Creating a Content Marketing toolkit

The tools are fun things. If you are familiar with the problem you need to correct, and understand how, when and why to use each tool, they are incredibly useful. They save you time and money and help you to do truly professional quality work. But if you just want to fill a large toolbox full of shiny new tools because you think it is necessary for some vague reason, they are a waste of amazing time and money.

Creating a new content marketing team or a large-scale initiative is like building anything else. If you want to do professional work, you need professional tools and you need to know how to use them. You do not need to start with all the tools, just start with what is most sensible for your team and start from there.

Why you need a content marketing toolkit

Having a standard set of tools helps content creators efficiently develop consistent content. It also helps to promote a clear and coherent vision and definition for your content marketing initiative.

Understand your audience

Different people will use different content tools throughout the organization. Take a moment to think about who should be supported in the creation of quality content. Your list may include:

All content tools must be compatible with user tasks and easy to use, but pay special attention to the tools used by non-content specialists whose main job is not to create or contribute content. Your content marketing toolkit should:

Be available online Encourage staff to interact with online tools, rather than print, to make sure they are using the most up-to-date information. Keep all your tools in one easy-to-access place. Be printable The staff will want to print some tools and save them for easy reference. Allow this, but make the publication date obvious and ask them to periodically check for an updated version. Show only relevant and available tools for each group of users. Create a permission-based access to the toolkit. In this way, you will have a central repository to manage and update, but your users will not be overwhelmed with documents or tools that are not relevant to them. Be clearly qualified as a content marketing tool and part of the larger set of tools. The writing, the visual design and the format should reflect the brand of your organization and the sub-brand of your content initiative. Be sure to model the best content practices.

Provide training

Never assume that people will understand how to use the tools or where to find them, even if it seems obvious. Taking the time to educate your users will help you better understand your needs and obstacles and make them feel involved and included. This will result in better adoption of the tools. Include a review of the content marketing toolkit as part of the welcome process and training for all new employees in each user group.

4 complementary services to keep your clients loyal

How can we stand out from the rest?

The competition has escalated to other levels. Sales are no longer added to a simple exchange of money for their services or products, since the options that consumers have are much broader for each item, which causes different factors to influence when it comes to staying with a brand in particular.

Definitely, what you offer must be of quality or, failing that, present a good and logical relationship between quality and price. But ask yourself some more questions:

How is customer service?

Do they offer several means in case someone wants to complain or clear their doubts?

How do your products arrive? Does the delivery service take too much time?

Is the packaging environmentally friendly?

These are just some of the problems that could squeeze the balance in your favor. It also depends on the target audience.

Four options of loyalty to your customers

Remember that these methods are suggestions that must fit the proposal of your trade.

Communication channel: with the opening of technologies, it is important that it offers its clients the possibility to contact each other in different ways. Today it does not arrive with a telephone or email address, although they are still widely used forms. Facebook and Twitter are excellent communication channels today, WhatsApp also. However, do not open these options if you can not respond within a reasonable time interval and try to avoid automatic responses, with the exception of the greeting and notice that the query will be answered within a specific time frame.

Packaging and delivery: one of the factors that generally defines a sale is the transportation of the product. Be sure to pack the products well so that they arrive at their destination in good condition. If you can add details in the box, such as the inclusion of your logo, much better. On the other hand, that the estimated time of delivery is respected is essential and, in case an inconvenience prevents it, communicate it to the client or offer compensation for the problem. In case your product is intangible, you can automate deliveries, add surprise discount coupons for future purchases and more.

Payment methods: today we have many payment platforms available. Without them, it could mean the loss of a sale. In addition, it is essential that there is the option of payment in installments with the lowest possible interest rate. Publication sales services: some products require them to be installed and many times customers do not know how to do it. You can distribute manuals designed by your company exclusively for them, advise them or even include the installation service in the sale to achieve a better impression and ensure that your next purchase is your first choice. The same happens if the product was damaged prematurely or if the service failed: do not try to deceive the customer, give him a solution. If the warranty expired, you could offer a new product with a small discount to keep it.

All these are complementary services and give their products added value. Sometimes it happens that you can not compete with the price, but with this differentiation.

5 copywriting techniques that affect SEO

OIt is easy to make the mistake of thinking that copywriting and search engine optimization (SEO) are two separate things. Copywriting is for the user; it's about making them act. SEO is for search engines; it's about appealing to their algorithms. In reality, however, copywriting and SEO work together. Consider the following techniques and SEO writing tips when writing for your website.

1. Write to the user first

When we think about SEO, we think about keyword research and the duration of content, but search engine algorithms have evolved. Search engines are more concerned with the authority of their content. They want to know if people trust your content or not. And how do you earn that trust? By focusing on your readers.

This practice will improve readability and make your content more natural and compelling, which both readers and search engines like. In turn, people will naturally link with you, telling search engines that your content is reliable.

In addition, search engines have become smarter. Years ago, they returned results that contained the exact keywords you were looking for. Today, they realize that someone looking for a "cell phone" could benefit equally from the results in "smart phone" or "mobile phone". You do not need to include keywords in your content to classify them for a particular term. In fact, you can be penalized for this. So, while keywords still matter, it's more about relevance than keyword density, and writing first for your audience will mean that these relevant keywords occur naturally.

