Now we’re going to shift gears a bit and talk about content repurposing, also known as content recycling. We’ll obviously share the fact that this repurposed content is available, but we’re going to packing it in a different way first.

As a quick reminder, we’re using a blog as the hub, or starting point, of our content. While it doesn’t have to be a blog, that’s one of the most common starting points.

The one thing you quickly notice about a blog, though, is that “new” content quickly becomes “old” content as your write newer articles.

Those older articles get pushed into the archives. They might be found through a search, or a “related links” tag on your blog, but the spotlight is definitely shining on the latest article.

But just because that content is no longer on the main page doesn’t mean it no longer has value. Many of the articles I write for my blog (including this one) are what we call evergreen. In other words, the content is still good whether you’re reading it the day after it was written, or three years down the line.

We can breathe new life into that evergreen content by lifting it off the blog and putting it into a guide or report. What you choose to call it probably doesn’t matter, although report may sound a bit stuffier than guide.

Let me show you a quick example of how I put together my guides.

Take a look at this article from a blog on one of my other sites. It’s called, Here’s a Novel Idea: Connect With Your Connections.

The article still gets found with a Google search or some reference that another person makes to it. But that article in particular struck a chord with people when I wrote it. For that reason, I wanted to put it into a different format so I could use it in other ways.

So I created a PDF which allowed me to format the content a little nicer, giving it a more professional appearance. (Click on the cover graphic to see the PDF.)

I also put it with other guides on a Resources section of that site. The interest in this guide may lead to interest in some of the others. I can also e-mail it to prospects or partners when appropriate.

If you’re not a designer, don’t worry. Simple covers like I’ve done aren’t difficult to create and may not even be necessary. They certainly look nice on your site to entice people, but it’s the information that people want.

And don’t miss the opportunity to include a plug for yourself. If you look at any of my guides, you’ll find an About page at the end. While I always hope the guides help people, there is a business aspect to them and, for me, the guides can lead to new clients.

By the way, it’s not a rule that guides have to be digital. If you want to print them to send to targeted prospects, go right ahead.

Speaking of printing, be aware that many people will print a digital report for later reading. With that in mind, stick to a traditional 8.5 x 11 (or 11 x 8.5) size. This will be easier to print. I tend to do mine as 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high which is a landscape orientation because that’s the orientation of most computer monitors. But it still prints fine on a regular sheet of paper.

Also, go easy on color. People who print your guide don’t appreciate you burning through their non-black color ink.

Of course, as soon as any of my reports are created, I go back to the social networking channels to share a link to them. And that’s something you’ll always want to keep in mind… taking something you’ve done in one channel and promoting it all the other appropriate channels you use.

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

But like we talked about last week with LinkedIn, not being the top dog in social networking doesn’t mean you should ignore it when millions of people use it each day. So if some of your best prospects are on G+, you should be, too.

It’s so roomy in here

If you’ve heard me speak on content marketing in live settings online or in person, you know I’m not a huge fan of Twitter in terms of trying to cram info into a short tweet. I understand the reason there are restrictions and I’ve learned to work with it, but sometimes we’re almost talking in code as we try to share our content.

Facebook fares a little better by giving you about four times as much space in a post.

But G+ really allows you to let rip and say what’s on your mind. I’m not advocating writing mini-essays each day, but at least you have the freedom to say what you want to say and have an almost unrestricted conversation with people.

So while you could simply share links to your content, you have the option of sharing it directly on G+ and making it easy for people to chime in. No jumping over to your blog and no making people sign-in with whatever method you might use to keep spammers out.

While we like people coming to our blog and the expanded marketing opportunities it presents, we should also be focused on developing sincere relationships with people. And if people are more comfortable engaging with you on G+ (or Facebook, or LinkedIn, or Twitter) take advantage of the room Google provides to have fantastic conversations in their sand box.

The expanding circles

I think of G+ as my “social networking do-over.” By that I mean, having made mistakes with my approach to Twitter and Facebook, I was able to go into G+ with more knowledge about how I want to connect with people.

One positive that Google emphasizes is putting people in circles. Circles are basically groups. You can group people in other social sites, but Google made it a key element from the start. Most people I’ve talked to never bothered to group people on other sites and they’re not inclined to go back and do it since they’ve gotten used to having everyone mixed in together.

With G+, circling people is simply a core component of the whole experience, and very easy to do.

You could create a circle for Prospects, Clients, Friends, Family, Family I Can’t Stand But Feel Like I Have To Be Connected With Them… there are endless possibilities and no one can see which group they’re in.

When you’re sharing your content, you can easily direct it to the relevant group.

Let’s say I write an article on the benefits of working with a direct market designer. While clients I’m connected to on G+ might find it interesting, they’re already clients. Instead, this article might be shared with people in my Prospects circle.

A quick note… you can share your content to everyone at once. You don’t have to share it first to one group, then start a new post to share it again to another group.

Can’t ignore Search

When the biggest search site starts a social network that, in essence, is all about content, it’s important to pay attention.

As I’ve stated in some previous articles in this series, I’m not someone who advocates a constant promotion of your own material. I believe in engaging with people in different ways. So I’m just as likely to chime in on a conversation about the best classic rock albums from the 70s as I am to let people know about my latest blog article.

But for most of us, there has to be a business reason to justify the time and effort on these social media sites. And if your content on G+ enhances your search engine ranking, you need to seriously consider ensuring your content is shared there.

But search works both ways… people can find you and your content in a search, and you can find content from others. That’s one of the advantages of setting up Sparks in G+. Like Circles is really just “groups”, Sparks is just saved searches.

Setting up searches related to your niche is one way to keep an eye on what people are talking about, and jump in when it’s relevant.

And yes, you can setup searches without G+. But if you’re using the tool anyway, it doesn’t cost anything to setup of searches and check in from time to time.

(Note: Google business pages is brand new as of last week. The idea is similar to a Facebook business page. But because it is brand new and I’m just getting into it myself, I’ve restricted this conversation to individual G+ profiles.)

To this point, we’ve been grabbing the low-hanging fruit of Content Sharing. Sharing a link to your content on social media is pretty easy.

Beginning next week, we’re going to move into the realm of Content Repurposing. And I think that’s where things get really interesting.

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

But LinkedIn has over 135-million members. That doesn’t mean they’re all active members, but 135-million is still nothing to write off.

As we continue talking about content sharing and repurposing, how do we leverage LinkedIn? In my opinion, LinkedIn actually gives us more options than other social networking sites.

