Scientific studies illustrate that most people aren’t nearly as good at multitasking as they think they are. In fact, much of the process we refer to as multitasking may be impossible. And what we do instead — called task switching — could be messing with our careers and breaking our brains.

What Is Multitasking, Technically?

Multitasking is the ability to do two things at once. Technically, our brains and bodies multitask constantly while performing habitual actions that have become completely natural, such as walking and talking at the same time. So, it’s not completely impossible to multitask.

But when we’re performing more complex, less innate functions, such as attending a conference call while writing an email, we’re probably not multitasking. That would imply we were doing both things equally well.

In reality, most people task-switch, which means they stop doing one thing to do the other. When reading and writing an email during a phone call, you might still hear the phone call, but you aren’t actively listening and processing the information.

Before I moved to full-time freelance writing, I worked as a manager in a corporate environment. At one point, I ran two departments and was involved in several big projects, which meant I was scheduled for meetings almost 90 percent of most days. I’d dial in for a meeting, say I was present, put the phone on mute and immediately check out mentally to do other work until someone said my name and brought me back to the discussion.

Read more from Sarah: It’s a Small World: Why Freelance Writers Should Build, Not Burn, Bridges

I wasn’t fully present in any meeting, and I wasn’t fully concentrating on any of the other tasks before me either. It was a combination that brewed burn out, stress, anxiety and errors.

While freelancers don’t always deal with corporate schedules (that’s one reason I switched to freelance writing in the first place), we do engage in a lot of multitasking that could lead to the same issues. Here are just some of the ways you might be rapidly task switching throughout your day:

• Jumping between chat windows/social media and work
• Moving between work and parenting all day
• Switching the type of task or client you work for every few minutes
• Toggling between writing, editing or research
• Watching Netflix while you complete work

We Often Believe in False Benefits of Multitasking

But multitasking is what ensures the jobs all get done, say a lot of freelancers. Plus, the fact that I can Netflix and chill while I also write and make money is one of the perks of the freelance lifestyle, right?

Maybe not. A study conducted by Stanford University demonstrated that those who attempted to multitask often were worse at it. The more they multitasked, the worse they performed at processing and remembering information. They also performed slower overall than the nonmultitaskers, in part because they were so distracted.

One researcher noted that high multitaskers couldn’t keep information separate in their minds, and they constantly thought about the tasks they weren’t doing at the moment.

This makes complete sense to me. I recently started using a tracking method called a time ladder in my bullet journal, because at the end of every day, I couldn’t figure out if I’d used time well. I noticed two things when I started doing this.

• I have an extremely difficult time sticking to a single task. My task switching habit is so ingrained, I switch on autopilot even when it makes little sense to do so. Like the Stanford researcher noted: I couldn’t help thinking about the tasks I wasn’t doing.
• When I did stay focused on a single task, I could complete it much faster than expected. Switching between tasks was slowing me down, potentially as much as 50 percent or more.

Real Dangers of Multitasking, for Your Freelance Career and Otherwise

Efficiency isn’t the only thing at risk when you multitask.

Multitasking increases stress.

A study performed by the University of California at Irvine and Humboldt University in Germany found that constant interruptions in tasks lead to higher stress, more effort expended, frustration and even an increased workload. And it only takes 20 minutes of this type of work to start generating these negative consequences.

This explains a lot for me personally. I can put in a long day working on a single project and be exhausted that night, but I’m usually tired in that satisfactory way that comes from doing good work I enjoy. But even a short or medium day of constant multitasking on smaller projects — especially once you throw in email, call and chat interruptions — and I’m equally as tired and not as satisfied with what was accomplished that day. I often end the day feeling much more frustrated, and I know I’m not the only one.

Do too many things, and you don’t do any well.

The UC Irvine/Humboldt study also noted that when performing the task that interrupted the primary workflow, individuals worked faster — potentially to compensate for the time lost in task switching. That wasn’t a happy efficiency win, though, because the faster work led to as much as 50 percent higher error rates.

As a freelance writer or editor, mistakes can impact your bottom line. An increased error rate isn’t just something noticed in this study, either; as a project manager, I can always tell when writers are project hopping because their error rates — especially on certain types of mistakes — go up substantially.

Constant task-switching could be hurting your brain.

We’re not talking the kind of brain hurt you pop an Excedrin for, either. Studies have also shown that focusing on multiple things temporarily brings down your IQ by as much as 15 points. That might not sound like much, but it could put you in the range of an 8-year-old child, say researchers.

Ever feel like you’re dumber in the afternoon than you were when you woke up? I usually start feeling this phenomenon by lunch or shortly after, and it makes it harder for me to find the right words when writing or speaking, make decisions or concentrate on more difficult tasks.

Some researchers note that your IQ might be temporarily impacted during multitasking. So, if you’re swapping between projects rapidly or trying to finish one article while on a conference call for another project, your full brain power isn’t supporting your work.

Multitasking may lower your EQ.

The damage to your brain may not be temporary, either. Researchers from the University of Sussex looked at brain composition for people who regularly multitasked across technical devices (working while watching television, for example). They found less density in an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex for those individuals.

That area of the brain is responsible for some of the key tasks required for a healthy EQ, or emotional intelligence. That’s what helps you handle interpersonal relationships well.

While many people might turn to freelancing to get away from people, successfully navigating communications, teams and partnerships is critical to establishing a thriving freelance career, so you probably need all the EQ you can get.

Learn more: 3 Style and Grammar Tips to Put You Ahead of the Freelance Pack

What Can You Do Instead of Attempting to Multitask?

You don’t have to strip your client list or stop living the freelance lifestyle to remove some multitasking from each day. Here are some tips for getting plenty of things done without trying to do them at the same time.

Batch Processing and Clustertasking

Batch processing means you do all of the same types of tasks at the same time. By grouping similar tasks together, you reduce the gear changes your brain has to do and create efficiencies because you become faster at dealing with similar tasks the more you do in a row.

Clustertasking is a similar concept that involves processing batches of work in groups throughout the day. You might answer emails for 15 minutes in the morning, early afternoon and evening, for example.

Why don’t freelancers batch process more often? Sometimes we let tedium or boredom drive us to hop between tasks. Other times, years of multitasking just make it difficult to pay attention to one type of thing for even 20-30 minutes.

Financial drivers also exist: you do have to grab and do the work when it’s available, sometimes, but how often is the problem less financial and more focus?

Sequential Mono-Tasking and Pomodoro

Experts say you can train — or retrain — your mind to focus better. First, commit to sequential mono-tasking rather than multitasking. That means you do one thing at a time, working through your list until everything is done. Take a small break, even if it’s just a 20 second breather, between tasks so your mind can reset and ready itself for the next piece of work.

Break larger tasks into smaller bits for this purpose; most people can’t concentrate for more than 45 minutes on the same thing. Plus, sitting at the computer for hours at a time without getting up to move is bad for your overall health.

One proven method for sequential mono-tasking — and something that can help you triage a short attention span — is the Pomodoro method. Using this method, you work with high focus on single tasks for set amounts of time, taking a break after that time is over. Start with small increments of focus time if you need and work up to about 25 minutes for each session.

You can access a free Pomodoro timer online at Tomato-Timer.com.

Create a Dump File for Extraneous Thoughts

One thing that derails me during mono-tasking is stray thoughts. I can’t turn off the spigot 100 percent, and you wouldn’t necessarily want to. Some great ideas and solutions can hit you when you’re working on something else.

To keep me from chasing stray thoughts down the rabbit hole, I keep a notebook or dump file open so I can quickly write or type a note about the thought before continuing with work. I also keep a file on my smartphone so I can do the same thing when I’m out of the house.

Create Boundaries

Finally, try to develop some boundaries between various parts of your life and work. I’m lucky enough to have an office with a door, so I’m not constantly aware of everything that goes on in the house when I’m working. I’m also trying to create pre-appointed times when I work, handle family stuff and engage in self-care activity like exercise.

Since I’m a wife, mother, full-time freelancer and part-time children’s and youth minister, boundaries do often slip into each other. I’m working on it.

And if you’re a freelancer who struggles with multitasking, I hope you will to. After all, whether this is your side hustle or a career, the last thing you want is for freelance opportunities to damage your brain and potential future success.

Keep reading: Marketing Copy Writing Tips From the Pros: How to Craft Creative Copy that Converts

The post Is Multitasking Killing Your Freelance Career? And How to Rescue It appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

It was years before I realized this tactic had a name, and that it was commonly used in marketing. It’s known as the framing effect, and it involves using common cognitive biases to influence how people respond to information.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”GTMR2″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]The framing effect – it involves using common cognitive biases to influence how people respond to information. Are you leveraging this in your #content?[/ctt]

How Does the Framing Effect Work?

The framing effect works when marketers or others present data in the most compelling way for their audience. Most human decision making comes with inherent bias, and framing plays on that bias in some manner.

Consider this example:

• The surgery has a 98 percent survival rate
• 2 out of every 100 patients dies as a result of the surgery

It’s a simple example, and it’s obvious to most people that those statements mean exactly the same thing. In a hospital setting, surgeons are more likely to use the first statement when discussing surgery risks with patients because the second statement is from the negative perspective and would be much more off-putting.

Here’s another example:

• The service costs $730 a year
• You’ll only pay $2 a day for service

Here’s where you have to know your audience. Is your target audience someone who appreciates cutting to the chase and wants to manage things via a big picture, or are they looking for the best deal and be likely to react well to the smaller number?

In content marketing, you have to know how to subtly integrate the framing effect into your content and posts. Framing is a useful tool in infographics, social posts, blog posts and articles, and product descriptions. Consider the following two blurbs for the same (imaginary) pen; which one is more likely to influence you to make a purchase?

The long-lasting ink in this pen lets you write twice as much as comparably priced models.

This pen lets you write approximately 20,000 words before replacing the ink cartridge.

Admittedly, that 20,000-word stat might impress novelists, but for most people, it’s an out-of-context and confusing number. The average person probably doesn’t keep track of how many words they write, and they’re much more likely to be influenced by the comparative value of the first sentence.

A company that makes pens specifically for novelists might score a marketing win by comparing different pens and how many words you can get from them. Any other pen company is probably better off with the first sentence.

More From Sarah: Why You Must Spend More Time Thinking About Niche Content Marketing

Does Playing on Cognitive Bias Mislead Your Audience?

Framing information in a way that is most likely to resonate with your audience isn’t lying, but companies do have to walk the line between positive influence and being misleading. Getting creative with your content and your numbers is an excellent way to engage your audience and convert them to consumers. Step too far over the line, though, and you end up alienating consumers and damaging your brand.

Save

The post The Framing Effect: How to Positively Influence Audience Response to Content appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

But with so many people turning to computers and mobile devices to find products and services, even local brands have to have an online marketing plan that is on point. Check out these 11 facts and stats on local marketing that can help you achieve that.

1. Local service ads play a growing role.

For the past few years, Google has ramped up its Local Service Ads (the program used to be called Google Home Services). Even in 2018, LSAs are only active in certain industries and local markets, including major cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver and Miami, but the company is always expanding that coverage.

Local service ads appear at the very top of the Google search results when they’re triggered by a corresponding search. The page order goes: LSAs, other paid ads, Google’s own organic listings, including maps, and then everything else. LSAs are still most prominent in the service sector, which means companies that provide HVAC, electrical, plumbing and locksmith services might want to look into this ad option.

2. Google is becoming a competitor for online traffic.

Google doesn’t always send local internet traffic your way, even when your company shows up in a list or map. For years, the search engine has expanded its on-page knowledge, and mobile and desktop users can often get the information they need without clicking the website link, which might be buried one or two levels deep on the search engine page.

For example, I searched for a locksmith in Roanoke, VA, and the only thing above the fold on the results page was the map and local listings. At a quick glance, I could see company names, locations and phone numbers, which means I wouldn’t have to click through to the actual web page in many cases.

That’s not necessarily terrible news for local companies with physical goods or services to offer. Google may steal some page traffic, but it’s still sending people to local companies. You just have to know how to play the local marketing game online, which involves much more than SEO and content on your own pages.

3. Blog posts and landing pages are important too.

That doesn’t mean on-page SEO and content marketing is unnecessary. You can’t rely on Google to do the entire job for you, and many people will click through to the site. Creating local landing pages and city pages helps you:

• Rank better in organic search results
• Convert consumers who do arrive on your page
• Prove yourself to be local and trustworthy
• Position your brand as a thought leader or expert

Remember that blog posts usually don’t perform overnight. In fact, according to Hubspot, 1 in 10 blog posts are compounding. That means the organic search traffic to that page increases over time. In this case, patience is a good thing, because compounding blog posts typically drive 38 percent of all traffic.

4. RankBrain is a must-understand measurement for local SEO evaluation.

It’s never enough simply to drive people to your page. You need content they can interact with, as poor engagement and high bounce rates negatively impact your performance in the search engines. Google relies heavily on RankBrain scores, for example, and those go down if your Google listings aren’t in line with what your page is actually about (or if your page is difficult to use or simply not good quality).

Learn More: What You Need to Know About Google & Longer Meta Descriptions to Boost SEO This Year

5. Conversion must be part of the process.

Local SEO marketing used to be solely about peppering the right keywords into decent-enough content. You probably didn’t want a lot of spelling errors and things had to make sense, but you really didn’t have to say much. But with competition online increasing daily and consumers getting more savvy, you actually have to spend time considering conversions.

In 2012, eConsultancy noted that only $1 was spent on conversions for every $92 spent on acquisition. Don’t follow that model with your local marketing. First, because you don’t want to be six or more years behind the trends, and second, because it doesn’t matter how much traffic you get on your website (or in your store) if no one ever takes action or buys something.

6. SMBs have definite local marketing strengths.

If you’re a small or midsize business, one reason to engage in local marketing online is because you probably have strengths that will make you good at it. Local SEO content isn’t just about keywords; it’s a great place to inform customers about value propositions they want to see. Some things to include in local content marketing when relevant are:

• Information about hand-crafted processes
• The fact that products are truly made in the USA
• Eco-friendly or green-living components
• Luxury or specialty products and features
• References and history that cements your local status

With audiences of all ages looking to return to local roots and organic experiences, SMBs with the right local marketing game can crush it, even when facing larger competition.

7. You probably need to combine paid and organic marketing.

Ad spend is up on Adwords and across all search platforms from 2017, according to WordStream. That means more companies are going to land in prime search engine real estate (aka above the organic search results). If you want to be one of them, you have to pay to play. Consider balancing your paid and organic local marketing tactics for the best blend of exposure, relevance and authenticity.

8. Less isn’t always more.

If you’re still targeting the 350 to 400 word range on all your pages, you’re probably losing out. According to Backlinko, the average first result in Google in 2016 had 1,890 words on the page, and things haven’t changed that much since. Pages with 1,000 or more words do tend to perform better — as long as those words provide real, relevant information or entertainment value.

How can you create long-form pages when you’re targeting keywords like “dentist in Phoenix” or “plumber in Miami?” One answer is creative content that covers topics of interest for locals or those in need of specific services. It might sound difficult, but an experienced team of website content writers can get the job done and help you boost your traffic and conversions.

9. More is more with keywords, too.

Whether you decide to add long-form content to your pages or not, you do need to perform consistent, strong keyword research. It’s not enough to target a few simple phrases related to your service, such as “plumber” or even “plumbing services.” Wordstream notes that half of all search queries in 2016 were four words or longer. With more people using voice search today, average keyword length might even be longer now. Make sure your content addresses long tail local keywords and is in line with how people really search and talk.

10. Keeping up with technology is critical.

Rapid adoption of new technologies, particularly among mobile device users, means local marketing strategies must constantly adapt. You probably already know your content should be optimized for access on mobile devices, for example, but it also needs to be relevant to voice search.

HubSpot statistics note that in 2015, 37 percent of people reported using Siri at least once a month. The same survey noted that 23 percent used Cortana and 19 percent used Alexa at least once a month, and the market has only become more saturated by AI and smart devices in intervening years.

The likelihood that a local user searches for your goods or services via a voice-enabled devices is pretty high. That’s especially true with smartphone users, who search for things while on the go. Your site content and structure — and ancillary online marketing — must keep voice search in mind.

11. Content strategies have to work for your vertical and brand.

Finally, no matter what you read above or in any article on local marketing, you can’t make consistently successful decisions without doing your own homework. What works well in one vertical doesn’t always apply to every industry, and what works for another business won’t always work for yours. For example, Search Engine Land notes that the best performing posts in the financial sector have much fewer images than benchmarks suggest are appropriate. Images aren’t what sell those services. In contrast, travel sites do need images for high conversion rates, which means the top performing travel sites have slower page load times than benchmark wisdom says should be successful.

Ultimately, there’s no one secret to success in online marketing. But as a local company, it helps to know what tools are available and how to compete with other brands.

And it’s important to just do you, so you can differentiate yourself from the crowd.

