Learn powerful and proven direct response marketing strategies that will help you grow your business fast.
What Is A Marketing Asset? The 10 Best Marketing Assets You Need
If you take an idiot and you motivate him, all you have is a motivated idiot! Here's why personal development matters in business.
Why does your company need to be building marketing assets? It's a question I often get asked by rookie entrepreneurs. Here's what these startup owners don't get: if you don’t own marketing assets, you are the asset.
But what do I mean by this?
You're an asset if you’ve got to put in the time, money, and effort to generate leads and build your business. Now that's okay in your startup phase when you're fresh and eager to tackle every facet of your business. But it's not sustainable.
What happens when you want to double your revenue? You have to double the hours you work in a day. And if you don’t want to use your time to increase your revenue, you need marketing assets.
So what is a marketing asset, and how can it help your sales team sell your product or service more often?
In this article, I will explain the benefits of assets and the type of marketing assets you need to be building in order to grow your brand and customer base.
Marketing assets are the tools and resources you use to attract leads, build relationships, and make sales. Marketing assets include social media accounts, white papers, blog content, case studies, videos, published articles, industry reports, brochures, online ads, data, ebooks, digital campaigns, your CRM, and CMS.
You want to treat your marketing assets like employees, except they never need time off. They work while you sleep, but that doesn't mean you should build them once, and that's it. Each asset needs to be assigned a KPI. Then you need to routinely check in to see how your marketing assets are performing.
Marketing assets can be divided into internal and external assets.
Internal marketing assets are company assets or processes that are strictly for internal use by team members. You'd have your typical marketing collateral like business cards (check out free business card template here), letterheads, sell sheets, interactive brochures, support procedures, etc. It could be a management guide or a client onboarding process. These are the standard operating procedures or gold standards for how you do business.
For example, you could have an asset specifically designed to educate and inform your sales team about the benefits of your products or services so they can better assist potential customers.
These are the marketing assets your brand uses to attract potential customers. For example, your company's marketing asset material could encompass a lead magnet, landing page, ultimate guide, report, blog article, marketing campaign, whatever.
These assets target your customer's pain points. They solve a problem and establish you as a credible source—an authority they can trust to help them get a result. It gets prospects to raise their hands and indicate interest in your company's services or products.
More importantly, assets drive action, and if you've set up your analytics, you can track exactly where that opt-in or sale originated.
Apart from the obvious—which is they free up your time—marketing assets build trust. Most potential customers don't trust you. They've been duped by brand after brand looking to make a quick sale, so they're naturally skeptical.
Your assets position you as an authority, someone they can trust to educate, entertain, and put their best interests first. That's powerful. A good asset makes the sales process so much easier because you're not overcoming objections all of the time.
You're giving your prospect free advice you'd normally charge for—helping them get results before using your product or service. Now that's a powerful strategy for scaling your business.
Whether you're managing the marketing for a large corporation or you're a startup, you need to be building assets. Marketers will tell you that marketing assets are no different from financial assets.
If you nurture and monitor these assets closely, making vital changes when necessary, they will deliver massive returns for your company. These are just a few assets you want to think about adding to your marketing mix.
Like it or not, social media marketing is here to stay, and your clients are active on it right this very minute. So you need to make a concerted effort to build your social media assets.
But don't just jump on any social media network. Be strategic about it.
Are your customers actively engaging on the networks you're targeting? If you don't know, you need to be speaking with your existing customer base and investing time and energy in market research. It's a great way to identify which social media channels your customers love to hang out on.
For example, as a business-to-business (B2B) brand, I know my customers are active on social sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. So those are three social media channels I need to invest my marketing efforts in.
But it's not just about showing up. You need to create content your potential customers want to engage with, and it needs to be channel appropriate.
So whatever social media channel you choose, make sure you're creating valuable and relevant content.
Also, using AI shorts maker can significantly enhance your video content creation, enabling you to produce engaging and high-quality shorts effortlessly for platforms like YouTube and TikTok. This tool is a game-changer for marketers looking to quickly adapt and share trending content.
PLUS, don't forget to focus on building relationships. Your social media audience values relationships.
Which social media assets should you be building?
Your company's website is one of your greatest digital marketing assets. If anything, it's one of the first marketing assets you need to build because it will drive your inbound strategy. I wrote a blog about that here.
The entire purpose of my company’s website is to capture high-value leads.
Almost every web page includes a call-to-action. It could be a link to opt-in to my email newsletter or download a piece of content like worksheets, how-to guides, or infographics. It could also be a redirect to a sales page or some other related article that my readers would be interested in checking out.
Having my website and using cookies allows me to track where leads originate. Did this customer come from social media, a podcast, Amazon, an affiliate link, or one of my campaign ads?
This gives me invaluable insight into my customers and the management of my assets.
So make sure you include digital marketing in your marketing strategy and invest in a lead-generating website. It's money well spent.
Every business process needs to be mapped out. Your team needs to know what to do at every stage of a campaign, customer service, sales process, team management, employee onboarding, and much more. These processes make scaling your business and delivering a consistent experience simple.
And consistency is key to customer retention. If they never know what to expect, you'll dramatically reduce your customer lifetime value. Creating your systems doesn't need to be hard. I go into detail on how to build a world-class business system here.
Just know that your system needs to include:
Remember, systems are valuable to you, the owner, your management team and employees, customers, and investors. It's IP they're willing to spend millions of dollars on to own.
Another marketing asset you need to add is video. About a year ago, I hired a fitness trainer to help me get in shape and, more importantly, instill healthy habits. Now my fitness trainer lives on the other side of the world. Right?
Doesn’t matter. We connect via video regularly. He checks my form. We discuss how I’m doing on the nutritional plan, all of that sort of stuff. It's all done online through video.
And as 85% of internet users watch video content monthly, you need to be using it to create content and disseminate your company's messaging.
But you can also use video creatively. It can be used for more than just marketing campaigns. For example, I use video to:
But I've also seen companies create video brochures, which I think look super slick.
Best of all, you don’t need a high-tech camera or lighting and sound system. Not initially. You need your phone. So if you want to be seen as an authority in your industry, you need to add video content to your list of marketing materials.
Cornerstone content is any piece of content that you use to build your brand authority and get prospects to self-identify. It could be a checklist, how-to guide, template, framework, report, or ebook. It's a free asset that prospects will barter their contact details for to acquire.
White papers, reports, case studies, free trials (software), and ebooks are some of the most popular cornerstone content your company can have.
Mine is a bestselling book, The 1-Page Marketing Plan and my 1PMP framework. Every company needs to include cornerstone content as a major part of its marketing strategy. It's an asset that will bring in leads year after year. It's also a great way to get featured in magazines, on podcasts, blogs, whatever.
Read this blog to learn more about how to create cornerstone content.
Every company needs to invest in content marketing and every website needs a blog. It's just one of those marketing assets you need. But writing articles for the sake of creating content is a waste of your time.
Your blog posts need to be search engine optimized (SEO) and human-friendly. So many companies get this wrong. As much as you want to write for search engines, people will be reading your articles at the end of the day. If it's poorly written and keyword-stuffed, your target audience will bounce.
I've written blogs that, almost a decade later, still bring in new leads every month. Sure, I've had to optimize and update them slightly, but apart from that, I've invested very little time and energy into these key posts.
I go into detail about how to craft articles that rank, but here's a quick summary.
Your blog post needs to include:
It also needs to be relevant, deliver value, create interest, and help the reader get a result. And again, consistency is key. Your brand needs to be posting new blogs at least once a month.
If you need help optimizing your blog, check out Page Optimizer Pro. I’ve used this tool to optimize many of my blog articles and they rank as a result. You’ll get a report that looks a little something like this.
Now you just need to add in the missing keywords. It’s that easy.
You want to think of your email list as an asset that gets more valuable over time. If you do it right, your audience comes to know you, like you, and trust you more over time...and some of them will want to do business with you.
But to build this marketing asset, you need to create trust, provide value, and most importantly, give more than you take. Because as soon as someone feels like all you do is take, they'll opt-out or ignore you.
So let’s put yourself in their shoes.
After a bit of googling, someone arrives on your website and sees something they need. Maybe it's a checklist, framework, how-to guide, free trial, whatever.
They know this could be the solution to their problem, BUT they've been down this road before. In the past, they've signed up for freebies only to be bombarded by endless promotions.
They're hesitant, cautious, and skeptical about opening up their inbox to you.
So be different.
As they begin to read your email, they're looking for the same red flags as before. But you know better. Instead of hitting them with a hard sell, you offer them value, entertainment, opinion, and education.
Remember, you want to build an asset rather than destroy trust. And, of course, when the time is right for them, you'll be the person they trust to take the relationship further and potentially become your client. If you'd like to learn more about building an email asset, check out this article.
Consistency.
I've mentioned this before, and I'll mention it again. Every marketing asset you create needs to be consistent in the type of images you use, the tone of voice, messaging style, font, colors, etc. Getting this right requires management, or more importantly, a brand style guide.
A good brand style guide will include your logo and how to use it. For example, how much white space to leave around the logo, when to use a plain white logo and when to use the full-color version.
It'll also detail your company's visual direction—the images that are appropriate for your brand and look/feel you want to convey in your marketing campaigns.
It'll list your brand font, as well as the font size and color for headlines, subheadings, headers, hyperlinks, bold text, body copy.
Here's an example of a brand style guide that you can use when building your own brand.
Without a marketing strategy, you just have tactics (ads, social media posts, landing pages). Essentially, you have a campaign without any goal or direction. And randomly investing in marketing without a roadmap is a recipe for disaster or a chance to blow a ton of money.
Now, if you don't want to do that, you need a plan.
Think of your marketing strategy as the foundation for everything you do in business. It outlines:
This plan is crucial to the success of your marketing. If you need a fillable template, get it below:
If you're looking to get into coaching or build your personal brand, you need an ebook. Practically every mentor or consultant I deal with has written an ebook.
For me, an ebook is the ultimate business card and introduction to who you are, what you do, and why you're the right choice.
I've sold over 500,000 copies of my ebook. And through it, I've built an engaged email list, been invited to speak at conferences all over the world, been interviewed on podcasts and radio shows, and landed many clients.
Having read my book, they’re already familiar with my methodology and my background. I've established credibility upfront, and I've built trust.
Most clients come to me asking to be coached. I don't have to go out hunting for them, and that's a far better way to do business.
I share tips on how to write your book here.
Remember, it's not just about creating marketing assets. The management of these assets is equally important. Just like your employees, you need to track their performance. Are they doing what you need them to do? And the only way to be sure is to know your data.
For example, there was a time I discovered that I didn't have a lead generation problem. I had a conversion problem. So, I had my management team go through every email, sales page, and our entire sales process to optimize.
I wouldn't have known what to prioritize without a clear view of the data (and an iron-tight infrastructure that would allow for it).
Start building your social presence. Invest in SEO and digital marketing. And good luck as you build your marketing assets.
DAD Method: 3 Simple Steps to Get Different & Get Noticed with Mike Michalowicz
The old cliché, "time is money" applies differently to entrepreneurs. We examine exactly how to use your time to make more money in your business.
If you want powerful, effective marketing, you need to stand out. If you don’t, you’re going to lose opportunities. It’s that simple.
Building my first two businesses taught me that the only way to get in front of the people who need you is to master marketing, and that has nothing to do with mastering an actual marketing plan. Your marketing plan is just fiction if you can’t get prospects’ attention in the first place.
Our fear of standing out is the number one reason why we struggle to get noticed. People lose the game of marketing because they play by the rules—rules that don’t even exist.
If you’re looking to nail your marketing strategies, you must be different. Human minds are designed to ignore what’s common and filter out the static. It’s not a new phenomenon.
It dates back to the evolution of man. It's hardwired into our minds. The hunter mind was efficiently designed to filter out all of the common noise in order to notice the thing that stood out that could serve them. While we have certainly evolved since then, we still operate this way.