LinkedIn Status Updates

Let’s start with the easiest option, the status update. This is just like a Twitter or Facebook update… a chance for you to share a new blog article or podcast, a speaking engagement, or a link to a helpful resource you’ve found.

One thing I find unfortunate about LinkedIn these days is how some people have abused the ability to update their connections. Before Twitter and Facebook became so popular, many people saw LinkedIn as their way to connect with true business connections. Maybe it was clients, maybe colleagues.

Today, though, it’s so easy to link multiple social networking accounts in one place you can share something and have it go to all your social media profiles at once. That’s made it far easier for people to share every passing thought to their LinkedIn connections as they’re also updating their Twitter and Facebook friends.

So, as always, use discretion when you update your status on LinkedIn. It is possible to “turn off” updates from a connection while still being connected to them. You don’t want people doing that to you, but it can happen if you’re updating too much, or talking about things that aren’t really relevant to business.

Personally, it’s rare I would ever do more than one update a day. And there are many times I’ll only update once or twice a week. In my case, most of my connections are clients or colleagues, not prospects. I’m not trying to sell to them. I’m just trying to be a resource and letting them know about new content they might find useful.

LinkedIn Groups

Groups is another part of LinkedIn that has value, but has been abused. Groups allow you to talk with other people on similar interests like marketing, start-ups, design… just about any topic.

The main idea is to discuss things… share ideas… help other people out. But far too often, people use it as a blatant sales tool or try to drive people to their sites to discuss issues there instead of within LinkedIn.

Still, if you find a good group where the group owner makes it clear that blatant promotion won’t be tolerated, you can find great opportunities to network and share your content.

In fact, it’s a great place to gather information when you’re creating content. If you want outside opinions on an issue, fellow group members are often more-than-willing to add their 2-cents if you’re upfront about why you’re asking.

And some discussions brought up by others have created a launching point to my own blog articles where I can address the topic and put my own spin on it.

While I don’t advocate popping into a group and posting links to new articles everywhere, I don’t see a problem with responding to someone else with a link to relevant content.

For example, if someone is asking about how to put together a business plan, and you wrote an article about it, go ahead and say so. I always try to give some information in the answer before providing the link. I think people appreciate when you try to answer a question as simply as you can and then link to an article that might have more information.

One of the benefits of including a link is that it’s not only the person who started the conversation that is likely to look at your information. Other people, even months down the line, who are interested in the topic may visit your site to learn more.

LinkedIn Q&A

This is, perhaps, my favorite part of LinkedIn and also where I’ve made many new connections. Like Groups, LinkedIn has many Q&A sections on different topics. It’s a place where people can ask a question and get answers from experts or at least other people who have been through the same problem.

Blatant self-promotion is strong discouraged here. But just like I mentioned for Groups, it’s perfectly acceptable to answer a question as best you can on the site, and then point people to a relevant article (or podcast, or whitepaper, or video) where you tackled the question in-depth.

And like the Groups, it’s not just the person who asked the question who will be interested in your answer. Others who chime in may also be interested. Likewise, you may learn something new from others who answer. Also, don’t forget to take questions that are asked and create your own articles from them.

LinkedIn is still a strong site for connecting with other business people, whether it’s potential and current clients, or colleagues and potential business partners. Your existing content, shared in a respectful way, may be just the introduction you need to make a new connection, or land a new client.

By the way, my free guide, Connect With Your Connections, is available on the Klassen Communications Resource page. This short PDF tells the story of realizing I was connected to lots of people I didn’t really know, and what I decided to do about it. It’s a lesson I know you can apply to your own business.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

As we continue our series on sharing and repurposing content, some of the same benefits that we talked about with Twitter apply to Facebook.

Whether you have a business page, or a personal page where you’re interacting with business colleagues, clients or prospects, we always want people to know when we have fresh content to share. Maybe that content is a new blog article, maybe it’s a speaking engagement.

That’s not to say that every update should be about promoting your content or activities. By all means, engage with people however you’re comfortable. If that means talking about a movie you like one moment and letting people know about an article about business lessons you’ve learned while managing your underwater belly-dancing training school, go with it.

One of the reasons I like Facebook over Twitter on a personal level is that I have more space to be… well, personal. You’re allowed to say more in a Facebook update than you are a Twitter update.

When it comes to content, use this to your advantage. Don’t just tell people the name of an article, and then link to it. Set it up a little.

Here’s an update I gave on my Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections Facebook Page  about a new podcast episode.

Made a big mistake early on with my business. I thought I shouldn’t waste time explaining to people why I do what I do. I figured when they hit the website, they just wanted to the facts about my services. Like I said… big mistake. If you’ll give me 3 minutes, I’ll explain why in this podcast.

Then, I included the link. Doing this helped me to engage a bit more with the reader… I wanted to give them a better reason to listen than just toss the title out at them.

In some cases, you might not be a starting a conversation about new content. There will be times when your connections will be talking about a particular subject that you’ve written about. Jump in and share the link. But again, take advantage of the space you have to set it up for people so they know what to expect.

Here’s one more way you can share your content on Facebook and I want to take the time to make sure I’m really clear about it.

If you are a fan of some page – maybe it’s a business you like, or a potential client you’re trying to land – share a relevant link if it’s appropriate to the conversation.

I highlighted that last part because I am not suggesting you go to someone’s business page or personal wall and toss up links to content that have no relationship to a conversation. A friend described that as being like a seagull who flies by, poops on your wall, and flies off.

There are people who prefer not to do anything the smells of selling or marketing in their social media channels. They feel that just conversing and not being pushy will attract people to their site. If that’s you, by all means continue doing what you feel is best.

Personally, I’ve found that striking a balance between promoting what I’m up to, and engaging with people on non-business topics from time to time, is the right mix for me.

One final note on Facebook… if someone has taken the time to respond to something you wrote, please give them the courtesy of a response.

I see far too many people – and this is usually on business pages – where people will respond to an update, give their opinion or thanks, and not get the courtesy of a reply.

If your purpose in social media is to talk at people instead of with people, I’d like to suggest that you reassess how you’re using social media.

Previous articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

As we dig into specific strategies we’re starting with, what on the surface, might seem like an obvious one: Twitter. But I hope you’ll look at Twitter in a new way when we’re done.

The simplest thing to do once you have a new blog article is to share a link to it on Twitter. Most people know to do this. That’s the obvious part I mentioned.

However, let me share a few benefits in case you don’t do this, or question why you should bother with Twitter in the first place.

