Category: Social Media

October 20, 2016

Create A Step-by-Step Plan for Marketing Your Business Next Year

Are you overwhelmed at the thought of a marketing your business next year?

Do you wonder if your marketing efforts with your website, email list and social media are effectively reaching “your” audience?

With 2017 right around the corner, wouldn’t you love to plan out your online marketing priorities for the year and know exactly what’s coming and how to make it happen?

NOW is the ideal time to ensure you start the new year off right!

On Friday, November 11th join me and Kate Schell of Digital Marketing Momma for a LIVE in-person workshop as we breakdown the 4 major areas of overwhelm and confusion that most entrepreneurs face in marketing their businesses online.

In this 3-hour hands-on planning workshop, we will help you:

Identify Your Ideal Audience – do you know who you are talking to/trying to reach?

• Who is your target audience?

• do they want and need from you?

• What does the marketplace look like?

Create a Marketing Calendar – it’s time to get dates and deadlines on your calendar NOW!

• Using worksheets we will clearly define your business goals so you know the end results you are working towards

• Plan out your work/life calendar to see when you can plan key dates, campaigns and promotional opportunities and give yourself the space to prepare and create.

• Determine what your primary marketing efforts should be. This will help you focus solely on the places and opportunities that will generate engagement and revenue.

• Understand what resources you will need based on your goals. By creating this list you will not have to scramble last minute.

Identify the Most Engaging Content – what is the ideal information you want to share or promote using your online marketing?

• Brainstorm ideas for what the most compelling, engaging and valuable information you can be sharing with your target audience.

• Narrow down and prioritized the most effective and efficient way to develop/create/curate your content marketing.

• Get a complete list of popular programs and resources to use to help your content creation and curation easy and fast.

Develop a Content Strategy Plan – so you know what to do when for the entire year!

• Map out your content calendar.

• Learn how to determine the right time to post and how best to connect with the right people for your business.

• Plan how to review and measure your marketing efforts to find areas that work and areas that need improvement, so you know where to spend more or less time, money & resources.

After this workshop, you will walk away with a clearer understanding, strategy and plan of how to reach your ideal audience as well as the steps and tools you need to do so to rock your business next year!

What are you waiting for? Register now (and get the discounted rate before November 4th) as there will be limited seating to keep this as interactive, dynamic workshop as possible.

Date: November 11th, 9:00am – 12:30pm
Where: Stamford Innovation Center
175 Atlantic St, Stamford, CT 06901

Cost:
$99 -discount price before November 4th
$149 – regular price after November 4th

REGISTER NOW!

Interested in the event, but can’t attend due to date or location? Let me know by email as we will be planning a virtual workshop soon.

September 7, 2016

How To Write a Blog Quickly

Here’s some great advice from my friend Kate at Digital Marketing Momma...

Do you want to blog for your business, but can’t find the time to sit down and write?

Almost everyone I know who runs their own business struggles with the same thing. Writing content.

Challenges:

What to write about
Finding time to write it
Getting people to read it and share it

We all face this. Even if you love to write, it can difficult!

I came across this post the other day from Huffington Post and I wanted to share why this type of content and blog strategy is brilliant and a great way to get content out there quickly.

This was posted on August 24, 2016.

Stephen Colbert Has Finally Figured Out Hillary Clinton’s Illness

To date this post has been shared, 2.8k times and the actual youtube video that was posted by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was viewed 1,232,310 times. WOW!

Here’s what I love about this post.

The author focused on a very trending, hot topic at the moment. Hillary Clinton’s health during this wacky election. This has been all over the news lately and all the media outlets are obsessing over it. So, his choice of topic was spot on for what’s happening now.
The content is obviously of interest since it’s being shared and “liked”.
It probably didn’t take him that long to write it up.

Here’s how you can do this in your own business to post great content at lightening speed. Hate to write? There are ways to make it not so awful!

First you need some inspiration to write about.

Step 1: Start by asking yourself these questions:

Is there anything trending online that’s relevant to your audience? I use an amazing online tool to help me with this. It’s called BuzzSumo. Totally worth my monthly investment. I use it every day!
Is there an upcoming event that your audience needs to know about?
Is there a product launch that could enhance your products or services that you offer?
Did a celebrity jump on board with an endorsement or cause that’s relevant to your business?

Step 2: Go on YouTube and do a search for videos that will help/educate/anger/empower/ease/bring laughter to your audience.

Do a search for your topic/industry/idea and see what shows up first. Find a video that’s from a credible source. TIP: Don’t post a video by someone that could be considered your competitor… Just sayin’

Step 3: Write a short, easy blog about the video.

Tell your audience your thoughts on the video. Give them your opinion. It doesn’t have to be a novel. Just tell them what you are thinking. Add in your expertise and wisdom. Tell them what to do with the content. Share how it can benefit them.

Step 4: Embed the Video on Your Blog Post.

Make sure to cite the source of the video and relevant content. You can see I’ve done it in this post. Give credit where credit is due! You could even go a step further and tag the author and media outlet in your own social media.

Now your turn . . . What’s the hardest part writing blog posts for you? Please share in the comments below. Also, if you need help with content creation or strategy, reach out. We LOVE to come up with plans!

