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Core content is simple. It’s content that aligns with your audience’s interests while simultaneously generating demand for your product or service.
An example, I’m a wedding photographer. So my core content in that business is education or sharing my service which helps my ideal client find me on Google or social media.
It may be a blog of a wedding I did, featuring the city and venue (keywords) so google serves it up to couples searching for wedding vendors or venues.
It may be wedding planning advice (how to find the best photographer, you’re engaged now what, how to pick a venue for the best images, etc).
So after you create the blog, research the title to use the best keywords, you’ll want to repurpose to YouTube or podcast, or Instagram live.
Here are just some ways that I repurpose for you to get the gist. Here they are:
That’s just a few ideas. If you do this for each wedding and educational blog, you’ll never have to worry about creating more content. Creating a core piece of content each week is the best to really drive traffic. And all of that content will help to get you found.
In addition, don’t forget that each piece of core content can create around 5-7 IG posts, reels, or other social media content.
If you need help with Pinterest, shoot me an email HERE.
The question I get most asked from clients and potential clients is…… How to make marketing easier and less time-consuming in 2022.
Today I’ll be sharing my answer with everyone. If you have a plan and a strategy that is focused on your business goals, it makes the whole process of marketing easier!
The plan and strategy are around your process for marketing and of course consistently, which is the hardest part of marketing. If you are consistent, you’ll see growth in terms of analytics.
The other key to making it easier and less time-consuming is REPURPOSING.
Repurposing existing content is secret! We’ll cover a few different ideas of how to take content that already exists, as well as, creating a process for your marketing that starts with one piece of content which turns into content for all social media platforms and more.
I excited for you to walk away from this episode with a bunch of new ideas. AND…. a mindset to follow a process that will give you more time to spend doing what you love, instead of creating content!
When you are a solopreneur, you feel like you can never create enough content. Every time you turn around, you need something else. The key is to understand that you always want to start with quality content. Quality content is what your ideal client is typing into that search bar to find your content.
Google as well as your ideal client wants quality content. The better your content is, the more trust you are building with that person and Google’s algorithm is very good at finding quality content and sharing it far and wide.
Consistency creates trust with the google algorithm. It sees you consistently pumping out quality content and will drive more traffic to your blog, and ultimately your business will grow.
Consistency is something I talk about a lot. It’s typically the one missing piece for success on social media and online.
Algorithms love consistently and tend to produce better engagement and your stuff gets seen more. And people love depending upon your steady stream of content. Oftentimes if consistency falls, so does follows and engagement.
What makes marketing easier is if you have a system or process that you replicate week after week. When you have a system or process, it helps you be consistent and over time you get faster at doing it.
Most of my clients come to me with inconsistent marketing because they have little to no time. Whether they are running multiple businesses, have young kids at home, or something else, my typical ideal client has no time and is looking for help. If they don’t outsource to me, the next best thing is to create a simple system that they follow each week.
Here’s a peek into what that looks like for most of my clients:
Start with CORE CONTENT.
This is typically a blog, youtube video, or podcast. (if you want a quicker way to do a blog, I’ve recommended clients talk out loud on their cell phone voice recorder or even better use Otter.ai. You talk and it types. You would then obviously edit so that it’s good but this way you talk to type and it comes across far more authentic and readable.
Create Graphics/Repurposing Content.
Once the blog writing and editing are complete. At a different time of day, you will sit down and create graphics. Here’s a list of the main things, but you can add many more to that.
Store these graphics in a folder on google or dropbox with the title of the blog so you can quickly find it and use graphics throughout the year.
I have mentioned above ways to repurpose the content but the key is to create all the graphics at one time. When you are writing/editing, it’s a different part of your brain than when you are creating a graphic. I find I save a ton of time by doing like-minded things at the same time.
Storing them in a folder on google or dropbox helps you to find them quickly when you are in a pinch for new content on social media! YES, you can use them again. Almost NO ONE sees all your content in total and will notice when you use something again. Especially in IG stories. For posts, wait 3 months and you should be good!
I know it feels and sometimes is time-consuming, but it’s super helpful to ensure that your content is being seen by your ideal client and spread as far as possible.
There are two times when research can be done.
The first is when you have a topic. You can research to find the best title for the blog, video, or podcast. I like using ubersuggest, google keyword planner, Keywords Everywhere which is a chrome plugin that will automatically give you options when you search on google to the right side. In addition, you can also simply type your idea into google to see what appears in the drop-down menu.