First, love it or hate it, Twitter is extremely popular. Some of the best advice I can give you is to be where your best prospects and customers are. With millions upon millions of people using Twitter, is it possible some of your best prospects, customers and even joint-venture partners are already there?

Second, not many people realize that Twitter Search is a very popular search tool. And this makes sense. Twitter is “now” so if you’re looking for information on something and you need up-to-date information, Twitter is worthwhile to search.

Third, every time I post a link to a new blog article on my site, I immediately get hit (in a positive way) by about a dozen search sites or tools indexing my new content.

Is anyone paying attention to anyone else on Twitter?

One of the complaints you often hear about Twitter is that most people aren’t paying much attention to what anyone else is saying… they’re promoting their own stuff. And if you follow even a few hundred people, you know it’s difficult to keep up with the stream of tweets that flow through every hour.

That’s OK, because here’s how I see it…

I realize that not everyone who follows me cares about what I say on Twitter. Some just like to, what I call “collect people.” But go back to the benefits I outlined earlier.

When someone is doing a specific search about my area of expertise, I want them to easily find me and my content. I want my content to be indexed so that when people are searching on some other search engine, my content is showing up on the first page.

Bottom line… I want my content to be easily found. It’s great if that content is on my blog, but it doesn’t do much good if people don’t know my blog exists. By making sure I’m sharing it in the social media channels, I increase the odds of it being found.

Twitter isn’t just about talking

Here’s where we get to what many people miss about Twitter… it’s a great listening tool.

I have a couple of searches setup in Twitter (through TweetDeck) that show me every tweet with particular keywords. When appropriate, I can jump into that conversation and point people to relevant blog articles that deal with what they’re talking about.

Let’s say you have a blog about Alzheimer’s Disease. You’d obviously be sharing links to new blog articles on Twitter.

While people searching Twitter on this topic might find you, you would also want to setup a search for alzheimer so you’re aware of what people are saying on this topic.

(Side note: Doing a search on the singular alzheimer in this case will also automatically pick up the plural version of the word. Keep that in mind no matter what search you’re doing.)

So, you see tweets about alzheimer, now what?

If appropriate, jump into the conversation. If you have enough space to share a solution, do so. Maybe your solution is a year-old blog article you wrote that covers that specific issue. If so, share it. An old article may be the new piece of information someone else is looking for.

A bonus benefit of monitoring these conversations is that it’s likely you’ll get ideas for new articles. This happens to me a lot. After all, if people are talking about something in your specialty area, perhaps you should be, too, if you haven’t already.

There’s so much more I could say about Twitter. Especially the importance of developing true relationships with people and not using Twitter (or other social media platforms) just to sell, sell, sell.

But in the realm of content sharing, I just wanted to explain how you can be using Twitter to share your content with more people.

Webinars and phone interviews help, but there are still far too many people I’m unable to reach.

For that reason, I’m beginning a series about sharing and repurposing (or recycling) content.

Creating custom content is a powerful way to market, and if you refer back to my article about consumer feelings on custom content, you’ll see that including a content marketing component for your business is pretty-much required these days.

But too many businesses create content for their site (which is good) but don’t do anything further with it (which is bad.) Maybe they mention it on Twitter or Facebook, but that’s about it.

This series will get you thinking about how you can share and repurpose your content so it’s working harder for you and reaching far more people.

Our starting point for your content is a blog. It doesn’t have to be a blog, but they’re easy to setup and you can publish to it any time you want without a lot of effort.

I strongly recommend your blog be hosted on your site instead of a third-party blog hosting site. You want the benefit of your blog traffic coming to your business site. Plus, you’re not at the mercy of a third-party site if they make drastic changes that negatively affect your blog.

One of the benefits of a blog, in general, is that you control it. If it’s being hosted on some other site – like Blogger.com or WordPress.com – you give up some of that control.

Many domain hosts now have an easy WordPress install mechanism if you want to use that blogging platform on your site. I’m a big fan of WordPress, but use whatever you feel is going to be easiest for you. Otherwise, you’ll make up every excuse in the book to avoid updating your blog.

I’ve talked before about how often you should blog, so please check out that article if you missed it.

If you have trouble coming up with ideas for your blog, download my free guide, Great Ideas for Generating Great Content.

If you need help beyond that, I offer an easy consulting solution where we dig into your specific business and start generating topics. As I’ve found in doing this with others, once we brainstorm a few ideas, other ideas will start coming to you and you’ll be off to the races. Contact me to learn more.

So, if you don’t already have a blog, that’s your task for this week: Start one!

Next week, we’ll begin our look at specific ways to share and repurpose your content.

While your domain host could shut you down, as long as you’re not breaking any rules, they’ll usually leave you alone.

Two incidents last week helped reaffirm why we want to be careful about putting too much trust/faith/confidence in platforms we don’t control.

In the first incident, I was cleaning out Twitter followers who hadn’t tweeted anything in almost a year. While following people who aren’t around anymore isn’t a big deal, I wanted to prune things.

But I learned something about Twitter… if you do too much activity within an hour, it forces you to take a break.

After being alerted that I was doing too much, too fast, I found myself with an enforced “time out”.

I was struck by the fact that this “social” platform had decided I was socializing too much, and possibly for evil intent. So it told me to – as a parent might say – go outside and play for a while.

In a sense, I can appreciate the attempt to possibly keep someone from using Twitter for evil, however they may define it. But why unFollowing a lot of people would trigger a warning is beyond me.

Oh wait, I know why… it can’t tell the difference. So it erred on the side of “safety” and blocked me from doing a legitimate activity.

Over on Facebook, I was locked out for a few hours due to maintenance issues. Since Facebook is worldwide, it can’t do maintenance during “normal” hours because when your user-base is worldwide, there’s no such things as “off hours.” Fair enough.

Let me be clear… I’m not saying you shouldn’t use social media because of inconveniences like this. As they say, usually with saltier language, “stuff happens.” We live with it and work around any of these little obstacles.

But one takeaway for me is that as common and widespread as these platforms are, we don’t get the final say. If I was more dependent on social media, these incidents might bother me. Worse, they might have affected my business. At a more basic level, I really don’t want to be told I’ve done enough for a while and to come back later.

This brings us to a larger question… what effect would it have on your business if the social media platform of your choice disappeared, whether forever or for a few days? What if it started losing popularity and preference (hello MySpace) to something new and shiny?

