{grow} - a top-rated blog founded by social media specialist Mark Schaefer The 3 factors behind Snapchat consumer behavior Jay Acunzo examines the web’s hottest mobile app based on the Snapchat consumer behaviors that most marketers may be missing. Read more How to turn social media connections into an actionable audience A large social media audience does not equal action. Read more When to treat a customer like family Sometimes a customer isn’t a customer. Read more Batman, Pokemon, and an essential lesson from the heart of marketing There’s lots of lovin’ and hating going on over Pokemon Go, but underneath it all we can discover the very heart of marketing Read more The new psychology of content consumption The psychology of content consumption is changing dramatically, affecting Snapchat, content streaming habits, and Facebook strategy. Read more Five ideas: Constructive engagement in destructive times The violence in the news has fueled divisive and hateful social discourse. Read more Five tips to prepare for your first international speaking assignment Read more
The Case Against Author Solutions, Part 1: The Numbers The more you study an operation like Author Solutions, the more it resembles a two-bit internet scam, except on a colossal scale. Internet scammers work on percentages. They know that only a tiny fraction of people will get hoodwinked so they flood the world’s inboxes with spammy junk. While reputable self-publishing services can rely on author referrals and word-of-mouth, Author Solutions is forced to take a different approach. According to figures released by Author Solutions itself when it was looking for a buyer in 2012, it spent a whopping $11.9m on customer acquisition in 2011 alone. This money is spent on: I could fill ten posts on the various deceptive ways that Author Solutions gets customers, but the idea should be clear enough. Some complain that prospective customers of Author Solutions should do more research – caveat emptor and all that. From an article by Alison Flood which will appear in the summer issue of The Author – the UK Society of Authors quarterly journal. 98.
Products I Love - Make A Living Writing This is a funny page for me to be writing. I never thought I’d sell anything to anyone! I was a reporter, y’know. But as I’ve gained experience as a freelance writer and blogger, I’ve encountered some great tools and training opportunities that can really help writers earn more in today’s new-media world. Since that’s what this blog is all about, I’m proud to recommend the products below. (Click here to see the books I recommend.) My policy: I never recommend a product unless I have personally used it or have thoroughly reviewed it. With everything it takes to be a successful writer online today, you need really useful, affordable tools that make you look professional. If you click on the product links below, I will get a commission. Jon Morrow’s GuestBlogging Program My experience: In 2010, Jon Morrow noticed one of my articles on Twitter and asked me to guest post on Copyblogger, where he’s associate editor. he literally wrote the book on how to write Internet headlines? OutstandingSETUP
Okdork Before I show you how to get 30% more opens, let me prove something. What’s your normal email open rate? You may think you have an insanely good open-rate on your emails but… 50%+ of the people ARE NOT OPENING your emails. Why work so hard if only 1 out of every 2 people open your emails? That’s like you going to the bank, giving them $10 and they always give you back a $5. So, here’s how to increase your email open rates […] I’ve been reading more this year and so far my favorite has been Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. I often talk about having one goal and prioritizing based that goal as a key to marketing. @GregoryMcKeown Your book […] My friend Nir Eyal released a new, fantastic book about customer behavior and products that hook customers right away. I read the whole thing in a few days and found that it’s a perfect fit for the type of content I love: Hands-on, actionable advice that anyone can start implementing right away. It’s hard to hire great people.
Business Networking Referral Organization Groups | Business Network International | BNI America (USA) BNI's (Business Network International) mission is to help members increase their business through a structured, positive and professional word-of-mouth program that enables them to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with quality business professionals.Click here to find a chapter. BNI's philosophy is built upon the idea of "Givers Gain". BNI offers members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts, networks and most importantly, business referrals. The best way to find out about BNI is to visit a chapter. In 2013, the 155,000 members of BNI worldwide passed over 5.4 million referrals which resulted in more than $6.5 billion in business. It does so by providing an environment in which you develop business relationships with qualified business professionals.
How to build a portfolio from scratch (with little experience) You can’t get clients without a portfolio...but you don’t have a portfolio because you don’t have clients. Are you a new freelancer stuck in a no-gig rut? The truth is that almost no paying clients will hire you without a portfolio or resume of some kind. The good news is that you can build your portfolio from nothing -- thousands of people have done it before you. Here are a few ways you can do it. Shift your mindset 1. Your relationship to clients is not like your relationship to an employer. This is something that’s hard to understand for new freelancers. 2. 3. Most freelancers get jobs through word of mouth. The main point is: the smartest new freelancers don’t just take advantage of good opportunities. 4. Make a list of all the things that you have particular knowledge of. Get your first clients There are two common options: Do low-cost (or free) work to build up your portfolio Complete your own projects There are undoubtedly more solutions, but these are the most widely used. 1. Pros:
Videofruit | step by step formulas to grow your business with video I was looking at the I Heart Planners Facebook page the other day when I came across one post that had 3,483 shares. What was weird was that all of the other posts on her page had 2-5 shares each. But this one had gone viral and had 1000s. Why? I did some digging and found that they were using a really smart viral marketing campaign. Check it out: Step 1: Laura, the owner of the Facebook page, set up this free lead magnet page. Step 2: When people opted in, they saw this thank-you page that asked them to share her post (the one with 3,489 shares) in exchange for a few bonus items. Step 3: People shared and the post went viral. Going viral can produce great results for your business.
Acquire the Skills You Need to Make a Living as a Writer To make money as a writer, you first need to acquire the skills to do the work, and then find clients who value and will pay you well for those skills. For some writers, this means they become sales copywriters, writing sales messages in the form of letters, online sales pages, or emails. For others, who don’t see themselves “selling,” there are plenty of other writing opportunities, particularly online and in the Business-to-Business (B2B) industry. Either way, if you want to make a significant income as a writer, you need to develop a writing skill that is in demand. AWAI has dozens of programs and live training events that teach writers the skills they need to be successful in the hottest and highest paying areas today. The first is the company’s flagship program, and the foundation for all writing careers, AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. If You Can Write a Simple Letter to a Friend, You Can Make a Living Working for Yourself as a Copywriter
Atlanta Freelance Copywriter, SEO Writer, Expert Marketing Writer, Marketing Copywriter Atlanta | Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, Nashville, TN American Marketing Association How I Made 6 Figures as a Freelance Writer in 2011 7inShare If you’re like me, shortly after 2011 ended you wondered: “How much did I earn from freelance writing this year?” Last year I did a marketing analysis…and this year I wanted to take it a step further and do an income analysis. Not because I dream of being inundated by people who’d like to sell me products and services because they think I’m rolling in dough (ha! three kids…college tuition…). It’s because looking at where your writing income is coming from is a very important exercise. You learn a lot about how to improve your business for the next year. I had a goal of cracking six figures because I had narrowly missed that level in 2010, and that pissed me off. A quick glance at the reports in my handy Freshbooks invoicing system tells me this year I made it. Just to be clear, I’m talking about what I earned from freelance writing — not including income from my work here helping other writers earn more. How’d I do it? Takeaways: Social media is increasingly important.