The Only Thing More Important Than Quality Content

If you clicked through on this blog post hoping to find some sort of magic bullet, some magic formula for near instant riches where you can get rich quick and retire on some tropical island, I’m sorry to say you’re going to be disappointed. It doesn’t exactly work that way.

You might see the fast cars and fancy mansions of the Internet’s rich and famous, clamoring over that kind of dot com lifestyle. Some of these folks might look like they just popped out of nowhere, but the truth of the matter is that they were indeed an overnight success, years and years in the making. And yes, this very much applies to bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters too.

When it comes to online content creation, regardless of the actual format, you’ll frequently be met with a couple pieces of rather common advice. First, you’ll be told that you need to stop waiting for all your ducks to get in a row. You need to stop telling yourself that you can’t launch your YouTube channel yet, because you need to wait until you have the right camera. Just get started. That’s the first and most important step. If you don’t get started, you’ll never know where you might go.

Second, you’ll be told that content is king. More specifically, you’ll be told that quality content is king. If your stuff is no good, nothing else you do is going to matter anyway. It won’t matter if you’ve mastered the art of long-tail keywords and latent semantic indexing for search engine optimization. If people find you through Google and discover that your blog is a heaping pile of trash, they won’t come back, you won’t grow your audience, and you won’t make a dime. That’s the simple, hard truth.

Above all else, quality content is of paramount importance. It’s also not enough on its own. In fact, it’s not even the most important thing, really. It’s the second most important thing. Maybe.

Consider this scenario. An upstart blogger has a wildly infectious personality, clever manner of writing, and remarkably effective research skills. He’s insightful and is able to boil down some rather complex and confusing concepts into simple language that almost anyone can understand. He writes a blog post that explores and illustrates truly novel ideas in totally unique ways. This is great content if you’ve ever seen it.

And he’s lucky enough to have it catch some attention on social media, so the blog post gets shared around and he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame. But then the blog goes dormant for a couple days. Then a week. Then a couple weeks. Before you know it, he’s only put up two new blog posts in the last four months. Then, he unleashes a flurry of five blog posts in two days and the cycle renews.

The problem here is that none of that initial success is sustainable, because this blogger lacks consistency. Consistency is arguably even more important than quality content, because it’s consistency that will fuel your long-term and sustainable growth. There are arguments for all sorts of different publishing schedules, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to stick with it. If you’re going to commit to blogging four times a week, then make sure you blog exactly four times a week, every week.

Making use of an editorial calendar can help a lot with that. Over on my own blog, Beyond the Rhetoric, readers can expect to get a poignant or thought-provoking quote every Sunday with my Sunday Snippet series. They can expect to see a “speedlink” on the last Wednesday of every month with What’s Up Wednesdays. And they know that they’ll have a new vlog to watch every Monday too. The schedule is predictable and it’s consistent.

The only way that you have any shot at achieving any semblance of success with your online content is to stick to a routine and to provide a consistent experience for your audience. This is no different than when you want to lose weight or when you train for an upcoming event. If you decide that you’re going for a run every morning, then you need to go for that run every morning. Skipping one day can lead to a rather unfortunate snowball effect. You need to show up every day and commit to your regimen.

Do it well, do it better, and do it consistently. That’s “get rich quick” magic bullet to becoming an overnight success. It just might take some time to get there.

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4 Awesome Marketing Tweaks to Make to Your Blog

It’s important you have unique ways to build engagement on your blog. Over the years, we have learned a lot about the way people interact with blogs. This is cool because it allows us to keep up-to date with changing trends within the industry. Let’s explore some cool tweaks you can make to your blog to help WITH marketing.

Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

1. Always Tell a Story Through Text or Video

The name of the game is sales, and people must know within a second or two of landing on your site exactly what you are selling. If it’s vague, unclear or hidden behind a lot of wordage you`ll have lost their interest. You lose their interest and you lose the sale which is going to completely ruin your bottom line.

You have to be clear and bold with product placement. Entice the reader through blocks of text or Demonstration videos, and it`s important to be creative so you come up with unique ways to sell and market your product.

A strategically placed demonstration video can add significant revenue to your monthly income. For example, despite the 3-minute length of their video, the Crazy Egg video has brought in an additional 21, 000 dollars per month because of the way they market to their customers and/or visitors.

Telling your story is vital to the sale. People must understand what service you are providing, and what you have to offer. We recommend using personal accounts, and testimonials which shows potential customers the opportunity to understand the product. I also give them examples of my own personal experience because when people can relate to your own personal situations, they are more likely to see the value in the product or service you are offering.