If you’re talking to customers and prospects on social media, do you have them on a house list where you can still reach them if something outside your control happens?

While being on social media is important, you don’t want to ignore the platforms that you control, like your website and blog.

For many of us, we’re using social media to help drive people to our sites because that’s where we have the full ability to sell or continue the sales conversation.

Personally, I want to invest most of my time on the platforms I actually have control over. My websites and blogs have never told me “Enough already! Take a break!”

Obviously websites can crash and your domain host can have issues of their own. But at the end of the day, I still have more control than I would if I’m hosting my blog on another site – like WordPress.com – or if I have too much invested on another platform that might shut me out for any number of reasons.

Again, don’t take this to mean I’m anti-social media or think you should avoid it. Quite the opposite. But I do see how some businesses are letting the excitement of these platforms take their eyes off developing and maintaining what they do control.

Don’t let that be you.

The short answer is, there’s no perfect amount that applies in every case. But there are some things to consider that will help you determine how much is right for you.

What are the top bloggers doing?

The first thing we want to do is look at what the most popular and successful bloggers are doing. People like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan and Michael Hyatt. These are people who blog just about every day. They become a daily habit for their followers.

So if the most popular and successful bloggers are writing each day, what does that suggest in terms of how often you should write?

Of course, I usually get immediate resistance to that. “I can’t blog every day! Do you know how busy I am?” I completely understand that. In fact, I’m not saying you actually should blog every day. I don’t blog every day, and I’ll tell you why in a minute.

But again, as we try to find our own comfort zone for blogging, we do want to examine it from all angles and we need to understand what the top bloggers are doing.

How often do you want to talk with your prospects and customers?

We should also consider how often we want to engage with our readers. Remember this important point: People read your sales material because they have to if they want to know about your product or services.

They read your personalized, helpful content (like your blog) because they want to. They get value from it. They’re basically saying, “I like what I’m reading from you… keep talking to me.”

This is a dream situation for your business… customers and prospects who want to hear from you. That being the case, how often do you want to interact with them? How often do you want them coming to your site and not only reading what’s on your blog, but possibly seeing other products or services you offer?

Based on that, we’re kind of back to blogging every day, aren’t we?

However… we have to be realistic.

Blogging every day just isn’t possible for some people, especially the small business person who has a to-do list that is already way too long.

And if you’re new to blogging, coming up with one article a month seems like a major challenge. Trying to come up with one a day is a non-starter.

So now is where I get to what I hope is the best answer for you. The question I ask people is, “How often can you blog on a very consistent schedule? Is it once a day? Once a week? Once a month?”

I truly believe that if you’re not going to be consistent with blogging, you shouldn’t even start. That’s a controversial statement. Many would tell you to just start and do it as you can. It’s the starting that’s important.

Starting is very important. But I’ve seen way too many people get excited about blogging and they’re off to the races. They have a bunch of great ideas so they’re blogging just about every day. Then, they get busy, they run out of ideas, or they get bored.

They stop blogging for a number of weeks before another batch of articles appear. Then, it’s back to radio silence.

Remember what I said earlier about the top bloggers creating a daily habit for their readers? Part of their success is due to consistency. Their followers are trained to expect new articles on a consistent basis.

People who have to guess when your next article may appear don’t get the chance to create a habit or regular routine with your blog. And it’s very likely they’ll simply forget about it.

Because I write long blog articles, I’ve decided that for right now, blogging daily isn’t something I can do consistently. So I blog weekly. Every Monday, a new blog article.

I’ve carried over my consistency to podcasting. The Neanderthal Marketing Radio Show comes out each Monday. The Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections Podcast comes out on the 1st and 15th of each month… consistently.

I believe that if you’re going to blog, the minimum should be once a week. And ideally it would be more than just a few sentences. If you’re going to blog daily, I think it’s OK to go with very short articles.

As a blogger, you have the opportunity to build an audience, and talk to and with people who want to hear from you. And if you’re hosting the blog on your site, you have complete control of it.

That’s simply too good of an opportunity to pass up.

If you’re having trouble coming up with topics, that’s one of the things I work on with people when I speak to groups. It can also be done one-on-one over the phone. If you’re stuck, contact me and we’ll get you un-stuck fast.

As you’re probably aware, I’m big on content marketing and repurposing. It’s one of the easiest thing you can do help drive more traffic to your site and give people a reason to keep returning to your site.

Blog content is great, but as older articles slip off into the archives, they’re not getting the love they should. Most of those “old” articles contain information that is still just as relevant today as the day your wrote it.

So my belief is that you should always be looking for ways to breathe new life into those older articles.

That’s what I did last week and they’re now on the Resources page of my companion site, mikeklassen.com.

I want to mention them here for three reasons:

First, I know they contain helpful information and it’s important to me that I offer a certain amount of content free of charge.

Second, it gives people another reason to visit my site, or a reason to invite people to my site. As fascinating as you think your sales copy might be, it’s rare you’ll tell someone, “Hey, you have got to visit my site and read my sales copy! My subheads are stunning!” You’re more likely to get someone to your site with, “If you’re having a problem with _____ I have a free guide on my site that I know will be helpful.”

Third, it’s a lesson in repurposing content. What content do you have that can be repackaged into a free report or guide? Even if you’re not interested in the topics I wrote about, look at them from the angle of, “How can I do something similar with my content?”

As you can see, the guides aren’t fancy. I create a simple cover that is relatively easy to read when I put the cover graphic on my page. I get right to the point with the content. And I wrap up with a sales component on the last page. Depending on how much time I have, I might throw in extra graphics in the copy. It’s a nice addition, but not mandatory.

Because computer monitors tend to be landscape (wider instead of higher), my guides are usually 11″ wide by 8.5″ high.

So this roll I was talking about? I went through and pulled out three of the most popular articles from my blogs and created these guides. The three guides (you can see their covers on the right) are:

Benefits of Content Marketing

Here’s a Novel Idea: Connect with your Connections

12 Steps for Networking Event Success

One other subtle thing to note about these guides… their titles make it pretty clear what the content covers. Just some food for thought if you’re creating guides of your own.

Again, you can grab these free guides – and more – at mikeklassen.com.

Need help creating these useful marketing pieces? Let me know. I can do the layout for you and even help you decide what would make good content if you’re unsure. Don’t let your great content go to waste.

Contact me today so you can start giving people more reasons to come to your site and interact with you.

But your content is something you control and can leverage not only on your blog but also in other marketing channels.

By doing that, you’re able to share your message with more people beyond those that only visit your site.