When your audience sees your marketing, they’re going through these mental calculations within seconds:
For your marketing to be successful, your prospects need to be guided fast.
According to Time Magazine, the average website holds visitors’ attention for a mere fifteen seconds. Instagram reports people spend less than ten seconds on a post. And what about more tactile marketing? I’ll bet you riffle through your junk mail at warp speed.
If you market just like everyone else, you’re going to blend into that white noise. I should know, I’ve been there.
When my marketing wasn’t delivering the results I wanted, I started to research more of the psychology of marketing and eventually developed The DAD Method. It’s a fast, 3 step process to get noticed and move your prospects to take action immediately. And I'm going to walk you through exactly how to to that.
This first step in the framework is to identify a marketing approach that stands out in a sea of sameness. You need it to be clear and somewhat disruptive to get attention. What will make your prospect’s minds stop and look? How can you engage them during those milliseconds of marketing?
One place to begin is whatever idea you have, elevate it. If you are sending something, be it swag or a digital download, call it something clever that stands out and represents you at the same time. For instance, if you were sending a hat, you could call it a thinking cap. Little moves like this make you stand out from the rest.
Getting different starts at the micro-level. You don’t have to come up with a huge, time-consuming marketing plan right off the bat. Make small changes to logos, copy, ads, and videos. Use those as a beta test to see what’s converting for you.
Next, ensure that your approach will appeal to the people you want to serve, not turn them off. How will you establish your marketing as an opportunity they will consider, instead of a threat they will avoid? Make how you are attracting works for who your community is. Remember, you only have a millisecond.
Finally, your strategy must compel your ideal prospects to take a specific action you desire. Now that you have the prospect’s attention and they are engaged, you need to tell them what the heck to do. Marketing guru Jeff Walker says that marketing is every step you take to get the customer to the buying decision, and the sale is the final action on their decision to buy. So your clear, singular directive should get them to the next step.
Does the prospect see the reward of doing what you ask as greater than the risk of taking that action? And will their compliance with your directive help you achieve your marketing goals? Forgetting to include a specific call to action is one of the most common marketing mistakes I’ve seen (and done).
Along with being specific, the Direct step must be reasonable. Maybe my marketing win is to sell you a house, but, once I have your attention, I wouldn’t immediately ask you to plop down a million bucks on the spot. It’s way too much, way too soon, and unreasonable. An excessive ask will cause prospects to walk (or run) away.
Conversely, inadequate asks will slow down (or stop) any progress toward the outcome you want. Once I catch your attention with uniqueness and maintain it with relevance, the Direct step must be specific so you know what to do, and reasonable, so you feel safe doing it and you move efficiently toward your goal.
To sum up the DAD: Get different to get noticed in a way that attracts your ideal prospects and directs them to act. That’s it. That’s the framework. It’s simple, yet powerful. When you follow it, you will land new prospects. Every. Single. Time.
Better isn’t better, different is better. So get different.
How To Generate Over $50K A Month in Coaching Revenue
Take control of technology and email to improve your business productivity.
If I had to do it all over again, and I could choose any business, I’d choose to be a marketing business coach. Coaching is one of the most rewarding careers. You get to spend your days helping people achieve success in their business or life. And your earning potential is limitless.
Did I mention that it doesn’t feel like a job? It feels like a vacation.
But getting to this point has not been without its challenges. I’ve made many mistakes and lost clients as a result. I’ve taken on the wrong clients. I’ve wasted time on coaching programs that didn’t work and didn’t feed my soul.
It’s really only been in the last two years that my team and I have refined our coaching program to the six-figure business it is today. And I’ve decided to share our process with you, because I want you to succeed. I want your coaching clients to get the best out of their sessions with you.
So let’s get into the five ways I bring in over $50K a month in coaching revenue.
If you want to convert more people to customers, you need to be having more conversations more regularly because conversations lead to conversions.
Through conversation you’re able to identify problems early, answer your prospects' questions, and overcome objections. Then you can use this information to deliver a world-class experience. Here’s what you need to know.
Whether you like it or not you need to be on social media. But make sure you choose a social network that your clients are active on. My team monitors social media chatter. They post a ton of value-add content and they engage with people all the time.
Anyone who expresses interest in my coaching program or who looks like a good fit is loaded into my PipeDrive Coaching Lead Board. But first, my team will check to see if this person is legitimate. Basically, we want to know:
While we’ve coached entrepreneurs from all walks of life, we do have a sweet spot. For example, most of my coaching clients are in eCommerce, tech, medicine or dentistry, and law. These are clients that we know we can get results for, and quickly.
Someone who’s an artist wouldn’t be a good fit. We don’t really know that industry, and it would be a lot more work for me and my team.
So knowing whom you work best with is important. If you need help identifying which media channels your target audience is active on, read this blog on market segmentation and finding your target audience.
In the past, most of my coaching clients have come through my email list and word-of-mouth. We’ve had a few that had heard me on a podcast or had read about me in the news, but generally these are individuals who had bought my book, read it, joined my mailing list, and eventually asked to be coached.
SEO has changed that. I started writing blogs detailing the benefits of coaching, the difference between group and individual coaching, and how to build your coaching business, and it led to an influx of new coaching leads.
So creating educational content has been super helpful in attracting more high-value leads. But I don’t just write the blog. I added a bonus worksheet which readers can download. In exchange I ask for their email address.
Anyone who opts-in or completes the coaching form is funneled into my PipeDrive Coaching Leads Board, and someone in my team will be in touch to continue the conversation.
For me, email support is vital. I constantly get emails from people on my list saying I can’t believe you’re actually responding. Email delivers 40x the return of any other advertising media—make sure you’re using it properly.
You might not close a sale the first time you interact with a prospect. Or the second or third, But if they fall within your target audience, and you nurture that relationship, they may eventually commit.
If you don’t have time to monitor your mail, get a virtual assistant to do it. My communications manager monitors my inbox. She’ll identify potential coaching leads and flag these for my sales director, to follow up with. We’ve connected Ontraport to Pipedrive, so by adding a tag, the information and the email chain is automatically captured.
Claire can then see the conversation chain and set up a call.
Are you using email to its maximum potential? Learn all the tricks of the trade by clicking the link.
Following up is key to closing more sales. You need to build a relationship. Demonstrate your abilities and win their trust. Otherwise, it’s unlikely they’ll commit.
So once we’ve identified a coaching lead, their details and all past conversations are loaded into our PipeDrive Leads Board which looks a little something like this screenshot below. Before we created this pipeline, my team had everything on an Excel spreadsheet.
Now, we can see who are new leads, who’s been responded to, if a call is scheduled, if someone has said yes to coaching and has paid.
So, at a glance, she knows whom to reach out to, whom to follow up with, and when to move on. And it’s quick and easy to shift someone from lead in, to response sent, or call scheduled.
Without this board, we wouldn’t know how often we’ve engaged with a lead, and where they are in the buyer’s cycle. We wouldn’t be able to see the entire conversation chain at a glance. In the past, this led to confusion, unhappy prospects, and high churn rates.
Now, everything is clearly mapped out. It’s clear who is responsible for each step. So really, it’s changed the way we shortlist coaching leads, and of course, it’s increased our conversion rate.
It’s something I’d really encourage you to add if you’re thinking about starting or building your coaching business. Having a pipeline of prospects and knowing where they are in the buyer's journey is vital.
This is the final step before converting a prospect into a customer. By now, we’ve done our due diligence. We’ve gone through our PipeDrive Template for incoming leads and the action items we need to take.
My team knows who falls into our coaching lane and whether they can afford us. They’ve responded to our emails.
All that’s left to do is to set up a discovery call.
Having that system in place saves you time and money. You’re still going to get a few people who either can’t afford you or aren’t the right fit for your coaching, but it will be far less than if you weren’t using this system.
Your first interaction with a potential coaching client sets the tone for the entire relationship. That’s why it’s so important to deliver a strong experience.
There are two ways we do just that, and this is a process that my coaching team has refined over the years.
I used to field all incoming coaching requests. I’d put together an email explaining the benefits of coaching, the time commitment, whatever. Included was a link to my coaching calendar for those who wanted to book a discovery call.
Quickly, I found I was jumping onto hour-long conversations with people who just wanted to pick my brain. They weren’t actually serious about investing in coaching. You may have experienced this too.
To solve this problem, the team and I came up with an onboarding questionnaire. It’s a series of questions that my team uses to gain invaluable insight into a prospective client's business.
You want to do a deep dive into:
I use this questionnaire to get an understanding of where my clients are now, where they need to be in six months, and what their potential roadblocks are. So what’s going to keep us from getting results?
Knowing this information helps me to gauge whether the prospect would be a good fit for coaching and what measures we’d need to implement to keep moving the needle. So don’t be scared to ask tough questions.
And if they’re not the right fit, point them to a resource that could benefit them now.
The next step is to agree on an expectations contract. Now, this isn’t a contract written by lawyers, it’s a document that:
This document covers:
Each client is assigned a dedicated coach and an Asana board with deliverables. They can also set up weekly coaching calls, and get unlimited access to all our standard operating procedures. It’s how we help them stay committed.
So how can you deliver a great first impression?
If you’re not moving your client along, you’re wasting their time and your own.
It used to be that when I’d jump on a coaching call, we’d discuss problem areas, I’d ask what kind of goals my clients wanted to achieve, and we’d agree on a strategy and the next steps to move things forward.
Then we’d set up a meeting for the same time the next week to see how they were progressing. Sometimes a week, two weeks, even a month would go by with very little to show for it.
Maybe they’d get stuck, or they’d be spinning too many plates, or they didn’t have the people power to implement, but things just weren’t getting done.
I tried the usual “coaching” tools like accountability buddies, reminders, pushing, but nothing worked. I’d be frustrated and the client would be frustrated. And within six months, they’d cancel coaching services because they weren’t getting a result. Something had to change.
Clients pay you to help them get results. But if they’re not putting in the time or implementing your teachings, you might as well call it quits.
To avoid having to do this, my team and I devised a coaching roadmap. It’s changed the way we do business. It’s also ensured that the lifetime value of a coaching client has substantially increased.
You can create something similar.
This is my 7-step framework for delivering a world-class coaching service:
Start with a detailed diagnostic. This is a questionnaire that tackles:
The point of this call is to get an understanding of where the coaching client is right now—what are their current roadblocks, goals, and future plans? And what does success look like for them?
Knowing this will influence any decisions you make, as well as the type of results you’re able to achieve.
The next step in the process is to perform a gap analysis. It leads you through an examination of where the client is now versus where they want to be. This is a very important distinction.
Coaching clients can have very unrealistic ideas of what can be achieved in a month or two. If they’re a one-person show, and you’re asking them to spend time building their LinkedIn following, redo their website, and start an email campaign, you’ll break them.
It’s just not possible. So you need to work together to identify and bridge the gaps between these two states to achieve their business goals.
Part of the gap analysis is to identify whether your client needs a team. Business is a team sport. Entrepreneurs can’t do it alone. They can try, but it’ll take them far longer to scale.
At Lean Marketing, we help our clients build their internal marketing capabilities for lasting, sustainable growth. And we do that by consulting, hiring, onboarding, and strategizing with the client and their new team.
So depending on what your coaching business is, you may need to consider if your client can achieve results on their own or if they need help.
I’ve found that to keep momentum and motivation high, clients need a mix of short-term and long-term goals. And achieving small wins are a vital part of the coaching process.
So it’s vital that you nail down 90-day goals and keep track of them over the course of your consulting. The best way to track their progress is with a project management tool like Asana. We have a coaching board so my team and I know exactly what to do when and how we’re progressing towards goals.
Next, you want to build a strategy—and it’s not about stringing together a bunch of random tactics. Strategy is the big-picture planning that will become the foundation of your client's business.
