But that’s the first puzzle. If you don’t do it well, it could be a waste of time and money.

Most businesses don’t even know what content marketing is.

The notion is to write web contents and distribute across several networks.

I’m sorry, you’ve missed the point – but I’m going to put you back if you could just let me.

What Is Content Marketing?

I hate to complicate simple things. I want you to truly understand what you’re set for.

Content marketing is simply the art of creating a unique and valuable content (articles, press releases, product reviews, videos, podcasts and so forth) for quick consumption.

How and where the content is being consumed (read and used) differs. It could be on your site/blog or other people’s.

Does it make sense?

So, contrary to common theory, distributing contents either by guest posting, article submission or uploading a video to Youtube.com are just the tactics you’re using to attract the right people who can consume the information quickly.

Congratulations, you’re five steps better than most folks out there, who don’t know the simple definition.

And for content marketing to produce results for you, here are 7 simple secrets. Anyone can implement these strategies.

They’re proven to work, or sue me if you’re heartless…

1.    Content Marketing is an Attitude

This guest post is by Victor Solovey from Crazyxhtml  

Among the biggest love hate relationships I have had, the one with Google rates as the biggest.

One fine morning I get up and find that Google has done it again and my site has slipped down the ladder.

Obviously there can be no man more furious than me on this earth.

Some other glorious morning I get up to find my site occupying the heights of glory and I start loving Google all over again.

I especially love it when my competitor, who is known to use black hat techniques, gets the boot.

What’s it in Google that evokes such great emotions from me?

Looking at Google as your partner

I have been in the SEO scene for well neigh ten years and have seen the ups and downs, highs and lows of it. There was a time before Google when genuine guys like me never got to the first page of search results.

Everything used to be manipulated and keyword stuffing was the norm. Search was not big then. There used to be ten or more search engines out there.

Google got in and things changed. Search became big and stuffing was taken out of the bad guys. This was the time when my love bloomed with Google.

People like us could find a place in search results because Google found a way to get rid of rubbish. Search became democratic and the world was roses and wine.

And then the impossible happened. Google turned against simple guys like us, by creating a complex algorithm – terms like keyword density and backlinks were introduced. For me this was too much.

I write and write well. I provide great content. But I don’t understand 2% and stuff like that. In fact, keyword density started off at 8% and slowly spiraled down to 2% until finally it seems that there is no such thing at all.

Lessons learnt from my travails

SEO has been made to look more complex than what it actually is. You have to keep things simple and straight –

1. Provide great content without bothering about keyword density. This is what Google wants you to do. Why fight against it? If you want to win over Google you must join it with your heart and soul. Fighting against it is of no use. I am not saying that Google search algorithm has no flaws. It has too many holes and I bet that it isn’t perfect. Hey, who said anything can be perfect. Is your GF perfect. Doesn’t she have flaws? Then why do you love her? If you can love her, with all her flaws, why can’t you love Google? This is simple logic. When you like someone you tend to give your best. When you align your goals with those of Google you will succeed. Period.
2. This lesson is regarding backlinks. How many times has your mom told you not to be friends with so-and-so? “That boy is bad. Don’t mix with him”. This is what Google is telling you. You are known by the company you keep. If you take, or worse, buy backlinks from a bad neighborhood you will be penalized. If you have nice friend in reputed sites like .gov and .edu , you will be appreciated. It’s simple. Don’t go for link-wheel schemes and such since these are the bad guys in your neighborhood. It’s better not to have friends at all. Another lesson is not to make thousands of friends in a jiffy.  It’s unnatural. You need time to build relationships. Google can sniff a rat when it sees a zillion backlinks created in a week. This action is sure to create suspicion.

Then came Panda, followed by Penguin

Suddenly last year Google upped the ante. Panda update started weeding out sites with poor content. One-page wonders which had mushroomed over the years started feeling the heat.

I saw that affiliate sites were targeted, which I still feel is wrong. Small businesses and individuals who earned their living through affiliates were mauled. Poor guys were only trying to earn a living.

