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A good copywriter possesses the ability the put together exactly the right words to convey your company’s story to your target audience. Good copywriting is important to all forms of verbal communication from blogging to white papers to books. Good copywriting can be the difference in the success or failure of a content marketing campaign. To that end, we have been searching for a good copywriter to join our strategic partnerships.

Annie BleeckerToday, I would like to introduce you to our strategic partner for copywriting, Annie Bleecker. Annie is a copywriter and content strategist who specializes in helping businesses deliver key messages in a way that resonates with their target audiences. She has been writing and editing professionally for seven years, both in print and online mediums. Her passion is B2B web copywriting, and she particularly excels at explaining complicated processes in clear, compelling language.

“My most rewarding challenges are helping service providers clearly explain what they do and how exactly their services translate to results for their clients.”

In 2010, Annie began learning about content marketing and was instantly captivated by its potential. Shortly thereafter, she left her copywriting job at an in-house advertising department in order to go out on her own and help agile, forward-thinking businesses use content marketing to boost sales through increased web traffic and leads.

“Content marketing provides a real opportunity for businesses to build a loyal base of potential customers. People don’t want to be ‘sold’ to; they want valuable information from an authoritative source. The business that can design its content around its customers’ priorities will emerge as the market leader.”

Prior to starting her consulting business, Annie used her writing and editing expertise to drive sales for Laitram LLC, a global industrial equipment manufacturer; increase article acceptance rates for professors and fellows at Tulane Health Sciences Center; and oversee production of educational media for Pearson Education, a world-renowned textbook publisher.

Her career in language began in Santiago, Chile, where she spent two years teaching Business English to executives at companies such as Fluor Corporation, ABN Amro, and Scotiabank. She is bilingual (English/Spanish) and received a degree in International Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

We are proud to be partnering with Annie and look forward to the vital role she will play in helping businesses connect with their target audiences. If you need help with your copywriting, contact us today at 504.450.6912 or fill out the contact form in the righthand column.

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The New SEO

by blogmistress on August 21, 2012

New SEOA few days ago, Joe B. wrote an article about Inbound Marketing being the best SEO. Yesterday, we attended a webinar created by HubSpot and SEOMoz that discussed the state of SEO in 2012 which gave detailed information that backs up the claim of Inbound Marketing being the best SEO.

Search Engines are really working to deliver fresh, relevant, and helpful content to people who are searching for answers online. For businesses, this means that you need to be creating that kind of content on a regular basis so search engines can find it, index it and deliver it to people who are looking for it. The easiest, most efficient way to create this type of content is with a blog.

Look at your competition. Are they blogging? Are they creating great content for people who are searching online? Are they distributing that content through channels such as social media? If they are, you have no time to waste, you need to get started immediately. If they are not, you still have no time to waste because this is an opportunity to set yourself not just apart but ahead.

Need help? Contact us at [email protected] and we can help you get started and also give you access to our latest webinar where we help you come up with content types and brainstorm topics for great blog posts.

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Blogging Hooks

by blogmistress on August 10, 2012

Joe B. loves the analogy of the fishing trotline to explain the benefits of blogging for business:

blogging for businessWell, you have to look at your website like a trotline in fishing. Every page on your website, or post on your blog, is a hook on a trotline. And every one of those pages (hooks) has different bait (keywords). So every one of your blog posts gives you a new opportunity to be found in the results of a search in a search engine. The more blog posts, the more opportunities.

Let’s say you and your biggest competitor have websites with an equal number of pages (it could be 10 or 100 pages, it doesn’t matter). Now, let’s say you have been blogging between 1 and 5 days a week for the last 2 years. That would give you between 104 and 520 additional indexed pages which could appear in search results when people are looking for your products or services!

If you aren’t blogging, you should be. And if you blog enough before your competitors start blogging, you will have a big head start on the number of indexed pages you have.

This is not rocket science, it’s basic math. So, start blogging!

He has a good point there. However, many people in business may not know how to get started. Join me next Wedensday, August 15th for the Blogging for Business 101 webinar and I’ll show you how to get started and do it right to start getting traffic and leads for your business. Click on the button below to register. The webinar is free of charge.


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Why Aren’t You Blogging?

by blogmistress on August 8, 2012

We know the stats. Businesses that blog get:

  • 55% more traffic
  • 97% more inbound links
  • 424% more indexed pages
  • converting 40% more leads

Blogging for Business 101So, why aren’t you blogging? For many businesses, the bottom line is fear. Fear of not having enough time, ideas, and/or skills. Blogging is actually like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it. However, you may need a little help in getting started.

