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Discover Your Strengths and Supercharge Your Business

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Have you ever been kept awake until 2 in the morning having an imaginary conversation with one of your blog readers who thinks you’re great and left a long comment telling you so? Or spent hours obsessively trying to figure out how to do better work, spurred by a fan letter from a customer about the terrific job you did? Or is it maybe more likely that your late-night solo conversations and obsessive problem-solving go to the trolls , the complainers, and the folks who just plain can’t stand you? Don’t worry. If you give an undue amount of attention to negative comments and feedback, to the extent of almost ignoring the good stuff altogether, it doesn’t mean you’re neurotic. It means you’re exactly like the rest of us. Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their marvelous book Switch make this observation: Imagine a world in which you experienced a rush of gratitude every single time you flipped a light switch and the room lit up. Imagine a world in which after a husband forgot his wife’s birthday, she gave him a big kiss and said, “For thirteen of the last fourteen years you remembered my birthday! That’s wonderful!” This is not our world. But in times of change, it needs to be. Play to your strengths I’ve long been fascinated by the advice to those who tell us to focus on our strengths, not our weaknesses, in order to create breakthrough success. It’s so appealing. You mean I don’t have to learn to cold call, balance my checkbook, or know how my RSS feed works? Sign me up. But it seems like it might be contradicted by another idea that’s gained a lot of attention recently: there’s not really any such thing as talent. Researchers like Carol Dweck and brilliant nonfiction writers like Malcolm Gladwell tell us that what we call “talent” is really the result of a heck of a lot of hard work. What are strengths, anyway? Until recently, I never realized this was a trick question. I thought that your strengths were things you were good at, and your weaknesses were things you sucked at. But Marcus Buckingham, who’s made a career out of writing about strengths, put it this way: A strength is “an activity that makes you feel strong.” It is an activity where the doing of it invigorates you. Before you do it, you find yourself instinctively looking forward to it. While you are doing it you don’t struggle to concentrate, but instead you become so immersed that time speeds up and you lose yourself in the present moment. And after you are finished doing it, you feel authentic, connected to the best parts of who you really are. Your strengths are the activities that give you the juice to put your 10,000 hours in. They’re the work you love enough to become the best in the world at. I’ll give you an example I recently heard Yo-Yo Ma giving an interview about how he got started as a cellist. As it happens, Yo-Yo’s parents are both musicians, and had high musical expectations for their little son. So when Yo-Yo was three, they gave the boy a violin. And Yo-Yo hated it. Wouldn’t practice. Wouldn’t focus. Didn’t have any zest for it. His frustrated parents finally gave up in disgust. And then little Yo-Yo saw and heard something amazing, something that surprised and delighted him. Something that he knew was exactly what he wanted to play. It was a double bass — the violin’s really, really big brother. Now that was more like it. He and his parents split the size difference, and Ma began to study first the viola and then settled (at four years old) on the cello. By seven he was a recognized prodigy, performing for Eisenhower and JFK, and by eight he played on national television, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. To have become so skilled between the ages of four and seven, he must have put in untold hours of practice. But they were hours spent on something he adored. One thing that interests me about Ma is that he isn’t just a brilliant cellist. He isn’t just world-famous and in-demand and a name brand. He also seems to be a remarkably happy and kind human being. He loves working with children. He’s been married a long time to the same person. He radiates kindness and a certain goofy charm. He’s got a great sense of humor, referring to himself at times as an “itinerant musician.” And he’s known for boundless energy. If I’m going to be a nationally-famous virtuoso, that’s the kind I want to be. Build your business like Yo-Yo When you see someone busting her tail to build a business, writing tons of great content, reaching out to potential customers, speaking and podcasting and doing everything we’re supposed to do to build a terrific content-based marketing program , it’s easy to ask: How does anyone find the time to do all that? The truth is, it’s not a time management problem — it’s an energy management one. When you focus on your strengths, you do the work that gives you energy. You do the work that drives you, that makes you giggle, that keeps you up late because you’re just having too much fun to stop. When you’re starting out, you do everything. You build the blog site and write all the content and do the bookkeeping and answer the support emails. Some of those things build you up and some wear you down. Pay attention to which is which. As soon as you can (it could be today), find partners who are energized by the tasks that exhaust and deplete you. If you can’t find the right partner, outsource the aspects of your business that make you want to crawl back into bed. And put your time and attention on what the Heath brothers call the “bright spots” – on what’s really working today. Put your time on the work that gives you juice. Do more of what’s working well. Do more of what energizes and strengthens you. Do more of what your readers and customers adore. Do more of what you can do better than anyone on earth. I know it sounds too simple to be real. But it’s how every genuinely great business — of any size — is built. About the Author : Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger, CMO of Copyblogger Media, and founder of Remarkable Communication . Share your bright spots with her on twitter .

