Nov 20

Improving the Language on your Website

Adam HommeyMy friend and Website expert Adam Hommey shared a great insight on his blog recently. He wrote that many business owners have lost the spark in communicating effectively with their audience. To prove this, he says,

“It feels like you’re having the same conversation every single day. Look at your ezines, blog posts, articles, teleseminars, Facebook updates, LinkedIn discussion topics, etc. Pretend you’re seeing it for the first time. Is it exciting? Interesting? Entertaining? Inspiring?”

Think about your own writing. Is your own writing interesting and effective? Does it connect with your audience?

For many people, the answer may be no. Why does this happen?

Adam shares a few excellent insights into why your writing might be ineffective.

Click here to read his full blog post.

The good news is that it’s easy to revise the copy on your website. Take time periodically to evaluate and update your web copy.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Nov 19

Tips to Create a Compelling Blog Post Title

Blog Post TitleWould you like to get more visitors to your blog?

One of the ways to attract attention is to select a compelling blog post title.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Think about the blog post from the viewpoint of the reader.

What will encourage them to open and read your blog post?

Remember that people will often see your blog post title and just the first one or two sentences when searching for content on Google.

Here are 3 quick tips to write a compelling blog post:

1) Come up with a specific number of ideas

People find comfort in knowing there are a specific number of ideas to learn.

So, make it simple and tell them how many ideas they are going to learn.

A typical blog post is about 200 – 400 words. I found that the ideal number of tips to share in a typical blog posts is 3 points.

2) Use buzz words to grab attention

Think about your audience. What do they care about?

It’s important to understand what will grab their attention.

Identify key words they will relate to.

Also, think about what words not to use. For example, don’t use words that might repel your audience.

3) Start with a benefit

A simple technique you can use to interest people is to include a benefit statement in the title.

Benefits give people a reason to want to read your blog post.

Here is a quick list of benefits:

  • Save time
  • Save money
  • Make money
  • Find happiness
  • Live with passion
  • Better relationships
  • Reach your full potential

I like to come up with a good blog post title when I first start writing. Then, I go back and edit the title later.

This allows me to create a final compelling title to publish online.

Focus on completion, not perfection. You don’t need a perfect title. You need one good enough to publish your blog post.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Expert

Nov 12

How to Use an Information Product to Build Your Client Base

Audio Information ProductIt’s a fact that for business owners that offer a service, they are limited to how much work they can actually do in a day.

Of course, you can hire staff to complete the work for you. Any company interested in growing should hire full time or part-time employees or contract out to remote workers.

But, there is a simpler solution to create leverage. You can develop an Information Product and sell it online.

This strategy is great for anyone that is an expert in their field. That includes coaches, speakers, trainers, consultants and other service-based professionals.

You can use an Information Product to grow your client base.

Creating an Information Product will give you something to sell at a lower price point. Plus, you can explain in an Information Product how you work with clients and lead them to a next step in working with you.

An Information Product will attract new clients and build your business.

Here are 3 reasons you need an Information Product:

1) An Information Product positions you as an expert

If you want to increase your credibility, then create an Information Product. It’s an easy way to plant your flag and declare your expertise on a topic.

It helps to establish your authority in your field. And by the way, you will increase your knowledge as you work on an information product.

2) An Information Product generates income

Need to increase your cash flow? When you create an Information Product, you have an asset that will generate income for you. Market your Information Product online and attract your ideal clients.

There are many ways you sell an information product.

You can sell an Information Product through:

  • Email marketing
  • Teleseminars and webinars
  • Public speaking
  • Seminars and workshops
  • Telesemarketing
  • JV Partners
  • Online stores
  • Retail stores

3) An Information Product creates massive leverage

For business owners that offer a service, once you make a sale, you have to deliver it. This often takes more effort than earning the sale itself.

When you create an Information Product, you create it once and then sell it time and again. There is no additional effort required to deliver on it. This creates massive leverage.

Information Products are easy to create. But, it does take a lot of effort.

Have you thought about creating an Information Product? Maybe it’s time. Just think, in 90 days you could have a brand new product to launch!

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Nov 06

Ely Delaney Shares Tips to Become a Better Networker

Ely DelaneyMarketing Expert Ely Delaney wrote a great blog title, 3 Tips To Become A Better Networker At Live Events.

Ely starts his blog by talking about the importance of showing up early at events. Here’s what Ely had to say…

“Want to quickly become the most remembered person at any event? Show up early and meet people as they show up. By showing up early, you have an opportunity to meet people as they show up and really make a great impression on them. So many times, if the room is already full, people are in conversation already. It’s hard to get a chance to chat with them much.