I gather that Google is trying to eliminate competition and they only want AdSense to flourish.

I hate Google for this, but hey, I can’t really do anything about it. As far as Google is concerned, they claim that there would be some casualties and bystanders would get hurt in the shootout (what is famously termed as collateral damage)

With Penguin, Google has almost become a demon of sorts. With this update they claim that they will eliminate spam. In the process many genuine sites have been hit.

There seems to be a thin line dividing over optimization and spam. In my view Google has gone a bit too far with Penguin update.

What are the takeaways?

Once again, we have come full circle. As a website or blog owner, you must avoid getting into war between Google and big bad boys. The idea is to keep it simple.

You must provide great content on your site and you must be in good company. Avoid dubious SEO schemes which guarantee great search results.

To win over Google you must become their partner. You must overlook some of its flaws and focus on the good they are doing. Ultimately, it’s your blog you must worry about.

This guest post is by: Victor Solovey  is the owner of crazyxhtml , where they do crazy stuff including psd to html and psd to css conversion. Victor is passionate about his work and also likes to write.

Image Credit: clicktube

Yes, it’s the BEST WAY!

Writing contents and distributing across the web is the best and mostpowerful weapon to reach your target audience, build responsive leads and generate staggering return on investments quickly.

Recently, Elance; an online job board for freelancers and job seekers conducted a research to determine the focus of small, mid-sized and multinational corporations in web marketing.

The Elance Global Online Employment Report for Q1 (first quarter) shows that content marketing is the key point.

In fact, the numbers have continued to climb up since then. I think this is great and good news for content writers.

Whatever business model you’re involved in, you need rich and quality contents to get results. Google and other search engines feed on fresh contents. Good contents are link-baits and magnets social traffic, for real!

The following three categories of people and companies are desperately looking for quality contents that can engage audience: Marketing, IT, and creative. According to Elance, in the first quarter (Q1) of 2011, here are the changes that are still going on:

In the creative (+32%) category, we have the artists, artisans, and organizations that create one form of product, service and the other. They need:

Web Design Development (+101%)

Creativity is the search for new ideas and ways of doing the same thing better. Research now shows that +101% of those who are creative (you and me) are looking for websites, and after a website, content marketing becomes the next in-line.

Creative people and organizations are looking for website designers and developers. As their businesses grow, getting online and reaching out to the right audience can be made possible with either a blog or a website. And both are powered by contents.

And don’t forget, a website needs contents – graphics wouldn’t cut in as much. So, as web designers and developers focus on the beautifying the pages, web contents would be outsourced to creative writers.

Yes, creative people look for creative designers and writers to handle their projects. If you’re a freelance writer, now is the best time to position yourself to profit and build your freelance business quickly.

And when the website is up and running it’ll need fresh, keyword-rich and people-optimized contents to rank well on search engines.

Any business that doesn’t consider Google as a viable source for generating leads; sales and web influence is making a big mistake.

Are you creative in any form? You need exclusive contents to grow your business.

You might decide to get a website first, which is good but, a website cannot yield profits if the right people are not reading it. You need quality, exclusive, helpful and valuable contents to entice the buyers.

Video Production (+68%)

This is amazing!

From the first quarter of 2011 till date, the demand for video production is at the increase.

I’m not really surprised at the rise of video marketing, because it’s the noise flying around. You can use a short video clip to convey a strong message about your product or service. A short video that you can upload to Youtube can transform your online business. Really!

Bloggers have been advised to complement ordinary contents like: articles, posts and press releases with video.

But you know what? Even at the increase of video production online, content marketing will never die.

Content marketing on the order hand is actually the platform at which videos rest. Without an ‘intro’ with contents, videos would be a waste of time and money.

Let me also remind you that video clips are a form of content. When we refer to content, we’re not just referring to articles, blog posts, press releases and reviews; we also meant podcasts, videos, webinars etc. They’re all contents delivered in their respective mediums.

Now that online entrepreneurs are shooting their first videos online, articles, blog posts and reviews that can house or inhabit these videos will increase as well.

You can’t promote a video without an article or written words. What bloggers usually do is to embed videos in the article body.

