The Hubcast Podcast Episode 053 Welcome back to The Hubcast folks; a weekly podcast all about HubSpot news, tips, and tricks. Please also note the extensive show notes below, including some new HubSpot video tutorials created by George Thomas. Show Notes: HubSpot In The News This week we talk about the…
The post The Hubcast 53: HubSpot Dismisses Marketing Chief, Act On Foul Play, & Free Inbound Ticket appeared first on The Sales Lion by Marcus Sheridan.
Month: July 2015
3 Resources to Help You Create the Content that Already Exists in Your Imagination
Even though it may seem like starting to write is the most difficult part of the content creation process, just starting is not good enough.
As writers, we also need to have both a strong vision and unwavering confidence that enable us to complete, publish, and promote our projects.
To support you as you create your next piece of content — whether it’s your website’s cornerstone content or your email autoresponder series — this week’s Copyblogger Collection is a series of three handpicked articles that show you:
How to identify and overcome the factors that keep you from writing
How to use a visual system to organize your content ideas
How to write out smart solutions to your problems
As a bonus, I’ll first share a seemingly silly technique that simultaneously helps me write, reinforce my content vision, and become confident about my writing abilities.
Type “something”
I typically write the introduction and conclusion to an article first, and when I don’t know exactly what I want to write in the middle sections, I type the word “something” to fill in the draft.
Once the draft looks complete with the “somethings,” I get so irritated looking at the nonsensical “something” sections that my ideas crystallize, and I’m able to type the correct words that should be there instead.
As I replace each “something” section with proper content, I become energized and excited about the topic I’m writing about, which makes the work seem effortless.
If you try this technique, just make sure you remove
Create Successful Products with the MVP Process
You create a successful product when you deliver something people want to buy, simple as that. Is there a way to figure out what people want before spending a ton of time and money?
There is a way, and it’s becoming more and more popular due to the lean startup movement. It’s called the minimum viable product approach.
The technical definition of minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with the highest return on investment versus risk. And the way you minimize risk related to your investment of time and money is basically figuring out if people want to buy that product.
Most lean startup examples of the MVP approach involve software. Let’s look at a few examples in product categories other than software to give you an idea of how the process can work for you.
In this 13-minute episode of Unemployable with Brian Clark, you’ll hear:
How the “Life is Good” brand was created
How to create t-shirts people want to buy
The smart way to create ebooks and courses
How Brian sold something that didn’t exist yet
How to go from minimum to More Viable Product
Click Here to Listen toUnemployable with Brian Clark on iTunes
Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM
About the authorRainmaker.FMRainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.
The post Create Successful Products with the MVP Process appeared first on Copyblogger.
The Dangerous Myth of the Magical Tool
When we’re starting out, we want to know the best tools to use.
What platform should I build my website on? What’s the best tool for writing? What should I use to create images for my site? What social media platforms should I invest time in?
These thoughts can swirl around and around and keep us firmly planted in analysis paralysis.
Don’t get me wrong: It makes sense to look for solid tools from the very beginning. You want to get your business off to a good start. You want to build it on a reliable platform and avoid having to make a painful switch to a different platform later.
But you have to move on from that stage. Don’t dawdle there.
The devious mind trick that keeps you trapped
Sometimes your singular focus on finding the right tool is actually your mind playing tricks on you. Because as long as you’re researching tools, you’re “doing” something, right? You feel busy and productive.
But here’s the thing: some of the most talented content marketers I know use some of the simplest tools out there.
They’re rocking their stripped-down word processors, using simple online image editors, and taking full advantage of other freely available resources.
And yet, they achieve extraordinary results.
Their writing is in-depth, thought-provoking, and makes an impact. Their podcasts are crystal clear and compelling. Their images stop people in their tracks.
It’s not about the tool you use. It’s about what you do with that tool.
For example, my blog posts are most often
7 Profound Implications of the “Live Stream Economy” for Brands and Businesses
In case you hadn’t noticed, there is something big happening right now in the world of digital media. Whether it’s Periscope, Meerkat, or another app—Live streaming is beginning to gain incredible momentum. But the reality is it hasn’t even started to scratch the surface. Right now, early adopters are trying it, testing it, and even…
The post 7 Profound Implications of the “Live Stream Economy” for Brands and Businesses appeared first on The Sales Lion by Marcus Sheridan.
From Projects to Products: How to Stop Selling Your Time
Are you interested in developing and selling products? Seems almost silly to ask, right?
Everyone Brian Clark talks to wants to make a product and leave the world of client work behind. Designers, writers, and other freelancers, but also lawyers, realtors, consultants … you name it.
Even those who love working with clients wouldn’t mind that more passive revenue stream. Who wouldn’t want to supplement income and pick and choose from among the best clients and projects?
So what’s the secret? Well, it’s no secret at all.
