9 Reasons Why A Blog is Important for Your Career and Life

The word “blog” sounds dull to me.

There is no resonating romance, and trying to attach passion to it is a struggle. I see visions of over-sharers wrestling with technology to publish the mundane details of their everyday lives… but maybe that’s Facebook.

“Blog” originated as slang for “web log.” Those two words were mauled and mangled and out popped “blog”. Try and explain that to a blogger at a dinner party – you just have to love the magic of language, grammar and words. Always evolving.

So why should you blog?

Three motivations are the most obvious.

• A passion project. A blog is your digital portal to share your current passion online. It’s text and multimedia without ink stains or Facebook distractions.
• An entrepreneur’s platform. Maybe you’d like to write professionally, working with brands and advertisers to receive compensation for your creativity.
  
• An expert’s expression. A blog is a place where you distill the experiences, thoughts and ideas that you have learned during your education, career and life journey.

The truth lies hidden somewhere in between.

Still…Why should you?

A successful career and life is based upon being “on purpose.” We all bring our own magic and uniqueness into the world. Your goal in life is to discover what that is, embrace it and share it.

Your blog can be the digital platform where it’s revealed.

To start a blog and continue to create and publish you will need to find the inspiration for the words and ideas.

Inspiration does not emerge from a vacuum. No matter how you twist and turn in a digital and media-rich world powered by Instagram photos and videos, the blog is still driven by words and writing.

Stephen King sums up where the inspiration starts…

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Here are 9 reasons why blogging will make a big impact on your career and life if you are prepared to start the journey to create and publish:

1. Blogs refine your thoughts

Sitting down and distilling your ideas and insights into structured sentences and paragraphs is an art. Wrangling and wrestling those words into shape will produce clarity from the cloud. Make it a practice every day, and magic happens.

2. Blogs reward the creator

Creating is one thing, but publishing is another. Being willing to put your ideas “out there” takes bravery and a willingness to be vulnerable. Doubts may stop you. These include:

• Why would anyone want to read my ideas?
  
• I have nothing new to say.
  

Overcome your fears and publish your creation. Rewards will come. 

3. Blogs amplify your humanity

A blog amplified by social networks with simple-to-use interfaces is the intersection of humanity and technology. It is an extension and amplification of our uniqueness, creativity and content to 7 billion people.

The low-friction sharing will amplify who you are to a world that is waiting to hear your voice. 

4. Blogs connect us to our tribes

Tribes are no longer local but global connections of shared interests and passions. Blogs that are powered by Twitter feeds and online communities allow us to connect to those global tribes… in real time.

Connection with global communities provides insights and networks that can accelerate your learning process, opportunity and success.

You change them and they change you.

5. Blogs give introverts a voice

Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking highlights a new opportunity. The introvert now has a voice. It is estimated that 50% of us fit into that category. If you feel that is you then your blog can be your platform to speak to the world, let your personality shine and be heard. 

6. Blogs reward the “new age” publishers

Blogs are online magazines, books and resources all rolled into one.

A portal for expression, learning and publishing, they validate our creative content by quantifying attention through retweets, comments and sharing.

7. Blogs embrace the experimenters

In the age of print, making mistakes was expensive and time-consuming. With your online publishing platform you can experiment in real time with no financial risk.

8. Blogs accelerate discovery

The low friction of the social web allows content creators to bypass the old gatekeepers of editors and publishers. What took years or decades to achieve that important attention can be done in weeks and months.

9. Blogs open up a world without borders

Opportunity in the past was often limited to “local.” Today your online platform isn’t restricted by geography. The world is now your playpen.

You will grow

The consistent and persistent effort of online creation and publishing is a powerful journey in self-discovery and growth. It will be a career enhancer and a life changer. That willingness to be vulnerable, to make mistakes but keep creating will change you.

It is only through the door of risk that growth can enter.

You just have to start.

Disclaimer: I’m compensated by University of Phoenix for this blog. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The post 9 Reasons Why A Blog is Important for Your Career and Life appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

Podcast to Book Deal: How to Turn Your Passion Into Profit

Do you host a podcast or write a blog? Want to know what it takes to get a book deal? To discover how to turn your content into a book deal, I interview Lewis Howes. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s […]

This post Podcast to Book Deal: How to Turn Your Passion Into Profit first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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What Target Can Teach You About Interactive Video

Halloween is almost here and with it is the likely onslaught of marketing aimed at converting customers in a way that stands out but is still in keeping with the season.

This year, Target is celebrating Halloween with a series of YouTube interactive videos and a mobile app that helps trick-or-treaters’ parents find the best houses.

Last year, the retailer ran an Instagram campaign — Halloween Hills — for the holiday. But this year, Target decided to use a channel from which customers receive inspiration for making costumes, decorations and recipes.

The YouTube series of videos called the “The House on Hallow Hill” was created in-house and includes six videos that use 360-degree technology.

The interactive video kicks off with a typical suburban trick-or-treating evening including costume-wearing kids chattering and running around the streets in excitement. The focus quickly shifts to a creepy-looking mansion — The House on Hallow Hill. A raven apparently steals your phone and you have to get into the house to retrieve it.

Once inside the house, YouTube cards pop up allowing you to explore four scenarios :The Candy Carnival, Dinner with Ghosts, The Ghoulish Graveyard, or Day of the Dead. All are in 360-degree video across mobile, desktop and tablet. At any stage you can stop to “shop the room” for decorations or costumes by simply clicking the ‘i’ button in the top right corner.

You will also receive a 10 percent shopping discount at the end of the interactive video.

“We know that Halloween is an important time of year for our guests,” Angie Thompson, social media PR manager at Target said in a PRWEEK article. “We also know based on our research that there’s a lot of social conversation happening around Halloween several weeks leading up to the day.”

Target is promoting the interactive video campaign using social media channels, including Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The retailer’s Instagram photo about the YouTube campaign is its second-most-engaged post in the last six months, said Thompson.

Besides the interactive virtual reality series, Target has also launched Treatster — a social media platform created by agency 360i. The platform aims to crowdsource information from parents, helping them to map out the “must-visit” houses on each block for their trick-or-treaters. This would include ones with funkiest costumes, spookiest decorations and of course, best candy!

A couple of companies such as Old Spice and Wendy’s are already using the interactive “choose your own adventure” experience to advertise and sell their products. As a small business owner, you could use interactive videos to engage more with your audience instead of just exposing them to passive video content, too.

