• What To Become An Expert In. (Hint: It’s Not Twitter). http://bit.ly/ddzfif #

May Lunch & Learn Attendees

Lunch & Learn August 25th, 2010

Are you looking to generate buzz for your book and speaking events using your web presence? Would you like to simplify the time spent on updating content, social media profiles, sending emails and generating leads? Did you know there’s an easier way?

Join Better Way to Say It and industry experts as we discuss the top 10 cost-effective methods to drive more traffic to your website and how to convert these visitors into loyal, revenue-generating fans.

Gain an overview of how to prioritize your online marketing efforts, simplify your marketing plan and focus on what works. We’ll also talk about content syndication, how to cross-sell and up-sell to your existing database, and how to use customer feedback to inspire trust to build your brand.

Other topics include social media marketing, utilizing email marketing, search engine optimization, tapping into your eco-system, and much more!

WHEN: Wednesday, August 25th, 2010, 12 p.m. to 2:00 p.m

WHERE: Whetstone Group, 3934 Murphy Canyon Road Suite B-200 San Diego, CA 92123 Map | Directions

RSVP required – space is limited!

Cost: $25

RSVP or More Information: (619) 962-2211 or info@betterwaytosayit.com

This talk is about a proven process that can produce a 400% to 2000% marketing return on investment for independent professionals and service businesses. We will cover:

• The Top 10 ways to generate buzz online that you may be missing
• How not to be a well-kept secret
• The #1 reason most Web sites wimp out
• Why blogging is essential and easier than you think
• Three email strategies that turn cold prospects into warm leads
• Top tricks to untangle the social media headache
• The do’s and don’ts of link-building for search engine results
• your questions and problems in a interactive session

Whether you know it or not, if you’ve had any marketing professional advise you on marketing in the last year or two, they probably pointed you in the direction of Content Marketing. It’s a bit of a new term, but it covers a pretty obvious idea, one you see everywhere around you once you know the phrase.

Per Wikipedia, “Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. In contrast to traditional marketing methods that aim to increase sales or awareness through interruption techniques, content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty better than traditional marketing techniques.”

The team here at Better Way to Say It is 100% devoted, in-love-with, committed to the idea of Content Marketing. It’s in our name, in every one of our Marketing Action Plans, and the core element behind the success of our clients. It’s proven, relatively simple to do, and can have quick ROI. It’s the reason we set up SMART Blogsites, the “secret sauce” behind our successful SEO campaigns, and the meat of every email campaign we advise on. Content is what makes your customers love you, and trade their trust and dollars for your expertise and insights. Even top marketing guru Seth Godin agrees that “Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left” (via the always-spot-on Junta42).

Here’s the kicker: it’s not for everyone. Not every company has a wealth of expertise ready for public consumption. And the effort it takes to dig up, edit and create that content is sometimes just too much. Unfortunately, it’s the reason you see so many “dead” blogs and receive some “monthly” email newsletters only once a year.

We’ve spent a lot of time this past years preaching the virtues of Content Marketing, educating new converts, and trying to encourage, cajole and beg them to keep at it. Keep posting those blogs. Keep sending out that newsletter. Stay active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Keep writing white papers, ebooks, how-to reports and the like. We even create tools and technology and support systems to help them do it.

But if your heart isn’t in it, it just won’t work.

You can’t hire out someone to blog for you 100% of the time. You can’t replace your own thoughts with a ghost-tweeter or a Facebook stand-in. Without at least a nugget of an idea from you, even the best social media gurus are often left posting  generic, useless stuff, because it’s missing the content from the real expert about your business – you.

So we’re drawing a line in the sand here at Better Way to Say It. We’re still excited to share what we know about Content Marketing with anyone who wants to listen. But starting very soon, you’ll see a shift in our marketing towards a new type of client – authors & speakers. We believe that the people who will ultimately succeed at Content Marketing have to love sharing their ideas. They have to be committed already to pouring their expertise onto the page and into the microphone.

Content Marketing fails when sharing your expertise and insights gets lost behind other priorities. If you love to share, we can’t wait to hear from you!

• RT @Smallbiztrends 9 Things to do Before Entering Social Media http://bit.ly/aWxjYA #
• Three Easy Steps to Add Podcasts to Your Blog http://ow.ly/1qEviY RT @junta42 #

• The Office is dead (mostly)! RT @ThisIsSethsBlog http://bit.ly/bsVC6x #
• Pay Peanuts, Get Monkeys – Savvy B2B Marketing http://bit.ly/a8BR42 #
• Great post from @myerman on secrets to being a "hired gun" http://post.ly/f99N #

1. Shorter wins. Studies show that the internet is changing the way we read – Keep text short and easy to scan
2. Use bullets and numbered lists for groups of three or more ideas
3. Write a solutions-driven headline – make the benefits obvious

Bonus #4: Remember that the test of good marketing material is whether it adds value – make sure you’re adding something useful to the conversation, rather than selling.

What other tricks do you use to keep your posts interesting?

• So excited about the newly launched Content Marketing Institute! Well done, @Junta42 – http://bit.ly/abfnfh #

This guide from the smart folks at Hubspot has 15 different examples of companies using Facebook for Business, and doing it well. There are some great tips for anyone thinking about venturing into that space: Facebook Guide for Business

That said, we often tell clients to remember that most people are in “weekend” mindset when they get on Facebook, so even if you’re a serious, B2B company, you’d better be prepared to lighten up, break into business casual mode, and show some personality. A dry, brochure-type Facebook page isn’t going to get you far!

We’re always advocating the use of article syndication for our clients, both because of the “added eyeballs” on your content and for the SEO value. So when I recently came across this list of Top 50 Article Directories By Traffic and Pagerank, updated daily, I was thrilled. Here’s a link to the most recent version: http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php.