Category Archives: Content Marketing

10 Social Media Tools You Can’t Live Without – Ian Cleary

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Ian-Cleary-PinterestReading, commenting, sharing, and curating content isn’t always easy. Ian offers solutions to this issue.

Getting the most out of your own content, or other content can save you time and money. 

In today’s episode, we turn to social media expert Ian Cleary, who has used various social media tools to curate his content, and help his audience share theirs.

We talk about Ian’s favorite tools, WordPress plugins, and guides to help you get the most out of your content across your social media platforms.

Now, if YOUR favorite social media tool didn’t make it make it into our top ten, be sure to let us know in the comments below!

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Big Ideas:

How did RazorSocial start?

  • Started as a blog focusing on social media.
  • Offered tips and how-tos on social media management tools and analytics tools.
  • Now a business that offers social media advice to other companies, as well as offering valuable content to their audience.

What are your favorite social media tools?

  • 1. Post Planner: Installed within Facebook, it helps manage page content, scheduling content, and is also a content discovery engine. You can search keywords by like or share popularity. This gives you thousands of status update ideas as well as the ability to schedule shared posts in a queue.
  • 2. & 3. Feedly w/ Buffer: Track content across many blogs. Subscribe to blogs within Feedly and then read content on your desktop or mobile device. Buffer integrates to save you time by letting you schedule content sharing at a later date.
  • 4. Social Oomph: Automate distribution of older evergreen content (content that’s still relevant despite it’s age). Use this tool to recycle your evergreen content so relevant Twitter content recycles and thus gives you a chance to pull in more audience and shares.

What are your favorite WordPress plugins?

  • 5. OptIn Monster: A pop-up that helps build your email conversions. It won’t appear unto you mouse over a specific area of intent or if you try to exit the website.
  • 6. WordPress SEO: Helps you identify what to change or edit within your posts and pages to optimize your keywords for search engines.
  • 7. Flare: Social sharing plugin that will follow user as they scroll on the left or right side of screen. Helps people actively share your content on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit and more.

Any other social media sites or resources you recommend?

  • 8. Agora Pulse: A Facebook management platform that has lets you manage many applications. You can even run a Facebook competition and test it before it goes live. It’s like ShortStack, but with more management options.
  • 9. ScoopIt: Helps you find people that have already curated content. You can follow them to see their best content and then share it with your audience as well as post your own content to broaden your reach.
  • 10. Mention.net: A media monitoring, community management, and analytics tool. Great for small businesses to monitor social media chatter from an audience or niche. Learn what your audience or competition is saying about your brand by keyword and venue. Great for targeting industry keywords as well as giving you ideas for new content or business opportunities.
  • Social Media Tools Guide (from Razor Social): A free e-book that has a list of social media tools. Offers steps to set up these tools and how to manage them.

Juicy Links:

Rich Brooks
The Original Social Media Tool

How Content Marketing Gives You an Unfair Advantage

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Joe PulizziWe’re constantly competing for our ideal customers’ attention, so the idea of marketing less to sell more might seem, well, crazy.

It may seem even more crazy, coming from content marketing evangelist, Joe Pulizzi. After all, his entire business is built on the idea of creating content.

He runs the Content Marketing Institute. He is the founder of Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing event on the planet. The first two books he co-authored were called “Get Content Get Customers” and “Managing Content Marketing.” He followed that up with his newest book, “Epic Content Marketing.” 

He even has a tattoo of content marketing somewhere on his body.*

So if you’ve got a question on content, it’s best to start with Joe. Which is why I asked him to join us on this week’s episode of The Marketing Agents Podcast.

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Big Ideas:

  • Create an emotional connection with your customers. Do this by creating compelling, relevant content that helps them solve a problem or live a better life.
  • Sell more by marketing less. Most marketing info is about “us” as a business. Instead, create a content strategy that starts with the customer and their problem that needs solving.
  • Think like a publisher and less like a business. Instead of constantly pitching yourself, position yourself as the go-to resource for your customer.
  • Find and focus on your niche. Talk to your customers to find out what their problems are. Narrow your focus on your audience. Who are they? Focus on one persona. Use Google Trends to go small with your niche. The more in-depth and niche-focused you are, the faster you will grow and reach your audience.
  • Create a marketing mission statement. 93% of businesses do content marketing, but few have a strategy. Who are you talking to? What are you going to deliver? Everything has to be useful. What is the outcome for your audience? Understanding this helps you focus on your customer and creating better content.
  • Own your content platform. Don’t put all your content on a platform you down own (Facebook, for example.) Own your own database. Blogs are great for a subscription strategy approach. Use social channels to distribute content.
  • Use SEO for market research. Use 50 top keywords and compare to customer pain points. Incorporate these words into your posts and topics. Search for expertise if you don’t have it.
  • Consider mobile. Your content must be digestible on mobile devices. Make sure it’s readable. 
  • Don’t have time? Make it. If you don’t put attention on content marketing, opportunities will pass you by. Consistent, compelling content is very important to your success. It warrants your time. Content marketing done right has a long shelf life.
  • Don’t produce too much content. Focus on a channel or niche that you can truly be great at. Start with a simple strategy and move forward from that. 
  • Outsource as necessary. Don’t have the inhouse talent to create compelling stories? Look at industry trade magazines and look for freelance journalists and writers. Turn content into a compelling story with editorial pros. 

 Juicy Links:

Rich Brooks
Content Marketer

* Totally not true.

Create Knowledge Based Products for Leads and Profits with Denise Wakeman

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Denise WakemanThere are plenty of benefits to creating knowledge based products…you can use them to establish your credibility, generate leads, and create additional streams of revenue for your business.