Keep Reading: 3 Powerful Content Marketing Metrics You Have to Be Monitoring

The post 11 Local Marketing Facts You Need to Know for Success appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

And I think it can be a huge mistake for some brands.

Yes, readability is obviously critical to content marketing success. But hamstringing content writers with potentially arbitrary rules verified by inaccurate measurement tools can impede your success.

Here’s a look at exactly what Flesch scoring is about, how you should (or shouldn’t use it) and some other steps you can take to ensure user-friendly content.

What Are the Flesch Readability Scores?

A variety of reading level formulas exist, but the most common I’ve seen used in content marketing are the Flesch reading ease and Flesch-Kincaid reading level calculations.

The Flesch Reading Ease Score

The Flesch reading ease score is based on the average length of sentences and number of syllables per word. The formula is:

206.835 – (1.015 x average sentence length) – (84.6 x average syllables per word)

The higher the score, the easier the content is to read. Scores from 90 to 100 are typically easy for 5^th graders to understand, while scores between 0 and 30 indicate you need a college degree (or industry expertise) to understand content.

The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level Score

This calculation provides an actual reading level for your content, again based on the average sentence length and average syllables per word. The formula is:

(0.39 x average sentence length) + (11.8 x average syllables per word) – 15.59

The results are a number, such as 8.2 or 14.7, which tells you where the content supposedly falls with regard to reading level. Someone who reads and comprehends at an 8^th grade level should be able to understand a document with a Flesch-Kincaid reading level score up to 8.9.

The So-Called Best Practices and Why Reading Level Can’t Be a Hard Boundary

Most content marketers with a specific recommendation on this topic say to aim for an 8^th grade reading level.

And that’s fine — you can do a lot more with an 8^th grade reading level than you might think. But some brands are taking that “best practice” recommendation and making it a boundary, which is cutting off the legs of their content.

Here are three reasons you can’t set a hard stop on reading levels and expect consistent quality.

1. The formulas aren’t always accurate when you consider the function of content.

The formulas don’t take mitigating factors into consideration, such as vocabulary words. Consider this short science article from Highlights online magazine for kids. It’s 146 words, including the title, and scores a 7.6 on the Flesch-Kincaid reading grade level.

The magazine itself is for ages 6 to 12, so is this article only for its very oldest readers? Probably not; it’s scoring a bit high in part because of the word helium. It’s three syllables and appears eight times in the short piece, bringing up the average syllables per word substantially. There are only 16 total words with three syllables; the rest are all one or two syllables.

I replaced “helium” with the word “stuff,” bringing the Flesch-Kincaid reading level down to 6.3. That’s over a grade level just by changing one word.

In the real-world, a 6^th grader could read this content even with the word helium in it, because the purpose of the content is to teach what helium is.

You can also see that the shorter the content, the more inaccuracy you might have. In a 50-word product description, a few brand-specific words or names could skew reading level extensively.

2. You can’t always create audience-appropriate content at a very low reading level.

Here’s where a lot of industry insiders might disagree. “It’s just that you need a good writer,” they say, and more than one blog points to Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea as an example (possibly on the heels of industry influencer Shane Snow, who did this analysis in 2015).

The Old Man and the Sea scores at a 4^th grade reading level. “Therefore,” a lot of people say, “You can totally write solid content at a lower reading level than you are now.”

And I say, “That’s not a valid, logical argument at all.”

Hemmingway’s book isn’t about a technology product, medical treatment option or personal finance program.  Company and product names and a few necessary niche words (which Hemmingway didn’t have to contend with) are going to naturally bring the level of your content up a bit.

Trying to scrub down to an 8^th grade level if your content naturally hits a 10^th grade level (and that’s also appropriate for your audience) is a waste of your resources.

3. Writing for a number instead of a person is bad form.

I’m a trained Six Sigma project manager, and a VP I used to work for once told me, “Metrics and measurements are great. But the problem is, people start working for the number instead of the customer.”

He’s right. Metrics — of any type — are one way to measure success. They alone cannot define it. And if you have the wrong metrics or worry about the wrong numbers, you’re in trouble if that’s all you’re working toward.

If you go into the content marketing process thinking, “Content is only going to be successful at a 6^th grade level,” you’re going to spend a lot of time tinkering with sentences, words and syllables to get to “success.” And you might end up with content that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to: engage or convert.

Learn more: Scaling Content Creation: What Can Go Wrong and How to Mitigate the Risks

What’s the Real-Word Recommendation on Content Marketing Reading Levels?

Here’s the best reading level for content marketing: The reading level that performs for you.

Sorry. No magic number. Content marketing success takes analysis and research, so start looking at your best-performing posts to see what type of reading level is resonating with your audience.

For us, an ideal reading level seems to be right around 9th grade, and most of our posts with the best engagement numbers fall into the lower high school reading level range.

That makes sense for our audience, which is made up primarily of small business owners, content marketers, agencies, corporate content managers and freelance writers. Typically, we can expect our audience to read at high school levels or higher, and that’s an expectation you might have with the majority of B2B content.

No matter who your audience is, though, it’s a good idea to aim for a reading level at least slightly below what they can comprehend. It’s just good customer service. Doctors looking for information online don’t have time to wade through medical-journal-level content, even if they can comprehend it.

Tips for Creating Readable Content

Once you decide what the right reading level is for your audience, avoid forcing content into a mold set by Flesch-Kincaid. It’s okay to have writers aim for a certain level but remember that the formulas aren’t completely accurate. You need to leave wiggle room for experienced writers to leverage clarity and creativity for your benefit.

Here are some tips for getting to readability without worrying overly with Flesch scores.

• Use the right in-house or freelance writers. Content creators who understand your brand, your target audience and your niche are more likely to write at the correct reading level naturally.
• Create target personas so you have something to aim for other than an arbitrary number. For example, It’s much easier for me to write “content an experienced nurse would understand” than “content at an 11^th grade level”. Target personas provide more active instruction and information than a single number.
• Write for clarity rather than style or academics. Online content is rarely the place to show off a stunning vocabulary.
• Vary sentence structure; using all short sentences creates choppy content that can be annoying or seem too basic. Using all long sentences makes the content harder to read no matter how it scores.
• Remember that reading level scores aren’t the only readability concern for online content marketing. Make your content easy to scan or read on mobile devices by incorporating headers, using varying paragraphs (with more shorter than long) and incorporating bulleted lists.

Keep reading: [EBOOK] How to Create eCommerce Content at Scale

The post Why You Should Worry About Your Content’s Reading Level appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

I think that covers freelance writers and editors nicely, but I also believe we have to be careful not to let our mercenary roots be the only thing that leads us in this endeavor. It’s one thing to manage your time and efforts on your own terms; it’s another thing to burn bridges or muck up the waters in your area of the freelance lake.

Because despite the fact that freelancing lets you work from anywhere in the world and take on clients from multiple countries, the industry itself is more like a lake than an ocean. That’s to say: it’s smaller than you think, and the chances of running into the same people (digitally or even in person) are larger than you might think.

East Coast Freelance Writer Meets West Coast Client, Accidentally

I’m on the east coast of the United States. In 2014, I did some freelance writing work for a document destruction company on the west coast. I was also pregnant, so my friend and occasional co-writer, Whitney (also on the east coast), was assisting me with my client workload.

Fast forward over three years. That freelance project had ended in 2014, and I hadn’t thought of the company in years until Whitney texted me: What was the name of that shredding company we wrote for a few years ago?

She was stuck in an airport, waiting it out at the bar and talking to a random person in the same predicament. Turns out, he was a rep for the very same company.

She then texted: Can anything be more random?

It is a very random meetup, but it’s not the only time something like this has happened to me or people I know. And when you throw in digital meetups, I’ve recrossed paths with other freelance writers, project managers and clients an astounding number of times through the years.

All that path crossing has convinced me:

• Freelance writers and editors should avoid burning bridges
• Freelancers should always strive for professionalism, even in casual communication with others in the field
• Successful long-term freelancing means protecting your personal brand and building strong bridges

More From Sarah: Marketing Copy Writing Tips From the Pros: How to Craft Creative Copy that Converts

The Gaiman Approach to Building Bridges as Freelance Writers or Editors

In his iconic Make Good Art speech (seriously, it’s wonderful — give it a listen when you have 20 minutes) author Neil Gaiman says that in a freelance world, people keep working because:

• Their work is good
• They are easy to get along with
• They deliver work on time

On paper, that might sound easy, but we all know that life conspires against at least one of those things on a daily basis. It’s not always easy to get along with a client — or other freelancers on a team — and no one hits it out of the ballpark every time. And deadlines. . .well, those are the frenemy of the freelancer, yes?

But Gaiman goes on to say that you don’t even need to do all three in every interaction in your freelancing career. “Two out of three is fine,” he says.

Whew! (Right? I’m not the only one relieved to hear this?)

But seriously, while you do want to aim for all three traits, as a project manager, I think this is completely accurate. If someone is a bit surly, but I don’t have to chase them down for work or double check everything they do, I’m going to send them more work. I’ll also send someone more work if they are a stellar writer and a lovely person, but I know they’ll turn it in three days late (in which case I bump up the deadline when I give it to them). And the nice freelancer who turns everything in as scheduled but is only average at the job? Professional reliability is a pretty big commodity for project and account managers.

Hit all three consistently, and you’ve not just built a bridge with your client. You’ve finished it in gold.

Keep Reading: Freelancers: Do You Know How to Write Thought Leadership Content?

A Few Tips on Maintaining Bridges

So, how do you strive toward Gaiman’s three (and at least hit two every time)?

• Don’t take on more work than you can do. Push your limits, but don’t make unrealistic commitments that will leave you and the client disappointed.
• Do let someone know as soon as possible if you can’t make a commitment; most clients and project managers know life comes up on occasion, so they often have a backup plan.
• Don’t be a frequent flopper: emergencies are understandable, but if something comes up every week or even month, people will stop coming to you with work.
• Do walk away before you send an angry message or email, and definitely never send a message when you can still feel your blood in your cheeks. Taking a walk outside, relaxing in a shower, eating a healthy meal or talking it out with a friend first lets you cool down so you can communicate professionally.

• Don’t take work you simply don’t understand, especially when time is critical; if it’s completely out of your wheelhouse or the instructions might as well be in a foreign language, you’re less likely to be able to meet a deadline or turn in acceptable work.
• Do ask intelligent, professional questions to better understand instructions or the client’s needs. Many clients remember the freelance writers and editors who made an extra effort (as long as you aren’t just asking for the sole purpose of showing up on the client’s radar; that can seem disingenuous and be annoying).
• Don’t use unprofessional language or tone in your freelancer communications; that means no obscenities, unnecessary belittlement of others or inappropriate info sharing.
• Do treat client, project and work information with respect. While it’s not all 100 percent confidential, it’s also not all something you should broadcast on social media or other public outlets.

How do you build bridges as a freelance writer or editor and keep your personal brand safe in an industry that seems to get smaller each year? Sound off in the comments and let us know.

The post It’s a Small World: Why Freelance Writers Should Build, Not Burn, Bridges appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The post Marketing Copy Writing Tips From the Pros: How to Craft Creative Copy that Converts appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Hang on a minute while I consult my crystal ball. Yep: just as I thought. That string of resolutions is doomed to failure starting the second week of January. Creating a list of numerous huge goals without much of a plan to get me there just sets me up for failure, and it’s something I’ve talked about with many freelancers as the New Year approaches. We tend to do a lot of questionable math that makes enormous goals seem easy to achieve, but we might forget to factor in family obligations, sleep or even sanity.

I’m not telling anyone not to reach for the stars in 2018. I’m going to be doing some star reaching myself. It’s a year that begins on a Monday, and one of my fellow Crowd Content admins assures me: That luck of the calendar brings us good things.

I am saying that stepping stones are what make the journey up the mountain possible, so here are 7 realistic freelance editor and writer goals for 2018 that can help you achieve bigger dreams.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”o2fCe” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Set S.M.A.R.T. goals for the New Year to increase productivity and ensure success.[/ctt]

1. Create an Early Deadline Habit

The battle with procrastination is super real for me, as it is for many of my cohorts. I’ve learned over the years that I’m going to fill my schedule with work and other obligations, shuffling each item dangerously close to deadline as I do. Instead of trying to break this habit, I’m starting a new one. When I record work in my planner, I just set the deadline earlier. When possible, I record it a day earlier; sometimes I can only manage a few hours earlier.

This habit is helping me avoid deadline stress, but I’m not 100 percent there yet. My goal in 2018 is to set every deadline early and hit at least 75 percent of those early milestones. Figure out what might work for you and create any new habit that helps you reduce procrastination, if even a little. When you’re not fighting deadlines, you might find you “magically” have more time to work on your goals (or enjoy a cup of tea and a good book).

2. Move 10 Minutes of Every Hour You Sit

Numerous studies in 2017 found that sitting for hours a day is unhealthy — and that’s true even if you work out regularly or eat right. Experts say you should get up and move around frequently. In 2018, start setting an alarm and get up for 10 minutes of every hour that you sit. You don’t have to work out during those movement breaks — I plan to use the time to walk up my driveway for the mail, wash a few dishes, dust some shelves or play with my toddler.

An added bonus to movement is that you might find the mental break lets you get back to work with less burn out. Plus, if you work 6 to 8 hours a day, that’s 60 to 80 minutes of movement, which can make a difference in how many calories you burn daily.

RELATED: 4 Ways for Freelance Writers to Stay Productive from Their Home-Based Office

3. Add a New Freelance Skill Every Week

Whether you’re a newbie freelancer or a professional editor with years of work under your belt, you can always learn new skills. Some ideas for relevant skills include:

• Mastering a new grammar rule each week
• Memorizing the spelling of words that regularly trip you up
• Learning to incorporate Boolean searches when you research online
• Discovering a new Excel formula or trick to make work easier
• Learning a new vocabulary word
• Figuring out the rules of a new project

4. Create and Maintain a Weekly Earnings Goal

Instead of thinking about your freelance income in terms of the month or year, create a weekly goal. First, decide how much you need or want to earn in 2018. Base your goal on real figures: what bills and expenses do you need to cover, how much do you want to save and how much extra would you like for fun stuff? Once you have a total for the year or month, divide to find a weekly figure. (Divide an annual figure by 52 weeks; multiply a monthly figure by 12 and then divide by 52).

Decide how many days a week you want to work and divide the weekly figure by that many days. That’s your daily goal, and it’s usually a less overwhelming number than a monthly or yearly goal.

One freelancer I know sets a two-tier goal. If her daily goal is $125 based on the calculations above, she might set a minimum goal of $125 and a “stretch goal” of $150. By stretching to the higher goal, she builds a buffer in case she has a bad day or needs to take off in the future.

Meeting a smaller, daily goal regularly helps you meet large annual goals without stressing over impossible-seeming numbers. And if you miss one day, it’s easier to incorporate the underage into future days. It’s almost impossible to do that with a missed month.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”fws65″ via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Up productivity in the New Year by setting smart, achievable goals.[/ctt]

5. Reduce Your Caffeine Habit

Before the pitchforks and torches come out, note that I’m not saying kick caffeine completely. Studies have shown that caffeine can increase mental focus, but it’s a less-is-more situation for many people. As you increase caffeine intake, your body becomes used to the impact and stops responding in a way that boosts energy and focus. Bringing your habit down to a single dose a day regularly (with occasional extra cuppas for special events) actually increases the positive impact of caffeine. Plus, in super rare cases, too much caffeine can lead to a literal heart attack, and that’s not a line we want anyone crossing in 2018.

6. Apply for New Opportunities Once a Week

We love our Crowd Content writers, and we’re always excited when you choose to write for us. Many of the Crowd Content admins are freelancers too, though, so we know smart writers and editors can’t rely solely on a single source of work. Plus, as you incorporate new skills and better freelancing habits, you might be able to land some high-paying private clients.

The application process can be brutal, though, and a few days of it in a row often leads to burnout. Instead of powering through apps and lead sourcing in week-long marathons, choose one (or a couple) good opportunities each week. That lets you polish and customize your app, but leaves you plenty of time to work where you’re already appreciated (did we mention how much we love our regulars?)

7. Invest Time in a Non-Wording Hobby

Finally, find something you enjoy doing that doesn’t involve sitting at a computer and typing as fast as you can. Indulging in activity that you enjoy (that doesn’t involve pulling words continuously from your brain) helps you enjoy life more and refocuses your creative and professional skills for when it’s time to get back to work. Some activities I’ve heard freelancers say they enjoy include crocheting, sewing, hiking, drawing, painting, running, rowing, swimming and gardening.

2018 is going to be a great year. Let’s dream big but plan small steps to get us there.

The post 7 Realistic Freelance Editor and Writer Goals for 2018 appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Holidays: love them or hate them, the truth is that you can often make small changes to ensure a merrier season (or at least more bearable one).

1. Deck Your Desk

If holiday decorations make you happy, bring them into your work environment. Whether that’s tiny trees and twinkly lights or candles and paper ornaments, the accoutrements of personal cheer belong in your office as much as they do in the living or dining room.