If you’re the first one there, you can get them while it’s still a bit quieter. By the time things really pick up, you’ve already had a great conversation and really got to know them well.”

Ely shares two additional networking tips on his blog. Click here to read it.

By the way, for anyone you meet at a networking event that you want to stay in contact with, be sure to connect with them on social media. Friend them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and add them as a connection on LinkedIn.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Nov 06

3 Amazing Strategies to Joint Venture with Influential People

Joint Venture PartnersSmall businesses often struggle to reach people with their message.

A great way to get in front of more people is to find people you can partner with.

A Joint Venture (JV) is simply a technique for two or more people to collaborate for mutual benefit.

Here are 3 great strategies to Joint Venture with people:

1) Social Media Sharing

Social Media gives you an easy way to spotlight people.

And not only that, you can quickly and easily share content from other people.

Be proactive in supporting your Joint Venture partners on social media.

When you mention someone in a blog post, be sure to tag them in the post. That will notify them that you are talking about them. And on Facebook, it may even post on your page, creating visibility in front of their network of friends.

2) Email Reciprocal

Do you have an email list?

What are you doing to communicate with the people on your list?

One way you can leverage your list is by sending an email to promote another person.

You can do this on a reciprocal basis. That means you send an email promoting them. And they send an email promoting. Team up with people who have a similar size email list to you.

3) Conference Call Swap

Are you a Public Speaker?

Want a great way to reach more people online?

Find people you can team up with that will interview you on a conference call.

Once you agree on the concept, then go ahead and schedule both calls. Pick dates about 4-6 weeks away. Do not schedule the calls for the same week. The promotion for the calls can get confusing if they are overlapping too much.

In general, you will promote the call to your list and they will promote the call to their list. You can also use this as an opportunity for lead generation by creating a registration list with an opt in form for your email list.

How many Joint Ventures would you like to do over the next 90 days?

Pick a number now, maybe 5 – 10.

Make a list of potential partners and then start contacting them.

Think about which of the 3 strategies above would be best to discuss with them.

Start having conversations where you talk about joint ventures. It is worth the effort. Good things happen you partner with other people.

By the way, be open to help others without reciprocation. If you act proactively in helping others, they will often help you out naturally. It can be unexpected and very worthwhile!

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Oct 30

Create Leverage through Audio and Video

Leverage Audio and VideoHow many people can you talk to each day?

Some people can talk to up to 20 people a day. Others talk to 100 or more.

Unless you have a clone, there is just one of you.

Sure, you can have employees and other team members make calls and reach others.

You can attend events and meet a mot of people at once. Or you can sit down for coffee one person at a time.

Do you have a message to share with the world?

If you want to share a message and develop trust and rapport with clients and prospects, then you need to find a way to communicate with people more often.

There are only so many people people you can talk to each day.

Leverage Audio and Video to Reach More People

To get even more leverage, you need to use audio and video to reach more people more often.

Did you realize it’s easy to create an audio program?

It’s easy and it’s fun.

I encourage you to set a goal now to create an audio program in the next 90 days.

Another great tool is video. You can sit down in front of a camera for 3 minutes and create an online video.

5 minutes later, your video can be posted on YouTube and you can share it on social media.

Implement Faster and More Consistently

There is a speed to marketing. When you have an idea, you need to be fast to implement.

Unfortunately, I see that a lot of business owners are slow to implement.

Set a goal now to create an online video in the next week and post it online.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Oct 24

Rick Cooper Appears on Black Belt Selling Radio

Anna and Stephanie SchellerSocial Media Marketing Expert Rick Cooper will be featured on Black Belt Selling Radio on October 24th at 10:30am Pacific. The show is hosted by Anna and Stephanie Scheller.

About Anna Scheller:

Anna Scheller is a dynamic speaker with a heart to help people create more sales. As an educator for over 20 years, Anna has the skills to provide learning in a fresh and engaging perspective.

Anna has a unique style that combines sales with training, As a 2nd degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, Anna combines the black belt mindset with sales training to provide engaging and though provoking raining.

About Stephanie Scheller:

Stephanie is a dynamic speaker with eleven years of public speaking experience including countless sales presentations, persuasive and informative speaking engagements and countless on-stage appearances before large audiences. She has appeared at a multitude of venues from Otterbein University in Westerville Ohio to the Paul Poag Theater in Del Rio Texas.