In this episode of The Marketing Agents Podcast, I speak with online marketing expert Denise Wakeman about two of her specialties: creating a business blog that generates leads and how to turn everyday content into knowledge-based products that people will be willing to pay for.

Whether you’ve been looking to build a powerful, lead-generating business blog, or create your first Kindle book, this episode has everything you need and more!

Please subscribe directly at iTunes so you don’t miss any future episodes! And if you’re already a subscriber, please consider giving TMAP a juicy 5 star rating and review…those reviews help us reach a wider audience and let us know you’re listening…and enjoying! Thanks. 🙂

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Big Ideas:

  • Start with a blog. Too often businesses feel overwhelmed where to start with social media. Denise recommends a blog because it’s your home base, and unlike social media platforms, you own it.
  • Determine your topics first. Topics become categories and you should have five posts ready to go in each category before you start.
  • Use “social” to drive traffic and build your list. While you don’t own these channels, they are critical tools to drive traffic to your blog.
  • Create additional streams of income with knowledge-based products. Anything you’ve written or recorded can be turned into a product. Blog posts can be turned into a Kindle book. Interviews can become audio products. Transcripts of interviews can be turned into ebooks.

Show Notes:

  • The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference: Whether you come to Maine or watch in the comfort of your own home or office, be sure to check out the 2nd annual conference all about search, social & mobile marketing! Save $25 on your physical or digital pass with the discount code TMAP. 
  • Evernote: The most popular tool for keeping track of ideas for blog posts (and everything else.)
  • Editorial Calendar (WordPress Plugin): Great for managing multiple authors, or just keeping track of upcoming posts for your own blog. 
  • Triberr: The network Denise uses to help promote blog posts and other topics. 
  • Denise Wakeman: Be sure to check out Denise’s home base and sign up for her newsletter!

Rich Brooks
Digital Marketing Consultant

Improve Your Impact Equation with Chris Brogan

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Chris BroganTo build your business should you be shoring up your weakness, or exploiting your strengths?

In this episode of The Marketing Agents Podcast, we explore where to put your focus, developing a platform, and owning the inbox. 

We’ll also talk about how to get your adoring audience to pony up for paid content after they’ve been lapping up all your free stuff, and where Ricky Gervais went wrong.

Plus, don’t forget to stick around for the end of the podcast for a special offer for TMAP listeners!

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Big Ideas:

  • The Impact Equation: 

    Impact = C x (R + E + A + T + E)

    C= Contrast

    R = Reach

    E = Exposure

    A = Articulation

    T = Trust

    E = Echo

  • Play to your strengths. You need to look at each one of the elements in the Impact Equation, and determine where your strengths lie. Focus on those as they will have the biggest impact on your impact.
  • Get a platform. Without a platform you own, you don’t control your destiny.
  • Own the inbox. It’s where most of us start and end our day. It has its limitations (Google doesn’t care about it and there’s little social proof in an email delivered to you), but it’s a powerful one-on-one communications tool.
  • Create an emotional connection with you audience. Use storytelling to connect. Chris gave the example of the two types of recipe books, one that’s all about recipes, and one that tells a backstory.

Show Notes:

  • The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference: See Chris Brogan keynote the 2nd annual conference all about search, social & mobile marketing! Save $25 on your physical or digital pass with the discount code TMAP. 
  • Chris Brogan: Where you can find all things Broganesque. 
  • 30/30: Chris recommends this powerful productivity app for iOS.
  • Work Like You’re On Vacation: A six week course delivered via email, run through Chris’s Human Business Works (by friend Rob Hatch), that provides you with a framework for more focused, productive work habits that are based on how YOU work. 
  • Marvel Unlimited: Think Netflix for Marvel Comics. 

Rich Brooks
Strengthening My Strengths

Michael Stelzner On Creating Content That Grows Your Business

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Michael StelznerHave you ever wondered if you can really grow your business through content creation? 

In this week’s episode, Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner and author of the book Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition, shares with us the secrets of how your business can create valuable content that will attract an audience and build your business.
 
From fire starters to different types of content fuel, you’ll discover how to grow your business by creating the right type of content.
 
And be sure to check out the show notes below for an amazing deal on Social Media Success Summit & The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference!
 
 

Big Ideas:

  • There are two types of content “fuel” that will propel your business to success: primary fuel and nuclear fuel.
  • Primary fuel can be used regularly and liberally. These include how-to’s, case studies, news and so on.
  • Nuclear fuel creates a big splash. These are in depth reviews, longer format content, industry surveys and more. They take too much time to create regularly, so space them out and consider using them if you’re trying to reach a goal for opt-ins or registrations.
  • Use “fire starters” to quickly build your reach. Fire starters are the people who have access to the audience you are targeting. 
  • To market your content without being pushy, consider looking for guest blogging opportunities to leverage existing audiences, as well as asking your current readers to share your content with their networks. 

Show Notes:

  • Use this link to grab your Social Media Success Summit tickets and get a free digital pass to The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference! That’s a $149 ticket to AOC for free! If you grab your ticket for SMSS by Friday, August 16th, you can save an additional $320 off your ticket to the world’s largest online social media conference.
  • Check out Social Media Examiner, the daily blog with great how-to content on social media marketing. 
  • Be sure to subscribe to Mike’s Social Media Marketing Podcast on iTunes…required listening if social media marketing is part of your job!
  • And if you haven’t yet, please head on over to iTunes and give The Marketing Agents Podcast a review! We appreciate any feedback you’ve got. Thanks!

Rich Brooks
Content Creator