YouTube currently offers the best interactive user experience because it uses clickable video overlays that other sites currently lack.

Image: Target/YouTube

This article, "What Target Can Teach You About Interactive Video" was first published on Small Business Trends

5 Ways to Create Infographics for Instagram

Want more engagement on Instagram? Have you considered posting infographics? Introducing infographics into your Instagram marketing campaigns will attract more viewers and set you apart from other companies. In this article you’ll find five ways to create infographics for Instagram. #1: Build a Video Infographic From a Series of Charts Videos overwhelmingly beat photos on Instagram. […]

This post 5 Ways to Create Infographics for Instagram first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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5 Ways to Monetize Your Website When Ad Blockers are Present

If you’re a publisher, then you’re most likely aware that ad blockers are doing some damage to your income. In fact, according to PageFair and Adobe, ad blocking is estimated to cost publishers approximately $22 billion in 2015!

Some publishers are actually paying ad blockers like Adblock Plus to unblock ads. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have the budget like Google, Amazon, or Microsoft to go this route. You may even consider just asking your loyal audience members to allow ads after you bring to their attention how ad blockers can harm your business.

Or, you could try one of the following techniques to get around ad blockers and monetize your website – even when they’re present.

How to Get Around Ad Blockers

Sponsored Articles

Publishers have been able to make additional money by either writing or publishing sponsored content in the past. Sponsored articles are simply when you, the publisher, have been paid for an article. Since sponsored articles can get around ad blockers, it remains an option for those looking to monetize their sites.

If a publisher has a strong social media presence and email newsletter, then the options to promote the sponsored article through those channels sweetens the pot for the advertiser.

To keep within Google’s guidelines, disclosures in sponsored articles are recommended. As well as using a tracking URL (with UTM code) or a URL shortener. This not only track the clicks, but also makes sure Google does not consider the link a natural one, which can damage both the SEO of the publisher and the advertiser alike.

Native Advertising

Native advertising is similar to sponsored articles since the ads are meant to replicate the same format or function of a the publisher’s site. The New York Times has been effectively using native advertising since January 2014 through a subdomain to the labeling header. One example was when Netflix sponsored an article to promote its series “Orange Is The New Black” in August 2014. It was an in-depth article that examined the many issues that women prisoners face, which is also explored in the show.

Likewise, alternative ad technologies like StaMedia offer non-traditional forms of advertising, like interactive ads or email signups within the native ad, which are less obtrusive than traditional advertising.

Native advertising can’t be picked up by ad blockers since they are masquerading as editorial pieces. Like sponsored articles, native ads should be of high-quality so that you don’t jeopardize your reputation. Also, there are a number native advertising vendors like OneSpot, Outbrain, Movable Media, Nativo, Zemanta, Revcontent, and Taboola that you can use to place a long-form piece of content onto a publisher’s site or generate content recommendations. (Check on these on a case by case basis to see which survive AdBlocker).

Email Newsletters

Monetizing your email newsletter can be achieved through tactics like:

• Charging a subscription where you give readers a taste of your awesome content, but they must pay a fee to read the rest.
• Targeting your audience through Launchbit, which is like Google AdWords.
• Re-targeting your customers with  AdRoll or Meteora to remind them of your product or service.
• Selling ad space within your email’s body, which may get blocked.
• Working with affiliates using VigLink so that there is link placed in the email’s body.

Remember, your newsletters are meant to provide additional value to your subscribers by informing them that you have fresh content that shares advice. The idea is to get your readers engaged – and drive them back to your website.

Subscription and “Freemium” Model

You can actually give your audience a decision – enjoy your content for free with ads, or let them pay for a subscription that would remove ads.

Brands like Spotify have this option for music lovers. You can stream music for free. But you’ll have to listen to ads. However, if you pay $9.99 per month, you won’t have to listen to the ads.

Another way to approach this is to allow visitors access to only a limited amount of views before requiring them to subscribe. The Harvard Business Review is one example of a publisher that only allows readers to view 5 free articles before asking for them to register for more articles. Even more interesting is the fact the they still offer a free subscription option where you can read 15 articles per month. Paid subscribers are offered a number of deals and offers as an incentive to get you to purchase an annual subscription.

Affiliate Partnerships

Another way you can monetize your website is through affiliate marketing. This tactic, where you are compensated for driving traffic, leads or sales from a merchant, can be another option to get around ad blockers. So if you are say, working with Amazon, you could write a product review or top ten post that contains a unique Amazon link. If your visitors click that link and make a purchase on Amazon, you’ll receive a commission.

There’s a little more to it than the above example. But that’s pretty much the overall gist of affiliate marketing. 

Because of ad blockers, publishers are now forced to look at different ways to monetize their website. Traditional methods may no longer be effective. But if you continue to be innovative and provide customers with something that they need, you can still make money through publishing and get around ad blockers.

Block Wall Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "5 Ways to Monetize Your Website When Ad Blockers are Present" was first published on Small Business Trends

How 7 Top Influencers Share Great Content on Twitter

The digital battle is on!

Content competition is fierce. One billion websites, two billion plus social media users and 3 billion plus mobile owners. So you need to break through the clutter not only on desktop but on smart phones. But build it and they will come is not an option.

Content marketing is two words.

So you not only have to create great content. But you have to build distribution networks for that content and then hustle it to the world on social, email and search engines. It needs persistent focused effort. That’s marketing.

How do you do that?

You can pay for it and pull out the credit card and start advertising on Facebook and Google. This is the fast way to put content in front of potential readers, viewers and customers. This is possible if you have the money but not the time.

But if you want to earn it rather than pay for it then you have a lot to do. This includes doing all of the following.

• Build distribution on Social media by growing your followers
• Make it easy for them to share your content
• Guest blogging for the top influencers in your industry
• Increase the size of your email list
• Grow your search engine ranking so your content gets found on the first page of Google

This is the work of years. But to make it even harder Facebook has changed the game in social. It has made the “earned attention” harder. It’s organic reach is approaching zero.

But there is one social network that doesn’t choke your posts and make them invisible through filtering to your followers.

Twitter.

Twitter power

Twitter is used by many top influencers to display their content and ideas. How do they use Twitter?

They have taken the time and put in the effort to build their social distribution.

Then they make sure that they are tweeting often.

What type of content works for influencers?

To find content I use the Popsters tool.

This is a great social app that allows you to find their top content on Twitter. It is a cool tool that allows me to find the top content not only on Twitter but Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Using this tool I have discovered what type of content gets shared the most and has the highest engagement.

