Do You Repurpose Your Content?

• Category: Content, Marketing, SEO
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If content is king- and we are quite certain it is- then how do you make sure you have the best content all the time? After all, creating content is time consuming, brain consuming and just plain hard work. Is it necessary to spend eight to ten hours a day creating fresh content in order to have enough information to keep things fresh? And what about the different methods of supplying content- audio, video, mp3, DVD, cd, YouTube, Ustream – the list is endless. How on earth are you supposed to create fresh content in all these types of formats and still have time to sleep? There is an answer- it’s called repurposing your content.

Repurposing your content saves you time, energy and money. Think about it- you invested a lot of time and intellectual energy into that blog series you did about article marketing, right? You provided excellent information, useful tips and tricks and even an idea or two that are different from the standard fare everyone else is posting. You used your proprietary technique for creating articles that regularly rank in the top ten on Google for your keywords. You explained everything in a simple straightforward fashion, that anyone could understand, but certainly wasn’t boring or monotonous. So why not find a way to make some money off all your hard work – or at least use it to drive some extra traffic to your site or to build your list.

Everyone learns information in a certain way. Some learn best by listening, some by watching, some by reading, some by doing. Why not take your expert information and package it in several different ways so you can give everyone the same opportunity to learn from you? Record it onto mp3 recordings and/or CD and then sell the series or use it as a bonus when someone buys your flagship product. Breakout your webcam and make a series of videos and upload them to YouTube for the opportunity to be noticed by hundreds or thousands or even millions of people. You can also record them on DVD and sell them for $97 or whatever price you think your audience will pay for them.

You can sell the information on the cheap and sell PLR rights to it -let others rewrite it and put their name on it in exchange for a slight fee. You can offer it as a bonus or a free download in exchange for a prospect giving you their email address. You can break it up into autoresponder messages and call it a mini course.

The point is, if you have valuable content you’ve put your time and energy into creating, you don’t have to use it once and then forget it. You can repackage and repurpose the information in a number of different ways and either give it away or sell it over and over again. If it’s worth saying, it’s worth repeating. What can you repurpose today?

To Spin or Not to Spin? Creating Multiple Articles for Marketing

• Category: Marketing, SEO
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Article marketing is a great way to promote your website, affiliate product or services. You can drive traffic, share your expertise and increase your brand recognition by producing useful, educational articles and submitting them to a variety of distribution sites across the Internet.

One of the keys to article marketing is to continually provide new information and search engine fodder. Every article you submit has a link back to your site or sales page, so the more articles you have available the more traffic you can create. The problem is, no matter how prolific a writer you are, there are only so many hours in a day. If writing is not your forte` the problem is even bigger- how on earth do you continue to produce new articles without running out of time,energy and ideas?

One solution many people turn to is known as article spinning. Article spinning is done by using software to manipulate an article into several other very similar articles by changing the phrasing of the text. Some article spinning software can turn a single article into 10 or more “new” articles through this method. There are many webmasters and Internet marketers who regularly use article spinning to produce high volumes of articles without intensive labor or high costs for outsourcing the work. If the software is of a high enough quality, the regenerated articles will probably pass most plagiarism software. There is nothing illegal about article spinning if you are using original content as your initial text source. The question is one of ethics. Is it OK to use an article spinner to produce volumes of articles? The answer, like most ethically questions, is maybe.

If you are being paid to produce several copies of the same article and use article spinning software to accomplish this without telling the person who is purchasing the articles, then the answer would seem to be no, it isn’t OK. You should never attempt to charge someone for work they believe is original if it isn’t actually produced through your own thoughts and ideas.
If you are using the article spinner to produce your own articles, then there is nothing unethical about the process, but it may not be your wisest choice. Article spinning cannot produce any fresh information. It simply regurgitates what you’ve already written – and often with poor grammar and sentence construction. The article can wind up sounding unprofessional and may be of extremely low quality. Your business deserves your best efforts and poor quality articles are not going to drive traffic the way a useful informative article will. If an article sounds like it’s been thrown together with no thought, it is highly unlikely it will create any quality traffic to your site or sales page.

Instead of using software to re-create the same article again and again, set aside a block of time on a daily or twice weekly basis to create fresh, original articles that help your potential customers learn something they need to know and see you as the expert in your niche. Even though you may not produce as much quantity as article spinning, you are certain to produce greater quality.

Social Media Is NASCAR- Content Management is the racetrack- Any questions?

• Category: Blogging, Content, Marketing, Social media
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I know you were waiting for part II of WordPress Plugins and Tools but that can wait.  Take a few minutes to read this. We’ll tune you to part II of WordPress Plugins and Tools later on.

Social Media is effectively 3-5 years old (depends who you ask). I can count on my hand how many companies are really using Social Media effectively.    According to a survey conducted by Junta 42, content marketing spending comprises 33% of the total marketing budget (this is up 11% from 2008) Let’s get back to the title analogy here.  Social Media is your typical NASCAR car.  It’s a high performance, suped up, fuel sucking, thrill ride!    It’s ready to go as soon as you shift your business into gear and slam on the gas.  You better get this car on the right track or you’ll have no way of controlling it.  This is where Content Management comes into play.  You’ve got a ton of power behind your new found thrill ride, but you have to have the right content to control this influx of traffic coming your way.   Put your Social Media campaign on the wrong track and you can seriously hurt the passengers and your audience…even kill them.  Ok, maybe you won’t kill anybody with less than stellar content, but you sure as hell will kill any kind of quality traffic being generated from that powerful Social Media campaign.

Social Media Thrill Ride

You have to remember that the content you create needs to be written as if people really care about what you are writing about.  Sure you still have to write for the search engines, but writing for your readers specifically will make sure that you stand out among the usual businesses out there and create a personal connection with your audience.

The great thing about Social Media is that anyone can start a campaign for really very little budget.  It’s simple…create an account, find people to follow, contribute to conversations, give back to those conversations…end up with a ton of followers and create your own twitterverse where you control the message.  Seems simple right?  The crucial part about this simplistic formula is the “give back” part. This is your “track” and this is what you have to do to keep that beast “Social Media” on the right path.

If you don’t have a way to contribute and give authentic information to help your followers, then your hot rod (Social Media) will burn rubber taking to the streets.  You’ll waste your resources on burning up the place but you’ll really get no traction.  Your message won’t get out.  Making sure your resources are focused to the “right track” is the art of Content Marketing.  If you know your message, but aren’t sure how to translate your ideas or thoughts…hire someone to do it.  Here’s three lasting stats to leave with you:

• 6 out of 10 Marketers are going to spend more on their Social Campaigns in 2010
• Smaller companies spend more than 2x that of larger companies on content marketing

• Only 7% of marketers are spending less on content in 2010

Bottomline:  Don’t get behind the wheel of your Social Media campaign without having quality content to direct it to.

How Twitter Can Flow Into Your Content Marketing Plan

• Category: Content, Marketing, SEO, Social media
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It may not seem like a few words can make a big difference to your traffic but if you are not on board with the latest in social media, you are missing a big opportunity to improve your content marketing strategy.

There are several ways you can integrate Twitter seamlessly into your marketing plans. Here are 3 key moves to make with Twitter and your content marketing strategies:

Develop Short Bits of Valuable Information

If you are a regular user of Twitter, you have likely witnessed how other companies you follow provide small points that still attract attention. Don’t waste time by sending out mundane updates no one really cares about. You should invest the time into creating a flow of communication before posting any content to your Twitter page. Think about the current events happening in the news and how they relate to your company. Post answers to frequently asked questions about your product or service. Highlight an exclusive sale you are planning to host well before the actual sale date and use subsequent posts to keep reminding people of the sale date. There are a number of things you can provide to your target audience in 140 characters or less. The trick is to pre-plan your posts but still be flexible and involved enough to leave room for real-time interaction.

Create Lengthy Content and Links

There are many who use Twitter as a vehicle to drive traffic back to their home site. But if you don’t have valuable resources and information waiting at the end, there is no point in posting random links to your home page. First you need to fill your site with content that is useful and informative to your audience. Whether it be through a blog, articles, or even audio/visual materials, you should produce fresh content and then create your redirected posts on Twitter. Don’t keep point people to the same stale information. Create something new each day to keep interest levels high.

Use Progressive Tactics

Your Twitter audience can be a valuable research tool for your content ideas. If you are posting items or information that do not generate a response, go back to the drawing board and see where their interests lie. If your followers are asking questions or posting relevant points, join in the conversation to find out what they really want to know or where the need is that you can satisfy. There are several vehicles that allow you to pre-post content on your Twitter page. It can be an effective resource for time management but if you only work your account on auto-pilot, you are missing out on key interactions and feedback. Plan to commit at least one hour a day to check in with your audience and make yourself available for one-on-one contact.

Whatever content you are producing, whether it is small social media tidbits or 1,000 word articles, it is essential your content stays fresh, engaging, and valuable to your target audience. Your involvement in the content marketing plans of your business can be your biggest undertaking but also your biggest success.

SEO and Link-Building

• Category: Marketing, SEO
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SEO, or Search Engine Optimization,  involves building links back to a webpage. The point is to make your content attractive to the search engines so they rank your article or website content as close as possible to the top of the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages.) People tend to click on the uppermost links when they search for information online, so the higher your page can rank the more likely it is people will surf to your site. The process of spreading links to your website around the Internet is commonly known as link-building

Link-building is a process. You don’t just create a link or two to your website and then forget about it. The Internet is all about being dynamic- ever changing and constantly moving. So building a network of links to your site needs to be a consistent part of your business activities. So how do you go about link-building? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Keyword research is fundamental to link-building. You need to know the keywords people are using to search for your products. Without spending some time researching the keywords, you are wasting your time by guessing what people want. Instead, spend some time regularly checking out exactly what words and phrases people use when they search for your services or products. There are plenty of free keyword research tools available online- and yes, Google makes one of the best.
• Check out your tribe! Make a list of websites and blogs that are a good fit for you to link to and from. They should be in the same interest area as your site, but not really your direct competition. Find people whose readers and site visitors need what you have and make some connections. Leave comments on blogs, with a link back to your site. Ask site owners if they will link to you. Offer to link to them. Provide guest blogging articles that include a link to your site.
• Write press releases when you have something new to announce. Create events to give yourself a reason to write a press release. Make sure you use your SEO techniques within the press release. Online press release services allow you to link directly back to your site. Many of the online press release services are free, so get your thinking cap on and find some reasons to write press releases.
• Keep track of your link-building activities. A spreadsheet program can be very effective to keep a list of website URLs, blogs, forums, keywords, contact dates and results. This way you know exactly which efforts are worth repeating, which resulted in nothing and which ones are promising, but need a little more attention.

Link-building is easier than you think once you streamline your techniques and begin streamlining your processes. Using the tips above will help you get started link-building with effective SEO strategies so you can increase the traffic to your website and increase your sales revenue in no time.