Some Thoughts On Content Marketing

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I’m a BIG fan of using leverage in a business.

Content marketing online IS leverage, period.  But some businesses see the preparation and delivery of that content as an expense.

WRONG.  It’s an investment.

Personally, my blog, social media accounts, and various pieces of content that someone could download have more than leveraged the time I’ve put into developing them.

I’m not great at SEO either.

But, as an example, I view my Twitter account as an asset in and of itself… not one I own (because Twitter owns it), but one I “rent” with the time I make available for it. I post content on Twitter, someone finds it (short “blog” posts), and visits my website as a result.

Once they visit my website, there are a percentage that contact me, follow me on Twitter, or in rare cases… inquire about a potential project.

Notice I haven’t YET focused on money in this exchange, because I know I have something much more valuable, their attention… and here is where this particular “asset” pays off (Twitter in combination with my blog etc…)…

When I’m available to work on a project, I simply use Twitter, say I’m available, and get inquiries… then pick from those inquiries. And, Twitter is only one example of content that accomplishes this for me.

I also use Google + in a similar fashion.

I use my blog, where my blog posts, which are MY assets, have been found on Twitter, Google +, or simply found online… and the above happens again.

BUT… this goes MUCH farther than that…

Through this whole process, and THIS is where I think companies miss the boat BIG time, besides attention, I also have something you can’t “track” or “profit from”… relationships with people.

People like David Meerman Scott.

Now, with David, it’s not a project based relationship of course, although there may be a time when David refers someone who might be in need of a marketing copywriter to me in the future… but ours is a relationship where when I send an email he reads it.

I value that. I have David’s attention. :) We have a relationship.

But aside from that, I have valuable relationships with other folks for other reasons, I can book a room in certain hotels for instance, FREE, because of relationships I have developed. I can better learn my business from free books from authors, I can form partnerships with people at will etc…

And those you can track, but I just chalk it up as “worth the effort in building my content assets.”

So quit the “ROI” bullshit… and focus on the “I” part.  If your content is worth talking about, you’ll get return on it.

Welcome Twitter Followers…

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Hey there,

Looks like you found me on Twitter.  (@JosephRatliff)

Cool.

I wanted you to know a little bit more about me, what I do, and what I can do for you (if you’re interested of course).

My name is Joseph Ratliff.  Since 2001, I’ve been writing direct response copy for hundreds of client from a variety of industries.  I’m sort of an “under the radar,” “behind the scenes” guy… and a MAJOR introvert, so you probably won’t see me featured on all of the mainstream media outlets.

But that’s OK with me. :)

I do a good job for my clients, many of which continue to do business with me for years (one of the reasons it’s hard to hire me).  Really, developing relationships and getting results for my clients is all that counts in my chosen profession.

Since you came here from Twitter, see my Linkedin Profile and Home Page for more details on my services.

I also suggest you subscribe to this blog’s feed.

On the personal side…

I’m a devoted family man, married for over 20 years to the same woman, and have two boys of my own.  They come first, then friends, then life, then business.

So there you have it, a little bit about me.  Thanks for connecting with me on Twitter.

What about you?

Nintendo Of America With A BIG, Fat Fail

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If you’re on Twitter, and you check out hashtag #nintendofail you’ll begin to see a series of posts developing over a recent move (some people would call it a “dick” move) by Nintendo of America.

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but Nintendo can’t stand the fact that kids and adults alike are creating their own “play through” videos of Nintendo games, posting them to YouTube… and because some (perhaps most) of these accounts are “monetized”… these folks are making a SMALL amount of money off of the ad clicks generated by these videos.

Nintendo couldn’t stand it, and are standing firm on their “these games are ours” copyright-oriented ground… and pulled the most “old media” type of action.

They took the revenue being made by the play through creators for themselves in a partnership with YouTube. Sad.

The story is here along with Nintendo’s rather stern and not very fun statement.

Bad move by a gaming company… do they not see the value of the FREE marketing these play throughs were providing for them?

That, and I think their bottom line wasn’t hurt a bit from these play throughs.

I will edit this post as I get new information.