Here are 7 of the top influencers on social media according to Forbes and some of their top tweets.

1. Kim Garst

Kim is a Twitter powerhouse and has over 400,000 Twitter followers. Kim is a prolific tweeter and uses images often and well. If you want to see Twitter “best practice” follow Kim. She is a great example to model your Twitter tactics on!

Kim blogs at KimGarst.com.

2. Mark Schaefer

Mark wrote the book on Twitter. The Tao of Twitter. He is a prolific author and international speaker. You can find him at his blog Businessesgrow.com

3. Joe Pulizzi

Joe is one of the brains behind Content Marketing Institute and knows how content works. This is one of his top ten tweets.

It is interesting to see that this one is not a visual tweet but Joe doesn’t post as many images as some of the other influencers.

4. Jay Baer

Jay’s online portal and authority site is at Convince and Convert. Jay and his team are “Digital marketing advisers”

He is also a speaker and author on social media and other things digital.

5. Pam Moore

Pam is a constant tweeter and a top influencer. She  runs a digital agency with the fun name “Marketing Nut“.

Here is one of her top tweets. She loves using visuals!

6. Jeffrey Hayzlett

Jeffrey Hayzlett is a top selling author and international speaker and blogs at Hayzlett.com.  Of  course one of his top tweets is an image of his book “Think Big. Act Bigger” which I am in the middle of reading.

7. Michael Brenner

Michael is a top influencer, blogger and digital marketer that covers social and content and top digital topics on his blog B2B Marketing Insider. This image he uses below which highlights some of the top influencers on Twitter reveals a great tactic to drive attention and traffic with Twitter.

Do a shout out!

A little curious?

I decided to see what my top tweets were and here is one of them I found on Popsters.

Here is one of my top tweets. It is a mini infographic. I have found this type of visual to be one of the best tactics to achieve a lot of retweets.

What is your top Twitter content?

So if you want to see what your top tweets and content on Twitter, Facebook and some of the other social media networks are in your niche try out Popsters.

The post How 7 Top Influencers Share Great Content on Twitter appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is

So you wrote that great article, shot that video, and designed that “sure-to-be-viral” infographic. Congrats! Content such as articles, videos and infographics are a great way to attract your targeted online prospects, convert them into leads and ultimately nurture them into sales.

But here’s the thing — creating unique online content only gets you half of the way to those sales. The rest of the work is all about getting noticed and the best way to do that is by finding the best places to spread content.

It makes sense right? You want to capture your targeted prospects’ attention, but if you publish or promote your content in spots where they don’t hang out, then you’re playing to an empty theater and all your hard work goes down the drain.

Let’s take a look at different ways to spread content, whatever it is.

How to Spread Content

Post Strategic Social Media Updates

Social media updates continue to lead the pack if you want to get your content in front of your targeted prospects. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn all provide one huge advantage — your targeted prospects are already visiting them so spreading your content there means they’ll find you.

A word of warning though – don’t get caught up in the trap that “your business needs to be on each and every social media site.”

Updating a wide range of sites is a lot of work and you need to spend your time wisely. The solution? Use posts like this to find out which social media sites your targeted prospects use and then focus your efforts there.

Also, remember to promote your updates by using hashtags. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all enable you to use hashtags that are then used to include your updates in results when folks conduct a search on those sites.

Participate in Social Groups and Communities

Groups and communities are excellent spots to spread your content as they’re gathering spots for people with particular interests. Interests that can be served by the products and services your company provides.

You can use groups and communities in two ways:

• Post an update similar to a regular social media update.
• Post the entire piece of content.

When posting content in a group or community, you need to avoid self-promotion. We know that seems counter-intuitive to what you want. However, if you’re useful and entertaining and provide calls to action that benefit members, you’ll get the results you want.

For example, if you sell surfboards and you join a surfer group, create an eBook that details the best surf spots in the world and then tell the members of the group that they can download it once they fill out this simple form. They get a useful guide and you get leads – everybody wins.

On Facebook, you can search for both public and private groups. While spammers overrun a number of the public groups, private groups are another matter all together. Thanks to the hard work of the founder(s), private groups are usually kept spam-free and focused.

If you want to join a group, send a request to the group manager. Once you’re in, make sure to follow the rules and warnings or you’ll just get kicked back out.

On Google+, groups are called communities and they can also be public or private. Unlike Facebook, many of the public communities are spam-free, though it remains to be seen how long that continues.

One of the amazing things about Google+ communities is their size. Some groups have thousands of members and posting there while following the rules is a sure way to spread your content. We’ve seen this work time and again and it’s a powerful method.

Publish Content On Other Websites

For many years, the Internet has been very website-centric. It makes sense. Websites are the primary building block of the World Wide Web and to this day, every business needs to have one if it wants to appear legitimate.

However, your website may not be the best place to publish your content.

Think about this — it takes more than a year of consistent content creation and promotion to drive traffic regularly to your website. Why work that hard when other sites have already built a steady stream of traffic?

One example of this is LinkedIn. Since February 2014, the “social media for business” site has allowed its users to publish “long-form posts” (i.e. blog posts) to its Pulse section. If your business market is B2B, then this was the signal for you to jump into action.

Publishing posts on LinkedIn has many benefits, the top two of which are:

1. When you publish a post to Pulse, LinkedIn notifies each of your followers that you’ve done so. This is powerful because the notification doesn’t come from you, but from LinkedIn. And, if someone’s opted in to get those notifications, you have a good chance of being noticed. Your followers consist of two groups: your connections and the folks who’ve read a previous post and hit the “Follow” button.
2. LinkedIn’s Pulse app is a great way to get your content noticed. Using a proprietary algorithm, LinkedIn features content from large publishers and an eclectic mix of smaller posters (that’s you!). If you get featured there, you’re views and followers can shoot up higher than you’d ever hoped.

Quora is another great spot to publish your content. Seen by many as the successor to LinkedIn Answers, Quora is full of people looking for advice just like the advice you know how to give.

Surprisingly, spammers have not overrun the site so the value is high. Best of all, even if you answer a question that’s years old, everyone who followed that question will receive your answer in their inbox (if they have notifications switched on).

Use Email Newsletters

Yes, email marketing is still alive and well.

One of the advantages that email has over every other way to spread content is the fact that the folks on your list opted-in – they stood up and said, “I want to get your content.”

