getlisted.org - free tool for your local business

I’ve been banging on about local and mobile over the last few months; basically, if you run a business that has any kind of dependency on local traffic – then you’re going to want to take care of your local digital footprint.

Where to start?

With so many different platforms and engines – where do you start?

getlisted.org

Here’s a super easy tool to make sure your local digital footprint is up to date; you enter your company name and zip code, hit the button and it tells you – for free – what your business looks like in the major search engines, directories and networks.

Not only that – it gives you links out to the pages where you can edit and change the data. Awesome!

You should do it now.

Don't want to deal with it?

If you feel that you don’t have the time or inclination to do this – then reply to this email and we'll work something out

It's Friday - Why your opinion matters

Your clients and customers don't really understand your products and services - hell; mine don't either -which is why I write this newsletter and why you've adopted a content strategy. 

Education

By educating people about your business you enable them to make better decisions and in doing so, improve your authority and the likelihood that when they're ready to buy, they'll buy from you.

Opinions

The last time you bought a computer you probably considered things like: price, processor speed, battery life, memory, screen size, color, etc, etc. The spec list helped you narrow down your search, but I bet you asked someone's opinion about which one you should ultimately get.

And I bet you gave people's opinions different weighting when making your decision.

Experts

Anybody can write an educational article but only experts have legitimate opinions. The most compelling content is often a unique perspective, derived from someone's experience in the market.

Content

It is your opinion about your business, your products and services that differentiate your content from the competition. While there will always be a need for education, make sure you inject your opinion and personality, it is what people will remember you for.

Need a hand with this? Reply to this em

ail and book a session.

Copyright (C)  All rights reserved.

Why your opinion matters

Your clients and customers don’t really understand your products and services – hell; mine don’t either – which is why I write this newsletter and why you’ve adopted a content strategy.

Education

By educating people about your business you enable them to make better decisions and in doing so, improve your authority and the likelihood that when they’re ready to buy, they’ll buy from you.

Opinions

The last time you bought a computer you probably considered things like: price, processor speed, battery life, memory, screen size, color, etc, etc. The spec list helped you narrow down your search, but I bet you asked someone’s opinion about which one you should ultimately get.

And I bet you gave people’s opinions different weighting when making your decision.

Experts

Anybody can write an educational article but only experts have legitimate opinions. The most compelling content is often a unique perspective, derived from someone’s experience in the market.

Content

It is your opinion about your business, your products and services that differentiate your content from the competition. While there will always be a need for education, make sure you inject your opinion and personality, it is what people will remember you for.

Need a hand with this? Reply to this email and book a session.

What time is it?

For about half of you it’s around 9:30 in the morning on Thursday, for some it’s midday and for a few of you it’s actually Friday morning. I know this because my newsletter program tracks opening rates and there is a huge relationship between when I send the newsletter and how many people open it.

Business to Business

As a consultant, I work in the B2B market – my clients are all budget or business owners and are likely in their offices behind their desks on a Thursday morning. Industry stats say that this is the best time to reach you; it isn’t the madness of Monday or the recovery of Tuesday – Wednesday AM is also a good time but I prefer Thursday because it works with the brand.

Business to Consumer

If your clients are consumers rather than businesses – what’s the best time for you to send out your newsletter? Recent studies indicate that sending your newsletter out over the weekend or in the evenings has resulted in much higher opening rates.

Smart phones and tablets

Consumer behavior is changing, rapidly. I reckon most of you reading this have sat in front of the television in the evening while you check email on an iPad or your phone. What this means is that consumers are no longer tied to their office machines to communicate and read email – which creates an opportunity for you the business owner.

What’s the best time for you?

If you’re in the B2C market – start experimenting with your delivery times - don’t go mad and change it every week, but try a month with an evening or weekend delivery and see what happens; you could be pleasantly surprised.

If you still haven’t got your client newsletter going, you really need to reply to this email and book a session.

Will return next week

It's Friday will return on Thursday 6th September.

Got nothing?

Those of you tracking KPIs are familiar with the relationship between content and traffic: when you add new content to your site – you get more visitors.

Writers block

Even if you use an editorial calendar, sometimes you wake up and the idea just won’t translate, the article won’t flow and you’re stuck. What to do?

It’s easier to lose a reader than it is to gain one

It’s mighty tempting to publish a sub-par mediocre piece – hey, at least you can say you hit your KPIs and did what you said you were going to do.

The problem with this is that every time you publish lame content, you lose authority – every time you disappoint your reader – they’re less likely to read you again.

Don’t publish crap

In a world chock full of content – I say better to not publish at all than to publish something half-assed.

If you’d like to develop your content strategy, reply to this email and book a session.