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Tools to Help You Find Content That Will Engage Your Readers by @donnaamos

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Content that engages

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Successful content marketing involves producing quality content that your readers want to read. If the most well-written piece you could possibly produce doesn’t resonate with your audience, it’s useless. While simply writing on topics relevant to your business niche seems adequate, it is really like shooting in the dark. You need to be writing on topics that relate to your business, but they must also be topics that your audience currently finds interesting.

To discover this, you must listen to your audience and see what interests them at the present time. What current topic is all the rage? What current event relating to your business or industry is causing a stir? Sometimes called news hijacking, this practice of following trending news is a great way to cash in on trending topics to attract readers and connections.

What I am NOT advocating is simply writing what everyone else is writing. Your content must still be fresh, original, and useful to your readers. That doesn’t come from parroting the same lines as everyone else. But you can discover trending or popular topics and write about them from your viewpoint, or demonstrate how your business or product can impact the conversation.

There are some great tools available that can make harvesting topics much easier for you. I’ll briefly highlight each one and provide some simple suggestions for how to use them effectively.

Solopreneur Connect

Solopreneur Connect is a great social media listening tool. It can help you listen to conversations that relate to your business or industry niche. You can read conversations on what your target audience needs and their problems. Solopreneur Connect can show you what interests your audience by allowing you to search for relevant keywords in conversations on different social media platforms.

To set up Hootsuite for listening to conversations:

  • Sign in to your Solopreneur Connect account.
  • Click on ‘search.’ You will see an option to setup –  keyword search.
  • Click on ‘Keywords’ and type as many keywords as you want to use. Type in one at a time and click on add after each.
  • You can then add a location if you want to do so.

Solopreneur Connect’s comprehensive social listening tools empower marketers to execute brand monitoring and analyze social data for marketing insights. Gather introspective, contextual insights to topics, hashtags and influencers relative to your mentions to find new and incremental marketing opportunities.

Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is another tool that allows you to know what your audience is currently sharing. For example, I typed “writing” into the tool. The free version only allows users to see what is most popular by shares over the past year. The result was a piece about whether or not to use only one space after sentences from the Washington Post. Since May 2018 it has had 349.9k shares across all platforms. Pretty popular.

The paid membership allows for much more versatility, including what is currently being shared about your chosen keywords, even on each social media platform. It would be worth the cost, considering the other features included, to use this one tool to analyze what is currently being discussed in your industry niche.

Google Alerts

Another tool you can use is the Google alert tool. It is very useful. You can set alerts for your keywords and when such keywords come up, you will receive notifications in your email inbox.

For example, if you are in the writing niche and you want to know what is trending, you can create an alert for it using Google alert like this:

  • Type http://www.google.com/alerts into your browser
  • Log in with your Google account
  • Enter the keywords you want to monitor separated by commas
  • Click on options
  • Select how often you want to receive the alert. (choosing “as it happens” keeps you constantly updated)
  • Select the sources i.e. news, video, blog, etc. (selecting automatic covers all the sources)
  • Select the language, choose the region, and choose the number of results
  • Select the email where your alerts will be delivered
  • Click on create

Pretty soon, you will start receiving alerts in your inbox.

Answer the Public

With Answer the Public you enter the keyword you are interested in and it will return the phrases that actual users are typing into Google and Bing. The how, what, where, when, can, are, etc. If you know exactly what is being searched for you can provide the solutions that are being searched for. It’s perhaps one of the best but most underutilized sources of research for content ideas. Until now…

Now that you have some great tools to help, you can harvest topics and set priorities for writing content that resonates with your audience. This content will drive users to your site, and to your business.

What other audience listening tools do you like to use? Share them in the comments below.

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Time = Gold (and … money = silver) by @SBSLEducSoltns

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by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor

Putting Productivity ahead of Busy-ness in Business

 

“I’m so busy!”

“How are you? How’s business?  Busy!”

 

There are mild variants,  yet, the theme is constant: The individual is … say it with me now …. B-u-s-y.

Since when did our nation’s backbone, entrepreneurs, decide that this status was the end all, be all, in conversation, let alone in practice?

Let’s reframe. First, though, empathy & grace are necessary.

