Get all sites responsive
Get all sites on a wordpress platform
get all video in sites
get all supporting pages such as seed, testimonial and blogs in each page,
continue to construct the idea of PIMM and data-trade and construct new sites
from idea list
Have webdev make a email code that will pop up for emails and link it back to my
site as collected subscribers like mail chimp
It’s not enough to produce great
content and hope that people
find it – you have to be
proactive. One of the best ways
to increase traffic to your
website is to
use social
media channels to promote your
content.
Twitter is ideal for short,
snappy (and tempting) links,
whereas Google+ promotion can
help your site show up in
personalized search results and
seems especially effective in
B2B niches. If you’re a B2C
product company, you might find
great traction with image-heavy
social sites like Pinterest and
Instagram. Here's more advice on
making the most of social media
marketing.
Got your high-intent keyword and
popular keyword bases covered?
Then it’s time to target
long-tail keywords, too.
Long-tail keywords account for a
majority of web searches,
meaning that if you’re not
targeting them as part of your
paid search or SEO efforts,
you’re missing out.
Before you say it – no, true
guest blogging isn’t dead,
despite what you may have heard.
Securing a guest post on a
reputable site can increase blog
traffic to your website
and
help build your brand into the
bargain. Be warned, though –
standards for guest blogging
have changed radically during
the past eighteen months, and
spammy tactics could result in
stiff penalties. Proceed with
caution.
8. Invite Others to Guest Blog
on Your Site
Guest blogging is a two-way
street. In addition to posting
content to other blogs,
invite
people in your niche to blog on
your own site.
They’re likely to share and link
to their guest article, which
could bring new readers to your
site. Just be sure that you only
post high-quality, original
content without spammy links,
because Google is cracking way
down on low-quality guest
blogging.
Rather than trying to persuade
other sites to link back to you
(a tedious and time-intensive
process), create content that
just begs to be linked to.
When Larry wrote about the kick
in the proverbial teeth that
eBay took from Google’s Panda
update, we managed to secure a
link from Ars Technica in the
Editor’s Pick section alongside
links to The New York Times and
National Geographic. Not too
shabby – and neither was the
resulting spike in referral
traffic. Learn what types of
links send lots of referral
traffic, and how to get them, in
this post.
The strength of your link
profile isn’t solely determined
by how many sites link back to
you – it can
also be affected by your
internal linking structure.
When creating and publishing
content, be sure to keep an eye
out for opportunities for
internal links. This not only
helps with SEO, but also results
in a better, more useful
experience for the user – the
cornerstone of increasing
traffic to your website.
13. Interview Industry Thought
Leaders
Think interviews are only for
the big leaguers? You’d be
amazed how many people will be
willing to talk to you if you
just ask them. Send out emails
requesting an interview to
thought leaders in your
industry, and
publish the
interviews on your blog.
Not only will the name
recognition boost your
credibility and increase traffic
to your website, the interviewee
will probably share the content
too, further expanding its
reach.
The days when internet browsing
was done exclusively on desktop
PCs are long gone. Today, more
people than ever before are
using mobile devices to access
the web, and if you force your
visitors to pinch and scroll
their way around your site,
you’re basically telling them to
go elsewhere.
Ensure that
your website is accessible and
comfortably viewable across a
range of devices,
including smaller smartphones.
16. Make Sure Your Site is Fast
Ever found yourself waiting
thirty seconds for a webpage to
load? Me neither. If your site
takes forever to load, your
bounce rate will be sky high.
Make sure
that your pages are as
technically optimized as
possible,
including image file sizes, page
structure and the functionality
of third-party plugins. The
faster your site loads, the
better.
You probably visit at least a
few sites that are relevant to
your business on a regular
basis, so why not join the
conversation? Commenting doesn’t
necessarily provide an immediate
boost to referral traffic right
away, but
making a name for yourself by
providing insightful,
thought-provoking comments on
industry blogs and sites is a
great way to get your name out
there
– which can subsequently result
in driving more traffic to your
own site. Just remember that, as
with guest posting, quality and
relevance are key – you should
be engaging with other people in
your niche, not dropping spam
links on unrelated websites.
Firstly, a disclaimer – don’t
spam Reddit and other similar
sites hoping to “hit the
jackpot” of referral traffic,
because it’s not going to
happen. Members of communities
like Reddit are extraordinarily
savvy to spam disguised as
legitimate links, but every now
and again, it doesn’t hurt to
submit links that these
audiences will find genuinely
useful. Choose a relevant
subreddit, submit your content,
then watch the traffic pour in.
22. Incorporate Video into Your
Content Strategy
Text-based content is all well
and good, but video can be a
valuable asset in both
attracting new visitors and
making your site more engaging.
Data shows that information
retention is significantly
higher for visual material than
it is for text, meaning that
video marketing is an excellent
way to grab – and hold – your
audience’s attention,
and
boost traffic to your website at
the same time.
23. Research the Competition
If you haven’t used software
like BuzzSumo to check out what
your competitors are up to,
you’re at a huge disadvantage.
These services aggregate the
social performance of specific
sites and content to provide you
with an at-a-glance view of what
topics are resonating with
readers and, most importantly,
making the rounds on social
media. Find out what people are
reading (and talking about), and
emulate that kind of content to
bring traffic to your website.
Whatever industry you’re in,
chances are there are at least
one or two major conventions and
conferences that are relevant to
your business. Attending these
events is a good idea – speaking
at them is even better. Even a
halfway decent speaking
engagement is an excellent way
to establish yourself as a
thought leader in your industry
and gain significant exposure
for your site.
Well, that just about does it
for today’s post. If you’ve got
your own tips for increasing
traffic to your website, I’d
love to hear them.
Without enough traffic you won’t be able to run statistically significant tests that provide meaningful results. (Yea, that’s right I just went all science-y on the marketing funnel)
So, then, you need traffic… where do you get it from?
Two places:
The traffic store. Logically, if you want traffic you can go straight to the source and pay for it, the “traffic store”. Whether you set up social media ads, banners, search campaigns, or some other form of paid traffic campaigns, it is there for the taking if you have a budget. But what if you don’t have a lot of budget?
The organic store. Now, don’t get this one confused with the floral-scented, avocado-selling, no-coffee-cup-cafe on your street corner. “Organic” is a digital marketing term used for “earned” traffic. Instead of paying for your traffic in a direct manner with money, you are earning the right to receive website traffic with content creation, distribution, and relationship building. This is where SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of time-consuming but free-to-use techniques come into the equation.
