Marketers, business owners and PR people alike have, in the past, had a fairly easy job when it came to creating content (i.e. writing).  They waited until they had something to say – perhaps a new product or service – and then told the world.  I hate to be the one to say it, but those easy days are over.

The need to produce a constant flow of content – from blog posts to social media updates to ebooks, etc – is a constant concern for most marketers.  But if you are going to succeed in any way in this new world of inbound marketing, it is a concern that you need to address and stay on top of.

Constantly coming up with new – and even more important, relevant – content can be overwhelming.  What in the world do you do when the well of inspiration dries up?  Stop writing?  Never! The next few posts will be all about creating a strategy for coming up with great content on a regular basis.

Let’s hit the ground running.

Know Your Audience
One of the first things we address with each new client is the idea of creating a buyer persona.  (For more information, check out our blog post about creating buyer personas – otherwise known as Ideal Clients.) “Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers, based on real data about customer demographics and online behavior, along with educated speculation about their personal histories, motivations, and concerns.” In other words, who is your target audience?  You MUST answer this question first to know how to craft your content.  Trust me.  You don’t want to skip this step.  It will aid you greatly if you know who it is you are writing for.

There are 4 main questions to ask yourself about this person:
1. What are the biggest problems they are trying to solve?
2. What does he or she need most?
3. What information are they typically searching for?
4. What trends are influencing their business or personal success?

Next, you will create a profile of these people.  Again, don’t skip this step.  You will be amazed at how much easier it is to produce quality content when you are writing to at specific person  with a specific need.

The 3 questions are you answering are:
1.  What do they do online?  Do they read blogs?  Are they active on Twitter, Facebook or other social networks?  What kind  of search terms do they use?  Are they email newsletter subscribers?

2.  What kind of information do they tend to consume online?  Educational pieces?  Trend articles?  Interactive tools like calculators or worksheets?  Do they watch videos or listen to podcasts?

3.  Which of your products do they spend the most time researching?  How do they use those products?

I know, this all sounds like a ton of work.  And guess what?  It is.  But without this vital research, you risk losing a major source of new traffic and leads by failing to produce new content.  Or, on the flip side, you risk churning out content that is a bad fit for your audience, which results in either attracting those who really aren’t prospects and potentially driving away those who are good prospects.

This is only a first step in creating killer content.  Next we’ll deal with mapping your great content to the various stages of the buying cycle.

Can I just state up-front that, as a general rule, I don’t like change.

Now I recognize that quite often, change is very, very good.  I can’t imagine where I would be if I had stayed with my first boyfriend.  Some styles weren’t meant to be kept (endured?) for long.  And have you ever gone back and watched some of those shows from the 80′s?  Where were their acting coaches? I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to where I was even 10 years ago.

As we meet with clients – and potential clients – we sometimes find this overwhelming (and shall I say, often puzzling) desire to maintain the current status.  And sometimes, they can even be as fickle as wanting a change, but pretty much also wanting to keep the status quo.

Take website design.  This changes almost as often as high fashion does.  And I’m certainly not condoning a re-design every time something new comes along.  There is a lot to be said for consistency in brand and look.  But after a period of time, your website just might end up looking like the equivalent of someone wearing a pair of legwarmers and stone washed jeans.  In other words, out-of-date.

Here are some great questions to ask yourself – and answer honestly – about your current website:

• Does my site doe what I originally wanted it to do?  Have I changed what I want my website to do for my company?
• What about my audience – has it changed?
• Do I still like the look? the design? the logo?
• Do I need help maintaining my site so that it doesn’t end up with old information or content?

So, perhaps these questions lead you to the conclusion that yes, you do need a re-design of your site.  Here are some pointers to keep in mind as you navigate the waters of creating a new site.

K.I.S.S. (or in other words, Keep It Simple, Stupid)
Whether we are talking about design, functionality or content, the best – and longest-lasting sites – are the ones with a clean and simple look that are easy for the reader to navigate. (A great resource for this concept is the book by Steve Krug, “Don’t Make Me Think“)

Do Your Research
While this seems basic, I’m talking strictly about knowing who it is that will be visiting your site.  Take advantage of Google Analytics to see where your visitors are coming from and where they are going while on your site.  This goes a great distance in helping you decide what it is they want.

Brand Like Mad
If a visitor to your site doesn’t immediately know what you are about, you’ll probably lose them.  If you have old, out-of-date content, it says much to a visitor about you (all things you aren’t wanting to say to them!).  If visitors see something new as soon as they get to your site, it tells them that you are current, and that your company is doing well enough for you to provide new information.

