“Never Too Soon: Using Your Blog to Generate Sales During the Holiday Season” plus 3 more

Never Too Soon: Using Your Blog to Generate Sales During the Holiday Season
Effective Planning for Video Content
15 Quick and Easy Productivity Super-Hacks for Busy Bloggers
How Having a Strong Email List Can Land You Great Sponsorships

Never Too Soon: Using Your Blog to Generate Sales During the Holiday Season

Posted: 03 Nov 2014 08:52 AM PST

Another holiday season is fast approaching, and that means websites are scrambling to ready killer campaigns (or have already launched them) that will generate North Pole-sized sales. For those fortunate enough to have a wealth of resources at their disposal, this will mean lavish advertising campaigns that will feature them prominently on the most highly-trafficked sites on the net.

Those with more moths in their digital wallet than Benjamins will need to rely on other assets, one of their most prized ones being their blog. While blogging and SEO have always been valuable tools in the online marketing arsenal, the paradigm is shifting, and quality content is now more important than ever.

There's two reasons for that. On the one hand, Google's search engine has evolved to put less emphasis on keywords and more of it on other aspects of a post's content and quality. These changes will continue to happen as Google's crusade for an unadulterated Internet only increases. And on the other hand, search engines and SEO are no longer the primary method to attract eyeballs in the first place. Instead, social media and social sharing have become a prominent means through which content is found and consumed.

That, more than anything else, is why quality is king. While search engines can still be tricked, real people can't; or at least not quite so easily. Your blog post has to strike a chord with readers, a powerful chord; a "this post was so cool I just have to share it with my friends" chord.

At the same time, your post has to be a little self-promotional. It's not entirely enough just to get people there, to read your post and depart. You need them to read your post, love it and share it themselves, but to also draw something from it and become interested in what you're selling. That is a very difficult balancing act.

The Art of Sharing

Firstly, you need to understand what content is being shared. Contrary to popular opinion about the attention spans of the internet hordes, long-form content is shared far more often than short-form. In fact, the longer and longer it gets, the more likely it becomes that it will be shared. Sharers clearly respect the effort put into longer pieces, and that effort is finally being rewarded by the internet.

Meanwhile, on the emotion front, readers tend to share awe-inspiring or humorous posts more than anything else. 46% of all shared posts were deemed to be either humorous, joyous, or amusing, and 25% awe-inspiring, according to a study conducted by OkDork. People want to share pleasing content, not something that will bring their friends down.

The easiest of those emotions to hit is probably humor. While it's hard to inspire awe or joy in some subject matter, you can always sneak humor in (like I could put something funny in this bracket right here if I wasn't so lazy; don't be lazy!).

Tying it All Together With a Pretty Bow

In the end though, it all needs to tie-in with your product(s), encouraging your now-joyous readers to either look into other information on your website, return later for more information, or head straight to your checkout so your online payment processor (and hopefully you have a good one that won't butcher that final, crucial step and will also be cost-effective for you) can rack up another sale for you. All of these are crucial to succeeding in an online sale. Your blog content can drive them there, but your inefficient and non- user-friendly shopping cart can drive them away just as quickly.

The content needs to be engaging, but also self-promotional. In this sense, your blog post should almost borderline on a sales letter masquerading as shareable content with a catchy title, a very personable (and personal) feel, and laden with humor. It should skillfully extol the virtues of your product or service in a way that feels fun and non-aggressive. Finding something shareable to talk about in your industry should be quite simple to not only come across, but to write about in an educated manner. After all, you are an expert in your industry, and your customers will surely think of you as such should you deliver consistently as both a content provider and retailer.

One possible way to pull this off is to compare your product to another comparable one, but not a direct competitor. Say you're selling a motorized skateboard, instead of trying to attack other products in that niche, take a shot at regular skateboards instead with your blog post "5 Reasons Why Pushing a Skateboard with Your Foot is soooo 1990's".

You've just created an article concept with the potential to be a fun, viral success, while innocuously touting your own product and generating interest and potential sales for it. Congratulations. Now get to it; these blog posts (and the jokes in their brackets) don't write themselves. Good luck!