That fact remains, spreading your content via email is a little different than the two ways to spread content we’ve discussed thus far. Your subscribers are already leads, now its time to nurture them into sales.

The best strategy to use here is to target your content as tightly as you can. First, make sure your email system records the product, service or offer that drove them to sign up in the first place. Then, watch each member’s actions – which emails do they open and what links do they click on?

Armed with that information, you can send tightly targeted content to small pieces of your list. Since this information plays to their already expressed interests, the probability of a sale is that much greater.

Create Feeds in Content Curation Sites

Another way to spread content is by taking part in a content curation site like scoop.it.

Scoop.it enables you to create your own news feed by drawing from multiple sources online. For example, if you sell surfboards, you can create a news feed that provides news on everything surfing – from equipment and locations to weather.

Now here’s the cool part. When you publish a piece of content on scoop.it, either your own uploaded content or a link to yours or someone else’s content, other scoop.it members can discover the content using the tags you provided and then include it on their own surfing news feed. Now that’s a slick way to spread content.

Conclusion

To spread content far and wide, you need to get off your site and focus your efforts in spots where your targeted prospects hang out online. The more likely they are to be there, the greater the chance they’ll see your content.

Remember, you’re not just trying to entertain or inform your prospects, you want to convert each one of them into a lead. So provide a call to action such as a link to a form where they can do just that.

No matter which of the ways to spread content you choose, you’re sure to attract the attention of your targeted prospects online. Add a call to action and the leads will follow.

Butter Spread Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is" was first published on Small Business Trends

How to Use the 3-Act Structure To Improve Your Content Marketing

Unique… Helpful… Engaging.

These are the words that describe epic content marketing – but too many people are getting it wrong.

We can debate all day long about what makes for good content. But the one thing many would-be content marketers stumble on is coming up with an idea that hasn’t been rehashed or done to death.

There’s no point marketing content, if you can’t make it high quality and unique.

In the rush to have something to say, many businesses latch onto half-brained ideas and try to ride it out. The result is a jumbled mess that doesn’t make any sense, and only serves to frustrate their audience.

Storytelling seems to be a buzzword these days when it comes to content creation, but there’s much more to it than you think.

And I’m not here to tell you how to incorporate storytelling into your content, because that’s a topic that’s been done over and over.

However, what I can do is tell you how to avoid the trap of overdone ideas by using classic storytelling techniques. Helping you consistently create refreshing and amazing pieces of content.

Here’s how some classic storytelling techniques will help improve your content marketing.

Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth

The foremost storytelling technique I always keep in mind is the hero’s journey by Joseph Campbell.

In short, the hero’s journey is a classic sequence of actions that can be found in almost every story. Basically it’s a broad template which contends that every epic myth can be broken down into 12 distinct plot points.

As a content marketer you have to ask yourself, who is the hero of this story?

Most of you would have said yourself. Which is understandable, everyone naturally views themselves as the hero of the story.

But the key to creating consistently amazing pieces of content is to remember that you aren’t the hero in this story.

The hero is your audience.

Your role as a content marketer is not to be the hero, but the mentor.

The mentor is the character that every hero meets when they’re stuck. They provide all the necessary wisdom and advice that the hero needs in order to continue on their journey. Think Obi-Wan in Star Wars, Gandalf in Lord Of The Rings, or for a more contemporary example Jeff Bullas and this very article.

Every piece of content you craft has to be framed with the intention that it is the mentor dispensing valuable advice in order to aid the hero along their journey.

If you keep that in mind you’ll always be consistently creating content that is both valuable and useful to your audience.

Three-Act Structure

In screenwriting there is a model that divides a narrative into three distinct parts, or acts: the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Solution.

Like the hero’s journey the three-act structure is a basic template for most fictional narratives. It helps writers structure their narratives in a way that’s easy to understand.

Here’s an example of the three-act Structure in Star Wars.

But I don’t use the three-act structure as a way to model my content. Instead I use it as a way to help me generate new ideas.

You can use this to generate new ideas about any topic.

I’ll show you just how I used it to pitch Jeff Bullas a few ideas for a guest post. I personally like writing it all out in my notebook, but you can easily do yours differently.

The Setup

Classically the setup is where all the major characters are introduced, the world they live in, and all the conflict that will move the story forward.

In our case we already know who our characters are and the world they live in: the audience is the hero, and we’re the mentor. The conflict is fairly straightforward, the hero wants to know a piece of information that only the mentor can provide.

A key piece of advice when it comes to storytelling is this: you find the conflict, you find the story.

My process is to find a general topic of information that my hero wants to know more about.

When pitching Jeff I chose the topic of storytelling and content marketing.

Next up is to turn the hero’s problem into a goal, or declarative statement. What do they want to achieve by learning this piece of information?

As you can see the goal of my hero is, “I want to write an epic article about storytelling”.

There you have your Setup.

The Confrontation

In fiction writing the confrontation is when the stakes are raised because the hero encounters even more problems.

In my process I begin to break down the components of the hero’s goal. This is the most important step, because you have to thoroughly understand what questions your audience want answered.

What are the details they would need to know in order to achieve their goal? What questions would they ask?

I often use Quora as a way to keep in the loop about which questions are being commonly asked in my niche.

Although the easiest way is usually just asking: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Try and break down at least three different questions or problems that the hero will encounter.

As you can see with this other example I already have three different topics to write about. But those topics are just a little too generic, so I’ll break them down even further to generate more ideas!

The Solution

The final act is when all the narrative’s conflicts are resolved. All information and conflicts introduced in the first two acts are resolved in order to, theoretically, create a satisfying ending.

For my process what I do is come up with solutions to the questions raised in the previous section. I always aim for at least two different solutions to every question.

In the end what you’ll end up with is a handful of different topics you can easily write about!

When it came to pitching Jeff I was able to come up with a handful solutions to my hero’s questions. Eventually I settled on three different topics I particularly liked and pitched those to Jeff.

By using this process you’ll be able to consistently generate new ideas for content that are filled with actionable advice. Too many people try to solve every problem in one go, and what you’re usually left with is a very general article that doesn’t answer any specific questions and ends up a boring read.

Instead just focus on one idea and be as in-depth as possible when it comes to that single idea.

What you’ll find is that you’ll never be stumped for ideas again!

Show, Don’t Tell

Every writing student has heard this at one point, to learn how to show, not tell. The principle is that you shouldn’t just spoon-feed information to the audience. Instead writers are encouraged to think of different ways to showcase a piece of information.