2. Pay attention to the length of the content

The duration of content is important for users, and that means it is important for search engines. According to the American Marketing Association, the longest articles between 1,200 and 1,500 words have a better performance on search engines on average. Other experts have suggested that you may want to go longer and shoot for a minimum of 1,500 words.

However, it is important to understand why this trend occurs. Google has stated that they do not actually count the words on a page and use it as a ranking factor. However, the duration of the content may affect SEO in other ways by:

Provide more keywords, subtitles and images for search engine robots to track. Increase user usage time on the site, which shows that search engines are reliable. Offer more value to the reader, which means that you will get more shared resources and links to your content. That said, always keep the user in mind. Longer blog articles may have good performance, but the same length for your home page or page may seem daunting. Those longer articles that are classified well in the search engines do not administer it only according to their length; They reach the top by including useful information within their word count.

3. Divide your content by readability

Another way to write for the reader is to divide their content so that it is easy for the eyes. Examples include:

Use of subtitles Write short paragraphs Including images / screenshots Use bold and italic fonts to highlight important points Use bullets or numbered lists Making your content easy for the reader will help increase natural feedback and authority. However, some of these suggestions also attract bots from the search engines.

For example, search engines look at heading labels to determine the hierarchy of their content and which parts are more important than others. Its title uses the H1 tag. Subtitles must use the H2 tag, secondary subtitles use the H3 tag, and so on. (Typically, these settings are found in the format options in your content management system). Using this hierarchy and including keywords in your subtitles will allow search engines to index your site more effectively.

In addition, images can also help with SEO. The use of alt tags and subtitles in the images provides another opportunity to show search engines what your site is about. In addition, the images themselves can be classified in the search engines, and the relevant images surrounded by related text will have a higher rank.

4. Cite influences in your niche

Quoting influential people is not only an effective way to increase the quality of your content, it is also an effective SEO strategy. When you date influential people, link the origin of that quote. External links serve as indicators of the relevance and quality of the content. In addition, they can attract the attention of the sites to which you are linking, which can boost the commitment and encourage links to your content.

As an added benefit, you can use this strategy to approach influential people and let them know that they have been mentioned in their content. Some of them can share it with their audiences to further increase their traffic.

5. Includes a strong call to action

Do not forget that you are not the only one who has control over the optimization of your search engine. Your readers can also take steps to increase your ranking. But how do you get help? Include a strong call to action in your content. Two main routes you can use for SEO include:

Ask readers to share their content on social networks. Although Google does not use social actions to influence rankings, social actions still matter. The more resources you have, the more people you can reach through the web, which will again generate more natural backlinks. You can encourage social actions by including buttons to share when you set up your blog, but you can also encourage social actions through your writing. For example, include click links to tweet your content or ask readers to take your opinion for you can increase actions on Twitter. Encourage readers to leave a comment. Marketing professional Neil Patel says that it's worth responding to blog comments, and that he actually has SEO benefits. The more comments you have on your blog posts, the more text you will have on the page. That means you'll get the range of more long tail keywords. Encourage comments by asking a stimulating question at the end of your blog posts.

_ Robert Mening_  

How can I create new relationships for online marketing?

Search for local networking groups, Meetups, and service organizations where you can connect with others. Whereas the majority of these people will not be directly interested in your specific topic, they will most likely know someone else who is. Often times a personal recommendation goes a lot further than a virtual introduction does.

Now that social media is front and center, make sure that you have spent some time on each of the major players in this arena, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and YouTube. I highly recommend branding your name with each of these, enabling your profiles to be found on page one when someone Googles you.

Successful marketing is all about Know, Like & Trust. When people first arrive at your site as cold traffic they don't even know you, so make sure you put your personality into your writing. Sure, you may lose some people who may not like your style, but these people probably would not have bought through you anyway.

Repayment plan refused cause I earn too much

I have an unauthorised overdraft with HSBC of £220. I started my own company around 18 months ago and have earnt almost nothing in that time. My wife is in a similar position. We have lived off credit cards, family loans and benefits. Both businesses are now turn a corner and becoming profitable. (My wife's very much so and mine to a lesser degree). Even so our actual take home money is still pretty variable. My wife earnt £5k last month but may earn much less this month. I told HSBC about my situation. I suggested that all DDs be removed from that account to my joint account. And that I essentially freeze the account with the unauthorised overdraft sync set up a payment plan for £30 a month with a view to over paying in months where my income was high. Initially they refused as they said my income couldn't be guaranteed as I was self employed. (They refused to even do the questionnaire to see whether I was eligible). I talked them into doing it if my wife's income was also included. They told me the purpose of the check was to see whether I could afford the repayments (of £30 a month). Given that they wouldn't accept a plan when I may earn nothing I overstated my joint earnings a little (£3k a month). This is actually a very possible scenario but it could also be less I just didn't want them to reject me for wanting too little. Anyway after doing the check they told me my income was too high to accept a payment plan and that I had to pay the full amount in 40 days or I would be considered to have defaulted. I cannot pay the sum now. I may be able to in 40 days but cannot guarantee it.

Save money every month

This time last year I was unemployed, broke, and suicidal.

Today, I just got the keys to my first house.

Give it time.

Needed this today

when you hear people preach that it gets better, they aren’t joking. if it’s not better yet, it will be.

this post could literally be saving lives rn and that is why i love this website.