Owen Andrew is a tech journalist and Apple enthusiast. When he’s not writing or drooling over the latest Apple announcement, he’s usually hanging with his kids and doing family activities. Feel free to give him a shout on G+ or Facebook

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Never Too Soon: Using Your Blog to Generate Sales During the Holiday Season

Effective Planning for Video Content

Posted: 02 Nov 2014 08:36 AM PST

This is a guest contribution from Robert Benoit.

Video production is a great way to engage and expand an audience, whether it is for a blog, website or business venture.

Whether you're an established blogger or simply trying to break into film production, developing a video requires the consideration of some key pieces before, during, and after the green light process.

If you're thinking of diving into video production, the following tips may give you the edge you need to create the best video content without spending more than you need to.

Establish a budget

You can only imagine how often people will go into the production of a video and spend more than they have. This can be a disastrous situation, it's best to avoid it and be smart. You want the video you're making to be the first of many, not the last, so sit down and decide on a set amount of money you're willing to spend on the production. This will save time and money in the long run.

Bonus Tip: It is important to map out the length of the production to estimate how long it will take to film. Quickness and efficiency will be an essential component to this process!

Think about your audience

Based on your business or interests there has to be a certain audience you want to reach with this production. Are you a musician trying to send a certain message or a small business attempting to reach those in the public that would benefit from your product? No matter what the message or purpose, there is an audience waiting for you to grab their attention.
Therefore, it is important to think about your audience before deciding the content of your video to ensure it is a piece of content they enjoy and like. Think about their interests, behaviours and what they like about your blog or business and be sure to incorporate these into the video in some way. This helps to ensure the video is relevant for your desired audience and is something they find enjoyable and interesting.

Storyboard your ideas

A beneficial part of this process is storyboarding as it allows you to organize the story you wish to tell and how you can visually achieve it. By analysing your video content frame by frame before filming, you will have an idea of what pieces of it work and can redesign the ones that might not. How can you determine this?
Look at the still frames and think, which ones enrich the emotion and theme of the content. Those are the ones you definitely need to include in your video.

Tools of engagement

While raw video footage is the skeletal structure of your project, video-editing effects are what allow the viewer to engage with the content and understand the overall message you're trying to convey.
Remember the film "2001: A Space Odyssey?" Near the beginning of the film, 'The Dawn of Man' segment shows apes violently using bones to beat each other and then the bone is thrown into the air. Then the frame immediately cuts to a space satellite, four million years later! Kubrick makes a match cut from one time period to the next. What he's trying to relay to the viewer is that humanity at one time was primitive and now views itself as technologically advanced.

An effect used largely in the "Star Wars" film franchise by George Lucas is the wipe effect. This is utilized when a scene ends where a line wipes the previous scene away on screen and simultaneously reveals the next scene.

Why use this effect? It can establish an emphasis on events taking place linearly, allowing for action to blend with more action in two different places.

Be original

The single, most important thing you can do to arrive at the best video content possible from a production is to be original. Standing out from the crowd and avoiding secondary ideas will show in the final product, presenting the world with a video that is unlike anything else is the goal of any video production. Never forget to keep in mind "originality" above all else.

Now it's up to you to take the necessary steps towards your successful video production. Believe in yourself and do your best to enjoy the process from start to finish. Careful planning pre-production is key, if you want it to go as smoothly as possible and remember the purpose of your video and the audience it is being aimed at, at all times during production. Ultimately, originality and relevance are the two most important features of a video. As long as it is something relevant to your target audience that they haven’t seen before they are sure to love it.

Robert Benoit is an intern at Phink TV who is currently studying English Writing and Mass Communication at Assumption College. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and is currently studying abroad in London. His future aspirations include film production and professional scriptwriting, as well as a passion for developing creative works.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Effective Planning for Video Content

15 Quick and Easy Productivity Super-Hacks for Busy Bloggers

Posted: 30 Oct 2014 08:59 AM PDT

This is a guest contribution from Pooja Lohana.

