That Sharknado was flying all over the Internet, but I managed to find some great content anyway. I didn’t even get bitten!
First up is a post from Jeff Bullas called “How to Create and Write Evergreen Content to Boost Your Business.” This is incredibly important for small business owners to grasp and master.
Now, you need to have a variety of different kinds of content. It’s not a good idea to go 100% evergreen because that can get a little robotic.
At the same time, I work on a fence contractor’s blog right now. What contest ranks and performs the best? The evergreen stuff, hands down.
Small business blogging is different. You’re not necessarily going to build up this huge following full of people who come back again and again, engage, share, tell you how great you are, etc. But that’s not really the point. Get Mrs. Johnson to read 2-3 of your good posts and provide the answers she’s looking for when she’s looking for it and you’ve achieved what you need to achieve. She’s sure as heck more likely to call you than a guy who is just Google+ listing, or who can’t offer her anything more than a bunch of self-serving copy on his website.
Next up we’ve got Marcus Sheridan of Sales Lion, and here’s more on the same theme. I referenced Sales Lion last week too, and I’m seriously starting to think that The Sales Lion is one of THE go-to blogs for small business owners, especially contractors.
This week’s gem? Why “Useful” Beats “Amazing” Any Day of the Week.
“Just be useful” should probably become the new mantra for every small business owner who is diving into the world of content marketing, or for those who manage SMB blogs.
And it’s pretty awesome, because you can just stop stressing over it. People keep crowing, “OMG! Your content has to be AWESOME!” Well, that’s freaking intimidating.
Marcus says, “No, your content just has to be useful.” Yes, yes indeed.
That was the same theme shared by Phil Rozek in 10 Solid Examples of Blogging for Local Business. That was written way back on June 20th, but read it anyway if you want a second opinion on this usefulness thing, as well as a list of bloggers who are getting the job done right.
#3 on today’s round-up comes from Darren Slaughter, who is, of course, another go-to guy for contractors in particular. “Struggling with Conversions on Your Website? Click Here Still King.”
It’s another object lesson on how it’s just pretty much important to avoid overthinking stuff. One amazingly simple conversion strategy, well worth reading, and applicable to any type of small business.
#4 was a local SEO post, a bit of news worth hearing about. Phil Rozek announced the return of 5 star ratings to Google+ Local pages.
And there you have it! Some great online marketing posts from all over the web. What did you find this week?