Other ideas for customizing your work space might include timely tunes in the background, candles or essential oils with seasonal scents, or a bright and fluffy blanket to ward away winter chills. The key is to add things that bring you joy; don’t worry about what’s traditional or expected.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”IFbXV” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Use these 7 freelance hacks to get through the holiday season with a minimum of angst.[/ctt]

2. Make Time to Take Time Off

Whether you participate in seasonal celebrations or not, consider planning time off at the end of the year. Freelancing is hard work, and we don’t get paid sick leave or vacation. We definitely don’t get paid holidays off, so we have to plan in advance.

Many full-time freelancers I know decide on planned time off at the beginning of the year and incorporate that into their earnings goals.

Budgeting for Time Off

If you wanted to make $42,000 per year gross (before taxes), but you wanted to take a week off around Christmas and a week off during the summer, you’d be working 50 weeks that year.

• $42,000 / 50 weeks = $840 average per week
• $168 per day (working 5 days a week)
• $21 per hour (working 8 hours a day)

Freelancers all work different schedules, so you’ll have to do the math according to yours.

Related: 4 Ways for Freelance Writers to Stay Productive from Their Home-Based Office

Communicating for Time Off

Let your consistent clients know when you’re planning to take off and offer to do work ahead of time if they need it. If you write a blog post every week for a client, offer to write two the week prior to your vacation. As planned time off approaches, avoid procrastination at all costs. Turning everything in early helps protect your vacation or holiday time.

3. Work When You Want, But Be Clever With Communication

Not everyone wants Christmas Day off, and some people really do complete their best work in the wee hours of weekend days. If spending time with your family or friends is important, schedule time for that, but if New Years Day is downtime in your home, don’t be afraid to catch up on work if it’s calling your name.

When you work outside of traditional hours but don’t want to give clients the impression you’re available 24/7, consider using an email scheduling app. I love Boomerang for Gmail year round, because it lets me schedule communication during business hours and set follow-up reminders on important messages.

4. Add Rewards to Make Your Work Days Bright

The carrot-and-stick approach has always been a favorite for freelancers, but it’s especially important during the holidays when distractions run rampant. Enjoy wrapping presents? Wrap a gift after every 500 words you write. Kitchen full of seasonal goodies? Schedule a snack break between long articles.

Other freelancers have told me what rewards work for them, and they include:

• Getting to read the next chapter of a great book
• Watching 15 more minutes on Netflix
• Relaxing in a hot bath or shower
• One M&M for every 50 words
• A brisk walk once the midday goal is reached

Sound off in the comments if you’ve got a creative carrot you motivate yourself with.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”r6d5c” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Freelance holiday hack: Make time to take time off[/ctt]

5. Be Happy for Others

It sounds cliche, but it’s true. Celebrating when others are happy helps you experience more joy. Be happy for friends and family that get paid time off or other good things during the season instead of of reflecting constantly on the disadvantage of freelancing during the holidays.

6. Use Slow Periods to Plan and Organize

The feast-or-famine of freelancing is often more famine as you get closer to major holidays. Clients may take time off, and marketing budgets could be depleted as the year winds down. Use that time to gear up for next year. You might:

• Clean and organize your workspace
• Get next year’s planner ready to rock
• Apply for new work opportunities
• Beef up your writer profiles or web page
• Look into new ways to market your services

7. Boost Your Vitamin D Intake

Finally, amid the chocolate, peppermint and other seasonal sugar, make sure you’re eating well and consider foods high in vitamin D (or take a supplement). Freelancers often spend a lot of time indoors at computers, and that’s exacerbated during cold months. Vitamin D deficiency can increase your risks of getting sick and lead to (or worsen) fatigue and depression.

If you’ve got some holiday hacks of your own (or just a link to something seasonal and fun) feel free to drop us a comment below.

The post 7 Freelance Hacks to Get You Through The Holidays appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

J.K. Rowling said she thought the platform had ruined itself. In a tweet that rang in at exactly 140 characters, Rowling said she thought the point of Twitter had always been “how inventive people could be” within the framework. Authors, including award-winners and bestsellers such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen King, shared Rowling’s sentiments via retweets and their own comments, and they weren’t alone. Plenty of users, well-known and otherwise, seemed to think Twitter was doomed. Many people also clearly wanted an edit button much more than an expanded character count.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”1ddfe” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Is 280 characters going to kill #Twitter? Here’s what we think. [/ctt]

Did 280 Characters Kill Twitter?

Less than a month later, the platform still seems to be going strong. The longer character count isn’t as poisonous as everyone feared, but it’s also apparent that it wasn’t 100 percent needed. I’m drawing that conclusion based on what I’ve seen people doing with the 280 characters, including:

• Sharing long quotes from books in a single tweet (one person thread-tweeted an entire chapter from a famous book)
• Repeating themselves within the same tweet or using a lot of words to say what a few would convey well
• Filling up 200ish characters with nonsense to conclude with a variation of “Oh, yay! I have 280!”

It’s clear that 99 percent of the time, a bit of inventiveness and some editing would have fit the same message into 140 characters.

On the other hand, there were times when the 140-character limitation made it impossible to conveniently and accurately convey information. This can’t be denied, even by those who love the platform’s brevity.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”c620P” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]When writing, choose clarity over brevity. #content[/ctt]

What Can Writers and Editors Learn?

Here are a few relevant tips and lessons freelancers can draw from the Twitter update.

1. Less is often more.

The cliche isn’t any less true because you’ve heard it often. Yes, long-form content (such as blog posts ranging from 800 to 2,000 words) performs well in the search engines. But that doesn’t mean you say the same thing with more words — that content performs well because it’s perceived as valuable. It provides more with more words.

If you can provide the same information in a powerful, clear way with less words, that’s usually better. Which means when a client orders 500 to 700 words, you shouldn’t automatically force 700 words — even if you get paid more money the more you write.

Writing powerfully rather than fluffily helps you impress the client and hone your own skills, which could mean more and higher paying work in the future.

2. Write for clarity, not just brevity.

Clarity is more important than brevity or a high word count. Use the words you need (within the client’s requirements) to get the job done right. And if the client asks you to do more than can be done within the word count, don’t be afraid to talk to them about raising the stakes. Just remember: 99 percent of Tweets were doing great at the 140-character length, so make sure you really do need the extra room for the message. Rewording, revising and reformatting can often bring the word count down substantially without losing any information.

3. A good edit never hurt anyone.

Coming in at the perfect word count means nothing if you’ve splattered the piece with typos or grammatical errors. Always remember to proof your own work for little errors and to ensure you’ve written clear, powerful sentences.

Twitter might not have an edit function yet, but as a freelancer, it’s one of your most powerful tools.

The post Word Count Matters: What Writers Can Learn from Twitter’s Move to 280 Characters appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

If your freelancer habits were a TWD character, who would they be? From Carol to Carl, every TWD character has specific skills, endearing character traits and some pretty massive flaws. Yes, even Maggie isn’t perfect — and even Negan has at least one positive attribute. Was there ever a TWD villain you loved to hate more? (Plus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s got a pretty spectacular smile, so there’s a second positive.)

These positives and negatives, when mixed with the come-and-go threat of zombies and more angst than you can shake a teenager at, make a beautiful(?), grisly, frustrating thing many of us enjoy from our couches every Sunday night during the season. And by enjoy, I mean “yell at a lot and then discuss heatedly on social media.” Why not take some of what we learn and languish over regarding The Walking Dead and apply those lessons to our freelance lives?

Read on to discover your TWD freelancer type and what the character might have to teach you.

Freelancer Rick: Taking the hardest way possible through every project

Rick takes the hardest road to any destination, and he’s pretty good at denial. In a freelancer, this can mean putting off a project you know you should be working on until you’re forced into sacrificing sleep and running on caffeine and popcorn. After barely making the deadline, you even look like post-terrible-event Rick: red eyes, gaunt face and a walk that’s more a zombie shuffle.

The good news: You get that project done better than anyone else. There’s a reason those people keep following Rick, even after all the wrong roads he’s led them down.

The lesson: Don’t put off what you think is a hard or unpleasant task. It’s never as bad as you think it is (in the freelancer world, not in the TWD world, where everything is really that bad).

Freelancer Carl: Perfecting your talent by learning from others

Carl’s got enough post-apocalypse chops to impress Negan and keep himself alive, but remember when he was kind of a brat that wouldn’t stay in the house? He’s learned a lot from those around him and his own experience over the years, and many freelancers can relate. For many of us, this gig came with little former training and we’re picking it up survival style as we go.

The good news: Some of the most talented writers are self-taught, and there’s no tutor like necessity.

The lesson: One of Carl’s weaknesses is that he sometimes forgets there’s more to learn. As a freelancer, never think you can’t improve or learn something new.

Related: 4 Ways for Freelance Writers to Stay Productive from Their Home-Based Office

Freelancer Negan: Never met a project you couldn’t bang into shape

Negan doesn’t deal with people who don’t fall in line. That’s what Lucille is for. Negan freelancers come in all shapes and sizes — some even have virtual charisma. And while you might get the job done as freelancer Negan, you’re probably not making friends. While writers can be Negans, editors often take on this persona out of frustration or a genuine desire to ensure the client gets good work.

The good news: A little Negan goes a long way. Simply bringing out your version of Lucille can help other freelancers understand the seriousness of requirements or ensure clients realize you did mean 30 days net. But we don’t need to actually hit things.

The lesson: Too much Lucille and people will revolt. Or find another freelancer.

Freelancer Glenn: Hopelessly out of date on best practices or instructions

Glenn’s not keeping up with the program these days, and for good reason. He’s dead. (No, it’s not too soon. That was an entire season ago.) Sure, most people loved Glenn, and if you’re moving into a different career entirely, there’s something to be said for being the freelancer everyone liked who no longer freelances.

Otherwise, there’s really no good news here.

The lesson: Read industry content and keep up-to-date on writer forums, or you’ll find yourself missing out on the best projects. Or getting knocked around by a Negan.

Freelancer Carol: The mother-hen other freelancers flock to

Carol’s always taking care of someone. Freelancer Carol is the writer or editor who takes extra time to help colleagues or who shares lucrative leads because someone else would enjoy the opportunity too. If you spend time on a forum explaining projects to others — sans any compensation — this may be your TWD freelance type.

The good news: Everyone seems to flock to Carol even when she does the wrong thing. As a freelancer, this earns you some goodwill points and can even help you land extra work.

The lesson: Sometimes Carol spends so much time worrying about others, she ends up in a dark funk and on a solitary quest. Help others, but don’t let yourself burn out.

Freelancer Maggie: Always in charge of a thing, even when you try not to be

You know what Maggie probably wasn’t thinking back on that farm? “One day I’m going to be a soldier, a politician and a leader of men.” But she always seems to find herself in a leading role. Many freelancers aren’t looking for leadership either — many quit traditional jobs to get away from that type of position. Freelancer Maggies can’t quite escape it, though, and find themselves being called upon to head up work, mentor others or take on more difficult projects.

The good news: Maggie does always tend to come out as stable as you can in a zombie war zone. And Freelancer Maggies tend to have their pick of work opportunities, even when the well is drying for others.

The lesson: Maggie had to make a hard decision to leave Rick’s group and stay at Hilltop Colony. As a freelancer, you may need to learn when to say no and when to accept new responsibilities. Remember: you can’t do everything.

Freelancer Daryl

Let’s face it. None of us are this.

The post What’s Your The Walking Dead Freelancer Type? (No Season 8 Spoilers) appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The good news for writers: First, the need for more content means more available work. Second, many companies are willing to pay a bit more for thought leadership than they do for basic SEO or a unique regurgitation of the facts.

The current challenge: The problem that we’re seeing is that not all freelancers know how to write thought leadership content or even seem to understand exactly what it is.

What Is Thought Leadership Content?

Thought leadership occurs when content provides a comprehensive, high-quality answer to the audience’s biggest or most pressing questions. It doesn’t have to be the most unique content on the subject, but it does have to be some of the best. The good news is that it can come from anyone. One of the things that makes thought leadership content so valuable is that it can level the playing field. It’s not about credentials or pedigrees. It’s about what someone knows and their ability to communicate it to build trust, develop respect and position themselves as a leader in the space.

Related: What You Need To Do Today To Become a More Successful Freelance Writer

What Thought Leadership Content Is Not?

To better understand thought leadership from a content creation perspective, let’s look at some of the things it isn’t.

• Thought leadership isn’t a regurgitation of information sourced online (or even in books), no matter how unique of a spin you put on it. Reworking information into new content certainly has its place in online marketing, but thought leadership means going above and beyond regurgitation to explain, respond or expound on existing ideas.
• Thought leadership isn’t a gathering of relevant statistics or thoughts on the topic. That’s a curated list: again, a valuable type of content, but not one that delves into someone’s expertise on a subject.
• Thought leadership rarely sounds like an encyclopedia article or text book. It almost always has voice and verve that is unique to the brand or person noted as the author.

Tips for Writing Thought Leadership as a Freelancer

Expanding into thought leadership content may help you find more lucrative assignments or build your bylined portfolio. Before you agree to write this type of content for someone, consider these tips.

• Don’t agree to write thought leadership on topics you know nothing about. While you could research your way into it, you might find the struggle to write as a expert on a new topic takes too much time and tanks your hourly.
• When possible, write thought leadership in areas where you are an expert. Even if you won’t be bylined, you’re more likely to please clients looking for an expert voice. Choose niches where you’ve worked or have other extensive experience. For example, my background is in project management and healthcare revenue cycle management. I regularly ghostwrite thought leadership pieces in those niches.
• If you don’t have an expertise outside of writing (You probably do: are you a gardener? Have you manned PTA positions? Do you cook from-scratch meals every day? All of these things make you an expert at something), you may have built up expertise over the years by writing extensively on a subject. I currently write thought leadership in the cremation space, though I’m not a funeral director. I’ve just written hundreds of thousands of words in that niche through the years.
• Keep open communication lines with your client, especially if they are the expert. Ask for links to previous work, video transcripts or audio copies of interviews or a quick phone call to get some original quotes.
• Cite current, relevant and high-quality sources; a thought leader doesn’t have to fill an article with info sources from basic sites because they are familiar with current research and cutting-edge publications in the niche.
• Incorporate original material and thought. Don’t just reiterate what’s already being said on the topic online. Respond to quotes, statistics and facts with an expert opinion, recommendation or argument.
• When possible, incorporate new quotes and material (if the type of content allows it). You might use HARO queries, or simply put the question to your social feed to get feedback.
• As always, follow the feedback and instructions of your client. While the definitions of thought leadership in this post are broad and appropriate, we all know that clients might mean something slightly different when they ask you for it.

For more tips of the trade and to stay on top of managed content work at Crowd Content, don’t forget to join the writer forum. It’s a friendly, efficient place where admins and writers share news and tips.

The post Freelancers: Do You Know How to Write Thought Leadership Content? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

I’m guessing a pediatrician and his staff aren’t taking the plunge based solely on generic content or even content aimed broadly at the health care industry. Busy professionals, no matter what their niche, don’t have time to read or view B2B content that doesn’t speak directly to their day-to-day needs. Your lead generation strategy must keep that in mind. Here are three reasons why.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”bBJa9″ via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Niche content marketing: the differentiator your content strategy and brand need[/ctt]

Niche Content Marketing Makes You Unique

As early as 2014, the Content Marketing Institute reported that 93 percent of B2B marketers were using online content marketing to engage, educate and convert clients. We don’t have to explain the draw of content marketing: it’s relatively inexpensive and it works. But that’s a lot of brands screaming into the void of the web, hoping something sticks with the right person. Without a differentiator, that’s all you are too: a brand trying to outshout (or out SEO) everyone else.

When you engage in niche content marketing, you begin to carve out a unique space for your brand on the web. You also begin to stick in the minds of those you most want to reach. Building a lead generation process that includes niche content means that you provide something specifically valuable to your target market. If your content is always somewhat valuable to your target market and also a good range of other people, then it’s not niche enough and probably not valuable enough to generate strong leads.

That doesn’t completely invalidate the content (general content can be useful too), but it does mean you might want to consider creating something special for your most coveted potential clients. And, it also means you might want to find freelance content writers for your website that specialize in your niche.

Related: Why Moz’s Whiteboard Friday Is Such Effective Content Creation

A Targeted Approach Builds Trust

Neil Patel says, “Great content builds trust over time and keeps prospects close to you. And trust comes before the sale.”

When you’re dealing with niche-based prospects in the B2B world, you’re facing an audience that already knows about the subject. They probably know a lot about it, to be honest. Overarching content that skids across the surface or delves into generalities simply isn’t going to impress anyone. Keep your prospects close by:

• Learning about the specific challenges that face your target audience. Find what you need via feedback, interviews, focus groups, emails or surveys — never just assume you know.
• Creating content that provides actionable solutions and information directly related to those challenges. Link your services and products to the solutions.
• Integrating non-sales content that positions you as an expert in your niche

[ctt template=”4″ link=”EuH9T” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]When facing niche-based B2B prospects, your audience already knows about the subject. Adjust your content accordingly.[/ctt]

Thought Leadership Works Best in Small Spaces

One of the best ways to position yourself as an expert —€” and build the trust that keeps prospects close —€” is through thought leadership. This occurs when you create content that moves your brand beyond expert status and sets you up as a leader that people want to follow, buy into and support.