Let's face it.

As a blogger, you have a knack to find just one more task that needs to be done. Now.

Then there are times when you just don't feel like doing that pesky little task – the more you think about it, the more you imagine the worst, and the more you procrastinate.

No matter what your situation, here are 15 productivity hacks that really work, well if you only try them.

And the best part? You don't have to follow through each one – pick the ones that best resonate with you and run with it.

Sound good?

Let's get hacking.

15 Quick and Easy Productivity Super-Hacks for Busy Bloggers

1. Use email templates

As a blogger, I receive a ton of email each day. Some are from readers thanking me for a post. Some even have a specific question that needs answering.

Depending on the type of email you receive, you can create templates so replying doesn't take too much of your time.

For example, if I receive a "thank you" email, I acknowledge their reply with a simple two-sentence email.

If it's a question-email, I flag it using Gmail's red exclamation flag to answer at a set day in the week.

All my email is filtered to one Gmail address, so I don't have to keep checking countless inboxes (and avoid those cPanel logins too!)

Last but not the least, if you write a lot of email templates, stick to the 5-sentence rule.

Why 5 sentences? According to Guy Kawasaki, less than five is usually too curt for a response, and more than five wastes time. I agree.

Of course, not all my emails are 5-sentence long. However for templates, that strategy works like a charm.

Oh and one more thing – try turning your email window off in order to focus better.

When I keep my Gmail tab open in the background, a notification pops up each time a new email arrives.

Bam… There goes my focus down the drain.

I've since decided to turn off any distracting windows and only kept important tabs open. Over time, it has saved me hours.

2. Create an editorial calendar

Unless you're Seth Godin, there will be days when you don't have anyting to say, or don't have the time to come up with a stellar topic idea.

The solution? Create a simple editorial calendar so you're never short of ideas. Old-school 2-column excel sheet will do. Or you can go fancy-pants and try an app like Gather Content.

If the idea of a calendar sounds too stifling, try keeping a log of ideas in your WordPress backend.

That's what blogger Sarah Wilson does – at any point, she has about 20 draft posts ready to be used. When inspiration strikes, she creates a simple draft and works on them overtime until they are ready to launch. Neat, eh?

3. Re-post your evergreen content

You don't have to produce epic content every time. Dig into your archives to find "evergreen" posts – the type that stay fresh and timeless from season to season.

Examples of an evergreen post:

Long list posts
Case-studies
How-tos
Collaborated posts
Tutorials and guides

Since evergreen posts tend to be long, you can break them into smaller chunks and repurpose them as a PDF report, an audio freebie, or a Slideshare presentation.

Get creative and post new bite-sized, snackable content for your readers. This is especially a great hack for those slow days when you're too busy to post on your blog or social media.

4. Automate sending out your content

Following up from the last hack, a smart strategy is to create a series of email autoresponders or teaser emails for your old blog posts.

That way, even if you don't have anything new to say, you stay at the top of your readers' minds and new subscribers on your list are fed with good content.

5. Take the shortcut to mobile-responsive

Did you know that 82% people use mobile phones to check emails these days? What's more, 42% of your subscribers will delete your emails if they don't show up well on their phones.

Bloggers, clearly it's time to go mobile-responsive with your content.

But you don't have to go on a template-designing spree or hire external help.

Email marketing service such as GetResponse offers ready-made one-click responsive templates, so you don't have to worry about how your emails show up on a smartphone or tablet, therefore saving you a ton of time.

source: Get Response

6. Unsubscribe ruthlessly

I have a simple rule – if more than 30% of my incoming email is announcements and newsletters from other people's lists, I go on an unsubscription spree.

Of course, with Gmail's Promotions tab, life has become easier and I don't have to necessarily do that any more.

But still, if you're a lover of clean inbox and don't read a lot of e-newsletters, try Unroll.me to unsubscribe a bazillion times faster.

7. Use If This Then That

IFTTT lets you "put the internet at work for you". Basically, it's an app to automate your online life.

You can set trigger events that are based on cause and effect relationship (if this, then that). The events + triggered actions together form IFTTT "recipes".

As a recipe example, once you add a new article to read in Feedly, you also have it saved in your Dropbox folder.

IFTTT supports many "channels" such as Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Dropbox, Evernote, Bit.ly etc. that you can use in your recipes.

Source: IFTTT

8. Don't be afraid to delegate

Back when I started as an entrepreneur and blogger, I wanted to do everything to perfection.

I thought no one else could do all those tiny tasks on my list better than I, because no one understands my business as much as I do.

Big mistake!

Turns out, there are people who want to help you. For example, if you hate composing and scheduling a month's worth of Facebook posts, there's someone out there who loves that and is a pro at it.

Fiverr and FancyHands are two places to find that "special" someone.

Remember, you can't go at full speed 24/7. Decide which tasks really need your attention and which ones can be outsourced. That's a sign of a real superman – after all, he needed a sidekick too, right?

9. Do a Pomodoro

You've probably heard of a Pomodoro. It's a simple productivity technique where you work for 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break. Since you "only" have 25 minutes to work, your brain can focus 100% as it creates a sense of urgency.

I use the Pomodoro Productivity app which has some neat settings to increase or decrease break times and sound settings. It also nicely syncs with your Google calendar to get a visual warning when a Pomodoro overlaps with an appointment.

10. Try Awareness

Awareness is another free and unique app that will play a Tibetan bowl "ding" every hour. It's a gentle reminder to take a 5-minute break and get off that chair.

11. Use Awesome Screenshot

If you're like me, you want to take multiple screenshots for every post you write.

Awesome Screenshot is a super-helpful app that sits as a Chrome extension and can save you a ton of time.

12. Manage your stuff with Trello

I've only recently started using Trello, and kicking myself because I'm so late to discover it.

You can create Trello cards for your to-do tasks, ideas you want to implement or known issues to be solved. You can track progress of each one as you go.

You can also use it for your editorial calendar.

Here's an example of a Trello in progress.

13. Slam multitasking

Because it doesn't work. Period.

One study even showed multi-tasking led to a loss of productivity by 40% because participants had to keep switching between tasks.

14. Chew gum

This one's a weirdo in the list, but chewing gum leads to alertness and reduces occupational stress too.

15. Eat a banana

According to UCLA, a banana is great brain food that brings 25 grams of glucose (optimum) to your blood stream. Glucose is great to keep that active, productive, switched on state when you need it the most. Go bananas!

Your Turn!

You now have 15 super-hacks – some are easier than others. Now it's your turn to take your pick.

Go, apply them and be a rockstar.

I know there are more super-hacks that I've missed. What's your favourite?

Pooja Lohana is a freelance writer, ghost writer and online marketing mentor featured on Problogger, Firepole, JeffBullas, MarketingProfs, Hongkiat and more. If you're an aspiring writer and want to become self-employed, create wealth and live a better life by launching your online writing biz, steal her free mini-course to make your first $1000 (and more) writing at home.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

15 Quick and Easy Productivity Super-Hacks for Busy Bloggers

How Having a Strong Email List Can Land You Great Sponsorships

Posted: 23 Oct 2014 05:27 PM PDT

This is a guest contribution from email marketer Luke Guy.

How exactly do sponsors determine a price for ads on a blog? What would you consider the "golden standard" as for measuring how much a brand is worth or the size? There are many ways to do this. It's important to know this so you can figure where to spend most of your time and building.

Here are general ways to determine brand size:

Your follower numbers on social media
Blog stas
The size of your email list
Social shares per article

These are the main ways sponsors determine on how much you’re worth, and the size of your brand, but which one should you focus most on? Coming from me, Luke Guy, you can almost guess, right? As you know, the email list is the best way to determine someone's brand size.

I'll explain why.

Social media with a large following was rare a few years ago, but now even grandma can have hundreds of thousands of followers. With it becoming so cheap now, you can buy fake followers for almost pennies. Many politicians are known for doing this to embellish the numbers -up to half of the followers have been known to be fake during presidential campaigns. So this is definitely not the way to measure someone’s brand size.

So what are other ways sponsors determine brand size?

Insights from the blog is a great way to measure traffic and to see how many people are viewing your blog. By simply taking a snapshot of your stats, you'd be revealing the traffic coming to your site. Gold, right?

Only thing is, the traffic numbers could change overnight. Let's say you're in a relationship with Google and it's sending traffic to you like crazy. Your blog could be flooded at the time and things look really good. You bring home the amazing content and it sends you the traffic. Such a beautiful relationship! But let's say you burn the biscuits, forget the anniversary, or worse, you cheat with black hat SEO methods! Guess what? Google is leaving. Your stats could drop overnight and you're now seeing newbie traffic.

So yeah, I definitely wouldn't depend on the stats of a blog alone. Even if it wasn't based on Google, how could you guarantee these people would come back?

Keep reading.

Let's go ahead and talk about the email list, is it the best way to determines ones size? I'd say it's one of the greatest ways, if not THE best way to determine size. Why would I say that?

Well no one is going to buy 100k fake emails and then claim that as their list, you know how I know? That would cost $500 in Mailchimp fees per month. No one is going to go through that. No one would claim a list this size and it not be true. It would take one glimpse from the dashboard to convince the sponsors you mean business. Email list are the biggest way to convince sponsors.

Here's something else to think about.

What is the best way to control traffic besides the email list? Besides paid ads, nothing. Also, what other way could you send a mass message and get 30-40% open rates? That's 40,000 people who will be exposed to your message within hours (based on 100,000 email list). There's no other way to control that kind of traffic. Organic search is super, don't get me wrong, but that isn't controlled. With the email list, you can control the how, when and where.

Combining All Three Is Best

If you have all three: Social Media, Email List, and Blog Stats. Why not reveal all three? The best way to get brand size is to combine all three of these. I know this. But if that email list is small and weak looking, the Facebook following of 50k isn't looking very good right now, does it? Looks very fishy actually. So the email list brings credibility and the rest sweetens the deal.

By building your list, you're showing your sponsors who you are and what you're capable of. The size of your list is also the best way to catch eyes when applying for sponsors for your blog. So let me encourage you and start building that list. Make it a profit journey and learn how to grow that list while making money. Many ways to do this, but the biggest way is to simply use that traffic and send it to your site. Then from that site sell your services, do affiliate marketing, or my least favorite – adsense ads.

Ways to grow the list:

Guest post and offer something downloadable (requiring opt-in).
Try to talk with 5 people (via email) a day about your niche. Have your signature ready with a link to your opt-in.
Include opt-in boxes on every page and post of your blog.
Create an eBook that requires opt-in.
Create a free program that requires email like Sumome.
Talk about why people should join on social media

View 26 Ways To Grow Your Email List Like A Boss to get more ideas.

There’s one thing I know, and that's people love to download things. It's just in us to love this kind of thing. Another tool in my utility belt is how I see it. So offer something free like a plugin, program, or a series of educational emails, and start building the list!

When you give good reasons why people should download your free program (email required) the more likely they will. If it's actually helpful, it won't be long before you're collecting emails automatically on a huge scale. Which is game changer.

But why go through this?

By building that relationship and collecting emails you're building traffic. You do this by sending content-filled emails their way. You're not pitching sales balls at them four times a week. Your sending them content-filled, and helpful emails. Send something amazing. By building this relationship you're getting referrals and more sign-ups. The more sign-ups you get, the more traffic you can control and send your way. Once you your traffic get's to a size, they will buy products from that site. All this can happen before the big sponsorship. So like I say, grow the list while making money. The more helpful you become, the more people will talk about you, the larger the list becomes.

So focus on that list and grow it like a boss. Get sponsored.

Luke Guy blogs at Lukeguy.com. He researches email marketing and loves to write about it. If you need further help with your email challenges, you can join him here! Or even hire him here to write for you. He has been featured on Search Engine Journal, Smart Passive Income, Jeff Bullas, Convince & Convert and a few others.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How Having a Strong Email List Can Land You Great Sponsorships