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How Will You Meet Your Content Needs this Year — and Overcome the Three Leading Challenges Facing Content Marketers?

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Five Reasons Why a Freelance Content Marketing Writer Could Be Your Single Best Secret Weapon

Are you one of the 93% B2B marketers using Content Marketing to attract prospects, convert leads, and retain customers — with compelling, buyer-focused, sales-funnel-driven content?

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Are you dealing with one of the top challenges facing Content Marketers today? You don’t have to suffer in silence. A freelance content writer could be your secret weapon in producing all of the high-quality content you need — and I’m just a phone call or email way!

If so, you’re likely facing one or more of the 12 leading challenges cited by Content Marketers in a recent B2B study.

Challenge one is “lack of time.”

The number two challenge is “producing enough content.”

Number three is “producing the kind of content that engages.”

Did you know there is a secret weapon to overcome all of these challenges? Freelance Content Marketing writers.

Over 64% of Content Marketers say they outsource some or all of their content creation.

For example, Coca-Cola has hired over 40 freelance writers to produce content for its industry-leading 2020 Initiative Strategy.

GE says that it relies on a staff of both freelance Content Marketing writers and staff writers to produce content for its innovative Ecomagination.com microsite.

And they are not the only ones. Many companies understand the value of using freelance writers to meet their content needs — especially as Content Marketing becomes the dominant force in marketing and sales.

Are you missing a great opportunity to make sure you’re producing enough high-quality content to engage your prospects, leads, and customers all the way through the buyer’s journey?

Do You Have a Freelance Writer on Speed Dial — or Email or Text?

All of these Content Marketing insights come from the 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends-North America survey and report produced by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

The report shares valuable insight into the opportunities and challenges of Content Marketing, including metrics for B2B Content Marketing success and organizational goals for Content Marketing.

But what it doesn’t share is how to overcome the leading challenges.

Five Top Reasons to Hire a Freelance Content Marketing Writer

Freelance writers are the ideal solution when you are facing the leading challenges of Content Marketing.

And here are five reasons why.

1. Freelance writers have time.

If a freelance writer is looking for new clients, it means he or she has time in their schedule to write the Content Marketing you need.

This doesn’t mean we aren’t busy. It just means that we don’t have 9-to-5 jobs dominating our workweeks.

It also means we are adept at time management and juggling many different projects at one time. It’s a gift!

2. Freelance writers do excellent work.

Professional freelance writers are some of the best writers in the business. If we weren’t we wouldn’t be in business.

3. Freelance writers are quick studies.

Some freelance writers write content in only one niche. But the majority of freelancers are industry agnostic. They have written for many industries and types of businesses.

Writing for multiple industries requires the ability to quickly get up-to-speed on new topics. This rapid-ramp-up capability is a skill that versatile freelance writers have honed to a science.

So don’t worry if a freelance writer doesn’t have experience in your particular niche. He or she can ramp up fast.

4. Freelance writers are flexible.

Many companies don’t need a writer to create content from 9-to-5 five days a week. Many only need content every few weeks or months — for ebooks, white papers, customer success stories, and other content.

This is the freelance sweet spot for companies: You only hire us when you need us. The rest of the time we aren’t on your clock pretending to be productive.

Also, sometimes companies need content quickly to meet an unexpected deadline.

I can’t speak for every freelance writer, but I know that I will often work weekends and evenings to meet a client’s deadline.

It’s all part of the benefits package you’ll get from working with a freelancer!

5. Freelance writers are economical.

This doesn’t mean cheap. For that you’d have to look at content mill writers who work for a few bucks per blog post. That’s not what we are talking about here.

We are talking about professional writers who create the highest quality content, who understand all of the moving parts of Content Marketing, and who speak your language.

They may charge what seems to you, at first glance, like a high hourly or project rate.

But when you consider the many advantages of bringing a freelance writer on board, their rate seems downright economical.