I know: There’s a LOT on your plate;  I’m sure many of these are on your calendar, scribbled on sticky notes, and/or are pop up reminders on your smart device:  Payroll. Review insurance coverage. Talk to the V.A; accountant; and/or financial advisor. Respond to client messages. Etc …

Still, we shouldn’t aspire to busy-ness; when we stop, if merely for a moment & reflect, we realize that as entrepreneurs, we’re solution providers & producers.

Thus, the more we produce, the more pro-ductive we are: it’s productivity which we should strive for, a 1:1 replacement for the ‘busyness’ that is our default answer to so many questions.

Painting a picture to aid in this mindset shift, we revisit the 1st few words …

 

Time = Gold.

 

… and now can move to implement this truth in our business first ( self-leadership ), then, model it for staff + customers, lastly, replicating it to other entrepreneurs in our network.

 

Those who are wise won’t be busy, and those who are too busy can’t be wise.”
― Lin Yutang

Click to Tweet

Lin Yutang #quote

 

 

Precious Metals

 

Gold :  

Time is an irreplaceable asset, just like gold. Gold is finite & very rare: Its value has held firm for thousands of years & once was used regularly in commerce worldwide. Just like there’s always been a 24 hour day, the amount of gold available for mining is constant; fluctuation in the ‘price’ of gold is due to the underlying currencies, just like your productivity ties to how well you lead yourself.

Silver :

Money is a reflection, a flag, which signals how much value you’ve added to the marketplace; your monetized service, product, &/or specialized knowledge is your entrepreneurial bridge b/w problem identified & solution provided. We look to silver now, as its value is also stable, yet it’s more abundant in nature than gold. So, with an abundance mentality x growth mindset, you know you can grow your share of this not fixed pie.

 

 

Two must read books

Without a shred of doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend both. Each has a high ceiling of potential energy which can be tapped to lead to dramatic improvements in your productivity & reduced busy-ness.

 

E-Myth: Revisited

The Fifth Discipline

 

Stephen R. Covey

He passed away over 6 years ago, gone & not forgotten as a pioneer; through his off the charts levels of contribution, we have much to tap into. The 4 quadrants is something to study often, & implement in short order.

 

Covey’s Time Management Matrix, in the written word

Or perhaps you’d learn better from a visual?

 

 

Suggested ‘Twitterverse’ Follows

 

A Helpful Guide to Becoming Unbusy by Joshua Becker

How to Stop Being Busy All the Time from Gus Razzetti

4 Ways to Break Free From Being “Too Busy” penned by Rikki Rogers , culled from The Muse

 

Leverage = Legacy

 

This concept is transformational.  Pulling from the vastness of the internet, here are two marvelous resources. Once you take this small two-step seriously, my advice is to keep going!

 

Kelly Azevedo

Amanda Abella


Systems Thinking?  

 

Its powerful.  In a previous post, you learned all about the power of principled self education.

Here’s a superb opportunity to practice what you read by visiting Donella Meadows ‘s website.

And if you haven’t yet bumped into this infographic, please, I implore you, dive in over the next 24 hours. Your income can become systems driven wealth through active application of this business truism.

 

In my ongoing discovery, I’ve repeatedly shared these maxims with those whom I mentor, in coffee 1:1’s, & elsewhere: Why? They’ve allowed me to run multiple business ventures at the same time, all while making strides towards being productive = gold = time & (more) passive = silver = money.

 

Next steps:

 

 

What can Westminster Abbey teach about implementing this content?!  

 

This inscription, when understood at a deeper level, reflects the ongoing value of lifelong learning.

 

Action Time

 

As with anything you choose to read, listen to, or watch, the truest formula = what you do next, how you proceed, & why?

Reflect, through meditation, prayer, yoga, or in a moment(s) of silence on this post, please, & thank you for reading!

 

In short …

 

  • A producer is productive; a consumer is busy. ‘Busy’ shouldn’t be a status, symbol, or state of being for the wise entrepreneur
  • Time = gold.  Money = silver.  Prioritize your irreplaceable asset;  focus on it and not on money (income, wealth) as #1.
  • Review the links to invest in 2 highly recommended books
  • Covey’s quadrants/matrix is a terrific tool in and by itself
  • Suggested Twitter follows & some of their scholarly tweets. #MustReads
  • Understand systems & leverage in your entrepreneurship education
  • Leadership starts with self

 

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Soft Skills aren’t ‘Soft’ by @SBSLEducSoltns

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by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor

“Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” … and …. soft skills are the breakfast of  winners!

