Here’s a staggering statistic for you: 2.73 million blogs are published daily.
In other words, being entertaining and engaging isn’t enough anymore. To lift your content above all of the competing voices—not to mention the competing distractions of work and life—you’ve got to offer your audience something more.
Instinctively, we all know this is true. I have a TON of emails set aside containing blog posts I want to read and articles bookmarked to dive into "when I have the time" (ha!)—and the reality is that most of that content will never get read.
But as I was talking with a friend recently, we agreed that there are 2 types of content that will cause us to drop everything, right there and then.
What are they—and how can you leverage them in your business? I’ll share them in this week’s video.
Make sure to leave me a comment below my video! I’d love to hear what triggers you to put aside what you’re doing and dive into content. I’m curious if you agree with me! Is it one of the 2 things I mention in the video?
Excellent – You come highly recommended and I need all the help I can get with my blogs, and online stores to boost sales to keep folks healthy. I am interested and thought about Podcasts, but the cost of doing them – expense for the program has held me back. I have listened to your vides twice and will do again for the weekend.
My stores – http://www.debbiekaras.myarbonne.com ( this will change in March due to Arbonne website updates)
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I have another virtual dispensary, but having trouble with the embeded links. Thank you for your video – it is GRAND and I have enjoyed your materials in the past. Obviously I listen / read your materials or at least download for “later” reading and viewing. THANX.
Thanks for your comment Debbie! Arbonne is a great company – I know a few people who work with them and have used some of their product. Stay in touch and let us know how we can continue to help!
Content I read needs to be SHORT and SIMPLE. It’s usually a little off the beaten path and only indirectly related to my business–something spiritual or psychological often gets my attention.
I love your take on this Judith as you approached this from the viewer/reader standpoint! Having that kind of clarity about what exact content you enjoy and find useful will save YOU time as you sort through what has the most meaning. Thanks for your post!
Pam, I heard you speak at a Mike Koenigs event and I am so glad to see you educating under your own brand. This vid is packed with solid ideas I can use and so much so I am keeping it to review and take notes. I like your set up too. Muted colors in a home office, you seated not strutting around. Just the background I want for my teaching style at Green Startup Institute. Thanks for paring it down. Kathleen Connell, San Diego
Thanks Kathleen, it took us A WHILE to figure out what look we wanted for our core videos. Ultimately, I work in such a male dominated field, I wanted to do something that had a little more warmth to it. I appreciate the style of my colleagues and it works great for them but I think the key is knowing who you are and who your audience is and finding what works for you! A little inside tidbit: we film most of this in my house. I work out of a home office and on shoot days (we shoot blogs 1 day a month – usually 4 in a day), my house gets turned upside down into a mini-studio. But I’m comfortable here and I love the idea of inviting people into my home. Share some videos when you get them done as I’d love to see!
Thanks , great content. Happy Day.
This is very helpful. I’m going to try #1. Planning has always been my weakest area in EVERY area of life. In fact, in one of your other videos from last year, you gave an easy social media calendar plan I want to go dig up and start using. Thanks.
Natalie, thanks for your comment. The good news is (1) you don’t have to reinvent the wheel (2) once you have a basic plan done you don’t have to create it again. In addition, quality always beats quantity (i.e. don’t try to attack every channel, pick the couple that make the most sense for you and your market and focus on those). It’s about ONE step at a time!
Hi Pam – great share! Your headline did stop me…I was supposed to be doing something else and I listened to the whole video. I agree with the two things totally and I key “re-purposing” content – serving it in other ways, other times etc. is some important. Love your style! Thank you!
Hi Pam,
thanks for your video – valuable as always. Great to see that you practice what you teach.
The one area we need to focus on even more is getting the hook right. For Andrea the recipes twice a week helps the open rate a lot but it could be improved even further.
See you next weekend.