For example, you save money in multiple ways when you use freelance writers. You don’t have responsibility for all of the other costs associated with hiring a full-time staff member, like vacation pay, sick days, ongoing training, office space, equipment and supplies, healthcare and other benefits.

So if you are among the 93% of marketers deploying Content Marketing campaigns this year — and don’t want your plans crippled by a lack of quality content — you should consider having your very own freelance content writer on speed dial, email, or text.

Call me post it noteI’ll be ready when you are!

 

 

 

 

Show and Tell — “Austin Chronicle” Photographer Captures Powerful Images and Gives a Memorable Workshop

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John Anderson Shared the Power of Images to Show and Tell a Story in Photojournalism Workshop

Can You Spot the Undercover Cops at Occupy Austin? These three photos include APD undercover cops, who infiltrated the event. Photographer, John Anderson, spotted them in his photos of the event. Top photo: Reza is to the right of the protester with the duct tape over his mouth (Corey Williams). Middle photo: Reza is also in the crowd marching with the banner. In the bottom photo: Shannon "Butch" McDowell is the guy with the long black and gray beard standing behind the sign and woman with her fist up (Natalie Atwater).
Can You Spot the Undercover Cops at Occupy Austin? These three photos include APD undercover cops, who infiltrated the event. Photographer, John Anderson, spotted them in his photos. Top photo: Reza is to the right of the protester with the duct tape over his mouth (Corey Williams). Middle photo: Reza is also in the crowd marching with the banner. In the bottom photo: Shannon “Butch” McDowell is the guy with the long black and gray beard standing behind the sign and woman with her fist up (Natalie Atwater).

Occupy Wall Street was an historic event that captivated the public and spread to cities across the country—including Austin, where Occupy Austin lasted for nearly five months, with protesters camping out at City Hall.

One local photographer—John Anderson—captured the entire event and will be publishing his photos in an upcoming book entitled: In Search of a Revolution. Occupy Austin in Photographs and Text.

John described his interest in documenting Occupy Austin:

“The project began as an assignment to photograph the Occupy Austin encampment for an on-going photo gallery for The Austin Chronicle website. The movement’s energy and 24/7 aspect made it an exciting and challenging project that I continued beyond what was originally expected from the assignment.”

Visually Documenting a Unique, Historic Event

Occupy Austin PhotographsWhile other media covered bits and pieces of Occupy Austin, no one covered it visually more thoroughly visually than John.

His images tell the story of the struggle of a small band of local activists more than any words could.

I had the great good fortune to learn about capturing visual images at live events from John at a three-hour workshop held in June.

The event took place at a location I discovered in the spring, called 5604 Manor. 5604 Manor offers a wide variety of programs and events, like panel discussions with people in the natural food world and documentaries on activists’ issues, along with worker defense programs.

Workshop Covers Photographing a Controversial Activist Event

Occupy Austin PhotographsFor the first hour of the photojournalism workshop, John ran through an overview of photography tips such as exposure, lighting, and composition.

Then for the next two hours, he clicked through a slide show with many of the photos he took during Occupy Austin.

For each image, he discussed why he took the photo, what he was thinking at the time, what was going on around him, and visual highlights of the images.

This personal component made it hands-down the best photography lesson I’ve ever experienced.

One of my favorite behind-the-scenes commentaries was the revelation that there were a few undercover cops pretending to be protesters participating in Occupy Austin.

John and an associate were able to spot the undercover cops when they reviewed the images.

View Occupy Austin Images Online or in Upcoming New Books

In Search of a Revolution Cover-4Regarding his upcoming new multi-book project, John said:

“The book project documents a group in Austin, Texas, who participated in the international movement created by Occupy Wall Street. On October 6, 2011, they set up an encampment by taking advantage of a no-curfew policy at Austin City Hall and called themselves Occupy Austin. The project consists of three photo books all presented chronologically.”

