Sales and Marketing

When you create an online presence, your business is no longer local. Every campaign is global.

For example, if your cupcake factory is in Rosebud, Saskatchewan, and your delicious creations spread through digital word-of-mouth to the extent that you are now getting several orders a day from as far away as India, you may want to revamp your business plan to include international orders. (That would be a good problem to have!)

On the Internet, content is king. Post good stuff and it might spread like a good cupcake. There are no guarantees, but if your content is bad, you'll be the only one reading it. If it's really terrible and offensive, sometimes it goes viral because people can't believe you posted it and will share it with their friends. That kind of viral isn't creating disciples...

We are pleased to announce the official publication of The Content Planner by Angela Crocker! This comprehensive workbook will help you plan, create, and publish content relevant to your business. If you're struggling to come up with a content plan, here's the first step you should take.

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An excerpt from the upcoming book, The Content Planner by Angela Crocker, available on February 7, 2017:

Creating content is an investment of time and, sometimes, money. A confirmed return on your investment makes it easy to justify spending the resources. With a content plan, you have the potential to experience a wide range of benefits. The benefits that matter most to you will depend on your business model and goals...

Running a drone business is not only about flying a drone. One of the important skills you need to hone is creating compelling aerial video footage for your clients.

What you will deliver for your clients will be a package of aerial video and photos from the flight. This bundle will represent your company, your skill level, and your value, so deliver a quality product to every customer every time. Standardizing your deliverable will be important so you can be consistent, and efficient in assembling it after you return from the flight site...

You cannot underestimate the value of good content. Yet, many business owners still struggle to plan, organize, and create content which will align with their businesses' mission. If you're interested in planning and organizing your content in a better, more efficient way, be on the lookout for the new book on this subject coming this February: The Content Planner by Angela Crocker. And today you have a chance to meet its author.

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An excerpt from Writing for the Web by Crawford Kilian

Avoid clichés like the plague. A cliché is a phrase or expression that was once so new and surprising that everyone repeated it. Like an unspoiled tourist destination ruined by too many tourists, the cliché loses its whole reason for existence when everyone uses it...

The digital revolution has drastically changed where readers buy books, what books they read and in what format they read them. While these changes initially made engaging with and building loyalty among readers a challenge for authors and publishers, the shift online has come to be seen as an enormous marketing opportunity. Digital platforms offer valuable insight into how characters, plot lines and topics are perceived while presenting an opportunity for publishers and authors to directly engage with readers.

The internet offers authors many ways to market and promote a book. Engaging...

Blogs are all over the Web. Many businesses maintain a blog on or separate from their business websites. Some of them are written well and worth reading; some of them are written poorly and a waste of time.

Besides keeping your eye on popular and successful blogs to see what others are succeeding (or perhaps failing) at, I believe there are several main things that any business owner should consider before investing time and money into a blog....

Social media is an essential tool for many small businesses, according to San Diego-area authors and marketers Holly Berkley and Amanda Walter. It can be underused, overused, or misused in the wrong hands, and learning what to do and how to do it is essential as it can make or break a business.

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