July 19, 2016

Time for a Plan! What, Why and How of Content Planning

Do you find yourself scrambling every day, week, or month, trying to figure out content planning (i.e., what you are going to blog, post or email to your fans and customers)?

How would it feel if you had a schedule and system, where your content was all planned out – so that every day you and your team would know what was posting when? Awesome, right?

Say goodbye to stress and feeling guilty about neglected social media platforms and blogs. Say hello to organization for you and your audience in providing consistent valuable and engaging content that will leave your fans wanting and expecting more.

Let’s dig in to the WHAT, WHY and HOW of content planning:

WHAT is content planning?

Content planning – sometimes known as editorial planning or editorial calendar – is the system of planning out all of the your content (blog posts, promotions, campaigns, newsletters and social media posts) ideally in calendar format (or spreadsheet, or Word docs) so that you are constantly and consistently delivering valuable, timely information to your peeps.

For example, I try to blog at least once a month about something I’ve been working on with clients or something that I think needs explaining to my followers who are interested in learning more about online marketing and social media.

I then create a monthly newsletter to share the most recent blog post(s) and any other recent online marketing and social media news and trends as well as upcoming events. And for my “secret sauce” – try to include a playlist!

Typically, I plan this for the middle of the month, because I’m usually busy at the beginning of the month working on client work (their newsletters, etc.). Then, I share the blog/newsletter on all of my social media posts, for people who might not be on my email list.

Example of my typical content planning:

REPEAT!

That’s a very simplified version of my content planning and scheduling for my blog, newsletter and related promotional social media!

WHY should you plan your content?

The main reasons you should plan your content marketing are:

First, you will eliminate the stress of always feeling like you should be more to communicate with your ideal audience. Once you set up some sort of system, you can rest easy that you have a plan to make it happen.

Second, planning makes it easier for your team (admin, designer, web person) to support you. If you have your content planned out, then you can enlist the support of your team to potentially help with research, images, posts and scheduling, etc. Heck, you may even be able to delegate the whole process. Many hands will make light work, especially when they are working with your new schedule.

Lastly, your audience will love, expect and come to rely on your regularly shared insights and expertise with your blog and newsletter delivery. With consistent content, you’ll become the teacher, adviser and coach constantly engaging and delighting your clients with valuable information that further establishes you as an expert in your field.

HOW do you create your content plan?

First, decide what kind of content will you be creating, curating and sharing? – For some, it’s easier to think about what they want to say, share, teach, or promote. For example, you might have a series of “how-to” videos, timely tips blog posts, a project portfolio or seasonal promotion or campaign with a countdown. If you are stuck, I often tell clients to think about the top 10 questions that they get asked by their clients.

Second, establish when will you be posting and sharing your content – While it’s important to consider how frequent your audience wants to hear from you, it’s equally if not more important to answer the question – how often can you/your team reliably and consistently deliver?

While many “experts” advise that weekly is the ideal frequency to stay in touch with your tribe, I advise starting with what feels like a manageable schedule. You are much better off to commit to a monthly schedule and consistently deliver for a year, than to dive into a weekly commitment and peter out after 2 months.

NINJA TIP – Batch your content if you can

Instead of writing a new blog every time you have one scheduled, consider writing them in batches. Why not bang out 3-4 blog posts then you would be done for the month or the quarter depending on your frequency.

The same can be said for social media content. You should consider posting at least a week’s worth of your social media in advance. This is particularly good for evergreen and/or promotional posts that aren’t tied to news and trending ideas. If you can schedule the bulk of your

SUPER NINJA TIP – Schedule your content

Most of your online marketing platforms like WordPress, MailChimp, Facebook and/or third party apps, like Hootsuite, Buffer, SproutSocial, and CoSchedule all have super helpful scheduling features so you don’t feel tied to your computer when you need to post.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Plan & schedule your online content to be part of your biz activities vs something that won’t happen” quote=”If you can plan and schedule your online content, it will become part of your business activities, instead of an afterthought that never happens.” theme=”style2″]

Sign up below to get your own free Content Calendar from me:

Please share in the comments below what your favorite tips, tricks and tools are for optimum blog and social media content planning. Or connect with me if you need some help planning your content calendar. Now get planning!

June 8, 2016

Social Media 101 for Women Entrepreneurs Event

Let’s talk social media . . .

I’m going to be joining The Summit team for an overview of the top social media networks (including current trends affecting each), with the goal of helping you figure out which are the right ones for your business and how to use them best.

Will you be there, too?

Frustrated and overwhelmed about how to use and manage your social media efforts?
Interested in what’s new with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and all of the rest?
Excited for an up-to-the minute conversation about using the right social media platforms (and time!) more effectively to market your business?

Join me for a fun and engaging conversation about the most popular social media networks and how to make them work for you and your business.

Blogging When You Hate To Write (or You LOVE To Write, But Don’t Have Time)

In this guest post, Kate Schell, aka Digital Marketing Momma shares her best tips on how to come up with ideas for your blog:

Let’s face it!

We are running businesses and families. Time is LIMITED!!