During this stage, we help our clients create a strategic plan using The 1-Page Marketing Plan framework. Yours might be a content plan, a workout program and nutrition plan, whatever.
Once you’ve agreed on your strategic plan, you’ll need to break it up into a tactical plan. These are the actions they need to take. Here’s what ours looks like:
Start jotting down the steps you’d want your clients to take.
Lastly, we focus on numbers. Knowing our clients’ numbers is vital to understanding whether our coaching is benefiting them. We measure lead and lag metrics. But if you're a personal trainer, you might measure weight loss, muscle gain, lost inches, BMI.
So that’s the seven-step coaching framework. Use it as inspiration to build out your coaching framework.
Keeping your clients firmly on the path to success takes systems and a coaching board.
In an ideal world, I’d be handling all the coaching. It can be hard to let go of the reins, but there just aren’t enough hours in a day for me to deal with each and every client. And I suspect the same is true for you.
As a coach, you need to be on your game and be present. If you’re spending eight hours coaching people every day, you’ll quickly burn out. And no matter how hard you try, those three, four, and five o’clock clients won’t get the same level of attention or energy as your early morning clients.
So how do you get around this? Here’s what I do.
Get help. I’ve hired coaches with different strengths and skillsets to take some of my load. It’s allowed me to offer more to my coaching clients, and retention rates have improved.
Where I help with building overall strategy, Claire does wonders with building their team, and Anna is amazing with branding and messaging.
They’re also based in different locations, which has allowed me to take on coaching clients in different timezones.
Before, I was limited to the US and AUS/NZ. I had to turn away many clients. Now I’m bringing on my UK/European clients, and you can too.
But this is where having a system becomes crucial.
I need to know:
And having the Asana board helps massively. At a glance, I can see exactly where the client is in the process. I know what’s coming, what we’re waiting on, and whether or not I’m a bottleneck or the client is.
This information is priceless. It’s helped me to transform my coaching program, and client retention has increased three-fold.
So if you’re aiming to make $50k in coaching revenue, you need to have an airtight system and a way to track progress. And you need to realize that it will take a team.
No, you don’t have to hire more coaches, but you do need to think about hiring a coaching assistant.
Do you need help building your coaching business? We've shared our top tips for starting and growing your coaching business in this how-to article. Just click the link.
I’m a firm believer in the power of a shock and awe package, particularly for high-value clients. I’m talking about customers willing to spend thousands of dollars each month.
Email can be a little impersonal and, well, meh. Whereas a physical gift—like a personalized shock and awe package—has what I like to call a WOW factor.
It's unexpected. It's something you know they'll love, and chances are it’s going to further your relationship with that prospect.
I like to send a shock and awe package to every new coaching client. Mine includes:
It doesn’t need to be expensive. Investing $20 or $30 is more than enough. It’s all about creating stand-out moments for your customers—letting them know that you appreciate their business and that you’re going to do a great job.
And it’s a tactic that other people use too.
Take America’s version of The Voice. If you’ve ever watched it, you’ll have seen their coaches often gift new team members with something unique. Kelly Clarkson does branded jackets. John Legend wrote a personalized song for his new singers. And Ariana Grande gave her team members a voice health pack.
It’s a small gift. But it kicks off the coaching relationship on a feel-good note. It reinforces that these singers made the right choice.
So think about what you could do to surprise and delight your customers. What are you willing to spend? What would they appreciate?
Scaling your coaching business doesn’t have to be hard. All you need is a system. A system for generating the right kind of coaching prospect and a template for converting those leads into coaching clients.
Once you have this in place, you need to focus on retaining them. Strong experiences are key. But that alone isn’t enough if you don’t get your clients results. So make sure you’re moving them along. Your job is to give them what they want, but also what they need.
And make your coaching life easier. Invest in project management software, especially if your coaching team is growing. You’re juggling many balls and it’s easy to drop a few.
My final tip, add a wow factor to doing business with you. People love getting an unexpected package in the mail. It creates a standout moment—a point of difference that keeps coaching clients coming back for more.
Business Coaching 101: How to Start a Coaching Business from Scratch
The big reason most small businesses fail and what to do to ensure you are not one of them. Check it out.
If I had to start all over, I'd choose coaching as a career. Starting a coaching business is a lot easier than you think. But it's very hard to scale, get traction, and gain credibility―especially if you don’t have a framework or structure.
In this article, I'll walk you through the exact tools and tricks I've used to start and grow my seven-figure online coaching business. It's a life and a business that feeds my soul. I wear what I want, work with whomever I want, when I want, from wherever I want.
If you want that too, keep reading.
Here's how to start a coaching business from scratch.
The world of business coaching has changed tremendously in the last few years. It used to be that you had to wear a suit and tie. You had an office. Or you'd meet your client in person to coach or consult.
With the rise of the internet and tools like Zoom, a whole new world has opened up for people wanting to start a coaching business and sell their services. You don't have to travel to your clients anymore. You're no longer limited to working within your city or district.
You can easily coach people on a completely different continent. I do. I'm based in Australia, and I regularly talk to people from the US, UK, India, you name it.
I've built an online coaching business that serves a global target audience. Since massive opportunities have opened up with virtual and remote delivery, you simply need to tap into your coaching niche. Relationship coach? Life coach? Marketing coach? It really comes down to what your skillset is and what you can bring to the market.
Now let's talk about what you need to do to build a successful coaching business from scratch. Click this link to learn more about scaling your coaching business to $50K coaching revenue a month.
If you had to imagine what your life looks like in five years, what would it be? For me, that was a house with a beach view, waking up on a Monday morning rearing to start my day, working no more than 25 hours a week, never having to wear a suit and tie for work again, working with clients I genuinely like and want to see successful.
There were a ton more. But these were the stand-out goals.
I also knew I wanted to help more business owners succeed. I struggled for years to scale my IT business. I know what it's like to go without. I've done my time worrying about making payroll or keeping the lights on.
But unlike most startups who struggle, I survived to build a profitable business. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) 90 percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. My personal goal is to change this statistic. That's why I built my coaching business.
Whom will you work with? Think about your skills and work experience. Is there a gap in the market that you can fill? The best online coaching businesses solve a problem, and they know that the riches are in the niches.
For example, Neil Patel teaches you how to grow your organic web traffic using SEO. Laura Belgray of Talking Shrimp helps you master email marketing and triple your income. Amy Porterfield coaches you on how to build an online course. David Jenyns helps you systemize your business. They all have one thing in common: They create value for their potential clients.
So, how can you create value? What knowledge, skills, and business experience can you share to connect with like-minded people and grow your online coaching business?
Also, is it a profitable niche? You want a target audience that's willing to pay handsomely for your advice and guidance. If they don't see value in the services you deliver, you'll never build a profitable coaching business.
Examples of coaching fields that earn well include life coaching, business coaching, and team coaching.
Pricing and packaging are massively important when starting a coaching business because they impact the type of client you attract.
Group coaching or one-on-one. There are benefits to both models, but you need to decide which you enjoy most. Maybe you'll offer a combination. I do. Group coaching is generally more affordable. But the majority of my revenue comes from 1:1 coaching.
Read up on the unique differences and benefits of group and one-on-one coaching before making your decision.
And as you scale your coaching model, don't be afraid to hire other coaches with unique skills that your clients can tap into. This will also free up your time to focus on developing new ideas.
Positioning is the key to being able to charge what you're worth. If "How much is it?" is the first question you get from your prospects, you're positioning yourself poorly.
You could be considered the safe option or the risky option or the premium option or the discount option. The important thing is to be deliberate about how you position your coaching business because your clients and prospects actually want to pay a lot of money, but they need you to give them a good reason. If not, the discussion will default to price.
If you want to successfully start a coaching business from scratch, you need to have a plan. You need to know:
Every successful business coach has a plan. What's yours?
If you need help building your marketing plan for your business, check out our signature 1-Page Marketing Plan template. It's the smartest and quickest way to market your business.
So many coaches make their clients jump through all sorts of hoops to book a discovery meeting with them or pay for their services. You want to make it easy for your clients to do business with you and technology is key.
You can rely on word-of-mouth marketing to grow your online coaching business but it can take years to gain traction. Instead, you need to actively market your business.
That's where your marketing plan becomes critical. It breaks down every step of your buyer's journey, the systems you need to deliver a world-class experience, your message, the media you advertise in and much more.
If you need guidance on how to build out your marketing plan, check out this article.
Part of building your authority and credibility as a trusted business coach is delivering a quality audio and visual experience online. You want to recreate that in-person experience, but if your sound crackles and the video is sketchy that's going to impact your audience's experience.
To level up my business coaching game I built a studio space for podcast recording and content creation. If you want to do the same, read it now.
It's one thing to start a coaching business, but if you're an unknown, why would people trust you? This is where a cornerstone piece of content becomes vital. It solves a problem, demonstrates your skills, and starts the conversation.
I wrote a bestselling book, but you could create a framework, start a podcast, share a guide, whatever. Invest in a PR campaign. Reach out to bloggers to contribute content. Say yes to speaking events. Post your customer testimonials on your site. Create a series of how-to videos. Be prolific.
As your online business expands, you'll need help. Coaching is time-consuming and without help, you'll stunt your business growth. Consider hiring a marketing coordinator or account manager―someone who can take over day-to-day tasks, freeing you up to focus on revenue-generating projects.
If you're not sure when to hire a team, read this article.
Systems are the key to expanding, escaping, and exiting your business one day. A good coach has a system for onboarding clients, defining goals, setting up a payment plan, responding to coaching queries, and marketing. Practically everything can and should be systemized.
Learn how to systemize your coaching business here.
There are a lot of time-wasters out there―people who aren't serious about working with you. And jumping on an hour-long zoom session with someone who can't afford your coaching services is just plain frustrating. To avoid this, present pricing before the call. You can do this via email or on your website.
Only set up a discovery call with people who look legitimate, especially if you're targeting six- or seven-figure clients. Here are a few ways to weed out the time-wasters.
TOP TIP: Present pricing as an investment. And offer a discount to customers who pay for a year in advance. It increases their commitment.
Conversations lead to conversions―especially from a sales perspective. Your goal is to get to the truth, to understand their situation. A discovery call is a great way to do this. Use it to determine whether a person is a good fit for your coaching services.
My best advice:
Follow up your discovery call with a personalized, hand-written note letting the customer know you're looking forward to working with them. It delivers a WOW experience and customers appreciate it.
Having a successful onboarding process is crucial to building a seven-figure coaching business. It guarantees that your customer knows what to expect and how to get the best out of your services. Here's how I foolproof our onboarding process:
It starts with a coaching roadmap. This is an important part of your service. But before we dive into what mine looks like, you first need to perform a customer journey mapping. This helps you to understand the entire business ecosystem around your clients.
My team uses the 1-Page Marketing Plan.
Now on to the coaching roadmap. This is what it looks like.
No coaching client is the same and what you do depends on where you can bring value to their business. Some clients are very sophisticated. They already have all of their systems in place. Others are barely able to open Microsoft Word. So you'll need to be more hands-on with the less knowledgeable clients.
Cookie-cutter training won't work for every client, and it'll do more damage to your business reputation than good.
A good coach isn't afraid to tell it like it is. You're not doing your coaching clients any favors by saying YES to everything. Sometimes they need to hear NO. You need to coach them on how to separate the majors from the minors.
Here's what a good coaching program looks like.
It needs to be simple. If they need an MBA or PhD to implement it, they'll give up.
If you're going to start a coaching business, you need to be willing to hold people accountable. If they don't put the work in, they won't get the results they want. When this happens, people feel shortchanged like they've been duped into a service that didn't work. This can affect your reputation.
Implementation is key. If you want to build your coaching practice, you need to hold your customers accountable.
Nope, you don't need a license or certificate to become a business coach. All you need is a coaching niche, a framework, and the ability to get your clients results.