Don’t Be Crazy
Websites that are full of off-the-wall stuff drive people away rather than attract them.  They often are deemed unusable.  Do try something different – just don’t make it so different that visitors have to stop and think before they find what they are looking for.  Because often, they will just as soon leave.

I love starting off with a brand new client.  It is remarkably like entering a new relationship with someone.  We spend all our time thinking about, talking about and learning about our new client.  And when a new client happens to be in an industry that is not overly familiar to me, I spend a lot of time researching all I can about what it is they do.

One of the things that I have noticed regularly with clients is that they have the “curse of knowledge.”  I know some of you are thinking, “I wish someone would curse me with knowledge right about now!”  So no, I’m not talking about general knowledge.  I’m talking about the very specific knowledge that comes with intimacy within an industry.  And in a way, that’s a good thing.  We expect people we work with to know what it is they do.

However, sometimes we can be so familiar with our product and industry that our language comes off as a bit foreign to others.  We use industry buzz-words like they were going out of style.  We use letters to represent whole concepts.  And often, entire ideas are condensed down to short phrases.  And really, that’s ok that those things exist.

But . . . it’s important to ask yourself, “Will those who are searching for my services understand what I am talking about?  Will they even know what words to use when searching for my services?”  You absolutely MUST know your audience (have you created a Buyer Persona?).  You MUST know their pains, their challenges and their motivation.  But you need to speak to them in words that they can understand.

Don’t be afraid to use simple, general words.  Those are likely the very words that your target audience is searching with.  Remember, you’re not writing for your peers.  you’re writing for your ideal audience.

Creating killer content – on your website, your calls-to-action, and your offers – sometimes begins with stepping back, taking a deep breath . . . and keeping it simple!

We had the opportunity last week to attend a luncheon where my colleague (ok, so he’s also my husband) spoke on the role of social media in marketing and the process that we teach, called “Combustion Marketing.”

Based on some questions that came up during the Q&A time, I realized that there is simply a lot of misunderstand and misinformation out there regarding this wonderful new medium of social media management.

So with that in mind, I recently ran across some great information on the fears of social media put out by David Griner of Luckie & Company.  And by the way, this company is quite the innovative thought-leader in the area of story-telling in branding.  Take a look at their website – I  highly recommend it!

And remember, the only thing more popular than USING social media marketing is QUESTIONING social media marketing.  Not necessarily a bad thing if you are armed and ready with the answers.

Fear #1 – The Public will eat us alive.
The Blunt Answer – If so, they’re doing it already.  You’re just not there to hear it.  Or defend yourself.
The Practical Answer – Your critics aren’t waiting for you to use social media.  Your customers are.

Fear #2 – We can’t trust our employees
The Blunt Answer – Then why are you paying them?
The Practical Answer – If you trust someone to talk to your customers, you can trust them to use social media.

Fear #3 – We’ll lost control of our brand
The Blunt Answer – You’re more likely to find out what your brand really is.
The Practical Answer – Social media is the ultimate way to prove your brand promise and make it a reality.

Fear #4 – If we screw up, it’ll haunt us on the Web forever
The Blunt Answer – That’s called accountability.
The Practical Answer - True, the Web has a long memory.  But it’s never too late to improve.

Fear #5 – Our audience doesn’t use social media
The Blunt Answer - Then your audience must be deceased.
The Practical Answer – Every generation is embracing social media, but not in the same ways.

Fear #6 – We don’t have time or staffing for social media
The Blunt Answer - Then start small and let the work prove its own value.
The Practical Answer – It takes less time than you’d think.  Soon, it’s just a part of your daily life.

Fear #7 – We can’t predict the ROI
The Blunt Answer – You can’t predict the return on an investment you don’t make.
The Practical Answer – Social media is one of the most measurable marketing tools in existence.  You just have to decide what to measure.

“While social media is not the silver bullet that some pundits claim it to be, it is an extremely important and relatively low cost touch point that has a direct impact on sales and positive word of mouth.

Companies not actively engaging are missing a huge opportunity and are saying something to consumers – intentionally or unintentionally – about how willing they are to engage on consumers’ terms.”

–Josh Mendelsohn, VP, Chadwick Martin Bailey

*All charts and graphs courtesy of HubSpot (click here for more awesome data from the good people at HubSpot)

One thing we hear often from business owners – and occasionally feel ourselves – is that owning your own business can sometimes be overwhelming.