Online marketing expert Larry Kim is definitely a leader in his niche, which is evidenced by 2017’s growing number of unicorn content marketing references. Kim’s advice on how to become a recognized thought leader is to start with a very specific place in the field: a highly specialized niche that isn’t being adequately explored by others. In an interview on WordStream, he says, “The way I looked at it was, if I’m going to do this, I want to carve out a niche, as opposed to just being lost among the vast volumes of content on the internet.”

We’ll be writing more about thought leadership and niche content marketing in the future. For now, we leave you with a few tips paraphrased from Larry Kim himself to get you started on your niche content marketing journey.

• Read extensively in the niche so you know what others are doing
• Ask yourself: what is not being done or said?
• Decide on a strategy that sets you apart
• Demonstrate your knowledge with well-written, well-researched content
• Develop your own brand and style as you develop content
• Be patient; content marketing takes time to work
• Repeat

The post Why You Must Spend More Time Thinking About Niche Content Marketing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”p_eKn” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]#eCommerce take note. Today’s young adults tend to spend money on experiences rather than fancy stuff. #experientialmarketing[/ctt]

Experiences > Stuff: Because It Makes You Happier

Money can’t buy happiness — we all know the saying. But money can buy a lot of stuff. Can that stuff make us happy? Turns out, according to both anectodal evidence and plenty of behavioral studies, more stuff doesn’t bring long-term joy. It’s a lesson younger generations, who came of age during a major recession and saw generations before them work hard, run up credit and even give up meaningful experiences to procure plenty of stuff, have apparently taken to heart.

Millennials are more likely to splurge on world travel than a fancy vehicle, for example, and eating out, yoga or time spent with friends at a favorite coffee shop are all more likely to appear on the budgets of younger generations than a fancy watch or new pair of designer shoes. This emphasis on experience is one reason for the restaurant renaissance (the revival of dining out, in all its forms, as a popular pastime).

That’s not to say younger generations don’t buy things; the way they purchase is just much more tied to experience than it is to the stuff itself.

Related: 8 Interesting Facts Every eCommerce Operator Should Know

What Does This Mean for Lead Generation Strategy?

For eCommerce companies, this shift means a necessary evolution in marketing strategies. Content marketing is actually well-suited to the change, because you can craft content that is about the experience as easily as you can create content that harks the features and benefits of products. Experiential marketing is also known as aspirational marketing, and it’s something luxury and premium brands have done for years.

Today, though, brands have to concentrate even more on the experience; instead of illustrating why the audience needs a thing, eCommerce businesses must prove that a product enhances or makes possible an experience.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”FPpZX” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]eCommerce companies must shift their #marketing strategies to reach millenials via experiences rather than products. [/ctt]

Here are some tips for developing a lead generation strategy within this new context.

• Tell stories. Stories make your marketing itself an experience. You can use video, text and images to relate them via your site or social channels.
• Enjoy the experience too. When you actually love a product or enjoy the experience of sharing it with other people, it comes across. Marketing made by people who are truly invested in the experience is organic, honest and almost tangible for the audience.
• Invest in influencer marketing. When other people are having the experience already and sharing it, others are more likely to join in.
• Suggest product/experience pairs. Don’t show a water bottle and list its features. Show the product as it travels the subway, tucked in the pocket of a business woman’s bag, sweating in the heat on a bench in the sun as the athlete completes his run or nestled among fallen leaves at the feet of embracing lovers on a hiking path. Use imagery and metaphors. Link your product to benefits that are less tangible than “durable stainless steel construction” and “no-spill spout.”

Creating an experiential lead generation strategy isn’t always easy. It takes creativity and skill, which is why you might want to consider working with some our roster of experienced writers. We’ve got plenty of creative storytellers who can help you develop experiential marketing copy.

The post Why Savvy eCommerce Companies Need to Leverage Experiential Marketing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Anytime it’s not, your Customer Success Manager (CSM) can step in to help you understand the platform, troubleshoot concerns and ensure quality results. Here are just a few things your customer success manager can do for you.

1. Finding just the right talent to tackle the job

Niche content requires niche content writers, and we have plenty of those at Crowd Content. How do you decide which of our thousands of writers has experience with photography equipment, a background in microbiology or knowledge of financial compliance? The system has search capability built in, but your customer success manager can provide an even deeper dive, especially for the most unique areas. Your CSM might have previously worked with the perfect candidate, and she can also leverage the experience of internal project managers to locate writers appropriate for almost any niche.

 2. Choosing the right content ordering options

Our content ordering system is pretty intuitive, but it does offer a lot of options that let you reach exactly the right writers for your project. If you would like to get some advice on how to best configure your orders, your CSM can help with that.  She can take you through a quick demo, provide tips and tricks to make your process efficient, and answer any questions you might have.  She will walk you through the process in no time, even helping you set up a few orders that can act as templates to make future orders super simple.

3. Triaging troubled content

We’ve got some of the best writers in the business, and we bring on writers at all skill levels and interests to ensure clients can find talent to match their content needs and budget. But we also know that content creation hiccups and communication errors do happen, and occasionally clients end up with content that just doesn’t quite ring all the right bells. Built-in revision capabilities let you work directly with writers and editors to tweak content when necessary, but if you feel something went especially amiss, your customer success manager is always available to assist with project or content triage to make things right.

4. Building a custom crowd to support success

Our regular freelance writers and editors love to support client success as much as we do, and you’ll find some great business partnerships both with the Crowd Content internal team and what may become your favorite freelancers. If you know you want to develop that kind of relationship, your customer service manager will take time to understand your needs before helping you put together a strong go-to team of writers and editors for your project.

The post 4 Crowdsourcing Content Challenges Your Customer Success Manager Can Help You Overcome appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Even if you did some base research and followed smart goal-setting principles, this is a moving target that should be slightly different for every piece of your funnel, and most content marketers don’t delve quite that deep. First, because math. Second, because time. And third, because they think they have it covered with a realistic but challenging traffic or revenue goal.

Goals that “feel right” aren’t necessarily great goals — and a single overarching business goal is great, but that doesn’t always help you get your content ducklings in the right rows. Here’s a three-step overview of how to get from the vague (we need content that works) to the actionable and specific (this is exactly what our content should be doing).

[ctt template=”4″ link=”3Bc1P” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Never create a goal just to create it. Make sure it’s important to your strategy. #contentmarketing[/ctt]

1. Start with the why and choose the goals that matter.

Here’s a great brainstorming game to play with your content marketing staff (whether that’s an entire corporate team or just you and your Twitter feed). Put on the hat of a curious 4-year-old and start asking why.

Let’s look at a hypothetical.

• We need some content on our website. Why?
• Because it will drive traffic. Why do we want to drive traffic?
• Because we want more awareness for our brand. Why?
• Because we’re trying to build a brand culture. Why?
• To become a leader in the space. Why?
• So people will purchase our services and maybe promote them too.

Typically, it takes three to five Why? questions to get to the heart of the matter, and in the hypothetical above, you can see at least three areas for goal setting:

• Goal 1: Traffic on the site
• Goal 2: Cultural/audience buy-in for brand loyalty
• Goal 3: Signing up new customers for the service

Never create goals just to create them, but ask yourself: Is reaching this goal important to the next stage in my funnel? Is the activity related to this goal already covered by another goal?

In the example above, getting enough traffic to the site is foundational for signing up new customers. At the same time, you could meet goal 1 without ever converting customers, and the content marketing strategies that draw people to your site are not the same strategies that create brand loyalty and drive sales. You need multiple goals so you can develop plans to reach each of them (remember that those plans should always work together in an integrated approach).

RELATED: Is Your Content Helping or Hurting Your Sales Funnel?

2. Do your homework for data-backed goal conversion rates

Strong goals have three parts: the thing you want to do, the time line and the number that lets you know you did it. The Why? exercise above helps you come up with the first part of the goal. Research helps you come up with the third.

One of the easiest ways to create data-backed goal conversion rates is to start with the end game and work backwards, applying your own data, best practices and industry trends along the way. Let’s look at the hypothetical from above to see how this works.

The end game was to sign up new customers. How many? Perhaps the business goal is to increase revenue 10 percent this quarter. You can turn to your in-house data — costs, attrition rates, pricing and last quarter’s profits — to learn that an increase of 10 percent in revenue requires 25 new customer sign ups.

Goal 3 complete: To sign up 25 new customers within the quarter.

That goal, along with other research and data, lets you back into other goals. How much traffic do you need to drive to your site to make goal 3 possible? If previous conversion rates on your pages were only 3 percent, then you need at least 833 visitors to best ensure you meet your conversion goal.

Goal 1 complete: Attract 833 new quality visitors to the page within the quarter.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”529Dn” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Strong goals have three parts: the thing you want to do, the time line and the number that lets you know you did it.[/ctt]

3. Engage in continuous process (and goal) improvement

Great content marketers never stop with decent data-backed goals, though. They constantly look for ways they can improve their processes and their goals. Ask your team questions such as: Can we boost revenue even more by converting 40 customers next quarter? Is our content converting at the highest possible level? What can we do to drive even more traffic?

Don’t just make your improvements about quantity. Consider the quality of all your goals and processes. Looking at goals 1 and 3 above: what if you could improve conversion rates from 3 percent to 8 percent? You’d only need to attract 312 users to get 25 new conversions. If you improved content on page to convert at a higher percent and you improved SEO and inbound marketing to drive more traffic, then you can easily raise your revenue goals.

Your goal conversion rate is probably an important goal, but it’s flanked by supporting goals. Take time to ask the questions, do the homework and conduct the tests to keep your goals and performance continuously improving.

The post Is Your Goal Conversion Rate a Match for Your Business and Plans? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Just as romantic partners can stick together through the hard times, you can stick with your content marketing to make it from honeymoon to happily ever after with a little fortitude and the right tools.

1. The Content Marketing Honeymoon

Signs of the honeymoon stage: You spend an entire day getting editorial calendars in order, downloading new social marketing tools and reading whatever Moz has to say on the latest SEO dust up —€” and you’re still excited. You are ready to rock this content marketing thing, and you know by the end of the week, you’ll have 1,000 more followers and revenue will be climbing.

Common challenges in this stage: When you first dive in to content marketing, you might be overwhelmed by the work ahead and all the information you need to ingest. Once you start reading and processing, though, it’s common to move quickly into the honeymoon stage. Be careful that your excitement over content marketing doesn’t overtake your life, though: you probably still have other professional and personal obligations. (TL;DR: Don’t be that person who ignores everything else for the new love in your life.)

You also need to be realistic with goals and outcomes. Content marketing is a long-term strategy, and if you rely on significantly boosting followers or revenue in a week or two, you’ll probably be disappointed.

What you need to get through: Good advice. In the romantic world, this comes from a friend over coffee. In the content marketing world, make a few expert sites and blogs your coffee break companion. Our own Crowd Content Resources offers a lot of information, and we also recommend Moz, Search Engine Land and the Content Marketing Institute.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”e1Sv3″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]From honeymoon to happily every after – #contentmarketing is more like a relationship than you might think. [/ctt]

2. Disillusionment with the Process

Signs of disillusionment: Your new interest isn’t nearly as shiny as it was a few weeks ago. You’re sick of reading about content marketing, and seriously: does someone have to come up with a new method, idea or tool every single day? You’re also starting to realize how difficult it can be to make time regularly to update content, push out social campaigns and engage with the audience. If you work in a larger organization, you may be having trouble getting buy-in from others on the process.

Common challenges in this stage: Often, brand marketing managers and small business owners reach this stage and realize they aren’t even sure where to start or if they’re doing the right thing. There really is a lot of info out there, and figuring out what works for you can be the biggest challenge.

What you need to get through: A plan that includes a realistic but challenging goal, definitions for how you’re going to measure success and the steps you’ll need to implement. Despite what you thought in the honeymoon stage, you can’t do everything at once, so create priorities and work through each milestone one step at a time.

Related: The Farmville Lover’s Guide to a Winning Content Marketing Strategy

3. “We Need to Talk” Syndrome

Signs of “We Need to Talk” syndrome: You’ve started your plan, but it’s not working like you intended. The need to dump your content marketing strategy for something new and exciting is very real, and many people actually make the mistake of bailing before results are fully in.

Common challenges in this stage: Remember that content strategies take time to come to fruition. You wouldn’t plant carrots, decide in three days that they weren’t performing like you wanted, and rip them all up to go with cucumbers instead. Don’t dig out your content marketing fields before you even reach the harvest.

What you need to get through: Patience. (We know. It’s hard for us too.)

4. Seeking Content Marketing Therapy

Signs it’s time to seek some therapy: Even with good tools, a strong plan and patience, things can go amiss. Not every romantic relationship is meant to last forever, and not every content marketing strategy is right for you. If you’ve done all you can and things still aren’t working — or if your content efforts seem to be hurting your revenue or brand — it’s definitely time to seek outside help.

Common challenges in this stage: Some brands and SMBs are worried about seeking outside assistance with marketing strategies because of budget or control concerns. But if you’ve been through these stages and reached break-up phrase one or more times, working with content marketing experts may actually result in overall savings and more control of your message and results.

What you need to get through: A good content therapist. Our content strategists and premium and enterprise teams are available to help you calibrate and define your content requirements before generating content that consistently meets your needs.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”C7_S3″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Does your #contentmarketing strategy need a content therapist?[/ctt]

5. Happily Ever After (at Least for a While)

Signs you’ve finally made it: You’ve perfected your editorial calendar and created and published your content. Your site ranks in Google, and people visit it and convert. All is well with the world.

Common challenges in this stage: Some people make the mistake of setting it and forgetting it when it comes to content marketing. Doing that with a romantic relationship in the happily-ever-after phase gets you shunted back to disillusionment, and the same is true here.

What you need to get through: Attention to detail, strong partnerships and analytics that let you know when certain elements of your content marketing strategy need tweaking.

The post The 5 Stages of Content Marketing: From Honeymoon to Happily Ever After appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The gimmick (and by gimmick, we mean “brilliant concept”) is the use of an actual white board. Here’s a look at why Moz’s Whiteboard Friday is so effective and what other sites and brands can learn from it.

Each Whiteboard Friday Answers a Specific Need or Question

Each Friday post hones in on a single question, concern or problem that’s impacting the audience (digital marketers, site owners and SEO professionals). The videos aren’t long — they seem to fall right around the 10 minute mark on average — but they pack in a lot of information.

Posts usually answer the big what, why and how questions relevant to the topic. Moz doesn’t just define and make the topic relevant, though: Whiteboard Fridays almost always deliver very specific, actionable advice.

Takeaways:

• Good content creation is directly related to the audience’s need
• People are busy, so provide value in under 10 minutes (that’s about 1,000 to 1,500 words of well-organized text, max)
• Make content actionable whenever you can

[ctt template=”4″ link=”Y889p” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]#ContentMarketers can learn valuable lessons from Moz’s Whiteboard Fridays. [/ctt]

Moz’s Content Creation Uses a Recognizable Image Concept

One of my favorite things about Whiteboard Friday is the genius reuse of time and content. First, someone writes up the main points on a whiteboard. The same content (which only cost a few minutes’ time and an investment in colored dry erase markers) is repurposed multiple times.

1. The whiteboard content becomes a visual for the video
2. A high-res image is offered, turning the whiteboard image into an instant infographic
3. Moz breaks the image up into smaller pieces to illustrate the post

Takeaway:

Apply the three Rs to your content:

• Reduce: Is there waste in your content creation process that can be removed for lower costs, great efficiency and better performance (Are you using too many words? Does the process include unnecessary back and forth between creators, editors and publishers? Are you posting too much?)
• Reuse: Can the content be used again as is? Moz’s Whiteboard image is a great example.
• Recycle: Can the content be dismantled and formed into something else? (A series of blog posts becomes an eBook; an article becomes an infographic.)

Related: Is Your Content Helping or Hurting Your Sales Funnel?

Whiteboard Friday Provides Users with Multiple Ways to Get Information

Moz does a great job of catering to various types of learners with the Friday posts. Auditory learners can listen to the video content, visual learners have the images and video and those who learn by reading have the video transcript. As someone who personally has a terrible internet connection, I love that I can read the information instead of relying on a video.

Takeway:

Always present your content in multiple formats and channels to engage more users. You don’t have to re-create the content every time, though you do have to test your processes. Moz simply has someone transcribe the videos, and they post that as an article under the media.