Without a framework, it's a lot harder to start your coaching business and attract paying clients.
Instead, what many coaches do is they enroll in a coaching program or certification course that trains them on how to use and implement another business coach’s framework. I do this in my Certification Program.
My certification students graduate as 1-Page Marketing Plan Certified Coaches. They can use my business model, methodology, and coaching framework to create wealth for their clients and their business. They also get a dedicated page on my website, an embeddable certification badge to use on social media, and lifetime access to all my training webinars.
That's a massive leg up in the coaching world. It takes all the guesswork out of starting a coaching business and my students have a mentor to turn to for advice or to bounce an idea off when scaling their coaching businesses.
So while you don't need a license to become a business coach, enrolling in a certification program can help hone your coaching skills, build your network, and scale your online coaching business faster.
So now you've decided to start a coaching business, you need to figure out how to get clients.
There needs to be some form of IP that you give away for free. It could be an eBook, checklist, framework, how-to video series, report, whatever. Think about what will get your ideal target market to raise their hand and self-identify.
If you can get them a result before they do business with you, that's an excellent way to increase your clientele.
Social media, online publications, podcasts, webinars, or speaker events. Your goal as a business coach is to be prolific. You want to create content that's fresh, informative, and helpful. And there are a few ways you can do that:
Use your business network to attract clients. Think about which businesses have your customers before you. How can you get access to their network?
For example, say you're a nutritional coach. Why not start a joint venture with a personal trainer. Together, you'll increase your client's chance of getting results. As a marketing coach, you know your clients need a team to get results. So it might be worthwhile partnering with a company that places remote workers.
Essentially, you've got someone who's saying to their email list, I trust this person. I trust them to get you results, so you can too. That's massively powerful.
You'll never make money if you view every relationship as a transaction. The best coaches care about their client's success. So if you want to start a sought-after coaching business, invest time building strong relationships.
If you want to start a coaching business, this is the only toolbox you'll ever need. Take the guesswork out of building an online coaching business, and start your coaching career now.
If you’ve found this article helpful, please share it on social media.
What Is Upselling? Plus Why Upselling Boosts Revenue
Business systems are vital to scaling rapidly. But what are they, why do they matter, and how can you implement them today? Check it out.
Upselling is a clever little sales technique that every eCommerce or online store uses to get existing customers to upgrade or purchase a premium product or service.
And before you think it's all about making more money (although it’s a happy byproduct), the practice of upselling is to elevate your customer's experience and improve relationships.
It focuses on delivering more value to your customer and getting them faster results. For example:
Upselling helps you increase your customer lifetime value and your profitability.
So take a look at your price strategy, and instead of offering a discount, can you upsell a related service as a limited offer?
And remember, when your customer is in the buying mode, they’re more open to spending on things they wouldn't normally consider purchasing. This is the time to upsell to your customers—to get them to upgrade to a higher-tiered product.
But how is it different from cross-selling?
Upselling is a sales technique that entices customers to buy a premium or higher-end product or service than what they originally intended to purchase.
Most companies implementing upselling as a strategy will include a comparison chart, showing the different features and benefits of each product and service. I've included an example below.
Airlines are a great example of companies that are always upselling. While booking your next vacation, you might be encouraged to upgrade your economy-class ticket to a business-class ticket.
The business-class fare is 110 pounds more expensive, but then again, it comes with certain perks such as more legroom, a guaranteed window seat, extra baggage, access to business-class lounges prior to takeoff, AND the privilege of being a business-class flyer.
Cross-selling encourages a customer to buy a complementary, but non-competitive or related product.
For example, let's say you're browsing Amazon, and suddenly you see a product you like. Maybe it's that new Canon camera you've been lusting over. You read the reviews, check out the product specs, and add it to your checkout cart.
But then you notice that most shoppers who bought the exact product you've just added to your checkout cart also purchased the tripod you're currently eyeballing. After mulling it over for a bit, click. You add it to your cart.
Congratulations, you've just spent $500 more than you had originally intended, and it feels good.
That, my friend, is the power of upselling and cross-selling.
Upselling is crucial because it enhances your customer's experience. It's not something that entrepreneurs and businesses do selfishly. It's not about encouraging customers to purchase more to increase revenue. (Although it's a nice benefit…)
It's about making the original product BETTER.
For example, imagine you purchase a shiny new VR headset online. When it gets delivered, you slash open the seal and carefully remove it from its box. Only, hang on, where are the batteries? Surely, there must be batteries?
What do you mean by batteries not included? Now you're stuck with a brand new toy that you can't use. Maybe the shops are closing soon, AND it's rush hour traffic.
You'll have to wait until tomorrow to get batteries and finally use that headset you've been waiting for.
And that good feeling you had, well, it's rapidly deflating. Consider it gone, crushed under a weight of disappointment and frustration.
If only they'd asked if you wanted to add batteries to your purchase.
That's why you should be upselling. It increases your customer lifetime value and adds dollars to your bottom line, making your venture more profitable.
So let's look at ways you can use upselling to get your customers to buy more, more often.
McDonald's is a great example of bundling add-on items. Asking customers, "Would you like fries with that?" has made them hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
So take a closer look at your products or services and determine where you can deliver extra value. Where can you offer an item that will enhance their overall experience?
Say you need to buy a new suit. If you've ever bought a suit, you know it may cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. So you find one that fits. BUT then the salesperson asks if you'd like to buy a new tie. It's $100.
Usually, you'd balk at that amount of money, but because you're paying $1,000 for the suit, the $100 tie seems reasonable. Then you're asked to look at shirts and socks, and by the end of the transaction, you've doubled what you intended to pay.
So how did you get here?
Well, the contrast principle made you feel like these items were reasonably priced, whereas if you were shopping for them separately, you'd think they were expensive.
Remember, when someone is in the buying mode, that's when you want to get them to buy more.
And really, Amazon has mastered this process. So, while you're browsing their eCommerce store, you'll notice that most customers who bought X also bought Y.
The intent is to create social pressure and convince you that you won't get the same experience without product Y. The thing about people, we're a lot less price-sensitive to add-ons when it enhances our overall experience.
Specify the urgency of an offer. Adding a time limit to an offer can increase sales, but timing is everything. Again, you want to think through your customer's journey.
Let's analyze the process after a potential customer has opted into a lead magnet. You've just given something for free that's going to help them level up. So they're feeling good about your company and upselling a related product that delivers added value could actually save them dollars in the long run.
You're also creating pressure because if the customer doesn't act now, it could cost them in the future when they would have to pay full price for your package. So don't be afraid to upsell to a new email subscriber.
Technology companies do this really well. For example, do you have multi-tiered products—an entry-level, an advanced, and a pro version?
You want to specify the difference between each version and the benefits of each. Most eCommerce and online businesses use a comparison table.
And think about personalizing your offer. For example, would your current customer be better served if you upgraded them to a higher-tier account? Or would it be a good idea to reward existing customers by upgrading them without charging them a higher fee?
So spend time reviewing your company model. Are there opportunities to double, even triple, revenue? Where can you deliver more value for your customers?
As good practice, you should always bundle add-on items to your online offer. And specify the added value you deliver. For example, in the offer below, you can see that Rachel Pedersen lists the current value of the package you're purchasing.
So your current purchase costs $28.50, but the real value is closer to $200. And now she's upselling 50 content ideas which could be super helpful in your marketing strategy. It's only $13, so you grab it now. The point is to over-deliver and make the value seem more than the current sale price.
It makes the decision to spend a little more a lot easier. So strike while the time is right. Upsell, upsell, upsell.
So instead of investing all your energy, money, and resources into attracting new leads, is there the potential to upsell or cross-sell to existing customers?
Take a moment to think through your customer's journey. How can you deliver more value and enhance their experience?
Because if you're not implementing ways to increase your customer lifetime value, you're leaving money on the table.
A lot like the guy who sold his farm to search all over the world for diamonds, but as it turned out, he actually had a massive diamond field in his backyard. There are acres of diamonds in your backyard (existing customers).
You just need to mine them.
If you enjoyed this, then you might be interested in learning how to reactivate past customers. Check out the link to discover our top tips.
Master The Art of Pitching the Media & Get Free Press
Storytelling is key to creating marketing that connects with your customers. Here's how to use storytelling in marketing your business.
It used to be that you paid a PR team a ton of money to get you featured in the press.
Now, with sites like HARO and SourceBottle, you can pitch the media directly and get published in Forbes, Huffington Post, the New York Times, Business Insider, and even Oprah and it'll only cost you time.
I'm going to show you how.
I've spent years building my media pitching strategy. I've heard “no” many times, but I've also received that all-important “yes” email. And with over 100 press mentions, I know what it takes to become the news.
Here's the kicker, once you're known, journalists start approaching you to write contributor pieces. Free press is a great way to build your authority, scale your customer base, and get more media coverage. So let's get started.
A media pitch is a concise, personalized message to an editor or journalist at a magazine, newspaper, blog, podcast, radio, or television station. It's designed to entice the reporter or editor to contact you and learn more about your small business or brand.
It can be sent via email; or through direct messages on social media networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; or you can call the journalist. You can also respond directly to a media pitch on sites like HARO, JustReachOut, and SourceBottle, to name a few.
No. A media pitch differs from a press release in its format and objective.
Think of your pitch as a snippet. The purpose of a media pitch is to spark interest in a reporter, enough that they want to know more and are prepared to contact you to get the full story.
So your pitch needs to deliver value and be relevant. An example of a great media pitch is to lead with data. Journalists are always on the lookout for compelling data trends.
You can also lead with personal stories and insights you gained. A few years ago a couple got a ton of media coverage by opening multiple credit cards and using them to get enough air miles to travel around the world for free.
Press releases, on the other hand, tell the whole story. They don't necessarily require a follow-up interview and can be published as-is. For example, your press release will include who, what, where, when, why, and how. It's the full message.
If you're wondering why pitch the media, I have five excellent reasons.
Imagine being able to say, I got featured in Forbes Magazine, Marie Claire, The Wall Street Journal, or Oprah. That would be huge.
Press mentions instantly elevate your credibility to a potential lead. Because if Forbes trusts you as an authority, a potential customer is more likely to trust you.
It also shortcuts the time it takes them to decide to buy.
70% of customers read up to 6 reviews before buying the product. They might speak to a salesperson, or sign up for your newsletter. The considering phase can take weeks. But not when you have some of the most influential publications vouching for you. Then it can take minutes.
Plus, you can then the media you've been interviewed by on the homepage of your website just like Susie Moore.
If you struggle with confidence, you're going to trust Susie to help you, because Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and the Today show all do. So media is crucial for elevating your social status.
Every published article typically includes a shirttail (this is your author bio) at the end of the article.
If the journalist just featured a quote from you, they'll include a backlink.
Curious readers can follow that link to your website to learn more about you which can lead to email sign-ups and product purchases. Money in your account.
These publications will also share your article on their social channels, and they might even syndicate the article to other publications.
You're getting in front of a whole new audience and it's cost you absolutely nothing. So you could spend thousands of dollars on paid advertising, or you could take a few hours to write a really great article that brings in consistent traffic every month.
I'll give you an example. I wrote an article a couple of years ago for Forbes on the importance of business systems. It's the #1 article for the keyword business systems. I also hold the #4 position. So I'm getting traffic from two sources.
So press mentions can lead to long-term traffic gains.
This is a term SEO experts love to throw around. A backlink is a hyperlink from one site to another.
However, not all backlinks are created equally. A backlink from a site with a high domain authority (your well-known media publications) is worth far more than a link from a low domain authority (a blogger).
Links from credible media sources boost your authority and domain ranking. This means Google and other search engines are more likely to rank new content you publish faster.
My article on What is direct response marketing has over 20,000 inbound links (backlinks). That's 20,000 chances of being found by leads looking to grow with marketing.