The most straightforward way is to pick a topic and write an article about it. But there are so many ways to present a single piece of information.

For example, on this topic of storytelling techniques I could have, just as easily, created an instructional video, or an infographic instead of an article.

Or I could have held an event or workshop and directly taught my method to a group of people.

Using the content multiplier framework in Dan Norris’s book Content Machine I’m able to find different ways to present my information.

As a content creator you have to think of the different ways your audience absorbs information.

This is a great way to significantly increase the different types of content you can produce, and all from one idea!

Key takeaways

• Your audience is the hero of the story, you’re the wise mentor helping them on their journey

• Focus on the challenges your audience faces, and how you can help them overcome them

• There is always more than one way to present a single piece of information

Often the hardest part of content creation isn’t writing it out, it’s coming up with an original idea in the first place.

But what you’ll find is that by using these classic storytelling techniques, not only will you overcome writer’s block – you’ll also be able to constantly generate an awesome piece of content your audience will love!

Guest Author: Jonathan Chan is the Content Crafter at Foundr Magazine, a magazine for young entrepreneurs. He can often be found writing and reading anything and everything to do with entrepreneurship and the startup world. That or spending too much time pretending to be the next MMA star. Check out more of his writing over at the Foundr Blog.

The post How to Use the 3-Act Structure To Improve Your Content Marketing appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

How to Use 360-Degree Video in Your Social Media Marketing

Are you using video on your social channels? Have you thought about 360-degree videos? 360 videos produce more engagement and message retention than normal videos. In this article you’ll discover how to create a 360 video and use it for your business. What Is 360-Degree Video? 360 videos (also known as VR or virtual reality) are clips displaying […]

This post How to Use 360-Degree Video in Your Social Media Marketing first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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9 Ways to Make Money On Instagram

Instagram started out as an image-sharing app with only a tiny workforce.

It found a sweet spot in modern society that combined vanity, social networks and a shift toward visual media.

And then one day Mr. Zuckerberg decided to pay a billion dollars to acquire it.

Soon it was a tool for many; famous celebrities, politicians, marketers, and even some top-notch businesses.

Today, Instagram ranks 7^th on the list of the Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites with over 100 million unique monthly users and over 300 million active users posting photos and videos every day.

Apart from the 15-second video sharing option, we’re all excited about the new feature Instagram plans on releasing by the end of this year: targeted advertisements that show up on user’s photo feeds.

Paid ads, means more chance to make money.

If you’re interested in monetizing your Instagram account, here are 9 ways to turn those pictures into profits.

1. Start building a solid followership

Successful marketing on social media is almost directly proportional to having a long list of followers.

Whether the followership was obtained before your marketing efforts or after is beside the point – you just need a significant amount of followers! The more you have, the more you are “seen” and the greater your chances are of turning leads to sales.

There are several ways you can grow your followers on Instagram. Some of the most effective ways  have been highlighted by Melyssa Griffin, tactics such as; liking photos in your niche, socializing, asking people to follow you, running contests, and more.

Also don’t forget to follow and post on several hashtags in your niche.

2. Always provide a link to your blog

Product links and links to your blog are crucial when it comes to making money on Instagram!

Every single image, video, or whatever else you share must include CTA’s (in this case links to your blog or wherever they could purchase the item).

Also make sure you place an item number or tag that could make their purchase easier.

Instagram currently doesn’t allow clickable site links, so for now the users will just have to do with re-writing the link in their browser window.

3. Share quality images

Despite the new features, Instagram is, and always has been about sharing beautiful images.

Nothing will entice your prospects or monetize your account more than high quality, beautiful images.

Show your followers what your brand is about with images that appeal to their visual senses. Show off your products, tell them your brand story, create graphically altered images and get creative.

If you’re a gym service for example, you could show off pictures of hot hunks doing their work-outs. If you’re a yoghurt selling service, share images of your product and perhaps other ways you could use that yoghurt in recipes.

Check out how Starbucks does this with amazing graphics, artistic pictures of Starbuck cups, and their latest coffee creations.

Always be sure to share photos of your latest products. For example, you could be writing a new book. Take a cool snap of the cover and share it with a release date.

4. Use the video function

If a picture is worth a thousand words – then what is a video (which is comprised of practically thousands of pictures) worth? You do the maths!

Thanks to Instagram’s latest feature (and competition with lead rival, Vine) there is a 15-second video sharing option that you get creative with.

Come up with a personal message for your fans and tell them why you think they should try out your new product. Or perhaps, you could share a 15-second fast-paced process of how you build your creations.

There’s no limit to how creative you can get with video building!

Check out top brands on Instagram and Vine for some video sharing inspiration.

5. Get your fans involved

Many fans and followers are willing to endorse your brand only for a little recognition – and of course a post about them on your profile. This is a great way to engage your followers as well as outsource original, quality content.

Give your followers a chance to submit their photos with your product, share their “experience” in a video, or anything they like. The best submissions could get discounts on your products, a small reward, or perhaps just a little recognition through your brand name.

Here’s a great example of Starbucks latest “Hello Fall” video contributed by an artistic fan after they introduced the Fall cup.

6. Organize contests or events

Get people to like your images and follow you because you’re running a cool campaign or an event.

Offer exclusive deals for a short period of time and keep updating your users on how time is running out (urgency works!).

Sharing special promotions or coupons is another way to get your followers involved in a contest and turn those leads into sales. Ask them to double-tap or tag a friend to get their name in the draw box.

One of the best advantages of running contests and campaigns on Instagram is that you can create separate hashtags and keep all contributions in one place.

Buffalo Wings and Rings Jordan contest

7. Get testimonials from clients

Get happy clients to upload pictures or videos of themselves using your product.

There’s nothing more convincing than a handful of images, videos, or testimonials that provide social proof.

8. Get an influencer on the job for you

If you know a celebrity like Kim Kardashian, you’re one lucky duck!

But, of course not everyone has direct access to the Kardashians, much less their Instagram profile.

However, there are other people who have big followings on Instagram that are much more accessible. For example, if you’re selling women apparel look for popular online influencers such as fashion bloggers, entrepreneurs, or social media gurus that have a large fan following.

Plenty of blogger models are willing to share what brands they wear and why purchasing from a specific brand would be a good idea. This is a great way to generate referral traffic through links to your blog as well as your branded Instagram hashtags.

9. There’s an app for everything

Use an app to do a bulk of the work for you!

The number of tools out there for boosting your Instagram marketing is overwhelming.