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Discover Your Strengths and Supercharge Your Business

A Four-Step Guide to Generating Sales Leads from Your Blog

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Dean: Did you know you can use your blog to make money offline? Blogger: Offline? What is this “offline” you speak of? Dean: It’s the opposite of “online.” Blogger: (confused silence) Dean: You know. Offline. Not on the internet. The real world. Blogger: (shaking phone) Not only does this stupid phone drop my calls, now it’s translating them into crazy moon language. Okay, I jest. But to listen to some bloggers, you would think a blog’s only purpose is to make money online, by selling ebooks , membership sites , or advertising. The truth is, blogs have grown into a more powerful tool than anyone ever imagined. They’re ideal for making money online, of course. But they can also be used to generate profits for nearly any kind of business, including those that provide real services in the offline world. This often means generating sales leads for a service or consulting business. This is how I use my copywriting business blog, which accounts for most of the new clients who call me these days. Okay, sounds great. People read your blog and then call to hire you, right? Well, not quite. Are you selling a product or a service? First, it’s important to understand that selling a service is not like selling a product. When you sell a product, the process is usually pretty straightforward. Basically, you introduce the product, spell out some benefits, make an offer, and people make a buying decision. Selling a service can be a little more involved. Prospects first inquire about the service, usually comparing you with other providers. If the service is expensive, like my copywriting and marketing consulting, people are even more careful about their decision. I’ve had clients take years to finally made the decision to hire me. And it’s common for people to start a phone call by saying, “I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while now. Do you have moment to talk about a copywriting project?” This shouldn’t surprise you. The more expensive the service, the more important it is, and the more commitment it requires from the customer, the more careful that customer is going to be. Think about it. If you need your bathroom painted, you might spend an afternoon looking for a decent painter. If you need to build an extension onto your house, you might spend weeks or even months finding the perfect contractor for the job. So if you provide a service, such as freelance writing, graphic design, web consulting, wedding photography, event planning, translation, or whatever, you can use your blog to attract prospects and begin the process of selling them on your services. Here’s how. Create your sales funnel Professional sales people often talk about filling their “sales funnel” or “sales pipeline.” What they mean is that in order to make a sale sometime in the future, they want people to inquire today. They always want to have lots of people who are in various stages of readiness to buy. To keep things simple, I like to think of the sales funnel as having just 4 simple steps. 1. Generate inquiries This means getting people to contact you. Typically this is done by offering something of value in exchange for contact information. For my business, I offer a free newsletter . If people go to my main website, I also offer a free white paper . In both cases, they have to give me some contact information before they get the freebie. I also provide a contact form and phone number for “hot” leads who are ready to talk business. I get many inquiries every week. Most can’t afford my services. But a few are high quality and good candidates for future business. 2. Follow up After you’ve delivered the freebie or provided whatever information you have promised, it’s time to schedule your follow-up, usually either by email or phone. Because you are responding to someone’s inquiry, it’s not a cold call. You have a valid reason for making contact and have an opportunity to gauge how serious the person is. Are they just gathering information? Do they need your services immediately? Or are they somewhere in between? The most serious are your sales leads. Everyone else is a prospect. You will want to spend more time on sales leads than prospects. 3. Nurture leads This is the step most people are tempted to skip. Like every other person selling a service, you want to make a sale right away. But while a few people will hire you immediately, most will not. Their interest needs to be nurtured until they’re ready to buy. You should store all contact information in a database, which could be a simple customer relationship management system like Highrise or a desktop-based program such as ACT! . Find ways to regularly communicate with your leads. Over time, they will become more familiar with you and more comfortable with the idea of hiring you. People always prefer the familiar over the unknown. There are many ways to nurture leads. You can send news or information they might be interested in, make additional offers for low-cost or introductory services, connect with them socially, and even seek their advice from time to time. 4. Close sales This step is self-explanatory. A potential customer needs your service. You provide a quote or estimate, answer questions, overcome objections, and eventually close the sale. This is your end game, the goal of your efforts. And if you’ve set up a good lead generation system and kept your sales funnel consistently full, it will actually be the easiest step in the process. Easy ways to generate inquiries from your blog The hardest part about generating sales leads is getting people to contact you in the first place. If you’re just starting out and no one knows who you are, this may seem impossible. As a blogger, you may know a variety of ways to promote your blog. Obviously, the more blog traffic you get, the easier it will be to generate leads. But you don’t need a ton of traffic to make it work. According to Alexa , my business blog is ranked at around 100,000 or so. That’s not bad, but it’s nowhere near superstar blogs such as Copyblogger. However, I get enough of the right kind of people reading it to generate a steady stream of inquiries for my services. So don’t worry about becoming a top-ranked blog. To successfully sell your services, you just need regular inquiries from the right kind of people. The more specialized you are, and the more targeted your blog posts, the more likely this will happen. Of course, bringing people to your blog is one thing. Generating inquiries is another. Here are some simple things you can do to make those inquiries happen. Contact Form — If you have a blog, you almost certainly have a contact form. However, the standard contact form is not enough. You should modify your form to match the service you sell. Take a look at the highly specialized form I use . E-Newsletter — This is an easy way to stay in touch with many people and provide great value while you’re at it. Since I specialize in copywriting for direct mail and direct marketing, my newsletter features articles and information on the subject. I have several thousand subscribers and about half of my new clients say they became pre-sold on my abilities by subscribing. Free White Paper — While a newsletter requires an ongoing commitment, a white paper is a one-time effort. Write it, post a contact/request form, and send a link to the PDF when requests come in. You could also automate the process with an auto responder, but I like to fulfill these requests personally so I can watch for hot leads from companies I want to work with. My white paper on improving direct mail response generates many requests every week. Information Kit — If you’ve built a blog or site around your services, you should provide plenty of information online. However, you can offer pricing, forms, a client list, and other information in the form of a downloadable PDF. Remember, when someone requests information, it gives you the opportunity to capture contact information. Webinars — These days it’s fairly simple to put together a webinar using services such as GoToWebinar . You can also create non-interactive presentations with software like PowerPoint or OpenOffice. The idea is to provide something of value that enables you to collect contact information. Videos — Using software and hardware built into many computers, you can create simple, informative videos. They don’t have to be fancy. Just look into the camera and talk. Or edit together simple footage demonstrating your work or how you solved a problem. Video can also be a helpful tool to encourage people to sign up for your newsletter, webinar, or other information. Pay Per Click — If you write and promote a good blog, you’re probably getting a fair amount of natural traffic. But pay-per-click ads can give you a boost for people looking for your particular services. Your results will vary depending on the level of competition and amount you’re willing to spend, but it’s worth a test. Just remember: Your blog is a means to an end . If you use your blog to attract the right kind of traffic, and follow the advice above to generate sales leads, you should see a dramatic increase in your business. About the Author: Dean Rieck is one of America’s most in-demand direct marketing copywriters who shares his writing and freelancing know-how at Pro Copy Tips .

