But what have they figured out about content marketing that you haven’t?

When developing your own business’ marketing strategy, it is critical that you study what your competitors are doing currently.  In fact, once you benchmark this information, I recommend you go back and update your research quarterly, so that you always know what they are working on.

This helps ensure you are always one step ahead in delivering the kinds of content that your prospects want, and that no one else is delivering consistently. This will help you stand out from the “pack”, which is the whole goal of marketing.

There are lots of different types of content marketing. What types are your competitors engaged in?

Here’s a sample competitor research template you can use to do your quarterly competitor research.

Now, look down the list and study any gaps.

Is everyone participating on Facebook but no one is blogging?

Is everyone on Linkedin but no one is producing YouTube videos?

Make a point to fill in the gaps, and you will have your content marketing strategy that sets you apart.

Phyllis Neill is the President/CEO and a partner in Buzz12, a content marketing company in Birmingham Alabama.  You can read more of her posts by looking for the “Phyllis Neill Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s blog.

Amazingly the Twittersphere was ablaze with comments such as, “Who are the Beatles?” “Who’s Paul McCartney?”

According to BuzzFeed, some wanted to know whose father or grandfather he was.

In case you don’t know, McCartney is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “most successful musician and composer in popular musical history.”

But the fact that some young people didn’t recognize McCartney speaks to an objection I often receive from some business owners when I propose developing a digital/internet strategy.

Let’s face it, many seasoned (euphemistic for old) business people don’t understand the internet has changed the world and the way we do business.

I hear comments like, “We don’t allow social media in our company.”  Sure, like they have a choice.

Young folks don’t go on-line, they are on-line.  96% of  Millennials have joined social networks.

In a recent survey of more than 2,800 college students and young professionals in 14 countries, Cisco found that more than half said they could not live without the internet, and if forced to choose, two-thirds would opt to have the internet rather than a car.

German company, Bitcom said young people 18 to 29—84% would rather give up their partner than give up the internet.

Businesses will not be able to survive without a strong internet presence.

And while I’m at it, did I mention that Vanna White just turned 55?

David Sher is a partner in Buzz12 Content Marketing.  You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website.

Not yet anyway.

Therefore, Google does not read text or watch videos the way us humans do.

It is up to us to be sure we understand how Google DOES consume text, video, and other forms of content. Then, we have to make it easy for Google to gobble it up.

This article, forwarded to me by friend and SEO expert Rebecca Morrow does an excellent job of giving us pointers in regular human terms on how to make sure Google understands our content, and rewards us properly when we do a good job of content marketing.

And today everyone seems to recommend you write a blog whether you’re a business or just a regular person.

And the number one question asked about writing blogs is, “What am I supposed to write about?”

Susan Weinschenk in her blog What Makes Them Click suggests if you want to build an audience, you should write about food, sex, or danger.

People want to know if they can eat it; have sex with it; or if it will kill them.

However, these topics might not be appropriate for you or your company…unless you’re in the food, sex, or murder for hire business.

So when I’m asked, what should I write about in a blog?  I always suggest to write about those things you have a passion for.

To have a successful blog, you have to post frequently and regularly.  Do you know how much staying power and discipline is required to chug out new blogs week after week?

You better have enthusiasm for your subject matter or you’ll relegate yourself to a task you’ll absolutely hate.

And if your content is not compelling or interesting, you’ll have no audience, or even worse, you’ll define yourself or your business as dreary and dull.

So get to work on your blog.  But please pick subject matter that gets you excited.

David Sher is a partner in Buzz12, a content and reputation marketing company.  You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website

Little did I realize they were attempting to cover up M.I.A.’s slipped finger.

My first thought was MIA was crazy.  But after some reflection, I’m not so sure.

In order to be noticed these days you almost have to be provocative.

I deal with this myself (obviously on a much smaller scale) when I title my blog post.

If I choose an innocuous headline, the readership is limited.  If I push the envelope, the number of readers expands exponentially.

I titled a recent blog, “Forget the media—create your own buzz.”  To date it has received 69 page views.  I had wanted to title it, “Screw the media—create your own buzz,” but I chickened out.  I have many friends in the media and I didn’t want to upset anyone.  However, I bet a more confrontational title would have increased readership.

I recently published a blog titled, “Steve Jobs was a jerk.”  I knew that headline would get some attention and I was correct.  Close to 300 people viewed it.

Everyone’s talking about M.I.A. and that’s got to be good for her career.

As an aside, I was talking to friend at the YMCA this morning about the Super Bowl and he mentioned his twelve year old daughter had never heard of  Madonna.  (Sure makes me feel old)

I’m not condoning M.I.A.’s behavior, but she got what she wanted.

David Sher is a partner in Buzz12, a content and reputation marketing company.  You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website

If yes, then you’ll be interested in reading this article by SiteProNews.com.

There are 10 suggestions they make as to some pretty basic things you can do to drive more traffic organically to your website, and none of them involve spending money on Google advertising.

Now, your time is obviously worth money, so I wouldn’t say that an investment in organic SEO (search engine optimization) is FREE!

I also think you need to give yourself permission to focus on mainly on 3 or 4 of these 10 tips, if you’re just beginning. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and quit.