 

Did that subtitled quote ( thank YOU to the late Peter Drucker ) catch your eye?!

Good!

(It was meant to do just that, dear readers.)

 

We now dive into a deep pool …

In truth, an entire online library could conceivably be dedicated to nothing but them!

Thought leaders all across the globe, including many in your LinkedIn network, have spoken of their past experiences, spun stories, & shared wisdom nuggets through books, webinars, podcasts, & even created whole curricula focusing on these immensely valuable skills.

So, we’re just skimming the surface: Becoming self educated, role modeling a better ‘You, Inc.’ to your staff, clientele, & fellow entrepreneurs & revisiting your business culture would each be forward thinking outcomes.

 

Foundational Definitions

 

Soft Skills :  

Please click here , here , & here.

You might already be asking …  Are these the same as people … interpersonal … or life skills?      Yes.

 

Culture :

Excellent articles

1 … 2 … & … 3

 

 

Let’s now briefly discuss the inexorable connection between culture & soft skills in your business(es).

 

Are soft skills a necessary part of a vibrant entrepreneurial [workplace], culture?

 

A great number of signs point to a clear, resounding ‘yes’, since these skills are so often not taught in classrooms in all ‘tracks’ ( K-12, up to & including graduate level studies )

An entrepreneur is likely to become a magnet to others if she offers them as part of ongoing professional development for her staff, regardless of industry. If you’re dealing with confounding challenges that coaching or some other service pro hasn’t yet solved, or, maybe you just seek to expand, laser focus here;  you are onto something BIG.

 

What do others say?

 

Here’s a post well worth reading …

 

And this author comes to a like conclusion.

 

A personal story & opportunity to serve

 

My own entrepreneurial journey wouldn’t be nearly as rich without the visceral impact of these skills on my own ventures.

 

Through the fall of last year, I had the high honor of being a member of a nationwide committee

And, for that same organization, I was asked to be a co-panelist on this webinar.

 

If you’re offered anything similar, what’s commonly known as an influencer, as I was, please, I implore you: take it!

 

Our discourse at networking events, in business dealings with peers, levels of customer service, engagement & satisfaction amongst your staff, decreased turnover:

I truly believe all would benefit positively.

 

A Sampling of @Twitter Thoughts [from across the ‘Twitterverse’]

 

Future Learn

Vala Afshar

Scott Hartley

 

What soft skills should I focus on to improve my business’ culture?   

 

The answers will vary considerably from venture to venture, industry to industry. After all, this field is not barren; it is richly blossoming in content of all kinds which you can surely beta test, or go all in & fully invest your development dollars from the get-go.

 

 

Should I hire, fire, outsource, and/or promote with these skills as the key determinant?

 

Yes.

You can always get someone up to speed on ‘harder’ (read: technical) skills if you have an individual who understands how to prioritize ( time management ); whom has a good attitude;  who can work on any team and contribute; who knows how to resolve a conflict; and whom can build her leadership abilities through influence, vision, & service rather than expecting others to follow a title, or positional authority.

 

What’s the best way to deliver them?    

 

This, too, is flexible.

In a hyper competitive industry (e.g., real estate, insurance, financial services, banking), encouraging your staff, & leaving room in your own day for lifelong learning would be smart. Many of these professions already require ‘CE’ , however, incentivizing ongoing development of soft skills through ‘comp time’, bonuses, etc., will offer you a clear edge. Everyone else is aware of the former, while you also recognize the latter = difference maker.

Finding ways to collaborate with a services professional who offers group facilitation, mentorship, business coaching, or a consultant with focused training program would be a clear win:win.

 

Next steps:

Take action!  The Gig (Sharing/P2P) Economy moves infinitely faster than its predecessor eras. And, expecting that the conventional schooling institutions will begin to offer these skills so you won’t have to invest wouldn’t be advisable.

 

Learn more. If this post & the related links doesn’t yet convince you of their importance, attend a conference, lunch & learn, register for a webinar, or listen to a podcast that discusses professional development.

 

In short …

 

  • Soft skills should be taken very seriously
  • Culture is a foundational necessity.
  • If offered an opportunity to spread the word about soft skills, accept it with a smile
  • Fundamental challenges ( i.e., turnover, satisfaction, engagement ) can be solved at the root
  • Reconsider your standards for hiring, firing, and promoting staff.
  • Delivering soft skills into your culture can be done in numerous ways
  • Don’t stand still

 

________

Thank YOU for reading!