 

For Copywriters: 5 Important Lessons I’ve Learned

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This will be a quick post…

5 important lessons I’ve learned from over a decade of copywriting experience, that hopefully will help you if you’re a copywriter yourself (these are in NO particular order)…

1.  Get paid upfront, at least 50% of the project fee.  Make it a “kill fee” if for some reason the client decides to cancel the project and move on.

2.  Take care of your health.  Without it, none of this really matters.

3.  Take good care of your clients (especially the ones who take care of you), and always look for ways to provide extra value (at YOUR discretion) like consulting, an extra email for an email series, etc…

4.  Set clear project expectations with your clients upfront… don’t wait.

5.  Life is too short to deal with clients who don’t respect you as a professional copywriter (e.g. those who want you to charge by the word, those who don’t understand the value you bring etc…).

BONUS:  Have fun, it takes time to build a copywriting practice… so enjoy the journey.

The Myth Of “What’s Next”

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Many business owners, in our initial discussions, ask me…

“Hey Joe, what’s next in the world of business?”

Or this…

“Hey Joe, what big innovation can take my business to the next level?”

My answer usually sets them back a few notches…

“There isn’t one.”

I’m famous for telling my clients EVERYTHING they don’t want to hear.  But let me explain why…

This notion that there is a “What’s next?” for any business, small or large… is a complete myth.  It’s a waste of your time to pursue this idea, until you have the “What’s now?” mastered and delivered 100%.

The more surprising fact of the matter is… almost NO business has done that yet. Not even the biggest, most profitable companies have mastered all of the basics yet.  If a company provides great customer service, for example, and over-focus on it… they typically lose in the administrative or analytics part of the business.

This isn’t to say there aren’t a handful of businesses who seem to have all of the bases covered.  I’m leaving that as a general statement though, because I have yet to come across any business that does everything well (different from trying to please everyone).

Let’s dig in a bit further here…

When you keep hunting for “What’s next?”… you lose sight of the basics, and your business begins to enter an endless cycle of hunting for magic bullets from which to profit.  You can only do that for so long, that is NOT sustainable.

Here are the basics…

  • Listen to your customers.  You don’t have to do “everything” they say, but if a good portion of your customer base is saying the same thing… examine it deeper.  NOTE:  By the way, listening to your customers will lead you to “What’s next?” automatically.
  • Business is about people.  That includes your customers, but also your employees, vendors, and other people connected to your business.  If you don’t treat all of them exceptionally well, your business will be doomed with small margins as you compete on price.
  • Know your numbers.  You might be good at whatever you do or offer in your business (e.g. you’re a good mechanic), but you MUST understand your business.  You have to know what is selling and what isn’t, and above all, use this information to optimize your business to take care of the people who support it (  <— BIG point).
  • Don’t be lazy.  Most business owners are lazy.  There are NO shortcuts, no magic pills, a Facebook page WILL NOT skyrocket your business profits overnight, you can’t just use direct mail once, fail, and assume it doesn’t work anymore etc…
  • Nobody cares about your business… at first.  I don’t care if you have the greatest mousetrap in the world, you will NOT be able to sell it unless you get over the fact that nobody cares about your business.  That being said, if you have a remarkable product or service, a certain group of people in your customer base WILL care, so long as you take care of them like royalty ( <— ANOTHER big point).

One big final point…

Don’t EVER sacrifice the people that support your business in the name of profits.  Don’t hire until you need to, don’t sacrifice customer service EVER, and holy shit don’t cut the marketing or training budget.

Here’s where the die-hard, “we’re in business for the money” entrepreneurs will challenge me I’m sure, but I have one point that even you cannot challenge:

If you truly, wholeheartedly have EVERYTHING in place and optimized, you’ll also have a culture people care about (customers and employees alike).  Your profits are a measuring stick of how well you’re doing that.  Google started out very optimized, and now, it’s VERY profitable and has an employee culture worth talking about.

Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a perfect example of any business… because almost none have mastered the basics.  Almost no business has “What’s now?” down, 100% of the time.  Google is a good example of that too.

Big businesses seem to get so big, they rely heavily on automation, at the expense of their customers.

But heed my warning… automated systems will only get any business so far.