The data doesn’t lie. 37 out of 119 customers surveyed commented that they only became customers after reading personal stories. This alone shows the huge effect telling stories can have on your bottom line.

Storytelling is a craft and you must master this craft to achieve results. You can use customer feedback to help build the foundations of your story. A survey asking customers what they know of your company, and how they would describe what you do is a very good place to start if you are just beginning the process.

2. Understanding Your Customer

Marketing involves understanding your customer and how they think. Not all people are visiting your site with the intention to buy but all visitors CAN become potential customers if use a few simple strategies.

How you market your product is crucial in attracting attention but even more important is how you re-market your

product and keep someone’s attention long after they have left your site. Consumers are always enticed by free information kits or coupons. Whether you are selling a service or a product, the possibility of getting a bonus for free is often very appealing to potential customers. These kits are generally sent out via email which can come attached with a weekly subscription to a product newsletter. This allows your product to remain in the customer’s consciousness and build awareness on a consistent basis.

Building trusting and lasting relationships with your customers is the ultimate goal and you can do this by creating a series of at least 7 emails called follow-sequence which will highlight the product or service in a new and unique manner. Often it is time and information that will convince a customer to buy and the efficiency of an email strand can effectively accomplish this feat. Head over to your competitor, and you’ll see how they have effectively put together an information kit for their readers. I would focus on those which have been around a long-time so you can learn from the best in the industry.

Re-marketing allows you to have an online presence in a digital era. Upon entering your site, visitors will be pixeled with a cookie which simply means that your advertisements will pop up on their browsing screen thus reminding them again of the services you offer. The ingenious part of this is that there already exists an interest so it’s just a matter of keeping the awareness alive. Many marketing networks now offer affordable remarketing package. Do a quick search in Google to find some which you’ll find very attractive.

The business world is evolving quickly and so is the face of marketing. Push your business into the next stratosphere by adopting a few key strategies and you’ll be well on your way!

3. Focus on What’s Important

The bottom line in marketing is that you are only as strong as the processes you employ so it’s important to take the time to create a solid marketing initiative. Consistently measure to test out new strategies, and you’ll discover where you need to make changes. It’s important to mention that online blogging, and marketing is always about finding out what works. This means you’ll have to track data so you can find ways to optimize at a later time. Flaws and weaknesses are to be expected but it’s the constant revision, and adjustments that will help add profitability to your business.

The online marketing world has a lot of competition, and those looking to use any tactic to acquire business.  You have to embrace the competition. A strategy may be successful for a short term and then others may catch on. This is all part of the marketing game, and you must expect this so you can refresh your approach at regular intervals. Remember, I mentioned above how tracking your results is very important because it helps you keep a close eye on your competition. It also helps you determine what’s been working, and what needs to be changed.

Lastly it’s important to create a diverse portfolio. Putting your eggs in more than one basket allows multiple channels to generate revenue as each drives a percentage of your overall profit. Marketing your business through a variety of different outlets increases the chances that a wide demographic will be exposed to the services and/or products you provide.

Focus on what’s truly important; the marketing process. Don’t be afraid to be creative, and innovative in your approach and your business will reap the rewards.

4. Call-To-Actions Matter – Time to Maximize

The goal of a Call-to-Action Button is to convert browsers into buyers. Call-to-Action buttons include tactics such as free consultations, appointments or offers of downloadable e-books.  All of these are designed to draw the customer in when they click on the icon. The promise of free products, and services increases the possibility that somewhere down the road browsers to the site might become valued customers to the business.

To get a good idea of the call-to-actions available, especially those which perform, I like to visit competitor blogs to see how they are doing things. Remember, some have been in the industry for a long time so have tested out many of the methods.

Here’s how to design effective call-to-action buttons:

Location, color and button placement are the first things that you need to consider when designing your Call to Action Buttons. You want to ensure they are in a place where they can be seen for optimal conversions. If they can’t be seen then we can conclude they won’t be clicked.

Consumers respond in different ways to color, for example, QuickSprout.com mentioned how SAP software solutions increased their conversion rate by over 32% by employing the color orange in their Call-to- Action Button. It comes down to trial, and error when deciding on the right color fit for your site. This doesn’t mean orange will work for you, but means color does make a huge difference. I encourage you try different ones until you find a combination that works

The location of your call-to-action Button is also crucial. Some consumers prefer to read your story and understand what you are offering before visiting other links. Placing your button below the fold may actually be a more effective tactic.  However,

This can only be taken on a case by case basis so it is necessary to test different locations within your landing pages. Remember, again, it all comes down to testing everything…right?

