Michael Boezi: Consider the Source

In your marketing, does what you say about yourself match what your customers say about you? If it doesn’t, you may have a trust problem – and you may not get a second chance to repair the damage. 

In today's world, the selling process really is about teaching. Here's my method to streamline the process of creating a online course that you can use for customer acquisition, customer on-boarding, or just to "productize" your knowledge and create a new revenue stream.

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

If you're not repurposing blog content for your social posts, you are missing a huge opportunity to save time and effort. In this episode, I cover how to reuse the meta description, the post excerpt, and the post content itself so you can streamline your social media activities.

This is what I call my Downstream Method. I also have an Upstream Method, which is the topic of the episode before this one.

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

Have you ever thought about writing a book, but can't find the time? In this week's episode, I lay out my entire blog-to-book process – from planning to execution. It allows you to achieve two goals at the same time: Completing a large project and building an audience while you do it. 

This is what I call my Upstream Method. I also have a Downstream Method, which I'll get into in the next episode. 

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

Marketing is getting highly personalized. Each channel is its own community, which means that one "message" won't cut it anymore. Let's look at the ways this affects how you repurpose content across different channels, in different contexts.

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

Are you repurposing blog posts into email newsletters? This and other strategies for making more than one use out of your content can make you much more efficient. Here's how to do it safely and effectively.

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

Are you making multiple uses of blog posts, press releases, and emails to customers? With a little planning up front, content strategy helps you think a few steps ahead and save yourself valuable time – while building a set of content as a business asset. 

Sign up for my online course on the topic: https://controlmousemedia.com/repurposing-content

In building your business, are you always feeling behind? Like you can never live up to the countless stories of success? Maybe it's time to stop setting impossible standards. Here's one small change in perspective that can shorten your goal horizon. 

In order to activate the power of content marketing, you need other people to carry your ideas. That means that there are two things about your content that are really critical:

1. It has to be compelling enough to share. It must be remarkable, or it won't "travel."
2. It has to be easy to share. You have to try to reduce as much friction as you can.

In this episode, let's look at why people share – and the way that people share – so that it can inform the way that your create and propagate your content.

Do you like to be sold to? I don't. "Push marketing" can only generate awareness. While awareness is important, it's only Step 1. Trust comes when you try to teach your customers instead – bring some value to them instead of just pushing product on them. 

Spending more on awareness campaigns won't scale. Input = output (that is... if you're lucky). Teaching your customers is a better path, and all you have to do is align your content strategy with this principle. Continuing my thread from last week, there are four key factors that will help you activate this dynamic: Experience, Generosity, Collaboration, and Strategy.

When you educate your customers, you can lead them to a better, more informed purchasing decision. One that they feel good about – and one that sticks. That means that you are an educator. In running your content strategy, can you think like a teacher? 

There are four key factors to producing good educational content: Structure, Sequence, Pacing, and Resources. So let's dig in and start to educate your customers!

I love the fall. Feels like a "reset" every year. Maybe it's because we're all used to back-to-school, or maybe it's just the transition from warm weather to cool, crisp autumn days (at least here in New England). In the spirit of transitions, let's start Season 5 by introducing a 3 new series that are in the pipeline – all of which will help you make better use of the content you are producing for your audience. 

While LinkedIn is a low-commitment way to get started with blogging for business, you really need a strategy to get the most out of it. Here are two distinct game plans for you to consider: Which one is worth the time investment? 

There are no shortcuts in building a business. At least it’s not worth playing the odds of putting stuff out there and hoping to get lucky. Or looking for tricks to beat the system. Time and time again, I get people who come to me asking for quick hacks and work-arounds. “I need to build an audience – quick. Can you help me?”

The answer is no. Building an audience requires honesty, patience, and a genuine desire to solve problems for others. And those things take time. Yes, a little luck along the way can help. But as I say all the time, "hope is not a marketing plan."

Good things happen when you respect your audience enough to let them come to a buying decision on their own. Are you willing to give up some control for a deeper relationship with your customers? 

Why do some businesses underinvest in their social media strategy? The time and effort are worth it – if you do it right. Here's a rubric that might help you. 

People don't mean to diminish your work, but that's exactly what they are doing when they use this one insidious little word. This word undervalues your expertise and experience by making it sound simple - as a way to sell you on doing something, paying you less than you're worth, or not paying you at all.

Subscribe here for the new upcoming series I mention in the episode: https://controlmousemedia.com/subscribe/

Today's consumers are savvy. Before a purchase, they're going to research you, read reviews, and ask their friends about you. They're going to make determinations about you – even before the first "touch." Are you set up to influence the process? Let's take a look.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

How do you behave as a consumer? What's your evaluation process for a new product or service? Looking at your own process may offer some insight into how you present your offer to your customers and prospective customers.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

Word-of-mouth marketing can happen on its own, but you don't want to leave it to chance. Here's how to make your customers are a part of your overall content strategy.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

It's a missed opportunity if you don't give your customers a seat at the table early on. First, if the customer has no effect on product development, you'll probably get the product wrong. Also, the right customers have the potential to be your best sales reps, if you handle it right.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

Not all customers are created equal. There are some that your business can't live without, and there are others who are more trouble than they're worth. Are you selecting the right customers - the one who provide more value than they extract?

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

There's no milestone more important to your business than finding the first person who will actually pay you. This episode is about really focusing on whom you are trying to serve and making your content work towards the singular goal of earning your VERY FIRST customer.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

Technically, it's not a business without customers. So let's talk about that – I'm kicking off a new series that gets into all the nuances of managing the customer lifecycle.

For more on the topic, please see The Customer Journey: Five Common Waypoints: https://controlmousemedia.com/customer-journey

One of the single biggest things you can do to impact your business is to become more efficient with your content strategy. Here’s how to treat your content as an investment in a reusable business asset, saving you time in the process.