It shows that videos alone cannot produce results for you. Take the bold step today to create your first video if you haven’t and then focus on its distribution with content marketing.

Content Writing (+56%) 

Content writing is also at the increase from Q1 of 2011 through 2012.

Content writing deals with writing articles, press releases, review, commenting, ratings and so forth. It doesn’t cover marketing.

It shows that the people who are looking for contents in this category have platforms for distributing the articles, already.

They’ve the capability, tools, resources and creativity to market the content. All they want from you is to write, and they will do the rest.

The people who fall into this category are SEO companies, Social media marketers, social media examiners, freelance writers, copywriters, email marketers, content curators, authors, journalists and so forth.

The aforementioned creative people are good with words. They can write if truly they give time to it. So, why should they outsource writing gigs, since they can write?

It’s obvious, they don’t have time, zeal or the inclination to write at the moment.

They prefer to connect, build relationship with creative people, so that sharing and marketing their contents wouldn’t be a hassle.

So, they outsource to save time – and the more they save time, the more profit they generate.

Don’t Sit and Watch

Don’t sit at the fence and watch your competitors grab the bulk of your target audience. Step into content marketing today with open arms and begin to profit today.

From this post, you’ve seen the direction of content marketing and the high demand for quality and exceptional web contents.

If you’re yet to start leveraging on Google, via search engine optimization and blogging, now is the right time. You can make your small business a big one if you focus on content marketing. It’s 100% free, evergreen and produces results.

If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment – share this post – see you at the top!

Image Credit: imrcorp | ehow

Are you ready to dominate Google first page?   

You should if you’re not prepared for it. Getting ranked on Google first page can be a tedious task for most bloggers who don’t follow the simple advice that works.

Search engines were created to grow your business. They were created for you, not against you.

It’s only when we deviate from the set principles of efficient first page ranking that failure looms.

But all that can change today. You can dominate Google first page, and quit losing to your competition.

I’ve only one strategy that can skyrocket your blog posts and pages to the first page of Google. Yes, it doesn’t matter if the competition is too fierce or it seems the chance of ranking is less than 0%.

What matters is your attitude towards optimizing your webpages to fall within the right spots.

I’ll show you how I’ve managed to rank my niche blogs – don’t be scared of Penguin or Panda penalty, you can tame them.

Leverage On Authority

The #1 strategy for dominating Google first page is to leverage on authority. Did I get you confused, kind of?

But you’ll understand what I’ve in mind in few minutes. The web has been powered by authority blogs and industry experts and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Google is always happy to identify with authority – Wikipedia, CNN, BBC, Inc and the media portals.

Google regards these websites as the go-to for valuable resources and insights. They believe readers would benefit when they visit and read such blogs. And the organic traffic they receive is enormous – you can’t beat it.

Leverage is the ability to ride on people’s back, and to stand on their shoulder to achieve your goals.” – Michael Chibuzor

Since your ultimate goal is to rank on Google first page, consider these authority website and news media when creating your contents.

In order words, you’ve to do all you can to get picked, linked, shared or cited by any of the authority figures and websites around the World Wide Web.

If majority of the links pointing to your blog are from the top blogs and websites, Google will accord the same respect they’ve for authority on your blog – it doesn’t matter if your blog is 2 weeks or 2 months old.

Write With a Strong Voice

The more you try to be like a pro blogger, the more you kill your blog and writing style. Yes, you can learn from them, take their advice to heart but never imitate them.

You’ve all it takes to grow a massive audience, build a tribe and earn a living offering quality services online. Have you discovered your voice yet?

I’ve been building and optimizing niche blogs since 2007, and have learnt so much about SEO and generating web traffic. One rare gem that Google is seriously looking for is a blog that has a unique style.

Google knows that the content you’ve in mind and wants to write about is already written by some other person, indexed and you can’t reinvent the wheel.

So, what Google is after is your uniqueness. How can you write the same common topic, adding ‘extra’ to the ordinary to get (extraordinary)?