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Do I Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur? By @JamieCheng

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Do I Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur?

“Fear leads to self-doubt which is the worst enemy of creativity.”

David Ogilvy

 

Has the thought of “am I truly made for this entrepreneurial journey” ever visited your mind?

 

Or maybe, you’re like me — you’re more optimistic, and your gut assures you that things will turn out well in the end.

 

You just know it. But…

 

Somehow, things seem to go awry… People whom you trusted to find support from, say things that snuff out your already flickering flame. Inside, you feel like you’ve been stabbed with their words that were blunt enough to cut like a sharp knife.

 

stressed face of a women

 

But here you are, my fellow survivor.

 

“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (not Kanye West)

 

This piece is written with my heart in my hands. If you’re reading this, I promise that you this will change the trajectory that you’re heading for the better.

 

I’m just like you — you’d give up safety for adventure; you’d take risks for things that you see potential in. No matter what phase of an entrepreneur’s journey you’re at right now… Just keep on keeping on. And if need be, take a step back. Trust me, that step could be the very thing you had to do to propel you 10 steps forward.

 

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

 

Listed below are 3 golden keys that successful WOMEN have.

 

1. Being Optimistic

Be Optimistic

Being optimistic might seem “ignorant” or “delusional” to a realist. But studies have shown that optimism is an essential trait to find success. What you believe in, or let yourself believe becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

Hoping to get a confidence boost? Try being a little more optimistic.

 

Sometimes you really just got to let go and jump into the deep.

 

You planned it all out, you’ve done your due diligence and researched what you could… You’re ready to take action!

 

At this moment, I guarantee you that flashes of what’s on the line, doubts on whether it’ll work or not, and a hundred more “what-ifs” are coming. But, just give yourself a second to be a child and let go of all the things that can’t be controlled.

 

2. Being Persistent

be persistent

As much as stepping the path less traveled forces you to grow exponentially, and learn things through painful and unforgettable trial-and-errors, remember to still have faith like a child.

 

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.”

Winston Churchill

 

Know that the lows of life or business are never forever as long as there’s action being taken. Life is that b*tch who is indifferent to how badly hurt you’re going to get from what she throws at you. You have to get up!

 

What does getting back up means?

 

It means having control over your emotions and reminding yourself to establish a growth mindset.

 

NEWS FLASH! Successful women do feel sad, get angry, and probably got lost more times than you and I have. No matter, they still find this drive to just try one more time. They let themselves learn from mistakes and failures instead of staying down on the ground, therefore they have this substance and grit that we all admire.

 

These successful women were persistent.

 

3. Being Confident

Being Confident

You know how we, as ladies, would appreciate a second opinion on whether our shoes match the outfit we’re wearing. Or if this particular top makes us look fat.

 

80% of the time as an entrepreneur, you’re not going to have this privilege. It is not the easiest thing to find someone who truly understands, or who is able to elevate you. Finding assurance within yourself is the key to being confident.

 

If you find that confidence is one thing that you’d like to get better at, I’ve got good news for you! It can be practiced. You don’t have to be naturally confident to be a confident person…

 

Confidence can be practiced.

 

Here are 3 confidence-boosting habits I make myself do:

 

#1: Talk to Yourself Aloud

Talk To Your Self Aloud - Self-talk

A form of introspection… When you become more self-aware and when you focus on your strengths, you’ll become someone whom you never thought you could be (in a good way).

Use a mirror, a spoon, or take a video recording of yourself. Speak out loud what’s troubling you and then, lay out the solutions you think could work. Choose your action plan and tell yourself what you’d tell someone else who’s facing the same situation as you.

Practicing speaking out loud in confidence solidifies positive thinking about yourself.

 

#2: Present to Others Like You Know What You’re Doing

Present to Others Like You Know What You're Doing

People trust confidence. It’s a given.

When you practice talking to your family, friends, or prospects, you’ll only get better and more comfortable at it. Whatever doubts that you have in mind, understand that only you are aware of it.

You don’t have to know everything, you just need to know what’s needed (for now).

Start presenting like you know what you’re doing.

 

#3: Let Your Yes be Yes and No be No

Aim to not be so easily swayed by someone else’s opinion. It might be from someone close and important to you, however, confidence comes from liberation from these fragments of several people’s opinions.

Ultimately, it comes back to what you think and what you’re going to do about it.