Once the shiny, glossy nature of the digital world has lost its luster in about 5 – 20 years, entrepreneurs will begin again to come up with the next age of culture-oriented companies focused on solving real-world problems.  Actually some already are (note: these are NOT investing recommendations).

A few of the next age of real, problem-solving innovations will challenge Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Target, Wal-Mart, etc… etc… for BIG pieces of their market share.

That is, unless they focus more on “What’s now?” ;)

Notice too, that I did NOT focus on “growth” in this article.  Sometimes, smaller, more focused companies are in better position to stay with the basics.  They don’t grow too big for their shorts (usually at the expense of customers and employees).  They are also more profitable when they do it right.  You won’t see them on the NASDAQ though.

We have to change the way we’re thinking about business people.  The “profits before people” mentality needs to change.  But you don’t have to sacrifice profits (in the long-term) to accomplish that.

CTRL ALT DEL by Mitch Joel: A Review

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Mitch Joel (@mitchjoel on Twitter) shared a review copy of his newest book, CTRL ALT DEL with me.  I’ve now read it cover to cover twice.

It’s even better the second time around… and I’ve only said that about 3 other business books:

  • The New Rules Of Marketing And PR by David Meerman Scott.
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
  • Thinking Fast, And Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

This book joins the ones listed above.

Why?

The main reason is it makes a bold promise on the cover (Your Future Depends On It)… and then backs that promise up with carefully selected evidence and thinking.

Plus, Mitch Joel is one of those guys who thinks on a much deeper level than most “marketers.”  He doesn’t think “on the surface” or in a reactive way… he takes a step back and can see the bigger picture, and in most of his thinking, all of its parts.

For example, in CTRL ALT DEL there is a part where he writes a question “Do you need a mobile version of your business website?”.

Most people’s answer to that question would be a resounding “YES”.  My answer is no, as is Mitch’s… but for very different reasons.  You’ll have to pick up a copy of the book to see the rest of Mitch’s answer.  It will surprise you as it did me.

In fact, the way he explained just that one point reinforced why I listen to every word Mitch says.  I don’t agree with everything he stands for in business, but a good portion of it I do agree with.  Thinkers like Daniel Kahneman, Seth Godin, Steven Pinker, and David Meerman Scott round out a short list of people I pay regular attention to, that list includes Mitch Joel.

I’m going to conclude this NOT by recommending you to pick up a copy of his book.  Instead, I recommend you stop by Mitch’s blog at Twist Image first, and his Twitter account second.  Those should give you a solid perspective for considering whether or not picking up a copy of CTRL ALT DEL is a good idea for you.

My Privacy Is Mine, Your Privacy Is Yours… Own It

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The above Tweet links to a talk Danah Boyd gave in 2010 about privacy.

As much as some techies and geeks want to dismiss it (calling it “dead”), privacy is an important topic… one that needs to be debated out to the n’th degree.

Folks, we need to own our privacy… and quit dealing it out to Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other companies without knowing what the “deal” is.  If you like the deal any of these companies offer in exchange for use of their particular media tool, then by all means take it.

If you wonder about the deal being offered, DON’T use the tool until you can be comfortable using it.  If you have problems with the “deal” either stop using the tool, or don’t use it in the first place.  And keep in mind, any of these companies will continually change the “deal” being offered.

Your privacy is for sale people… to the most – targeted bidder.  Any company that says otherwise had better be able to provide proof beyond “PR” type responses.  Show us you’re not selling our information to the advertisers, and the more the better, and you’ve got one point down.

Quit assuming we want to “opt-in” and instead present it as a well-explained option.

Not all of us understand your pages and pages of geek-speak.

(I understand a great deal of it, but sometimes…)

And folks reading this, you need to examine the “deal” media companies are offering you online… in depth.  Yep, that requires more work than just “clicking to agree” and hoping for the best… but it’s your life out there, online.  Don’t expect these media companies to respect it, they give you everything you need to know… it’s just that some of it isn’t in the limelight, easy for you to see.

There are a TON of related topics here, I will expand on this, and I am touching on this in my upcoming book… Slow.

But for now, let’s take a harder look at what we’re offering of ourselves online, and establish our privacy boundaries… it’s ok for you to do this, no matter what the geeks might say ;)