Whether you have the “entrepreneurial gene” or not, clients, projects, accounting, maintaining (and even trying to grow) your own business – it all adds up to some big headaches sometimes.  Believe me, I know.

However, there are a few tips to keep in mind that at least help keep that beast (feelings of being overwhelmed) at bay.

Be Crystal Clear – and Realistic

Ever heard of “scope-creep?”  No, it’s not that weird guy that hangs out at the 7-11 parking lot.  This is a very real problem that plagues all of us from time to time.  Projects seems to get bigger and bigger as we get into them.  Clients have a way of adding “necessary” bits and pieces to projects.  But with some planning ahead of time – and to be honest, this takes some experience, too – you can outline carefully what is expected of all parties and stick to it.  And don’t oversell yourself.  Do what you do well, and don’t add to it to try to convince the client to use you.  Be clear and realistic with what you can, and are willing to do.  Those feelings of being overwhelmed will be a thing of the past if you stick to this little gem.

Know What You Don’t Know

Ok, admittedly, this is a bit of a problem.  The unexpected often happens, and it is very hard to plan for that.  But if you have built margin into each project (shoot, even each DAY), those things that come up that weren’t planned on don’t throw you for a loop.  I know that the times I have felt the most overwhelmed is when I feel under the gun, don’t understand things, and didn’t plan for that.  Usually, if I can take time to work through the problem and learn the things I didn’t know, the issue takes care of itself.  This only comes when there is margin in my life.  Plan it into every project.  And hey, if you don’t need it, you come out ahead of schedule!

Use Available Technology

Sometimes the fact that there is an upfront learning curve keeps us from using new technology that might, in the end, save us a lot of time and effort.  We live in a wonderful day- there is technology available for almost any scenario you might find yourself in.  Take the time to stay current on what is available in your industry.  For those of us who are in marketing, platforms like Hubspot and Infusionsoft are absolute life-savers when it comes to automating some of those time-demanding tasks.  A favorite of mine in the email marketing and list manager category is MailChimp.  Let technology take some of the stress off of you.  After all, you have better things to do with your day than deal with the feelings of being overwhelmed by the little tasks.

There are so many more ways that we can reduce those feelings of being overwhelmed, and I’d love for you to share your thoughts on this.  Share your thoughts and ideas – you just might keep someone from drowning in the Sea of Overwhelm!

The first week of the New Year is drawing to a close. It’s been a week to take down the holiday items, catch-up on emails from the days off, and tackle those resolutions that you made last week.

Your business will change in 2012. Hopefully, you will keep up with those changes, and make them positive ones for the bottom line. Most projections are that online ad spending will increase this year. More and more of your marketing dollars (and, equally as important, time) would be best spent on drawing potential customers to your site, offering them helpful, useful content, and then moving them towards buying.

I’ve compiled 4 “resolutions” that will aid you greatly as you pull together your marketing plan for this new year.

1. Be Relevant
Relevance will be “THE” thing in 2012. And you will need to keep your target audience’s desires, hopes and aspirations at the core of your marketing message. Tune in closely to what kind of content engages your audience (listen, listen, listen!). Then create your marketing message around what they watch and read. Take advantage of technology that matches ad content to the context of the page and delivers hyper-relevant ads to people who actually want to see them.

2. Content is King
We’ve heard this one before (and said it a few times, too). But it can’t be stressed enough. We now have the ability to put together some pretty slick marketing initiatives. But don’t forget, it’s what’s IN the ad (or webpage, or ebook, etc) that really matters. Don’t spend all your time on the remarkable ad and forget to engage the customer. Creativity is still a highly desirable trait – but don’t leave all the creativity at the design point. Make sure you have something to say – and say it well.

3. Track Your Data
When SEO first hit the scene, we had the limited ability to simply count clicks. But a highly successful click-through-rate doesn’t always mean closed sales. We now have the ability to look very closely at consumer behavior. Make it your goal in 2012 to use the data that you collect in a way that results in sales. Think it can’t be done? Stone Creek has some suggestions – contact us!

4. Stay Current
This is almost a repeat of #1 (Be Relevant). But let me put some numbers behind this one – an amazing 98% of 18-24-year-olds use social media! And the debate around ROI of social media is quickly becoming a thing of the past as platforms like HubSpot make tracking and analyzing data quick and easy. What part does Facebook and Twitter play in your gameplan for 2012?

For further reading (and to see where some of these statistics originated), check out the article – “5 Best Practices for Digital Marketers in 2012″