 

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

With these 3 golden keys, as well as the 3 habits to grow your confidence…

I’ll give you my vote — I say yes, you do!

 

To be insanely honest, strategies that you’re seeking to find success are useless until you’ve mustered enough courage to JUST TRY.

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The Blog Features You Need to Have To Increase Traffic by @dailydream360

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by Sharon Mendelaoui | Featured Contributor 

I am amazed at how many bloggers and website owners have not set up simple things on their website which help with increasing site traffic and exposure. I’m not talking about doing an SEO overhaul here, but straightforward stuff like adding sharing buttons to your posts. If you have added a sharing button, have you ever clicked on it to see if it is working correctly? In this post, I take a look at some essential elements every website or blog should have to increase traffic.

Necessary Information and Ease of Navigation

The ease of getting around your website is the number one thing you should be analyzing. Remember people don’t always come to your site from your homepage. In fact, more often than not, people are searching for something particular and entering your site from a post they found in Google, a pin they saw on Pinterest or a social media post they read.

Look at your site homepage and one inside post and see if it has:

  • Links to your social media channels
  • Easy to find contact link to the contact page
  • Clear about you information or a link to your about page
  • Easy categories and menu navigation to get around your site

Putting these items in your main menus or in widgets on your sidebar are the best way to ensure that no matter which post or page people come to they can get around your site easily.

Social Media Sharing Buttons

Why You Need Them?

The number one reason is you want to encourage people to share your post on their social media channels. The more people that see the link to your post the more opportunities you have that they will click on that link and visit you.

Make Sure They Are Set Up Properly

It amazes me that when I go to share someone’s post on social media using one of their blog sharing buttons that they don’t have them set up properly. It is one thing to allow people to share your posts but if they don’t tag or mention you in that share well you lose the ability to show your reach on that social media channel.

The most common error I see is when I go to tweet something I read. It shares the tweet but it does not include a “via @yoursocialhandle” mention in the tweet. How will you know that someone tweeted your post? How will you engage that person on Twitter if you don’t get a notification they shared your post. This is a missed opportunity.

The second error is that the link does not shorten. Make sure that your social sharing buttons allow for using Bitly or another way to shorten your link. Otherwise, just your tweet e a long ugly URL to the post. Not something people will want to share.

If your social sharing plug-in or theme’s feature doesn’t allow you to add these two elements – find one that does so that you can ensure to act on a tweet or share if it happens.

Pin Images in Your Post

I have already talked about why you need to be using Pinterest for your blog or business in this post. Having a pinnable image in each post on your blog is paramount to using Pinterest to increase traffic. For one it will make you pin that image to your own boards and increase the chance that your Pin will be pinned by other people. The result is another opportunity to bring people back to your own website.

Adding a pin button to your horizontal images or a pin share button at the top and bottom of your post is not enough. You actually have to create a long vertical image with a 2:3 ratio or approximately 600 x 900 pixels. Don’t try to make them extra long as Pinterest is now cropping long images that go beyond the 2:3 ratio.

Ask Someone to Review Your Site

Sometimes we are blind to the most common things on our own websites. Ask a friend to take a look at your site, to share your posts and really dig deep into your site’s features. You can also hire people to do a detailed site review where they can help you see how a stranger interacts on your site. Site reviews don’t have to be expensive and can really help give your site a leg up on the competition. Contact me here if you are interested in a site review or audit for some graphic tips, feature suggestions or general feedback on your site.

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9 Simple Sure Fired Blog Secrets To Guarantee New Fans by @XLConsultingGro

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9 Simple Sure Fired Blog Secrets To Guarantee New Fans

by Elaine Slatter | Featured Contributor

Engaging new fans to love what you say and keep them loyal to your brand isn’t really that secret!  Just follow our 9 simple rules of engagement and you can shine online. Check out our 9 simple blog secrets to guarantee new fans.

Pick A Catchy Headline

What makes a headline ‘pop’? There are several free sites that can analyze your blog headline to determine the best scoring headline.   Hubspot’s blog article gives you many ideas on how to write a catchy headline.

Try Using a mixture of the following

  • Common Words
  • Uncommon Words
  • Emotional Words
  • Powerful Words

Pictures and Videos

Attention spans have been reduced to just a few seconds.  Nothing engages faster than pictures and videos. Make sure these are at the top of your blog.  If you don’t have a budget for video, use your pictures to make a video story using the free Lumen 5 software.  In 30 minutes or less you can produce your own video, post it on your blog and your YouTube channel.