But here are some of the best:

• Iconosquare: This is a tool that provides Instagram users with advanced statistics about their profile such as total number of likes received, average number of likes and comments per photo, most liked photos, follower growth charts, and more.
• Repost: Allows you to re-post an amazing retina-ready image from another Instagram user’s profile while still giving them the credit.
• Instaquote: Share inspiring “quotes of the day” and keep your followers engaged.
• Postso: This is a post scheduling app that makes a busy marketer’s life easy. Schedule your posts, specify a location, sit back and relax.
• Piquora: This is a visual marketing app that will curate and suggest the best photos for your posts that can pull content based on geography, language, and specific locations.

Guest Author: Alison Stone works at Dissertation cube where she provides dissertation writing help to students. In her spare time she writes blogs for students starting their career and for those who are still in jobs. Find her on Google+.

The post 9 Ways to Make Money On Instagram appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

YouTube Coerces Video Creators into Signing its New Subscription Deal

Nobody likes ads on YouTube, but would people actually pay to avoid them? Video creators who split advertising royalties with YouTube would certainly be hoping so after the company unveiled YouTube Red, its new subscription service.

For $9.99 a month, subscribers will be able to enjoy an ad-free YouTube experience. They will also be able to save videos to watch offline, play music in the background and access Google’s existing music service, Google Play Music.

To sweeten the deal further, subscribers will get exclusive access to original content, which puts YouTube Red in the same category as Netflix.

Leaving No Choice

For video creators and entrepreneurs dependent on YouTube ad revenue, there are essentially two choices now:

• Sign the deal.
• Have your content hidden from public view on both the ad-supported and ad-free versions.

It is this coercion that has not gone down well with many people. Many users took to Twitter to react to the news and express their disappointment.

On its part, YouTube says it’s prioritizing its partners. At the YouTube Red launch event, Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl said the company will pay out “the vast, vast majority of revenue” to creators. Although, he didn’t share the details of what the percentage will be.

On a Positive Note

YouTube Red will not affect users who upload videos without collecting any ad revenue. In other words, if you just use YouTube to post videos about your business, you don’t have to worry right now as nothing is changing.

Moreover, the new service will not impact YouTube’s existing content. So users will be able to watch as many videos as they like while dealing with the ads.

For video creators, too, the service may eventually prove financially more beneficial as it will convert fans into paid subscribers.

Advantage Facebook?

The timing of the launch is interesting for several reasons. To begin with, YouTube is facing some serious competition from new entrants like Vessel and old rivals like Vimeo.

Making matters worse for the company is Facebook’s growing interest in the video space. The social media giant has even started sharing video revenues with content creators.

On top of that, YouTube has still not managed to make profit. The website generated around $4 billion in revenue last year, but no profit.

Given the present situation, it is an ideal time for both Facebook and other video streaming websites to attract video creators and small businesses. It will be fascinating to watch their next move.

YouTube Mobile Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "YouTube Coerces Video Creators into Signing its New Subscription Deal" was first published on Small Business Trends

Snapchat or Instagram? Deciding Which Platform Is Ideal for Your Visual Content

Is visual content part of your social media marketing? Are you trying to decide whether to use Instagram or Snapchat? Snapchat and Instagram share the same basic purpose. While many businesses want to know which is better for marketing, the truth is both have value. In this article you’ll find insights to help you decide whether your visual […]

This post Snapchat or Instagram? Deciding Which Platform Is Ideal for Your Visual Content first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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Facebook Freebooting: What Marketers Need to Know

Do you use video in your marketing? Want to make sure your copyright is protected? There are simple steps you can take to brand your videos so you’re protected if people upload them to Facebook as their own. In this article you’ll discover how to protect your video content from freebooting on Facebook. What Is Freebooting? Freebooting […]

This post Facebook Freebooting: What Marketers Need to Know first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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How to Use Twitter To Increase Reach and Engagement

Twitter.

It’s a big scary social media platform (for those who don’t know how to use it right).

But an incredibly useful engagement tool for those who do.

At first glance it can seem that Twitter is just for sending endless promotional tweets out to the people who have chosen to follow you. This is all well and good, BUT, did you know you could be using Twitter to increase the reach and engagement of your brand?

For example, Twitter’s recent upgrade of their search function allows you to filter searches on a range of different criteria; from ‘Accounts’ to ‘Photos’, to ‘Videos. Pinpointing users and content that are super-specific to your niche enables you to deliberately shift the conversations about your brand.

It’s important to approach Twitter conversations in the right way, with preparation and planning.

In this article, I will outline the key steps for increasing reach and engagement by creating conversations across Twitter.

Picking who to create conversations with

The important thing to remember about being proactive on Twitter is that you can interact with as many people as you like – but if they don’t influence your business or brand, then they aren’t doing you any good.

You can have 250,000 followers but only engage with 2 of them OR have 10,000 followers and engage with 100’s. Selection is vital.

Industry influencers are probably the most important connections you will get because your customers trust their opinion on social media.

Quality signals include having a large following, presence across various social networks and obvious signs of engagement on their website or blog. If they influence you, then they are most likely to influence the people who care about your industry.

Connecting with these influencers will increase your brand awareness, likeability and all round image.

Ability to spy on the competition

The convenient thing about Twitter is that you have an open view of what your competition is doing. This ability to actively follow competition basically provides you with a look into their PR strategy.

There are three steps to spying on your competition:

1. Follow a range of your competitors on Twitter. This includes employee accounts to ensure you don’t fall behind the latest press release.
2. Monitor their replies so you can see any issues the competition are having. Twitter is great when customers like you, but when they don’t, it provides a live audience to all. If you see your competitor’s customers stating an issue with their brand, it opens a chance to steal away business. 83% of customers have deserted a purchase after receiving poor customer service so why not make that sale yours instead! The key with this is not to appear to be selling a sales pitch, instead be friendly and offer a different alternative leaving the power with the customer.
3. See what social media platforms they link to their Twitter, so you can ensure you are at the same level and using them at least the same amount or more.

Proactive searching for new leads

Businesses on Twitter usually follow one of these strategies; reactive or proactive tweeting.

Being reactive on Twitter means reacting to situations as they happen, so if a competitor’s system fails, you could use it to steer those customers in your direction.

Proactive on the other hand means to actively hunt down new customers, by writing new blog posts, sending out tweets to the correct audience and commenting on related content.

Choosing between the two is dependent on where your business is at, and whether you’re more interested in gaining new customers or keeping the current ones.

I’m going to focus on gaining new ones, and finding the right people on Twitter using the data they provide.

Finding audiences based on different data

Twitter users readily provide a vast amount of personal data about themselves or their business. These span from their bio, use of hashtags or interactions with blogger chats and current events.

For example, if you’re trying to find some potential local customers around the London area, simply use the “places” option in the Twitter advanced search, and set the radius you’d like to focus on. This can ensure you are not pitching to an area you cannot supply to.

When promoting your product or service, using the information users have written in their bio is crucial. A fashion blogger for example is most likely to have the words ‘fashion’, ‘blogger’ or ‘fblogger’ featured at some point. All together this work can lead to many different things, from simply interacting with more relevant consumers to directing a sales pitch.

The important thing to remember is to focus on the person and not just the tweet.

A Twitter bio is rich with Meta data that you can utilize such as URL, location, what the person does for a living, hobbies etc. This data means it becomes a lot easier to find new targets to contact, rather than just searching through tweets. For example, a business professional may note their job in their bio but never mention it via their tweets.

The proof

If you still don’t believe that proactive Twitter activity can work here’s a stat for you –  a total of 724 proactive interactions in related areas, can convert to an average 33% action rate, a 25% click through rate and an amazing bounce rate of just 50%. These statistics were taken from only a two month time span, through interacting with a range of relevant business people, all of different areas and with different ideas.

This is just by putting more time into creating conversations with people who will actually be interested, rather than just sending a blanket tweet to all.

So why bother?

So I’ve showed you some insight into creating those vital conversations on Twitter, with the right people.

Quality rules over quantity in this case, and if you interact with the right person who opens the door to a whole new area, the benefits will be worth it.

Guest Author: Elena Lockett is a PR assistant for Gnatta, Gnatta allows businesses of all sizes to listen and engage with their customers on an individual basis via one single interface.

The post How to Use Twitter To Increase Reach and Engagement appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

Twitter Publish: This Week in Social Media

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention. What’s New This Week Twitter Introduces Publishing and Storytelling Tools: Twitter announced a new ecosystem of publishing and storytelling tools that “easily turn unique […]

This post Twitter Publish: This Week in Social Media first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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Turn Ideas into Products, Find the Right Social Media Management and More

For a successful business to really come together, you need so many different factors to work out perfectly. You need a great idea, a way to create it, marketing, a great team, and so much more.

This week, members of the small business community shared tips ranging from how to launch an invention to managing your social media presence. Read on for the full list in this week’s Small Business Trends Community News and Information Roundup.

Turn Your Invention Ideas into Products

(UpCounsel Blog)

Getting a great idea for a new invention is certainly a big part of the process. But you need an actual plan if you’re going to turn that invention into a best-selling product. Alex Liu shares some tips for turning invention ideas into actual products.

Invest in Good Social Media Management

(Strella Social Media)

The old adage that you get what you pay for is true, according to Rachel Strella. And it applies to social media management as well. Read her thoughts on the subject, then check out what BizSugar members have to say.

Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic Through Content Distribution

(Neil Patel)

Creating great content isn’t always enough for a successful content strategy. You also need to consider the time, place, and matter in which you post all of that content. Neil Patel shares some tips for increasing your blog traffic through content distribution.

Consider Using Blab for Training Delivery

(The Trainers CPD Club)

There are several different tools that businesses can use for training remote employees or other team members. Blab is a new social media tool that can be used for that very purpose. Fiona Pollock discusses some of the pros and cons of Blab.

Don’t Buy Followers on Social Media

(Social Media for Small Business)

Buying followers can seem like a quick and easy way to build your brand’s following on social media. But it won’t help like you might hope. And it could actually hurt you. Laura Nunemaker explains why you shouldn’t buy followers on social media. You can see more commentary on the post at BizSugar.

Use a Data Scientist in Your Marketing Department

(Marketing Land)

Technology has had a huge impact on the information companies can gather about their customer base. And that data has had a huge impact on how companies market to those customers. To ensure that your company doesn’t fall behind, Benjamin Spiegel suggests that every marketing department should have a data scientist.

Make Your eCommerce Warehouse Work

(Peoplevox)

There are so many different factors that go into running a successful eCommerce business. The details and logistics that go into running an eCommerce warehouse are incredibly important. Jess Lawrence shares some tips for running an eCommerce warehouse that actually works.

Don’t Let These Myths Sink Your Business

(Startup Professionals Musings)

There are some common beliefs among the tech startup community that could actually be bad for your business. Martin Zwilling shares eight myths that technologists believe that could actually sink your business. And BizSugar members discuss the post further.

Use These Tips for Successful Clearance Sales

(CorpNet)

Clearance sales are often used to just clear out old or unwanted inventory to make room for new items. But you can still use those sales to benefit your business and your overall marketing strategy. Susan Payton shares some tips for successful clearance sales.

Create Better Visual Content Marketing with These Tools

(Content Marketing Institute)

Having great visuals can enhance your content marketing or even serve as a main vessel of information. To really create better visuals for your content, Jodi Harris suggests 27 tools to use. And the BizSugar community weighs in on the post as well.

Help us improve future community roundups by suggesting your favorite small business content for inclusion. You can email post suggestions to sbtips@gmail.com or submit them to the BizSugar community.

Light Bulbs Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Turn Ideas into Products, Find the Right Social Media Management and More" was first published on Small Business Trends

3 Small Businesses Crack the Mobile Marketing Code

The “Google and Your Business” Blog has an interesting piece up today profiling three small businesses that are using mobile marketing.

There’s some great data in the article.  Here are key points to help you crack the small business mobile marketing code:

A 275-Year Old Family-Owned Orchard

Lyman Orchards claims to be the 12th oldest family-owned business in the United States.  How do they know that?  The orchard, based in Connecticut, was deeded way back in 1741.

Yet, despite being a very old and traditional agricultural business, the owners have kept up with the times.

The business attracts customers by serving as a place for outings, offering seasonal themed activities including a corn maze, and shipping gift baskets.  In 2012, they opened a golf course.  And right now in the autumn, it’s “pick your own” apples and pumpkins time at the orchard.

