Why Are Blogs Key To Your Business Success?

You see them everywhere and you probably even hear about them everywhere. So what is all the hoopdy-doo?

Blogs are almost essential nowadays if you want to have a presence online and if you want to increase your visibility. Here are some of the biggest reasons why:

1)  Blogs increase traffic to your website through SEO (search engine optimization) - search engines love fresh content so when you are constantly updating your clog, you are constantly telling the search engines your website is important for it to recognize.

2)  Blogs generate sales when you link to them on social media - One of the best ways to get seen is to post links to your blogs on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Especially when you have targeted your followers, you will find a lot of people visiting your blog through a link you post, and then potentially hiring you.

3)  Blogs can be converted into other forms of marketing so that you are leveraging your time and efforts. You can expand upon a blog and turn it into an article. You can turn it into a podcast or video, or a book of blogs.

4)  Blogs help visitors to your site know that you are credible and knowledgeable. By posting consistent, useful information on your blog each week, you establish yourself as an expert in your field.

5)  Blogs keep you creative and inspired. When you have to constantly come up with new topics to write on, it forces you to keep abreast of your industry and your competition. You'll find yourself feeling smarter than you did before you started blogging!

5 Tips for Creating Headlines That Work For Your Holistic Business

Your headline is the most important thing you will write for your sales copy. That’s because reading your headline will either lead people to read further or to leave. With a moment as crucial as that, you want to make sure you are leading them to stick around.

A headline needs to create interest, draw attention and invoke curiosity. Here are 5 guidelines to follow so you can write stellar headlines for your holistic business:

1)     Make them benefit-driven. People are really only interested in things that can solve their problems or make them happy. They don’t care about you or your product or service. They care about what your product or service can do for them.

2)     Tell enough, but leave them curious. If your headline says, “Massages: $100 Today,” there is nothing leaving them curious. They already know what the service is and how much it costs, and they will automatically make a decision as to whether or not they want to continue reading. But if your headline said, “Lose Yourself in a Stress-Busting Massage – Incredible Sale Today Only,” you will gain their interest and curiosity so they want to read on.

3)     Speak in an active voice. This means that instead of being passive by saying something like, “Wouldn’t You Want to Lose Weight?,” say something like, “Lose 15 Pounds This Month or Your Money Back.” Be direct!

4)     Realize you use headlines all the time. In an email, your headline is the subject line. On a flyer or website, it is the first line of copy. On a sales call, it is the first thing you say. On a commercial, it is the first thing that is said or shown. We use headlines all the time – make sure you choose ones that are the best you could possibly give in every situation.

5)     Use sub-headlines throughout your copy. There are many people who simply skim text instead of reading it completely. For this reason, you want to sprinkle sub-headlines throughout your copy. Put the most important ideas and facts in the sub-headlines so you can be sure the skimmers are getting the most important stuff.

5 Tips to Holistic Copywriting That Sells

Copywriting is an art and a skill that is about compelling and intriguing the reader to the point that they want to 1) continue reading and 2) take the action you want them to take. Here are 5 tips to help you write compelling copy:

1) Speak directly to the reader as if they are the only one reading it. Don’t use generalizations. Speak to the exact person that is your ideal client about their exact problems and the exact ways you can help them.

2) Avoid talking about yourself, but instead talk about them. They want to know, “what is in it for me?” They don’t care about you until after they realize you just might be able to help them.

3) Use benefit-driven language instead of telling them the features of what you are offering. A feature that a holistic doctor might offer, for example, is that they provide flexible hours. A benefit that they might offer is that patients with knee pain tend to leave the office after their first visit feeling 50% better. Speak to their emotions!

4) Keep it clear and concise. Honor your readers’ time by not dragging your copy on and on. Arrange the copy so it is easy for people who skim to pick up on the most important parts quickly. Make sure you are clear about your products and services without assuming the reader already has an understanding of what you offer.

5) Always include a call-to-action. Make it very clear what step you want the reader to take in every piece of copy you write. Do you want them to visit your website, sign up for your free e-book, call you to schedule an appointment, etc.

If you want your marketing to be effective, it is imperative that you write compelling copy. Remember that we live in a fast-paced world and you generally have 3 seconds to capture a person’s attention. If you don’t, you lose them. That’s why one of the most important investments you can make is to invest the time to learn effective copywriting or to invest the money to hire a copywriter. 

Repurpose Your Marketing Efforts For Ease, Visibility & Effectiveness

Too often, we make separate marketing efforts, and we don’t get the results we deserve as a result. Writing a blog one day, then holding a seminar another day, then posting an ad another day, for example, means a lot of effort poured into many different marketing avenues.

For effectiveness, find numerous ways to repurpose your marketing efforts so that the effort is lessoned. If you write a blog, you can easily transform it into an article, turn it into a recording and/or video, and submit each medium to the various sites available (blog submission sites such as Technorati and Weblogalot, article submission sites such as ezinearticles.com and video submission sites such as YouTube and Google Video). Then you can even collect your blogs into a book, and your audios into a CD.

This is just a small sampling of what can be done. Not only does this make your marketing efforts more effective but it also increases your visibility, increasing your chances of being seen by your ideal prospects.

Marketing Tip: Don’t be Afraid To Be Yourself

What businesses do you like to follow most? – Those that have a face to the company with a person that shares themselves openly in their marketing copy? Or the companies who are just companies and give you no attachment to them other than noticing what sales are going on this week? My guess is that it is the first example. This is because when business owners act like human beings and share parts of their lives and their humanness with us, we relate to them and we feel like we know them in a way.

When you are writing your sales copy, whether it be a website, an email blast, a brochure, etc., be sure to write as though you are speaking to each person individually, and share some of yourself. Showing vulnerability draws people to you and creates “friendships” instead of just business relationships. Then, when someone gets your email blast, they smile and say things like, “Bonnie sent me an email again! Wonder how her trip was.” Then, they are more likely to want to do business with you since people like doing business with people they know and like.

Open up. Be relatable. Be you! 

To Market Your Holistic Business, Express Your Benefits, Not Your Features

When you market a product, you want to make sure you are grabbing attention by basing your message on the benefits the customer will receive, not the features. The difference is this: If you were looking to buy a car, the benefits would be how safe the car is and how it will bring back your youth and make you feel free when you are driving it. The features would be that it has a sunroof and 4-wheel drive. Sure those features are great and usually are part of what make the benefits possible, but they aren’t what inspire people and often people don’t make the connection between how that feature can really benefit their lives. Be sure to spell out the benefits and make sure you are focusing your marketing message on the benefits, because that is what people care about and that is what is going to grab their attention.

How does your product or service make people feel? How does it change their lives? How does it make their lives easier? How does it bring them together with people they love? These are the types of things you want to focus on. It’s all about what is in it for the customer.