I started my media journey back in July of 2018. For the next year, I did at least four podcasts a month, and wrote contributor pieces in Business. com, Thrive Global, Lifehack, Forbes Magazine. I spoke at industry events, shared my book with Facebook Groups, and you know what, I doubled traffic to my website.
When I started my PR journey, I had one full-time team member and two part-time employees. By 2020 my team had grown to five full-time members.
More media coverage gets you in front of new audiences. High-value leads that might never have heard of you. Suddenly, my email list was getting 900 new leads every month.
Today, I typically get 1800 new email subscribers each month. I have a team of 12 employees, over 30 coaching clients, a course, a certification program, and great JV partners.
I fully credit my press mentions for building my authority and helping to scale my business to an 8-figure coaching consultancy. So if you want to grow your brand, invest in media opportunities.
Getting featured in the press can lead to more media opportunities and invitations to present at events like a Ted Talk.
As an unknown CNN won't invite you to share your opinion on a matter, even if you're an expert. But, if you've been featured in multiple well-known and respected publications, that call is certainly possible.
You can also charge to give a talk at an industry event. Imagine making $5,000 for talking to an audience, and your travel expenses were covered by the event. It doesn't have to be a dream.
I've spoken at SuperFastBusiness Live twice, and FORO-Go 3 in Mexico. I've also been featured in over 100 podcasts and media publications.
So it's much easier to be invited as a guest contributor or speaker once you've built a name for yourself in the media.
P. S. can you spot me? I'm giving a talk to over 2000 business owners in Mexico. That could be you.
What I love most about responding to media requests is you don't have to build a relationship with the journalist.
All you need is a pitch with a great hook.
The journalist already has an angle for their article. They're looking for a source to provide a new idea, data, or story to bolster their news piece.
Here are a few sites you can use to respond to media requests:
Free resources:
Paid-for resources:
For cold pitching, it’s your job to come up with a newsworthy idea or angle for a story. It needs to be relevant to the publication’s audience, and you have to sell it to the news team.
It's a lot more time-intensive than media pitching because you need to...
Pro tip: Ask an existing contributor or someone who has a relationship with that news outlet to introduce you. This gives you the best chance of getting your email opened, read, and your story published.
A successful media pitch includes 7 key elements. These are vital if you want to get your story featured.
Just like in email marketing, subject lines are the heartbeat of your media pitch. Get it wrong and the journalist won't open your email. Journalists are masters at crafting eye-catching headlines, so make your subject line stand out.
Sites like Sharethrough Headline Optimizer help you to fine-tune your subject line.
To become a media source, you need to establish credibility. Explain what makes you qualified to speak on the story you're pitching. For example, what relevant information can you share that would make a journalist give your story a second look?
For example, to establish credibility you could write something like:
Hi (insert name),
I handle PR for Allan Dib, a successful entrepreneur and the bestselling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, named by Huffington Post as one of the top ten marketing books for small businesses.
Your previous work is vital to establishing you as an authority, so mention it early in your media pitch.
A lead is the story or idea. It's the juicy bit of information that gets journalists interested. It can be a news peg or a time peg. So a news peg focuses on a trending topic, whereas a time peg focuses on an upcoming event or date.
Was your brand picked up by a celebrity and featured on their Instagram account? Has your company created a viral moment?
What do you want the journalist to do next?
Be clear about the next steps. If you’ve enticed the editor with a few stats from a survey, offer to send the full report. They’ll know to contact you.
Take a stance. Include a contrary opinion. Even if the reporter doesn't feature your story, they may use your quote in a relevant article. Particularly when responding to HARO requests, you want to include a quote the publication can copy and paste into the articles they're writing.
Media pitching requires precision. It's not a time to waffle or show your talent for description. My tip is to be clear and concise but also demonstrate your value proposition. The best pitches create impact quickly. Using data is a great way to do this. Also consider taking a stand, sharing an opposing view, or whatever.
Here’s an example of a brief pitch.
Before signing off, you want to recap who the pitch is for, their title, and company URL, and include a headshot if possible.
And don't forget to thank the journalist for their time.
To stand out, you need to create interest and deliver value. Follow these top tips for pitching success.
When pitching media outlets, you want to follow their pitching guidelines. Most online publications will tell you if you must submit your media pitch to the editorial team or if you can email pitches directly to a journalist.
So in the research phase, you want to search for the following.
You also want to show you've done your research. For example, if you're pitching to be on a podcast, make sure you've listened to a few of the episodes.
HubSpot's Not Another State of Marketing Report found that emails with the reader's first name in the subject line had a higher clickthrough rate than those that didn't.
Remember, editors and journalists may receive hundreds of pitches each day, so personalizing the subject line gives you a leg up.
Do you want to pitch a news story, or is your goal to become a regular contributor? Your media pitch needs to convey your point clearly. So be direct but professional. Here's an example,
I'd like to write for Entrepreneur magazine as a contributor. What is the best way to apply?
or
I am looking to apply to write for Entrepreneur as a contributor. Are you the correct person to chat with?
Journalists who know you and like you are more open to running your story. Think about your inbox. You're more likely to open an email from someone you know, so it's vital to stay in touch with a journalist long after they've accepted your pitch.
Whether this means following their social account and liking or commenting on their posts, or emailing them to say you enjoyed an article they wrote, keep in touch.
Most journalist requests are time-sensitive. For the best chance of success, respond within 15 to 30 minutes of a HARO post going live. If you're cold pitching and the journalist likes your idea, you need to send through a completed article within 48 hours. Take too long, and they'll have forgotten about your story and will have moved on.
Do you have a substantial email database? Maybe you have a podcast that gets a ton of views or a social media page with tens of thousands of engaged followers?
Offering to share the published article or interview with your connections can give your media pitch the edge over someone who maybe doesn’t have a large target audience to promote it. So don’t be afraid to persuade. I would like to include this as a P.S., but you can add it above your contact details.
For example,
P. S. My email list comprises 45,000 owners/entrepreneurs of small businesses whom I’d share your article with. I’m also happy to promote the post on my social networks.
How you lay out your pitch can influence whether the journalist reads it or closes the email before looking at it.
Make the email as easy to read as possible. Approach it like you would a blog article (learn how to write a blog post for beginners here). Format your response to include:
Journalists are incredibly busy, and they receive thousands of pitches each week. You want to follow up on your pitch two or three days after emailing it. But don't make your subject line Re: (Original pitch subject line).
Read the requirements before doing anything. What is the journalist looking for? In the below example, they specifically say don't pitch if you're not a certified career coach or career expert.
You're just wasting your time and the journalists if you don’t meet those requirements.
Also, if they ask for 150 words on the benefits of email marketing, don’t overshoot and send them a mini-essay totaling 400 words. They won’t even read it.
Plus, you'll get a black mark in their book. So any future pitches will just go into their trash folder.
When is the pitch due? If you're using HARO they'll always state when the pitch is needed by.
If that's 11 PM EST on the 16th of March, emailing at 11 PM PST is too late.
I've done this before, where I haven't checked the deadline and spent time crafting a really great response. After hitting send, HARO quickly let me know submissions are closed.
Now it's not all doom and gloom. You can keep that pitch for future press opportunities, although there's no guarantee when a similar request will become available.
Lastly, can you make yourself available for an interview? If you’re not in the right time zone or prepared to get up in the wee hours of the morning, don’t pitch.
Media outlets have an editorial inquiries or editorial guidelines section. Sometimes, this can be a brief sentence in the tertiary menu of the site or an entire page.
Here they’ll list whom to pitch your ideas to.
Do your homework before emailing your pitch or reaching out to a journalist on Twitter. If you send it to the wrong person, it’ll get ignored. Send it to too many, and you’ll get blacklisted.
For example, in Forbes's editorial inquiries section, they lists exactly how to get in touch with their journalists.
Journalists are looking for sources with fresh ideas or a new take on a particular subject. They don’t want generic responses they’ve seen a couple hundred times.
They want to break the news. So don't pitch if you don’t have something compelling to share.
Remember, compelling could be a new take on an old idea. For example, the media gives a lot of attention to entrepreneurs who make their first million in their twenties.
But Laura Belgrade wrote an article about how she only made her first million in her 50s and why it's better. It speaks to millions of readers who are in their mid-40s or late 30s trying to start a viable business.
So using your personal story and giving a new spin on an old idea can be newsworthy.
There is no excuse bottle for spelling and grammar mistakes. With editorial assistant apps like Grammarly or the Hemingway App, you don't need to hire an editor to proofread your writing.
Mistakes make you look unprofessional and lazy. Also, be aware of American spelling vs British English.
As an Aussie, I'm constantly switching between the two. So make sure you spellcheck before hitting send on your pitch.
Make your pitch easy to read. If you send a wall of text, they’re not going to look at it. So use short sentences. Introduce bullet points, italics, numbers, bold, uppercase text, quotes, etc.
Use this framework:
Hi Name,
Short, brief introduction. Mention why you'd be a great expert.
Restate the journalist questions example - What unique and inviting ways have you remade your office to make it more appealing to employees?
Suggest three or four ideas as a list or bullet points.
Author bio
contact details - email, business URL, point of contact. S
P.S. Give them a reason to choose you. For example, if you have a large social media following, or an engaged email list, mention you'll share the article with your audience if they choose you.
Media pitching doesn't need to be scary or the job of PR professionals. I've used these templates to get featured in over 60 media publications and about the same number of podcasts.
Hi (journalist’s name),
I know you're one of the editors at Entrepreneur, I'm a good friend of (state the mutual connection) who (contributes to your magazine, was featured on your show, etc). He/she mentioned I should reach out.
(Introduce yourself and establish credibility. If you’ve been mentioned in the press or are a regular contributor to a particular publication, list it).
Every day I help small to medium-sized businesses across the U. S. troubleshoot their marketing. These four mistakes kept cropping up, so I wrote a piece on how to fail at small business marketing, and actionable tips to turn it around.
Check it out here: (include clickable link)
If you like what you see, and you’re interested, here are three other ideas that I want to flesh out for your (name of magazine/show).
Happy to chat if you need more info, I’ve got tons of great insight and data to share with the readers of (publication or podcast name).
All the best,
- (Insert name)
P. S. My mailing list comprises roughly X (state who your target audience is) whom I’d share the article with. I’m also happy to promote the post on my social networks. (If you have a podcast, include it here as well. )
Hey (insert name),
(Business name or authority) is a fan of (insert podcast name) and loved the recent episode where you talked about (podcast topic).
(Establish credibility and mention why you’re a good fit guest for the podcast. Tailor this part to the podcast as well.)
Here's why (he/she) would be an excellent fit for your show.
Would you be interested in having (him/her) on as a guest? (Name) has been interviewed on several podcasts, here are just some of them:
Here are two ideas we’d love to focus on during the interview:
Topic #1—
(Review the podcast episode titles and write a topic that fits in but still creates buzz. Make sure it’s relevant to their audience.)
Topic #2—
(...And another one here.)
Curious to hear your thoughts.
Thanks so much,
- (Your name)
P. S. We’d be happy to share your podcast with (mention # of email list subscribers), and we’d include a short audio clip on social media, linking to your account and the full podcast.
Here’s an example of a podcast pitch that resulted in a response.
Subject line: Pitch: (Include the journalist’s request)
Hi (insert name),
(Introduce who you are and establish credibility—basically a short bio that highlights your experience and mentions noteworthy info. Tell the journalist why they should choose your pitch.)
(Include a teaser line that relates to the journalist’s request and possibly takes a stand.)
(REPEAT/REPHRASE THE JOURNALIST’S QUESTION.)
(Add your sound bite quote. Keep it short and punchy. Use emotive language. Add personality to your response. Remember the journalist should be able to copy and paste your quote directly into their article.)
(Include another great quote. One sentence is best.)
...
(Then sign off your email pitch and let them know if you’re available to chat. Mention you’ve got tons of great advice and data to back up their story, and if you have a large social following or customer database, you’ll want to let the journalist know (as this can influence their decision to use your post or not). Say you’d be happy to share the article with this list.
All the best,
(Your name)
(Business name or your designation)
(Web address)
(Include a link to a cloud-based folder that contains web-ready visuals for the journalist.)
Take a look at this example. It highlights the journalist’s questions in bold and includes short, compelling answers.
Getting featured in Forbes isn't easy. I could have waited years and never been approached to write for the publication.
I joined the Forbes Coaches Council, a paid program. It was worth it to be able to say, I'm a Forbes published writer. I've had several publicity pieces published.
But much like HARO, their journalists are always looking for expert opinions. You can pitch one tip and have that published in a story they're running. I've included an example below.
Some of these stories get featured on the home page, so if you're a coach or consultant looking to elevate your brand, I'd definitely consider it.
Writing a media pitch doesn't have to be hard, but it is a numbers game.
Businesses worldwide are trying to get coverage for their brand. Many use PR agencies who've spent years writing media pitches and building relationships with journalists.
Follow the tips listed above, and you'll give your stories a fighting chance.
Remember, media pitches and press releases are not the same, but both should be a part of your PR strategy. If you want to learn how to write a press release, check out the link.
How to Write a Blog Post For Beginners: 12 Step Guide + Free Blog Checklist
What is "cloud computing" and can it really help your business get a competitive advantage? This article separates the hype from the reality.
Congratulations on deciding to write a blog. It can be daunting, staring at a blank page wondering where to start. But writing search engine optimized (SEO) blog articles is a great way to generate a steady stream of high-value leads to your website without having to spend a ton on advertising.
But not just any content will do. The last thing you want is to spend hours or days researching and writing a post that gets five or so views a month. Great content is only great if it gets results.
That's why I'm going to show you how to write a blog post that ranks on Google and, more importantly, grows your business.
How do I know this process works? Because I've used it repeatedly to rank for keywords and phrases in the top ten positions on Google. So, let's get started.
A blog post is an article that's published in the blog section of a website. It can be a how-to guide, news piece, event announcement, or podcast link. It covers a specific topic in detail and can range anywhere from 600 to 3,000+ words.
A great post educates and delivers value while also entertaining the readers. It answers your target audience's questions, demonstrates your expertise, builds your credibility, and it can boost your revenue.
To do that, it needs to rank on Google. And for the blog content to rank, it will need to include some, if not all, of the following:
Some posts perform better than others. It all depends on your market segment. What might be the go-to style of blog writing for one niche market could crash and burn in another.
So if you're new to writing a blog post, you need to research your niche to be sure you're crafting content in the format your audience prefers.
Here are a few types of popular blog post ideas:
Now that you know the types of blog articles to write, how do you ensure that your blog post gets read.
Understanding how to write a blog post is only the start of your writing journey. More importantly, is how to write a GREAT blog post.
Blogging is all about solving a problem in an engaging and compelling way. Your blog post needs to answer the questions, Why would my audience care about this topic? and What do I need to do to keep them reading?
If you want to write a great blog post, here's what you need to do.
If you've been a part of your target audience, then you know their struggles. You've experienced, and hopefully, have overcome those challenges yourself. So you'd know better than anyone else what to write about and what information to share. When you write about a topic that you're intimately familiar with, that's how you build a relationship with your readers and win their trust.
Also, you want to target your niche because those are the people who are most likely to buy your products or services. That's the end goal, right—to sell!
So, if you target everyone, you'll be attracting the wrong kind of traffic to your website. While it might feel good to boost your traffic numbers, if they're not potential leads, your article is essentially a dud.
Start with a bang. You want to get your readers to self-identify immediately. Remember, when you're in pain, you want pain relief. Your post needs to be the aspirin to their headache. So draw them in by stating the problem or challenge and explain how you'll share your secrets to solving it.
If you've done your keyword research, you’ll know that your keyword needs to appear in the opening sentence.
Believe it or not, headlines can mean the difference between someone reading your post or clicking out of your site. Search engines don't like it when readers do that. It's a warning signal that your content sucks (even though it may not).
While there are dedicated sites and tons of advice online on how to write a great headline, the best advice I can give you is to answer your target audience's questions.
In fact, a recent study revealed that 14.1% of all Google searches are in the form of a question. With "How" blog posts averaging 8.07% of all searches and "What" posts averaging 4.3%.
So once you settle on the type of post you're going to write, come up with roughly ten potential headlines. Sure, you'll discard most of them, but you'll want to use a different headline for your title tag and article headline.
Here are a few examples of great headlines:
Remember, a great headline solves a problem and brings a little personality or intrigue. Go on, give it a try.
How you write your blog post directly impacts the time your readers spend reading your words. You need to include keywords, to be SEO compliant, and make it gripping. If there’s no hook, your readers won't read your post.
They want to be entertained, to laugh, or to be shocked. So here are a few writing top tips:
This is a tricky subject. No offense, but the typical online user has the attention span of a gnat unless, of course, they find something that intrigues them. Then they have all the time in the world. So what does this have to do with word count?
If you want to stand any chance of getting eyes on your article, it needs to rank in search engines. To do that, it needs to meet the average number of words for that keyword. If that's 600, lucky you. If that's 4,760, you've got your work cut out for you.
Your writing needs to maintain a rhythm without adding words for the sake of word count. A good idea is to add a “contents” section to your blog. Your reader can use it to skip ahead to related topics.
For example, say your post topic is What is a target audience? If you've done your keyword research, you'll know that you also need to answer the questions:
So make sure when you're writing blog posts that you address all relevant points.
People consume information in very different ways. Some prefer written text, others like video, and some engage best with visual content. To craft a winning blog post, it's never a bad idea to include all three.
Added to this, Google indexes images, making it another way for readers to find your blog articles. But whatever you design, the visual must include your logo or website URL.
It also needs to be shareable. Look at the visuals that perform well on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. They're not cheesy stock visuals. They’re often illustrations or a beautiful photographs of a scene with an inspirational quote or thought.
You can also use images to break down complex tasks into simple, easy-to-follow visual steps. For example, how to write a marketing plan or how to build a website.
So use images to draw attention to essential stats, processes, ideas, or simply to give the reader a breather.
What do you want the reader to do next? Google wants to see a conversion, and simply reading the post doesn't qualify. You need the readers to take some sort of action.
Adding a call to action is an opportunity to get readers to opt into your email list, download a lead magnet, request a quote, enroll in your course, whatever. This equals dollars in your bank account so make sure you're adding a content upgrade to your post.
And mix it up. You'll want to include multiple CTAs throughout your blog post. I like to position these just after the introduction, in the middle of the blog, and at the end. This means that I don't lose any readers who jump off within the first few seconds.
Every blog post should include a CTA to join your newsletter and either download a free piece of content or purchase a product or service.
So those are the bones of a good blog post. Now, let's discuss why you want to write a post for your readers.
There are many reasons why writing a blog post is good for business. Most of these I've mentioned before, but to recap, here's why you want to publish blog articles.
By sharing advice based on actual experiences, you build trust with your readers. You're also able to bring something new to your market. So much of what's online is regurgitated fluff.
Readers are hungry for new ideas and ways of doing things. When you show proof that you get results, you build your authority and credibility.
Blogging is an opportunity to drive qualified traffic or leads to your site. These are your niche readers. They're typing questions into Google for which you have the answers. Your goal is to get them to take a look at your blog posts.
If you publish quality content that delivers a result in advance, you'll become their go-to source for advice and help.
Every blog post is a chance to rank in the top ten for search terms. And before you ask, Does it matter whether or not your writing ranks? Yes, it does.
You want your writing to rank because, to a search engine, you become a trusted source, and this boosts your domain authority.
Publishers and other businesses are more likely to link back to your content, ask you for an interview, or submit a contributor piece. This means you get exposed to readers who might have not ever heard of your business otherwise.
So, you get more leads and potential customers.
Using your blog to upsell a product or service is a great way to increase your company revenue.
For example, say someone is looking up the benefits of business coaching. You've created a blog that covers that and includes a call-to-action to determine if they'd be a good fit for your coaching program. They click the CTA link, fill in the form, and one of your team members contacts them to learn more about their business, the challenges they face, and where you could help them to level up.
They're impressed and decide to hire you. If you hadn’t created this blog post, they may never have learned of your coaching services and hired you. So blogging is an ideal way to grow your company revenue.
If you're thinking about starting a blog for your business, chances are you already have active social accounts. Sometimes knowing what to say on a Facebook post can be challenging. But not anymore.
Most blogs are long-form. If you cover multiple related topics to your keywords in your blogs, you can repurpose this content for social media, a book, course, even webinars.
You want to use a multi-approach to the media because not everyone consumes information in the same way. So there can be people in your target audience who only ever read Instagram posts or watch YouTube videos. By repurposing your content, you reach a wider audience.
Now that you know the five reasons you want to write a blog post, let's look at how to write a blog post that readers can't wait to share.
Every blog writer is unique, and what works for some may not work for others. My advice, use this blogging methodology to get you started. As you create more blogs, you'll begin to develop a writing process that works for you.
Here’s my step-by-step method on how to write a blog post:
A content plan is a spreadsheet of topics your audience is interested in. It lays out the strategy you'll use for writing and promoting your blog content in the coming months.
Your content plan needs to cater to the different buyer journeys. Remember, not everyone in your target market is ready to buy immediately. Some might just be looking to educate themselves. Others might only be interested in your basic plan, whereas a few will want to purchase your premium solution.
So when building out your content plan, you want to craft articles that answer your readers' questions at each stage in the buying process.
Keep in mind the following:
Let’s talk about the bones of your content plant. It’ll be broken into topic clusters, pillar articles, and cluster content, with internal links pointing from the cluster content to the pillar article.
For example, your content plan could look something like this:
Make sure you develop smaller articles around your content plan.
Before you sit down to write your blog article, you need to choose a topic that engages your readers. If you've already fleshed out your content plan, then select a topic from there.
Make sure it appeals to your readers' wants and needs.
For example, if you’re a specialist cycling shop, you could create a listicle type blog post that details the items a beginner cyclist will need to start off-road cycling. The blog would include a freebie downloadable checklist that the reader can print and bring to a store to check off their purchase items.
The keyword or phrase is the topic you want to rank for. It's what your readers (potential customers) are searching for each month. This keyword will need to be included in your title tag, article headline, and throughout your blog.
Keyword research is crucial because you want to select a keyword that receives a lot of organic traffic. Remember, organic traffic equals high-value leads.
Choosing something obscure with minimal traffic signals that your readers aren't interested in that topic. So don't waste your time blogging about it.
What is worth considering is the type of keyword you attempt to rank for. Neil Patel found that it's easier to rank for questions or long-tailed keywords than it is to rank for two-word keywords.
For example, by zeroing in on beginner cyclist tips, we can see the potential to get 3,500 organic searches for this topic each month.
The keyword cyclist tips is searched 6,600 times a month. It’s a popular search term which means other sites will be competing for it.
Bike riding tips for beginners receive far less traffic, so this could be a great long-tailed keyword to try and rank for if you’re new to blogging. Your domain authority won’t negatively impact your chance of appearing in the top 10.
Once you've finished with your keyword research, you need to take things a step further.
Having identified the topic you want to write about, it's time to see which blogs rank for that keyword and why. AHREFS, Neilpatel.com, and , are all excellent for researching popular keywords.
I'm using Surfer SEO as an example. The image below shows you the top five blog articles ranking on Google for that keyword. These are organic competitors. Here are some of the site benefits:
Your goal must be to read at least the top three articles. See what topics they cover. What are the H2 and H3 tags? How many images do they include? Is there an opt-in?
You don't need an SEO program to help you optimize your blog post, but it will massively reduce your research time. For example, includes a SurferSEO includes a BRIEF section listing topics and questions you need to cover.