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A Four-Step Guide to Generating Sales Leads from Your Blog

Play Connect-the-Dots to Win at Online Marketing

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Remember those puzzles you used to do when you were six or seven? That mass of dots and numbers on a page just looked like a mess. But when you went through and connected dot 1 to dot 2, moving on through dots 100 and 101, you wound up with a picture of a pony. You might think you’ve outgrown connect-the-dots. But actually, it’s one of the most important strategies for online entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to build profits with online marketing. Learn to connect the dots in a smart and strategic way, and you could very well paint yourself a real pony. It’s not quite as easy as it was when you were six, but it’s still well within your grasp. Connect the dots from the best free content Content marketing is a massive trend that’s only getting stronger. And in the best content marketing, smart marketers will give you free material you can use right away to start creating great results. If your goal is to market your business, don’t overlook the value you can get from free information. Some terrific businesses have been built by acting on the advice found in free content. Benefiting from free content is all about connecting the dots. Take the great lead generation strategy from one source, connect it with the solid headline and conversion tactics from another, and wrap it up with some good social media sharing you learn on a third. It’s a bit like playing connect-the-dots without numbers. Challenging, but if you put the work in, it works. The real trick, though, isn’t finding great free stuff. It’s sifting out all the junk. The most important dot The most important dot to connect is this: Be sure you’re studying someone who’s worth your time. And there are very few marketing teachers out there who have changed more lives than Jeff Walker . Jeff’s the creator of a program called Product Launch Formula , which helped Brian connect his own dots, way back in 2005. Brian knew a lot about copywriting and marketing from his previous ventures, but it was PLF that showed him how to string everything together — to create not just great content, but also a great business powered by content. You owe it to yourself to watch Jeff’s free instructional videos. Jeff’s a teacher at heart, and he loves to give out quality information you can use to start improving your own marketing, even if you never spend a penny with him. You’ll do particularly well if you combine Jeff’s approach with what you learn here on Copyblogger. Click here to watch Jeff’s tutorial video, which he just posted today . About the Author : Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and co-founder of Inside the Third Tribe.