Today, we wrap up this list of benefits. If case you missed them, here is Part 1 and Part 2.

7. Your unique content exposes your personality

There’s an old saying that people like to do business with people they know. Obviously we do business with people we don’t know all the time. But if we do know them on some level, and we’ve built up some trust, we’re more likely to gravitate to the people we know.

While you can certainly expose your personality through your sales copy, your blog content, or content in video and podcasts, makes a more personal connection. You can be a bit more free to be who you really are and not be so formal as is more common with sales copy that needs to answer questions about a product or service.

In my case, I’ve had a number clients go through my content not to find out if I’m a good designer, but to get a sense of my personality and whether I’d be a good designer to work with on a personal level.

For some businesses, personality may not be important. If you pay-at-the-pump when you get gas, the personality of the station owner and the staff may not matter. But if your business involves a lot of customer interaction, your content can help you stand out from a competitor’s passionless sales page.

8. Your unique content shows stability in your business

I was intrigued when someone pointed out this benefit to me. We are in a time of instability, on a worldwide level and a business level. The trouble is, we can’t stand instability. That’s especially true in business.

If you’re a business that depends on outside suppliers, you’re very aware of the chaos that comes when a supplier disappears or needs to be changed for some reason.

One of my blogs has over five years of content. What does that mean? If nothing else, it means I’ve been around for a while. It’s a subtle thing that gives my clients a feeling like I’m not someone who just threw up a website last week and may disappear tomorrow.

I have to admit I hadn’t fully appreciated the role content plays on this point until talking about it with others. Businesses have enough challenges as it is. They don’t need an extra challenge when it comes to finding partners they can depend on.

Certainly content alone isn’t the sole consideration when working with someone. But it’s something that helps to create a more complete picture of whether or not you’re the right fit.

9. Your unique content continues the sales conversation

Unfortunately, not everyone who comes to your site is ready to buy. Maybe they don’t have enough information. Maybe they don’t have the money. Maybe it’s a purchase they’re planning months down the road and this is just the research stage.

So, what reason do they have to keep coming back to your site if they’re not ready to buy? Do you think they’ll keep coming back just to re-read your sales copy? Highly unlikely. And you’re having to hope they bookmark your site so that when they are ready, they come back and don’t just do a new search and end up at your competitor’s site.

Instead, what if they found a lot of great content that you update on a daily or weekly basis? Might they be willing to subscribe to your blog so they don’t miss out? And then, when they are ready, might you have an edge if you’ve been “talking” to them all that time?

I believe you would.

To close off this series, I’m aware there are never any guarantees. I’m not the type who feels there’s only one solution when it comes to marketing. As I mentioned earlier… no magic bullets.

But based on what I’m experiencing and what I see happening with others, content marketing increases the odds of people finding you, and helping land the sale whether it’s now or months down the road.

It’s not a quick fix, though. It takes time and commitment. When I speak to groups I tell them that if they’re just going to try content marketing for a month and then quit if they’re not seeing results, don’t even bother starting. It’s almost like thinking you can run a TV commercial once or twice and that should be enough. It’s not.

When you’re serious about content marketing, contact me. I offer a free call to talk about how content marketing might apply to your specific situation.

You can also contact me if you’d like me to talk about content marketing to your group.

Finally, when it comes to leveraging your content, I’ve outlined 21 channels you can do that. It’s in my free book, Increase Sales and Builder Deeper Connections.

If you missed it, here’s part 1 of this series.

Let’s continue with the next three benefits…

4. Your unique content helps you stand out from competitors

I obviously don’t know what your business is, so there’s no way I can know what your competitors are doing. But I can make this really simple: If you’re providing lots of useful content and your competitors aren’t, it helps you stand out as an expert in your field.

All else being equal, who are people more likely to call when they’re ready to buy? The business providing lots of useful content and making a deeper connection with them? Or the business who thinks a sales page is good enough?

On the other hand, if most of your competitors are providing meaningful content and you’re not, you are in a sense standing out, but not for the right reasons.

Admittedly, there are some businesses where a single sales page is good enough. Usually there’s no competition, or it’s a limited-time or one-time-only type of sales site. Or it might be a product/service that doesn’t need a lot of thought by the buyer.

However, that’s not the scenario for most of us, especially those of us providing a service.

5. Your unique content improves your search engine ranking

I want to clearly state that I am not a search engine expert. But I’ve seen what my content is doing for hits to my website.

My sales copy talks about a couple of core topics so people understand what services I offer. But my blog content covers far more ground. Not only does all that content create a rich site of information, it increases the chances that I’ll be found when people are searching on all the different topics I’m writing about.

Even better, when I spread that content to other marketing channels, it not only links back to my site (another positive with search engine rankings) but it’s exposed to people I wouldn’t have otherwise reached on my own site. If they like what I have to say, it’s more likely they’ll visit my site to learn more.

6. Your unique content positions you as a trusted advisor, not a salesperson

Let’s be honest… you’re in business to make money. So there is always a sales component to what you do.

But there’s a difference between forcing your product/service on anyone within reach and someone who takes the time to make sure your product/service is a good fit.

The former is trying to grab your money before you change your mind. The latter appreciates that the sales process can be a long one and is happy to help you make the right decision.

Your content should not only be helpful, but show your personality so that prospects have another reason to want to do business with you.

Your personality is one of the benefits of content marketing we’ll talk about next week.

Got a question about content marketing? Feel free to contact me. The sooner you get started creating or leveraging your own content, the sooner you start reaping the benefits.

But I’d like to highlight specific benefits to content marketing over the next few articles.

Let’s get started…

1. Your unique content generates better-quality leads

When people are contacting you based on your content, it means you’ve piqued their interest enough that they’re willing to contact you to learn more. Getting prospects to call you is the dream of just about every business.

What a call (or e-mail) in that case means is that the prospect felt you did a good enough job in either addressing a need or showing that you understand what they’re going through that they’re willing to explore a next step in the sales process with you.

2. Your unique content is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

As a solo operation, I can’t be available all the time. And since I work with people in other countries, it would be nuts to be on-call 24 hours a day. My content – not only on my own site but spread to other marketing channels – allows people to get to know me when I’m not in front of the computer or phone.

Ideally, you’d always get a chance to meet prospects and customers face-to-face. But it’s not realistic, is it?

Our potential customer base can, for some businesses, be anyone in the world. For that reason, you want to be available when it’s convenient for the prospect. Your unique content can be a great stand-in when you’re not available to take the call.