White space around your call-to-action button allows it to be more visible, and thus increase the probability that consumers will click on it. Providing credit card symbols, trust symbols or placing product logos around your Call-To-Action Button can help increase customer satisfaction and convert browsers to buyers.

Here are some additional tips to follow going forward.

Special Effects, Unique Slogans and Ingenious Exit Call to Action Buttons can be very effective customer conversion techniques. Many people I know have added flash to some of their buttons because this helps them stand out when visitors are on your page.

Unique slogans such as “Show me my Heat-map” are creative ways to excite customers to click on your call-to-action button. For example, CrazyEgg.com who show’s bloggers their heat-map increased CTR by 20% by simply employing a button flashing with this text – “Show me my Heat-map”. They tested this strategy, and it had enormous results when optimized so they continue to implement it till today.

Designing effective call-to-action buttons is the key, and over the year’s businesses have used psychology and creativity to harness untapped markets. Amazingly enough, utilizing a “don’t click” button can actually entice people into clicking on that button. Trust me, I have fell victim to this trick when I have been on a niche relevant blog.

Knowing human psychology can help you market your service in creative and exciting ways. We all know how frustrating it is to wait in a long line to get into our favorite night spot only to discover the bar is empty. It’s awesome how call-to-action buttons, and advertisements which read “SOLD OUT” can actually generate interest in your product as the perception of desirability is what consumers are responding to. It’s all about enticing the reader, and giving them the idea that they might miss out on a cool opportunity if they wait too long.

Utilize a variety of techniques and make sure you are constantly measuring your success rate. Call-to-Action buttons can be very effective conversion tools when used properly, but the process always remains the same. Create a strategy, measure your successes and make necessary adjustments on a regular basis. Persistency and consistency will drive your business to the next level if you take into consideration a few of these helpful hints, and put them into action!

Final Thoughts

I hope you’ll use this information, and start applying some of these strategies to your blog going forward. It’s amazing how some of the call-to-action techniques have helped me double even triple my conversion rate. You have to make sure you take the first step, and implement these strategies right now. I know if you wait, you might get lazy and never get around to implementing what you have learned.

Here’s what I need you to do…

First, it’s time to go through this content again making notes on the important idea’s discussed. Secondly, please implement these strategies as they would apply to your business or niche. It’s important you do this right now because any delay will cause you to neglect going forward. A delay also means you’ll be gathering important statistics much later. Third, install Google Analytics because this tool is great for you to find information on how conversions have improved. GA will provide you the following:

• Location
• Referrals
• Landing page
• Search queries
• Bounce rate
• And much more.

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Six Ways to Grow Your Twitter Following by Leaps and Bounds in 2019

Are you wondering how to increase your Twitter followers in 2019? You’re not alone. Millions of business owners, independent artists, musicians, and content creators all want to know how to increase their Twitter views, engagements, likes, and followers in 2019. It’s not too early to start planning for the new year. You need to work on putting a marketing strategy in place that will help you gain Twitter followers and fans in the coming year.

Now is the time to start planning ahead for the new year, before the holidays come upon us or other things distract from what we know we need to do in order to prepare for the months ahead. People respond to many things such as improved colors, graphics, or other components. Check out this post to learn more about what you could do to increase your impact.

You could pay for Twitter followers through a service such as Famoid and many others. You do need to thoroughly check these services out, however, to make sure you are going to be getting quality views, engagements, and likes before you pay. Check out these services and make sure you are only getting authentic, real people preferably within the U.S. as a general rule. Even if you are marketing to other countries, be careful not to sign up for a service that uses bots to come to your site, or you might get dropped in your Google ranking.

Instead of purchasing views, try some practical tips for increasing your views yourself. The following six tips may help you to improve your Twitter following in 2019 which will help you promote your brand using Twitter. There is an accompanying infographic that you can refer to for even more tips that you will find at the bottom of this post.

Add a unique profile image

Just as is true with Instagram, Facebook, or any other kind of social media, you need a compelling social media profile. Start with your profile image. Look at the quality of your photo. Is it fresh and crisp or could the image use some work? If you need to do so, take a new picture of yourself with a selfie stick or a webcam then upload it to your Twitter account. Make sure you have a friendly, professional smile. People who do not know you may decide whether they want to do business with you or not based on your photo. Don’t try to look “shifty” or cute. Be yourself but try to communicate the idea that you are someone they can trust.