For most small businesses that are trying to grow a brand online, paying for traffic is an unsustainable adventure. Especially if it is your one and only way to drive numbers into the top of the funnel.
On the flip side, no small business owner or marketer has excess time on their hands, which is what you need if you are going to really master organic methods of traffic generation.
No money. No time. We have a problem…
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could turn that equation on its head? Instead of spending all of your budget on advertising, you were building a strong social media following and driving traffic to your website in droves. And instead of sinking 10-20 hours a week into managing your social media profiles, you could get it all done in 1-2 hours.
It sounds like a mystical dream doesn’t it?
Maybe, or maybe you just need to look at things differently.
Here are 4 secret hacks that will flood your site with traffic from social media… on autopilot! As in, you won’t have to do much 🙂
Hack #1 – Hire someone to schedule outreach to micro-influencers
Winning back time and automating traffic generation from social media isn’t all about technology… outsourcing is also a powerful tool in your arsenal.
This hack is all about finding a skilled assistant who can manage time-consuming tasks that directly correlate to more traffic for your website.
How do you leverage the accessibility and skill of an assistant to drive traffic to your website from social media? Train them to schedule outreach messages to qualified micro-influencers.
Here’s how:
Step 1 – Find a low-cost but reliable assistant
Post a brief at OnlineJobs.ph or another relevant freelancer site, interview 5-10 candidates, and pick the best one.
Step 2 – Choose the best piece of content on your website
Next, identify the BEST piece of content on your website. Is it a blog post? A video? Something else?
Make sure this content is aligned with your brand messaging and contributes to your overall business objectives, and then jot down the URL and primary keyword phrase of the content.
Step 3 – Identify micro-influencers who have shared a popular article on a similar topic
Open up social media research tool BuzzSumo, and search for the keyword phrase you identified above:
Choose an article with the most Twitter shares, and click on “View Sharers”:
Voila, BuzzSumo has just given you a list of people who have shared a piece of content on Twitter that is about exactly the same topic as the one you have published.
Now, filter these sharers by “Average Retweets” to find micro-influencers who get the most engagement on their Tweets:
Step 4 – Schedule outreach messages to these micro-influencers over 2-3 months
Use a social media scheduling tool such as Buffer, Hootsuite, or Agorapulse, to schedule a series of 100-150 outreach messages on Twitter that directly engage with these micro-influencers.
The key here is to have about 10 different message variations so Twitter doesn’t flag your account as a Spammer.
One example may look like this:
“@handle Hey, I thought this article about [insert topic] would intrigue you. What do you think?”
Sure, the click rate will be fairly low from this approach, but it’s a game of numbers!
Step 5 – Create a training video explaining this process to your assistant
Once you have gone through this process yourself, record a training video using a tool like Snag.it and document the steps for your new assistant. (Or just show them this article)
Now, whenever you have a new piece of content to promote all you will need to do is send your assistant the URL and keyword, and they will schedule over 100 outreach messages promoting it!
That is what I call social media traffic on autopilot!
Hack #2 – Promote your site with redirects on curated content
As well as creating your own content it’s critical to share the works of others on your social media accounts. Otherwise, you’re just stroking your own ego the whole time, and people don’t resonate with that.
Sharing content from others is known as content curation. When you curate content, you find and share content from reputable sources that are likely to be interesting to your ideal prospects. By collecting, storing, and distributing this content on social media you build credibility with prospects by association.
But why do all of this hard work just to send your audience to someone else’s website?
If you’re unfamiliar with the Upflow app, here’s a quick snapshot:
The Upflow technology automagically finds high-quality relevant content, based on your chosen keywords, and then enables you to automatically curate that content to your social media accounts.
Ok, so that’s great… but what about the traffic thing? That process is sending people elsewhere!
It sure is, but here’s the thing: You can switch on the Upflow Promotion Bars feature that shows up on all of your curated shares and drives qualified traffic BACK to your own site.
Pretty cool? Here’s how to do it:
Step 1 – Setup an Upflow account
Sign up for a free account in one click using your social accounts here.
Step 2 – Pick a set of topics and auto-schedule curated content to your social profiles
Kickstart the Upflow content curation machine by selecting relevant topics, setting a publishing schedule, and switching it on.
Step 3 – Drive traffic to your website with a custom Promotion Bar
Now for the cool part…
Turn on the Upflow Promotion Bar and drive traffic to your website with every piece of curated content you share on social media. See a Live Preview here.
Hack #3 – Share evergreen content on a recurring schedule
Most social media content has a short lifespan… especially on platforms like Twitter, where it’s unlikely that anyone will ever see your Tweet beyond the first 3 seconds unless it is re-shared.
That may be alarming to some, but for others ,it’s an opportunity.
If you have something great to share, why not share it more than once?
After all, not that many people (certainly not everyone) have seen it the first time around. And even the ones that did see it may have:
Skimmed straight past it.
Not clicked on it.
Even if they did click on it, probably forgot about it after a couple of weeks.
All of the best social media marketers are sharing valuable content on a recurring schedule. The key is to ensure that you only re-share what is considered “evergreen”, something that is not restricted by time. For example, a news headline about an event that happened yesterday is not going to be relevant in 3 weeks time. But, an article with tips about starting a business is likely to be relevant today, tomorrow, and even next year.
The problem with re-sharing evergreen content is that it is time-consuming. However, the good news is it can be automated.
Here’s how:
Step 1 – Build a library full of evergreen content
Using a spreadsheet, start building a list of evergreen social media messages.
The easiest way to do this is by first listing out all of the evergreen content you and your team have created – blogs, videos, podcasts, presentations etc. For each piece of content, create 3-4 different headlines or quotes that can accompany the URL and some hashtags. You can also add to this list quote images and other forms of evergreen content.
Before long you will have a pretty substantial library of resources.
Step 2 – Start an Agorapulse account
The tool of choice for setting up an evergreen sharing schedule is Agorapulse. It’s simply the most feature-rich tool on the market given its price point. Plus, not many tools have a re-sharing feature that works intuitively like theirs does.
Once you have an Agorapulse account, create some content categories – such as blog posts, quotes, videos etc – and choose how many times a day you would like each category to be shared to your social network.
Step 4 – Upload your spreadsheet and switch it on
When you have your categories and schedule ready to go, then you can upload your spreadsheet (as a CSV) directly to Agorapulse, assign the content to categories, and switch on the magic!
Now, this tool will share your library of content on a predetermined schedule you have created, and drive traffic back to your website on autopilot.
Note: This strategy is most relevant for Twitter.
