The Magalog Guy's MagaBlog

A Blogging Break

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Magalog Guy

In a sense, I’m an accidental blogger, although I grew to be a very purposeful one.

With my first blog on Blogger, I was just exploring what blogging was all about one day when, in less than a half-dozen clicks, I had a live blog.

I was kind of stunned. I hadn’t expect it to be so easy. Suddenly I was face-to-face with a blank blog and figured I should say something.

That was January 19th, 2006.

The topics I’ve focused on as a blogger have evolved, but my desire to help people has remained the same. Helping people in my own small way has always been a foundation of my blogging activity.

And from that foundation, blogging has led to podcasting, a book, speaking and more.

All of that has been a boost to my business, so it’s been the best of both worlds… helping people and increasing my business opportunities.

Having just finished the six month series on Content Sharing and Repurposing, and realizing the Magalog Guy site is in desperate need of a make-over, I’m putting this blog on hiatus.

As I’ve considered taking this break, it’s been interesting to be aware of a bigger picture and see how others are looking at their social networking activities.

It wasn’t that long ago that business people (especially small business) felt they needed to live on social media or be blogging multiple times a week. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re seeing benefits to it and have something of value to say.

But more and more I’m seeing people put the brakes on, or at least take a more leisurely pace. They realize their world – and their business – won’t come to an end if they slow down a bit and aren’t feeling obligated to be seen every day on Twitter, or blog multiple times a week.

Make no mistake… I’m still high on blogging, social networking and content marketing in general. Blogging alone is responsible for the majority of hits to this site and has led to some fantastic opportunities.

And as I’ve said before, you might have an amazing sales letter on your homepage, but people aren’t going to come back week after week just to keep reading it.

It’s that custom content designed to help that engages people and builds that deeper relationship I’m always talking about.

So if you’re not blogging, I strongly encourage you to consider it.

But after six years and a to-do list that is in need of serious attention – not to mention a packed schedule with clients – a break is in order.

While I’m taking a break from the blog and – fingers crossed – getting this website whipped into shape over the coming months, I’m hardly disappearing or halting my content marketing activities.

The Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections Podcast continues on the 1st and 15th of each month.

You can also join me on the Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections Facebook page.

And if you’ve signed up for my free book on mikeklassen.com, you’ll be automatically subscribed to my Extending Your Virtual Handshake newsletter which is a once-a-month quick blast of links that point you to helpful information that will enhance your own content marketing efforts.

When I do restart the blogging activities, the link will likely be different. But I will update this blog at that time to let you know the new link. If you’re a subscriber to this blog, you’ll get an e-mail update.

I want to sincerely thank you for reading, whether you’re new or you’ve been following me since 2006. I don’t take that for granted.

I hope you’ll follow along in the other places I mentioned, and rejoin my blog activities when the new version is up-and-running.

Thanks!

Posted in magalogguy | Tagged Blogger, Blogging, content marketing, content repurposing, Content Sharing, Facebook, Podcast, Twitter | Leave a comment

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Crossing the Finish Line

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Magalog Guy

It’s been a long ride, and we’ve reached the finish line.

We started this content sharing and repurposing journey about 6 months ago.

Before closing the door on this series, I want to highlight a number of points.

1. The individual articles in this series were never meant to be the be-all, end-all on each topic. There just isn’t space for information that, in many cases, demand a whole book dedicated to that topic. (And many books do exist on these topics if you want to delve into them further.)

So covering every last detail was unrealistic. The goal was to show you the potential outlets for sharing and repurposing your content.

Your content doesn’t have to just go in one spot and languish there. It can work much harder for you.

It’s all about leveraging your knowledge as efficiently as possible, in as many places as possible.

2. Content marketing itself is not all there is to it. It should be part of an overall marketing strategy tailored for your specific needs.

In fact, marketing in general doesn’t do much good if you don’t have a plan in place to turn leads into sales.

So please don’t get the idea that you just throw all your content out there and people start throwing money back at you.

Our unique, custom content gives us more opportunities to reach people, show ourselves as specialists in our niches, and stand apart from competitors who aren’t engaging as deeply with prospects and customers. (If you haven’t already, feel free to download my free guide, Benefits of Content Marketing.)

Related to that point…

3. Prospects are researching you. I found out that a new client some time back had done a Google search on me.

They already knew about my website, but they were looking to see what else I was doing online. I suppose they were curious about my reputation.

I did the same search they did and was happy with what came up: my site, articles I wrote for other sites, my podcast, a press release, and more. Turns out my content was popping up all over the place in search results.

No, something like a one-time press release or single special report might not generate a flood of new orders or clients. But it does begin to paint a picture of you and your company when people are researching you, because they are.

People don’t want to risk their money on a scam or someone who can’t be trusted. A search on you is easy. That’s why you want to spread your name as often as possible, especially in places that don’t cost much money, if any.

