Page 2 - July 2017

Page 2 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!
5 Ways to Avoid Writing Content That Will Never Be Read by Anyone

James Parsons, www.entrepreneur.com
Any time you're writing content, wheth- Whenever you have a topic idea, vet it to see
er it's for your own site or for a guest what content already exists.
post on another blog, you want to pro-
duce the best quality content you can. Is there a ton of high quality content already
All the same, though, even excellent produced? If so, it might be a bad choice to
content can fade into obscurity if you're write. Are there good articles out there, but
not writing something original. I could they're light on content or out of date? These
write you an excellent book-quality can be good opportunities.
guide to PPC marketing, but when there
are a hundred other great guides and a Are there a few excellent guides available, but
thousand mediocre ones out there, how not a lot of competition? You can gain trac- want answered. What problems are people
would mine gain any traction? tion simply by approaching the topic from facing that they aren't able to answer on
another angle.
If the existing content is deep, go broad. If the their own, and how can you bring a high
How do you guarantee that your con- existing content is broad, go deep. Try to quality answer to them?
tent will be seen, will get the attention it think outside the box, and approach your top- People perform web searches when they
deserves and not fall by the wayside? ic from a novel perspective. want to perform a task and when they want
There are no guarantees in life, but you to gain knowledge. The former are great for
can certainly stack the deck in your fa- 2. Topic ideation landing pages and product pages, but less so
vor. Every topic idea needs to come from a search. for informational articles. Look for queries
1. Competitive research The way people find content on the web today where people want to learn; that's where you
is to have an interest and perform a web get the most interest.
It's hard to find a topic that hasn't been search. If no one is performing a search, it
covered at length, particularly in a doesn't matter how good your content is; no Click here to read
crowded, content-rich field like market- one will find it. Try looking for content ideas
ing. You need to go narrow, and cover in places where people ask questions they full article
topics that haven't seen a lot of love.

Pitch Perfect: 5 Steps To A Perfect Elevator Pitch
Josh Muccio, www.forbes.com

You know your idea inside and out. But to people.”
pitch it effectively to others you need to look at

the big picture and understand your product 2. Ask the
through someone else’s eyes. I propose that the question
perfect elevator pitch is one that’s crafted for an
audience of one. Here’s what to do. A great way
to teach any-

thing is through direct engagement with ers. I know they understand, because
1. Narrow down your idea to one sentence your audience. I recommend asking a ques- they just told me.
Early on, Airbnb’s one-sentence pitch was tion that people will reply to with a simple
“Book rooms with locals, rather than hotels”. yes or no (a yes is preferable). But, sometimes comparing your idea to a
SendGrid was pitched as a “Cloud-based email similar product isn’t beneficial. In this
service to deliver transactional emails.” For my company, The Pitch, the question scenario, try asking if they’re familiar
is always, “You’ve heard of Shark Tank, with the problem you’re solving or the
You should not give your full elevator pitch right?” — to which most people reply yes. ideal customer you’re solving problems
right off the bat. Lead with your one-sentence Then I say, “Well our show is like Shark for. In the SendGrid example, one might
pitch, then pause for a moment and let the idea Tank, but in podcast form.” People in- ask “Did you know that 20% of emails
sink in. If they ask a follow up question, mis- stantly understand and usually ask a follow don’t make it to their intended recipi-
sion accomplished. Otherwise move on to step up question like, “So people come on and ent?” In this case it’s okay that your au-
2: ask the question. pitch their ideas on your show?”—And I dience replies by saying “no.” You’re
simply reply, “Yes.” educating them while also helping them
If you’re having issues describing your product understand the problem.
in one sentence, know that you’re not alone. The amazing thing is that I just got the
Try asking a few of your friends and family how pitchee to describe my product to me. I Click here to read the full article
they’d describe your product and you’ll soon never wonder if they understand what my
understand how to pitch your idea to “normal company does or how to explain it to oth-