Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.

Professional Services Marketing

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5 Reasons to Host Guest Posts On YOUR Blog (Even If You’re New)

Everywhere we turn we’re being told, “Write guest posts to grow your audience.”

The top blogs have been swamped with offers of articles. If you operate any kind of blog, whether you’ve a newbie or a veteran, you’re likely to get a canned message from a journalist offering to write a post.

So would you ever say yes – or even go out and actually seek guest posts for your own service business blog? Would you open the red velvet rope and give them insider access to your readers?

Most of the canned messages assume you need content and you’re too busy to create everything you need. But experienced bloggers are more concerned with the quality of content than just filling up space. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons to Host Guest Posts On YOUR Blog (Even If You’re New)

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Marketing Tips From A Dating Service Veteran

keyboardlove

Data analyst Amy Webb was looking for a mate. A Jewish husband, to be precise. She was searching JDate and Match.com, but as she writes “What followed was a series of bad dates worthy of a romantic comedy.”

Enough was enough! Amy decided to apply her data analysis skills. In other words, she began thinking like a professional marketer. She analyzed the most popular profiles which are easy to identify because they come up earlier in the search. Here are some of her conclusions:

copywriting with Lorrie Morgan-FerreroPopular women don’t wait to be asked. They reach out with informal short messages: “Hey, there …”

copywriting with Lorrie Morgan-FerreroLead with your hobbies – but skip the black belt in aikido and others that are hard to explain.

copywriting with Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero Being funny can backfire. You can come off sounding sarcastic and obnoxious.

copywriting with Lorrie Morgan-FerreroMost revealing were the tips on writing profiles. Shorter is better – about 500 words. The most popular profiles are “easygoing, youthful and spontaneous.”

While some advice doesn’t translate readily (curly-haired women are at a disadvantage), and some would be ill-advised to follow (lie about your height), I found some surprising similarities with writing copy, especially “About” pages.

copywriting with Lorrie Morgan-FerreroA surprisingly wide range of people like an informal, breezy style of communication. Amy calls the style “youthful,” which will make some of us want to hurl the newspaper across the room. I would prefer to say “energetic,” “lively,” and “fresh rather than jaded.”

What can we take away from Amy’s story?

arrow8Professionals like me have a hard time getting used to being informal. As Amy noticed, she had become “too stuffy and professional.” Today the word “professional” doesn’t mean stuffy, aloof or impersonal.

arrow8Reaching out to your market via social media can be very effective when you’re looking for clients and jv partners.

arrow8Instead of using “resume-speak,” paint word pictures. Amy describes herself as “an outgoing and social world traveler, who’s eqully comfortable in blue jeans and little black dresses.”

What impressed me most was Amy’s ability to recognize the importance of writing to sell. Many people recoil at the word “marketing,” yet we engage in these activities in so many areas of our lives. It’s refreshing to get a perspective on writing promotional copy from an entirely new and (for some of us) unexpected source.

Marketing works! Amy’s photo shows her with her husband, Brian. Success!

By the way, if you’re ready to get serious about promoting yourself to your ideal target market, I’d suggest you consider an Espresso consultation –

 

 

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Book Marketing Goes Viral And Turns Your Book Into A Cash Machine

launchbookMichael Stelzner came out with a new book called simply Launch. With his title, Michael follows the trend. One-word titles are “in.” Book publishers always follow what’s “in.” It used to be cats…now dogs have taken over.

But … Michael is not following any book marketing traditions. Instead he came up with a way to create buzz for his book – viral marketing. Here’s what he did. [Read more…] about Book Marketing Goes Viral And Turns Your Book Into A Cash Machine

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Why Book Reviews Belong In Your Service Business Marketing Toolkit

If you’re an independent professional or service business owner, you face 3 major challenges.

First, your best prospects may not be looking for you on the search engines: Yahoo, Google and MSN.

Second, your prospects may not realize what you do. Many people think massage is just a feel-good luxury for rich people who have everything. In fact, massage has documented benefits for physical and mental bealth.

Third, you can’t afford to sound sales-y. You have to be totally professional.

One way to deal with these challenges is to review books on the online bookstores, such as Amazon. When you write a book review, you get to

— reach prospects who are searching for solutions but may not be searching for you. Many people think of reading a self-help book rather than hiring a coach or buying a virtual information product. They’re ready to spend.

— share your expertise and opinions. You can’t do this in an article. In a book review, you get to say things like, “Although the author advocates intensive testing for career change, my experience as a coach and consultant suggest…. and the research shows…”

— reach prospects who are ready to buy. Visitors to Amazon and other online bookstores realize they do not get anything free. They shop with one hand on their credit cards and the other on the mouse. When they see your review and click over, they will be in “buy” mode.

When I focused on attracting clients for consulting and coaching on career change,  I found book reviews brought me more clients than any other marketing tool. So I created a product that you can access immediately. Buy by February 16 and get access to a 2-session workshop. Learn more at http://www.BoostBusinessWithBookReviews.com