Join me for the Blogging for Business 101 webinar on
August 15th
2 p.m. Central Time
You will learn:

  • Best practices for setting up your blog
  • What types of content you can create
  • How to come up with blog topics that will reach your target market
  • Time saving tips and tricks
  • How to use keywords effectively

This webinar will give you a plan for your blogging that will help you get found by people who need you, convert traffic into leads and customers; and we will also go over what you need to analyze to keep you on track.

You can sign up for the webinar at: Blogging for Business 101 registration

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Why Blogging Is The Best SEO Method

by Admin on August 7, 2012

blogging SEOIt’s easy to see why blogging is the best SEO method. SEO or search engine optimization is all about getting found by the search engines. Search engines use two main criteria for returning search results (there are others, but these are important): 1) relevancy and 2) authority.

For relevancy, search engines try to match up search terms with terms on a website. To determine authority, search engines use the number of inbound links from other relevant websites. Blogging can improve both your website’s relevance and authority.

Every blog post is a page added to your website. With each blog post you can concentrate on a particular keyword or keyword phrase. More blog posts mean more opportunities to be relevant for more search terms. Each blog post is also link bait, meaning it gives you an opportunity to get another inbound link thus giving your site more authority.

In addition to relevancy and authority, search engines also reward freshness. And blogging gives you the opportunity to keep your site fresh with new information and new blog posts.

So you see with blogging, SEO is really a matter of arithmetic, specifically addition. By adding more posts (pages) to your website, you are adding more opportunities to get found and be linked to.

Don’t forget to register for the upcoming Blogging for Business 101 webinar coming up on August 15th at 2 p.m. central time.

This webinar will give you a plan for your blogging that will help you get found by people who need you, convert traffic into leads and customers and we will also go over what you need to analyze to keep you on track. You can sign up for the Blogging for Business 101 webinar here:

Blogging for Business 101 registration

Hope to see you on the 15th!

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Blogging for Business

by blogmistress on August 6, 2012

As I mentioned in the Inbound Marketing 101 webinar, blogs can be a very powerful tool in your internet marketing. Remember, studies have shown that companies that blog get 55% more traffic and convert 40% more of that traffic into leads. That is pretty incredible. Search engines love blogs and so do people.

If you missed the webinar, you can still get the recording of it. Actually, there was a slight technical problem with the recording so we are re-recording it this morning and will send out the link to it today. Since we discussed what a powerful tool blogging can be, we thought it would be a good idea to have blogging for business be the focus of the next webinar that is coming up on August 15th at 2 p.m. central time. Registration for that will begin tomorrow.

In preparation for the blogging webinar, you might want to go ahead and do some keyword research. Here is the link to the free Google keyword tool that I mentioned: www.googlekeywordtool.com/. Try it out and see what people are searching for to find you and then come to the webinar to see how to use those keywords effectively.

Happy Monday, be sure to come back tomorrow to sign up!

 

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5 Business Blog Topics

by Admin on July 10, 2012

business blog ideasClients often ask us what should they blog about on their business blog. Here is a list of 5 business blog topic ideas to get you started.

  1. Frequently Asked Questions by Customers. A great place to start is with questions your customers often ask you. Make a list of the top 5 or 10 most asked questions, then write a blog post for each of them. If your customers or potential customers are asking you questions in person, others are likely seeking answers to the same questions online.
  2. Customer Case Study. Post a story about how one of your customers used your product or service with great results.
  3. New Product or Service. Write a post about a new product or service that you will be offering.
  4. Trends in Your Industry. Talk about where your industry is headed- new products or services on the horizon. Show readers that you are the authority in your industry.
  5. Conference Report. If you’ve attended a conference, seminar or class where you obtained information that might be helpful to your customers, write a report discussing the highlights and ideas you learned.

These are just five business blog ideas to kickstart your brain and get you started. Tell us in the comments about your ideas for business blogging.

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3 Ways to Improve Your Internet Marketing

by blogmistress on July 9, 2012

Internet Marketing New OrleansMonday is a great day to start improving your internet marketing to help your business. Here are three things you can do this week to help you attract more visitors, and convert them into leads and customers for your business.