Not everyone can get away with this: Rand Fishkin is so good at content creation, he naturally speaks in a format that makes a great blog post (plus, there’s probably some prep work going on there). Remember: never just copy the experts; instead, find what works for you and your audience.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”1OdMv” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Use Moz’s Whiteboard Fridays as a lesson in reducing, reusing and recycling. #ContentMarketing[/ctt]

Rand and Co. Are Active in the Comments Section

Finally, Rand and the Moz team are active in the comments section on their posts. People can make observations and ask questions with actual hope that someone will answer, which leads to regular robust engagement.

Takeaway:

Don’t set it and forget it. Content creation is an active process, and you have to play to get paid. In other words: Stay active on your profiles, forums and comments sections.

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The post Why Moz’s Whiteboard Friday Is Such Effective Content Creation appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Here’s what I think: You’d get more done and see more results with less stress and burnout for yourself or your staff.

Take a break from that mobile game for a minute, and check out these tips for converting gaming habits into winning content marketing habits.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”48jgP” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Learn how to convert your mobile gaming habits into winning #contentmarketing habits. [/ctt]

Play Every Day

Successful virtual landowners log into their games every day — first, because it’s fun and addicting, but also because daily streaks garner more points and rewards. This is true for most mobile games — and it’s true for content marketing.

If you don’t play every day, you don’t get extra rewards that include a more engaged audience, increased exposure, brand loyalty, and upwardly trending conversions and revenue.

In the context of your content marketing strategy, playing daily means:

• Keeping your strategy in mind as you make business decisions, even those that seem to fall outside of the purview of marketing
• Posting regularly on social media (for Twitter, that means daily posts; for other social profiles, follow best practices and run A/B testing to understand what works for your audience)
• Responding daily on social media; don’t check in once a week and post half-hearted replies to dozens of messages within minutes
• Maintaining website content; that includes regular (though not necessarily daily) blog posts plus relevant, unique landing pages and product descriptions
• Stay abreast of both changes in your niche and trends in content marketing — read industry publications, review surveys and studies, and conduct proactive keyword research to tweak on-page content

Related: 3 Reasons Your Blog May Not Get the Traffic You Want

Develop a Routine to Cover the Details

A friend of mine makes playing Farmville a morning ritual. In the few minutes before she gets out of bed, she feeds the digital animals, harvests the crops, makes deliveries and sets up the farm be productive for the rest of the morning. She checks back in again mid-afternoon and for a few minutes before she goes to sleep, spending about 30 minutes total during the day playing the game but achieving level after level quickly.

Building similar strong content marketing habits is a key to consistent results. It’s very much quality over quantity here: choose a few time slots in the day to devote to social media posting and sharing, reading content news and reviewing your own content performance. The secret to success here is easy: keep the habit, and make sure when the person in charge of a certain content strategy habit is out, he or she has a backup in place. Missing just a few days or weeks of these details can be detrimental to your entire content marketing strategy.

Luckily, playing daily doesn’t mean you have to write daily — you can even contract content companies to do some of the hard work for you.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”a7J0b” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]The kind of consistency games like Farmville demand is exactly what’s needed for sound #contentmarketing. [/ctt]

Gamify Your Own Strategy to Keep Yourself Invested

Mobile gaming companies have invested millions in understanding what drives users to their smartphones and apps. Gamification plays an enormous role in keeping players coming back, and you can use this principle to ensure you and anyone in your organization sticks with good content marketing habits. Consider applying some of these principles.

Streaks

On mobile apps, streaks are how long someone keeps up a habit of logging in, playing or posting daily. Offer incentives to content marketing staff for keeping streaks, such as posting on social media daily or hitting deadlines on blog posts for the entire month. If you manage your own content, set up rewards for yourself and work with a trusted business partner or friend to be an accountability partner.

Level Up

Leveling up in a mobile game means moving forward or accessing new game components; in content marketing, leveling up lets you leverage new relationships and tools. Reaching a level of thousands of unique site visitors a month opens new advertising, monetization and sponsorship doors; getting to the next like-count level on Facebook lets you do more with Facebook ads. Even if some levels don’t come with inherent rewards, simply reaching a new milestone can be exciting for you and your marketing staff.

Set realistic, meaningful milestones for your content marketing strategy, and revisit them regularly. Without a new level to work toward, it’s easy to stop playing.

Related: 5 Tips to Revitalize a Lagging Content Marketing Strategy

Invite Others to Join in Your Content Marketing Strategy

Inviting friends to join you on social mobile games is one of the easiest ways to power up, share rewards or increase the fun. Inviting your audience to participate in content marketing is one of the few ways your brand can get exponential exposure. Include contests, Q&As, reviews and other audience-centric options within content marketing strategy regularly to amp up the relevance and make it easier for consumers to engage.

The post The Farmville Lover’s Guide to a Winning Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

This post is about what you can start doing to set yourself apart from the pack, consistently land higher paying freelance writing jobs and be confident in the fact that you will have enough work next week.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”8BU2E” via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Are you a successful #freelancewriter or just another in the crowd?[/ctt]

Stop Making Work Decisions Based on Same-Day/Same-Week Pay

Instant gratification can be addicting, especially when you work in the relative isolation of the freelance world. Immediate approval and payment makes me feel good, and let’s face it: the general economic climate for many of us today isn’t stellar. Fast payment is sometimes needed to cover a car repair or even ensure rent is paid on time.

But if you let paydays dictate the work you do, then you become a slave to the pay period. You’re so busy taking work that will pay you tomorrow, you don’t have time to complete work that’s worth four times as much but pays out in a few weeks. The constant churn of low but fast-paying work has other negative consequences besides limiting your income potential.

• Constantly writing thousands of words daily just to keep up leads to burnout
• Scrambling to constantly complete that much work doesn’t leave time for honing your craft
• It’s easy to get caught in a cycle where you have to write whenever work is available —€” even if that’s at 3:00 am on a Sunday morning — reducing schedule freedom, which is one of the main perks of the freelancing

Breaking away from the pay cycle can be hard, but once you get your personal financials in order and start working a month or more out for income purposes, you open yourself to a variety of work opportunities. One of the best ways to ensure you have work next week is to create a situation where you aren’t relying on this week’s work to pay the rent.

Related: 4 Ways for Freelance Writers to Stay Productive from Their Home-Based Office

Bonus Tip: Work for the Hourly, not the Per Word

I know many freelancers who say “I won’t write for under X cents per word,” but the most successful writers and editors I know say “I won’t work for under X dollars per hour.” That leads them to question assignments not on rates and word counts but on difficulty and time invested (it’s called validating return on investment). They ask questions like:

• Is the subject something I already know about?
• How much research is involved?
• What type of platform will I be working on?
• How complex are the project requirements?
• Does the client expect extras, such as image sourcing?

It takes some practice, but if you track how long jobs take you, you’ll become more accurate at estimating your hourly. A job that pays 5 cpw might seem lackluster, but if it only takes you 15 minutes to complete a 300-word piece, that’s $60 per hour. In comparison, a job that pays 12 cpw but requires enough extra care that you only average 500 words per hour pays the same hourly rate. By applying this reasoning, one full-time freelancer I know almost doubled her income the first half of 2017 by taking more “lower paying work.”

[ctt template=”4″ link=”87NY3″ via=”no” nofollow=”yes”]Successful #freelancewriters learn to make niches work to their advantage.[/ctt]

Become a Specialist

Clients pay for a variety of things, including fast turn-around time, quality writing and creativity. Many also pay for expertise. Becoming a specialist doesn’t mean you can’t write across all types of niches —€” I’m a specialist in healthcare revenue cycle and project management, but I write plenty of product descriptions and delve occasionally into lifestyle and humor.

I just tend to get paid more when I write within my niche because I can create unique thought leadership pieces that are valuable to my clients. My expertise comes from previous job experience, but you can turn any of the following into a specialty:

• Work experience
• Education or a degree
• Professional or organizational certifications
• Volunteer work
• Demonstrated passion for a subject (such as bylined articles or a well-done and maintained blog)

It’s not enough to have knowledge and experience, though. You have to communicate it. I manage writing projects for Crowd Content in a freelance capacity, and that involves communication with a lot of writers. I recently worked with one writer who wanted to start landing nonmarketing work; up until that point, I only knew her as a stay-at-home mom who wrote lovely product descriptions. It turns out she has some extremely impressive professional cred and a very specific, unique degree — a degree that could have landed her high-level writing work earlier if anyone had known about it.

Make sure any of your bios and profiles make your specialties known, and don’t be afraid to drop project managers or clients a line with information on how your experience might help them.

Related: 4 Tips for New Freelance Writers to Hit the Ground Running

Act Like a Business Owner

Finally, act like the business owner that you are. Many platforms in the industry refer to writers and editors as “workers,” but the reality is that you own your business and you have a personal brand to maintain. Take time to decide what that brand is, and then ensure all your communications, marketing, writing blogs and profiles support it.

Acting like a business owner also means staying professional, even when you feel the heat rising in your cheeks and you want nothing more than to slay someone with your words. Trust me: that obscenity- or insult-laden email isn’t good for your brand, and the freelance industry is much smaller than you might think. Protecting your image helps you land the best freelance writing jobs now and in the future.

The post What You Need To Do Today To Become a More Successful Freelance Writer appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

All of that is fine.

When done right, it helps you build brand culture and engage with consumers. But before you jump into those waters, make sure you know how to build a brand without alienating the market or turning consumers against you.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”ZAOm4″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Learn to leverage trending topics and hashtags to engage consumers. #brandbuilding[/ctt]

Avoiding the Point Where Politics Meets Trending

There’s a difference between what’s trending online and what’s trending politically, though sometimes the two meet in what invariably becomes a Web brawl played out across media blogs and Twitter posts. For many brands, that central clashing point in the diagram is to be avoided. Here’s why:

• Politically hot topics may garner attention, but there are a lot of people crowding the stage. What little awareness you can get for your brand may not be worth the risk.
• Trending politics tend to evoke raw emotions from those who follow or respond to it online, which doesn’t always translate into conversion or even good will for your brand.
• When emotions are running high, it’s too easy to step slightly outside someone’s perception of where the lines are, and tagging along for the hashtag trend could quickly turn into a nightmare PR situation for your company.

Related: Newsjacking 101: Crafting Killer Content with News

Staying Safe to Build a Brand Online

While most brands may want to steer clear of content cocktails that feature a mix of trending and political, choosing one or the other as a consistent foundation isn’t always a bad thing. Brands that play up fun, trending elements online take the safest of the two routes, though you should never underestimate the power of fandoms. If you’re going to join in as a way to build a brand online, make sure you’re part of the fandom and not preaching to the fandom from an outside soapbox.

How do you do that?

Consider REI’s Zombie Survival Gear infographic. The brand, which sells adventure and camping gear, jumps on The Walking Dead wagon with this clever content piece. It works especially well because REI incorporates both realistic gear and a clear understanding of zombie fandom, even creating a recommended research list containing links to the show and other books and comics on zombies.

On the other side of the diagram are brands that are consistently political, and not necessary only in a trending way. These brands choose a cause or political vision, and they stand behind it at all times; sometimes the product or mission itself is political in nature. Other times, the founder just has a very specific outlook and is happy with maintaining a customer base of like thinkers.

Often, this type of branding becomes outreach or philanthropic in nature, such as TOMS giving away shoes for every purchase made. Historically, this is where “politics” stopped with most brands, and it’s still the safe area for those that don’t want to risk alienating potential customers.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”CPE82″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Take risks when building your brand, but know when not to cross the line. [/ctt]

How to Build a Brand By Taking Risks

Of course, safe and slow isn’t always the way to win the race, and some brands do want to take risks and shake things up. Brand strategist Gareth Fox even says many consumers want brands to get more political. If you plan to build your brand online with a political bent, here are some tips to keep out out of the middle of a virtual riot:

• Work with or hire someone with political branding expertise. It’s not enough to know what’s trending: you need someone who can help you predict the response to certain messages so you know when your brand can get involved without risking everything.
• Incorporate political polling into your market research. If you’re going to champion a cause for your audience, ensure it really is a cause for your audience.
• Be sincere. Brands that engage in backlash marketing just to get a cut of the pie are typically found out by the market. One thing the internet does seem to agree on: it doesn’t like brand fakery.
• Always be prepared for the response. Taking up a political cause will alienate someone, so do the marketing research to ensure your brand won’t lose more than it gains.

Unless your brand is politics, remember that political stances should take a back seat to the ultimate goal of your business, which is likely serving or providing for customers in some way. If you’re so embroiled in a riot related to current events, fandoms or any other emotion-heavy topic, you can’t serve your customers or even engage them in the best possible manner.

The post How to Build a Brand Without Creating a Riot appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Online retailers can get a jump on their own revenue spike in the 3rd quarter by integrating back-to-school content marketing strategies. Even if you don’t offer traditional school-related goods (think notebooks, pens, clothing, locker decor and dorm furniture), finding creative ways to link your content marketing to back-to-school mindsets can be profitable. If you do sell school-related goods, this type of inbound marketing is pretty much compulsory, and here are some shrewd steps you can take this season and use again next September.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”r7UP0″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Get a jump in the third quarter by integrating back-to-school content marketing strategies.[/ctt]

Target the Right Back-to-School Search Phrases

Say what you will about the relevance of keywords today: people have to find your pages somehow, and search engines still play a big role there. Seasonal keyword word research requires some extra steps, though. You need content that targets what consumers will search for in the days before and as school starts, and those phrases may differ from high-performing niche keywords from December or May.

Real-time keyword research may not give you all the data required to target correctly, so consider reviewing 12-month trends. You can see what keywords performed well last school-shopping season and couple that data with current keyword performance and market research to make better informed SEO decisions for blog posts, titles, landing pages and product descriptions. One tool that lets you see keyword performance over time is SEMRush.

Related: 3 Tips to Help Your Emerging eCommerce Business Surge

Create Show-and-Tell Content and Product Descriptions

Getting kids ready for school can be stressful. Parents and guardians have to meet multiple demands —€” teachers and schools want very specific, and not always easy-to-find, supplies, but kids have their own ideas about accessories and style. Add in the need to get things together in a timely manner and stay within a budget, and it’s understandable why parents dread back-to-school shopping.

Online retailers can make the entire process easier by creating informative, concise content. From buying guides to how-to videos, incorporate content that goes beyond telling parents (and kids) why they need your products. Show them how to use those products, help them decipher the confusing language of school supply lists and provide tips for getting the most out of each supply. Use tags and categories to organize products so shoppers can easily find different types of goods or filter offerings by age, class type or interest. Create a slide show that explains the difference between types of paper, or put together a video showing how your product can help kids with academic, social and extra-curricular activities this school year.

Even your product descriptions can be informative as well as salesy. Not sure how to strike a balance between helpful expert and retail shop? Professional product description writers can convert unengaging feature lists to PDs that entertain, inform and convert.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”Qdk39″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Get the most from back-to-school eCommerce content marketing by enriching product descriptions and offering targeted promos.[/ctt]

Host Contests and Promotions for Kids and Parents

School shopping can get expensive, so deals and promos definitely catch parent eyes. If you offer free shipping, participate in tax holidays or have a BOGO option, incorporate it into content marketing on your blog, landing pages and social profiles. Remember that kids —€” especially teenagers —€” often have a say in what items are bought for them for school.

Many eCommerce companies don’t leverage promos well in marketing campaigns, so take some time to create an editorial calendar specifically for contests and deals. Ask yourself or your team:

• How can messaging be incorporated onsite, via social and through email? Remember: content has to be customized to both the target audience and the medium.
• Can you issue a press release? PR services don’t typically accept purely promotional pieces, but if your organization is offering a specific, temporary promo, you may be able to spin it into a newsworthy piece tied to the season.
• Who is the audience for the promo? Remember to meet them where they are: teens are more likely to be on Snapchat and Instagram while their parents are on Facebook.

Content marketing that leverages seasonal pain points — such as school supply shopping —€” and promises an easy, helpful solution wins. Incorporate back-to-school campaigns to get a head start on end-of-year revenue boosts.

The post Make the Most of Shrewd Back-to-School Content Marketing This Year appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Care2: a networking site for socially conscientious brands

What: Since 1998, Care2 has brought people together socially to do good. It currently has around 40 million members and encourages individuals to inspire each other to act, often via petitions.

Demographics:

• Adults of all ages
• More females than males
• Nonprofits, brands and individuals
• Primarily from English-speaking nations

Brand Opportunity: Care2 provides brands with a ready audience of activists, making it a great place to connect organically with people who are most likely to take action on socially conscientious CTAs. The network also offers advertising opportunities for lead generation, donor recruitment, list growth, and conversion, and brands with eco-friendly, health-centric or human rights products or services might be a good fit.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”wR5N2″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Up your social media game with these niche social media sites. [/ctt]

2. AngelList: the social media site for startups and investors

What: AngelList caters to start-ups and those who want to work for and with fledgling companies. The site currently includes investment opportunities, social networking and job boards.