Can’t wait to see you! Are you split testing subject lines? Body copy? Here are 7 types of hooks you can play with: (1) intriguing question (what every day fruit has been linked to brain health?) (2) startling fact (3) sound bite (4) personal story (5) humor (6) quote (7) survey, study or poll. Also be sure that you’re not giving away the punchline in the hook – i.e. “Discover the one thing that has been proven to increase house sales by 10%” vs “How to use a simple household ingredient like vanilla on a lightbulb to increase your house sales by 10%” – you want the one that doesn’t give it away. You guys keep improving – that’s what counts. Hope these little tips help!
Nice,
To the point, useful, thanks for sharing!!
Great blog Pam, You are looking and sounding super and your comments are so right on. Right now I am getting so many responses when I write about how to handle “the jerk at work.” Seems like everyone is so stressed that even minor annoyances are getting people to grit their teeth. Thanks for all the ideas. best, Sylvia
Sylvia, Great hook for your content! Agree that the number of moving parts and distractions from technology hitting us every direction make us stressed – and this can leak out to those we work with! Love that you are tackling this topic! P.S. Hello to Herb!
Timing is impeccable with this post, Pam. Thank you for sharing guidelines as I’ve been asked recently to guest blog. I like the tips to share the solution and the system. The two create really useful content. Your videos are always great!
Thanks for your words. So true. You certainly got me to stop and read your blog because what I am trying to do is write compelling blog articles!! You hit me right time, right place.
I write about moving from heartbreak to tweaking your approach to love and finding real love the next time around. Lots of good food for thought and headlines there but not always easy to actually come up with.
Appreciate your great tips!
Ha! Thanks for the note! Great topic and I love the concept of tweaking as (1) it’s accurate and (2) it feels so much easier for people. Invest in a couple of copywriting books – direct response is best – not even so much for the direct response training but you’ll learn some great tips for good headlines that intrigue. 80% of people read headlines, only 20% continue on to read the rest so you’re right the headline is important!
I did watch your video and found it useful. I took notes! Interesting that I almost never watch videos. I’m one of those people who clicks out as fast as possible. The reason? I hate being trapped there with no way to scan or get to the point if the speaker rambles. I wonder how many people are like me. If a transcript is provided, I’m more likely to read the content.
Exactly – we switched to adding both audio and transcripts of all our blogs (in addition to video) at the beginning of the year and it’s helped people a ton! It takes just a few minutes and makes a big difference for people in terms of making it convenient. So you are 100% right – a lot of people prefer transcripts (or audio so they can listen while doing other things). Thanks for your post!
I’m surprised that 27% of B2C businesses have a plan…I would have guessed less! It’s so easy to fall into the trap of “knowing” what you need to do rather than actually doing it. ..we’ve all been there, right? I like your point about your audience not wanting “content” but instead looking for solutions and systems. In fact, in my planning for 2015 and figuring out what I was going to write, I discovered some popular posts I created when I first started my blog that still get interest. So, rather than create MORE, I’m working on creating a BETTER version of those themes. Maybe I’ll take your suggestion and do a free mini-course. Thanks for your article and inspiration!
Thanks very much Pam, some really great ideas here. My plan is slowly coming together. sometimes we just want to jump in straight away with a good idea, but dont spend enough time planning the detail. You certainly have helped me with these thoughts.
Well-thought-out and well put, Pam, as always. Just why implement only “one” of these five tips? They’re all essential, valuable and actionable!
Ha! Good point, Jerome! 🙂
Great blog post and video. In this case you are firing on all cylinders! You grabbed me with the headline, you spoke directly to what I’m working on, and provided helpful advise on how to better approach things, AND suggested five ideas how to work to get organized.
Having the content in audio, video, and scripted form is an added bonus of actually showing how what you suggest actually works. Nicely done.
Wow Pam- you always deliver! I can’t wait to hear you talk this weekend at P&P… You definitely always hit the target for me.
Best- leslie
Leslie – it was SO great to see you at P&P! Thanks for your comment! P.s. one of my upcoming blog posts was filmed during the event – keep an eye out for it! 😉