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The 3 Success Factors that Help Writers Ball Out
Okay, fine. That’s not actually how Copyblogger’s Sonia Simone puts it. But this podcast’s all about the pitfalls that can keep even the most talented people from doing great work, getting more opportunities, and earning the recognition (and the living) they deserve.
Why? They’re too apprehensive about marketing themselves—or they’re apprehensive about marketing in general. (See also: scared, nervous, chicken, etc.)
Today’s Listen explores this fear of selling and marketing, using writers as an example, but it applies to other creatives, as well. Sonia wraps up this podcast by sharing three ways to ball out in your writing. Spoiler alert: it all starts with mastering the strategic element of marketing.
This one starts around the 2 minute mark… Get set, go!
- (03:00) What makes some people so nervous about marketing
- (03:20) Why Sonia says marketing and, in particular, content marketing is “how the good guys win”
- (03:50) What makes content “good karma” marketing?
- (04:25) If you put something good into the world, you’ll attract good people to your company!
- (04:45) The fear of “unethical marketing”
- (05:00) Why you aren’t likely to “accidentally” create manipulative or unethical marketing
- (05:30) The line between manipulation and framing a product in a good light
- (06:55) How getting really good at marketing can help you make more ethical decisions
- (07:30) The 3 things that make you an in-demand professional writer
- (14:00) How Copyblogger can help you take your writing to the next level with their Certified Content Marketer program—an in-depth strategy course designed for writers who want to learn more about the marketing strategy. Get those conversions, fam!
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6 Paid Content Distribution Options That You Probably Haven’t Tried
Pro-tip: if you really want your content to be effective, you need to be promoting it through a mix of paid, earned, and owned marketing channels.
But, today’s Read focuses on just one of those – paid content distribution. You’re likely already using Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. for content distribution, so we’re gonna ignore those platforms for right now.
The platforms that we’re focusing on are the ones you likely haven’t tried and maybe have never even heard of.
We’ll go in alphabetical order….
- Quora ads (wait, this isn’t alphabetical at all…) — Targeting options for Quora are relatively simple. You can choose to target the different topics on the platform with simple text-based ads. Media buying agency, Zato, has seen CPCs as low as $0.50 on the platform.
- Instagram Stories Ads — These have a bit of a higher barrier to entry because you gotta do a custom video. And that custom video needs to catch someone’s attention in less than 3-seconds to get them to watch the full thing. You have all the same targeting options with these as you do on Facebook.
- LinkedIn Sponsored InMail — Wanna slide into someone’s DM’s on LinkedIn? That’s essentially what these ads are. They are priced on a cost-per-send basis and can be relatively affordable. You’ll likely be somewhere around $0.60 per send. Not bad, especially considering some companies have seen 30% conversion rates on these.
- Sponsorships — Rather than using another ad platform, you can go to a content creator who already has a large, engaged audience in your niche. This path might be a little pricier up front, but you’re likely going to have an amazing conversion rate because a good sponsor’s audience will trust them a heck of a lot. If you’re interested in going this route, think of content like podcasts, blogs, Medium publications, YouTube videos and email newsletters.
Still a few more we haven’t covered →
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Love at First Byte
Why does it seem like robots in fiction always exist in post-apocalyptic settings? Terminator, Bladerunner, and I, Robot to name a few… It’s almost like we know they’re going to doom mankind, and, yet, here we are giving citizenship to robots (no offense Sophia, you actually seem really nice).
So we weren’t surprised to see this robot-centric ad spot taking place in a dystopian future. Except it’s a lot more Wall-E and a lot less killer replicants. Seems reasonable for a supermarket company. The spot weaves a charming tale of a robot trying to find love and connection in a world where AI rules. Very Wall-E.
P.S. If you’re thinking we finally found a good ad that wasn’t about the holidays—HA! Oh yes, robots and Christmas, y’all.
“If you focus on averages, you’ll always be an average marketer. Don’t be afraid to do something different — customers will talk about it.”
Jay Baer