It’s hard enough trying to find time to manage doing the work and juggling kid/husband/life stuff, but we also have to find time to promote, market and share our wisdom with the world so more customers and clients find us and want to hire us.

When I tell people that they “should” blog I can feel their insides groaning. I know because mine do too and I enjoy writing. Blogging feels so….Big.

What do you write about?

It’s going to take a long time?

What if no one reads it and I’ve wasted my time?

Where do I post it?

My challenge with blogging is that usually when creative inspiration strikes, I’m not in the right place to stop everything and write. Like…when I’m making dinner for 4 hungry kids. “Sorry gang here’s some cereal without milk because I forgot to buy it, Mommy’s gonna go write”… Say wha?!?!

Of the flip side – when I do have some time to write, I stare at a blinking cursor for an hour and nothing comes.

Here are some tips!

Tip #1: Remembering a great blog idea

Create a google sheet or excel spreadsheet (for you Microsoft users) that’s called “Blog Ideas”. When inspiration hits and you can’t stop, just add it to this spreadsheet to reference back to when you do have some time.

It can look at simple as this:

Tip #2: Do a voice recording

If you can’t stop what you are doing and add something to a spreadsheet, BUT the ideas are flowing and you need to put them somewhere. If I’m in a jam and need to capture some ideas I plug my earbuds into my iPhone and use “Voice Memos” on my phone.

I wouldn’t trust it for a long recording because if you have a ton of photos, apps or “other” on your phone you may not capture a long recording. But, it’s great for a quick memo. The sound quality is pretty good. Here – listen to my test I did.

If you want something fancier, there are several apps out there that have more features and can save in different formats. Here’s a great article on those apps.

By now you may be saying, “That’s great if I KNOW what I want to write about, but what if I have no idea (or time)?”

Here are some ways to get a blog published if you are stuck thinking of what to write about.

Tip #3: Ask your audience a question and then answer it

I discovered this beautiful book on Amazon.

Inside are some really great ideas that can inspire some creative writing.

For example: let’s say you are a life coach – Ask your audience this little nugget of goodness:

“What do you need changed in your life before you can have more fun?”

Then write a blog, answering that question.

REMEMBER: Blogs don’t have to be insanely long! Think about your readers attention span when writing.

Tip #4: Do a little research:

Go to www.buzzsumo.com and type in your topic you’d like to blog about. The results will be the top shared articles and blogs based on that topic. Use that article or post as inspiration. It’s been shared a lot for a reason. Can you put your own twist on the content?

Tip #5: Go to the search God – Google

In the search bar, start to type a common question your clients or customers ask.

For example: What is an autoresponder?

As you are typing this, Google will make suggestions. Those suggestions are commonly searched questions/phrases/words. That means a lot of people are searching those suggestions. Write a blog post based on those suggestions and put those keywords in the post.

Tip #6: Go to Google Trends

See what’s a hot (or trending) topic. Or see if a topic you want to write about has any interest. You can also get some ideas for other keywords and topics that are popular. (see third image)

Here’s an example using email marketing again:

Tip #7: Go to YouTube:

You can search by trending videos or search by topic. If you are going to use a video, make sure to watch all of it AND make sure it’s not done by someone who could be considered a competitor.

For example: Let’s say you are a Fashion Blogger.

A trending video (today) is a video on Vacation Make-Up

(SOURCE )

You can add the video to your blog and comment on it.

NOTE: MAKE SURE TO ADD THE LINK BACK TO THE VIDEO!!

All you have to write is “SOURCE” and hyperlink it. Then you can use the video. (see below the image above)

TIP #8: Do a quick review on something you use everyday in life or business

Why not write up a quick review on something you love? Is there a certain App that’s made your life easier? Write about it and share the info. Is there a Podcast you love? Tell people about it. If you share on your social media pages, try to tag the person who’s doing the Podcast. You never know, you may get some social media love back.

Try those tips out. See what works for you. Let me know what you think over on our Facebook page!

Best of luck busy entrepreneurs!! Blog away!

XO Kate

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Kate Schell, aka Digital Marketing Momma is an entrepreneur and crazy busy mom to four. Digital marketing, online business models, funnels and sales strategies are her drive and passion in business! She gobbles up anything and everything that has to do with online business and backend technology systems. But her true passion lies in supporting women entrepreneurs in building their businesses and CRUSHING their fears around technology and digital marketing!

Are you overwhelmed at the thought of a marketing your business next year?

NOW is the ideal time to ensure you start the new year off right!

Identify Your Ideal Audience – do you know who you are talking to/trying to reach?

Create a Marketing Calendar – it’s time to get dates and deadlines on your calendar NOW!

Identify the Most Engaging Content – what is the ideal information you want to share or promote using your online marketing?

Develop a Content Strategy Plan – so you know what to do when for the entire year!

What are you waiting for? Register now (and get the discounted rate before November 4th) as there will be limited seating to keep this as interactive, dynamic workshop as possible.

REGISTER NOW!

WHAT is content planning?

WHY should you plan your content?

HOW do you create your content plan?

Sign up below to get your own free Content Calendar from me: