People need your change | Writing Quotes
“People need your craft of writing, but they need your change more.”
Seth Godin, author and dot com business executive
Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2020
When marketing your business, it makes sense to pay attention to what your consumers are concerned with. One way to learn their issues is to look at the top consumer trends. Then review what’s going on in your target market and put some thought into how you can add features to your product or service line, or modify your products and services to meet these needs. Here are 10 consumer trends for 2020, excerpted from an article in Forbes.
1. Family and Home Productivity
Since the majority of households have both parents working, parents need new software tools and services to help manage their lives at home as well as at work. 2020 also brings the trends of teleworking, home offices and home study spaces for school-aged children.
2. Next-Generation Meat
The growth of companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat indicate that consumers are cutting back on animal protein and looking towards plant-based alternatives. What is the next-generation trend in your industry? Continue reading →
How Do You Prove Your Expertise?
I follow marketing expert Marcia Yudkin, author of The Marketing Minute, and her latest marketing advice got me thinking. She begins with stating that your About page must address two crucial questions your prospects might wonder:
- Are you, in fact, good at what you do?
- Can I count on you to deliver as promised?
She goes on to state that your bio must include what marketers call “proof elements.” Without them, you have a trustworthiness gap.
So what are proof elements?
A proof element must provide an external indicator of competence and reliability. That means the proof must come from an outside source other than yourself or someone within your organization. Here are some examples and ways you can obtain and use your proof elements.
Types of Third-Party Proof Elements
Testimonials
Most websites have a page dedicated to testimonials. These are endorsements of a personal experience this person had with you or your company regarding quality and reliability. You should include the person’s name (or at least their initials and city), or a reference to the source, in every post to ensure that it is indeed an outside source. If you don’t have a testimonials page on your website, add one. People love to hear about other people’s experiences and trust their opinions. Testimonials can be written, or opt for video testimonials of your customers talking about their experience. Continue reading →
What to Look for in a Really Good Copywriter
The hardest thing any business owner can do is to write about him or herself or their business. It just can’t be done—or at least done well. You need that outside eye—preferably a writer with a good marketing background and solid writing reputation—to create copy about you that others will find compelling. If you try to write about yourself, you will get bogged down in too many details, wondering which are the most important. You will also labor for hours on end trying to get the copy “just right.”
What Makes a Really Good Copywriter?
When you’ve decided it is best for both your sanity and your time to hire an outside writer, here’s what you should look for:
Style of copywriting experience
Your copywriter should be up to date on the latest ways to write for the particular medium you’re writing for, be it the web, brochures, a media kit or an author bio, for example. The writing styles for each are entirely different. If the writer doesn’t know the difference, look for one who does.
Great interview skills
Most of the information for the copy will come from you. A great copywriter has the confidence to conduct an interview to gather what they need in the shortest time possible. We know you’re busy and we need to use our skills to ferret out details quickly that make your copy shine. Expect some “off the wall” questions, and roll with them. We’re also looking for insights into your personality so we can inject that into the copy.
Continue reading →
21 Tips to Increase Instagram Engagement
Want to get more followers on Instagram? I recently came across this article that had a lot of great ideas on how to do just that.
Instagram is Growing Quickly
In 21 Tips to Massively Increase Instagram Engagement in 2019, author Adam Phillips reported that 13% of the world is now using this platform, and engagement is still increasing. It has more than 1 billion monthly active users, with 50% of those users following brands.
Shares, likes and comments are reporting 10X higher than Facebook, 54X higher than Pinterest, and 84X higher than Twitter. If you haven’t done so already, you should consider adding Instagram to your marketing mix.
Among the 21 tips offered by this report are:
- Know how often to post
- Don’t preach, tell a story instead
- Use Instagram video subtitles and closed captions
- Choose the right hashtags, and
- Convert Instagram followers into email subscribers
The author goes on to explain how to put these tips into action. For example, under “Know how often to post,” he claims that the “sweet spot” is a consistent 1-2 posts a day. For when to post, he says, “Uncover your own follower’s Instagram habits by using the Insights feature of your Instagram Business Account. This helps you identify when your followers are most active.”
The article is posted on the Falcon website, so of course, there is a plug for Falcon’s social media management platform. This post does not hold any opinion as to that platform. Rather, we thought there were really good tips that might benefit those business owners and marketing managers who want and need to build their brand.
Need Social Media Marketing? Contact All the Buzz.
If you’d like to outsource your social media management, we’ll be glad to help. We can assist you in creating your social media platforms, providing content, and scheduling posts. Contact All the Buzz for expert marketing and writing.
How to Increase your SEO Rank in Voice Searches
Increase your SEO rank on voice searches
Keeping up with all the changes in today’s technology isn’t easy. Business owners have to stay on their toes to maintain their edge over their competitors. One of the up-and-coming trends is voice searches. People are using Alexa and Siri and other voice-activated search tools to help find answers to their burning questions.
Here is an article I’m sharing from Joan Stewart at The Publicity Hound on “How to Rank Well for Voice Search.”
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“Hey Siri, how can a mother help a colicky baby?” asks a reporter who’s writing a story for Parents magazine.
If you’re a parenting expert who has written a blog post on “How mothers can help colicky babies,” your article has a chance of being found in voice search.
Here’s a super tip from Website Magazine on how to rank well when people are searching by voice, as well as by typing their questions into the search engines. Continue reading →
25 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Business Blog
Do you write a blog for your business and keep posting to it regularly? It’s a great way to talk about your industry, provide information about your business, and to entertain. It’s also a great way to build a following for your business. Yet many business owners ask how to make people aware of their blog and to attract followers.
25 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Business Blog
- Tell everyone you have a blog
- Post your blog name and link in your email signature
- Include your blog link on your business cards, stationery and all forms
- Add your blog link to your bio
- Post snippets of your blog posts on your social media with links to the blog
- Add your blog link to your social media profiles
- Be active on your social media accounts and social networking sites like StumbleUpon and Mixx
How to Interview With the Media
As a journalist, I’ve interviewed thousands of people, and they all have one thing in common. They’re all afraid to talk to the media. At least to start.
When I do an interview, I always try to make it fun. I start with the easy stuff, like what’s your full name and title/how you would like me to refer to you in the article. This gets them talking and over the initial fear. Then we chat, with me leading them through the interview with questions that would normally come up in any conversation where someone is interested in either you or what you do. Once we start rolling, my subjects usually settle down into conversational mode.
But then…sometimes I hit them with the hard questions at the end. I think those are the questions that they think should scare them. But they shouldn’t be scared. These are questions that make them think…like, “What is the philosophy you always wanted to share,” or “Tell me in one word how you would describe your business.” Often, I get my best insights into people by asking these types of questions.
If you are interviewed by a journalist, there are a few things to keep in mind. These will help you prepare for the interview and keep you from saying something you shouldn’t.
How To Interview With the Media
Rule #1. EVERYTHING you say is ON THE RECORD.
I can’t tell you how many times people have felt so comfortable with me that they say, “I’ll tell you this, but it’s off the record.” If I weren’t so kind, this is the type of thing that could really get you or your business in trouble. Remember that you are talking to the media; a person who is looking for a juicy story. There is no “off the record.” Continue reading →
Do You Have a Good Story? Share it With the Media.
As a journalist, I hear fabulous stories from people every single day. Whether they are my clients or people I meet in the grocery store, I realize that everybody has a story and I am all ears to hear it.
So many business people either miss or disregard the opportunity to share their unique story with the world. And hence, they miss the many public relations opportunities the media can provide.
Why You Should Get Your Story in the Media
It Gets People Talking
If a journalist finds your story interesting, and a publisher thinks it is interesting enough to write about, then thousands of other people will too. I published a feature story about “What really goes on during spring break,” and was standing behind two moms in the grocery line one day when I overheard them talking about what they learned from the story. “I’m not sure I’ll let my daughter go without a chaperone now,” I heard one say. Think of all the people you can impact from your own story!
It Establishes You as the Expert
Up Your Company’s Professionalism with an Online Media Kit
There is nothing more exciting–or better for your business–than media coverage. Landing a feature story in print, or being quoted as an expert source in an online article can exponentially boost your footprint in your market and set you apart from your competitors.
As a member of the media, I am always looking for good stories to write about. But most companies forget this side of marketing. Or they don’t know how to achieve it. Especially if they are a smaller company.
So far this year I’ve published more than 20 feature stories about local businesses and business people that appeared in newspapers and high-end glossy magazines. Not only did these people receive a beautiful story, they were able to use their media appearance in their marketing and social media programs to garner even more coverage and credibility. Some printed out copies of their articles and used it as a giveaway at appearances and trade shows. Others framed their article and mounted it prominently in their place of business. A few made podcasts or videos of their radio or TV appearance and posted it on their own media channels. Even more referred to their third-party coverage in sales presentations to help close the deal. Continue reading →
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