Who:

• Entrepreneurs
• Investors
• Freelancers

Brand Opportunity: AngelList has always been a who’s-going-to-be-who list, with up-and-coming brands and entrepreneurs rubbing virtual elbows with well-established investors and start-up leaders. It’s a good place to find support for a new brand, connect with specialists and find people who can help your company grow from start-up to household name.

Related: 3 Brands That Are Killing It on Social Media, and What You Can Learn From Their Success

3. Allrecipes: bringing good food and people together

What: Allrecipes is a site for foodies of every level. From basic home cooks to gourmet pros, people on the site connect to share recipes, cooking tips and food reviews.

Who:

• Older teens and adults of all ages
• Primarily women with some men
• Mostly from English-speaking nations
• Disparate backgrounds and cooking skills

Brand Opportunity: Brands can get involved in sharing recipes, making this a good network for food and cooking bloggers. Allrecipes also offers advertising opportunities, and brands can take part across the entire Meredith publishing network to reach a wider audience.

4. Catster/Dogster: social networking for pet lovers

What: Catster and Dogster are separate social networks catering to those who love felines and canines, respectively. The sites are filled with endearing videos and images and plenty of chit-chat between pet owners and wanna-be pet owners.

Who:

• Individuals of all ages
• Primarily women
• Majority of users have some college education
• Primarily from English-speaking nations

Brand Opportunity: Both sites also run Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages where industry brands can connect with Catster/Dogster and their followers, creating opportunities for brand awareness. Lumina Media, the parent company of both sites, offers advertising opportunities for brands. Brands in the pet niche can also find out about partnerships with Lumina Media, which works with distributors and thousands of retailers on product placement.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”U3e48″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Social networking is critical, but follow-through is the rope that hauls in the revenue. #socialmedia [/ctt]

5. Doximity: a social network for health care companies

What: Doximity is where more than 500,000 health care brands and professionals go to connect, find information and locate niche talent. As of 2014, the network claimed a 50 percent reach for all U.S. physicians.

Who:

• Doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other specialty providers
• Hospitals, clinics and other facilities
• Medical supply and pharmaceutical companies

Brand Opportunity: Doximity offers a unique opportunity for brands in the health care industry to connect on a B2B basis. Companies might leverage the site to provide educational information to professionals and engage doctors and others with products and services that can help their patients.

Remember that social networking is critical, but follow-through is the rope that hauls in your revenue. Need help creating landing pages that convert more leads? Check out our marketing writing services.

The post 5 Promising Niche Social Media Sites You Need to Check Out Today appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Neil Patel himself can stretch an intro past its breaking point — even when he’s writing on the topic of introduction best practices.

We love you Mr. Patel — no one breaks down the complex world of online marketing into digestible chunks quite like you — but here’s where you went wrong writing an introduction in your post titled “The Ultimate Guide to Writing Blog Post Introductions.” (Note, though, that we concur with all the deets about intros in the body content.)

1. Not getting immediately down to the business of the post.

We count approximately 350 words of intro copy in that post that jump from statistics on content marketing to Mr. Patel’s credentials. For average readers, that’s one to three minutes of reading before getting to the stuff that matters. According to Nielsen Normal Group, the average user spends less than a minute on a page, and they typically only have time to read a quarter of the content there.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”dIxcE” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Effective introductions set the stage and hook the reader as efficiently as possible. [/ctt]

For mobile users, it’s around eight swipes to get to the meat of Neil’s post (I tested this myself). It might not seem like much, but mobile users are busy, fickle and easily distracted. How many swipes does it take before a mobile user starts playing match 3 apps again? I bet it’s less than eight for many people.

Yes, introductions should set the stage and hook the reader. But the most effective writing does that as quickly and efficiently as possible. If users can’t get past your intro because of a lack of time or focus, they won’t get to the purpose of your post or your CTAs.

2. Too many tangential statistics that belong in the body, not the intro.

I’m all for staging a truly solid statistic in an intro. An attention-catching data point catches reader attention. But let’s look at the statistics in Neil’s intro.

He leads with the Copyblogger stat that 8 out of 10 people read the title. It’s an attempt to say, “Yes, headlines are critical for attracting readers, but they don’t keep them reading.” But why not just say that? A single sentence could replace 50 words and a stat that isn’t necessary. If Neil Patel says headlines are important, we, at least, are willing to buy into the point without backup data.

RELATED: Headlines that Engage Readers and Encourage Click-Throughs

A bit later, Neil uses a FactBrowser stat about the importance of content marketing for brands. It’s used to transition from the importance of content to the need for a strong introduction. We think the entire paragraph could be red-penned (sorry, Neil), because anyone reading this post is already looking for information on how to improve their content marketing. The reader doesn’t need to be convinced of the value of content — they need to know how to make their content more valuable.

Yes, introductions might need to give a reason for the copy or let readers know exactly what they’re about to receive. But it’s easy to fall out of scope in the intro, which can confuse, bore or frustrate audiences before they get to the actual information.

3. Legitimizing content by bringing up reader support or your own credentials.

Finally, Neil ends with two paragraphs that attempt to legitimize the post itself. Readers and clients actually want this information, he tells us. He also vaguely alludes to his expertise on the subject.

Here’s the deal with both of these: in this content, they are wholly unnecessary. While some posts might require such information, Neil Patel doesn’t have to prove he should be writing a post about content marketing before he gets on with said post. Even if Neil Patel isn’t a known name in your office (if you’re involve in online branding in any way, though, it should be), his site does a stellar job of establishing his credentials at a glance.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”Lk1ea” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]A good introduction draws readers in – not bores them to tears.[/ctt]

Neil also doesn’t need to tell us that someone else asked for this information to make it more valuable. For audiences in this industry, if someone like Neil Patel is writing about it, it’s important. Besides, your content should be strong enough that its importance stands on its own.

How to Write an Introduction: Do as Neil Says, Not as He Does (and Run Your Own Tests)

Obviously, Neil’s actual notes in the article about how to write intros are really good. He just doesn’t always follow his own advice. And there might be a good reason why: good advice isn’t always the right advice for the situation at hand.

Yes, you always need a hook. But no content marketer should ever emulate another or take expert advice without testing. Start with foundations, such as our advice above and Neil’s notes on intros, and test content to find out what works in your niche and with your audience. Maybe intros as long as the Mississippi river do resonate with your audience, but we’re still willing to bet most readers prefer introductions short and full of sauce (where sauce is actual value, and not a bunch of random flavor thrown in without reason).

The post Move Over, Mr. Patel — THIS Is How to Write an Introduction appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Building Social Media Infographics for Specific Platforms

According to a Vennage study, infographics and other original visual content perform much better than GIFs, memes and stock photos when it comes to engagement. They even outpace videos, presentations and charts, making them something many content marketers want to integrate into social media strategies. The problem is that complex visual elements don’t always play well on social platforms, partly because of image size limitations.

If you want to upload an entire infographic to a social network, realize that the platform may crop or resize it. Platforms that don’t rely on a square image typically resize the image to fit a required width and then proportion the height accordingly.

On Facebook, for example, if you upload an image that’s 1024 x 512 pixels, it’s converted to an image that’s 470 x 235 pixels. Most of the time, the difference isn’t a big deal. Infographics filled with images and icons, though, might be hard to read when uploaded to social.

To avoid this problem, start your infographic design at the appropriate width for each site.

Optimal Widths for Social Media Infographic Images

• Facebook – 470
• Twitter – 506
• LinkedIn – 350
• Google Plus – 426
• Instagram – 1080
• Pinterest – 736

On some platforms, you can make an image as long (or high) as you like. If you go too far, though, it could impact readability. Instagram recommends a height of 1350 pixels to go with its recommended width. Pinterest simply gives aspect ratios as ranging between 2:3 and 1:3.5. Choose a height that seems to fit the layout of your infographic, but test as you design it to ensure its legibility.

Related: 6 Expert Secrets to Make Your Social Media Posts Pop

What About Infographics from Blog Posts, Web Pages or other Platforms?

When sharing an infographic, it’s best not to upload the same image across all profiles and call it a day. First, it’s kind of lazy — and lackadaisical content marketing doesn’t cut it in today’s market. Second, it can frustrate your followers. An image that appears perfect on Pinterest could leave Facebook or Twitter users squinting, scrolling or facing a sudden cutoff.

For best results, don’t try to share all of it at once. Snip the most important bits — enough to share at least one fact, but not the entire story. Then post that image to social media with a link back to the full graphic. This is especially helpful if the purpose of your social marketing is to drive traffic to a site. Sharing only part of the infographic follows that advice about not giving the cow away for free.

For marketers who do want the entire cow on social, try the album or multi-pic features. Upload small sections of your infographic in an order that lets users see the story unfold as they click through.

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A Few More Hacks Before You Go

• Expand your social media infographic’s reach by tagging any person or company that’s involved in any way. If you used a stat from a HubSpot study or the infographic was inspired by a recent post from an industry influencer, for example, tag them.
• Consider “micro infographics” for social media sharing. These are more concise infographics that are typically smaller in size and cover a very narrow topic.

In the end, getting your social media infographics to engage more users boils down to making them relevant, legible and easy to access.

The post The Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Your Social Media Infographics appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Use a Productivity System that Works for You

Entrepreneurs and successful businesses pros — even best-selling authors — have something in common: they all found a system that works for them and stuck with it. The system doesn’t have to have a lot of moving parts; for many authors, the system is simply a consistent and strict regimen of butt-in-seat and pen-to-paper.

Freelancers have to be willing to do the same, so take some time to adopt a productivity system and make it your own. I like the bullet journal system designed by Ryder Carroll. It’s simple, easy and doesn’t require many supplies; while you can buy a custom bullet journal, you can also just use your favorite pen and notebook. Other productivity systems integrate digital tools such as Todoist or Evernote, which let you maintain them via mobile devices.

When deciding on a system to keep you productive in your home-based office, look for:

• Ease of use: if it takes more than a few minutes a day, it cuts into your profitable hours
• A match for your personality: if technology isn’t your forte, opt for systems that use paper and pen
• Affordability: don’t spend your hard-earned money on expensive systems that don’t support ROI

2. Shut the Door — or Door Equivalent

Writing, editing and other freelance activities take concentration, and production is often momentum based. Constant interruptions, whether they come from spouses, children, pets, television, the phone or friends, can increase frustration and make every task more difficult to complete.

To boost productivity in your home office, pick a work space that has a door and shut it whenever possible. If you don’t have a set-apart office, create a space for work and let everyone else know it’s off limits. Shut the proverbial door by pulling a curtain over the area or slipping in ear buds. Even if you can’t work to music, wearing headphones can physically signal that you’re occupied.

RELATED: 7 Habits of Insanely Productive Freelance Writers

3. Invest in Little Things that Bring you Joy

When it comes to interruptions, your own mind is probably the worst culprit (with the possible exception of young children). One way you can soothe your brain and focus better on work is to ensure your space brings you joy. When you’re happy in the space, you’re less likely to constantly consider other activities and locations.

Choose decor and accessories that you love, and be picky: clutter can reduce productivity. Experiment with various types of music, sounds, scents and textures to find sensory items that help you maintain focus and motivation for at least several hours each day. For example, lemon helps you concentrate and remain calm, while rosemary is stimulating and good for memory functions — something that’s essential for freelance writers.

4. Try Out New Tools for Freelance Writers

With technology developing at a rapid pace, it’s wise to try out new tools every now and then. What have you got to lose?

• Focus Writer is touted as a distraction-free word processor — and it really is. It gives you plenty of white space without all the annoying icons and toolbars (until you really need them), and it’s free. I love it because it’s basically me and a blank page — just what I need when I’m staring writer’s block smack in the face. You can also personalize the page with a background photo of your choice and set it to produce the sound of typewriter keys when you type. Best of all, you can save your work as text, Word (.docx) or rich text format and set daily goals for words typed.
• Automate those pesky little tasks using IFTT so you can focus on the work hand. IFTT lets you set up applets to do almost anything you need online. Sync it with your phone, email and Google account, and it will do things for you such as sending you a notification when you get emails from a specific person, saving news to your iOS reading list every time the POTUS signs a new bill into law or blink your Hue lights when your Alexa timer hits zero. Amazing stuff.
• Track your daily activities with RescueTime. The free version lets you set daily goals and tracks how much time you waste everyday reading Buzzfeed articles or keeping up with friends on Facebook. For a nominal monthly fee, RescueTime will block websites that distract you, keep a log of your daily accomplishments and send you alerts when you reach your goals.

Do you have an awesome productivity system or a top tip for pushing past the 3:00 p.m. slump? Share it with other freelancer writers in our comments section.

The post 4 Ways for Freelance Writers to Stay Productive from Their Home-Based Office appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Here are three things you have to get right if you want your visual content to garner likes, shares and conversions.

The Right Infographic Format

Infographics come in various shapes, sizes and types, with some more common than others. The type of graphic you use depends on what information you’re providing and how you’re conveying it. Here’s a list of some of the most used social media infographics and what type of content to pair them with.

Maps

Maps let you show data about people and places visually. Typically, they involve colored regions or symbols on a recognizable map of the world, country, state or region. Use maps to show:

• Per-capita data
• Population data
• Comparative data related to regions

Timelines

Timelines provide information about events against a visual background that depicts time passing. Use timelines to show:

• The growth of a company
• Pare down a long story into bite-size text
• Illustrate how events led to a certain outcome

A Versus B

Some social media infographics compare two things (or more than two things). The infographic is often arranged in columns, with colors and opposing images used alongside text to show how two ideas, products or services are different. Use a comparative approach when you want to:

• Position one item as better
• Help readers make a choice between options

Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs can be combined in a single infographic to help readers understand complex statistical data. Use charts and graphs when:

• You’re presenting a lot of data and text alone would bore readers
• You’re making a difficult logical or data-driven argument
• You want to illustrate some truly staggering statistics

Images with Stats or Facts

Many times, content providers simply want to provide a list of information or a bunch of related statistics. While you can list these in bulleted form, combining them with relevant images in an infographic sometimes appeals better to visual learners.

The Balance Between Info and Graphic

Infographics have both information and visual elements. If you can take the visual elements out of the graphic without impacting the meaning or communication, then all you really have is text on a nice background — that’s an effective content tool, too, but not an infographic.

Strive to create infographics so that text and images share equally in the communication task. That means choosing charts, icons and pictures that are related to the text. For example, if your content discusses how many trucks are required for each task, put an icon of a truck for every hundred or thousand vehicles required instead of one unrelated image of a vehicle.

Useful, Accurate Content

Finally, make sure all data conveyed in your infographic is useful and accurate. Source data from reliable sites and studies and never from someone else’s blog post. Trusting someone else to do the research for you can result in inaccurate claims and risk to brand trust. Readers might want to know where the information came from, so include citations at the bottom of your graphic when appropriate.

The post 3 Things You Have to Get Right For Successful Infographics appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

If you’re strapped for analytic time and resources or you just want to keep things simple, the only content marketing metrics you should measure are those that tell you about exposure, engagement,  entrances and exits.

Exposure Metrics

What is it? The numbers that tell you how many people actually see your content. They include exposure numbers on social media, views on YouTube, and page views and unique visitor stats for websites. Concentrate on tracking engagement metrics on pages that really matter: yes, it’s important to get views on social media, but if your Facebook fans never make it to your sales page, your content isn’t working.

Where do you get it? Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter reports or custom tracking solutions you might use.

What does it tell you? Whether or not your content is actually reaching an audience. If exposure metrics are low, there might be a problem with your SEO, Google might not be archiving your pages or the times you post on social media might be at odds with active times for your target audience.

Related: Why Readability Scores Could Make Your Content Better

Engagement Metrics

What is it? Content marketing metrics that tell you whether the audience is responding to or reacting to your content — both signs of a healthy content campaign. Engagement metrics include number of blog or social comments, shares, likes, follows and even reviews.

Where do you get it? Reporting from WordPress or other blog platforms, Google Analytics, social platform reports, Hootsuite or other social-tracking solutions.

What does it tell you? Whether your content is interesting or appropriate for your target audience. When content is relevant and interesting enough to draw your audience in, engagement numbers go up. Higher engagement numbers can be linked with better conversion rates, and they’re also one of the best performance indicators for social marketing.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”3aCry” via=”yes” ]You can’t make data-backed decisions to improve campaigns unless you monitor the numbers that matter consistently. #DigitalMarketing[/ctt]

Entrance or Exit Metrics

What is it? Entrance metrics tell you whether a visitor to your site converted, either by signing up, clicking on a link or making a purchase. Exit metrics tell you when a visitor did not convert, but instead bounced or left your site for another option on the web.

Where do you get it? Google Analytics or other proprietary web analytic software.

What does it tell you? Whether your SEO, social and other off-page marketing efforts align appropriately with your on-page content and product or service offers. You could be driving thousands of visitors a week to your page, but if very few of them convert, then you’re engaging the wrong audience or have a problem with content on your landing pages.