You’ve to position your blog to captivate the authority personalities out there. What would happen if Wikipedia or CNN decides to feature your blog? That alone can skyrocket your ranking, trounce the STRONGEST competition standing on your way.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve running against 500k competing websites, your goal is to get few authority links pointing to your epic posts. According to Google, it’s no longer the amount of links you’ve amassed, but the quality and how natural it appears.

In writing with a unique and strong voice, stay clear of article headlines that are “how to.” Yes, a lot other blogs have ‘how to’ articles.

You can’t stand out from the crowd. Take your blog headlines to the next level by writing Ad-based headlines. In a nut shell, write like news magazines and copywriters.

Your article and posts will get more clicks, more reads and convert readers into subscribers > buyers.

Attract Authority Blogs Easily

When you post quality and in-depth contents on your blog, the established blogs and industry experts would be glad to link to it. You know why? Pro bloggers are the busiest people the web has ever created.

They don’t have time to research, write and publish exceptional articles as they used to. They’ve conferences, workshops and speaking engagements to attend.

There is no time to write a post that readers can connect to.

And this is telling on their readership and engagement level – although, you won’t know that industry experts and top blogs are losing readers, because they’ve thousands if not millions of raving fans willing to obey their voice.

It takes time to build this kind of fanbase, but with determination and consistency in delivering exceptional contents, it’s achievable.

All you’ve to do is research your topic. Visit resourceful blogs and websites – read extensively for valuable information.

Extract content creation data. Hangout with your audience; the target audience you’ve in mind.

Then, picture one potential client standing next to you as you write the content – seriously, write to one person at a time because, your post will be read individually even if you’ve 10k RSS readers.

Use the concept of simplicity to convey your message. Make your sub-headings standout from by adding great qualifiers and not-so-much used words. You could use synonyms to make your bullet points heavenly – even when it’s not.

Write from your heart, the media, the authority, the experts, the established and the resourceful Google-friendly websites will come looking for you. Few links from these experts and A-list blogs can lead you to Google first page. Yes, you got me baby!

Build a Real Business

A real business doesn’t capitalize on loopholes to drive traffic, win clients and make money. Trying to get organic traffic or to dominate Google through the backdoor can result in a BIG problem and a wreck to your business.

Think like a real entrepreneur. Forget about online business – all businesses whether online or offline are the same.

In fact, if you see your business as a brick and mortar, you’ll sharpen your customer service, package helpful products and have good sense of humor. You’ll be good at partnership – Google is your partner in the ranking business. Don’t forget that?

What Do You Say?

Employ these attitudes when creating contents for you blog. It’s all about leverage and what you do with those established blogs. Don’t be deceived, it’s easier than you think to get picked by CNN, Wikipedia, Inc, BBC and other Google friendly networks.

Work on your business with open mind. Write contents that will are newsworthy and evergreen – Experience meteoric growth on your blog by focusing on the end user. That’s how to work less and earn more on the long-run – leave a comment below – see you at the top!

Image Credit: noorfashionhouse

Gone at the days when you can slap 500 words article on your blog and expect to rank well for target keywords.

You may think quality content is enough, but that’s just the first equation.

Going after conversion is the key.

Organic traffic, though targeted can be a waste if nothing is done to it. Search engine optimization is gradually moving towards a better engaged environment.

And getting people to take the next step reveals a level of engagement.

Search and marketing are two arms you need to get acquainted with. Whether you’re a corporate firm or small business entrepreneur, there are helpful ways to convert your traffic easily.

Content Attack Strategy

Those who optimize their blogs without putting the necessary resources for conversion are wasting time and leaving so much money on the desk.

What you may not know is that buying and selling is hot online – and people who search for your target keywords truly wants to buy something. Off course, you wouldn’t fold arms and watch them do it.

You’ve got to persuade them creatively. In getting started, aim your content towards the right people. This is where keyword attack and placement plays a vital role. Even today that Google is releasing the Penguin and Panda into the search world; you still need to research keywords.