Hack #4 – Pixel engaged readers and remarket to them (Hint: This hack is not what you think)
Are you familiar with the concept of remarketing?
Put simply, it’s a way to deliver messages (ads) to people who have interacted with your business (visited your website). Compared to cold ads, remarketing has a significantly lower cost per acquisition.
The way it works is fairly simple. Basically, you add a small snippet of code to the <Header> section of your website, then every user that visits your website is “pixeled” by that code, and you can create ads that are shown only to those people. The two most common networks for remarketing are Google Ads and Facebook.
You’re probably thinking, what does this have to do with driving traffic to my site from social media on autopilot?
Well, the type of “pixeling” I’m about to talk about doesn’t have anything to do with the Facebook or Google pixels. You see, there is an app called Pixel.me that allows you to create custom links from any URL. Whenever someone clicks on one of these custom links they are “pixeled” and you can remarket to them in much the same way you do with people that visit your website.
This is super-powerful when you are curating content on social media because if someone clicks on one of your shares and goes to someone else’s website, their information is still stored in your audience targeting data on the Facebook ads backend. Which means you can deliver ads to them because they have clicked on one of your curated links!
Let’s look at how easy this is to set up:
Step 1 – Use Pixel.me links to “Pixel” anyone that clicks a URL you share
Create a Pixel.me account here, and then use their URL shortener whenever you have a new piece of content to share on social media.
Step 2 – Use Facebook remarketing ads to drive this audience back to other pages on your website
Set up a Custom Facebook Audience that is made up of all the people that clicked on your newly created link. Then, use this audience to run ongoing remarketing ads that drive traffic back to your website.
There you have it, more traffic from social media on autopilot. Now, every time someone clicks on one of your curated links they will be added to your Facebook Custom Audience that is being shown remarketing ads.
Got no time or money for driving traffic to your website from social media? Use these four hacks to automate the process.
Want to spend less time managing social media?
Find and share engaging content automatically to boost followers and increase inbound leads. See how with Upflow.
The highest converting marketing tactic I have ever
leveraged is to remarket everyone who visits my
checkout page but does not convert. I then show them
a video of what it would be like to be a customer…
these videos appear on Facebook and YouTube.
For every dollar I spend, I typically am able to get
a 17-20x return on my ad spend. If you are going to
take away one thing from this post, start using this
tactic.
Whether you are in B2B or B2C, this tactic works
extremely well. Just keep your video to under 5
minutes in length.
Hack #2: Do the opposite
Most remarketing campaigns don’t work well because
you are driving people back to the same page that
they didn’t convert in the first place. So instead
of doing that, when you are remarketing users, send
them to a page that has the opposite pitch.
For example, if your original sales pitch was
logical, try a landing page that leverages emotions
instead of logic.
Just think of it this way, that person didn’t buy
from you the first time for a reason. You need to
show them something different if you want them to
convert into a customer.
Hack #3: 2-step checkouts beat one step
From my experience, I am usually able to get a 9 to
11% lift by making my checkout pages 2 steps.
Whether it is an e-commerce site or a B2B lead
generation site, 2 steps typically beat out 1 step.
It’s counter-intuitive but once someone gives you
their name and email, they are more likely to give
you the rest of their information because they’ve
already started the process. You can also email
everyone who didn’t complete the registration
process and convert some of those people.
If you have a strong brand like Nike or Amazon, this
doesn’t matter as much. But if you don’t, which is
more likely your case, use a 2-step checkout page.
Whether it is a lead generation page or an
e-commerce checkout page, use a 2-step.
Hack #4: Don’t forget sidebar links
Within your blog, link to your cornerstone content
within your sidebar on every page. And I literally
mean every page of your blog.
You don’t have to make the links rich in anchor
text… but this one little thing will give more juice
to your cornerstone content.
And within a year of doing this, those pages will
shoot up to the top of Google for competitive terms.
This is how I rank for terms like “Google AdWords”
on page 1.
Hack #5: Blend in keywords from Google
Suggest
If you are already ranking for popular terms, take
them and put them into
Ubersuggest.
It will provide a list of long-tail phrases that
people search for. Integrate those keywords (at
least the ones that are related) into the same page
that ranks for the main head phrase.
This one little hack will increase the traffic to
your most popular pages within 30 to 60 days.
Just be careful when using this tactic because you
can’t keyword stuff. You need to adjust the content
to also be relevant to the long-tail phrases if you
want this hack to work.
Hack #6: Don’t stop with email
Email marketing is something that most blogs and
sites leverage. If you add in
push
notifications and you add in
chatbots,
however, you’ll double up the traffic you were
getting from email.
In other words, if emails drive you 1,000 visitors a
month, push and chatbots combined should also drive
you at least another 1,000 visitors a month.
You also find that push notifications and chatbot
notifications generate higher click-through rates
than email, but they also receive substantially more
unsubscribes.
So, the next time you are sending out an email,
don’t forget to also send out that same message to
your push notification and chatbot list.
Hack #7: Brand queries is the fastest way to
increase rankings
No matter which industry you are going after, the
more people that type in your brand name into Google
and click on your site, the faster your rankings
will climb.
And not just your rankings for brand related terms,
more so for all of your terms.
If you want to boost your brand queries, you have to
do crazy PR stunts. Companies like
PRserve do
them on a performance basis.
You can also monitor if the PR stunts are working by
typing your brand name into Google Trends. This one
trick helped me rank on page 1 for the term “online
marketing.”
If you are successful with this strategy, you should
see results within 2 or 3 months.
Hack #8: YouTube only cares about the first
24 hours
If you want to do well on YouTube, your video needs
to do well in the first 24 hours. It’s the opposite
of traditional SEO. On YouTube, you’ll rank right
away and get tons of traffic if you can make sure
the first 24 hours are successful.
Every time you release a video, promote it to your
email list, push notification list, and messenger
bot list. It’s a great way to ensure your video does
well.
Hack #9: Facebook loves comments
One of the largest parts about Facebook’s algorithm
is how many comments you generate. The more comments
you generate the more views your videos will get and
the more reach your status updates and posts will
get.
Asking people to leave a simple comment helps more
than a like or share.
For example, in a video, I may ask the question of…
“Do you use voice search? If you do, leave a comment
with yes and if you don’t, leave a comment with no.”
It doesn’t matter what people type as their comment,
but this is the easiest way to ensure you get 2 to 3
times more reach from Facebook’s algorithm.
I’ve tested this a handful of times and the key is
to make it easy for your fans to leave a comment. If
you ask them to type up a sentence or a paragraph,
you’ll get fewer comments.
Hack #10: Adding the year to your title tag
increases CTR
If a lot of your traffic is generating from your
blog, the easiest way to boost your rankings is by
getting a better click-through-rate than all of the
other listings.
Adding the year in your title tag lets people know
your content is up to date and relevant and
typically it helps get more clicks than anything
else.
For example, the title “The Complete List of SEO
Tools (Updated in 2018)” would do better than “The
Complete List of SEO Tools”.
Another example that worked well was, “How to Start
a Blog in 2019.” That generated way more clicks as
people want to know how to start a blog in today’s
competitive environment.
On the flip side, if you add a year to your title
tag and your content is old and outdated, you will
get a lot of bounce backs, which means your rankings
will go down. So be careful when using this hack.
Hack #11: Don’t put dates in your URL
A lot of bloggers and site owners put dates in their
URL in hopes that news sites will crawl them.
And if you leverage this hack, make sure you use 301
redirects and you update all of your internal links
to the new URL.
Hack #12: Subdirectories over subdomains
People love using subdomains, but Google passes more
juice to subfolders. When I changed
blog.crazyegg.com to crazyegg.com/blog, I saw an
instant 11% increase in search traffic.
Now, it didn’t happen overnight, but it was close
enough… I saw the results within 7 days. Same when I
moved the blog on TimothySykes.com into a subfolder.
If you are going to use this hack, you also need to
change your internal links to the new URL and, of
course, 301 redirect the old URLs to the new ones.
Hack #13: Hreflang works better with
subdomains
I know above I said subdirectories work better than
subdomains, but that is not true when you are
translating your content into different languages.
For example, if you are expanding your website into
Portuguese for Brazil you are better off creating
URL structure that is br.yourdomain.com than
youdomain.com/br/.
I need to fix this on NeilPatel.com still, but when
I tested this on 2 other sites that focused on the
global market, one saw a 17% increase in
international search traffic within 3 months and the
other saw a 23% increase in international search
traffic within 3 months.
Hack #14: Start with the Link Intersect
Links still matter when it comes to SEO. And it will
for a very long time because it is becoming harder
to build them.
The easiest way to build them is by using the
Link Intersect feature by Ahrefs. What this
Ahrefs feature does is it shows you everyone who
links to your competitors but not you.
If someone is linking to 3 or 4 of your competitors,
this tells you that they don’t mind linking out and
there is a good chance you can get them to link to
you.
Hack #15: It’s easier to build up a personal
brand
From social profiles to blog traffic, people relate
more to personal brands than they relate to
corporate brands.
If you want more followers on your social profiles
and you want to quickly grow your traffic fast, make
everything around a personal brand.
Hack #16: The best way to get podcast
listeners is through an exit popup
If you want more listeners for your podcast, the
best way is to add an exit popup to your mobile
site.
And on your mobile exit popup, ask people to
subscribe to your podcast. Don’t use the same exit
popup for all mobile devices, you should be sending
people who use iPhones to the iTunes Store and
people using Android to their version of the iTunes
store.
Keep in mind that showing an exit popup on mobile
devices is irritating, so wait at least 30 seconds
before you show mobile users an exit popup.
Hack #17: LinkedIn prefers video
If you want to get the most attention from LinkedIn,
upload videos instead of text-based content. Videos
on LinkedIn get 2 to 3 times more engagement than
text.
So, if you want more traffic from LinkedIn, upload
videos.
And if you want more traffic from any social
network, look to see what type of content they are
lacking. If you provide them with that type of
content, you’ll notice that your traffic will go up.
Hack #18: Journeys and courses convert
better than ebooks
Typically, most people offer ebooks in exchange for
an email. And although it is more effective to give
away an ebook in exchange for an email address than
it is to ask people to opt into your newsletter, it
still isn’t the best strategy.
If you offer a 30-day course or if you offer a
journey, you’ll generate more email subscribers.
A good example of a 30-day course is, “30-Day Free
Course: Double Your Traffic in 30 Days.” A good
example of a journey is, “Follow My Journey to
$100,000, I Am Learning a Lot and So Will You.”
Hack #19: Buying sites is cheaper than
buying traffic
If you know certain pay-per-click terms convert
extremely well, why not just buy a site that already
ranks for all of those terms.
With paid traffic, you are able to control your
landing page more, limit the amount of text, and
optimize for conversions. Nonetheless, it is still
worth buying sites who already have your audience.
Hack #20: Quizzes collect more leads than
lead forms
Most people collect leads by asking people to fill
out lead forms. It’s not as effective as collecting
leads through quizzes.
When I converted my lead form pages into a quiz, I
increased my lead count by 281%.
If you don’t know how to create a lead generation
quiz, you can always use tools like
Lead Quizzes.
Hack #21: Tools generate more traffic than
content marketing
The upfront cost is higher, but the long-term cost
is significantly less.
For example, when I created the
SEO
Analyzer I put in around $25,000 in money and
another $1,800 each month for hosting, but it
consistently brings in 73,201 visitors a month.
Ubersuggest costs me more, but it brings in 492,394
visitors a month.
In general, tools are easier to maintain and are
more affordable in the long run for how many
visitors they generate.
Hack #22: Send paid traffic to content first
Marketing is like dating. You can’t expect to send
cold traffic to a product or service and expect
people to buy a high-ticket item.
You’ll find that paid advertising is much more
effective and affordable for selling high ticket
items if you send people to an educational piece of
content such as a blog post. And then remarketing
those visitors and then driving them to your product
or service.
In the long run, this is cheaper if you are selling
products for above $500 and it is more effective as
paid ads to content are cheaper than paid ads to
landing pages.
Hack #23: Facebook Info and Ads
Are you struggling to run Facebook Ads that convert
and are profitable when you know your competitors
are crushing it on Facebook? Well, struggle no more.
Go to your competitor’s fan page and in the left
navigation bar click on “info and ads.” This will
show you all of the ads that your competition is
currently running.
Now when you create Facebook ads, start off by
running similar ads to your competition. This will
give you the best shot at success.
Hack #24: Respond to comments with a
question
As I broke down in hack number 9, Facebook loves
comments.
Another simple hack, which works for Facebook and
every other social network, is to respond to
comments answering their question and of course also
asking another question.
This keeps the momentum going and it causes a
portion of the people who left a comment to come
back and leave another comment.
By doing this on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and
LinkedIn, you will find yourself getting more reach
for every single thing you share on each of those
networks.
I know this hack sounds dumb, but it works really
well and no one leverages it.
Hack #25: Don’t forget about the AMP
framework
No one talks about Google’s
AMP framework, but it is a simple way to get
more mobile traffic.
If you are targeting traffic from the United States
or even most parts of Europe like the UK or Germany,
the AMP framework won’t give you a lift in traffic.
But if you are also targeting international markets
where their infrastructure isn’t as great, AMP
framework will give you a boost in search traffic.
For example, when I rolled out the AMP pages in
Brazil, I got a 28% increase in mobile search
traffic.
For markets where their infrastructure isn’t as
developed and people rely on mobile devices,
enabling the AMP framework will typically give you a
20 to 30% boost in mobile search traffic for those
regions.
Hack #26: Webinars are the best way to sell
ebooks and courses
If you want to monetize your blog, the best way is
usually selling ebooks and courses. But driving
people to a sales page to sell an ebook isn’t too
effective.
Instead, if you create a webinar and then sell a
$497 or $997 ebook/course, it is much more
effective.
Hack #27: Order bumps don’t hurt
conversions, they help increase revenue
On your checkout page, you don’t just want people to
buy, you want them to spend more money.
The easiest way to generate more revenue from each
customer, without reducing your conversion rate, is
order bumps.
As long as you make your order bump a really good
deal, it can typically add $5 to $15 to every
purchase on average.
If you don’t have an order bump, you should create
one right away.
Hack #28: Share your content over and over
again
You spend all of this time writing content, but then
you spend very little time promoting it.
What most people do is write content and then share
it on all of their social profiles. A few people
send out email blasts notifying people about their
content, which you should also do.
But if you want to double your social traffic, what
I do is share the same piece of content 6 times
throughout the next 12 months. In other words,
retweet that content 6 times. Share the same post on
LinkedIn a few times over the next 12 months.
As for Facebook, sharing the same URL over and over
again doesn’t work, but the other social networks
are fine with this.
This one simple hack has doubled the amount of
traffic I get from social sites on a monthly basis.
Best of all, no one really complains as the majority
of your social connects won’t see the content the
first time you post it.
The most common question entrepreneurs ask me, is “how can I improve my
marketing with no or little money?’ That’s literally the million-dollar
question! So I sat down and hammered out my 50 best ideas. Skim them or read
them in detail, but whatever you do make sure you go through the list. Just one
of these ideas may trigger a marketing opportunity that you never considered
before. It only takes ONE good idea, well implemented, to launch you to greater
heights. I’m betting you’ll find at least one in the batches below.
Social Media Marketing Strategies
Social media is about connecting with the people in your niche: customers,
potential customers, people who are interested in what you do, or who share
similar interests and circles or hubs with you. It’s about building
relationships and networking, not selling, although that does come as a result.
Get Out of The Store
Business owners with a brick and mortar store need to reach out to a bigger
audience online. Social media isn’t new. People have always gathered to talk
about business, life and community events. Social media is about doing that
online. Establishing a presence on the Internet even if you have a physical
store, is critical. Create an interactive, regularly
updated site or blog, or by build
informative yet informal profiles on social networking sites like Facebook or
Twitter. Being active on social media sites will not only increase brand
awareness, it’ll also boost your company’s rank on search engines, and prove
that you’re a business that is in sync with the times.
Share Your Expertise Freely
Let the public know what you’re an expert at and use that to boost your
credibility and value. Publish tips, share your expertise through public
speaking, even try pitching the media… make it super easy for people to
associate you and your business with excellence and expertise in your field.
Many communities now have online forums/bulletin boards that offer varying
levels of paid memberships. Purchase a membership that allows you to advertise
your business and USE IT. Every time you post with your business ID, your
business name (and web page link) you’re putting yourself out there in front of
potential customers. Just remember not to get caught up in community drama as
every post represents you and your business!
Not all exposure is online. Make yourself the expert in your field in your
local community as well. Volunteer to teach seminars through your
local Chamber of
Commerce about your area of expertise. Your business will receive promotion
through the event itself, as well as through all marketing for the event.
Never Stop Growing Your
Network
Expand your network of contacts and potential clients. Ask your best, most
powerful, most influential friends or business associates to introduce you to
the five people they think you should meet to expand your business. Take each of
the contacts out for coffee and get to know them. Discuss your plans and future
goals, tell them about why your business is special and ask for their advice.
You will be amazed at how these new contacts will pay off ten-fold with
recommendations to you for new business and innovative ideas you hadn’t thought
of.
Twitter Giveaways
Give away your product or promotional item on Twitter. Ask a question about a
product on your website or blog. The first person to answer wins. When you send
the item write, “Retweet upon receipt,” to be entered in a second contest.
Network Your Networks
Network with friends who then network with their friends. There’s power in
numbers. Don’t spam of course, but utilize your network to get the word out to
your people who know people who know people. Someone ultimately knows someone
that can help you out…and believe it or not…will want to. When networking, do
NOT focus on getting a referral or lead. Instead, focus on helping others. If
you help them first (by adding value to their life/business), they’ll help you
later.
Maintain Relationships With
Clients
The difference between a successful company and a mediocre one often boils down
to an owner’s commitment to building (and sustaining) relationships with clients
and prospects. While it’s important to keep up traditional communication and PR,
business owners should also be extending their relationships through online
forums – website, blogs, and social networks. Conversations are happening all
around you – are you listening, are you participating? Are you a thought leader?
Be visible!
Listen. Tweet. Listen.
Listen Again.
Identify your ideal clients and find them on Twitter. Then start following them!
Spend weeks listening to them; you’ll be amazed what they will tell you about
their concerns, their ideal products, their current frustrations with their
vendors. It’s a great way to get open honest market research.
Get a Twitter account in your business name.
Post links to your articles educating people in your niche market. At the bottom
of the article have links to your products & services. Also offer discount
coupon codes to twitter members. This has worked very well for me.
Leverage Linked-In
Join as many Linked-In groups as you can
that are related to what you sell and post a question or tip on a regular basis.
If you have a blog or e-newsletter, post an announcement to your Linked-In
groups with a link whenever you release a new issue or blog posting. It’s free,
you’ll be recognized as a leader, and you’ll reach thousands of business people
interested in your field.
Facebook It!
Your Facebook friends can be your greatest free marketing tools so enlist their
help! In Facebook, use the NOTES application to create a special, limited-time
“friends and family” promotion (i.e.: enter “facebook09” at checkout to receive
10% off), tag all your friends and ask them to pass along your exclusive deal to
their own friends. A great offer goes a long way quickly…especially through our
favorite social networking sites!
Tweet It!
Twitter is a great place to share photos (TwitPic), host contests, shout out to
loyal customers, have scavenger hunts, and promote events. Think of ways you can
incorporate Twitter into your promotions in a fun, engaging way. Thank loyal
customers, retweet their tweets, and even host fundraisers. All the cool kids
are doing it. Why shouldn’t you?
Traditional Marketing Strategies
Blog Tour
Blog tours are like book tours, but without all the flying and cheap hotels and
fast food temptations. They’re a great way to get seen and discovered outside
your usual niche, all from the comfort of your own office, or home. Simply
contact bloggers at any specific blog sites that fit your product and ship out a
t-shirt, book or other product you offer and then also ask them to do a contest
with their viewers. Point your readers to each blog site that reviews your
product.
Readers at the blog tour
site are told to go to your site to sign up for a free sample, or chance to win
a free sample, as well. By having contest entrants choose among several products
you get them familiar with your other products and get their email address too!
Inspire Customers To Call
You
Do something really different. Send a monthly postcard instead of a hard copy
newsletter. Self-printed cost is $0.46 ea. including the stamp. Make it fun and
colorful with a strong “Call to Action” title, like: “100 reasons to call us.
List 10-to-20 reasons, including your skills, talents, and tasks. Give customers
a coupon for a discount, or a free doughnut, or something fun to inspire them to
call.
HARO Gift Bags
Each Friday in the second edition of Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
there are Gift Bag Requests. Look for decision makers with events that are a
match for your product or service. Good fits mean quality networking
opportunities. Make sure your gift bag offering has your website address,
business card and additional offers that inspire recipients to follow up or at
least check you out. For instance, if you’re giving away t-shirts, include a
list of celebrities who also wear the shirt they’re getting.
Be Generous
To keep customers loyal to you, instead of a frequent buyer program, send your
customers small “surprise” gifts. Customers come to expect rewards when they are
members of a program. Surprises always work to instill loyalty and retention.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that promotional items are only for
conferences and tradeshows. When given out with (or in place of) a business card
at a lunch, a meeting or in passing, small promotional items become a gift.
People expect free stuff at conferences, they don’t expect gifts. Keep a small,
branded (and useful) item with you. You can be sure they’ll remember you. They
don’t have to be expensive. Tip calculator cards, tea bags, pens and pads, small
flashlights or things very target specific to your industry, like small packets
of flower seeds for a gardener or landscaper with their contact information on
it.
Donate several of your products or services to a non-profit organization that
is sponsoring a live auction and the proceeds will be donated to the charity.
Your store name will be displayed on the products for the duration of the event
and the donation is tax deductible. Plus, you’ll be helping others.
Own Your “Wow”
Marketing gurus often refer to it as “differentiation.” Academics who fancy
themselves as marketers – they’re the ones who write marketing textbooks –
prefer to call it a USP, your
Unique Selling
Proposition. What they’re both taking about is more correctly described as
the “Wow!” factor. Whatever it is that separates your Stuff – your products or
services – from the similar Stuff your competition is selling, that’s your Wow!
Low Hanging Fruit
Turn to those in your field for the low hanging fruit. Find larger companies, or
older, more experienced businesses and invite them to lunch. Ask them to
consider referring their smaller cases or business they don’t have time to
handle, to you. With every successful referral send them a hand written thank
you card enclosing a Starbucks (or their favorite restaurant) gift card thanking
them for their support. This will help you build your customer or client base
without having to spend a lot on advertising.
Feed Them And They Will
Come
Anything involving food gets attention. At least it gets my attention. Partner
up with local neighborhood businesses and a restaurant (or other service
providers in a complimentary but non-competing industry if that’s your gig) to
throw a special event, complete with noshing. Combining your database with other
businesses will expose you to an entirely different segment of people for a
shoestring of the price. Use food to generate PR for your event too — one
company I know of sent S’more’s kits to local TV newsrooms to help promote a
camper and RV show. They got great results. Make it fun and different.
Help Other Employees
Offer employee incentives to various big businesses, or to smaller businesses in
your hometown. For example, offer Southwest Airline employees 20% off their
bill. Call their HQs and ask how you can offer discounts to their employees.
It’s usually called ‘Employee Perks Program’ or something similar. All you need
to do is tell them what the discount is and they will post it on their website
or post it in some other capacity. You can also print off coupons for their
Human Resource department to distribute, or send them a digital coupon they can
email to employees to print off. Don’t forget to put an offer ends date (usually
30-60 days) and a “customer must show employee ID to redeem coupon” requirement
on the coupon!
Online-Map Listings
Online map listings are essential for businesses with brick-and-mortar
locations. They are the first thing people see on search engines. They offer a
concise snapshot of business info so customers can easily contact you or visit
your store. And best of all, they don’t cost any money!” Make sure your business
is on Google+ business, as well as all the local review sites and other map
listings you can find.
Small Groups
It only takes one person to start a movement. So don’t hesitate to start an
informal group that can provide something of value to the market in which you
specialize. For example, a monthly breakfast discussion on current news and
events in the smart phone app industry, or manufacturing or outdoor gear retail
industry. Leaders and business owners will come together in this informal,
low-pressure situation, because keeping an eye on the state of the industry is
their job. Since you’re the one providing the benefit of this group, they will
already be predisposed to a positive relationship with you, and it’s a short
leap to noting your business savvy in their field.
Content Marketing Strategies
Content is any articles, information, video, infographics or stuff people can
read, watch or look at that tells them something they didn’t know already about
your product or service. If you can consistently amaze and thrill readers with
new content and new information or entertainment about your product or services,
you’ll grow quickly!
Great Relevant Content
We all know content rules, but what kind of content should you use? Simple.
Relevant and related content the reader can use. Lots of people have the
relevant content part down, but also create content areas, not just content.
These areas should be able to (1) attract users and (2) position you and your
business as an expert in those areas. For instance, if you’re selling hunting
knives, create a content area on how to sharpen knives, or how to skin certain
kinds of animals, or how to filet a fish. The content area should utilize your
product if possible, but mostly it should have related content that attracts
knife owners to your site.
Write For A Trade Magazine
If you want to get people’s attention and have them call you, there’s nothing
like writing an article for a trade magazine (for B2B) or local magazine (for
B2C) to gain credibility and get the exposure you want. This may be content you
have in some form on your website already, but having it in a trade magazine
dresses it up and sort of puts a tuxedo on it. I mean it makes you seem more
credible because a publication is publishing your content. Demonstrate your
expertise and position yourself as the go-to person for your product or service
with this service. You’ll attract people in the “ready-to-buy” stage. Here is a
list of trade mags to help get you started.
Memorable Stories
A convincing (and free) marketing strategy you can use to sell your service or
product is by telling true, credible stories (hopefully that include awesome
facts and incidents involving your product)—give specific and practical examples
of what you have accomplished for clients. Use real-life examples of projects
you completed, specific problems you solved or successes you achieved. If you’re
a new entrepreneur, create a realistic scenario about how you would help your
ideal client overcome a typical challenge. Relate your story through articles,
blog posts, public speaking or by publishing a special report.
Cell-It-Up
Mobile marketing connects businesses and each of their customers—through their
mobile devices—at the right time and at the right place with the right message
and requires the customer’s explicit permission and/or active interaction. Kim
Dushinski’s “5 Steps to Creating a Dynamic Mobile Marketing Campaign” are 1)
figure out what your target market wants and offer it, 2) align what your target
market wants with your desired outcome, 3) choose the right mobile marketing
tool for this campaign, 4) launch your mobile marketing campaign and market it,
and 5) track what is working and make any necessary adjustments.
Free Content
Who doesn’t love free, right? Offer your customers, potential customers, and
visitors to your website a free resource, such as a guide or report that is
packed full of solid information related to your product or services in exchange
for their name and email address. The guide is delivered electronically to their
mailbox so there’s little cost involved. Every two weeks, or so, follow up with
more useful content, not a sales pitch, but do include your company’s info at
the end. You’ll be building credibility, establishing trust, and reminding those
potential customers of your product or services. When they’re ready to buy you
will be the first company they contact.
Write A Book
Write a 150-175 page business book and
self publish it with on-demand printing.
Heck, write a 50-page book and self-publish it. The status of being a published
author provides you with unprecedented access to media, speaking gigs, and other
opportunities like nothing else can. (cost = $0 other than some time). You say
you don’t have the time, knowledge or expertise to produce a book? Then write a
white paper. Don’t have the time, knowledge or expertise for a white paper? Then
write a series of short articles. Article marketing is a subtle way companies
can gain exposure for their business by writing articles that provide
information about news and trends occurring within their respective industries.
Companies that incorporate article marketing into their marketing campaign
demonstrate their expertise in their respective industry while simultaneously
attracting new customers. If you can’t write, find someone who can and pay them
to write your content for you. That’s legit.
Online Reviews
Let your fans review your business, then incorporate their reviews in your blog
post — good or bad, unless of course it’s obscene, not-safe-for-work bad. Online
reviews are a critical component of your business’ reputation and can do wonders
for converting new customers. Services like RateItAll.com/Promote allow you to
submit anything for review – whether it’s a local business, a blog, a website, a
product, or a brand. Other popular review sites include Yelp (local businesses),
TripAdvisor (travel related items), and Viewpoints (products). And you can use
this strategy for getting
countless, legit, reviews on Amazon.
Get Endorsements
If you are introducing a revolutionary new product, an endorsement from a top
expert makes all the difference. Read your trade magazines and write the expert.
You will be surprised at how generous some of them are. Include their comments,
or if you can snag an interview, put the highlights of that in your blog post as
well.
Teleseminars
Host a one-hour tele-seminar with time for content, a specific offer and
questions from people on the call. People are hungry for information and like to
learn. Create a web page with a sign up form and use email and social media to
announce the call. Then make sure you have a really meaty, information dense,
rocking teleseminar. Be awesome and attendees will return again and again.
Be The Local Expert
Volunteer to write a “Dear Abby” type Q&A column for your local newspaper on
whatever your area of expertise is. Whether it’s plumbing, or chimney cleaning,
or car repair, volunteer to answer readers’ questions in exchange for a link to
your website and business name. If the paper isn’t interesting in paying or
swapping you for the column, then pay for it yourself — and make it an ad. Once
readers get used to seeing it and it disappears after three to six months, most
papers will do what it takes to get it back if it’s popular.
Web Branding Marketing Strategies
A web presence is more than just having a website. Heck, even the animals at
the local animal shelter have websites, some of them better than mine! A web
presence is how people find you as well as what they find. To get found in good
ways, like winning awards etc. is better than getting found because you have a
booking photo or mug shot. To get found for the good stuff, do this:
Keywords
Statistically, 3-out-of-4 Internet users live in North America, making exposure
on the web critical. Even with all the changes to Google and to search
algorithms, having a website that is keyword optimized is critical. You need to
be SEO optimized for what your small business does and where you are located.
Your website works as an online brochure as well as a “24 hours a day” sales
person for your services and products, so make it work efficiently.
Participate in Trade
Associations
Business-to-business professional service organizations get the most bang for
their buck when they impress prospective referrers with their capabilities. One
of the best ways to do this is through active involvement at trade associations
where prospective referrers’ congregate. This participation enables them to a)
increase their visibility and b) gain the opportunity for the consistent and
frequent interactions it takes to build lasting relationships.”
Google AdWords On The Cheap
Run market research on the cheap by using
Google Adwords to target an audience. Make the landing page a question
survey. A snappy question to attract people, along with Google’s Geo-targeting
can provide great results, for next to nothing.
Enter a Business Award
Competition
There is nothing like entering a business award competition to strengthen the
reputation of your small business. Winning an award can catapult your reputation
within your industry and with the sales audience you aim to attract. Many
competitions cost nothing to enter – except for the time it takes to prepare
your entry.
Professional and trade organizations, chambers of commerce, Better Business
Bureaus, universities – even churches are all organizations that host business
competitions. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. Don’t forget, the secret to
winning is taking the time to prepare well-written entries. If you can’t write,
then pay someone who can to prepare your entry – or barter services if you’re
trying to save money. The rewards for winning a business award can last
seemingly forever. Brag about winning on your website; send a letter to clients;
post the award in your office or store so whoever comes in will see it. And of
course, send out a press release and get your picture in the paper!
Email Lists
I can’t say this often enough. Build your
email list with quality names. Use opt in email marketing to talk to your
best customers – this means the ones that want to hear from you and have signed
up to receive your marketing messages and offers. No spamming! Be sure to
deliver relevant, unique and valuable messages to their inbox. This can build
loyalty, drive sales and cut other costs. Don’t be shy about creating a short
but compelling video that succinctly explains your product or service. Short is
under 3 Minutes MAX. Compelling is that not only informs, but entertains and/or
personalizes you and your company. This can be done quickly and easily using a
camera like a flip video. Post the video to your site and as many video sharing
sites as possible.
Be On YouTube
Seriously consider starring in your own
YouTube Series. I
don’t know if the camera loves me, but I sure love the camera! You can learn to
love it too! Take your product or service and dramatize it through a simple,
homemade YouTube movie. Go a step further and script out a four-part series that
you can post on your website. Heck, run a loop of the videos in your business.
Study the ad campaigns that get people’s attentions and come up with
something of your own — unique counts. Virally spread your marketing message by
making sure influential local bloggers see your video. Twitter short messages,
driving traffic to specific pages of your website; Send a Network Update via
LinkedIn conveying what you’re working on that will pique the interest of those
needing similar services. Use Facebook to give your small business a
“personality” so that people feel comfortable doing business with you — ask your
customers to become Fans.
Leverage Local
Get online locally, like on Craigslist, Yelp, and Angie’s list. There are
hundreds of websites that people use to search out local businesses. Most are
free to use and easy to find. Make sure your business is listed. Go the extra
mile and upload pictures, menus, or something relevant for your service or
product.
Host Educational Events
Partner with companies which target the same audience as your firm to host
“educational” events. A small accounting firm can partner with a small law firm
and a marketing firm to hold a seminar on “strategies for surviving the
recession,” and invite small businesses to attend. Split the cost and the work
that goes into creating the event, including inviting prospects and clients.
It’s a cost-effective way to market to the other firms’ clients, to prospects,
and to build a relationship with these other partners in order to gain future
referrals.
Join forces to create posters, contests and other things that benefit all
companies involved.
Pay Per Click
The fastest way, bar none, to create a strong Internet presence and get in front
of potential customers when they are in active “search and buy mode” is
pay-per-click search engine advertising. Start with Google – set a budget and
bid, select your keywords and write a quick ad. Now you’ll be there when some “Googles
it!”
Logo It Up
Use Your Logo- Now that you have a logo it is time to use it everywhere both
online and in print. Put it on all of your marketing materials including
business cards, letterhead and even envelopes. Include it in your email
signature, on your Web site and use it in all correspondence to reinforce your
company and encourage repeat customers and referrals. Once you have a solid logo
that makes an impact, it should be synonymous with your company name.
PR Marketing Strategies
Blog, blog, blog and blog some more. PR is all about getting your business in
front of people’s eyeballs. Keeping your own blog updated, and writing guest
blogs for other well-known or popular bloggers in exchange for a credit and blog
link, or a reciprocal post is a major part of getting publicity. You can also:
Make Reporters’ Jobs Easier
Instead of always pitching reports with story ideas, schedule a coffee or lunch
meeting with the local (relevant) beat reporters in your market. Start the
conversation by asking, “How might I be able to make your job easier.” When
reporters know you’re out to genuinely make their lives easier without trying to
sell them your story, you become a valuable resource, not a pain in the neck.
Local Charities
There are hundreds of charities you can help, but you’re better off picking
one or two charity organizations or causes and only donating to them for the
year. You’ll be able to do more and give more that way. That will make you more
visible plus, the organization will get to know you and who you are. When you’re
highly visible in one or two organizations, it’s easier to say “No,” politely,
firmly and credibly to the twenty others who also want your attention, but who
aren’t in your target market.
Sponsor Your Local Sport
Teams
Sponsor a local sports team. For less than the cost of a 1/4 page ad in a local
paper, you can buy team uniforms for a local soccer, basketball, baseball or
other sports teams. Not only will you get the team, and their friends, family
and fans attention and show that your business is a genuine part of the local
community. It’s a great PR technique too.
Create An E-News For Your
Biz
Having a great e-newsletter with valuable content may sound old school, but it
works. E-News doesn’t have to be or sound like a sales pitch. Consider it an
opportunity to position your business as an expert, provide relevant
information, and to add another layer in relationship building. Build a strong
database with a focus on media/bloggers. Give your clients the opportunity to
subscribe. Publish frequently, but not obsessively. Done right E-News is one of
the least expensive, but most effective marketing tools in our arsenal. Don’t be
surprised by how often your content will be tweeted or covered by bloggers, or
open the door to a more extensive PR pitch.
Tell Your Real Story
The best way to get noticed in today’s market is to tell a personal story. The
more authentic, amazing and relevant, the better. As newspapers and magazines
continue to lay off thousands of reporters across the country there’s an even
bigger demand for well-written stories. Have ready-to-run articles prepared to
send off at a minutes notice will create a great relationship with papers. They
may edit or rewrite parts of it, but you’ll get their attention.
Long Shelf Life
Leverage your exposure by putting yourself into situations where your marketing
efforts have a LONG shelf life. Web radio shows are a great place to start.
Email or call those who are looking for guest interviews. Don’t forget to make
sure you tell the host that “if your line-up is already scheduled, I’d make a
great filler-inner when someone has to cancel”. Those words alone will get you
remembered.
Network With The Media In
Your Niche
Maintain relationships with media contacts that cover your industry, even when
you don’t have news for them. Check in with them every month or so and ask how
you can help them as an expert in your field. Better yet, send them tips and
insider news they might not otherwise have access to. Become a resource. Follow
reporters’ stories and take time to read their articles and comment on them
without pitching yourself. Develop a professional relationship where you can
spark dialogues about your community. Then, when you do have news, it’s that
much easier to get them to print it!
Be Outrageous
Be outrageous, or weird, or
truly innovative and wacky. Reporters want to cover the unusual/wacky/even
controversial. One article about your business can be worth thousands of
dollars. Give them what they want, but make sure that there’s steak after the
sizzle is gone. Once people are attracted to you, you want to offer them
something to keep them coming back or staying put.
Survey Your Customers
Reporters love numbers! It validates their story pitch to editors and piques the
curiosity of their readers. So, look for surveys other companies have done on a
national scale, and then conduct a survey with your customers and prospective
customers to get a local angle to a national story. Most papers won’t look at a
locally conducted survey unless it ties into a larger survey or is done by a
major company. Compile the results, put them into a press release, and pitch to
editors at your target publications. Write an article about it and post it as a
downloadable PDF on your website. And of course, blog about it.
Leverage Existing Customers
Most companies do a poor job of leveraging existing customers to create new
ones. If your company does events, give people a discount or free gift to bring
(or just invite) a friend. If someone buys your product online, send them a
coupon for the same item suggesting that they pass it on to someone they think
will use it.