Another way Lyman Orchards has kept up to date is through attracting customers via mobile devices. For that they use Google My Business to provide driving directions, hours of operation, phone number and photos for people searching on their phones for activities. According to Claire Mudd, Google’s head of small business marketing:

“Nowadays, consumers are 38% more likely to visit and 29% more likely to consider purchasing from businesses with complete listings online (emphasis added). And because 4-in-5 consumers use search engines to find local information like store addresses, business hours, product availability and directions, small businesses need to make sure their information is available when their customers are looking for them — especially on their mobile phones.”

Marketing Tip:  Update your Google My Business listing with seasonal information, hours and photos to attract would-be visitors when they are on their mobile phones searching for something to do.

A Crafts Supply Business

Crafting may be a traditional hands-on hobby. But that hasn’t stopped Blitsy, a crafts supply store, from leveraging technology to create useful information for customers.  The company uses YouTube to create how-to content. Want to know how to create a black cat banner for Halloween, using cardboard, string and pipe cleaners?  Or how about a Holiday countdown calendar?  As the post notes:

“In our age of instant information, sharing knowledge and useful content can influence purchasing decisions. In fact, one in four shoppers (26%) say online videos are their go-­to source for gift ideas, and 32% of shoppers say they plan to use online video more this year for holiday purchases (emphasis added). When it comes to providing the right information at the right time, video can convey a company’s message and story more dynamically, providing a better experience to curious potential customers, many of whom are watching on-the-go. More than half of YouTube views now come from mobile devices.

Marketing Tip:  Create videos to tell your company’s story, share how-to advice or otherwise engage customers. Video content is big on mobile devices.

T-shirt and Printed Item Business

The third business profiled is Print Syndicate. While that name may not mean anything to most consumers, the brands it markets under may.  Sites like LookHuman.com sell “print on demand” phone cases, home decor, clothing and more. Print Syndicate, based in Columbus, Ohio, aims to help customers get “beautifully designed, high-quality products” that allow them to express who they are. Writes Claire Mudd:

“Given that 30% of online shopping purchases now happen on mobile, Print Syndicate has ensured that all three of their brands have mobile-friendly sites showcasing their latest and most clever Halloween shirts.”

Marketing Tip:  Make sure your eCommerce store is mobile friendly and highlights seasonal items and anything trendy, front and center.  That way you take advantage of impulse purchases and current hot trends.

Do these three small business mobile marketing stories inspire you? If they can do it, so can you.

The full blog post is here.

Image: Blitsy Crafts

This article, "3 Small Businesses Crack the Mobile Marketing Code" was first published on Small Business Trends

YouTube Strategy: How to Plan Your YouTube Marketing Success

Do you create videos for your audience? Are you curious about what works on YouTube? To discover more about YouTube video strategy, I interview Owen Hemsath. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what […]

This post YouTube Strategy: How to Plan Your YouTube Marketing Success first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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How to Use Facebook Notes for Marketing

Do you want to publish longer posts on Facebook? Have you tried Facebook Notes? Facebook Notes now lets profile owners add a cover image, format text and resize photos, then share their notes with anyone. In this article you’ll discover how to create Facebook Notes and use them in your marketing mix. How to Use Facebook Notes for Marketing Facebook […]

This post How to Use Facebook Notes for Marketing first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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Secrets That Will Spruce Up Your Archive Pages

Many times businesses will call this “revamping old content” or will go through and spruce up pages after completing a content audit. Refreshing your archive pages, however, does not necessarily have to be a blog post, and it does not refer to just sprucing up a page and fixing statistics and broken links. Although this is all a part of a refresh, refreshing your archive pages is a much more involved method. It involves creating better content entirely based on recent trends and news happening in your industry.

Step-by-Step Guide to Refreshing Your Archive Pages

There are several different steps to making it happen so that you can take the authority of your current pages and alter them to improve your search rankings for those pages (and hopefully your website as a whole). Keep in mind that you should not refresh every archive page, but only the ones that are performing well (more on this later). Still, it may be time consuming to refresh all of your archive pages, but the actual work itself won’t take you long.

Below explains how to get started and what steps to take to be successful:

Finding Your Most Valuable Archived Posts

Again, you don’t want to try and refresh every archived post you have because that would take up entirely more time than it’s worth. You only need to worry about your best performing posts and pages from the last six months (less if you prefer). To find these pages:

1. Go to your Google Analytics and go to your Behavior category on the left-hand side.
2. Under the Behavior category click Site Content.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page/ report to look at All Pages.
4. The pages with the highest number of pageviews should be at the top.
5. Make your own spreadsheet of all the posts that showed up first for pageviews over the last six months.

Below is a screenshot that shows how you can get to all of this data. Creating your own spreadsheet is important to help you keep things organized and start keeping track of the changes you make, much like an audit.

Extra: In addition to finding your most popular archived page, you can use this data to find inspiration for future blog posts. For example, in the screenshot above you can see that the post about referral traffic was popular. Therefore, it may be a good idea to write an advanced post about referral traffic since that one was for beginners. I recommend adding in ideas into your spreadsheet as well so you don’t miss any potential opportunities.

Refreshing Your Archive Pages

Search expert Neil Patel briefly covered this topic here, so below are a few of his thoughts as well as our own that cover how to go about a successful refresh:

Alter Your Headline to Focus on Shareability

Writing a headline that urges people to share your content is a big one, and in fact it is a science to some people. In the past when you published some of your archived posts social sharing may not have been quite as big of a deal, but today it’s extremely important to earn more visibility and get more clicks. Below is a screenshot from Neil Patel that shows the different types of headlines you can create and then how likely those different types are to be shared:

Again, a lot goes into creating the perfect headline, some of which also includes testing different headlines. Learn about the science behind headlines.

Create Videos, Infographics, etc. to Spice Up the Content

If you can take the content you created and then add a video or some sort of visual or interactive element, you will keep people on your page much longer and refresh your old content. Oftentimes companies will even put something like “[Infographic]” in the headline, which also brings us back to the benefits of the last point.

According to a Cisco study reported on by The Guardian, by 2017 video will account for 69% of all consumer Internet traffic. This can be a time consuming process, but it will be well worth it in the end.

Find Case Studies and Statistics to Back Up Your Claims

When you originally published your now-archived content, many statistics and case studies related to that topic were not yet published. Now that you’re going back and doing a refresh, you can research more information and not only improve the statistics you already had in the article, but add in new and more relevant options altogether. This will help improve your credibility and authority overall.

Do you have any more thoughts about refreshing archived content or any personal stories to share? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Republished by permission. Original here.

Archives Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Secrets That Will Spruce Up Your Archive Pages" was first published on Small Business Trends