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When I receive a proposal for a guest post or evaluate a client's education-based marketing, there's one mistake that will make me say "can't publish, must revise" faster than almost any other. A mistake that wastes your audience's time, and will make you look useless in the eyes of your potential clients. That mistake is saying "learn how to X", "research how to Y", or "figure out how to Z". Why is this type of teaching point so unacceptable? Imagine if you were sitting in math class, and your teacher said, "Now figure out how... Read More

Guest post by Anthony Musker.​ I know many of you may raise your brows after reading the heading of this post. You may be thinking that B2B Marketing and Snapchat are quite different from each other, and the latter is a fun-associated application that sends short video clips and images. So how could it be useful for B2B marketing? It may be a fun-associated app, but it also helps in connecting people in the real world. Just like Facebook and Twitter , it can also be useful in advertising your products and services and connecting with... Read More

When people want to buy something, they have lots of options. According to Internet Live Stats , there are over 1,250,240,286 websites in the world today - and the number kept growing even as I looked at the page. Obviously, not all of these websites are your direct competitors, but even if you just look up your specific industry in your geographical area, you'll probably find at LEAST three or four other people doing the same thing you do. And that's assuming people are even sure they want a product in your field. They might just decide... Read More

I recently had an interesting conversation with some of my fellow writers who were struggling with social media addiction. They wanted to focus on creating content, but they felt compelled to continuously check their notifications on their favorite social channels. As a result, they were struggling to actually produce content, because they were spending so much time online. But as I pointed out, social media addiction isn't 100% a bad thing. As a creative, introverted copywriter, I have the opposite problem: if left to my natural... Read More

If you're a highly intelligent, educated person, you probably have a special challenge when it comes to making sales. You explain your offering to your client, you tell them what you'll help them do, and you give them a list of the things they'll get... ...but instead of getting as excited as you thought they would, and immediately taking action to purchase a product they obviously need, they go blank-eyed and seem to lose all interest. They might ask you "What does that mean?", give a neutrally polite "that's interesting", or tell... Read More

​ When you make a marketing video, are people watching the whole thing, and are they reaching the end of the video with a desire to take the next step? Or are they clicking away and forgetting about it the moment its over or, even worse, giving up on it halfway through and leaving? Today, Im going to share 10 classic mistakes Ive seen people make in their marketing videos, and how to avoid boring your viewers into abandoning your videos. Mistake #1: Not getting to the point IMMEDIATELY. Yes, your animated logo is cool. No,... Read More

When you try to raise curiosity in your potential clients, are you actually getting them interested, or just confusing them and turning them off? There's a right way and a wrong way to build curiosity. I recently participated in a #wattpad4 conversation on Twitter , where fiction authors congregate to discuss their craft. While the conversation was focused on fiction books, one of the participants gave a piece of advice that applies very strongly to marketing: "It's crucial that the opening line be CLEAR. Any questions the... Read More

Don't you hate it when you're supposed to write some content for your business, but you just can't figure out what to say in the first few sentences? One of the biggest challenges for a writer is knowing where and how to start. I've noticed this in my capacity both as a marketing copywriter and a novelist - sometimes, the first scene or paragraph is the hardest. This challenge stems partly from the fact that the first sentences are the most important. They're the ones that help your readers to decide whether or not to keep reading,... Read More

Are you selling something your clients know they want? Or are you offering a cure for a disease they don't know they have? A little while ago, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I came across this gem from Calvin and Hobbes: It reminded me of a recent conversation I'd had with one of my clients when I suggested that she change the name of a chapter in her course. Why did I want her to change it? Because her potential clients don't know that they need the mindset she was describing. And if they don't know they need... Read More

When you're describing your product and how it helps your clients, there's one "selling point" that you should seldom or never use: "Why you should/shouldn't X". Seriously, this is a sale-killer. "Why you should never do __"... "why it's vital to __ after each meal"... "why every business needs __"... those are all examples of phrases that DON'T belong in your emails, sales pages, blog posts, and other marketing materials. Why is "why you should/shouldn't" such a bad phrase? I'm going to be a hypocrite for a minute here, and... Read More