The Content Fix

A successful online business takes patience and perseverance. In this episode, Marie Hunter, founder of the Elevate Marketing Summit shares the highs and lows of her journey, including her strategies for dealing with the difficult days that are part of the start-up journey and why pivoting to a new niche was the most difficult, but ultimately the best, decision for her business.

Some content fails and it fails for lots of reasons.

I have content duds like everyone else. But when I've gone back and really looked at the core idea, I've realized that maybe I was a little off track. Sometimes you have to try something first to figure out what is wrong with it.

But before you slink off to lick your wounds, there may actually be something you can do to turn this around.

In this episode, I'm stepping through the process of evaluating a content fail and sharing the best optimization processes for salvaging your hard work. And how to know if it's time to let go gracefully and move on.

Are you struggling to create content, epic content, every week? I'm giving you permission to stop trying – for now.

A lot of people will tell you that is a huge mistake.

I won't. Because this pressure to create epic, consistent content right out of the gates is unrealistic and it sets people up to fail instead of encouraging them to build.

It's more important to start creating quality content consistently.

In this episode, you'll find out how to create high quality content consistently. It doesn't have to be 'epic'.

These steps help you to build your skills and build your content creation habit then allow yourself the time to grow to best practice.

If you're creating content that doesn't sell your products and services, you might as well just write that activity off as a hobby. And an expensive hobby at that.

Easier said than done? Of course it is. Because it takes skill and knowledge to craft high value content that naturally aligns and embeds your products and services as a solution. But it's a skill you can learn and if you're going to be content marketing, it's a non-negotiable.

In this episode, I'm sharing the foundations of how to create product and service aligned content. So you can sell more, without feeling like you are selling out.

This episode is supported by Workshops by Jillian Bowen – find out more at https://www.jillianbowen.com/workshops/

Have you ever received a receipt for a recurring payment on an app or subscription you forgot you even had? I have and I'm guessing you have too. You know that sinking feeling – the subscription has renewed, it's too late to do anything and you've just lost that money.

The worst part is, it's probably not the only one.

It seems obvious that we'd remember what we are paying for but you'd be amazed how quickly we forget what we've signed up for in our businesses. And so many of them renew without a courtesy email reminder first.

In this episode, I'm outlining a simple process you can follow to identify, delete or manage your subscription payments. That includes evaluating them to decide what really is of value and to spot the areas that can be downgraded.

This episode is supported by Workshops by Jillian Bowen – find out more at https://www.jillianbowen.com/workshops/

Have you ever considered how much time you're wasting on your email inbox each year? Or how satisfying it would be to get to inbox zero on a regular basis?

I've thought about these things, but recently I actually added up the hours only to discover that over a year, it averaged out to hundreds. Yes, hundreds of hours.

And I wanted those hours back.

If you're like me, and want to get to inbox zero AND cut out all the wasted time, here's my system - from how to structure your inbox, your daily email management system and the all-important process for managing all those newsletter subscriptions to stop them building up again.

This episode is supported by Workshops by Jillian Bowen – find out more at https://www.jillianbowen.com/workshops/

The first step in developing my strategy for the new year was to decide what I'm going to stop, start and continue. The second step was to put it out there, on the record and hold myself accountable.

At the very heart of this strategy for 2020 (and always) is my belief in a customer journey loop, focusing on the audience first and what they need from me to create awareness, engagement, action and advocacy connections.

As digital marketers, it's our responsibility to be in the right place at the right time according to the audience wants, needs and demands.

So here's my plan or as I like to call it, my Goldilocks strategy – it's not too big, it's not too small, and in 12 months time, I'll let you know if it was just right.

You don't need a crystal ball to predict there will be a lot of change for digital marketing, content marketing, social media and more in 2020.

But while predictions may be interesting, but they can be incredibly frustrating if you don't know the necessary steps to take action.

Instead of a long laundry list of changes on the horizon, here are three big areas that you can really focus on and the actions to take if you want to implement them in your own strategy.

There's nothing sweeter than being able to use your skills to run your own business. Unless of course you can monetize your passion at the same time. Benjamin Shapiro, host of The Martech Podcast joins me to explain how you can do just that.

Shiny object syndrome can cost you serious time and money if it takes over your life. Here's how to spot it and mange it so you can improve productivity and stay in control of your business, your digital marketing and your budget.