It also lists words that need to appear in your blog, as well as where they need to appear. For example, the algorithm might say you need to mention the focus keyword every 150 words. Or that the word bike should occur at least 24 times in your blog article. Knowing this helps you to draft your blog post outline.
Some call it an outline. I prefer the term skeleton structure. It's a rough outline of what you want to write. You’ll want to develop a process that works best for you. Here’s what I like to do:
Remember, the purpose of an outline is to show you exactly what information to cover in your post. It makes the process of writing your first draft much easier.
Now it's time to start writing and flesh out your outline. Again, every writer has a unique process.
I like to edit as I write. So I'll work on a section until I feel it's 95% perfect. Other bloggers prefer just to write and get their rough draft done. Then they'll go back over their writing and finesse it.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Most writers work best on a deadline. You know you need to have completed keyword research by this date, a draft by another date, etc. Adding a deadline means you have to get your act together and get things done.
It can easily take an hour to get into a writing zone, so block off a day just to write. It'll take you far longer to complete your blog if you're allocating an hour here and there.
Writing headlines is an art form. It takes skill. Not only do you need to entice your readers, but you also have to answer to search engines.
So you need to include your keywords in the headline and make it clickbait-able. I’ll only finalize the headline once the first draft is completed. I don't necessarily know how many steps or points I'll share, so leave your headline until last.
The best bloggers craft an introduction that readers literally cannot look away from.
Think of a car accident. A truck ploughs into a 4x4. You know it's a gruesome scene. Somebody has likely died. But still, you've slowed down to 5 miles an hour—not to be safe but so you can crane your neck and eyeball the damage.
So you want your introduction to be unmissable because if it's not, your readers won’t keep reading. Make sure your introduction includes your keywords in the opening line, states the problem you'll solve, and contains a little story.
Readers love data. It gives your advice or suggestions credibility. For example, why would I take up email writing just because you say I should. But if you include a stat like email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spent, well, you've got my attention.
The thing is, you need reputable information. If only 100 people were surveyed, taking data as the gospel truth isn't concrete evidence that the wider population shares those opinions. So make sure you check your facts.
Let's be honest. People love free stuff. Whether that's a coupon, free trial, eBook, t-shirt, whatever, people love it. IP intellectual property is just as powerful. It's something you own and can brand. It could be a:
It gets leads to opt into your website. From there, you just need to market to them until they buy. So make sure you're grabbing your readers’ attention with a free giveaway.
Writer's block is a reality. There will be times when it feels like you've vomited nonsense onto the page. Step away and do something else. Trying to push through will only result in frustration and feeling like you've achieved nothing that day.
Once you've finished writing, you want to re-read your blog post and ask yourself the following:
Use Grammarly to help you iron out confusing sentences, incorrect grammar, spelling mistakes, and get rid of plagiarized sentences.
If you think a topic needs to come higher up, move it. If something feels unnecessary, cut it. Basically, if you're questioning why you've included something, it probably doesn't need to be there.
The best way to optimize your blog post is to use a content editor like SurferSEO. It highlights words and phrases you need to cover in your article, and it will give you a content score out of 100, so you know where improvements can be made.
Here's how you can make sure your blog post is SEO compliant:
The best editors don't write. They specialize in taking your shiny blog post and turning it into a masterpiece. They'll identify where you need to build on a statement, or remove something. They'll pick up grammar and spelling mistakes or deviations from your copywriting style guide.
But if you can't afford an editor, consider purchasing a subscription to Grammarly. It'll do much of the legwork that an editor would. You can also use Hemingways Editor to determine the reading level of your writing. It'll help you to rewrite complex sentences, so they're more readable.
Top tip: If you can't afford an editor, give yourself a day or two between completing the final draft and editing it. You need fresh eyes to edit, and you're more likely to miss obvious mistakes if you immediately dive into editing.
Long-form blogs need images. Even short-form blogs should include a picture.
Images form a vital component of your blog article. Visuals draw the reader in, break up walls of text, highlight important points or ideas, and explain complex ideas. Plus, Google indexes them.
So be sure to add designed visuals. You can use a program like Canva to create professional-looking visuals without needing a design degree.
Once your images and copy deck is approved, place your article into the Content Management System and format it.
Once you've completed your checks, publish the post. Do a final once-over to ensure all links are opening in new tabs and to make sure the opt-ins work.
Until your blog goes live, you can't add internal links. But make no mistake, internal linking is a vital part of writing. It says to Google that it's an important topic. So straight after publishing your post, add five to 10 internal links to your new blog post.
Then submit it to Google Search Console. This allows your blog to be crawled and hopefully for search engines to start sending organic traffic your way.
Lastly, you want to promote your blog post on social media. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Create a similar article on LinkedIn and include a backlink to the original post. The more social shares, the more likely it is for your blog post to be found online.
So that's my exact process on how to write a blog post that doesn't just rank. It also gets read and shared. Now let's take a quick look at some of the tools new bloggers and seasoned ones need to succeed.
Take a look at the following must-have tools:
It doesn't matter if you're new to blogging or you’ve been blogging for years. Following these steps will help you to bring your A-game to every blog post you write.
Remember, it’s about drawing your readers in, piquing their interest early, and giving them something valuable to take away and a reason to come back for more.
Business Process 101: How to Build a Business Process in 8 Steps
Here's a bird's-eye view on the four business systems that will make you a fortune if you create them or kill your business if you ignore them.
Do you really need a business process?
As a startup, probably not. But as your organization grows and takes on bigger accounts or hires new employees, business processes become crucial to productivity, efficiency, and achieving your business goals.
But do you actually know what a business process is or why they're necessary for growing and sustaining a successful business?
Don't worry. This article will bring you up to speed quickly and help you build your internal business processes. So let's get started.
A business process is a system or structure an organization implements to produce a specific outcome. It outlines the exact series of steps each employee must take to achieve a particular goal and consistent results.
Every task in a business process is defined and documented in a Standard Operation Procedure (SOP). Mapping out a good process requires the input of the team members who'll use the system. Once you have an effective business process, your employees will be more productive and require less management. Most importantly, they'll produce value.
So what would you use a business process for?
Everything, really. From onboarding new employees to sending out customer invoices to writing an email lead nurturing sequence, you need business processes. It's what keeps your business running smoothly.
The short answer is no. A business process is a series of interrelated tasks organizations use to achieve a business goal.
The purpose of business process management (BPM) is to improve business processes and more readily achieve business goals. It requires management to review and assess all processes to determine the most efficient way of doing things.
For example,
After using BMP to analyze a process, it's up to management to refine the workflow.
But while processes are vital to expanding and escaping your business, they can cost a lot and demand more resources than a company can afford. In this case, a process will often be outsourced.
For example, a small business with fewer than five employees might outsource its accounting or legal needs to a third party. This is known as business process outsourcing.
Creating a well-documented and repeatable business process is what sets your business up for rapid business growth. Here are just four ways it positively impacts your business.
Automating specific tasks allows you, the owner, to take a break from your business without worrying that things will fall apart. It also makes your day-to-day role much more manageable because your time is freed up to go after bigger customers and take bigger risks.
And let's be honest, your business would run more efficiently without you handling everything.
It ensures your customers receive a consistent experience when using your service or product. This is key when scaling your business.
You want to deliver value and do it consistently. Look at the processes you can automate. For example, an email welcome message for new subscribers and an automated thank you message when someone purchases a product.
The development of these supporting processes is crucial in delivering a personalized experience.
It's also very attractive to potential investors. Exiting your business will be your biggest payday, but only if you have processes in place.
Investors want to purchase a well-oiled machine that only requires a little maintenance. If the running of your business resides in your memory banks, you'll never sell it.
But most importantly, it's the gold standard for how things should be done in your organization. Your employees feel empowered because they're not reliant on you for approval at every stage in a task. They take responsibility for their tasks.
Management spends less time policing and more time improving management processes (goal-setting, planning, implementing, and executing activities to achieve a positive ROI). And it improves efficiency across the organizational structure.
And a key to building world-class processes is to automate.
Technology augments your abilities. Think Tony Stark. He's a billionaire playboy genius philanthropist. But with a bit of help from technology, he becomes Iron Man. A badass superhero capable of saving the day.
Organizations use business process automation to enhance and streamline their operations. Leaders love automation because it frees up their time to focus on management processes.
It reduces costs (software takes on the role of certain tasks), there is less need for manual intervention (which reduces the potential for things to go wrong), and your people are more efficient and productive (so it enhances output).
A great example of business process automation is your marketing system. Things like website opt-in forms, email lead nurturing sequences, calendar bookings, and payment gateways continue to work while you sleep.
These are supporting processes that you create once and then don't need to think about again, giving you the freedom to shift from self-employed to entrepreneur.
Regardless of industry, virtually every facet of running an organization should have a business process. From invoicing customers to employee onboarding processes, the development of these processes makes doing business much more straightforward. They give your business credibility and are crucial to customer satisfaction.
Here are a few types of business processes, but this list is by no means exhaustive:
Business processes can be found in every successful company. Here’s what a client onboarding process might look like:
You create a form on your website specifically for warm leads interested in working with you. It captures the following information:
Management or sales receives the email and follows a series of checks. For example, they might check out the potential client's website and social media channels. If the company falls into the list of organizations they work with, they'll send a follow-up Q&A email.
It's a personalized deep-dive into their business. So it will establish how many people work for the company, how long they've been in business, annual turnover, etc.
This helps them to determine if the organization in question is a good fit.
After reviewing all the data, you'll know if this is a serious prospect. Now, you have the expertise to understand what this organization is doing well and where they need improvement.
Nail down goals and objectives. Explain where you can deliver value, how you provide support, and what resources they expect from you.
In my business, not only do my clients get access to my advisors, but I also give them all my SOPs. This is my intellectual property handed over on a silver platter to implement directly into their business so they can start seeing results. But I don't work with just anyone. So this discovery call is a vital step in my customer onboarding process.
You'll likely have a standard contract already drawn up. But based on discussions, you'll need to adjust it to support your new client's needs.
Include details about deliverables, terms of payment, company policies, and other essential details. Make sure everyone that needs a copy of the contract gets one. This could be your legal team, IT, and other departments.
Every employee that will be handling the new client and their project must be appraised. Communicate your new client’s goals to the team and decide who will handle what.
You don't want to be fielding questions about your service or product all day. So this is a great time to decide on the point of contact (the first stop for all your client’s questions or concerns). I have business and marketing advisors on my team, but for you, it might be an account manager or support.
Make sure you've defined who does what in your operations manual.
Introduce your new client to the team that will be working on their account. Explain who handles each part of a project and clearly outline the project plan.
Go over goals again. If you use particular software or tools to contact your customers, you need to demo these products and get them set up. For instance, I use Slack to stay in touch with my clients and Calendly to book calls. So I'll get each set up on Slack, and they'll get access to my coaching calendar to book a call with me.
This is just one way I'm able to enhance their experience and deliver greater value.
Remember, using a business process like this can increase customer satisfaction. Where human intervention is not required, automate. It simplifies processes and reduces human error. The next step is to build your first business process. Here's how.
Define your goals for each task in a process and decide what you want to achieve. It might be to streamline operations, improve performance, and free up management to focus on growing your business.
Once you've defined your goals, start planning your process. This often requires group discussions with all stakeholders involved in a process.
Who will work on what and when? What software is needed to achieve your goals? Something like Asana, a productivity management tool, could be massively helpful to your people when determining each step in your business process.
Now that you've identified your process workflow, map it out. Jot down what resources you need. Who does what and when? What tools are necessary? And any other important element.
Then analyze each step. What can be improved? What takes up the most time or requires the most resources? Can you include examples to help simplify the process? This all needs to be considered when creating your business process.
To implement your process, delegate which tasks your employees will handle and which tasks you can automate.