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The post 3 Powerful Content Marketing Metrics You Have to Be Monitoring appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

GE and the Volcano Sensor Videos

Known for innovation and technology, GE brings its key strengths to content marketing efforts. The brand recently scored big across social media channels by integrating its own products, high-quality videography and an interesting story. The result is a web video series that follows a team as they descend into an active volcano to install GE sensors; the sensors are designed to capture data science hasn’t been able to record from the volcano in question before. The videos are engagement gold on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Lesson: Find interesting, dramatic or surprising ways to integrate your products into social content. Make products a key element, but not necessary the focus, of all the content. Natural beverage company Califia Farms does a good job incorporating its award-winning packaging into an Instagram feed without making every post about the drinks, for example.

The #FollowMeTo Instagram Campaign

#followmeto wonderful Dubai! ?Breathtaking pic by very talented and very crazy @olegcricket ? #следуйзамной в Дубаи! ? У нас сердце замирает от такого снимка! Кадр на высоте от очень талантливого и очень бесстрашного @olegcricket

A post shared by Murad and Nataly Osmann (@followmeto) on May 23, 2017 at 10:45am PDT

A husband-and-wife Instagram team has found digital fame by capturing their adventures via a simple pose. The motif, which appears throughout their channel, positions Natalia in front, one hand trailing behind her, touching or clasping husband Murad’s had – Murad, who takes the now iconic pictures, is only seen when the couple shares behind-the-scene shots. On top of a recognizable motif, the couple leverages creativity and stunning editing to make their images pop. #FollowMeTo has almost half a million followers as of June 2017 with less than 500 posts on the page.

Lesson: Create unique branded elements for your social media marketing campaign that can repeat as motifs across your channel, and back those components with professional content, design and editing. The goal is for users to recognize your content immediately.

State Bicycle Company’s Commitment to Consistency

On first glance, the Facebook page for State Bicycle Company is akin to any comparable brand: it’s sleek, professional and on-topic for the bicycle manufacturer and cycling enthusiasm brand. What sets State Bicycle Company apart is consistency: it posts more than 80 items every month, ensuring some of those posts are engagement-inducing challenges for the target audience. The brand publishes a weekly theme and invites followers to send in photos related to the theme, boosting the amount of visual appeal on the profile without increasing work. Consistency has paid off: the brand’s follower number is close to half a million as of June 2017.

Lesson: Consistently post relevant, quality content, and ensure you’re posting within the right time slots and at the right frequencies, so all followers are likely to see your content.

Simply slapping daily posts up on social media isn’t enough to ensure social media marketing ROI. Instead, brands should work on integrating products in engaging ways, developing recognizable elements that resonate with audiences and being consistent.

The post 3 Brands That Are Killing it on Social Media, and What You Can Learn From Their Success appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Research is Lacking

Content has to be informative and relevant to provide users with value and keep them coming back, but it’s not enough to get your statistics correct and source from reputable journals or websites. You also need to research the culture and climate through which content is being delivered to have an effective content marketing strategy; lack of this type of research has landed many brands in trouble.

Consider DiGiorno, the frozen pizza brand. It caused controversy by tweeting with the high-performing hashtag #WhyIStayed. On the surface, it was a good move for exposure: the hashtag was trending on Twitter. The problem was the hashtag was being used in a serious discussion about domestic violence and abuse, with victims sharing comments about why they stayed in such relationships. DiGiorno quickly realized its error, deleted the tweet and admitted to not doing the right research, but the brand damage was already done.

2. SEO Components Are Ignored

If content is king, SEO is the advisory council behind the monarch’s wise performance. Without meta descriptions, keyword research, title tags, alt tags and other critical SEO components, your content rarely hits center stage. While general SEO is important when developing your content marketing strategy, most companies do cater to Google best practices, as the company holds 77.43 percent of global search engine marketshare as of 2017.

As you work on SEO to boost content performance and improve your content marketing strategy, don’t forget about mobile users. Mobile search numbers surpassed desktop search stats as of 2015, and the disparity grows wider by the year. Target mobile users with local keywords and responsive designs that work well on any device.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”ea_c8″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]If content is king, SEO is the advisory council behind the monarch’s wise performance.[/ctt]

3. Content or Quality Doesn’t Match Your Needs

If content doesn’t resonate with your audience, they won’t share it with others or return for more. Some reasons content can be deemed poor quality by consumers include:

• The content itself is poorly crafted
  • Writing contains grammar, spelling and logic errors
  • Writing simply doesn’t make sense
  • Text isn’t formatted for easy reading (hint: use headers, bullets and white space to break up text)
  • Images are blurry or in poor taste
  • Videos are poorly edited
  • Audio quality of videos or podcasts make them difficult to understand
• The content isn’t relevant to your audience
  • You aren’t talking about subjects that drive your audience
  • You’re speaking to the wrong audience
  • You’re addressing the right audience but in a way that doesn’t resonate with their age, background, education or other demographic factor
• Your content is simply boring, lackluster or repetitive

[ctt template=”4″ link=”mb9bZ” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Content has to be informative and relevant to provide users with value and keep them coming back.[/ctt]

4. Content Isn’t Being Promoted

Some businesses spend too much time creating content without promoting it. Even content fully optimized for the search engines needs help via promotion on social and other channels. Social marketing expert Derek Halpern recommends leveraging an 80/20 rule: spend 20 percent of online marketing time creating content and 80 percent promoting it. One way to make the 80/20 spread easy without sacrificing content quality is to work with freelance writers and editors, letting them craft content while you promote it.

5. You’re Sticking with a One-Way Street

Finally, content marketing isn’t a one-way street. You can’t simply toss content out until something sticks. Get involved on social media, blog comment sections and brand forums to build a brand culture that includes your audience. Before you fire off sassy tweets and hope for Wendy’s level engagement, though, consider this experienced advice:

“Having a strong sense of who our brand is and what we should sound like ensures that we’ll come across consistent in our communications, whether we’re handling a restaurant-specific complaint or gently roasting some of our followers.” – Amy Brown, Wendy’s Social Media Manager

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Encouraging questions and offering clarification helps ensure you receive content that fits your brand and message, and by taking proactive steps with style guides and communication, you can make the process even more efficient. Here are seven proven methods for conveying what you need to the crowd.

1. Provide Examples

Provide examples of existing content you like, especially if you’re looking for a specific type of style. When clients ask for content that’s funny, professional, edgy or formal, those words mean different things to each writer. One writer might think edgy means dropping an F-bomb along the way while a more cautious freelance content writer might only convert to second person and toss in a pun or two. Linking to examples gives content creators a better idea of the voice you want.

2. Define Subjective – and Niche – Phrases

If the exact meaning of terms in your instructions isn’t readily apparent, add an example or definition. The same is true for niche phrases that are relevant to your content.

• Unclear: Write a short blog post.
  • Clear: Write a blog post of 250-350 words.
  • Clear: Write a post with no more than 300 words.
• Unclear: Source from the APA (this acronym could reference numerous things).
  • Clear: Source from the American Planning Association
  • Clear: Source from the American Psychological Association
• Unclear: Use good grammar.
  • Clear: Follow the AP style manual.

3. Share Relevant Marketing Personas

One of the easiest ways to ensure the tone of writing is correct is to let content creators know who the audience is. It’s great to say “write for the customer,” but it’s even better to define who the customer is. Develop and share marketing personas with your freelance content writers that:

• Name the target audience
• Provide some information about the audience’s familiarity with the topic
• List the audience’s biggest pain points
• Summarize why the audience is interested

4. Create a Prohibited List

The easiest way to keep writers from including things you don’t want is to tell them not to. Create and maintain a prohibited list, adding to it as you work with freelance content writers. You can ban concepts, sources, types of information, topics and even words from your content.

5. Create a Brand Is/Is Not Matrix

An is/is not matrix is an ideal way to flesh out how you want your brand to appear in content. Work together with in-house staff or your end clients on matrices to help ensure everyone has the same understanding of brand messaging and style.

An is/is not matrix is simply a two-column table that lists what the brand – or voice, style or content – is and is not. For example, a funeral client’s matrix might include:

• Is: caring, responsible, knowledgeable, timely, helpful, compassionate and comprehensive
• Is not: flippant, uncertain, demanding, self-serving, political, graphic or long-winded

6. Vet Instructions for Opposing Directions

Before placing orders with freelance teams or individuals, have someone in your organization vet all instructions. Look for areas that could contribute to confusion, and be especially aware of opposing directions. Did you say to use third person but provide examples that are all in second person? Did you ask freelance content writers to include real-time events related to politics, but prohibit mentioning any names? By addressing instructions that could make it more difficult to complete work, you help increase production speeds.

7. Never Jump All-In Without a Calibration Phase

Finally, always give your communications a final test via a calibration phase, which involves placing a small order and reviewing the content to ensure everyone involved seems to be on the same page.

For help aligning crowd resources with end-client content creation needs, contact us for more information about Premium and Enterprise content marketing solutions.

The post How to Tell Freelance Content Writers What You Really Need appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

If your content marketing strategy is producing lackluster or down-trending results, here are some things you can do to revitalize performance.

1. Unlink Social Feed Postings and Go with Custom Content

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms let you link feeds; a post to Instagram can automatically post to Twitter and Facebook. Twitter posts can be fed directly to Facebook, and several other networks offer similar functionality. What’s convenient for the company isn’t always great for the content marketing strategy, though.

Automatic sharing between platforms gives your feed a robotic feel –€” and it looks sloppy and confusing to boot. Each social platform is optimized for certain types of content and plays best to different users. For better results, the content you post on each network needs to play to those strengths.

2. Rethink Your Press Release Strategy

Online press releases are still a wonderful tool for driving exposure and attention, particularly when you have a time-sensitive, newsworthy story. If you’re pushing out a press release every week just to get your name out there, though, you might want to rethink things.

Press releases are costly pieces of content to create and distribute, especially when compared to a blog or social post. If you’re just repackaging blog-appropriate post into press release format, you might not be getting the exposure necessary to justify the investment. Consider working with experienced press release writers to develop true press release ideas, or spend the money and effort boosting blog performance instead.

3. Spend Time Developing a Better UX

No matter how awesome your content is, if your site is confusing, slow or frustrating, it won’t perform. Spend some time testing user experience on a variety of platforms and devices to ensure everyone who follows a link to your site is able to use your site without issue. Employ categories and tags to organize content, so users can find the information they want within a few clicks.

4. Infuse Your Content Marketing with New Creative Blood

Sometimes content marketing strategies lag because your content managers and creators are exhausted or out of ideas for the topic at hand. Creativity is a renewable resource, but the well sometimes needs helps or time to replenish. By working with outsourced freelancers, you give in-house or regular contracted workers a break and infuse your content marketing strategy with new ideas and perspectives.

5. Locate and Replace Stale Content

Finally, if your strategy is sound, it might just be old content that is dragging the ship down. Run analytics on all of your pages and identify content that’s performing poorly. It’s especially important to rework product description and landing pages periodically to ensure they conform to keywords and content best practices that are currently trending. By working with a managed content team of crowdsourced writers and editors, you can overhaul an entire site quickly, boosting performance in the search engines.

The post 5 Tips to Revitalize a Lagging Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

With honest, legal content marketing, you can drive high conversion rates. Here are five ways to stay on the right side of regulations in blog posts, product descriptions, and landing pages.

1. Realize that the Truth Shall Set You Free

Being honest in online marketing claims doesn’t just set you free. It keeps you free: free of scandal, negative branding and potential regulatory or legal woes. Great content marketing doesn’t disguise facts or attempt to deceive consumers. Instead, it shines a light on what differentiates your business from others with honest, relevant content that creates an online culture or engages audiences.

2. Understand Express and Implied Claims

The Federal Trade Commission requires that advertisers only make truthful claims in their marketing efforts, and that includes your online content. You can’t promise something that isn’t true, even if you think your guarantee is an obvious form of humor or exaggeration. This is true whether you make an implied or express claim.

An express claim states something directly: “This speaker provides the clearest audio available.”

An implied claim is something that has to be inferred: “This kitchen cleaner kills the germs that cause food poisoning.” Someone could reasonably infer that the kitchen cleaner helps prevent food poisoning.

Creative wording and fun copy lets you engage your audience, but businesses can’t sacrifice accurate statements for the sake of traffic.

3. Be Ready to Substantiate Offline & Online Marketing Claims

Claims –€” express or inferred –€” aren’t completely prohibited by the FTC. True claims are allowed, and if your kitchen cleaner does help prevent food poisoning by killing germs, you can say so. When making offline or online marketing claims, ensure you have the backup to substantiate them. In the kitchen cleaner example, documented lab tests or studies supporting the claim are required.

It’s not enough to obtain documentation or proof after someone questions the claim. Instead, use tests, surveys and expert opinions you already have to create your marketing campaigns.

4. Walk a Careful Line when Marketing to Children

The FTC is especially strict in reviewing marketing materials targeted to children. If minors are a part of your target audience, take extreme care to ensure that you are transparent in a way that translates to younger readers and viewers. Showing only a picture of a toy being played with, for example, might give a young shopper the impression the toy comes assembled. Businesses must take even more precautions when advertising food to minors.

Marketing to children requires you to walk such a fine line, many experts recommend marketing to parents instead whenever possible.

 5. Consider Expert Guidance for Niche-Based Marketing Content

Marketing in niche industries, including health care products and services, environmental products, legal services and funeral services, has to follow specific requirements. The FTC and other federal and state agencies are quick to investigate marketing that claims a health or fitness benefit, for example. When crafting online adv content for niche organizations, work with experienced writing, editing and marketing teams to avoid crossing those lines.

The post 5 Tips to Steer Clear of Legal Issues in Marketing Claims appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Content Strategists Stay Up-to-Date on Best Practices

Content strategists tend to work full-time in the industry, often with numerous writer, editor and project management experiences under their belts. It behooves them to keep up with best practices and what’s trending in online marketing. When you work with a content strategist, you get the benefit of that knowledge without spending hours each week immersed in industry news and workshops.

A content strategist can give you the 411 on important information, including:

• What titles are currently performing
• The best length and content types for your message
• Keyword research and keyword ratios
• The best way to get freelancers engaged on your project
• How to explain your content needs to writers and editors

Great Strategists Are In-the-Know Regarding Crowd Workforces

The best strategists in any industry know who to call to get each type of job done, and content is no exception. Great content strategists make it a point to create a network of solid writers, editors and other freelancers, and they can call on those individuals to help you complete your project. Whether you’re working with a strategist to get you started or want someone to be involved for the long haul, being connected with top freelancers in your niche is never a bad thing.

Editorial Calendars: Two Heads Are Better than One

Coming up with a constant stream of quality, relevant ideas for your blog, social profiles or website can be taxing. Even if you’re passionate about your niche, at some point the creative well runs dry. Working with a content strategist lets you dip from another well for a while or collaborate with a knowledgeable partner to come up with unique ideas. Strategists can be sounding boards, idea factories or a filter through which crowd-pitched ideas can be sifted.

Outsourcing Tedious Tasks Lets You Concentrate on Your Audience

While the world of content marketing can be fast paced and exciting, content creation and management does come with tedious elements. Outsourcing these tasks to your content strategist lets you spend more time on customer- or audience-facing work, including customer service, product development and sales. Some tasks a content strategist can help you with include:

• Creating brand and style guides to ensure content is consistent over all your channels
• Writing clear instructions to cut down on rework in content creation processes
• Researching keywords, content topics or details to support high-performing, accurate content
• Scheduling content on editorial calendars and across social media platforms via tools such as HootSuite, WordPress or CoSchedule
• Ensuring content is optimized with keywords, headers and links
• Providing quality oversight on content projects so all content meets your requirements before being published

Another great benefit of working with a content strategist is that you can decide exactly how much help you need and where you want it concentrated. Content strategy services are available from Crowd Content for premium and enterprise accounts, and will be available in the future for self-serve clients. For more information about how we can help you maximize your content marketing potential, contact us today.

The post How Content Strategists Can Boost Content Marketing Efforts appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

What is Content Calibration?

Calibration is the act of standardizing something or checking that your measurement device is working as it should. Calibrating content involves testing instructions, style guides, and brand documents to ensure they support writing and editing teams in creating what you really want.

For agencies, a content calibration phase can mean working with outsourced content providers over the course of a week or two – or a handful of content pieces – to troubleshoot details and provide feedback so future content is exactly what’s needed. Agencies can also go through calibration with their own clients, taking multiple rounds of small content orders and getting in-depth feedback to ensure client instructions are clear and that everyone involved knows what the client wants and how to produce it.