The second is after you write the blog and are looking for alternative keywords to use in the blog to use different types of keywords to attract your ideal client. Also, you can use the keywords to use on Pinterest pins, titles, descriptions.
Here’s the key to not overwhelm yourself especially if you are inclined to be a perfectionist (hmm I’m offended by what I just wrote ). Even if you set a timer for 5 minutes and that’s it, it will be helpful to know what words are highly searched to boost your blogs (and all content) reach.
If you struggle with writing blogs or being consistent and research is that roadblock, ignore it for right now and just write a blog. While I’m on that topic, blogs should be more than 300 words, but if that’s a roadblock, even doing a few paragraphs to get a groove on consistency will really help and then increase it over time.
Since there really isn’t a perfect rhythm that Google recommends. Consider what you will commit to, what feels doable, and doesn’t overwhelm you. Whatever you choose, ensure that it’s consistent! If you can, try doing it weekly or biweekly. But if all you can do is monthly, that’s fine, as long as you commit and do it.
PRO TIP: Batching is the key to being consistent and making it easier. Remember when I spoke about working on like-minded things? If you create your four pieces of core content all in one day, you’ll be working so much faster than doing it each week. Then each week you can work on the graphics for each piece of core content.
Let me know if I missed anything or if this was helpful over on Instagram!
If you want success in your business, choose goals and GRIT instead of New Year’s Resolutions!
As we go into the new year, we’ll all hear talk about resolutions. It’s the time honored thing that we humans do. But how effective are New Year’s resolutions?
According to Forbes, about 50% of us humans make resolutions (from losing weight to healthy living, to business goals). Sadly by February, virtually every study tells us that approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions will get abandoned.
This year, instead of making a new year’s resolution, I am going to create a business goal of including GRIT into my business goals.
What is GRIT? I found that answer in discovering Dr. Angelia Duckworth, the foremost expert on the subject with an extremely popular TED talk (with 25,293,047 views) and New York Times best selling author.
When I watched the Ted Talk many years ago, it hit me so hard because it makes so much sense on why certain people success and others don’t.
Dr. Duckworth explains GRIT in this way, GRIT is passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way. It combines resilience, ambition, and self-control in the pursuit of goals that take months, years, or even decades.
Grit is NOT talent. Grit isn’t luck. Grit isn’t how intensely, for the moment, you want something.
Defined by Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., GRIT is a personality trait that has been described as passion and perseverance for long-term goals even in the face of adversity.
According to Dr. Duckworth, GRIT is a common factor among high-achieving individuals. Her research suggests that grit is unrelated to IQ but closely related to the conscientiousness factor on the Big Five Personality Test
In psychology, grit is understood as a personality trait that is related to an individual’s perseverance in pursuing particular long-term goals. Individuals with high grit have a decisive drive to keep going in order to achieve the objective.
This stubbornness related to effort is presumed to promote the overcoming of setbacks or roadblocks that are in the way of a person completing their objectives. Grit serves as an essential prerequisite for a person to meet their goal. While today grit is often looked at by the work of Dr. Angela Duckworth, the trait has also been described by other thinkers like William James, Francis Galton, and Aristotle.
Who shows GRIT according to Dr. Duckworth? Will Smith does!.
Angela Duckworth illustrated the concept of grit with a clip of actor Will Smith, in an interview in which he was essentially asked how a poor kid from Philadelphia with no connections in Hollywood had made it big. Smith, who has elsewhere credited his success to his “ridiculous, sickening work ethic,” answered this way: “The only thing that I see that is distinctively different about me is, I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill,” he said. “You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, but if we get on the treadmill together, right, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die.”
I have to say I really enjoyed listening to Will Smith’s Book ” Will” and it’s amazing! About his book “One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way,Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.
Will Smith’s transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale — but it’s only half the story. He thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: Not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn’t see it that way: They felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn’t signed up for. It turned out Will Smith’s education wasn’t nearly over.
This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy best seller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world’s biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.
His Youtube Video is amazing also. It’s about his journey to lose 20lbs and finish his book in 20 weeks. The ups and downs as authentically shared by Will was inspiration and real! You can watch that here.
Let’s get back to how this connects to new year’s resolutions? Since so many people give up resolutions, I encourage small business owners to create goals, with step by step ways to accomplish them and include grit into the mix to stay on course and persevere.
You know the saying, ‘How do you eat an elephant’? While I find this analogy offensive because I love elephants, the point holds true.
When you have a big goal, don’t focus on the big goal, focus on the tiny steps that get you to that big goal week after week.