3. Your unique content leverages your intellectual capital

The idea of intellectual capital can be a new one to some. We’re often so caught up in doing what we do, we don’t appreciate just how much we know. You might think it’s nothing special, but it is to someone who lacks your experience.

For example, magalogs have been around for decades. But businesses are discovering them for the first time at any given point. So my experience – even though it hasn’t been decades – is far more than someone who is just hearing about magalogs this year. It’s the experience I have in that area that allows me to position myself through my content as a specialist and, more importantly, as a trusted resource.

Going back to the camera business I mentioned in the last article, you may not think you’re the world’s greatest expert in cameras. But if I’m looking to buy a camera and know nothing about what to look for, your experience and genuine concern for me finding the best fit is going to be priceless.

That experience you have is part of your intellectual capital and it’s just as valuable as financial capital. Never take it for granted!

Speaking of trusted resources, that’s one of the benefits I’ll talk about next week.

Need help creating content and putting it to work for you? I offer a free call to talk about where you’re at right now with your content and where you’d like to be. Contact me to get started.

While content marketing is all the rage these days – and for good reason – it doesn’t mean everyone is aware of it.

The word content covers a lot. Your sales copy is content. The graphics or video on your site are content.

When I talk about content marketing, I’m not talking about your sales copy. I’m talking about content just like you’re reading now… helpful, educational and of interest to people who are looking for answers on a particular topic.

Your sales copy is something people have to read if they want to learn more about your business, or your product or service. Your unique, personal and helpful content  is something people want to read – or listen to, or watch – because they get value from it whether they’re buying or not. It’s what keeps them coming back to your site.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say your sell cameras. Your sales copy is obviously going to promote the cameras you sell and why you – among all the camera stores available – are the one to do business with.

But if I’m not ready to buy, why would I need to come back to your site? Or maybe I just bought a camera from you or someone else. Again, why visit your site and keep coming back?

The answer is your personalized, non-sales content.

What are topics of interest to camera buyers or photographers? Here’s a quick list off the top of my head… how to find the right camera, how to take great photos under different conditions, little-known or little used features of cameras, the best way to print your photos, efficient ways of labeling your photos… the list is almost endless.

Your unique content opens the door for you to become a trusted resource for your prospects and customers. By freely giving them information, and being more than just sales copy on the page or screen, you’re more likely to convert prospects into customers and current, casual customers into loyal customers.

I consider a blog to be your content hub. You can setup a blog for free on your site or on a hosted site (like WordPress.com) and post articles to it any time you like. You control it. It’s your 24 hour printing press.

Many who champion content marketing will go so far as to say that you should consider yourself an information publisher. Yes, you sell a product or service, but it’s that unique content that will help people decide whether to choose you or a competitor.

The trouble that many businesses have with blogs is that they run out of steam pretty quick. There’s nothing worse for a blog than for visitors to see that it hasn’t been updated
in months. Believe it or not, that tells people something about your company, and it isn’t positive.

So if you’re going to go down this road (and I believe you should), you have to commit to it long-term. Successful content marketing doesn’t happen overnight and it’s something
that must be maintained.

I know that sounds scary. After all, you’re already spinning a dozen plates, right?

I’ll simply tell you this: The content you publish on your blog can be an important driver of traffic to your site by people who are looking for specific information you’re sharing.
And when you leverage that content by spreading it to other channels, you increase the odds of more people finding you and your solution to their problems.

Personally, I can tell you that content I wrote years ago is still drawing people to my site. How great is that?

Part of my work is to help you get your content marketing efforts off the ground so that you’re creating great content, and spreading it so that content is working for you as hard as possible. Contact me for a free consultation call to either get you started, or better leverage the content you already have.

While in the back of my mind I knew people could subscribe to blogs on the Amazon Kindle, I didn’t realize how easy it was to put your own blog on there.

If you’ve read my book, you know I’m big on spreading content so it’s working harder for you and attracting new prospects.

I’m also really big on the idea of “the less work to spread my content, the better.”

So I like things that check my blog for new content, then share it in different places automatically.

For example, any new articles here automatically shows up on the Magalog Guy Facebook page, the Neanderthal Marketing Facebook page, and Technorati.

But having your blog available on Amazon for people to access on their Kindle? That, to me at least, takes things to a new level, reaching a different group of people I might not otherwise be exposed to.

Let me share what I’ve found so far, keeping in mind I only put my blog on Amazon about a week ago.

1. It’s free to make your blog available.

Can’t top that. It took me less than half an hour to go through the sign-up process and the only reason it took that long is because I created some custom graphics. You don’t need to do that to get started.

Here’s my blog’s page on Amazon.

Once Amazon accepts your blog, you don’t have to do a thing when you update with new articles… Amazon checks your site on a regular basis automatically.

2. People pay to subscribe to your blog.

Here’s where things get interesting. People subscribe to your blog on a monthly basis. Most blogs I saw were 99-cents a month. Amazon sets the price. You have no say, and “Free” isn’t an option.

My price was set at $1.99 but I was warned by someone on a support forum that Amazon could drop it to 99-cents at any moment. This is actually a sore point with some people who get used to a monthly income from a $1.99 blog only to see it cut in half if Amazon decides to change the price.

Personally, getting any money is just icing on the cake for me. I’m more into the exposure and getting my content into new channels so I can attract more prospects and stay in touch with people in a way that is convenient for them.

3. Why would someone pay for a blog on their Kindle that they can read online for free?

Gotta admit, I had trouble wrapping my head around why someone would subscribe to my blog, even at a ridiculously low price, when they could just get it on my site for free.

But I needed to realize that I can’t judge things solely based on what makes sense to me. I put this question out to the more veteran Kindle bloggers and got this response:

Here’s what Kindle users have told me.
#1 – They are not interested in reading on the computer, surfing the web. They don’t read blogs online.
#2 – They want good stuff to read on their Kindle and are not part of the “everything is free” mentality. They expect to pay something.
#3 – They are readers – important distinction – and are used to paying $10-$30 for books.
#4 – If they like the writer, .99 or even 1.99 a month is nothing.

Biggest things to know about Kindle users: Unlike web surfers, they are READERS. Unlike web surfers, they EXPECT TO PAY for good writing.

Now whether this applies to different types of blogs – fiction vs. non-fiction, business blogger vs. health blogger – I don’t know.

I can see where business people who travel a lot and appreciate the extraordinary battery life on a Kindle might be more inclined to consume content through their Kindle instead of hauling out their laptop on a long flight.