If I had to prioritize these 10 suggestions in order of the top 3 or 4, I would list them this way:

1. Update website on a weekly basis. The article says daily, but if you’re not updating at all currently, weekly is probably more doable. “Update website” probably means write a weekly blog post.

2. Create content that isn’t time sensitive

3. Think about your customer’s needs

4. Create an informative video.

]]> http://www.buzz12.com/best-ways-organically-get-customers-your-website/feed/ 0 http://www.buzz12.com/everyones-media-everyones-publisher/ http://www.buzz12.com/everyones-media-everyones-publisher/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:00:24 +0000 David Sher http://www.buzz12.com/?p=2781 Once upon a time if you wanted to write a book, you’d find a publisher.  If you wanted to be on TV or be in a movie, you’d have to convince a TV network or movie production company.

If you wanted to tell the world your opinion, you’d have to persuade a newspaper to publish your writings. Or if you wanted to let the world know about your unique singing talent, you’d have to get the attention of a music label or radio station.

Not so much any more.

Now with YouTube, blogs, podcasts, social media, and e-books, everyone has a megaphone to the world.

Not only can you avoid the middle man and reach out to people directly, but they can speak back directly to you.

As a business person, you now have the ability to have the right conversation with the right person at the right time.

This is pretty awesome and pretty scary.

The problem is everyone’s smothered in information.

Since anyone can publish, there’s way too much to read, hear, and consume.

Therefore, you better be pretty darn talented and creative to get anyone’s attention.

It’s like trying to watch a parade.  At first you can stand on your toes to see over the person ahead of you, but when everyone stands on their toes, you can’t see a thing.

With the Internet today you can stand on a chair, but everyone else can stand on their chairs also.

If you want to compete on the Internet, you have no option other than to put time, effort and talent into producing interesting, relevant content.

David Sher is a partner in Buzz12, a content and reputation marketing company.  You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website

How to ‘wear the pants’ in your industry.

Google+ and checking in.

All this and more in The Weekly Buzz!

If you are a BtoB company, you really should be looking to your website metrics for the ultimate decision on whether or not to participate in social media, or content marketing.  This article gives you a few pointers on what to look for.

How do you ‘wear the pants’ in your industry? Have a solid content marketing strategy!

You keep hearing about Google+, but when is the right time to jump in? We’re thinking right about now. This article by Ad Age gives the latest details on all the Google+ advancements, and how it could impact your brand in a positive way.

We all want more clients. We all want prospects to find us easily online.

But what do clients and prospects want?

I’ll tell you what they want. They want INFORMATION.

Relevant, compelling, and targeted information.

Information that quells their fears – the very fears that keep them awake at night.

So, how do you know what keeps them awake at night?

1. Ask them.
2. Follow their conversations online (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin), and deduce it

Once you’re pretty sure what keeps them awake at night, write about how they can solve that problem.  Then, publish that writing for free, either in the form of a blog post, a white paper, a special report, or an ebook.

Creating content (fancy new word for “writing”) not only allows you to give your target prospects exactly what they need to know, but it allows as-of-yet unknown prospects to find you through organic search engine results.

Find out what keeps your clients and prospects awake at night. Know it like the back of your hand. Study it, find resolutions, and talk about them online as often as you can.

That’s what clients and prospects really want.

Phyllis is a Partner in Buzz12 Reputation & Content Marketing.  You can read more of her posts by looking for the “Phyllis Neill Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website.

I’m reading the book, Steve jobs, by Walter Isaacson.

It’s clear Jobs was completely and totally obnoxious.

If Dale Carnegie, the author of How to win friends and influence people, had heard about Steve Jobs, he would turn over in his grave.

According to Isaacson, Jobs classified people either as “enlightened” or “ass holes.”  He thought of others as “the best” or “totally shitty.”

Because Jobs was a vegan, he was certain he didn’t have body odor so he rarely bathed.  He was known to walk into business meetings smelly, barefoot, and prop his dirty feet on a desk.

He removed the license tag from his car so he could park in handicap spaces.

And when Lisa, his out of wedlock daughter, was born, he abandoned her and denied paternity to absolve himself of financial responsibility.

He could have starred in the movie Despicable me.  Need I go on?

And yet, even though Jobs may have been a jerk, he was a genius and will likely be remembered with other greats like Bell and Edison.

He completely transformed personal computers, music players, books, mobile phones,  apps, tablet computers, journalism, movies, and the recording industry’s music model.

I’ve been a business owner most of my adult life and I’ve hired a lot of people.  Jobs attitude and behavior is causing me to have second thoughts about some of the likeable job candidates I selected.

I’ve always tried to hire people who are capable of doing their jobs, but it’s important to me that I like and respect them.

To borrow words from the Girl Scout oath, I want to work with people who are “honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring…respect others, respect authority…”

Well that’s exactly the opposite of Jobs.

Maybe it’s not necessary to like everyone you work with.  Companies might be more successful if they select all kinds of employees—maybe even non-conformists and renegades like Steve Jobs–especially if they are geniuses.

David Sher is a partner in Buzz12, a content and reputation marketing company.  You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website