What about you? Since GRIT is not a natural talent but rather a focus and determination, you can!
Do you want to find out your GRIT Score from Angela Duckworth grit calculator. In order to get the most effective results, you must be honest when asking these questions.
Talent isn’t the most important thing to consider, it’s the passion you have for that subject and how dedicated you are to staying the course and ultimately how ok you are with getting up time and time again when things don’t go as planned.
I have been described as someone who has grit by business friends and family. When I’m passionate about something, I am focused on each step that gets me to my goal and rarely let laziness or failure get in my way. I dust off and find another way to achieve it.
For me, failure is always one step closer to my goals. I’ve learned to embrace failures (even while I have a tiny pity party in the moment of failure.). This I know to be true. Success, which I define as growth, is always around the corner of failure.
How are you going to apply GRIT to your business goals this year? I’d love to hear on this post. (IG POST)
I’d like to give credit for this blog post to Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta Podcast who featured an episode of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans. You can listen to that here The Science of Grit which hosted by Maya Shankar talking to psychologist Angela Duckworth about Grit.
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Today I’m sharing 10 Things You Need to Do When Getting Started on Pinterest. If you’d rather watch a video, scroll to the bottom.
“I know I should be using it but….”, I tried Pinterest but it didn’t work for me”, “I don’t have time to ALSO work on Pinterest”
If any of those sound familiar, then this will help you out!
As of the second quarter of 2021, Pinterest had 454 million monthly active users worldwide.
Let that sink it!
Do you really know what Pinterest is? Take a few minutes to read this post. I share 5 reasons why every business should use Pinterest.
One mistake people make is they think they create a profile and throw some pins on there, their blog will blow up or they’ll get a ton of clients. THAT is not correct.
Pinterest is valuable and my clients find a ton of success, but there is work that needs to be done. However, you don’t need to spend more than about an hour a week, if you have a marketing system in place.
If you don’t, you should check out my Pinterest VIP Strategy Intensive. I help you get up and running and create a strategy that will work for you and your business.
Here are 10 things you need to do to get started…
On Pinterest, there are two names you need to be aware of, your username and your display name. Your username is what will be used for your Pinterest page URL (www.pinterest.com/jenvazquezcoach).
Your display name is the name under your profile image. Like most everything on Pinterest, it’s searchable so don’t just put your business name in there, include a keyword (search term). So for me I have Jen Vazquez Marketing Coach.
If you have a problem updating it, remember these guidelines directly from Pinterest.
Even if you are a business, people buy from people so use your image, not a logo, unless you are a team. Then go ahead and use a logo.
Just make sure you use the same image on your Instagram and Pinterest. A huge percentage of people will go make sure you are a real person on Instagram so you want them to know they are on the right Instagram profile.
Tip: The dimensions of your Profile picture are 165 x 165 pixels, so photos smaller than that will look stretched.
Again, Pinterest is searchable in most areas and your Pinterest profile is an important one. Both visually to any visitors (potential clients) but also for the algorithm.
When potential clients land on your profile, you want them to know who you are, who you serve, and what you sell. Be specific in the space allowed
Mine: “I help female entrepreneurs go from overwhelm to an easy streamlined marketing strategy that includes Pinterest + repurposing content to grow their business”
Claim everything you can that’s in setting on Pinterest. Your website for sure. Instagram for sure. And claim YouTube, shops, or whatever you have.
This helps not only for you to see all the analytics from each channel, but also let’s Pinterest know that you are everywhere and insinuates trust.
A good foundation to start is 10-15 boards with 20-30 pins on each board. When considering what boards to create, start with these two effective ones.
First, your business name should be a board. Every pin you create will get pinned to this board but only your content.
Second, you should have a board named Free Resources (or something similar). This will go a long way to attract attention when a potential client sees your profile. You’ll pin every blog, lead magnet, or free course or masterclass.
For the other 8 boards, consider your content pillar in your business and also include some that are in and around your business. As an example, I’m a marketing and Pinterest coach but I also share about Canva.
First, what are keywords? It’s super simple — its words that your ideal client is clicking in a browser window.
Don’t use keywords that will attract your competitors and don’t use industry type acronyms or industry specific. For instance: Photographers use E-sessions but most engaged couples will type engagement session and typically the location they live in, which leads me to another tip.
If you are location based, USE all the words that your community members would search. For instance: I live in San Jose, also known as Silicon Valley, Bay Area, SFBay Area, San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California, etc.
Make sure to do the research! Search on Pinterest and google to see what pops up.