In this 13-minute episode of Unemployable with Brian Clark, you’ll hear:
The simple (but not easy) key to products
Why “create and pray” is a fail
How Steve Jobs and Henry Ford are misunderstood
Why problems and desires rule
The audience-first approach to product development
How “know, like, and trust” works like magic
The show’s first listener question answered!
Click Here to Listen toUnemployable with Brian Clark on iTunes
Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM
About the authorRainmaker.FMRainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.
The post From Projects to Products: How to Stop Selling Your Time appeared first on Copyblogger.
How Long Will It Take for My Business to Start Making Money? And Other Impossible Questions
Sonia Simone gets this question all the time (natural, Sonia guesses, since she teaches people how to start or grow businesses): How long will it take before my business starts to take off and make money?
And there are two parts to the answer. One part is nuts and bolts — the processes of building an audience, uncovering market opportunities, crafting your marketing message, creating products and services.
But the other part is all the “fluffy” mindset stuff — the mental game that lets you take action on those nuts and bolts. And in Sonia’s experience and observation, the mental game tends to be the hard part.
In this 23-minute episode of Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer, host Sonia Simone talks about:
Why “fluff” isn’t always as fluffy as you think
The power of shaking up your habitual patterns
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
How to compete on your strengths, but work on your weaknesses
Sonia’s three favorite tools for getting her head on straight
Making a game out of the hard stuff
Click Here to Listen toConfessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer on iTunes
Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM
About the authorRainmaker.FMRainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.
The post How Long Will It Take for My Business to Start Making Money? And Other Impossible Questions appeared first on Copyblogger.
The Key to Creating an Irreplaceable Podcast
This post is about toothpaste.
And about being different.
And the wise words of two brilliant women.
And Champagne.
And how it all intertwines to create an essential piece of advice for how to get your podcast (or any other piece of online content for that matter) noticed, consumed, beloved … and never replaced.
Let’s start with the words of those two brilliant women.
Different is better than better. — Sally Hogshead
In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.
— Coco Chanel
To be clear: There is nothing wrong with being better. Neither Ms. Hogshead nor Ms. Chanel would argue differently.
Being better than your competition is a good thing — offering a better product, delivering better quality, providing better access to better information, etc.
It’s just not good enough. Certainly not anymore.
Now click this link. It’s a picture. It will open in a new window. Look at it. Come back.
What did you notice first?
The toothpaste … or the woman in the aisle holding the glass of Champagne?
The Internet is just one big toothpaste aisle
That’s really all it is.
You can try to attract attention by offering a better toothpaste, and maybe even a shinier box … or you can demand attention by being the woman in the aisle holding the glass of Champagne.
How do you know the woman in the picture doesn’t have the best toothpaste the world has ever known in that satchel she has draped across her arm? You don’t. She might. She might not.
Either way,
How Bestselling Author Daniel Pink Writes
Multiple New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink stopped by The Writer Files to chat about his secrets for getting words onto the page.
Mr. Pink is the author of five provocative titles on the subjects of business, work, and human behavior — including To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others — and has written for the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Sunday Telegraph, Fast Company, and Wired.
In addition to having one of the most viewed TED talks of all time — “The puzzle of motivation” — Dan recently hosted and co-executive produced the TV series “Crowd Control” for the National Geographic Channel.
In this file, host Kelton Reid and Daniel Pink discuss:
Why you should never check email before you write
The effectiveness of word count quotas
Why the adage “butt-in-chair” really works
How to structure your writing schedule to beat “resistance”
The author’s exhaustive reading recommendations
His fantasy Chipotle table guests
And why you need to get over yourself and get to work
Click Here to Listen toThe Writer Files on iTunes
Click Here to Listen on Rainmaker.FM
About the authorRainmaker.FMRainmaker.FM is the premier digital marketing and sales podcast network. Get on-demand business advice from experts, whenever and wherever you want it.
The post How Bestselling Author Daniel Pink Writes appeared first on Copyblogger.
Digital Sharecropping: The Most Dangerous Threat to Your Content Marketing Strategy
Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on November 28, 2012. We’re republishing it today to remind you how to protect your digital marketing efforts as social media sites continue to encourage you to publish original content on their platforms — platforms you don’t own.
We have a great bookstore in my town — the kind of place you picture in your mind when you think of a great independent bookshop.
It’s perfect for browsing, with lots of comfy chairs to relax in. The books are displayed enticingly. There’s a little coffee shop, so you can relax with an espresso. They get your favorite writers to come in for readings, so there’s always an event and a sense of excitement.
They do everything right, and they’ve always had plenty of customers.
But they still closed their doors last year.
No, not for the reasons you might think. It wasn’t Amazon that killed them, or the proliferation of free content on the web, or the crappy economy.
They closed the store because they were leasing their big, comfortable building … and when that lease ran out, their landlord tripled the rent.
Literally overnight, their business model quit working. Revenues simply wouldn’t exceed costs. A decision made by another party, one they had no control over, took a wonderful business and destroyed it.
And that’s precisely what you risk every day you make your business completely dependent on another company.
It might be Facebook. It might be eBay. It might