Content Marketing

Internet Marketing:

Content Marketing:

I love this chapter as it is a key to success in any business large or small. Providing good and valuable content to your clients or customers is critical in today’s information age. The more valuable content you can provide your customers, the stronger your relationship will be.

Free good quality and useful content is the key building a customer list

The more value you can provide in the beginning of your relationship with your customer, the better your chance of securing a future with them. In past chapters, we have talked about Lead Magnets or Free products that you give away in exchange for a prospects email and or contact information.

The more useful and actionable your information is, the better chance your prospect will exchange their information with you. You need to build a product or report or e-book that can fit this bill.

Content can come in many forms

E-books, Free reports, videos, webinars, and product samples are the mainstay with free content. In the ever-changing internet market place there is more available that can be used as content.

  • Infographics: A series of images with text incorporated, to help sell the idea or inform your client
  • Video: In all shapes and sizes, short or long time frames. You can provide free videos you can make with your I-phone or web camera on your computer. Production is low cost yet very valuable. Many clients like to visualize and read, it helps to remember your information
  • Audio recordings: You can record using your computer and a good mike. This allows your clients to take your information on the road. They can listen to it in your car or on your way to work. Podcasting is very easy to do and easy to host.
  • Website access: You can build a section or a page on your current site and use it as a landing page for your clients to learn more FREE information. People love having private access to information. Make your FREE information secret and exchange their email for a password. Build the suspense and need to know, to help sell the free access.

Do not be afraid to give away some part of your service or product

Too many business people think that holding on to their best features or products is the only way to make money. Give them something that has a little value and then sell like mad to convince them to buy the real product or full product.

This is a mistake, you need to provide as much great quality as possible. Even when this means you are giving away a valuable, saleable portion. By doing so you get clients to trust you faster and more importantly, they feel indebted to you in a small way.

It’s this feeling, that they are obligated to you in some small way for your gift. You can then use this to make the sale to them. Give them enough to make them want and need the rest. Your whole presentation must flow in that direction.

Build your whole sales presentation right around the free give away. Make it flow towards the final sale. Every step should be designed and practiced until it is mastered before you make the first offer. Using the internet, it can be automated to do the same job. Remember, personality can always help make a sale. The human touch is never a bad thing in business. People still like to have real live relationships.

Where do you find all your content?

Bet you already guessed? your right, the internet. The internet is an information based system. If you invest a day or two in research you can find dozens of pieces of content. You can assemble this information into new product. You can use it as part of your free information or turn it into part of the full product or service you are selling. There are some really good research tools out there. SEOmoz, and many others, check our research section.

You can then add video, audio to your report or e-book and create a valuable FREE product that your clients will want.

Adding a bonus to our offers is a great idea. Your research can help you build this bonus. A valuable bonus is a resource guide, or a program to save time. When researching, content keep your eyes open to how you can use the information you are assembling.

Not all content has to be your original idea or writing

You can use your peers content and information. You only need to give them full credit for the information. Getting their written permission to use their content is always advisable. You are offering them another way to promote themselves. Most writers will be fine with this as long as you give them all the credit and provide link backs to them if the reader wants to read further. You can provide the author a free plug for their service and this could lead to a future swap of client lists to help build your business.

You don’t want to do this with your direct competition but you can definitely use this with products and services that work with your product or service. Find their websites and investigate what they offer. If it can complement your business, then you can use their information as content for your business.

Offering to help promote them for free is always hard to resist. Let them know you are helping to promote the same ideas as them.

This is called content curation in the information business. Learn to do it as it provides you an endless amount of content to help build your FREE product or lead magnets. Combine ideas you find into a new product. During your research, you will find some great ideas, record them and try to brain storm how you can use this new information in a new product.

Content builds trust so use it to your advantage

Today you need to offer more value than your competitor, if you don’t your competition will. Being first doesn’t always mean you are the winner but it does mean that you are the first impression. People use this to measure you against your competition.

The more value you offer up front, the better your chances of building your new relationship.