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Play Connect-the-Dots to Win at Online Marketing

Johnny’s Copyblogger Wrap-Up: Week of May 17, 2010

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Last week , I told a story about how Brian lured me down to Texas, loaded me up with tequila, and convinced me to become a walking endorsement. Now, I’m biased, but I thought that was funny. But what was more funny was that there were a handful of people who actually thought I had gotten “Scribe” and “Thesis 4 LYF” tattooed onto my arms. This misunderstanding proved that sarcasm doesn’t always translate online. But more troubling, it also established that people feel that the ladies walking the streets around that tattoo parlor and I have similar opinions about what money can buy. So this week, I’m going to be more clear. I did not get any logos tattooed onto me. I was not mistakenly pronounced dead and delivered to a medical college. And no matter what Brian and Sonia may say later, I did not hack Copyblogger and redirect it to Rather Good . Yet. Until I didn’t do that, you can check out what happened this week on Copyblogger: Monday: How to Write an Article That Draws Thousands of New Readers Sean D’Souza explains how to write an article that draws thousands of new readers. All of us should pay attention to this advice, because more readers means more potential donations in the event your blog fuels a religion based on Xenu, the tyrant ruler of the Galactic Confederacy. It could happen. Sean lays out why an article that Psychotactics ran was passed on a zillion times, retweeted endlessly, and garnered a bunch of new newsletter signups… and it wasn’t because it was written elegantly. It was all because of three specific things. I could tell you outright which three things did the trick, but then I wouldn’t be doing my job as a teaser-writer. And how am I going to get the FTP access needed to hack this site that way? Read the full post here . Tuesday: Chris Guillebeau wrote a post on Tuesday for the 24-hour-only re-release of his Empire Builder thingy, but now it’s sold out. So there’s nothing to see here, move along. No, really… there’s literally nothing to see here. Let proceed, shall we? Wednesday: How to Promote Your Blog on TV for Way Less Than You Think According to Dean Rieck, the advent of Google TV on the AdWords platform means that I can advertise my blog on TV. It sure is a good thing I stole all of those Teleprompters. This was a surprising notion to me. It makes sense, though; Google actually controls the universe, and besides, I guess a network would rather take my tiny offer than have a spot open during which they’re forced to run sports bloopers or possibly Gilmore Girls . Who knows? You could totally be the next Ron Popeil . I’m going for Joe Francis , but that’s just me. Read the full post here . Thursday: Three Training Tips to Become a Better Blogger James Chartrand totally duded it up in this post, talking about working out, and being all sweaty at the gym, and pumping iron until you bleed, and hunting with your bare hands, and driving sports cars off a cliff while playing Russian roulette with a Cuban hit-man named Rocco, who has a Chuck Norris beard and an eyepatch. But then she (how am I supposed to handle the pronouns here?) turned the metaphor on blogging. And just like chugging NO-Xplode shakes and doing curlz until your massive gunz explode, blogging takes training and time. Expecting to blog really well and effortlessly (and be received with great response and praise) right out of the gate would be like expecting to bench 500 pounds while your partner yells “YOU GOT IT! FEEL THE PAIN!” at you on your very first trip to the gym. Get all ripped and swoll here . Friday: How to Write Your Ass Off Brian commented once that my Copyblogger posts are never about writing. So to correct that (I can’t live in a world where Brian Clark is correct), I decided to write about writing on Friday. The result was this post containing a silhouette of Freddy Krueger and talking about having multiple personalities. And so it goes. See, I’m two different people. One is Johnny B. Truant, and the other is the guy who hangs out with my wife and kids. I need both of those guys. Johnny isn’t always kid-friendly, but without Johnny, I wouldn’t have exposure in the blogosphere, and my kids would be living under the freeway. Schizophrenia for the win. I think that being two people is a huge benefit for any creative person, but it’s also really helpful when playing board games alone, standing in two lines at once, or when pretending to be Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln. Read the full post here . Or maybe here . About the Author: Johnny B. Truant writes (and builds awesome websites) at JohnnyBTruant.com and is one of the guys behind Question the Rules . You should also really check out his Jam Sessions with Charlie Gilkey, because they’re filled with tasty informational nuggets that will make your business better.