Heck… later this year I’m traveling to Australia to speak about content marketing. As much as I love my iPad, it’s staying home. I can bring my Kindle and not even worry about having to charge it up in another country. And that long plane flight won’t make much of dent to the Kindle’s battery.

4. Just Kindle devices right now.

This one disappoints me. While I own a Kindle, I actually use the Kindle app on my iPad at home. But for now, you can only access blog subscriptions on an actual Kindle.

I think this is very short-sighted for Amazon and I’m hoping availability through Kindle apps on different mobile devices isn’t too far away.

To be fair, blog publishing through Amazon is a beta service right now. As such, there has to be patience as they figure things out and decide what works well and what doesn’t.

5. Consistency in blog posting counts

During the sign-up process, you are asked how often you post to your blog. I’m pretty consistent… one blog article a week. But if you go months or weeks without an article, it’s going to be hard to convince people to keep their subscription to your blog, even at 99-cents a month.

Let me leave you with this…

If you’re a business and have a blog that you update consistently, you should strongly consider getting it available through Amazon. It doesn’t cost you anything except a little time to create the account and link it to your blog. Here’s a link to the Kindle Publishing for Blogs sign-up page.

It’s too soon to say what sort of impact this will have on your bottom line. Like anything, there are variables… the quality of your content, how much you promote your blog for Kindle, the growth of the Kindle user base, availability through other Kindle mobile apps, etc.

But because it’s so easy to setup, I’m finding it hard to come up with a downside at the moment.

If you’re a business and you don‘t have a blog – or you update it inconsistently – we should talk. You’re missing out on way too many marketing opportunities, this being one of them. Contact me so we can setup a time to talk and get you leveraging content to attract more business and prospects.

But I haven’t talked a lot about the art of blogging. So I’m happy to have my Neaderthal Marketing partner-in-crime take the stage today to help you find your inner blog rockstar.

><

Blogging is not only a powerful promotional tool, but it has also become a popular pastime. Whether you are writing for creativity, personal catharsis or business, it’s important to know what you can do with your blog, and how best to attract readership. Following these four tips will set you on the path to finding your own inner blog rockstar, and attracting a throng of loyal fans.

Don’t Ditch the Niche

Make sure to stick with the niche you’ve chosen to blog about. Downloading an editorial calendar plugin can help you plan and maintain a posting schedule – and it’s easy to drag and drop posts if you want to quickly rearrange them. You may also want to consider posting a list of “Coming Soon” topics to keep your readers engaged, and encourage subscriptions.

For example, if you are posting about underwater basketweaving on Friday, a visible announcement in your sidebar can attract basket-weaving enthusiasts to start following your blog in order to discover your tips and shared resources. For those who are blogging for and about business, keep your posts focused on your central topic.

Regardless of your niche, endeavor to be creative, and find ways to write about your chosen topics with an interesting twist. Keep your blog posts fresh, and maintain a pulse on what’s new within your niche market. The most successful blogs are those that find a way to convey content in a new and interesting way.

Limit Your Wardrobe Changes

Particularly if you’re new to blogging, it can be fun and exciting to swap out your theme in favor of a new one – but this strategy could work against you. Your goal is to be a blog rockstar, but you need to limit your wardrobe changes. In order to build brand awareness, continuity is crucial. If you change your blog look too often, you’ll wind up diluting your brand and confusing your readers.

Instead, focus on branding your blog with a theme that visitors will easily recognize. Repeat the use of colors and fonts in your social networking profiles to reinforce your branding. If you must make a change, preserve as many of the same aspects of the previous theme as you can in order to preserve your brand equity.

Merchandise Your Own Brand

If you are blogging as a revenue generator, you’ve no doubt considered placing ads on your blog. The siren song of problogging has led many a blogger to over-merchandising their blogs with advertisements. This can backfire in two ways – first, it can direct readers away from your blog; and second, it can create so much clutter that it drives your readers away. You can still merchandise and monetize your blog, but do it in more subtle ways.

Things like text links within a blog post are far less obtrusive, and in many cases they have been proven to have a better click-through rate than banner ads. The best road to merchandising your blog is to offer your own products for sale. This not only builds your brand, but enables you to keep all of the profits, rather than receiving a small percentage of a sale as an affiliate.

Keep the Fans Happy

A popular blog is one that is updated on a consistent basis, and one in which the fans voices are heard. Let your readers know how much you value them by keeping in touch and making sure you reply to comments and feedback.

Consider implementing a plugin such as Comment Luv that will reward your readers with a link to their website, and features their most recent post. Fans that feel that they are valued and appreciated will become your most enthusiastic brand evangelists – and you just can’t buy that kind of loyalty.

Blogging can be intensely rewarding – both creatively and financially, but it requires work, patience and a genuine interest in both the content and the audience. If you can convey your personality and point of view in an authentic and interesting way, the fans will follow.

About Traci

Traci Hayner Vanover, aka The Promo Diva(R), is a brand burgeoner and business consultant that specializes in working with entrepreneurs and authors.

Drawing on over twenty years’ experience in the fields of market research, sales and promotion, Traci’s Propabranda blog focuses on the conception, implementation and promotion of great brands. Traci is known for drawing inspiration from unexpected sources, as well as her ability to convey concepts in a way that is relatable, memorable and fun. Traci is the founder and publisher of Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal, a daily business magazine.

If you’re not familiar with what an RSS feed looks like, here’s the Magalog Guy Blog Feed.

As you can see, it’s a stripped down version of the blog. It loads quick because it’s just text. That’s really great on mobile devices, but just as nice on your desktop computer so you can avoid having to wait for a website to load graphics and whatever back-end components a website includes (like ad servers.)

By using an RSS reader that updates automatically when new articles are available, I don’t waste time bouncing from website to website to see if anything new has been posted.

But as I spend more time on mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone, I realize how inefficient some blog article titles are.

The goal of a title (for a blog article, magazine article, book, etc.) is to get you to read the content. If the title doesn’t grab people, the content is wasted because they’re unlikely to be interested enough to read it.

Some well-known bloggers have loyal readers who couldn’t care less what the title is. But unless you’re one of those well-known bloggers, you’ll want to work a bit harder to encourage people to read.

While this is just my opinion, I think titles should make it clear what the content is about. The title of this blog is a good example of that. The title tells you what I’m going to talk about and, based on that, you can determine whether it has relevance for you or not.