In addition to her extensive public appearances, she has more than nine years of teaching experience under her belt and has been recognized by Hearst Media Services for excellence in sales and public speaking at company-wide events. She is passionate about sales and public speaking and pours that passion and enthusiasm into every presentation and training.

Black Belt Selling Radio Show

Click here to listen to the recording of the radio show

On the show, Author and Speaker Rick Cooper will be sharing tips and strategies to effectively use social media to increase your sales. He is the author of “Seize your Opportunites”, “Marketing Magic” and “Extreme Excellence”. He helps business owners around the world to leverage their expertise to attract clients online. His content rich training programs deliver high value strategies focused on bhelping usiness owners increase their presence online, generate leads and increase profits. We are looking forward to sitting down with Rick to a content rich episode in which the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of our guest.

Oct 22

6 Strategies to Leverage Facebook Groups

Leverage Facebook GroupsOne of the secrets to build an effective network on Facebook is to use Facebook Groups. You can find friends, business associates, potential clients and Joint Venture Partners within Facebook Groups. You need a strategy to find Facebook groups, post to them and build relationships. And you need a method to determine when to add friends.

When you join a Facebook Group, you can immediately view the Member List. Check to see who are members. This will help in determining how active you want to be in the group. You can also like, comment and in most cases add new posts. But, be careful not to post too quickly. Take time to ease into the group and become a valuable resource.

Want to learn more about how to leverage Facebook Groups?

I created a short guide with a list of tips to leverage Facebook Groups.

6 Strategies to Leverage Facebook Groups

Right-click on the PDF icon below and download the file:

Download PDF

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Or click here to open the report on 6 Strategies to Leverage Facebook Groups

I encourage you to download and print this short one page guide.

Facebook Events

One of the strategies I share in the report is on setting up Facebook events. You can actually create an event in a Facebook Group and then automatically invite people to the event.

If you are unfamiliar with how to create a Facebook event, you can find a step by step process to create an event on my blog. This is the process to create an event from the home page of Facebook. You can also create events from your business Facebook Page and from a Facebook Group.

Click here to read my blog post on creating a Facebook Event.

How Often Should You Post in Facebook Groups?

Here’s a quick tip that will help you to become more active in Facebook Groups. Let’s say you’re a member of 50 Facebook Groups. You can’t be active in all of them. Pick your top 20. Then, post in one group every business day. That’s 5 groups a week or 20 for the month. What about the other groups? As time permits, go visit the other groups and like or comment on posts. Just showing up will often attract people to you. You may find you receive more friend requests over time.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Oct 16

Achieve your Goals and Become More

Goal AchievementHow often do you sit down and write out your goals? It’s a good idea to establish a periodic, consistent goal-setting process. For example, you can set goals on a monthly basis. Then, throughout the month, review your goals and identify specific action steps.

What happens when you work to achieve your goals?

Henry David Thoreau said, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

What will you become when you achieve your goals? Spend some time thinking about your goals and how they have the potential to transform you.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Oct 14

Blog Planning Guide for Small Business Owners

Blog Planning GuideOne of the simplest and most powerful tools you can use online is a blog. This is a form of Content Marketing. When you create content and post it online, it provides an opportunity to attract potential clients. People have problems. They are looking for answers. Provide the solutions and they will keep coming back.

Blog Planning Guide

I have created a short reference document that will help as you plan your blog. I encourage you to download it now and print it. Keep it handy.

Right-click on the PDF icon below and download the file:

Download PDF

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Or click here to open the Blog Planning Guide

How Often to Blog

I recommend blogging on a weekly basis. There is a value in creating new content each week. When you create content and publish it online, positive things will happen. It will increase traffic to your site. You will get more blog comments. And you will also start to generate leads if you have an opt in form on your site.

What to Do When You Run Out of Ideas

Go back and review the Blog Planning Guide. It will help you come up with new ideas. I encourage you to share this web page with others. Come back to the site and look for other great resources.

Tips to Share Blog Posts on Social Media

Here’s a quick tip to create a tweet for your blog post. Start with the words, “Blog post”. Mention the title of the post and then include the link. You can include a short call to action like, “Click here”. I will often use an arrow to free up more space for words. You can also add a hashtag at the end.

Here is an example of a tweet:

Blog post on 3 Blogging Tips to Attract More Clients. Learn tips to drive traffic. Click here: https://socialmediaoutcomes.com/go/3-blogging-tips-to-attract-more-clients/

Note that you can shorten a URL with a service like bitly.com or tinyurl.com. That will help to keep your tweet under 140 characters.

Are you willing to commit to publish one new blog post per week? Get started today!

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer