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Maximize Blog Content: 10 Smart Tips

Debbie Thoensen — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 17:00:29 +0000

Staff Writer

You must have heard that you need to create unique content for your blog often, right? Whether you are an unwilling or a natural blogger, it’s important to maximize blog content to make the most of every post's visibility.

Here’s an all too familiar scenario:

You finish writing engaging content for your blog and you joyfully post it on your site. You then promote it on your social media accounts - once…

Next, you question why it's not generating leads and traffic. No comments, no engagements. Nada!

There's nothing like that sinking feeling when you've put a lot of hard work into a blog and no one sees it.

“What is it that I'm not doing? Is it the article? Why is no one interested? "Do I need to change the approach?” Well, maybe.

Why Your Blog Content Isn't Generating Leads

Many bloggers stop putting in any effort to promote their content after they publish an article. They tend to wonder why no one visits the blog or hit the share button. Maximizing blog content by promoting it across different social media sounds difficult. But if you and your team put it in the work and add it to the routine, it'll be worth the effort.

Leading your social audience back to your blog can work magic. You need to create quality content for your blog, do keyword research and draft a social sharing strategy. Hold on...we don't mean to overwhelm you. We understand that it’s a complicated process. But it works. And it isn't so bad when you have a team.

10 Steps to Maximize Blog Content and Boost Traffic

When it's time to maximize blog content, work smarter, not harder. No worries, we are with you - here are 10 steps you can take to maximize blog content and boost blog traffic!

1. Create Great Content for Your Blog

If we want to boost blog traffic, we must create quality content. You may have heard the term “content is king.” In actuality, it's thrown around more than a baseball in a ball game. But do you know that creating quality content isn’t only about quality? It includes developing content marketing strategies.

Good content satisfies a particular need. Consider your audience and find out what they love. Presently, articles fall into these categories: Useful and informative or modern and funny. Pick one, and you’ve laid a foundation.

Smart Tip: Mental block? No problem. Check Quora to know the questions asked, which relate to your business subject. Also, Buzzsumo contains contents written by others in your industry. Go through them as they'll help you can craft better contents. We've also discovered that these blog topic generators are useful.

In terms of style, aim for mind-boggling statistics, superb storytelling through video, and appealing infographics. In essence, create stuff your audience will want to click and share.

Want to learn how videos can help market your business? Click here

Create Evergreen Content for Your Blog

Evergreen contents? Yes, evergreen! Evergreen contents are timeless. It's a great way to maximize blog content by generating traffic that keeps coming.

For instance, an article about this year’s Easter event will become irrelevant later. But an article about the pros and cons of something, the history of something, or statistics will remain relevant, making it evergreen.

So let's make certain that most of our contents are evergreen. For evergreen content ideas, click here.

Create Awesome Headlines

It's about time we started creating compelling headlines. The internet is full of junk, let's not add more, a great headline is what captures the interest of visitors.

Truthfully, a headline is more powerful than the main post! If engaging content hides behind a poor headline, it won't survive. Appearance is key.

Can you show up at a party wearing an apron or a sick cloth? I guess not. It applies to content too. We shouldn't rely on dull headlines to improve our blog posts.

Try to test many headlines. Share your blog content many times with different headlines to select the best style.

Do you want more blog traffic? Read: Blog management, Read up why you should hire a VA.

Start a Newsletter to Display Quality Articles

Do you know what needs a large part of our content strategy? Promotion! If you're wondering why? Well, we need it so our articles can drive traffic to our site!

An easy way to maximize blog content and begin directing traffic to your site is to send emails for a blog newsletter. After collecting those contacts, send them emails monthly or weekly.

We recommend that you include a link to your recent blog post below your email signature. Try WiseStamp. Set it up one time, and it will update through RSS feed.

Pro Tip

Feature your best articles in your newsletter, bringing frequent visitors right back to the site. After all, these visitors are comfortable with your blog already. They might explore a lot more when they revisit the website.

2. Use Keywords

Want to drive massive traffic to your site? Make Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and keywords a big part of your strategy. People get nervous when we suggest the use of Keywords and SEO, but remember this; SEO works when it’s done right. In other words, you’ll get real traffic from Google. Additionally, your users get the information they’re looking for.

So do you know what to do now? No? Shout, “I'll always value keywords” and shout it out loud! But remember to use keywords in moderation.

DOs

Add keywords in your content
Include links to other articles you’ve written, especially related articles.
Allow keywords to guide your outline and help envision your articles

DON'Ts

Don't stuff your content with keywords to saturate them entirely with search queries
Avoid adding a lot of links so that every other sentence is marked with blue hyperlinks.
Don't put search bots and keywords before user experience.

Google drives many searches daily. You need keywords to rank on the result page.

With many advertisers and websites online, and competing for the successful keywords, do you stand a chance? Yes. How?

Wait for it....

Long Tailed Keywords Explained:

These keywords are search phrases with more than three keywords. It's simpler to target long-tail keywords since the struggle for these phrases is less. Using long-tail keywords can help us get a top Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) spot on Google.

If you’d want to rank high in Google for “exercise gadgets”, you need long tail keywords. “Exercise gadgets” is a competitive phrase.

But, if you concentrate on “affordable exercise gadgets” or “exercise gadgets for running,” you'll rank higher.

Now how do we conceive these excellent long-tail keywords? Begin with Google. Start writing in a phrase on Google and see what its auto-complete suggestions are.

Next, put some of the auto-complete suggestions into Google to get few related search suggestions. They're positioned towards the end of the page.

Are you done with that? If yes, take every long-tail phrase you want and input them in the Google Keyword Planner.

Get the phrases that push the most traffic and extract the keywords with low competition and high search volume. Voila! You've gotten your long-tail keywords! Next, we suggest creating content around those keywords.

Pro Tip

Don't ignore the other keywords Google suggests. They might be your golden keywords.

3. Find Your Audience

If we want to drive more traffic and maximize blog content, we need to go where our target audience hangs out. Knowing your audience can help you build excellent referral links from reputable websites.

Use Google Analytics to determine the sites pushing the most traffic. Look for the sites and forums your audience frequents, and get active.

Discuss topics, comment on blogs and post links when suitable. Don't pass as spammy. Let them see you as an essential member who brings in vital information.

If a member needs advice about weekly exercise plans, point them to your website! If it's something unrelated to your business, you can move along.

The moment you find your audience, go all in.

If you need more traffic, you can ask. A study shows that people who requested their followers to retweet their posts on Twitter get 73.48 average retweets. People who didn’t ask only got 2.09 retweets.

If you want users to share your post, all you need to do is ask! It's that simple.

4. Optimize for Mobile and Speed

Viewers won't wait around for your site to load. If your page doesn't load up fast enough, they’ll try the next or even a competitor’s site. Remember, time waits for no one.

If you want to check the speed of your site, Google’s Page Speed Insights tool (link) will help. It gives the speed score and tips on what to do to give your website what it needs to improve.

Likewise, users spend about 3 hours a day on a mobile device or tablets (link). Going mobile is an easy task for website owners. If your current blog isn't sufficiently good, explore any of these Wordpress plugins. They help build a better style of your blog that's optimized for tablets mobile phones.

Jetpack by Wordpress

WPtouch Mobile Plugin

5. Establish Good Relationships with Other Bloggers

If you want to build traffic online, good habits can go a long way. We recommend building solid ties with other bloggers in your field. Teaming up with your competition is a good strategy. If you've seen Game of Thrones, then you know what I mean.

Stay active in different forums and comment on other blogs. Think about interviewing key industry bloggers or add other bloggers in a “Top 5 or Top 10” post style. For instance, Top 5 Blogs for health and lifestyle.

Once you feature or cite a blogger in any posts, tag them in your social media to let them know. They'll likely share or retweet the post mentioning them. This act will give you more shares and of course, more traffic in turn.

6. Include Interlinks

Yes, linking to your site is right for SEO. But it’s vital to link to other sources too. This shows that you’re not a spammer. It also tells Google that you're helping to build a real relationship with other websites you’re linking to.

Also, links within your articles to other sections of your site, using keywords, inspire visitors to explore. Note that you’re building an experience for readers and adding value.

If there’s an article written from another website that can add value, link to it. Yes, if your audience knows that you're a source for relevant content, they’ll come to you for more.

7. Use Videos

Do you want to add a little pizzazz to your blog post? If so, we recommend using video. Combining written content with videos can distinguish you from your competitors.

Further, articles with videos create more inbound links and boost viewership than a content without.

8. Include a Call to Action (CTA)

“A call-to-action or CTA is a line of text or image that (prompts your consumers, leads, and visitors to take action.

We advise that you include a CTA at the end of a Google+ post, Facebook post, blog post or any anywhere you want the audience to take action.

Although your aim may appear clear to you, restating the course of action for audiences raises the plausibility that they’ll follow through.

9. Share New Contents on Social Media Accounts

Establish a schedule that you're comfortable with. For example, you can post more often on Facebook than on Twitter, and you won't lose your audience. Consider what works better on each platform. Learn the best social media for business here.

10. Incite Subscriptions and Comments

Encourage visitors to comment, and reply to the comments in a meaningful. Interaction builds rapport—and offers opportunities to add engagement, long-tail keywords, and new content for your blog. One strategy to encourage comments is to conclude blog posts with a call to respond.

We recommend adding visible buttons for subscribing via email. Subscribers will have access to your blog without visiting it.

Final Thoughts

We shouldn't let our contents to wither in the back of beyond. Follow these rules and watch how your traffic will soar to your website in no time!

Get more content like this on our website or click the following related articles below:

Why You Need to Have a Target Audience and How to Find One

Why your Newsletter Opt-in needs one

What We Think Of the Top Social Media Management Tools

Content Writer vs Copywriter: What you need to know

Don't stop now! You'll also love this other great content...

The post Maximize Blog Content: 10 Smart Tips appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

All You Need to Know About a Content Creator

Debbie Thoensen — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 14:00:19 +0000

Staff Writer

I am so happy to write today’s post! After I describe who a content creator is and how they help businesses and bloggers grow their online presence via content marketing, the expression will be “Hey, I need a content creator!”

Why is a Content Creator Critical for Success?

Content creation is closely involved in every part of the Internet and data. Think about it; the Internet contains a vast catalog of content. Content is what we save, tag, share, and consume. Also, it's what we consume on social media.

Quality content turns potential audience members and resolute purchasers. As the saying goes — behind all viral content is a talented content creator.

If we want good content for marketing goals, we need a good ‘content creator.’

The Importance of Quality Content

Brands and businesses have witnessed better Return of Investment (ROI) using quality content creation as an approach.

When we say content, we're referring to all visual and written material we use to interact with our target audience.

Content includes written materials like articles, landing pages, blog posts, email newsletters, instructional videos, Instagram stories, and so much more.

It's vital for most businesses, irrespective of offerings and scale. Content can help our businesses rank higher in Google search result pages. It also lets us reach potential audiences regularly. That said, here are some key reasons why content is vital for our brands.

It's Important for Branding

Content creation is a good way to market our brand and our business values. Social media content marketing (blink) can allow us to be less formal and playful. Great, right? This connects potential clients and our brand.

Social media contents can highlight the tender side of our business. On the other hand, long-form articles allow potential customers to know how our products can solve their issues.

Content Helps Us Target Potential Clients

The essential step in digital content creation is knowing who our audience is. Professional content creators understand the consumer's persona. They know their pain points, who they are, and the kind of content they want.

Producing good content frequently can help us reach our target audience. Good content provides solutions and helps rank our content on Google's result page.

Content helps us reach our target audience and create a relationship with them. Further, sharing user reviews and guest posts can help boost our credibility and build trust.

Hiring a technical writer to craft a comprehensive guide to our products shows our audience that we care. It shows that we want to help them learn how to use our products before they buy any.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Boosts Traffic and Visibility

It's no news that content is a great way to maximize the number of visitors to our site. Yes, visual marketing adds a human touch to our marketing tactics. But written content also helps rank high in search engines.

By carrying out keyword research in a niche, we can write articles that boost our visibility. We advise starting with tools like Ahrefs to perfect the keywords that work well in a niche. After getting the keywords, plug them into Buzzsumo or Clearscope to make most of the content performance.

It Can Save Time and Money

Professional content writers can create new content effectively and faster than most business owners.

They can build products in a particular context. Also, they can accent how specific offerings can ease pain points and provide solutions for customers. By saving us time, we can concentrate on building our business.

Better Return on Investment (ROI)

A content creator can help ensure that the material we develop delivers the highest ROI. Remember, content creators are not equal. So we may employ many writers to meet our company's needs like:

A social media content writer for creating viral or appealing content
A web designer for designing infographics
A digital media for using the information developed by a content writer

What is a Content Creator?

A content creator contributes information to digital media or any other media (link). They target a specific audience in particular contexts. Additionally, a content creator provides the following:

Email newsletters
Blog posts
Video marketing
Social media copy
Graphic design
eBooks...and so much more!

Further, they build offline content like client packets, brochures, and so much more.

Their goal is to take our opinions and turn them into valuable content for our business. All we need to do is send them a project brief and ask them to complete it.

We can give them complete control and trust them to develop content for our business.

Pro Tip

Organize interviews with some content creators to know if their personality suits the team.

Why Hire a Content Creator?

To many, hiring a content creator is irrelevant. Why hire a content creator when we can write our own content?

It's simple! Content creators specialize in creating content regularly.

If we don't want to manage two job roles simultaneously, it's best to hire a professional content writer. Meeting a complete content strategy requires full attention.

If we want to reap the benefits of creating content, it shouldn’t be a box to check on our list. We need someone enthusiastic about developing our brand.

We also need someone that can produce working strategies and carry out those strategies.

Still not satisfied? Read on to learn why hiring a content creator is important:

It’s Cost-Effective

We don't often come across ways to save money and grow our business. But hiring a content creation agency or a freelance writer will save us training cost and time. Content creation has the largest percentage of outsourced content marketing.

Some content creators may be expensive, but you can devise a strategy before hiring them. The strategy includes the type of content we want and what we’re willing to pay. Remember that behind a successful content marketing strategy, is quality content.

We can get an affordable deal on Upwork or Fiverr. But never compromise quality for affordability. You’ll end up doing more damage than good.

It Saves us Time

Content writing goes beyond producing blogs at our convenience. It requires time to craft high-quality content since it involves a whole lot more than just sitting down and writing.

It's is a blend of research, proofreading, editing, and formatting to create high-ranking content important to our business.

If we don’t have the time to learn the latest SEO techniques for 2019, a content writer can take care of that.

Quality Content Preserves our Brand

Hiring a content writer to give our brand a voice will provide audiences with a unique perspective.

Content creators will learn about our company, and what it's about. They'll learn the intricate details of our business identity. Next, they'll transform it into a conversational piece to pass to our audience.

Furthermore, regular content will keep our online presence current. Uploading new material on all platforms will help rank our website high on Google search.

Convinced yet? If yes, that's great! But before we employ a content creator, we need to know what we want. We must define our goals so that we can relate them:

What kind of content do we need and how do we want to sell our brand?

Do we have a budget?

Do we want to outsource?

If we can answer these questions, it will point us in the right direction.

Creating quality content is more than an article or blog. What happens when we spend a few minutes scanning through articles? It's possible that we'll soak in vital information.

In essence, good content speaks directly to our target audience. A content writer knows what's essential to our audience.

Their words reach past the time we use reading their content. Sometimes we don't even know it.

Expert content creators search for things that are at the core of what they're selling and highlight that.

The Dos Equis example...

Dos Equis wasn't linked with anything interesting until a daring mascot came in. If we place creativity at the top of a content strategy, we'll reach buyers without over-promoting our brand.

Nanette Burstein (a content creator) changed the negative meaning of “like a girl” in the Always marketing campaign. The content she developed linked Always with female empowerment. She used it to empower women while selling a lot of feminine products.

Metro Trains had a straight forward message for travelers. It says: don’t mess around on trains. Their content creator designed a video portraying “Dumb Ways to Die” with an appealing jingle and matching attractive characters.

The outcome? About 160 million views (if not more) on YouTube. They had successfully communicated their message.

Content doesn't have to be connected with what we're selling. It involves creating content that interests our target audience. Indeed, creating relevant content reaches beyond our products and services. In the end, we’re developing a relationship between our brand and audience.

Pro Tip

Check if their writing is interesting and engaging and if they have any work published in popular publications like Forbes or the New York Times.

Picking a Content Creator

We often prioritize content creators with expertise in a specific industry. It's simpler to teach a writer branding style and voice. But it's hard to bring them up to speed on expertise if they don't know the subject.

We advise using writers with experience in your niche. If a company specializes in advanced technology, get a writer with a college degree in technology. For other businesses, a college degree may be an extra benefit, not a prerequisite. Draft a list of essential qualifications. Remove writers without these qualifications.

Don’t Underrate the Value of Marketing

Yes, content marketing is that important, don’t underestimate it! Content creation concerning inbound marketing, SEO, and brand awareness can help grow our business. Likewise, don’t trivialize the value of hiring a content creator to manage it all.

A content creator can craft about 5000 words of content daily. And even more!

That's not all...

The content will be suited for SEO and written for consumers to engage with. If we want to reap the benefits of inbound marketing strategy and achieve brand awareness, we need a content creator!

It's that simple.

Wondering about the difference between a content writer and a copywriter? Find out right here.

Read using a video marketing assistant here and what you need to know before hiring a writer here.

Don't stop now! You'll also love this other great content...

Empowering Women Coaches: Why a Virtual Business Manager is Your Ultimate Business Bestie

Virtual Services For Coaches: 6 Areas You Need To Delegate Now

Online Business Manager Interview Questions You Need to Ask

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

The post All You Need to Know About a Content Creator appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

How to Get the Most Out of the Content You Create

Nicole Bandes — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 14:00:14 +0000

Staff Writer

Every piece of content you create takes time, effort, and sometimes money.

First, we need to come up with a great idea, write/record/film the idea, edit, publish and promote it.

This goes on and on with content we create and honestly, could get resource-consuming and tiring. But do you know with a little strategy and effort, we can get the most out of every piece of content we create?

How do you get the most out of the content you create? Repurposing.

Repurposing our content can stretch our yield. It’s a work smart, not hard formula. All we need to do is repurpose the content we’ve already created so that it will extend our reach and audience.

This can be done by ensuring every one of our content pieces can be reused across different channels, platforms, formats, and campaigns.

But, before you repurpose content, it has to be great. Let’s start by talking about strategies to make great content.

Ways to Make Great Content

1. Idea Concept

Thinking of an idea is one of the most important parts of the content you create, it is also the first thing. Let's think up original and intriguing topics that will resonate with our audience.

Not only that, no one wants to read content they aren’t benefiting from. Therefore, you will want to start with a topic that will be of value to your audience.

Already, we know what our platform is about and who our audiences are and their interests. Therefore, before creating content, it is important to ask yourself questions like, what value will my audience get from this? What does my audience need? What problem can my content solve for them?

Asking questions like these will give you ideas you can work on. And not just any idea, original ideas with the aim of creating content of value, content that converts.

2. Research

The accuracy of our content matters a lot. Imagine the impression you make if a reader finds out there's some kind of inaccuracy in the information you present.

So, once we get the idea for our contents, let's research before working on it. See what other people have done on that topic and add that to the information we already have.

3. Focus On Your Headlines

Many times, people lose their potential audience, because their titles aren’t catching enough. In fact, more people read the headline than the content itself. No, that isn’t such a bad thing. It just means our headlines are as important as the article.

Our headlines will determine how likely the audience will click on the post. Thus, we should think up catchy and intriguing titles for our posts before publishing them. Also, this guide by Neil Patel on how to create intriguing headlines is very helpful.

4. Engage

Engaging and thought-provoking content will better than content that is dull or repetitive. If you make everything you say or write important, the audience will likely hang onto your every word.

When writing content, consider these points:

Have a conversational tone, tell stories -- storytelling is an engaging tool.
Write content that sparks people so they want to leave comments and opinions.
Leave questions on your posts to generate reactions, answers or make people reflect on how your content has helped them.

Another way to engage readers is by writing short and pointed content. Leave out unnecessary details. Help the readers know how you can help them immediately upon reading the introduction.

5. Share and Distribute

Creating content is king, but sharing and distributing is very important. How else will people see the king if they don’t even know of its existence?

Without proper sharing and distribution, your content may not get the result and reach they deserve.

We should work on this by strategizing our sharing efforts. If we have different platforms for our content, we shouldn't focus on just promoting one platform.

For example, if you have a YouTube channel and a blog, promote both. Promote your blog on YouTube and vice versa. Promote all content on all platforms you have.

Repurposing Your Content

Repurposing is a very effective way to turn the content you create into something new and unique. This means your old content can be altered and recreated into other pieces of content. It’s like recycling of content.

In return, each piece of content gets more audience and appears on new platforms, while saving time and resources. Below, we will discuss a few things to know about repurposing.

How to Repurpose Your Content

There are multiple platforms for content creation and the beauty of creating content is that we don’t have to stick to one way. Perhaps, you always write your content, you can make that same written content into a video, a slide share, an eBook, an infographic, etc.

The point is, our content doesn’t have to be in one format and platform. We can make use of different formats and platforms. Subsequently, every content can be repurposed to fit every platform.

So once we have an idea for a new post, we should plan how to distribute it on different channels. It doesn’t even have to be a new post; it could be an old one.

What Contents Should I Repurpose?

As said earlier, we don’t have to come up with new ideas. Old publications are good to go too. We can look for those content that got a wider engagement on any of our platforms.

If it’s on social media, we should check likes and comments. If it’s on a blog, the insights, and analytics. For podcasts and videos; the number of views, for emails newsletters; the number of click rates and so on.

After identifying the content that got the most engagement, we can now start repurposing all that content you create. For example, a twitter post that got a lot of engagement can be posted on your Instagram feed.

A blog post can be turned into a podcast and/or video. Videos aren't even hard to create and they get a lot more engagement.

Check out this detailed post on how to create DIY videos.

Meanwhile, repurposing shouldn't be exclusive to posts that got high engagement alone. We can also go for;

Evergreen contents:

Contents that will continue to provide valuable information and long-lasting value.

Long Content

We can dissect long content to a chunk of smaller posts and information.

Shallow Content

Contents that were not fully developed or created for small-content platforms can be developed into a new stronger piece.

How to Repurpose Your Content Across Multiple Platforms

Below are some ways to repurpose our content into different platforms and formats;

1. Convert Your Blog Posts into Guides

Old blog posts don’t have to stay old, the knowledge can still be shared and made useful for the audience. We can put together some of our old blog posts after identifying those you want to repurpose.

With this, we can, for example, create a guide by collating information on a particular topic from our blogs.

For instance, if you’ve written several articles on SEO, you can amass all the contents you’ve done on it. Make them into a neat, easy-to-follow guide, re-edit it and start sharing and redistributing.

It could be an e-book or a new blog post with hyperlinks to the original content or more.

2. Chop up Longer Blog Posts

We can promote a new content piece, or extend the visibility of an older one by chopping them into smaller bits. And then share the bits across different channels.

A very long post can be made into smaller variations and shared on small-content platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or other sites like Quora, LinkedIn, SlideShare, etc.

3. Turn Your (Old) Posts into Podcasts

Podcasts are really good and flexible. Contrary to popular opinion, many people listen to podcasts.

The beauty of podcasts is its flexibility and convenience. People can listen while doing laundry, while driving -- they basically choose the time they want to listen, unlike a radio program.

Using this, we can turn some old posts or new ones into podcasts. You can create a podcast channel if you don’t have one already.

Remember, the point is to have more visibility and reach with our contents. Having multiple platforms for our contents is the ideal way to achieve that.

Therefore, we should have podcast channels for our blog posts. Captivate the audience with our content and make something worthwhile. Something that attracts them so they keep coming back.

Also, we could transcribe a podcast to a blog post and/or a video. This is done so that one content in the form of a podcast can be on iTunes, a video of the same content on YouTube and a blog post on our sites.

4. Create a Slide of your post and Upload to SlideShare

We can also turn your content into slides and upload them to sites like SlideShare. To encourage engagement, we should make beautifully designed slides that can easily impress readers.

5. Build Custom Infographics

Infographic is about turning facts, statistics into a visual representation. Also, infographics get more engagement and are the most shared type of content. Pictures get more attention and that’s the concept behind infographics.

Such infographics can then be shared across different platforms, used on slideshows, or added to an email newsletter to engage readers.

A good infographic should show relevant information, be well crafted, catchy and good looking.

Meanwhile, infographics are not that difficult to create. There are templates and tools one can easily use to start one. For example, with Canva, we can create an amazing infographic in a few minutes. This post will show you how.

6. Find Your Strongest Introductions

The snippets of our contents matter too. We can repurpose a previously published content by rewriting a post introduction and sharing across different platforms.

For example, if you are posting a link of your content on social media, you can add an irresistible introduction that makes people want to view the rest of the content.

Identify the top introductions and repurpose them across different platforms: in an email newsletter, a YouTube video/ podcast description or social media posts.

7. Write Guest Post on Topics Related to Your Expertise

We don’t have to be confined to our platforms only, we can widen our reach on others’ platforms too. If we’re good at a particular niche or topic, we can guest post for other content creators who may have a different audience from us. Guest posts will introduce us to their audience.

There are different websites that accept guest posting, Writing Cooperative did a list of 54 sites that accept guest posts.

Pro Tip

Use a virtual assistant to find great sites you can guest post on.

8. Share The Best of Your Content Through a Newsletter

Newsletters are still as good as they were in the past. Apart from creating content, we need to curate an email list of our audience too.

This can be done by platforms like Active Campaign that allow people to sign up with their emails. Read more about how to get the most out of your email list in our article.

Once we have an email list, we can now work towards using the content we create in other areas as content for our email newsletters.

Newsletters don’t have to be an everyday thing, it could be a once in a week, month, 2 months thing. Next, share the best content in your email newsletters.

9. Pull out Quotes and Paragraphs as Micro Contents

More than videos and blog posts, the internet loves quotes. We should pull out awesome and unique quotes out of original content. Then promote these quotes across different platforms where they can reach our target audiences.

10. Don’t Sleep On the Power of Social Media

As said earlier, distribution and sharing are key to getting your post to a wider audience. If you haven’t been using social media, you should start now and use it effectively. Social media help us promote our brands, get a wider reach and makes it easy to engage with potential audiences.

We can post our content or snippets or links on our social media sites. It could be infographics from a blog post followed with a short introduction, or it could be a short video, a snippet of a podcast.

Social media should be a must for all content creators. Also, it's the number one way to drive traffic to our published contents and make people keep up with your new contents. This detailed blog post explained how to track our social media results.

In Conclusion:

There are different ways to get the most out of the content you create. It all starts with thinking of awesome ideas, sharing and comes down to repurposing.

Why create new contents every time when we can repurpose the existing contents and redistribute them across different platforms?

We can start repurposing content by;

Creating a list of content that can be repurposed
Transcribing posts into different formats. For example, from video to audio, from written to audio, etc.
Using social media efficiently. Creating infographics and use them to get more engagement
Guest posting for other platforms
Using strong introductions and pull out quotes to make your contents promotable

It's best to implement these strategies for effective mastery of how we can repurpose our content. This way, we will get the most out of every piece we create without getting exhausted or working too hard.

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The post How to Get the Most Out of the Content You Create appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

How to Brainstorm Winning Content Ideas for Your Business

Nicole Bandes — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:00:51 +0000

By Nicole Bandes

Founder, CEO of Virtual A Team

Read more by Nicole

Are you overwhelmed with constantly brainstorming new content ideas? Most leading food brands have a research and development (R and D) department. These R and D specialists spend hours trying to figure out the next best product that consumers will love. It takes months, maybe even years, or experimenting and testing with focus groups. This is probably the motivation behind Lay’s annual “Do Us a Flavor” competition; having customers suggest and sample possible flavors makes finding new products much easier.

A content creator is the R and D officer for a brand. Consistently creating fresh content that your audience will love is challenging. It isn’t enough to throw it into the hands of the customers (although this is a strategy that has worked for many brands). Here are 10 ways you can up your R and D game and produce content that resonates.

10 Ways to Brainstorm Content Ideas

Read the Latest Industry News

What are the latest things happening in your industry that are creating a buzz? How does your brand fit in with the latest trends? People who are interested in your industry want answers to these questions. These topics are great content ideas.

You can only provide these answers if you’re keeping abreast with industry news. Subscribe to industry blogs and magazines. Watch the news. Spend less time scrolling on social media and more time following what’s happening in the industry.

Here are some of the best magazines blogs and newsletters to follow in the life coaching business:

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Have Conversations

Verbal conversations unearth new ideas and build relationships. Recently, a magazine creator and editor we know had a conversation with one of the entrepreneurs she was featuring. Her magazine focuses on helping readers start a business in her home country. This entrepreneur highlighted how difficult it is for locals to find everything they need to successfully start a business.

Eureka! The editor instantly came up with a series of videos that could simplify the process and attract more readers. That conversation helped her identify a real need and create a content solution to fill the gap.

You may be pleasantly surprised by the insight you glean from face-to-face and telephone conversations with customers. Viewing and responding to social media comments is great but nothing beats that personalized conversation.

Leverage Social Media

It isn’t realistic to assume that you can have verbal conversations with everyone interested in your brand. Sure, your life coaching business thrives on the personalization that your small team offers. Client consultations also provide perfect opportunities for you to learn more about what your direct customers want to learn.

However, there is a sea of potential clients that you are trying to reach daily. You need to know the right content to produce for them so that they will be guided through your sales funnel and become paying customers. Some possible ways to get this information include:

Posting a poll on your social media pages
Viewing the conversations on your posts
Identifying the posts that get the most engagement
Responding to private messages that followers send
Asking probing questions to stimulate further discussion on an active post

Repurpose Content

Sometimes it isn’t worthwhile teaching an old dog new tricks. Some of the content you posted months ago can be repurposed and posted as new content. There are many ways to repurpose content. Some possibilities include:

Transforming popular blog articles into podcasts. Chandan Kumar describes how to convert an article into a podcast in this article.
Combining popular posts on the same topic to create a pillar page. For instance, the Virtual A team posted an article entitled, “How to Cultivate Your Network on LinkedIn”. This article could segue into a series of articles on cultivating a network on each type of social media platform. All of these articles can be combined to create a pillar page like this. It could be called, “The Ultimate Guide for Growing Your Network on Social Media”.
Expand on the points made in a list-style article to create individual posts. For instance, this list-style article from Virtual A Team identifies 6 virtual services that can be outsourced. An article can be created to further describe each item on the list.
Create a SlideShare post on LinkedIn. It would be unwise for a life coach to not have a LinkedIn profile. This social media site for professionals is a great way to meet potential clients. Slide Share is a Power-Point style post unique to Linked In that allows users to succinctly share information on important concepts.
Create an infographic. People are highly visual and hardly have time to read large blocks of text. Infographics summarize blogs in a highly visual, easily digestible, way.
Add up-to-date content to an existing post and repost it. This works best when at least 3 months have passed since the post was published.

Pro Tip

Repurposing old content saves you from having to come up with new ideas.

Plan a Team Brainstorming Session

You may be blessed to work with a small but capable team. Even if you aren’t, there is a group of people who you turn to for advice. Arrange a content ideas brainst

orming meeting with your team or core group.

Apply caution, however, because a brainstorming session can go off track. Some tips for having an effective brainstorming session include:

Determine the problem question you’re trying to answer. A possible question is, “What type of content can we use to retain high-value customers?” Everyone should be aware of this question at least a week before the meeting so that they can come with fresh ideas.
Lay some ground rules. There should be some structure so that each person has an equal opportunity to share an opinion. Respect is paramount; no one should feel stupid for sharing an idea. This doesn’t mean that clear bad ideas shouldn’t be respectfully squashed. You don’t want to spend too much time discussing bad ideas.
Appoint a facilitator. This doesn’t necessarily have to be you. However, you do need someone who will guide the discussion.
Choose the right location. You may choose to have a virtual or in-person brainstorming session. If you choose a virtual session, ensure that everyone has a good internet connection and good sound equipment.
Keep the meeting short. It doesn’t need to be more than 30 minutes.
Determine whether an in-person meeting is necessary. Sometimes it may be more feasible to get ideas through anonymous submissions or electronically through live software such as Google Docs.

Pay Attention to Your Competitors

Waging war against your competitors can be counterproductive. Oftentimes, your competitors can teach you valuable lessons and be great for collaborations or partnerships. Visit your competitor’s social media pages and website and answer the following questions:

What is this brand doing well?
What is this brand not so good at?
Is it possible for your brand to collaborate with this brand to create new content?
What distinguishes my brand from this one?
Which posts do well on this brand’s platform? What special features does the post have that makes it do well?
What type of content are the top brands in your niche writing?

Look at Topics from Another Angle

Writer’s block can be a real issue especially when you’ve been churning out a high volume of articles consistently covering the same theme. For instance, you may be selling a unique life planner that you’ve designed. You’ve already written 3 articles about the benefits of life planners and feel like you have exhausted the topic.

It helps to break the topic down to its bare bones and then working your way up from there. Let’s look at the life planner example. Instead of focusing on a life planner, it may help to look at the broader topic of life goals. What content ideas can you create with this broad topic? How can you incorporate your life planner into these new articles?

Create Buyer Personas

Understanding who your buyers are is really the first step for creating good content. It helps to be highly specific about the groups of buyers you are trying to target and what each group needs. Focusing solely on a broad target audience won’t provide this detailed perspective. This article sheds more light on this important point.

For instance, you may be a life coach who focuses on women with newborns. Within that group, however, there are many subgroups. Some possible groups are:

New mothers who have a child with a disability
Female executives struggling to balance motherhood with corporate life
Female entrepreneurs with newborns
New mothers considering furthering their education

...the list is endless.

It’s imperative for you to identify your preferred sub-niches and think about the type of content that would appeal to them. A female executive who has a newborn will have different needs and interests from a female entrepreneur with a newborn. Sure there are some commonalities but there also are some stark differences.

Visit Quora

Quora is the leading question and answer site where people can ask any question and get answers. It’s a great way to see the types of questions people in your industry are asking. You can answer the questions on Quora and include links to content on your website that further elaborates. This helps build the backlinks to your site.

You could also answer these questions directly on your website. Doing this allows you to provide an even more extensive answer to the question. It helps position you as an expert in the field.

Use Social Media Discussion Groups

Each social media site has a community of users with similar interests. LinkedIn has LinkedIn groups, Facebook has Facebook Groups, Instagram has community hashtags and the list continues. Find a group that relates to your industry and become an active member.

Just like Quora, you’ll see the questions people are asking. You’ll also see the content that interests them and the content they post on their own websites. Essentially, these discussion groups are a gold mine of information.

Some of the top LinkedIn groups for life coaches include:

International Coach Federation
International Coaching Network
Professional Life Coaches Network
Coaching Zone
Find a Coach

The I-N-K Strategy for Identifying High-Quality Content

Searching for content ideas is one thing. Ensuring that you consistently post high-quality content based on these ideas is another. The I-N-K strategy can help you determine if the content you’ve created is high value.

I- Interest

It helps to get a second opinion on the content you create before you post it. A key question to ask the observer is, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does this pique your interest?” Although this is just one opinion, it helps you gauge how your audience may respond to the post. Feel free to get more than one opinion if you can.

N- Nail It

The feedback will help you refine and improve the content. You want to hit the nail on the head and keep your audience intrigued. Get it right at least 80% of the time and you’ll have a loyal lifelong following.

K- Keep Up

Each post provides an opportunity to identify what really interests your audience. Pay keen attention to how your followers and website visitors respond to each post. Their responses, or lack thereof, speak volumes. Keep up with their demands and you’ll consistently produce the right content.

Final Word

You may be the sole content creator for your business. The task may not be as simple as experienced content creators make it seem. The pressure is high to regularly produce content that your audience will love and it’s often difficult to come up with fresh ideas.

We’ve shown you how to find fresh content ideas. With this knowledge, you can create solid content marketing plans that help you win new customers and retain high-value customers. It’ll take some work but the effort is ultimately worthwhile.

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The post How to Brainstorm Winning Content Ideas for Your Business appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

Email Marketing: How To Get The Most Out of Your Email List

Nicole Bandes — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:02:04 +0000

By Nicole Bandes

Founder, CEO of Virtual A Team

Read more by Nicole

Do you feel lost when entrepreneurs applaud email marketing as the best form of marketing? Is your email list as long as the Queen's list in Rumpelstiltskin?

Whether your list is large or small, do you feel as if you don't gain maximum value from your email marketing lists?

If so, then something is wrong. While bigger audiences should follow up with more impact and more returns, even small audiences but highly targeted audiences can provide big value.

But, like many things in business, email marketing is a skill that most entrepreneurs don't have. It's one thing to have a large audience and another to keep them interested in what you have to say.

Keeping that interest is where most businesses run into problems. It's not just about writing a marketing copy and hitting the send button. There is a lot more to email marketing than that, and we would explore that together in this article.

First, let’s take a look at how to make the most out of your long list. There are several things that are so important in email marketing; they can't be ignored. The first of them is the welcome sequence.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

The Welcome Sequence

Congratulations, we have succeeded in adding a subscriber to our email marketing lists. Now, it's time to send them that very first email that begins the virtual relationship we hope to have with this person.

In every relationship, you need to make an excellent first impression. So we have to make this good. This is where most entrepreneurs make a mistake. They usually send an email that says, “welcome, and thank you for subscribing."

After the welcome email, they begin to send their regular emails to this subscriber. In doing this, they forget something fundamental. The welcome sequence isn't just a single email; it's a series of emails that keep your grabs your subscriber's attention.

Depending on how great your welcome sequence is, your subscriber might find themselves signing up for other services and becoming a raving fan.

Let's face it, the average person with an email is a subscriber on at least fifteen email marketing lists. With this statistic, the goal is to stand out, to be the one whose email is anticipated every day and responded to.

The Welcome Sequence is the place to make a lasting first impression. This email campaign should have about 3 to 6 emails in it. You can begin by sending three emails in quick succession once they subscribe. The other emails we can send spaced out over days or weeks.

The first three emails have to be carefully structured to say more with fewer words. No one wants to read a term paper. The goal is to structure our email in such a way that we welcome our subscriber while giving them an overview of whom we are and the services we offer.

We would also them know what to expect from our emails such as how often they would get an email from us. For better success with the welcome sequence, see what digital marketing strategist, Meera Kothand has to say.

How often is too often?

Now that we have gotten these subscribers hooked on our emails, it's time to keep their interest. In email marketing, this is one of the hardest parts. The marketing copy isn't a problem at this point, rather the frequency at which we send emails is.

How much is too much? Remember that in part of your welcome sequence, you did tell your subscriber what to expect in terms of the frequency with your emails.

Firstly, with this very new and interested subscriber, we don’t want to disappoint. We want to keep to our word, so if we said once a week, we keep it at once a week until we are ready to change things up.

Although this subscriber knows what to expect from us every week, we still need to find out what works. It isn't just about sending emails; it's about getting a favorable response.

Several studies have been carried out to find out what level of frequency per month brings a maximum response. From the results compiled, 2 to 4 emails per month seem to be the sweet spot.

But if you have more information to give to your subscribers, then you need to send them additional emails. Two to four emails per month aren't the standard. The frequency should depend on the subscribers' response.

Pro Tip

Don’t be afraid to send more emails. Even daily, short emails can be valuable depending on your audience. Remember, if they unsubscribe, they probably weren’t going to buy from you anyway.

When is it time to let a subscriber go and why

In relationships, there comes the point when either partner can see no future. It's possible that they have tried their very best to breathe back life into this relationship. But nothing seems to be yielding results. At this point, it's time to step back.

This principle also works for the relationship between you and your subscribers. For an active email marketing list, you need to carry out periodic weeding.

We did a deep dive on Cleaning Your Email List here.

Weeding doesn't sound so good, but you have to. So, when and why do we need to let go of some subscribers.

You undergo a weeding exercise on your email marketing list when you notice that your click-through rates are not growing in direct proportionality with your mailing list.

This weeding exercise is one of the red flags that tell you that some people need to go. It could be anything.

It's possible that the old timers aren't too interested anymore and haven't opened our emails in over a year. Or maybe your emails have been sent to the Spam folder and your audience isn’t even seeing them anymore.

Sometimes, it could be that your subscribers have tried and failed to unsubscribe for one reason or the other. Following their failure, they now keep your emails in the spam folder or worse delete them. Ouch! Either way, it's time for a massive cleanup.

You don't need to won't worry about having so many people on your list go out if they aren't contributing. Having a long email list is excellent, but having quality subscribers is better. It's quality over quantity.

But what about the reasons? When you weed your list periodically, you will see better click-through rates and more returns. You're not going to get that if we don't carry out periodic weeding. Just as the analogy implies, getting rid of the weeds allows for more vibrant blooms to grow.

By occasionally weeding your list, you’ll see better results with less effort.

Segmentation

Everyone knows that a more targeted approach yields better results. This approach is where segmentation comes in. Segmentation is nothing more than arranging your email marketing lists based on specific criteria.

Why should there even be segmentation? If you're going to send targeted emails to people, we want to have them in groups. Even if you tried, you can't send specialized emails to every single person. No doubts, it's exhausting and time-consuming.

So arrange your mailing list according to specific criteria. It could be based on demographics, age, or primary interests. The main thing is to send out specially targeted emails to people in an easy a way as possible.

This targeted email gives it a more personal approach. It seems as if you're dealing with issues that affect them personally and not the entire world. The personal approach always works wonders. So a little segmentation now and then would help you achieve that personal angle you're aiming for.

Pro Tip

We often see people added to email lists from many different sources. It’s likely that someone you met at a book signing for your relationships book doesn’t want to receive your emails about your new fitness program. Keep your lists separate and segmented.

Audience

The audience is the most crucial part of email marketing. Writing the best marketing copy in the entire world makes no sense until it is directed to an audience. In some instances, marketing copies cannot be written until you target a particular audience.

Your audience is the subscribers. The thing about building an audience is that you need to target a particular demographic. This depends on the type of content or services you offer. For instance, we reach out to business and life coaches based on the services we offer.

If we send out marketing emails to pregnant moms in part time jobs, we won't get any response. This is because the audience does not care about building an online business.

Knowing your target audience and understanding what they need is therefore very important. Also, you need to create content that impacts your audience and keeps your audiences interested in your emails.

There are several benefits to focusing on your target audience. One of them is that you save yourself the time that would be spent trying to tailor your copy to reach another audience. Focusing on your target audience also gives you high and improved click-through rates. And that is something you need.

In Summary

To get the most out of your email marketing, start with a robust email welcome sequence. One email alone won’t do it. Then make sure you are consistent with your emailing frequency. It’s also important to clean your list on occasion and make sure you are targeting the right audience.

Like I said before, email marketing is a skill. When you learn its fine points, you can begin to enjoy maximum benefits. Remember, you and your subscribers are in a relationship.

This relationship would help you relate better with them and give you a better chance of keeping them happy and interested in you. And if you can’t manage your list, let Virtual A Team help you get the job done.

Virtual A team does it all, from content creation and managing emails to full management and strategy. We will help make your email list work for you, not the other way around. To learn more about our services, click here.

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The post Email Marketing: How To Get The Most Out of Your Email List appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

Content Writer vs Copywriter: What you need to know

Nicole Bandes — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 15:28:56 +0000

Is it finally time to hire a copywriter? Do you have a lot of great thoughts to share but it’s become a full-time job keeping up with writing all that content that you could really use a content writer. Or maybe you have a sales page to create and you know selling isn’t where you shine.

I was recently having a conversation with a very close friend of mine. She's a brilliant writer. But she's new at marketing her skills. We were chatting about the different types of writers and she asked me a very important question.

"How am I supposed to compete with writers on the other side of the world that charge 1/2 cent per word when I charge 10 cents a word?"

As you begin to look into hiring someone to take on the writing for your business, you run across different terms and vastly different rates. So how do you know who to hire and what to pay?

The terms content writer and copywriter are often used interchangeably but they aren't the same thing. The old saying, apples to apples, just doesn't work here. If you've ever bit into a Fiji apple expecting it to taste like a red delicious, you totally understand what I mean.

Before you hire any writer, it’s important to know the difference.

Keep reading or watch the video for a quick summary.

Copywriting Vs. Content Writer

Both content writing and copywriting are considered important components of marketing. The difference lies in the purpose and approach of each.

What is Content Writing?

The purpose of content writing is to entertain the reader and keep them engaged with your business. Think of content writing for things like:

Blog posts
Email newsletters
Podcast scripts
Ebooks
Social media posts
Guest blog posts

In your coaching business, writing content can be a great way turn leads into prospects and maintaining the loyalty of your customers. Not only is it a cost-effective approach, but time-effective as well compared to traditional methods of lead generation. When done properly, it can improve the credibility and authority of your brand in a given topic.

When you hire a content writer, they focus on content marketing. They write with the aim of sharing information about a specific topic.

For example, they can write an article about the benefits of coaching with the aim of grabbing and holding the attention of potential clients. The article helps to influence your audience by providing educational information. This can help your coaching business to form trust and authority in the mind of the audience. They will then be more likely to buy your products.

Although you may not achieve a one-time sale this way, your audience may also be engaged and motivated to share your content on their social media account. This helps to spread awareness of what you do. It is also a great way of encouraging your audience to stay in touch with your business.

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting, on the other hand, is based on the old forms of advertising like direct mail and print ads. Think Mad Men (a show I still need to take the time to watch…)

Copywriting is used to market or promote your products or services. It is more sales oriented. Think of copywriting for things like:

Sales pages
Email sales funnels
Social media ads
Marketing video scripts
Bios and About us pages

The aim of copywriting is to write in a way that helps to sell more stuff. The write-ups help your potential clients/customers see the value of your products or services so they are more willing to buy from you. It can also portray your product as the ultimate solution for the client’s needs.

You might think of a free webinar as a combination of the two. It’s 1 part content writing for the valuable information you’ll be sharing and 1 part copywriting for the close or sales pitch at the end.

Let’s take a look at each technique in more detail to help you understand the differences.

Purpose of Content Writing

Although you may not achieve a one-time sale this way, your audience will be engaged and motivated to share the content on their social media account. This means that your brand becomes more popular and attract more potential customers. It is also a great way of encouraging your audience to stay in touch with your business.

Purpose of Copywriting

Copywriting helps educate your audience on why a specific product or service would work for their needs. Great copy seeks to attract the attention of the audience. But it goes further to convince them why they should buy from your brand. So, it grabs the attention of the audience, and at the same time entices them into taking action. The aim is to achieve a one-time transaction rather than keeping the audience engaged.

To convert readers into customers, the writer will choose a compelling headline and use an attractive call to action. These elements reveal the greatness of your brand, invoking the need of the audience to be associated with your brand. They also explain why customers should buy from your brand and not any other.

Image compliments of Marketing Profs.

Do I Need a Content Writer or a Copywriter?

Who are Content Writers?

In dating, content writers would be the courters, the ones that take their time and build a strong relationship before popping the question.

They are also the marathoners. Their content tends to be longer than 1000 words. Their written pieces are usually long-form and detailed.

These writers create different types of content ranging from simple articles to search engine optimized rich-content. In their writing, they consider the use of keywords, meta, and the likelihood of the content being shared now and in the future. They possess editorial skills that allow them to write with intricate details and word counts. Since the aim is to grab the attention of their audience, content is designed to be easily consumed, interesting and informative.

Some content writers are journalistic in nature. This type of writer does the research and reports on the information. Think of the basic how-to articles or "listicles". Writers of this type are much more common and often charge less for their work.

Other writers are far more creative and focus on delivering the content via a story or message. The content may still be a how-to but it's spun in a much more memorable way. These skills are much more unique and this type of writer often charges a premium for their services.

Pro Tip

Consider spending the extra money and hiring a creative writer. When anyone can write a "How-To" and there are millions already out there, focus on the story that grabs readers' attention and helps them remember long after.

Who are Copywriters?

Copywriters are the ones who make a proposal on the first date. It’s all about the spring or the quick win for these writers.

These are the sprinters. Their copy is generally short and to the point.

Writers focused on copy will write with the intention of increasing customer conversion. They are wordsmiths who craft compelling headlines and content to prompt prospects to take action. A well-written piece of copy will prompt the audience to buy a product, schedule a tour, subscribe to a service or submit vital information for follow-up.

Copywriters are adept at using psychology to sell.

Finding the Right Person for the Job

Content writers and copywriters have certain basic skills required to do their jobs well. These skills include:

Excellent grammar.
Outstanding proofreading skills.
The ability to write for their target audience.
An understanding of your specific industry.
Uses language the reader understands.
They can take feedback and implement requested changes.

But let’s look at what unique abilities each has.

Skills of a Content Writer

If you are looking for someone to write articles for your blog or newsletter or to create engaging social media posts, then look for a writer with the following skills:

The ability to write content that is engaging, not boring.
Can write in a tone that mimics your “voice”.
Enjoys brainstorming new content ideas.
Knows how to research and reference articles without plagiarizing.
Understands how to write for search engines while not losing readers.

To me, the number one requirement for hiring a content writer is the ability to write fluently in the native language of the audience. There are many sites where you can hire an inexpensive writer but a large number of these writers are not fluent in English. And the writing shows it.

The next most important quality is the ability to write engaging content. It should have a hook from the very beginning that draws me in and makes me want to read more. If the first paragraph of text is boring, I’m highly unlikely to keep reading. And I’m not alone…

Let’s face it, there’s so much content on the internet already that it is HIGHLY unlikely that your article will be an original idea. What will set it apart is how well it’s written.

Skills of a Copywriter

When you are ready to create compelling copy for your landing page, sales emails or even your About Us page, it’s time to hire a copywriter. Here are the necessary skills to focus on:

An understanding of human psychology and why people buy.
The ability to deliver powerful messages in a small amount of text.
Knowing the needs of the target audience.
The ability to use emotion to sell and logic to reinforce the decision.
A knowledge of how to break complex concepts into simple terms.

I always find the best copywriters are always studying their craft. They are always researching the best triggers to use at any point in time. They know how to create something that doesn’t feel salesy while still having the ability to persuade. This isn’t about being the used car salesman that promises the car will work (long enough to get it off the lot). It’s more about the trusted advisor helping you to take action that will truly improve your life.

As you prepare to hire your first writer, check out our tips to hire a writer.

Tips for Working with Writers

You may argue that the two types of writing are almost the same. But the differences are clear and should be the basis for making your choice. Knowing the difference between the two enables you to hire the right person for the job.

Once you’ve hired a writer, is there a difference between how you work with the different types?

Content writers generally work best with long deadlines and few details. They want to freely express themselves in their writing while still fulfilling the necessary details and voice you are looking for.

Copywriters work better with specific details and information.

Content writers will often work with long term strategies.

Copywriters work with short term projects.

With both types of writers, expect a learning curve as they learn about your business, audience, brand, and voice. Take your time and offer suggestions and feedback. They’ll thank you for it and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by their ability to adapt to your needs.

There is no one best writer for your writing needs. In fact, most businesses find it ideal to hire both writers to work together in the organization. While one will be focused on informing the audience about a specific topic, the other will sell your brand out.

Summary

Hiring someone to help you with your writing needs may sound like a difficult task. Once you understand the differences, it’s more simple than you think. All you need is an understanding of the purpose, format, and goals of your writing needs.

If you want to gain an audience or inform people about your brand, go for a content writer.

If the goal is to increase sales or customer conversions, then hire a copywriter.

Still confused on what works the best for your coaching business? Virtual A Team has a team of both content and copywriters to meet your needs. Set up a complimentary strategy session to see how hiring a writer can benefit you.

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The post Content Writer vs Copywriter: What you need to know appeared first on Virtual A Team | Virtual Business Management Services.

Hire a Writer: What You Need to Know First

Nicole Bandes — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 14:43:06 +0000

Whether you’ve been working for years to grow your online presence or you’re just starting out, written content is bound to make up a huge percentage of the work you’ll be doing to promote your website. But do you really need to be writing every word or can you hire a writer?

Hiring help online is easier now than it’s ever been before. In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of outsourcing your websites written content to freelance writers. Check out these pointers to see if taking on help from a freelancer or content management team sounds like the right move for you. We’ll take a look at the negatives first:

The Potential Downside When You Hire a Writer

Outsourcing can damage your brand if it’s not managed effectively

If you've been running your blog or website for some time, you've probably spent countless hours pumping out glorious content, honing your voice and steadily building a readership that connects with your work on quite a personal level. It'll be very hard to find another writer that'll match your tone a style precisely. So if you have a blog and its main selling point is the unique character and tone of voice in your articles, then letting someone else take the rains is going to be a hard pill to swallow.

Hire someone without being careful enough and the work they produce could end up having a negative impact on your online presence. Did you put in all that work just to have it ruined by someone else's lesser contributions? No dice!

We regularly hire writers here at Virtual A Team. We’ve had stories where articles submitted wreaked with political commentary (a NO go for our brand). There were also the submissions that looked like a mishmash of other articles not relevant to our target audience.

The Fix

Content management tools like Google Docs will allow you to collaborate with freelancers on projects and pieces of content to ensure you keep a firm grip on the level quality being produced. Google Docs allows people using different computers to access and work on the same document in real time. It makes it easy for editors to leave comments, make adjustments as needed, and share files instantly.

It can take time to find the right fit

This point leads on perfectly from the last one. When you hire a writer to take over your work, expect it to be more of a process than a one-time action. It takes trial and error to find the perfect writer for your project. Expect to have to hire and fire a boatload of prospects before you land one that really ticks all the right boxes.

Every writer tends to have their own style, so it can take a bit of time to train each new writer to understand your brand and write with the tone of voice you’re aiming for. However, most quality writers are flexible and can adapt to your voice with some guidance. In an ideal world, you’d be putting in this initial investment of time to then save bundles of time going forward once the writer is molded to your liking. Find the right writer in the first place and your return on this investment could be long-term and transformational for your business.

Freelancers move on

One of the best things about working with freelancers is how little you owe them. There are no employment contracts to deal with, no benefits to offer, and next to no responsibility on your part. When you need them, they're yours. As soon as you don't, they're gone.

This loose connection is also a double edge sword. You could end up working for months to try and find the right writer, only for them to suddenly decide your project isn't quite right for them anymore, or they could be lured by better options elsewhere.

When it comes to your constant need for content, this stop and start routine can become a new dynamic to worry about in itself.

The Fix

There are, of course, ways to reduce your freelance writer turnover as much as you can.

Offer generous rates for the work you require,
check the profiles of candidates to see if they have a knack for long-term projects,
make sure you hire a writer that clearly loves your niche,
review other projects they have written, and
create a style guide to help onboarding when you hire a writer.

These are all important parts of keeping the good writers on board.

Even once you've found Mr or Mrs right, it’s still important to be prepared for the likely eventuality of them hitting the road. In the future, you may even find it hugely beneficial to hire an online business manager to handle your reoccurring recruitment and training needs.

Pro Tip

Working with Virtual A Team can help you find the correct talent and ensure replacements are provided as soon as your writer decides to split. This can be one of the best ways to avoid this huge headache and ensure your project suffers from minimal delays in production.

Those are the potential issues, now let's take a peek at some of the best advantages of handing your content work over to a freelance writer.

The Upside When You Hire a Writer

Outsourcing saves you time

One of the biggest and most crucial advantages of hiring others is time-saving. Writing is a laborious and time-consuming part of digital marketing. When you're managing a blog alongside everything else, you'll no doubt find yourself on the verge of complete burn-out before long. Some people love being overly busy and see it as one of the best things about running an online business. But most of us long for a little bit more time, as little hassle as possible, and easier profits.

When you hire a writer, you free up more of your precious time. Maybe you wanna spend more time with family. Or perhaps you want to devote more of your working hours to other projects. For some, they just want to cut down on the list of things they need to do each and every day. Whatever your ambitions, your day-to-day lifestyle has to be manageable and having someone else do a huge chunk of your daily legwork can certainly play a big part in getting more done much faster.

Pro Tip

Running a growing blog? Hiring a virtual assistant could be one of the best ways for you to pump out the level of coverage you’re aspiring to achieve. In today's environment, it's important to be churning out great content continuously to generate consistent marketing results for your brand. This level of production is far more feasible with a virtual helper by your side.

Flexible costs to fit your budget

A steady flow of content is important for your website, but can you afford to take on someone full-time? When you hire a writer, you’re only hiring them to complete the level of work you need at any given time, so it’s easy to keep the cost perfectly in line with your needs. As things change you can simply order more or less depending on how your business evolves.

Taking on permanent contracted staff is more of a commitment, whereas freelance writers can be entirely flexible around your budget and production scale.

Freelance writers can deliver a variety of specialities

Are you wiz at putting together top class blog posts filled with the latest information and bags of personality? If so, good for you! How about website sales content, press releases or paid ad copy? Your online presence can require very different types of work that require specific expertise for best results. You could try and learn how to do all of these things but you’ve already got a million things on your ever-growing list, why add to it? If you wanna stick to what you do best while experts handle other areas, you can hire freelancers with specialities to get things done right.

Some types of writing you may consider when you hire a writer include:

In-depth, well-researched articles
Shorter, informal articles
Copywriting for web pages, landing pages, etc…
Copy for social media posts
Newsletters
e-Books
Press releases

Pro Tip

One of the advantages of hiring freelance writers is being able to harness a wide range of talent and expertise as your business needs dictate. Compiling a virtual team is one of the best ways to ensure your array of content is produced as proficiently as possible. Hire a writer that specializes in ad copy to handle your paid campaigns, a second writer that’s an ace in blogging to create your posts, and a third that has mastered PR to construct your press releases.

You’ll be allowed to chase growth for your business

It's hard to pursue opportunities for growth when you're bogged down doing all the work it takes for your online business to simply survive. Letting someone else handle your content means giving yourself the freedom and focus to explore your business's path to bigger and better things.

If you run a blog and your target is to publish new content every day, you'll be spending the majority of each day creating tomorrow's piece. So how much time and energy are you then able to allocate to monetization, competitor research or user analysis? If you're doing all the writing yourself, probably not enough.

Every online presence needs to be managed as if it were a business, and business is all about profitability. If your ambition is to make as much money as possible from your digital projects, then most of your time needs to go into planning and executing the strategies that bring you maximum return on your investments.

In the vast majority of cases, growth only occurs when you have a very detailed and up-to-date understanding of your current market including all competitors, and you actively nail the moves necessary to place your brand in a better position relative to these rivals. This can take serious amounts of research and dedication.

Things tend to change very quickly in the online world no matter what industry you're in, so managing your business's growth strategy can prove to be a whole other full-time job. Is it possible to stay on top of all this extra work while your head is buried knocking out great posts day to day? Maybe, if you don't allow yourself time for things like sleep and food.

The Fix

When you hire a writer to take over your content duties, you put yourself back in the driving seat and can focus a lot more of your energy toward steering your business upwards. Whether you aim to spend more of your efforts hunting down prospects for sponsorship or advertising, researching gaps in the market or keeping your head wrapped around the latest market trends, with the right help by your side, the world is your oyster.

Quality freelancers can potentially improve the quality of your content

If you’re a literary ace and have a very particular style that you know connects with your audience, you’ll find it hard to let someone else take over. But if writing isn't really your thing, hiring help can actually be a great step in improving your presence. If you’re more of an ideas person, you’ll be able to concentrate on coming up with all the bright ideas while you let someone more inclined with the words get it all down nice and smooth.

Nervous about having to check through everything with a fine comb? There are a wealth of specialist apps out there designed to make proofreading and editing a piece of cake.

Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the world's most sophisticated spell check and grammar platforms. It's free and super user-friendly, so whatever level of writer you are, it'll make your editing duties a darn sight less draining.

Hemmingway App

Hemmingway App is another tool to use to verify that content is readable for your audience. Unless you are writing for a highly professional or technical crowd, your readability needs to be below a 7th grade level for maximum impact.

CopyScape

Plagiarism is another threat you'll need to look out for when others are doing your writing for you. Go for the cheapest writers out there, and you should be expected to come across more than your fair share of dodgy dealings. Copyscape is another world leading platform in the content management space that helps identify whether or not a piece of writing is genuine or copied from another source. This service isn't free if you want your scans to cover the entire world wide web, but since Copyscape launched their new price structure, checking every post that ever touches your site is more affordable than ever!

That’s a Wrap!

We hope you've found this quick guide to hire a writer helpful! Everyone's needs are different so the most important thing to do is work out the priorities for your business and plan accordingly. Think you have the patience to continuously scour the globe for the right talent? Then go for it! Otherwise, if you think it's best to keep the writing in your hands, you can think about outsourcing other tasks that you'd rather not face yourself. There's no better way to see if it's right for you than getting out there and giving it a good whirl! Stay objective and the right options are bound to pop up. Good luck!

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