Use Keywords Discreetly

But the use of keywords and phrases are quite different now. If you attack content wisely, there won’t be room for stuffing keywords and trying to trick readers to take actions. The essence of content marketing is to position your web pages where the right audience will read, get inspired and bring profit to your business.

Use keywords if they’re necessary and meaningful – otherwise, give solutions quickly and Google would reward your efforts for crafting exceptional contents for its users (prospects, searchers, visitors, traffic et al).

Search engine optimization can produce results if there are plans for it. Understand that two sets of visitors will read your content.

The first sets of people are those looking for free information. No matter how much optimized your content is, they won’t buy or subscribe. Stop wasting time on this group.

The second groups of people who will read your article are already presold. In order words, they’ve an idea of what you’re offering. Let’s assume your blog is about web traffic generation, the second recipients and readers of your article already know the various ways to drive traffic. So, why would they read your article in the same topic?

It’s because they’re looking for expert advice. Setting up and running a blog makes you an expert. They know that writing articles can be effective, but they don’t want to dabble into it yet – they need a push. Give it to them right away.

So, when you create content for your blog or guest post for others, focus on converting the second group of people. It’s not as difficult as you think – in fact, it’s the hub of copywriting and getting people to click and to subscribe or buy a product.

Content Marketing Action-Call

Good headline, great content and cute keyword placement can only do so much to your overall blogging goal. You’ve got to add a strong call to action. So, what’s the best way to increase conversion on your seo contents?

Here’s the deal: ask your readers to do whatever you want. While in College, marketing was my core. I’m glad I picked up helpful gems to aid my blogging career.

One thing we studied was that, although, prospects and customers might be ready to buy, with their credit cards fully funded to make purchases, but if you don’t convince them enough, or ask them to take action right now, they wouldn’t move a step. How weird?

What does this mean? It’s as simple as asking them to take action. Yes, it looks too good to be true – but that’s how it works.

You led them from the headline, through the lede and now they’re almost leaving. If someone can read your article/post from start to finish, nothing can stop them from taking the next action – but you.

Don’t assume they know what they want, give it to them. If you’re selling a product or service, tell them to click now to buy. Off course, only a few will buy, but it’s worth it.

Content Conversion is Key

Nothing is as blissful and profitable as an article that has a strong call to action. Get to know your audience and what they are desperately looking for. Write to express your opinion and conclude the article with a brave ‘push.’

Call to action marketing is a great skill in your content marketing career. Don’t ignore it. Leave a comment below – ask your question – I’m waiting to answer it. See you ahead!

Image Credit: verastyles.ning

Whatever your marketing idea is, there are two sides to the marketing coin. You need to clearly recognize why you created a fanpage from the outset.

If you’re not using any of the social media giants out there, you might look dumb – in the eyes of competitors. But are you really a dumb?

But what exactly are the results of using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?

Everyone who started out knows that it takes time to get results, and the results might not come no matter how much efforts you put into it.

And the reason for this is simple: 95% of what we know about social media marketing is wrong.

We’ve been spoon-fed with fads – I’m yet to see any small or mid-sized internet entrepreneur who is satisfied with the results of his social campaign.

Does it mean we’re wasting our precious time? Maybe – read on…

If you want to see results in your campaigns, please recognize that the ‘marketing’ isn’t for you – but by you.

It’s so important to recognize what truly works and immerse yourself into it. There are 3 effective ways to approach social media – only then are you qualified to see results.

There are no rules to building a profitable business, but even for those who work from home to earn passive income, they need a guide – which is what I’m giving you right now.

The three effective ways to maximize social media and get results are:

• - Have a meaningful strategy
• - Catch social media users when they’re ready
• - Focus in solving one problem at a time

Have a meaningful strategy

What strategy are you using to connect with people on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the next in line – Pinterest? What some folks fail to understand is that all forms of marketing activities online works efficiently when it’s meaningful.

It’s would take some time before result come. There are several ways to get more twitter followers and facebook likes. But what’s the need using them if you’re aiming for permission-based social media marketing? Do you subscribe to using tools?

