like Adobe Audition. Whatever your choice it just comes down to cutting off the pauses in the front and back of the recording; you may also want to remove certain sections if the conversation goes off the rails.

To add some extra “oompf” you can purchase stock audio and create an introduction for the recording which will add a layer of branding (which is always helpful for your projects and efforts).

Export the piece in a format such as .MP3 and you’ll now be ready to begin sharing it!

Step 5: Publish and share to your network

Lastly, it’s time to push the interview live to your community (and the rest of the Web).

Some of the actions you may want to take include:

·  Writing a blog post with the interview (along with show notes and a transcript)

·  Reworking the audio into a video format for sites like YouTube or Vimeo

·  Taking the best quotes and information and sharing them through a slideshow on SlideShare

·  Updating all of your social media accounts with the new recording

·  Contacting your close network to encourage the initial sharing

There are many different platforms to share your interview and plenty of options to change the format and media so take full advantage of these options if you wish to have it distributed as far as you can.

Bonus: Do a follow up

Go back and thank the individual, see if they have anything else to add, and leave a passing note before you write off the interview and put it into the archives. The goal is not just to have some content to publish but to build a relationship with this individual which may sprout into a profitable opportunity whether it’s working with them, directly, or simply gaining advice and feedback that will allow your projects to flourish.

As you can see – doing interviews isn’t entirely difficult. All you need to do is make the leap to audio and you’ll unlock an entire world of fresh opportunity to reach your audience (and the people that are movers and shakers in the industry).

Article contributed by Jenna Smith

I’ve recently read a book title “The Most Important Thing”written by Howard Marks, aimed at stock traders and investors the book is designed to help the reader think like the major players in the world of investing.

One of the key aspects of the book is to adopt the second level thinking methodology which requires you to dig deeper and think differently to everyone else. I realised that the second level thinking mantra can in fact be implemented into a sales strategy too.

Sales qualification is about understanding the deep underlying problems and aspects of the customers’ needs and business, a lot of sales people tend to drop the ball at this point. Whilst the majority of sales professionals asks the mediocre questions that really offer no information, the exceptional sales people have realised that this is when you ask the deep questions to dig deeper.

The exceptional sales person will zero in on the questions which may seem awkward at first, but are designed to fully understand if the person has authority, money or time to carry on with the negotiation process. At this point the sales person should consider the answers and if in fact the negotiations should be saved for another time or carried on with.

First level thinkers – “Can you pass on what we’ve just spoken about to whoever is in charge?”

Second level thinkers would ask – “Do we need to have a conversation or include anyone else at this stage that will have decision making power?”

First level thinker – “What’s the potential of getting the decision maker to sign this off?”

Second level thinkers – “Are you in the position right now to make this a commitment?”

First level thinking is superficial and every sales person does it, chances are you’ll see the customers eyes glaze over due to the same questions being asking over and over again. The problem starts with the mentality of the sales person as they believe the questions they are asking are of relevance, in reality these answers can all be obtained further down the cycle.

To think on a second level basis you need to consider and take on board the following:

– What us the likely outcome in terms of pricing?

– Which price is most likely to be agreed upon?

– What are the chances I’m right?

– What are my competitors doing differently?

– Are my expectations different from my competitor?

These are just some general considerations to think of in your next cycle, the idea being that once you’ve understood and practicing going through these thoughts you can create a long term habit.

As the customer shops around with your competitors they’ll be inadvertently asked the same questions over and over again, think of the old style of insurance quote process before the comparison websites, which will make them loath the questions and the person asking them.

Asking the thought provoking questions tends to ignite the thought processes of a customer, second level thinking gives you the chance to ask the deep questions which provide you with answers that can be followed up with a new set of questions.