Focus on the Header Image Next

The header image is important also when it comes to attracting new Twitter views, follows or likes, and engagements. It’s also important to know the size specifications of the header image. The latest information on this shows that the perfect Twitter Header dimensions is 1500 x 500. You can use any of the standard files types such as jpg, gifs, or png. It’s a good idea to choose colors and photos that will complement your profile photo since the profile photo is located to the left of the header image.

Create an engaging and interesting Bio

Writing an interesting biography about yourself will also help increase interest in your profile. When people are searching for people to add, they may be interested in connecting with people who share their interests, political views, or music tastes, for example. Be real and share what matters to you to connect with people that you are most likely to connect with. If you are a business owner, you should think about what your ideal customer looks like and include things that potential customers will connect with on your profile page.

Add a “follow button” on your blog

How will people know about your profile if you don’t make your social media presence known to them? Encourage more adds and follows by providing a “follow” button to your Twitter account so that you can get automatic “adds” from your blog or websites to your Twitter account. It’s a good idea to put up a follow button on all of your digital assets so that people will come to your Twitter page from several different channels or platform. The idea of “branding” includes creating a multichannel network of information on your brand that people will recognize no matter where they come from.

Just like on this blog, you should also make it easy for your visitors to click a button and have the page data (title and url) and @username sent right over to Twitter for a quick tweet. This can all be done through the power of WordPress and using a plugin like SassySocial.

Embed tweets in your blog posts

It’s great to link your Twitter account in your blog posts. But don’t forget to do the opposite and also put some of your best Tweets inside your blog posts. If it is relevant to what you are saying, why not share some of your Tweets within your blog. While you have your target audience on your blog, you need to expand the reach you have with these people through tweets and media that you place within your blog posts.

Want to see a real example of this in action? Simply look at the tweet from John Chow below.

The Adventures of Starman: https://t.co/H7cJJENYkz via @YouTube

— John Chow (@JohnChow) November 9, 2018

Connect to influencers within your industry

As you are working on building your tribe, you will also want to borrow from other influencers who have a wider scope than you do. Find people that you can get to do a podcast with you or a video. If you cannot do this, ask if you can link to their content as a way to help both them and you to promote your brand and purpose.

Many top blogging influencers are authors, webinar experts, and many others who are more than willing to spend some time with you to promote their branding while help prop up your ideas on their site as well. Ask them what they are willing to do and be sure to tell them what you can do. In most cases, if you are unable to contact them or make a connection, they don’t usually mind you linking to their site without permission as long as you portray them in a positive light and put in a plug for their brand, book, or idea.

Bringing it all together

The key to improving your number of Twitter followers is not just one thing. It’s a combination of things that you do, perhaps one at a time to see which one is the most effective. You could start by changing your photo profile. If this gets you more views and followers, keep it that way. Then try sprucing up your Header image, updating your profile, or moving a few things around to help illustrate what your brand stands for. Run an experiment in which you change different elements, a few at a time until you see the result. Then you can use the methods that work the best for you and bring in the most views and engagements.

In Summary…

We hope this infographic and included tips helps you to get started in the new year. We are only a couple of months away from another year. We hope your new year is more prosperous than ever and that you will be able to find ways to increase your following, likes, and views, improve your reach to your target audience, and use your Twitter account to better get your message across to the people who are the most likely to respond to what you have to offer.

Some Extra Twitter Studies to Check Out

If you crave even more information that is backed up by plenty of facts, statistics, and other information on social media and how to improve your Twitter reach, check out the following links we’ve compiled by researching how to increase your Twitter following.

How to Increase Security on Twitter for Companies

This study on security on Twitter by Our Social Times shows how to increase your security to avoid cyber hacker that could compromise your reputation or sensitive information on their platforms.

The Heinz Mayochup Initiative

This case study shows how the Heinz ketchup company marketed their new “hard-to-sell” product that combined mayo with ketchup on Twitter and got 1 billion impressions in under 48 hours. If, for no other reason, they got attention using Twitter. Their primary strategy was to illustrate the advantages of combining ketchup and mayo in one bottle so that you would not have to have two different bottles if you enjoy the tastes together. To achieve this, they partnered with Starcom and created an ad that was meant to entice people to try it. They also conducted a poll. The results were split but think of all of the potential followers, likes, and engagements they got just for putting out the ad!

Check out the infographic

If you think these six tips will help you increase your Twitter following, you may want to check out the Twitter marketing infographic for the other tips, too. Try different strategies until you figure out what works best for you.

If you have good results from any of the ideas we have shared, let us know. Our goal is to provide helping resources and information that will help you plan for the new year and make 2019 even more prosperous than this year has been.

