@thedannorris

How to use Your Blog to Supercharge Your Small Business

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@thedannorris

How to turn your blog inside out, build a world class startup & make yourself

better looking, while sitting on the beach doing nothing.

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Welcome to Content Club !

Dan Norris - Co-founder contentclub.co

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WP Curve today• Team of 45 in 7 countries •Worked with 3,000+ customers • $1m AUD annual run rate • 60,000+ monthly site visits • Featured on Fox TV, Inc, Forbes, Lifehacker • Copied 6,526 times •No advertising - only content

6 years of blogging

• My first post ‘Other blogs I like’

• 700 pieces of content

• One email per week

• 350 failed on-site articles

• I tried literally everything

• Webinars

• Plugins

• Infographics

• Illustrations

• Podcasts

• Videos

• Long posts (5,000+ words )

• Interactive / graphics

• Guest posts

• Interactive guest posts

• Guest interviews

• Conference

presentations

• Media releases

• Ebooks & books

• Animated videos

• Targeted articles at

press outlets

• Influencer outreach

• Q&A in forums

• AMAs

• Marketing guides

• Email courses and

sequences

2012 - 2013

1. Wrote 400+ posts

2. Had a few posts with 200+ tweets

3. Guest posts on ThinkTraffic, Problogger, FlyingSolo and others

4. Was regularly told I wouldn’t be able to ‘monetize’

5. Was awarded Australia’s top small business blogger

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•Changing the way we think about blogging • Learning why most bloggers need a better business • Learning why most businesses need a better blog •6 blueprints for effective blogging •3 frameworks for scaling your content

What are we doing today?

Q - How do I create a blog? Q - How do I get traction with my content? Q - How do I get more comments? Q - How do I improve my conversions? Q - How to I monetise my blog? Q - How do I get guest writers? Q - How do I use frameworks to save time?

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Are you a blogger or a content marketer?

Content marketing is releasing something

interesting that grabs attention for a business

and builds trust.

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Who is doing this well?

• Red Bull

•Moz ($30m recurring revenue)

•Hubspot ($1.65b market cap)

• Copyblogger ($10m revenue)

• Frank Body ($20m revenue?)

3 aspects of a successful content strategy

Great Content

A Great Business

Monetisation Logic

A perfect world

Great Content

A Great Business

Differentiation Traction Scale

• Create a blog? • Get traction with their content • Get comments • Improve conversions • Monetise • Get guest writers • Use frameworks to save time

What does a blogger aim to do?

Q - How do I create a blog? Q - How do I get traction with my content Q - How do I get more comments? Q - How do I improve my conversions Q - How to I monetise my blog? Q - How do I get guest writers Q - How do I use frameworks to save time

• Designs a business worth marketing • Forms a vision of what needs to exist (but doesn’t) • Looks for ways to differentiate to produce content to get

attention • Tests and looks for traction • Does more of what works • Scales their efforts so they can be more entrepreneurial

What does a content marketer do?

Q - How do I design a business worth marketing

Q - What content needs to exist in my space (but doesn’t)

Q - How do I differentiate my content to get attention

Q - How do I create great content to get traction

Q - How do I scale and build a content machine

Characteristics of a great business

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1. They are fundamentally profitable

2. They operate in a large market 3. They naturally build assets 4. They Have a Simple, Relatable

Differentiator 5. The focus on consistent

revenue and high LTV

6. They invest in a memorable brand

7. They are built by teams not individuals

8. They know how to say “no” 9. They understand the power of

monthly growth 10.They think long term

What is your vision?

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How to differentiate

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6 models of differentiation

Out Hustle

Reveal Secrets

Give More

Use Data

Be Funnier

Do Something

First

Out Design

How to achieve great content

Great content is something you provide to your

audience that captures their attention and

encourages them to engage and share.

Don’t be afraid to go outside your niche

Care about your community

Be more generous

Be more transparent

Be more contrarian

Be insanely useful

Tell a better story

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How to scale

6 Frameworks (actually 3)

Content style guide

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Style guide inclusions

1.Audience

2.Content value

3.Formatting

4.Images

5.Excerpt

6.Editing

7.Back end

Content promotion

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Content promotion guidelines

1. Canva graphic

2. Click to tweet

3. Mentions

4. Hootsuite

5. Facebook / G+

6. Content submission sites

7. Additional promotion

Storytelling frameworks

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@thedannorris

contentmachine.com

The missing 3 frameworks

1. 10 minute content strategy

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Full strategy inclusions

•Vision •Values • Inspiration •Description •Target communities

•Differentiators •Unfair advantage •Key relationships •Metrics •Lead magnets and CTAs

2. First 20 topics

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• Twitter • Google Analytics • Google Webmaster Tools • Meetup • Ask audience • Guests • Personal story • Help desk • Trends • Inbox

• Google Keyword Tool • Forum / group • Competitor • Buzzsumo • Top industry blogs • Thought leaders • Amazon • Quora • Reddit • Podcasts

Full 20 sources

3. Content multiplier

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Case study

Guide

Roundup

How to

How not to

Infographic

Comparison / review

Cost / price

Data driven

Best of / list

Opinion

Content multiplier steps

1. Topic - WordPress speed

2. Problem - High bounce rate, loosing customers

3. Aspiration - I want a site as fast as WordPress.com

4. Choose a content type

Content multiplier steps (cont)

5. Write a descriptive title

• How WP Curve reduced their bounce rate by 30%

• The ultimate guide for speeding up your site

• 4 experts weigh in on WordPress speed

• 6 plugins that will slow down your site

• Things worth doing to speed up your site

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Content multiplier steps (cont)

6. Add a hook (Contrarian, surprising, objections, guarantee, interest, fear

• How WP Curve increased conversions and reduced bounce rate by 30%, without

compromising site quality.

• The ultimate guide for making your site load faster than WordPress.com

• Matt Mullenweg and 3 other experts weigh in on their top ideas for speeding up

WordPress

• 6 plugins that kill site speed (hint, you are probably using at least one)

• 5 web design compromises worth making, to speed up your WordPress site