Content Rich: The SEO Copywriting Bible by Copywriter Jon Wuebben

Recently I was very excited to be featured in Sarah Shaw’s weekly blog interview series on the entreprenette.  Sarah is a force of nature when it comes to product development and promotion and when I think of people that are doing social media the right way, I think of her.  In this interview, Sarah asks a lot of great questions.  For those companies that are involved in developing new retail products, like clothing lines, handbags, accessories, etc. this information will prove to be especially helpful.  I explain why great content is essential to connecting with your prospects.  Content is no longer just required, it is the currency of the web.  Listen now!

Check out Sarah’s entreprenette.com for information on her private coaching and other services and be sure to Follow the entreprenette on facebook and twitter!

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This week in “Profiles in New Business Leadership” we are featuring social media expert, blogger and host of the Amateur Traveler podcast, Chris Christensen.  Chris lives in the Silicon Valley and is a consultant for the LiveWorld internet community.  He has also worked for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Momenta and Apple Computer.  By night, he is an avid blogger and podcaster.  Here are some tips Chris had to share with us about Social Media…

In your opinion, what are the best practices for social media strategy?

1. Make sure your products and services are worth talking about. If you have a bad product your social media strategy is to get serious about improving your product first! Continue reading →

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By Jon Wuebben

Transparency.  What is that?  We’ve heard the word but some of us might be a little confused as to what is really meant by it.

Look, you are already totally exposed on the internet, so what’s the difference, right?  Privacy is a thing of the past and we all need to get used to it. It’s just the nature of the beast. I’m sure people in the 1800’s didn’t always like the fact that they had to carry a candle around at night to see things, but they dealt with it. Every age has its uncomfortable realities.

But, you see, you can really use this to your advantage.  Your customers want you to be open.  If they see this, it will motivate them to do business with you.  A good customer seeks to make you better.  And they will.  And you will thank them.

To illustrate the idea of transparency, I want to talk about Glenn Kelman of Redfin real estate. Continue reading →

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Recently I was a guest on Debra Simpson’s blog talk radio program “Syndicating Your Content.”  We discussed content strategy, SEO for small business and how to leverage your content across the internet.  Like Debra, I’m a big believer in syndication and making your time efficient when you create and distribute your content.  Focusing on your core competencies is central to growing your business.  Think of syndication and outsourcing as two cornerstone strategies for both connecting with your prospects and growing your business.  Listen HERE!

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The “Profiles in New Business Leadership” series will be a new and ongoing feature at the Content Rich blog featuring interviews with social media experts, SEO gurus and content marketing strategists.  Get ready to learn from the brightest minds in business today!  We begin with Rich Brooks of flyte new media.

Rich Brooks is founder and president of flyte new media, a Web design and Internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine. His monthly flyte Log email newsletter and company blog focus on Web marketing topics such as search engine optimization, blogs, social media, email marketing, and building Web sites that sell. Rich is currently an Expert Blogger at FastCompany.com and a Featured Blogger at MaineBusiness.com.  He is a co-founder of Social Media FTW, an organization putting on conferences and events to educate small businesses and non-profits about the power of social media marketing.  He is a nationally recognized speaker on Web marketing topics such as search engine optimization, blogging, social media, email marketing and analytics and the “tech guru” on WCSH Channel 6’s evening news show.  Continue reading →

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Recently, I presented my new magnum opus: The Content Rich Online Marketing Summit. Reviewing all the important online marketing strategies and tactics, the Summit is an action packed, 2 hour seminar that focuses on results. My goal with these events is to distill it down to the most important teachings and give everyone that came a ton of substance – no fluff – minimal storytelling and lots of step-by-step instructions.  I don’t know about you, but so many of the seminars I attend are either a total sales pitch or a bunch of stories stitched together by “get rich quick talking heads.” I’m a busy guy, I don’t want “feel good” anecdotes – I want information!

The inaugural 105 min event (outlined below) was attended by small business people from all over San Diego County and is now available for purchase for only $29.95. It’s action packed and covers the entire spectrum of online marketing and from the feedback we’ve received, attendees got A LOT out of the meeting.  The goal?  To take it to as many places as we can, spreading the good news of online marketing strategy everywhere we go… Everything for the Beginner.  Ideas for the Experts.  Check out these clips from some of my recent events!

Here’s how we break it down at Content Rich “Live” (as it’s also called):

I. Elements of Strategy

• Keyword Research
• Competitive Research
• Content
• Improving Usability – Design
• Social Media
• RSS/Social Bookmarking
• Blogging
• Link Building
• Sub Strategies based on type of business
• Local Companies
• E-Commerce and other web businesses

II. Tactics Continue reading →

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Content Is More Than Copy

I always have to remind people that content is much more than simply words on a page. Perhaps this is the most important form of online content, but it’s certainly not the only type, especially now. And yes, I did write the book, Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t discuss video, audio and other types of content every day…because I do.

Ask yourself, what types of content does my audience respond to? Who am I trying to reach? Product videos can be very compelling if you sell electronic goods, for example. Videos give your website a nice personalized touch. How about a video from the CEO of your company welcoming people to your blog?  People that see these videos may share them with their friends. If they do, then you have just made an effective social media play!

And what about Podcasts? They are hugely popular. Think of all the commuters in cars – don’t they need something to listen to? Of course.  Many people don’t have time to surf their favorite blogs or watch a video. Using your expert status, you can create a show that covers all the important topics of your industry and make it available to thousands of people who want to know what you think and may even want to do business with you.

III. HOW YOU CAN GET IT ALL DONE Continue reading →

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Other Ways to Link Bait

Contests

Another thing you can do to build link‐friendly content is to run a contest or sweepstakes on your blog (or your Twitter or Facebook page). It doesn’t have to be expensive – you could give away your services, actually. For me, being an online copywriter and marketing consultant, I could give away 10 pages of free content. I haven’t done that yet, but I could. It would probably go off very well. What could you give away? Once you decide, promote it and blog about it like crazy…on every social media channel at your disposal!

Interviews

Finally, to build some high quality link bait or “link friendly” content, you could interview prominent people in your industry. How about that for an idea? You know that these people you interview will link to you, right? Absolutely they will. Most of the prominent people out there in any field appreciate the added exposure. Play off that and get some great traffic as a result! Try this on your YouTube channel next week… Continue reading →

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by Jon Wuebben

II.  Types of Social Media Content

So if social media is any online media that allows users to interact with one another, there are probably many different types of social media right? Yes, that’s right. Here is a list of the unique forms of social media and which sites are the most important.

Social networking – Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn,

Social networking sites allow users to add friends, send messages and share content on either the “one-to-many” or “many-to-many” format. Typically, people on social networking sites get together in communities of like-minded interest. More on Twitter in a bit…

Social bookmarking – StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious

Social bookmarking applications allow users to share their favorite online content with one another while by creating online bookmarks. The bookmarks are on a web site so other people can then see your bookmarks and ideally be exposed to something that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter. Some social bookmarking sites, like StumbleUpon and Digg, use a voting system that allows users to indicate what bookmarks they found interesting. Continue reading →

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by Jon Wuebben

Social Media. Heard of it? Unless you have been sent in a rocket ship to space for the past couple years, you probably not only know about it – but are digging into it and may be a very active participant. It has been the biggest thing to hit the business world since the Internet itself…plain and simple. Whether you are a business with a fan page on Facebook, a Twitter page and a You Tube channel, or a just a regular guy or gal who is re-connecting with old friends through social media, it has affected practically ALL of us.

So, what is Social Media?   Wikipedia says this…

“Social Media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogs (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”

Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological Continue reading →

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