Some would argue that being “mysterious” with a title creates curiosity. For some it might. But I follow about 75 blogs that average a total of about 300 individual articles a day, so I tend to scan and only read articles where the title makes it clear what the content is.

Now, when I say “mysterious”, I don’t mean titles like, 10 Ways To Improve Your Search Engine Ranking or 5 Ways To Improve Your Magalog. They’re mysterious to the degree that you don’t know what those ways are until you read the articles, but the titles tell you what you’re going to learn.

By “mysterious” I mean something like, Marketing Pixie Dust. What does that mean? If I have nothing better to do, maybe I’ll check. But I rarely have “nothing better to do.” How about you? How about your target audience?

Another point to consider: As I scan RSS feeds on my iPhone, I have seen some titles that are small paragraphs. Sometimes they end up being truncated in the RSS reader, or they get formatted oddly because of their length.

It becomes a small barrier to getting people to read the content. But we don’t want barriers. We want it to be easy.

Another benefit of shorter titles is that they fit easier on Twitter along with the link, and even space to add a comment if someone re-tweets. The same thing applies with LinkedIn Status Updates… shorter and to-the-point works better.

While my thoughts on this were meant for a discussion about RSS feeds, applying this advice could be a benefit even for people who are reading your blog directly on your website. Make it easy for them to see what the value is, and make it easy for them to pass it along on social media channels.

Speaking of keeping up-to-date with blogs, you can subscribe to this blog with the form on the right side of the blog page. You’ll get an e-mail every time a new article is posted. Or you can use your favorite RSS reader and use the link I gave earlier.

One of those newsletters is The Success Margin by Ted Nicholas.

Some time ago on another blog I run, I asked Ted’s permission to reprint an article dealing with order forms. It’s such great information for businesses to be aware of, I now want to bring Ted’s ideas to readers of this blog.

So let me hand things over to Ted…

———-

The primary goal of any offer online or offline is, of course, to get an order.

Therefore, the order form should be the very strongest element of any customer offer.

That’s why it’s always seemed so amazing to me that the worst examples of direct marketing are, in my opinion, order forms.

Order forms generally are dull, boring, ugly and unpersuasive.

Today I’m actually going to show you, dear reader, an alternative–how to make yours exciting, beautiful and compelling. And even better still–far more responsive!

** First Step **

Prepare order form first!

Sequence of when you prepare the different elements of your offer, especially the order form, is very important. Reasons?

1. Keeps offer fresh and exciting. You have not yet run out of emotional gas. If you prepare the sales letter first, as do most, you may have little passion and enthusiasm for the all-important order form afterwards. You can’t hide your feelings. They will show.

2. Clarity. You will be almost forced into a rare but oh so desirable result for marketers. Instead of confusing the customer, present a clear offer.

Tip: As you create, what I recommend and use myself is this frame of mind. Assume your prospect will read your order form first and not read the sales letter at all. Therefore, your order form must be capable of doing the complete sales job by itself.

3. Never use the words “order” or “form” as does nearly everyone else. These words are negative and reduce orders. “Order” suggests spending money, which absolutely no one wants to do.
“Form” is something no one wants to fill out.
Do you?

Tip: Always use a positive headline for the order form. A few successful ones I use are:

– Free Trial Request
– Free Examination Certificate
– Savings Certificate
– Membership Application
– Privilege Invitation
– Send No Money–Offer Expires in 7 Days
– Free Audition Certificate
– Free Preview Issue
– Official Entry and Enrollment Certificate
– Request for Free Information

Tip: Start off the copy with the word “Yes”!
It’s the most underused but powerful word in all languages.

4. Restate the main benefit of the product. Often it’s effective to include two to three benefits of the product. Always restate the benefits, not in your voice, but in the voice of the person responding.

Tip: Include a statement of acceptance of the offer, including the guarantee, in the voice of the buyer.

5. Restate the features of the product. A full description including the colors, dimensions, weight and material used in making the product are important in helping build credibility.

6. Include a professional photo of the product, ideally in full color.

7. Include a photo of a person–perhaps yourself, the inventor or celebrity–that, of course, fits the offer. This individual should have a warm smile, wear appropriate business attire and be making eye contact with the reader.

8. Dramatize any gifts or free bonuses you may include within the offer. Photos, strong titles and descriptions really improve response.

9. Restate a powerful money-back guarantee.
The longer and more prominent, the better. For example, 30 days will pull better than 10 days; 60 days pull better than 30; 90 better than 60; 180 days better than 90. One year pulls better than 180 days. A lifetime guarantee is the most powerful of any time period. Always include the signature and title of the most senior person at the company at the end of the guarantee.

10. Make it stand out, not blend in! Use a different paper and ink colors for the order form than the rest of the mailing or e-mail offer.

11. Use a fancy border resembling a stock certificate, which adds the feeling of perceived value of the offer.

12. Print on one side only for an offline offer. Leave the back blank. All my tests show the response is higher.

13. For offline offers, add the words “Please Print”.

14. Add a second order form offline. I’ve never seen an instance wherein sales didn’t increase by at least 10% to 20% due to pass-along readership.

Tip: No matter how high a response you get online, your offline response percentage is usually about 400% more. Clearly, many people respond at a higher rate because they retain offers received in the mail for a longer period.

15. Multiple order options. Since buyers of course vary in their favorite order methods, include toll free phone, fax, e-mail and mail.

Tip: Don’t forget to include all your company’s contact information. You’d be surprised how often even the largest marketers make this basic error.

16. Test a variety of font color options for headlines and subheadlines (red, blue, purple, etc.), but keep the main body of the copy in black. Black on white is easier to read than any other combination except black on yellow.

17. Include a deadline. Build a sense of urgency to build response. Print a specific date when the offer and price expire. Or print the words “Please respond within 10 days.”

Be diligent in preparing your order form using these little-known secrets.

Instead of “ugly duckling” order forms, the result will be a beautiful response mechanism with a far higher response level.

As always, here is to your increased success margin.

Your correspondent,

Ted Nicholas

———-

There’s really not much more to be said. As a designer, I know it’s vital that the order form is designed properly. And my copywriting colleagues know how important it is to get things right as well.

Ted’s newsletter is free and worth subscribing to. You can sign-up at The Success Margin.

If you need a professional to lay out your order form, contact me today so we can get you something that won’t be a hindrance to making sales.

If you already have one, but want a second opinion, I also offer design consulting. This can be an inexpensive life-saver to avoid problem areas you might have missed.