Podcasts

Showcase your authority by interviewing guests on your own podcast show.  Software such as SoundCloud makes it easy to upload your podcast and use for different purposes and gain a new group of fans who like to be inspired while driving, shopping or working out.

Be Active and Consistent

A blog once a year doesn’t gain you new fans, but actively developing content on a regular basis (at least once a month) will help you get out in front of an audience that is hungry for your magic.

Be Honest and Vulnerable

Your readers will connect better with you if show vulnerability.  That doesn’t mean you have to pour your heart out with every post, but sharing some downs as well as your ups, will make you seem more real.  It’s closer to everyday life.  It helps your readers to know that your life is relatable to theirs.  We aren’t all movie stars!  Share your doubts, too.

Be Authentic

We all have different personalities, but being “you” is what’s important.  No-one can write like YOU.  Our voices are all different.  Make sure your true, authentic voice is what is your followers will hear.  They will detect anything less than sincere.

Two-way Communication

In today’s world customers are looking for an “experience”.  Disney and Apple are always wowing their customers, and you can do the same.  Listen to your tribe, what questions do they have, how can you deliver a better experience?  Do you wrap your arms around them and deliver everything they could wish for before they even know they need it?  That’s what Disney and Apple do!  Your blog can do that too.

Be Helpful

If you have developed a two-way communication with your readers, then you are in the best position to be helpful.  But first you have to know how to help, so put out questions in your facebook group so you can answer the pain points in your blog.  If you have examples, so much the better as we all relate to someone else’s journey.

Story Telling

To sum up, everything you write is a story, it has a beginning, a middle and an end.  Your blog needs a structure that your readers can follow and genuinely enjoy.  If you can find the emotional connection, then you have followers for life.

It’s simple, write often, write from your heart, write to engage and watch the results.

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What GDPR entails for bloggers, even outside Europe by @lexanesirac

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by Lexane Sirac | Featured Contributor

GDPR is short for General Data Protection Regulation, and it’s a big thing coming to the European Union on May 25th, 2018.

Now, don’t log off immediately, non-European friends – this affects you too. Any website owner can be sued by European people who visit it. The only way that you would not be affected by GDPR rules is if you make your website closed to anyone in Europe.

Which probably won’t happen.

This post is not legal advice in any way – it’s just a breakdown of the main consequences of GDPR on bloggers, without the corporate jargon. You can read the whole regulation online.

Old key and laptop

At the heart of GDPR: no more automatic opt-ins

Do you use a premium content strategy in order to harvest email addresses? Or, very simply, a newsletter subscription form?

You still can, but you should be careful with the way you present your form. Many bloggers currently think that someone who gives them their email address is okay with getting emails afterwards. Others have added a pre-checked box, that people can uncheck. That’s better, but we’re still not there.

The law says there must be explicit consent to sign up: basically, you are going to need to add this checkbox and leave it empty so nobody can sign up by mistake.

This means it might be harder to get email subscribers, but you can look at the bright side too:

  • Fewer unsubscribes: people actually choose to be there, so it’s likely that they will want to stay subscribed
  • No more fake addresses
  • No more emails sent to low-quality contacts that will never become leads: they just won’t sign up

No more moving people between mailing lists

Let’s say you have a career advice newsletter.

If you launch a personal finance newsletter on the side, you can’t add people to it automatically – even if you’re sure that they will love it, they didn’t ask for it. You need to send them an email as part of the career advice newsletter, telling them about the personal finance newsletter and including a nice call-to-action so they sign up.

Again, this regulation is there so people won’t get subscribed to newsletters they won’t care about: make the most of it. Your contact database will be smaller, but your engagement will soar!

Cybercrime Abstract Concept

No more hiding data breaches

This shouldn’t happen anyway, but if you have an issue with your data, then you will need to tell your subscribers in under 72 hours. If your MailChimp (or any other email automation tool) account gets hacked, for instance, people need to know that they address may have been compromised. Let’s just hope that never happens to you!

Really, the whole opt-in regulations and mailing lists constraints are at the heart of the GDPR, for bloggers at least. Larger companies have a whole lot of data protection requirements, but since we generally don’t have to worry about those ourselves and leave it to our service providers, it’s all pretty simple for us.

Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to not follow the rules we do have to follow. You have until May, but better get started now so you can finetune everything before then!

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Network with bloggers the right way by @_lauramclo

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by Laura McLoughlin | Featured Contributor 

If you are doing marketing for your business, you will no doubt have considered influencer marketing. This entails partnering with a blogger, vlogger or some other kind of digital star to create content to promote your business in a way which benefits both parties. The problems with this come in when well-intentioned business owners and marketing professionals go about contacting bloggers all the wrong ways.

To help you skip this painful learning process, and get you on the right track for harmonious blogger relations, I’ve collected my top tips for any time you are outreaching to a blogger you would like to work with.

Engage with them.

Get to know your influencers, especially if you are in a relatively small, niche market. You should take the time to follow them on social media, and like their posts from time to read. Read their articles, congratulate them on their milestones, respond to them when they are searching for comments or help. Not only will you have blossoming friendships within the industry, but you will better know a blogger’s interests when it comes to contacting them about working with you and your company.

Understand that they are people. Busy people.

Don’t follow up with them six times a day. Don’t follow up six times, in general.

Many bloggers maintain their websites in their downtime, and have to find a way to balance it with a full-time job. Therefore, if you have sent an email to a blogger, give them sufficient time to respond to you, and only follow up multiple times if you think there is a chance that there has been a technical error or they could have genuinely missed your emails.  Emails sent around Christmas, holiday time, and other busy periods can easily be snowed under, after all, but if after your initial pitch and one or two gentle follow ups you still haven’t heard back, draw a line under it.

Treat them professionally.

You would never walk into a meeting and say hello to “XXX” and then proceed to deliver a presentation on a topic of zero relevance to your listeners, so don’t subject bloggers to it over email.

Call them by name, and take the time to actually research what they do. This research should not just be a quick scan of the site to tick a box, but rather to work out if they are part of a specific niche, such as LGBT weddings within the topic of wedding blogging or vegan living within the topic of food blogging, or have a particular style. You may find your press release really doesn’t suit a light music blog with a taste for the silly, and that it would find a better home with a more somber reviews website.

And when everything is said and done, thank them.

Respect their boundaries.

If they don’t accept guest posts or contributions, don’t push them. If they don’t link to companies and brands as a rule, accept that. Nothing turns off a blogger faster than a pushy PR person, so respect where they draw their lines and respond to their refusal politely.

If a blogger does want to work with you, great! But that doesn’t mean that all the fences are down. You still need to allow a blogger to have creative control over their blog and content, and only intervene if you feel that what they are doing is not fit for purpose. They know their audience best, after all, and will know the right way to communicate to them why your company or campaign is important.

The main thing to remember when conducting influencer marketing is that the influencers you’re emailing and messaging on social media are people – smart people. Digitally savvy and business minded, successful bloggers have set themselves apart from the rest of us normal folk who can just about set up a WordPress account. They are a one-man-army and deserve to be called by name and spoken to as you would any professional under a big brand name.

As long as you keep that in mind, you shouldn’t have any problems.

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How To Create Interesting Content Ideas That Convert by @XLConsultingGro

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by Elaine Slatter | Featured Contributor

Marketing your business means developing lots of valuable content.  To create interesting content can be very time-consuming. There are lots of ways to create content and then repurpose the content into different formats.  You can re-engage your audience in multiple ways with a minimal amount of work.  Here are some ideas to help you.