Truth be told, people who use tools and software to hijack followers are approaching social media from the wrong angle. Remember, the marketing is not for you – you’re connecting with interested people, not by trickery or hype.

Blogging is a great way to build your social media following because; your readers already know you, and the quality ‘stuffs’ you give them.

In a nut shell, ditch every social media tool that promises to send you thousands of followers overnight – use inbound marketing to attract a handful of tweets, followers and fans.

Q: After you’ve attainted 10,000 followers with hijacking social tools, what happens next? Do you think these people are interested in what you’re offering? Think about it – leave a comment below.

Catch Social Media users when they’re ready

By “catch” I mean you should consistently hangout with them. This is the only way to know the problems they face, and how desperate they need answers.

People, who tweet once every week, may not fully grasp the thoughts and attitudes of their fans and followers. Be consistent with social media sharing to get them talking – that’s the juicy secret to winning this game.

It’s left for you to stay and listen to their cries. Truth this, they’ve questions running through their minds and if you can’t solve them, they’ve every right to ignore your marketing campaign and move on with their lives. Don’t you think so?

And guess what, several so-called social media examiners and marketers have been left behind. The world has changed and only those with connective intuit will stay afloat and profit.

They’ve lost the tiny trust which they had initially. Get users ready by addressing the needs in their hearts, without asking for monetary returns – at least you need to know and mingle with them first.

Once you’re able to earn trust, nothing should stop you from offering a paid service or selling to them. You’ve earned the right to sell. Catch them now – and if the trust is high, they would be taping their credit cards on the PC screen, ready to buy from you.

Focus in solving one Problem at a time

Yes, as a social media marketer, you’re not entitled to solve multiple problems. If you attempt it, it may breed havoc and lower the quality of your solutions. The best and simple answer is to tread carefully – one step at a time!

When you spend quality time listening and engaging with your fans and followers, you should know the problems and questions which they need answers to desperately. Now, pick one of the problems and find a lasting solution to it. The solution you provide must be authentic and have a multiplier effect in your business.

For instance, the solution you provide should align with your marketing goals. In order words, you want to build a strong rapport with target audience via emails – which is the best communication channel online.

In this case, instead of selling via facebook page or via tweets, redirect users to your landing page and convert them.

The real communication and relationship is in email marketing. Social media followers would continue to be skeptical when they see your offer, but when they join your list and you begin to spoon-feed them with quality, helpful and in-depth exclusive information, the results will be staggering.

Over to you

What has social media done for you since you started using them? Can you truly recommend to upcoming internet entrepreneurs that social media marketing is effective? Share your honest comment and let’s get the social media ball rolling. See you at the top!

Image Credit: solasus

I’m here to blow your mind – pause whatever you’re reading right, read this article now.

It takes 3 minutes and you’re done fully girded with powerful ideas and tips to trounce the competition. Oh boy, I’m so confident of this truth.

The good thing about content marketing is that you can leverage on people’s efforts to grow your business and do exploits worth emulating.

Don’t take this lightly; media publicity is the edge in this new marketing era.

Whether you run a blog or a corporate website, by pressing the right buttons, the world would be at your finger tips, begging to invest with you.

So, who are the media?

Is it social media, or search media? No, it’s not. The media can be any group of persons who share, link and republish contents which they find helpful, news worthy and informative to the end user.

B2B corporate websites benefited from media publicity in past years, but today, the B2C entrepreneurs and bloggers can tap in. sounds well!  Huh?

In case you don’t know – you’re a media person because, you’ve shared, linked and recommended resourceful posts to your audience. If you enjoy this article and decide to comment, link to it and share with fans and subscribers, you’re a media person – period!

It’s quite simple. In web marketing, the media simply means exposure, publicity, promotion, advertising, sharing, and communication and so on. But it deals with groups of people who crave to make the world better, blissful and solution-based.

How to Attract the Media (target prospects)

If you run brick and mortar business (offline), you’ll have to spend a huge sum of money in advertising. And it doesn’t matter, because you might target the wrong people and the high cost of media-buying will flush into the toilet.