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Johnny’s Copyblogger Wrap-Up: Week of May 17, 2010

The Two Vital Attributes of Quality Content

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“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” ~William Morris, poet and designer Imagine the household you would have if you got rid of every item that was neither useful or beautiful. Gone would be the plastic doodad with no known purpose, the ugly frame your great-aunt gave you, the Special Free Offer© you never opened, the collection of someday-useful peanut butter jars . . . Every room would be so much more pleasant to be in, and every tool so much easier to find. What if you applied the same rule to the content you wrote? Every email, sales letter, blog post, and comment you wrote would have to be useful or beautiful. Or both. Does that sound a little . . . scary? Most copywriters are fine with this, in principle. (Remember the first law of content marketing ? Every piece of cookie content should reward the audience for reading: by solving a problem they have, or by entertaining them. Sounds pretty similar, doesn’t it?) The main problem people have with this advice is they don’t trust their own judgment. They’re unsure if what they’re writing is useful or beautiful. And of course, some people are certain their writing would make James Joyce weep and Dale Carnegie gnash his teeth, while their readers are wondering what this pretentious and useless fluff piece is all about. Are you unsure? Never fear! Here are some guidelines to help. How do I know if my content is useful? 1. Write content that suits your audience Your content must match your audience’s level of understanding . Experts won’t consider entry-level content useful and beginners won’t get much use out of advanced discussions. Your audience must have the required resources — time, energy, money, potato chips — to use the content. Telling new parents about a relaxation technique that requires eight hours a night of uninterrupted sleep? Not useful. Your content must relate to something your audience cares about . I’ll never find content on how to dress in corporate style useful, because I don’t care about dressing in that way. 2. Write specific content Generalisations aren’t useful. Vague: Scooters need oil on a regular basis. Specific and useful: Refill your scooter’s oil tank to the indicator line with two-stroke motorcycle oil every third time you refill the petrol tank. 3. Write actionable content Useful content creates action . If your readers don’t do something as a result of reading your content (change their mind, buy something, tear up their desk calendar, dance a boogaloo, write a better headline , pick a fight, talk to their children, set a goal, start a collaborative experience ), then the content wasn’t useful. Your content must encourage, advise, mentor, support, bully, or dare your audience into acting. And you must, must, must include a call to action in every piece of content you write. How do I know if my content is beautiful? This is the point where people get uncomfortable. Don’t worry! You don’t have to produce sonnets to write beautifully. Experiences that provide pleasure or meaning are beautiful. Johnny B. Truant writes posts that are beautiful, although he’ll likely laugh in your face and pour jam down your pants if you say so. They’re beautiful because they’re funny and vigorous and meaningful. If you’re not Johnny, here are some tips. (If you are Johnny, hi Johnny!) 1. Write meaningful content If you write your content with emotion , it’s more meaningful. Ever read a “Thank you for subscribing” email with sincere gratitude in it? (I read one that was so beautiful I saved it. Really.) If your feelings don’t match the anticipated emotion it’s even more effective: an angry product review, an excited tax letter, a sympathetic auto-responder . . . Be vulnerable . Instead of writing about the mistakes some people have made, write about the mistakes you made. And what they meant to you. Write about the bigger implications . Fixing a dripping tap is ordinary. Learning to perform house maintenance as a sign of your new independence is meaningful. Real benefits are meaningful. Creating more wealth, more connection, more options, and more purpose are some of our most meaningful activities. 2. Write pleasurable content Write to inspire emotion in your readers: make them smile. Make them cry. Make them wistful. And make sure they know they’re not alone in feeling that way. If you know your audience well, you can write mass communication that feels personal , where every reader thinks you’re psychic because you’re writing Just For Them. Everyone enjoys the pleasure of feeling understood. Use the tools in your linguistic toolbox to make the writing entertaining : play with alliteration, hyperbole, rhythm, flights of fancy, metaphor, perspective, storytelling . . . whatever feels natural and unforced to you. It’s hard to beat the pleasure of seeing your name in print. Praise your readers in public, hold them up as an example, thank them, or mention them as an inspiration . . . and do it by name. Do you want to take it even further? Think of a piece of content that’s critical to your success, like your sales letter. What if you applied the same rules to every paragraph of that content? What if you judged every word ? If you wrote your sales letter and removed every word that wasn’t useful or beautiful: You couldn’t use weasel words like “actually” or “amazingly” or “absolutely.” You’d have to use evocative, beautiful words and images. The writing would be muscular, short and punchy (Like Hemingway would write it). You’d become a thoughtful student of copywriting , so you knew how to make each word as useful as possible to create the result you want. It would kick ass! Do you think you could improve the usefulness and beauty of your content? Tell us how you plan to do it in the comments! About the Author: Catherine is wicked passionate about helping people to start and grow an awesome website: she’s even published a manifesto about it. When she’s not adding five-minute missions to BeAwesomeOnline.com , she can invariably be found on Twitter .

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The Two Vital Attributes of Quality Content