TIP: There is a helpful chrome browser plugin called Keywords Everywhere.
Install the pin it button to your browser. This way you can pin directly from any website. The “pin it” button not only makes it easy for you to curate content, but it will also link that content directly to the website it’s sourced from.
Download the Pinterest app: If you’re an iPhone or Android user, the Pinterest app lets you manage your page on-the-go, directly from your phone and gives you tools the desktop doesn’t.
Idea Pins is something all businesses should use at least monthly, but I recommend weekly by creating an idea pin for each blog post.
With the cell phone app of Pinterest, you can tag Amazon Affiliate links or Products, if you have a catalog uploaded to Pinterest. It also lets you prefer your pin before publishing as you can’t edit most details of an idea pin.
Pinterest has an amazing analytics tool: You can find Pinterest’s analytics features by going to analytics.pinterest.com, or by clicking on the Analytics link at the top of your profile.
This tool tracks the growth of your profile, who is engaging with your pins, and what people are pinning from your website. Check your analytics on a regular basis to get a sense of what pins people are most interested in.
If you create a strategy where you include Pinterest in your marketing system.
A simple way is to create a blog, create graphics (for the blog, Instagram, and Pinterest), then spend an hour each week pinning that content.
Also read the consistency tip as I’m sharing tools!
Now that Instagram has a link option on your stories, you can go into the Pinterest app on your phone, share a pin directly to Instagram and add the link sticker with the link to that pin.
You can also share your profile in a story with the link.
Share in blog posts, Facebook posts, LinkedIn, in emails going out to your clients and potential clients — and even send DM’s with the info when asked about it or as a gift to potential clients.
You optimized your Pinterest, created a foundation and are telling anyone and everyone about your Pinterest profile. Now for the most important secret to Pinterest… CONSISTENCY is key!
A couple ways that help with that is to use Pinterest’s Scheduler. The only drawbacks are that you can only load a certain amount of pins and only a couple weeks out. Plus you can’t pin one pin to a number of boards. It’s pretty manual but free.
Tailwind is my secret for my clients to only spend 30-60 minutes once a week pinning content.
You can pin directly from your blog and to multiple boards and Tailwind will slowly release those pins on a schedule and at the time when you’re most likely to get engagement. There are a ton more tools also — If you want a free trial click here.
There are a lot of things you should have on a pin from text overlay, website, call to action, and to add keywords in your title and description.
You can find more information here.
Every business owner should use Pinterest as it’s effective and easy (once you have a plan). Follow the steps and you’ll be off to an amazing start!
I hope these tips helped you and encouraged you to start or revive an old Pinterest Account.
For more tips on Pinterest and other social media marketing tools like 80 calls to action to put on pins, sign up to receive our Hints & Tips newsletter.
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Every expert for Pinterest may say things a little bit differently and may have different advice. For me, this strategy does really well because it’s timeless and will work even if Pinterest changes the algorithm as so many social media platforms do.
Figure out what your business goals are. Make sure they are smart goals. Specific: Set real numbers with real deadlines. Not more traffic – be specific. Measurable: Make sure your goal is trackable (and keep track of it). Achievable: Work towards a goal that is challenging, but possible. Realistic: Be honest with yourself, you know what you will and won’t do. Time-bound: Give yourself a deadline and create steps to get there.
Always keep up-to-date with what Pinterest’s best practices are and make sure that they are apart of your strategy. If you try to work around them, you will take the chance of getting kicked off of Pinterest for spammy content. These can be found at https://business.pinterest.com/creative-best-practices
This type of content will get you the best results. Actionable content is content people can take action on, it’s advice, tips, help, or how-to type of content. Also any questions you get from your clients more than once, this would make a great blog and content for Pinterest.
Try different colors and readable fonts, add CTR, and use fresh images. Make it impossible for the pin to not be clicked. You can always search for your core content on Pinterest and see what colors are used the least so that your pin stands out.
Whether you pin 2 or 15 times a day, do it EVERY day. Creating a workflow that is easy to follow and replicate week after week enables you to spend less time using Pinterest. Add a system like when you create graphics for your blog post (or youtube or podcast), that is when you should create pins. When you do the same type of work at the same time, you work quicker and more effectively.
Ensure that you are using the correct keywords by researching what your ideal clients are typing into their keyboard to find your content. Look at google and ask your best clients what they would type to find your type of content.
I hope that these steps will help you create an amazing strategy for Pinterest.
If you need help with Pinterest, shoot me an email HERE.
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