When it comes to finding success on social media, you never know what will work best. Use your imagination and combine it with the resources and links we have provided here. You never know what you can do until you try!

Good luck!

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Elon Musk Sent A Dead Body Into Space

Was Space X Starman really a dead body that Elon Musk shot into space? We explore that question, and more, at this week’s Dot Com Lunch. Let us know what you think.

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Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 at Cars and Coffee

I check out the Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 at this week’s South OC Cars and Coffee. It’s got some REALLY BIG brakes! In addition to the Unplugged Tesla, Cars and Coffee featured over 600 cars for you to check out. It happens every Saturday from 9am to 11am at the Outlets at San Clemente.

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The Only Thing Worse Than Trolls and Haters

When you work in any sort of creative profession, your success is inherently contingent on whether or not people like you. Or rather, whether or not they like what you create. And here’s the thing. The stuff you create doesn’t even need to be *good* in the traditional sense, as long as people want to consume it and, depending on the circumstances, pay for it.

Good or Profitable?

We see this all the time in the entertainment business. I don’t need to tell you that the biggest summer blockbusters to come out of Hollywood probably aren’t in the running for very many Golden Globes or Academy Awards aside from their work on visual effects, costume design and sound editing, perhaps. But these are the kinds of movies that rake in untold millions upon millions of dollars. They are box office smashes, even if they’re not necessarily critically acclaimed.

If you want to be successful, people have to like what you create enough to want to see it, hear it, and pay for it. The same is true with music. The more streams you get on Spotify, the more sales you get through iTunes, the more concert tickets you can sell, the more money goes in your pocket. The same applies for books, paintings, sculptures, and any number of other creative endeavors.

And yes, this even applies at the smaller end of the scale with us humble Internet creators.

Catch Me Online

Want to have a successful blog? Enough people have to like your site to come and read it. You need those traffic numbers to turn a profit, even though John has stated time and time again that’s it’s easier to double the amount of money you earn per visitor than it is to double your visitors. But I digress.

Want to have a successful podcast? You’d better rack up those subscribers and get as many of them listening to your program on a regular basis. The same holds true if you’re selling t-shirts and merch, just as much as it is true if you want to make money on YouTube. You need eyeballs. You need attention. You need people to like you.

Bring on the Hate

But here’s the thing that comes with all this extra attention. Invariably, you’re going to attract some trolls who are really only in it for one of two reasons: Either they’re just nefarious people and they want to get a rise of you, or they’re trying to attract attention to themselves. This can come in the form of nasty comments on your blog or YouTube channel. Maybe they send you hurtful tweets on Twitter.

Trolls and haters can really put a damper on your day, but you can’t let them get you down. In fact, if you’re smart about it, you can even make money off them instead. Yes, you can profit from the hate directed at you.

But that doesn’t make their hurtful comments sting any less, really, especially the comments that ring true in your head. Maybe they point out a weakness in your YouTube video that you noticed too and you were hoping was going to slide under the radar.

Maybe they point out that you’re just putting on a charade and posing with a certain online personality in an attempt to grow your audience and extend the reach of your influence… because that’s actually true too. It stings. Maybe they tap into your own self-doubt and wonder why you’re even trying.

But Do You Care?

These can hurt. You’re only human and you’re just as vulnerable as anyone else, regardless of the tough facade you might project.

But the one thing that is far worse than the hurtful comments you may receive from haters and trolls is indifference.

When you’re trying to build a brand and establish an online presence with your blog, your social media, your podcast, your ebooks, or anything else, the worst thing you can receive in return is apathy.

When a troll posts a hurtful comment, it means that you’ve made enough of an impact in that person’s life for them to care. You’ve made them care enough to take the time and write that comment in the first place. When you put something out in the world, not everyone is going to like it. That’s a fact. When you put that thing in the world, you want the world to react. You want to elicit a response.

Because the silence is so much worse.

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Tesla Model 3 Performance with Performance Upgrade Review

This is my review of the Tesla Model 3 Performance edition with the Performance Upgrade. The Model 3 is supposed to be Tesla’s “entry level” car that will bring electric vehicles to the mainstream. However, with an as tested price of $72,500, the Model 3 Performance doesn’t exactly have an entry level price.

For consumers who don’t need a car that does 0-60 in 3.3 seconds, Tesla offers a mid-range Model 3 at a more affordable starting price of $46,000. Is the Model 3 Performance worth the extra $26,500? Watch the review to find out. Are you in the market to for a new Tesla? If so, then you can get six months of free supercharging by using this link.

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