Try a dummy test. This is your chance to catch mistakes and discrepancies early and adjust accordingly.
That's right, get your process up and running.
The first step to improving your processes is to pay attention to them. Just because things are getting completed, doesn't mean the processes are optimized.
Suboptimal processes cost your business money, and they waste resources and time. Work might be duplicated or not done at all, and deadlines may be missed.
Check in with your team and see if they have any helpful suggestions. By monitoring new processes, you're able to create better ways of doing things and, in turn, deliver value.
Pretty much everything in your organization should have a business process, so once you've identified a gold standard process, roll it out at scale.
Business process mapping: Like a map shows you how to get from point A to point B, business process mapping visually details each step within an organization's operations.
For example, you might represent the process of writing and publishing a blog post or resolving conflict with customers in a workflow chart.
Use business process mapping to optimize operational procedures and ensure everyone in the company has visibility into how things get done. Remember, mapping makes the business process model possible.
Operational processes: Also known as core or primary processes, operational business processes are essential to delivering value to your customers. Core processes are the activities that keep your business up and running. Think of the things you do on a day-to-day basis that would halt your business if they didn’t happen. Those are your core processes.
Knowing which processes are necessary to keep your business functioning properly is a surefire way to keep your customers happy. If an organization spends too much time focused on secondary business processes, customer relationships may fail.
For example, in some businesses, core business processes may include marketing, manufacturing, addressing customer questions or concerns, etc. It’s necessary to document these processes well.
Supporting processes: These are the processes that support and help manage an organization's operational processes. For example, in software development, you need accounting to manage the financial side of your business.
Process modeling: This is a visual representation of an organization's workflow or business processes. It shows the set of activities required for each task to be completed. Organizations use process modeling as a gold standard for getting tasks done timely and correctly. It removes confusion, improves performance and productivity, and reduces downtime. Process modeling is a crucial element of process automation.
Process improvement: A key feature of business process management (BPM), process improvement focuses on analyzing existing processes, identifying areas of weakness, and re-engineering them to enhance customer experiences to get better results.
Management processes: The purpose of management processes is to create more effective managers. These five functions make up a management process: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.
Business process automation: Using technology or software to perform essential repetitive tasks saves time and money.
The primary goal of every business should be to create processes.
Now that you know how important business processes are for your business, it’s time to start building and implementing yours. As a business owner, you want to identify tasks that currently take up a lot of your time but don't benefit your business financially. Map them out, test them, assign them to key team members, and implement them as soon as possible.
Once you free up your time, you'll be able to focus on the facets of your business that drive growth. If you found this helpful, share this article.
How To Write A Press Release: Follow These 10 Rules
There's a number you need to beware of. It has destroyed countless businesses and if you aren't aware of it, yours could be next.
Every business needs to know how to write a press release. Forget about social media. Public Relations (PR) is an essential component of your marketing strategy, and all it costs is your time.
Create breaking news that reporters and editors want to publish, and overnight you can attract qualified leads and build your authority.
It all starts with a good press release. That's why, in this article, I’m going to show you:
I’ll also include a free press release template you can download and examples for you to scrutinize and learn from. So let's get into press release writing.
A press release or news release (call it what you will) is a brief news announcement or statement sent to the media by a business or PR agency to inform the public about an upcoming event, product launch, company acquisition, and much more.
It can help a brand or company stand out and build a relationship with a particular publication or a news outlet’s audience. It’s about creating news and sharing a story that benefits the public.
A well-written press release provides just enough information for a news outlet to run the piece as is or follow up with an interview.
As a small business, you probably don’t have a huge marketing budget. Paying for a full-page spread in a magazine or newspaper is simply too expensive.
Now you might be wondering if it's better to use a traditional distribution service to handle public relations for your company.
I prefer to keep things in-house. Yes, it can be time-consuming to build relationships with journalists, but you're building your intellectual property (IP). You're not waiting on someone else to write your press release. All you need to do is to have a good idea, write it, put it into a press release format and hit send.
Just download our free press release template and follow our step-by-step guide on press release writing, and soon you'll be creating news.
So let’s look at the types of press releases you can write.
Journalists work on tight deadlines. Budgets are being slashed across the globe, and they now have to churn out multiple newsworthy stories each day. If you can make their job easier and provide a news story, they’ll take notice.
But it’s not just about the content you provide. How you structure your press release can impact the journalist’s decision to publish or ignore it.
So when writing a press release, it needs to be grammatically correct and ready to go. If the media can copy and paste your press release into their publication with minimal changes, all the better.
Keep in mind that a good press release format is essential when pitching your news to the media. You need to include these elements:
Note to editor: Also known as a boilerplate, this is a section where you include details about your company and contact information.
SUB-HEADING TO HELP SELL YOUR STORY ONLY IF REQUIRED
MEDIA RELEASE: City/Location, Date of Release e.g.: June 1, 2017:
INTRO: In two to three sentences, summarize your news in this paragraph.
BODY COPY: It’s secondary information which is relevant to the story.
INCLUDE ONE OR TWO INTERESTING QUOTES
ADD photographs, infographics, or videos
INSERT A CALL-TO-ACTION
Facebook – INSERT YOUR COMPANY PROFILE
Instagram – INSERT YOUR COMPANY HANDL
Twitter – INSERT YOUR COMPANY HANDLE
- END –
Note to Editors: For further information, images, or interview requests contact:Name: email address, phone number, mobile number
About: INSERT YOUR NAME/COMPANY NAME
Give a brief description about your company (no more than 150 words).
Use these tips to help write your press release:
Keep in mind, the perfect press release follows these 10 rules.
Journalists love to be the first to share the news. So the topic you write about needs to be a scoop, news announcement, or data trend.
Before writing anything, put yourself in the journalist’s shoes and ask yourself:
What value does your press release offer? PR can make your story more influential, but it needs to be factual, credible, and relevant to the publication you’re sharing it with.
It needs to be an attention-grabbing headline. Can you write something punchy, captivating, and informative? Here are a few ideas for a strong press release headline:
The first paragraph of your press release must outline the topic you’re addressing and the argument that supports your position.
Journalists love data. Facts and figures lend credibility to a story, so if you can show some form of data, do it. But it needs to be the real deal. You can’t survey 100 of your closest friends and hope to be taken seriously. You need to accumulate information from at least 2,000 sources, and they need to be relevant to your industry.
Once you’ve got their attention, use the following sentences to expand on your position.
To become a source, you need to establish credibility. And to do this, you need to specifically lay out what makes you qualified to speak about a particular subject.
Basically, what have you done that can lend weight to your press release and make the journalist take notice of you? Make sure you include this information in your press release.
Can you explain what your story is about in three or four sentences?
The body copy is your chance to sum up the angle of your press release.
The optimal length for a press release is between 300 and 400 words. You want to give enough information so the journalist can run the story as is, without needing to arrange an in-person or Zoom interview.
You also want to align the tone of your press release with the publication's style and tone.
Stick to the facts, keep it concise, and don’t use flowery language or lots of jargon. Your press release needs to be immediately understood. A good tip is to write so that a 14-year-old could understand it.
Unless you’re on personal time and reading a novel, walls of text can be intimidating and off-putting. Journalists want to be able to scan your press release and quickly pick out key points. To make your press release more readable use:
The ultimate goal of your press release is to get a follow-up interview with the journalist. To do that, they need to know whom to get in touch with.
So at the very end of your press release, you must include your contact details:
For example, (Name) is available for interview or comment. (Include your landline or cell number and email address).
This is a short description (roughly 150 words) of your company or the author of the press release.
After putting all this effort into writing a press release, you need to make sure you generate actual press for your story. Keep these eight tips in mind when sending a press release:
Again, something as simple as writing the journalist’s name in the subject line can give you a leg up in the pitching process. Whatever you do, don’t include the wrong name. Another great tactic is referencing an article they’ve recently written that you particularly liked or felt was relevant to your press release.
Or consider taking a contrary view and have the data to back up your thought process. Compelling arguments are hard to resist, so give the journalist a reason to keep reading.
This isn’t your pal, so while you want to be professional and friendly, it’s also important to keep your tone conversational.
Email subject lines are powerful. You need to spend a good amount of time figuring out what would make the journalist stop scrolling and start reading your press release.
Again, why should the journalist care? How does the information in your press release benefit the media's readers? What are they going to get out of it? If it doesn’t serve their audience, if it’s not new, they won’t publish it. So keep it concise and compelling.
While some PR agencies might tell you to attach your press release, I prefer to include it in the body of the email. I’d also attach a high-resolution image of your company logo or yourself. Alternatively, include a shareable link to your Google Drive where they can download your press pack.
If you can, reach out to the editor or journalist and mention that you’ve emailed them. Some PR agencies suggest phoning the journalist. It really depends on where in the world the journalist is located.
In Australia, calling a journalist before you send your press release is good practice. But in the U. S., journalists don’t have time to answer your call. They usually prefer an email or a DM via Twitter or Instagram. So make sure you know the preferences of the journalist you’re engaging with.
If you haven’t heard back from the journalist in two or three days, send a follow-up email. Remember, reporters' inboxes are inundated with pitches from hopeful business owners much like yourself. Some land in their spam folder, so it’s a good idea to send a follow-up email. Something like this:
Hey (their name),
It's (your name) from (brand/company). I'm just checking to see if you received my email about (topic). I sent it a couple of days ago and I'm available to talk things over whenever it's convenient for you.
(Mention why you think the topic would interest their audience. Does it take a stance, back up a new thought or trend?)
Here’s a high-level overview:
(State what the news is.
Mention why it’s important to their audience.
Include compelling stats or data.)
You can read the full press release here. (Make this a hyperlink to a Google folder.)
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
You don’t want to send your follow-up email too soon or follow up more than two times. This will only irritate the journalist or, worse, make you look desperate. Your name and email address will go into their do-not-engage list, and you’ll never get featured in their publication.
Also, avoid boring subject lines like RE: or Checking In. Instead, rephrase it to include the journalist’s name, For example, Hey (name), I haven’t heard from you…
Hi there,
I handle PR for (insert name), the (founder/owner/author/CEO) of (name of business). I’m getting in touch because (state newsworthy angle). Here’s why (this story) would be a great fit for your (publication, talk show, podcast, etc.):
(State why the content is relevant in three bullet points.)
(Close with a call-to-action (plus your business phone number and email address.)
(Include a link to your website and social media networks.)
P. S. (Brand, company, or your name) has an email list of over (00,000) (state the audience, for example, small business owners) that we'd be happy to share the article with.
Note: Paste in press release PLUS attach PDF version and high-resolution images.
Hi (name),
My name is (your name), and I am the (founder/owner/author/CEO) of (your business). I’m getting in touch because (state newsworthy angle – hosting an event, raising funds for a good cause, launching a product, innovating a service etc.). Here’s why (this story) would be a great fit for your (publication, talk show, podcast, etc.):
State why the content is relevant with three bullet points.
(Close with a call-to-action (how to contact you: your business phone number and email address).)
(Include a link to your website and social media networks)
Kind regards,
(your name)
P.S. (Brand, company or your name) has an email list of over (00,000) (state the audience, for example, small business owners) that we'd be happy to share the article with.
NOTE: Paste in press release PLUS attach PDF version and high-resolution images.
I’ve compiled a few press release examples you can use to inspire the writing process.
View the full press release here.
Read the full full press release article here.
Read the full CNN press release here.
Read the full story here.
And that's our guide on how to write a press release that gets media coverage. These are tried and trusted tips and techniques that we’ve used to get coverage for our brand. Make it newsworthy, get the format of your press release right, and don’t forget to list your contact information.
If you know how to write a press release that journalists want to cover, you'll always be able to generate free press for your story.
So make sure you include public relations in your marketing plan.
What are you waiting for? The media waits for no one, so start writing your business press release now.