Using Calibration Phases to Create Happy Clients

Adding calibration phases to your content creation services is one of the easiest ways to boost revenue and retain more clients. Content calibration lets you:

• Test whether your understanding of client needs is accurate
• Help the client decide what they want earlier in the process, as some clients aren’t sure or think they know but change their minds as content starts coming in
• Ensure instructions and other project documentation is clear and that nothing is left out or confusing
• Feel out writing and editing teams, so you know whether changes must be made to meet future obligations to the client

Without a content calibration phase, agencies can deliver dozens – or even hundreds – of content pieces that don’t meet the client’s needs. That typically leads to expensive rework, a foundation of distrust or complete loss of the client – and the revenue. Starting with a calibration phase creates transparency and communicates to the client that you:

• Care deeply about the client’s business
• Want to provide the best possible product, customized to his or her needs
• Will do what it takes to get the job done, but plan to work in a smart, effective and professional manner

Content Calibration Helps Everyone Involved

Calibration phases aren’t just great for clients and your bottom line. They also help boost performance and morale for your content creation teams. Whether you work with in-house or crowdsourced writers and editors, they’ll appreciate an organized approach to the project.

Content calibration lets you use a small team to ferret out client needs and potential issues before placing work with larger teams if you need to scale. It’s much easier to communicate changes to a small, expert team, and calibration lets you avoid frustrating larger teams with instructions that evolve constantly or requests that may be confusing or vague. When you do launch a full-scale version of your content creation project, writers and editors more more likely to join in, knowing you’ve laid the ground work to make their job easy.

At Crowd Content, we always recommend multiple calibration phases to our Premium and Enterprise clients. For more information on how we can help you scale content creation with smart, professional teams, contact us today.

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Get the Most Out of On-Site Images

A picture might be worth a thousand words for the viewer, but images themselves are meaningless when search engines try to evaluate page content and relevance. Google might sport facial-recognition technology, but its bots can’t tell how an image correlates to keywords. You can combat that challenge by consistently using alt tags with all images on the site. During development and after, follow best practices for integrating alt tags.

• Keep the text short and specific
• Don’t force keywords
• Describe image content clearly
• Choose images that naturally relate to page subject matter

Carefully Consider Pay Walls

Pay walls -€” or any wall between the user and content -€” can tank your SEO. First, bots won’t complete a form, sign up for membership or make a payment just to crawl the site, and membership only pages are often not indexed in search engines to protect brand and privacy. Second, if everything valuable is behind a wall, then your landing pages don’t have any help in supporting conversions. Blocking off sections of a site often makes sense, but leave enough open to support SEO and ensure potential customers can engage with your brand.

Plan Internal Linking Strategies

Internal linking is a good way to boost your authority and spread strong SEO across multiple pages, but unorganized linking practices can reduce performance in the search engines. Integrating irrelevant links into onsite content can confuse or drive away visitors, and it’s also seen as the cousin to keyword stuffing. Make sure you link to relevant content to support positive user experiences.

Site architecture also plays a role in linking strategies. During development, define the types of pages your site will support and how links, categories and tags play a part. Set parameters for internal link selections so content creators and tech staff are consistent in tying the site together in the future.

Build Your Site for Speed

Finally, site architecture impacts speed, and speed impacts SEO. Slow or muddled sites don’t perform well in the search engines, and they certainly don’t perform well with today’s users, which are looking for a return on their time investment within seconds of landing on your page. Make development decisions that ensure pages are sleek, user-friendly and fast to load.

How fast the page appears is only one aspect of speed. Menus, categories and links should make it easy for users to navigate your pages quickly. Individuals who can’t find what they are looking for in one or two clicks on your site are likely to bounce to another option.

By marrying SEO and web design, you can create or support fully-functional, user-friendly pages that catch search engine attention in the best possible way.

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Instruction Posts Resonate with Audiences

Instructional posts walk readers through performing certain tasks, which make them great for engagement and SEO. The type of language naturally found in instructional articles includes phrases most people search for, boosting organic search results. Titles that include terms such as “how to,” “learn how,” or “make your own” also perform because they play on curiosity and DIY propensity. Readers are more likely to click on these links and more importantly, if your how-to information turns out to be helpful or fun, users will share it with others.

Large Listicles Spark More Social Shares

In recent years, large listicles have grown in popularity and are one of the most likely posts to go viral. Any large list,€” especially with an odd number of items,€” increases shareability, but negative lists often tug on emotions or curiosity to increase social sharing. A list such as “23 Things You Should Never Eat for Dinner” might perform better than a list titled “25 Health Foods to Increase Your Energy after Lunch.”

Must-Have Knowledge Is Coveted by the Internet

Headlines that create critical associations often spur people to click through to the article, and positioning content as containing must-know facts is one way to do that. A study from Okdork notes that a statistic in your title can increase performance up to 10 times. Simply including words such as statistics, figures, or facts in the headline and implying the knowledge is essential drives traffic.

Emotional Elements Engage More Readers

Figure out how to draw on reader emotions in your headline to drive more engagement. Titles that create or promise amusement, surprise, beauty, inspiration, shock or heart-warming content all perform better than titles that play it completely straight. Do keep long-term audience relationships in mind, though, and avoid headlines that are deceptive or over promise on content that doesn’t deliver.

Hints at the Content Type Trigger Click-Throughs

Increase traffic and the chance of connecting with the right audience for the content type by including it in the headline. Tell readers there’s going to be a video, or entice them with the promise of images and charts. Titles such as “These 15 Charts Show You How to Lose Weight Fast” often perform better than “15 Ways to Shed Pounds Now,” because charts, graphs, pictures, and videos up the entertainment value of your post.

Headlines are extremely powerful content elements that can make or break performance. To increase traffic on your site, implement headline best practices, work with professional writers who can craft audience-winning titles.

The post Headlines that Engage Readers and Encourage Click-Throughs appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

1. Create content that meets the needs of specific micro-moments

To catch audience attention, you have to have content that meets the need of the moment. Google data shows that searchers for how-to content on YouTube grew 70 percent between 2014 and 2015, and 82 percent of smartphone users say they look up information about purchases while in a store. Understanding what drives users to mobile devices during micro-moments lets you cash in with proactive content.

Micro-moments call for content that is quick to ingest, easy to understand and useful. Videos less than 30 seconds long, post summaries, social media posts and infographics are all examples of content that are perfect for leveraging micro-moments. Mobile users who do pick up a device during their moment of need aren’t already committed to a brand or product, so this is your chance to convert from the competition.

• Be personable but direct; your message has to fit in a few second window
• Make sure you show up in mobile searches for relevant phrases so you get a chance at the conversion
• Create mobile friendly content for the entire sales funnel. It’s not enough to simply be present when the consumer is ready to make a purchase or decision, because by then they might have already developed a relationship with someone else

2. Design content with mobile users in mind

Make sure your website is optimized for mobile users and consider creating content specifically for this growing audience. Test your content on a variety of platforms and devices; it has to perform equally well on Android, iOS and Microsoft devices to meet the most consumers in micro-moments. Make use of responsive design and storytelling to engage and impress mobile users. There’s a lot at stake during micro-moments: over half of mobile users say they won’t recommend a product or brand that’s associated with a poorly designed site.

3. Meet the consumer’s need for speed

Mobile users move on even faster than desktop users; 70 percent say they leave a site or app that takes too long to load, and 2/3 say they switch to another site if they can’t find information easily or if purchasing steps are cumbersome. Test your site speed and performance on mobile to ensure consumers can get to your site quickly and navigate it easily, even from a 4-inch screen.

Finally, make sure your content is interesting and relevant at all times. Keeping things short to fit the moment isn’t an excuse for tossing out everything you know about good content marketing, and your goal should always be to convert the short visit into a longer relationship with the user.

Need great content to back up your micro-moment promise, or are you looking for winning social media posts that engage mobile users? Check out our simplified content creation solutions.

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It’s common to treat in-house employees to lunch or offer other tangible perks to thank them for a job well done, but how do you convert those tactics into appreciation for freelancer content writers who live across the country or world? Here are seven ways you can say thanks to the people that fuel your content efforts.

#1 – Send Your Freelancers an Appreciation Email

A simple thank you goes a long way. It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day matters, though, so consider writing an email now or scheduling a few minutes on your calendar this week to thank freelancers. Send individual notes if it’s possible, but even a thank you to the crowd can be rewarding for freelancers who sometimes feel like they work in a vacuum.

#2 – Write a Blog Post Highlighting Freelancer Efforts

Consider highlighting the role of freelancers in your organization if it’s appropriate for your brand. Write a blog post or create a video thanking your writers or sharing some fun behind-the-scenes information about how writers help you achieve your goals.

#3 – Share the Details of Success with Writers and Editors

Freelancers often work with little feedback or understanding of how their work contributes to your organization. Many of the best writers take ownership of their work, though, and when you let them know how they can help you succeed – or share what’s already working – you might be surprised at the response you get.

Take time this month to share feedback, statistics, and goals with your freelancers. Let a writer know the landing page they wrote helped you earn 10 percent more revenue last quarter, or tell your SEO writing team that their efforts resulted in an increase in page traffic. These little details make freelancers feel like part of something bigger, and it often spurs them to continue creating excellent content for you.

#4 – Send a Physical Thank You Card

With so much information exchanged in digital format, a physical mailing catches the attention. A hand-written thank you card shows that you cared enough to make a special effort. If you work with a crowd of freelancers, a preprinted thank you card in the mailbox can also make a writer smile.

#5 – Send a Token of Your Appreciation

Here’s a not-so-well-kept secret: freelancers love to get fun stuff in the mail. Gift cards, fun treats or company swag are all appropriate items for freelance thank you gifts. Pro tip: if you send a soft, comfy t-shirt or a travel mug, many freelancers are likely to wear or use them constantly in and out of their homes.

#6 – Run a Giveaway to Celebrate the Week

If your budget won’t cover individual gifts or you work with a large freelance group, consider running a giveaway. When running a giveaway, keep things as simple and transparent as possible, and have fun with the entire premise.

#7 – Hold a Digital Party for Freelancers

Invite freelancers to join you in a forum, Facebook group, or on Skype at a certain time, but avoid making video streaming a requirement since many writers choose to freelance because they value their privacy. Play some fun online party games, introduce various members of your in-house team, or present information about how your freelance team made an impact to your organization recently. Incorporate giveaways or awards to get freelancers excited and involved.

Thanking your freelancers doesn’t take a huge effort, but the impact of showing your gratitude can be enormous.

The post Freelance Writer Appreciation Week: 7 Ways to Say Thank You appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The penalty for selling recalled products can be up to $15 million, but this is only one example of the importance of data organization and tagging. Strong metadata across all your content creates credibility, enhances navigation and user experience, and reduces costs and risks for your brand.

Beyond Titles and Descriptions

Many content marketers stop at the big two: meta titles and meta descriptions. Yes, these are critical branding and SEO tools that you must leverage appropriately for success in the search engines and with organic traffic. Titles and descriptions are about traffic, though: Yoast points out that the main function of these tools is to get someone to move from the search engine to your website.

Once users are on your page, their experience is important too. Bad user experience equals high bounce rates, which makes all your SEO efforts meaningless.

Meta beyond titles and descriptions helps with that. Metadata is any piece of information attached to your digital assets, including tags and categories. You can organize photographs and pictures, text objects, videos, pages, and links with meta. Some common types of metadata include:

• Keywords
• Short descriptions of the digital asset
• Location
• Date
• Author, photographer, or artist
• Title of work
• Model numbers, SKUs or other product identifiers
• Brand-defined categories

An ecommerce store likely has images of its products, for example. A shop that sells dining chairs might have two images for one listing: one of a single chair and one of the chair in a group at a table. Tagging the images with data such as the height, color, upholstery, style, date added to the catalog and catalog number help you link this information appropriately so users can find it in searches on your site, but it also lets site managers quickly add, remove or otherwise manage image assets during listing processes.

Appropriate tagging and categorization also reduces risks. In the case of recalled products, well-managed inventory and site data lets you pull items from active listings and the shelves quickly.

When Metadata Works Right

Content strategist Michael Andrews calls metadata the secret sauce of relevance.

“I call metadata a secret sauce because when it works right, it’s invisible. You don’t notice the metadata; you just notice that things work right.”

Getting to that magical recipe on your site can be more difficult than it sounds. You have to strike a balance between meta that is functional and the effort it takes to create and maintain it. Adding too little meta doesn’t support you or the user — you see this on sites with dysfunctional search bars, which rarely return what you’re looking for. Add in too much meta, however, and it becomes unwieldy and impossible for your team to manage regularly.

Planning ahead by deciding exactly what you want to do with digital assets lets you define appropriate meta parameters to stay in balance. Use as much meta as you need to get the job done, but never more.

Creating Successful Metadata is a Team Effort

Meta creation and management is a team effort that requires a lot of communication, especially if you work with third-parties to tag or categorize items. Take time to create glossaries, ensure words mean the same to each person working with your data, and develop parameters for applying data tags to avoid errors.

At Crowd Content, we can connect you with hundreds of writers who are adept at crafting high-performing meta titles and descriptions. If you’re looking to go beyond basics, consider reaching out to find out more about our enterprise content solutions.

The post Tagging to Protect Your Brand and Support Your Customer appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Using a Content Creation Company Boosts Efficiency

According to Hubspot research, the majority of marketers spend more than an hour to write a short blog post, and close to a third spend four or more hours just to net 500 words. Content marketing expert Neil Patel encourages publishers to look carefully at statistics and goals before determining how often to post, but he also notes inbound leads increase with posting frequency, so you can’t afford to minimize content generation because it takes a long time.

The time it takes your team to write a blog post is time that could be spent innovating, creating new strategies or interacting directly with customers. Add in the time it takes to conduct research, manage keywords, ensure branding is consistent across all posts, launch social media content or keep a constant shine on product descriptions, and content marketing can quickly become expensive and force you to sacrifice quality elsewhere.

Outsourcing content creation moves these burdens off in-house staff so you can leverage their talents to manage your processes, drive new ideas or create cost-saving efficiencies.

Reaching Outside Your Organization Means Extended Expertise

Most marketers or brands can’t draw on the experience of hundreds of writers, editors and SEO experts, but outsourcing lets you benefit from crowdsourced models that are carefully controlled with proven methodologies. In one contact, you can gain access to SEO expertise, professional research, marketing and sales content options, ideas for entertaining and educating your audience and high-level editing to ensure your brand looks like the expert it is. Keeping content generation in-house means relying on the limitations set by existing staff experience and time; outsourcing breaks through limitations so you can expand your message and your reach.

Third-Party Agencies Live and Breathe Content Marketing

The Content Marketing Institute notes that 55 percent of business-to-business marketers admit their organizations are unclear on what successful content marketing looks like. Business-to-consumer marketers note similar struggles; over 75 percent use content to drive branding and conversion, but only 33 percent believe their strategies are effective.

For third-party agencies that specialize in content services, content marketing is the product. Brands can only devote a small portion of their time to understanding content marketing because they are busy making better products or creating new services. It wouldn’t make sense for a hospital to spend numerous resources perfecting blog post templates or for the owner of a new restaurant to spend his nights reading everything published about social media marketing. When you work with a content company, you gain those insights without sacrificing the time and resources.

Yes, brands of all sizes and types must understand some basics about content marketing if they want to succeed. But Forrester Research and other industry leaders are noticing that marketers who work with experts on content generation see more success than those who try to carry the entire load in-house.

If you want to start 2017 with less burden and more success, contact us to find out how we can help lighten the load.

The post Forrester Says Outsourcing Content Creation is the Way to Go, and We Agree appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

A Move for More Control

Following its advertisement moves globally, Coca-Cola is bringing control of social media marketing in-house, particularly in North America. It’s creating a centralized team of 55 staffers to manage social media profiles and activity for all of its soda brands, including Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. The news of this shift comes on the heels of speculation that Pepsi is bringing social media control in-house and will work with third party companies on a project basis.

These moves to in-house social media marketing come at a time when control of brand messaging is more critical than ever. It’s easy for messages to become skewed as they skate across the web via shares, likes and comments, and some control over branding is critical for success whether you’re a small business or a giant cola conglomerate. You don’t have to write every word of social media marketing content yourself to exert control, but handing your Facebook or Twitter profile over to a third-party company and calling it a day might be a bad move for your brand.

Following Coca-Cola’s move, keep overall control of your social media in-house and work with freelancers or outside agencies to create brand-specific content, campaigns and messaging.

Engaging Consumers on an Emotional Level

Coca-Cola is also leveraging consumer emotions to boost social media engagement. Emotion-based marketing is nothing new for the brand. The 1971 “Buy the World a Coke” music campaign skyrocketed to success fueled by emotions, and the enduring popularity of the Coca-Cola polar bears also played on common emotions. The software brand is currently phasing in an empathy-based model on social media.

According to reports, Coca-Cola is using an AI-powered model that analyzes a variety of social media factors to predict emotional content. Test data from the brand’s social media marketing indicated that consumers were 26 percent more likely to view, share or engage with posts that were created based on insights regarding feelings about the Rio Olympics than similar posts that were not created with such insights in mind.

The lesson learned here is that real-time social media marketing is as essential to success as well-thought-out campaigns are. To rise above the cacophony of digital data, your business must engage in both, which means working with outside agencies to create top-notch campaigns and content. It also means exerting some in-house control and keeping up with the overall emotional trends of your target audience.

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