Content vs ads – the online battle for attention
Why creating content is the best long-term way to promote your business It’s natural to assume that when you want to promote your business online, you should place an ad. Do ads work online? When should you use them? And is there a better ongoing method for attracting new clients?
How can a copywriter help you?
16 ways a copywriter can provide content to support your business A lot of people think that copywriters write website sales copy and nothing else. In fact, many experienced copywriters can offer much more. Instead of doing it all yourself, hire a copywriter to help lift the burden of writing effective content to support your […]
Headline, subheading and meta description
My notation for writing website copy for clients I write almost all my B2B client website copy in Word. This post shows how I denote my headlines, subheadings and meta descriptions – and what those things mean. My clients find this clear and it’s easy for their web designers to turn my copy into web […]
Web design options
Before you can blog, you need an online space you control. The best place to blog for your business is on your own website – so before you dig in to my business blogging guide, you need to set up that online space. This post covers some options for getting started.
How to create video for websites and blogs
Bridging the gap between you and your audience. In this post, we’ll look at a couple of types of video that can add value to your blogs and make your message more relatable. We’ll also see the basic kit needed to create and share video. Before you dive in, note that video creation takes time. […]
Watertight Marketing conference 2018: the big write-up
The Confidence & Clarity Conference 2018 This write-up covers the two-day Confidence & Clarity conference run by Watertight Marketing on 14 and 15 September 2018 at the DoubleTree Hilton in Bristol.
How to find blog post ideas
10 methodical & creative approaches to uncovering what should you write about. One of the main blockers to business owners starting blogs is not knowing what to write about. In this post, we’ll look at 5 methodical approaches to deciding the topics to cover. We’ll also see 5 creative ways to draw inspiration for your […]
How to speed up Google indexing
Did you know that when you publish a blog post, it’s not immediately searchable on Google? It can take several days or more for your pages to become findable on Google. Who wants to wait that long? Not me. This post covers a method that could mean your content shows up in Google’s index within […]
CMA Live 18 write-up
Here’s my write-up of CMA Live 18 (#cmalive18) in Edinburgh on 6–7 June 2018. It’s a summary of all the main sessions over two days at the UK’s best content marketing conference. This was my second time at the event. See my CMA Live 17 write-up to find out what happened the previous year.
You Are The Media 2018
On 24 May 2018, the first ever You Are The Media conference took place at the Shelley Theatre in Bournemouth. Here’s my write-up of a truly great day.
Blog republishing strategy
How to syndicate blog content on LinkedIn. This post shows how articles on your website can be legitimately republished on LinkedIn. It means your content does double duty to improve the exposure of your business – without any duplicate content penalties.
5-minute branding
Putting a consistent “voice” into your writing is an essential step to having a memorable online presence. This 5-minute practical exercise will help you get there. Ready to improve your writing?
Document content formats: pros and cons
There are loads of document content formats out there. How do you decide which content format is right for you? Can’t we just do it all in Word? My clients are often unsure about which document format they should use for their content. It’s one of the first things I ask them to think about […]
Social media bad practice
Crappy behaviours to banish from social media. This is a mini rant about bad social media interactions with followers and connections.
How to increase web traffic
Top tips to get more eyeballs on your business website More website traffic often means more interest in your products and services. If you want to boost your business, increasing your website traffic should be one of your goals. But how? This post lists 7 reasons for this growth. See how they can help you […]
LinkedIn ad campaigns: an experiment
Have you ever advertised on LinkedIn? I hadn’t until recently. But I’m an avid user of LinkedIn and thought it was worth a try. This post includes my personal data and thoughts on the process of advertising on LinkedIn. Summary for busy people. In October 2017, I spent $340.22 on LinkedIn ads and got 68 […]
Top tips for event write-ups
Putting on an event takes a lot of effort. You have to book a venue, organise presentations, sell tickets – there are loads of things to think about. One thing a lot of organisers miss out on is investing some effort in writing about the event. This is a valuable activity, because it helps to […]
Writing a first draft: the why, what and how
You’ve decided to write something to promote your business. You’re at a keyboard and there’s a blank page in front of you. You don’t want to produce boring garbage but you just don’t know what to write. It’s an awful feeling and for many people it’s enough to stop them from continuing. But you’re not […]
Pen portraits: real examples
Do you have a pen portrait for your business? That’s a written summary of your ideal customer. I believe that creating one can help you stay on the right track when it comes to producing content for your business. This post contains some real examples of pen portraits, shared by members of my Espresso ☕ community. […]
Payment terms for technical writing
How do technical writers invoice for their work? Do you need to pay a deposit? Are Purchase Orders acceptable? If you’ve never hired a professional writer before, you’ll probably have these things in mind. They’re the same questions my customers have been asking me since the end of 2009, so I thought I’d set out […]