On the contrary, the internet can trigger and persuade others to promote your business for you. No, you don’t have to pay them to do it, you can earn it. Yes, targeted blog readers and networks can willingly share your posts with social media fans, email subscribers and high-end news portal.

It’s all about who you know on the internet – and what you produce.

Talking about content marketing, make it sticky and fluff-free. In order to attract the interested people (media) to share your contents and send avalanche of buyers, readers and aura to your blog or site, here are 10 ways to persuade others and get them to work for you:

Empty your mind: the best way to convince other people to share your contents without using tricks is to empty your mind. Get rid of earning dollars when you publish or syndicate any content on your blog – let the words flow as it’s in your mind.

You’ve to empty your mind first, before you can refill it with cute marketing ideas.

Fuel your passion: what level of passion were you operating with when you started blogging or doing business online? Well, don’t stop there – fuel your passion by nurturing it. Look for those materials (books, seminars, CDs, blogs, marketing tools) that motivated you to start an online business initial and use them to skyrocket to the top.

Until this happens, you’ll get bored writing, blogging and networking with others. And it would be visible in your content. Any blog post written without passion will not get publicity from the media (target audience).

Address the symptoms: People who suffer from high blood pressure are desperate to cure it. But more than that, they want to get rid of the hot flashes, depression and quirky symptoms first. When you write contents for the web, forget about the real problem and brood the readers by addressing the symptoms.

Once you have captured their minds, deliver the right solutions. The media would queue to reward you with social media shares, natural links and quality traffic.

Have a strong headline: Are your headlines boring or captivating? Can you click on your headline if it appears in search results pages (SERPs)? If you’re not convinced, spend more time crafting the headline – the media are slaves to powerful headlines. Yes! And you’re the master chef!

Don’t impress: Content marketing is not to impress anyone.Nobody really cares about you or how cute your spouse is, they care about them. “What’s in it for me” is the question sailing through their minds when they read your content. Answer the question and that’s all.

Write to express: Do you write to impress or to express your views about a topic or idea? Striving to impress readers and buyers is “pretence.” It can destroy your reputation and the media (prospects, social fans et al) would ignore your blog. Express your views.

Let the world know what’s on your mind. Don’t imitate your role models or try to be like probloggers. It’s good to learn from them, but don’t be a duplicate. Be yourself.

Love your business: Sounds like being a passionate content marketer but with a twist. Seeing the light of the day should spark up love from within. Love is the fuel that powers passion.

If you’re doing a business just to make money or build influence without loving it, the media would get negative signals and back-off.

Stay in your field: you can’t be a master of all. There must be something you’re skilled at. How can you launch a money-making blog and write about it consistently when you’re yet to earn $100 from the internet – it won’t work.

However, if you’re a tech geek or knows how to pick up girls, write about these and become an expert in it.

You don’t have to know: Content marketing can work to pique the media. But you don’t have to know it all. Whatever you don’t know can be learned. Read resourceful marketing blogs to enhance your knowledge.

If you don’t know the pros and cons of your market or niche, don’t even dabble into it. Get the necessary data and use them to craft epic shit.

Increase your worth: If the media discovers you’re new to the game, they might ignore your contents no matter how powerful. Nobody wants to connect with average bloggers or entrepreneurs. Associating with the rich, influential and professional is what the media wants.

The world doesn’t reward ‘average.’ So, increase your worth by learning and mastering your craft. Whatever business model you’ve chosen, give yourself wholly to it – be immersed in your mind and let the zeal for excellence take you high.

Bonus Point: Be everywhere: The world is waiting to hear from you. They’re so desperate to read your contents and give you a call or hire you to perform some marketing wizardry.

But if they can’t find you, you’re at a loss. Be everywhere – actively engage in guest posting – do it like a maniac and the people will be attracted to your blog/business.

Content marketing takeaway

Now, you know the 10 powerful ways to get people talking about your blog. Armed with these tips, you can launch a new blog and have thousands of people giving you free publicity.

What can you add to this list? Share your comment below – and if I’ve earned your trust, recommend this post to someone special. See you at the top!

Image Credit: ereleases