  1. Identify new keywords – check out your analytics (you do have analytics for your site don’t you?). See what keywords people are using to find you and then brainstorm what words are working and what needs improvement. Use a keyword tool to see how many times those words are searched, and then optimize your site for those words.
  2. Create new blog posts. Blog posts are a perfect way to optimize for your newly identified keywords. Use the keywords in your post title and in your post as well. Use those keywords effectively so they can be ranked by search engines and make sense to your readers too. Provide useful information to your readers. This will help you attract more traffic.
  3. Now that you have optimized your posts and have attracted more traffic, you need to create a great call to action. What can you offer your visitors to convert them into leads for your business? Perhaps you can create an informative whitepaper or eBook. Maybe, you should offer a demo or a sample of your product. Be creative and come up with something that is useful and helpful to your visitors and that will get them engaged.

Okay, those are 3 easy steps that you can take this week to get started improving your internet marketing. Get started this week and then repeat these three steps each week and see what happens. What ideas do you have for improving your internet marketing this week?

Want some more ideas? Download the free eBook, Essential Guide to Internet Marketing today.

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Create a Business Blog & Other Content

by Admin on February 9, 2012

Business blogging and creating other content, like ebooks and webinars, are powerful ways to help more of the right people discover your business online.

How to Think About Business Blogging

When business blogging, try to think like a magazine publisher. The goal of your business blog should be to publish articles that are not promotional but instead share industry expertise.

Getting Set Up With Blogging

There are many paid and free tools available that will let you start blogging easily. The most important thing you can do when you first start blogging is to make sure your blog is a section of your business website. A blog makes your website more dynamic. Search engines reward higher rankings to websites that consistently add fresh content.

Blogging Platforms to Consider

Some of the blogging platforms for your business include HubSpot, WordPress, Drupal and Posterous. These platforms all offer a content management system (CMS) that allows you to easily add and update content without having to know any HTML code or calling you webmaster to post changes.

Key Components of a Great Blog Post

While it is important that your blogging software be easy to use, it is more important that the content you create be interesting.

A well-constructed blog post should include several key components:

  • An Attention-Grabbing Article Title
  • Well Written & Formatted Text
  • Images/Videos
  • Links
  • Call-to-Action

Deciding What to Blog About

A great way to start business blogging is to think about the 10 most common questions you get asked by prospective new customers. Take each one of those questions and write a short article explaining an answer. Use each of these articles as a blog article.

Convert Blog Visitors Into Leads

The purpose of your blog and your website is to help you get new customers. You do this by converting your visitors into leads, and then nurturing those leads until they become customers. You can convert your blog visitors into leads by using calls-to-action (CTAs). These CTAs work best if the offer is closely related to the subject matter of the blog post.

Other Types of Content

Blog content isn’t the only type of content you can be creating. Consider producing longer-form content items like ebooks, whitepapers, or research reports. Also consider using how-to videos, webinars, slideshows, etc.

For more tips about how to use internet marketing effectively, download the Essential Guide to Internet Marketing today!



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Three Ways to Improve Your Website in 2012

by Admin on January 4, 2012

As we start a new year, I thought I would list three ways you could increase the effectiveness of your website by increasing quality visits and conversions.

1) Improve your search engine optimization (SEO) by doing some Keyword Research

SEO is vital to your website being found for the right keywords in online searches. One of the best ways to improve your SEO is to do some Keyword Research.

When doing Keyword Research, you’ll want to research the terms that your potential customers might use to find you.

  • Be careful not to use industry jargon (i.e. technical terms used by those in your industry) unless those are the terms your customers use.
  • The terms your customers use to find you may change over time. For example, what we now call laptop computers have been called portable computers and notebook computers.
  • Your main product or service may change over time.

So update your website to include the right Keywords.

2) Improve your website’s visibility by blogging

One of the best ways to increase quality visits to your website is by blogging. The simple rule is that the more content you have on the web, the better your chances of being found in search results. And there is no better way to increase your content on the web than by blogging. Be sure to include your Keywords in your blog posts and your blog posts’ names.

3) Place Calls to Action on your website

One of the best ways to convert website visitors into leads and customers is through the use of Calls to Action. A Call to Action is simply a directive to the website visitor (e.g. Click Here to download Free eBook). Often a Call to Action will offer the website visitor more information in exchange for their email address. Once you have an email address (a lead), you can set up a nurturing campaign where you send the lead more information about your product or service. (Always have an opt out option in your emails and stop your nurturing campaign if they opt out)

Of course, there are many more ways to improve your website. These are just three to help get you started.




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