The images will be available in several formats:

  • The first book, In Search of a Revolution: Occupy Austin in Photographs and Text, contains 196 photos with 188 pages and includes an appendix with thumbnail photos to identify the undercover officers in the book, officers’ text messages, and links to more information. The book will be available for $59.99.
  • The second book, Occupy Austin: The Encampment Months, is a subset of the first. It contains 49 photos with 50 pages just from the physical encampment period. It will be available for $29.99.
  • The third book is an ebook version of In Search of a Revolution: Occupy Austin in Photographs and Text (for iPad only at this point). It will contain links spread throughout the book to The Austin Chronicle photo gallery, court documents obtained under subpoena regarding the APD under covers, a link to Wikileaks’ copy of the Stratfor email indicating DPS had at least one under cover officer with the group, and Chronicle articles about the infiltrations. The ebook will also have audio files of chanting. It will be available for $19.99.
  • Finally, PDF files of the two books will be available for $7.99 each.

Occupy Austin: The Encampment Months will be for sale at Monkeywrench bookstore in Austin. The rest will be sold online to start.

While waiting for his book, you can view John’s Occupy Austin images on The Austin Chronicle website, where he has created an archive.

John’s workshop lessons in photographing important events will stay with me forever—as much as his powerful images will.

A few months after the workshop, I saw John in action at a local protest march. It was interesting to watch him as he did things like stand in the middle of the march facing the marchers as they walked around him.

I could tell John was capturing the best images of the day.

You. You. You. — Is it Really the Most Powerful Word in Marketing?

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A Non-Existent Study Has Bolstered this Claim for Years — Meanwhile Leonardo da Vinci Leveraged the Power of You Over 500 Years Ago

For years, “experts” have claimed that you is the most powerful word in the English language — or, at the very least, one of the top five to 12.

But recently that standing was debunked when it was revealed that the “Yale research” many of these claims are based on never happened.

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Is “you” the most powerful word in marketing? Or is it a victim of false advertising?

Still, that doesn’t negate the power of the word you in marketing.

Consider these two sentences:

Business owners benefit when they use persuasive words in their content.

You benefit when you use persuasive words in your content.

Which sentence is stronger?

Most people would pick the second version, because you sounds more personal and direct — which is always good.

What Would da Vinci Do?

I’ve known the power of the word you for decades, thanks to an article I read in the 1980s by Bryan Mattimore in a publication that no longer exists.

I’ve kept a copy of the article all these years in my marketing research folder. It’s that good.

Now I can share it with you.

In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci was in a fix. Times were tough at court, and he needed to drum up additional business (patrons).

But how? It’s not easy telling the world you’re talented — much less a genius.

DaVinci decided to write to his Excellency Ludovic Sforza to promote his considerable talents.

Interesting enough, the style and substance of his letter exemplified three important (and timeless) rules of advertising creative services.

Rule 1 — Present Your Talents in Light of a Current Market Need.

Did DaVinci say that he was a great artist? Or that he was the best “mirror writer” in all of Italy?

No, he identified a pressing need, and offered to fill it: Namely, to design and build “instruments of war” for his Excellency.

Rule 2 — Be Specific About Your Creative Point of Difference.

DaVinci’s letter noted that he had studied the work of other masters and inventors of instruments of war — and found that their work “did not differ in any respect from those in common practice.”

He went on to outline how his unique, and easy-to-transport “unassailable armored cars, and catapults of wonderful efficacy” were superior to anything yet invented.

Rule 3 — Use More “You’s” than “I, Me, My, or We’s” in Your Copy.

This is the acid test for Rule 1.

Make sure you’re focusing not on yourself — but on the needs of your potential clients.

DaVinci’s opening paragraph, for instance, had four “you” and “your Excellency’s” and only three “I, me, my, or we’s.”

It doesn’t take a fake research study — or a true genius — to know that, when it comes to powerful words, you will always be a contender.

If you need content that gets your prospects’ and customers’ attention, then you need to hire me! I write market content that gets noticed, makes an impact, and puts your words to work.