It all creates a picture of someone who is engaged, experienced, and a trusted resource.

4. I don’t currently engage in all these channels, nor should you. I’d never suggest you have to do all these things, all of the time.

In some cases, certain things I tried worked great, so I kept doing them. In other cases, I tried something, didn’t like it (or it didn’t work as I wanted), and stopped.

In still other cases, you might do some of these channels for a season, then stop for a while. You don’t want to become a slave to your content marketing efforts.

But your situation may be different than mine. You’re going to have to experiment and see what works best for you. And you need to be aware of where your best prospects and customers are.

Just be sure to give some of these things time. For example, don’t start a Twitter account and expect tens of thousands of legitimate followers the next week.

Content marketing takes time and patience. That’s why I suggest you pick two or three channels that seem like the best fit and work on them for a while before adding more to your plate.

5. This series didn’t cover everything you can do in the realm of content marketing. So keep your eyes and ears open for new opportunities to share your content. With technology, new opportunities are right around the corner.

One last thing…

So there’s no doubt, let me stress one more time how valuable your content is. It’s your intellectual capital!

Putting it on a blog is great. But blog content quickly goes from your main page to the blog archives.

Just because it’s no longer immediately visible, doesn’t mean it has lost its value.

Breathe some new life into that content and put it in different channels so it continues to work for you day after day.

A sincere “THANK YOU!” for going on this journey with me.

I hope you got a lot from it and will use the ideas I’ve shared to boost your business and build deeper connections with your prospects and customers.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Books & eBooks

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guest Blogging

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Article Banks

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Blog Hubs

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Magazines & Newsletters

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Print Marketing

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Podcasting

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Video

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Webinars

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Presentation Hubs

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Press Releases and Publicity

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Interview Transcripts

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Public Speaking

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Teaching

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Courseware

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Mobile Apps

Posted in Content Marketing | Tagged Blog, content marketing, content repurposing, Content Sharing, intellectual capital | Leave a comment

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Mobile Apps

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Magalog Guy

To this point in our series on content sharing and repurposing, I’ve only talked about things I’ve either done for my business, or have been directly involved with in some other way.

Today, I want to touch on something I don’t have experience with in terms of my own business: Mobile Apps.

The reason I’m including it in this series – despite my lack of experience – is because this is a new frontier that we all need to keep our eyes on.

Even if you’re not a passionate tablet or smartphone user, you can’t deny the impact of mobile devices on society today. And part of that impact is directly related to the applications (or apps) that you can get for those devices.

For many of us, it starts innocently enough… perhaps book reading, engaging in social networking, or some intense addiction with Angry Birds or another game. But we quickly discover apps that can help us be more productive, both in our personal and business lives.

As I’ve mentioned before, if your target audience has a preferred way to being reached or interacting, you probably need to be there whether you’re a fan of that method or not. And this holds true with apps.

Of course, only you know whether prospects and customers would get any value from an app based upon what you know about those two groups. I’ve determined that, for now, this is not a priority channel for me.

You may discover the same thing only to realize a year down the road that the landscape has changed for your business. In other words, this is definitely a content marketing channel to re-evaluate from time to time as I plan to do.

You may need to open your wallet for this one.

Out of all the content marketing channels we’ve discussed, this is the one that probably costs the most money to implement. With the other channels, there might be some small financial outlay, but most of the costs are related to your time and effort.

We’re not quite to the point where a professional looking custom app can be created straight from your desktop, but that’s probably not far off. (And note that I said professional looking.)

There are some sites where you can build an app for “free.” Yes, free is in quotes because there’s often a catch.

The catch might be that your app will include advertising that you don’t control. Or there may be a monthly cost to maintain your app.

There may even be costs associated with submitting your app to whichever app store you want to use. And let’s not forget the question of what platform you want your app to run on… an Apple device, an Android device, etc.

So you’ll want to spend time thinking this through in terms of which platform to use and how your app could benefit prospects and customers.

Speaking of which…

What could you include in your app?

I like what what Dale Beaumont has done with his Business Blueprint app.

The app include links to news, videos, audio and has many other features that compliment what Dale and his team do at their live conferences.

One of your choices, if you go the app route, will be whether your app links to continually updated content. Or whether your app will be a self-contained, stand-alone app that does a specific task.

Like just about anything else, a search will uncover a ton of sites that can build an app for you.

Not having done an app myself, I can’t vouch for any of the following companies, but I wanted to give you a starting point to begin your research.

Some sites allow you to quickly build an app that links to content on your site, like your blog. Just provide the link, and you’ll see an online demo of what your app would look like.

That may be enough for you. But I’d still encourage you to sit down and think through what your prospects and customers are looking for, and then how you might deliver value through an app.

This is an exciting time to share and repurpose your content. There are so many options available, including these new opportunities to have a presence with a mobile app.