You probably have a few friends who always seem to be into something new, each time you talk with them.
They are jumping into the latest new trend, or have discovered some amazing hidden opportunity.
You envy their enthusiasm and optimism. They seem so alive, so curious, so plugged into what’s happening. Their eyes sparkle, their level of energy is contagious.
In fact, you pretty much want to do what they are doing. It looks like a fun life, and a fun way to make a living.
But…
To put it at its simplest, our brains have a smart side and an incredibly dumb side.
What’s scary is that the dumb side has way too much influence over the decisions we make. This is particularly true when it comes to our hopes for the future.
To illustrate what I mean, let’s look at an example.
Imagine two experts, both of whom are going to give us some advice on how to lose weight. Specifically, they are going to tell us how to lose 10 lbs over the course of the next 30 days.
The first expert is a doctor and researcher who has been studying weight loss for 30 years.
He talks about the multiple influences involved – genetics, food choices, exercise, family dynamics, mental health, work stresses, time of year and so on. He explains the complexity of weight loss and how one plan might work for one person, but not for another.
He makes some general recommendations, but again qualifies his advice by pointing out the multiple variables involved.
Now for our second expert. He may be a doctor, or not. It doesn’t really matter.
One way to define the various types of pages on a website is to place them into two main categories — sales pages and content pages.
The purpose of sales pages is self-evident.
But the purpose of content pages is a little less easy to define.
Some content pages are created specifically to attract organic search engine traffic. Others are created to become popular across social media. And a few are created with the specific purpose of informing and educating the site’s readers.
Vaguer still is the connection between the content pages and the sales page.
As I explain in this video, I think the days are past when you can get away with asking, “Is this content good enough?”
Smart content marketers now need to raise the bar considerably, and ask themselves a much tougher question, “Is this content good enough to be curated?”
Watch the video and then keep reading for some more tips and resources.
Writing powerful headlines for web content is a forgotten craft.
I don’t mean the craft itself is forgotten. I mean we simply forget to use it.
Somewhere in our minds we know the headline is important. We know it’s what hooks the reader, or not. And we know it has a big impact on whether or not our content is shared through social media.
So how come we keep grinding out boring and unenticing headlines for our content pages?
I don’t know what your excuse it, but for myself I sometimes publish content with boring headlines simply because I have forgotten to rework the placeholder headline I started out with.
This is a side-effect of the way I write any page or post. I throw down a placeholder headline as an anchor to get myself started. It’s often simply a short description of what I plan to write about.
The trouble is…
For most of the time, we take our ability to write for granted.
After all, pretty much everyone can write. It’s one of those default skills we learn at school. And because everyone can do it, the act of writing becomes a commodity. There is no longer anything special about it.
Your mother writes. Your neighbors write. Your kids write. In fact, chances are that one of them is writing something on Facebook right now.
But if you view writing as a craft instead of just a commodity activity, remarkable things can happen.
First, you will have found a way to express yourself, your feelings and your opinions beyond simply writing one more Facebook entry. Second…