10 Easy Ways To Create Interesting Content To Convert Fans

  1. Write posts that present a problem(s) and then offer solutions. Make it personal by using your own experience to expand on the problem or solution. Adding the personal touch helps with the “trust” factor and also brings you closer to your audience who now find you relatable.
  2. create a free e-book from your blog series that you give-away as a reward for signing up for your newsletter. If you have written a book, you can pick snippets to turn into an e-book.  The Designrr software can create your ebook in minutes with a minimum of effort.  On the flip side, you can turn your blog series into a book if the blogs follow a central theme.
  3. Start a facebook group around the subject of your business ie “Healthy Lifestyle”, “Everything Yoga”, “Biz Mastermind”, “Young Moms of xxxxx city”. You can do lots of things in your facebook group, ie advertise, hold a facebook live event, hold a facebook online party etc.
  4. Ask questions of your tribe in your blog or facebook group, because people want to have their say and know their opinions count. You can create a poll which adds variety.  If your questions result in lots of engagement, intuitively this is content people are interested in.  This can lead you into many different content directions.
  5. Take your blog content and create videos to repurpose the blog ideas. You can invite others to join you which switches up the point of view.
  6. Interview influencers in your area of business for their expertise, which will amplify you. You can find influencers on facebook, twitter and/or LinkedIn.  You will be surprised how helpful influencers can be even if you aren’t well known.
  7. Curate a weekly paper on a platform such as paper.li . The amount of work you have to do to create the fresh content and layout will be practically nil. All you will have to do is share it. All you do is plug in the topics to create the paper and the rest is done for you.
  8. Use fantastic free tools to create graphics to illustrate your content, whether it’s pictures, suggestions, infographics etc. Tools I can’t do without are Canva and PromoRepublic.  In less than 5 minutes, using pre-assembled graphics, you can visually ‘wow’ your readers.
  9. Create lists on a particular topic to help guide people through the content and make it easy to read and digest. Including outbound links for further reading makes it even more valuable.
  10. Podcasts are a great addition to videos as a marketing tool.  You can produce your own podcasts using the free version of the software, Zoom and then upload the podcasts to Soundcloud and then share the podcasts to your own blog. An easy way to create podcasts is to interview guests experts who have something to say on interesting topics that are relevant to your brand.

Do you have innovative content suggestions that could help women entrepreneurs? We would love to hear from you.

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Want to Start a Blog or Online Business? These Essential Tools Will Help by @TheLadyinRead

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by Meghan Bliss | Featured Contributor 

Starting a blog or online business can be one of the best, most sustainable ways to make a living. With so many potential avenues to follow, it can be easy to diversify your income as blogger or online business owner. This can mean a boost in your current income as well as your savings, making debt repayment and retirement a possibility.

But just because it’s a great option doesn’t mean it’ll be simple right off the bat. In fact, starting a blog or founding an online business can be confusing, especially if you have no idea where to start or how to succeed. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to new bloggers and online business owners that make work (and life!) much smoother and easier to handle.

You’ll want to start by choosing the right web hosting platform for your website or blog. While there are multiple options out there to suit professional and hobby bloggers alike, most professionals choose to use WordPress along with a reputable web hosting company. (Here’s what I used.)

Online business owners often go this route too, although there are other website-building options that are a little more user-friendly for those who don’t consider themselves technologically savvy. Of course, it’s best to research each option before deciding which one best suits your blog, business, and ultimate goal.

Once your website is live, you can develop the details, such as creating consistent branding, building an email list, and using social media to advertise your products or services.

Want to Start a Blog or Online Business? These Essential Tools Will Help

Here are a few essentials to help you along the way:

An ecommerce platform. If you’re selling goods online or in person, you’ll need a point of sale system for your transactions. For instance, Shopify POS is an excellent tool for business owners who don’t always operate out of a brick and mortar establishment. This tool allows you to accept credit card payments online and in person while keeping inventory centralized.

An email service provider. As soon as your blog or website is up and running, you’ll want to start collecting the email addresses of potential customers who want to know more about your products and services. MailChimp and Aweber are a couple of examples, but there are plenty of others to choose from, so do some research to find the right fit for you. Offer a free product, such as a digital download, to everyone who joins your mailing list. One of the most valuable aspects of building a mailing list is knowing that when you send emails, updates, and other information, you’re sending it to people who are interested in and will likely purchase what you have to offer.

Social media scheduling. Effective promotion is key for businesses, bloggers, and creatives who need to get eyes on their products. Though there are tons of ways to advertise, social media is one of the easiest and most affordable. Of course, it can also be one of the most time-consuming. That’s why social media scheduling apps are so important. They allow easy, affordable scheduling so you don’t have to spend hours a day pinning, tweeting, and posting.

Branding and graphics tools. Most marketing experts will tell you that branding is about so much more than visuals. It’s also about building a voice and garnering trust, among other things. However, consistent graphics benefit every blogger and business owner because it builds recognition, which is highly valuable. There are plenty of free stock photo websites (try Burst) and design tools (like PicMonkey and Canva) to help you build a recognizable brand.

Plenty of bloggers and business owners run online businesses on the side while working full-time jobs. Of course, building a highly successful website will take time, effort, and persistence. Fortunately, there are tons of great resources to help you get started, and tools like this make it simpler to do both.

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