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I always thought it'd be fun to take a belly dancing class. Who knew I've been missing out on an opportunity to learn a little something about personal branding?
In our top inbound marketing article of the week, author Lisa Barone talks about what she's learned from her belly dancing instructor about how to create a thriving personal brand that's based not on ego but rather on your favorite version of yourself.
Author: Lisa Barone on Copyblogger
Lisa's article uses her belly dancing instructor as example of why you should and how you can create a personal brand that garners attention as opposed to hate.
Lisa offers step-by-step advice for creating a successful personal brand, expanding on the following lessons:
- Claim your niche
- Create your character
- Treat people like humans
- Make your brand accessible
Marketing Takeaway: Be careful when creating your personal brand. It could distinguish you from a brand people love and a brand people hate
Author: Josh Catone of Mashable
One of the most common excuses from businesses unwilling to engage in social media is their fear of negative feedback. Social media is a conversation, and although conversation isn't always positive, this shouldn't mean you should shy away. After all, if we've said it once we've said it a thousand times: People will talk about you whether or not you're involved.
To help you deal with negative comments in social media, Mashable defines a helpful two step process which involves identifying the type of feedback, then deciding on the best reaction.
Marketing Takeaway: Not all negative feedback should elicit the same response. Evaluate criticism first to determine the best course of action.
Author: Mark Hayward on Problogger
While Mark admits that "learning how to master Twitter can seem a little bit like wrestling a hungry alligator," he also reveals that through trial and error, he's learned quite a bit about how to use Twitter to drive traffic to his blog.
Mark's 10 tips consist of his best advice for generating targeted traffic to your content, including the importance of a complete bio and a branded background, the significance of building a following and expanding your reach, as well as being sincere and developing collaborative relationships, etc.
Marketing Takeaway: Effectively using Twitter for business benefits is a science that takes time and skill.
Author: Christopher Wallace of Search Engine Land
Christopher's article addresses a common problem he sees many B2B marketers experience: the inability to convert site visitors into leads. His proposed solution is to control the experience a potential customer has when they reach your site by focusing on optimizing your landing pages.
His top 5 landing page tips?
- Simplify your content
- Shorten your lead forms
- Use your analytics to drive decisions
- Keep the conversion path in mind when using images
- Leverage landing pages for extended user engagement
Marketing Takeaway: Instead of wasting time trying to get more people to click on your site in search engines, focus your efforts on ways to better convert the traffic you're already getting.
Author: John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing
Online seminars are increasingly replacing in-person meetings in the marketing world, as they're more cost-effective and often have the ability to attract more attendees.
Thinking of holding an online seminar? John encourages you to consider his 7 steps to make it a success, which include getting sponsored, educating (not selling), picking your platform, causing interaction, creating a backchannel, providing bonus content and promoting the archive.
Marketing Takeaway: Online seminars can be a profitable and cost-effective alternative to live events.
Photo by David Yu
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