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Years ago, B2B customers were determining exactly what they needed to fulfill a need, improve a process, etc., they used to talk to a sales person in order to figure out the best option. Nowadays, customers are going online to do the research themselves online. That means you have to create content that gives themRead more

One of the challenges professional communicators face is making their content stand out in a sea of words, written and spoken. One way is through rhetorical devices or wordplay, that is, word choices or arrangements that create a rhythm or tone. In turn, that rhythm grabs the attention of your audience, and the tone invokesRead more

I happen to be a big fan of brain-based things (I have a Luminosity brain fitness account and everything). That includes why people do the things they do, which doesn’t always have a logical or obvious answer. The mystery of what causes people to change their minds, make a particular decision, or take certain actionsRead more

According to MarketingProfs, case studies are considered one of the top five most effective B2B content marketing tactics. It’s not surprising. Since case studies quote third parties and describe their experiences, your prospects are likely to consider them more credible than other promotional materials. Also, case studies are essentially stories of conflict and resolution, whichRead more

If you want to be really successful at selling something (product, service or idea) you have to draw attention to the benefits that most interest the prospective customer. That means that you need to address customer pain points. Customer pain points are the problems or issues that are preventing your customers (and prospective customers) fromRead more

What do effective marketing and PR messages and interesting fiction have in common? Their creators develop vivid characters. Creators of fiction give us the likes of Alex Cross, Nancy Drew, Atticus Finch (one of my favorites), or Olivia Pope. The marketing professional uses her imaginary characters (called “buyer personas”) to craft attention-grabbing, persuasive messages. BuyerRead more

While we’ve all heard about digital tools like HootSuite and Google Analytics, some of us may be overlooking other tools that could help streamline some of our work processes and point the way to increased effectiveness. I decided to try a bunch of tools that I’d heard about from various sources. I’ve added the tool’sRead more

Once again, I’m offering information on how to write powerful headlines and subject lines, but this time I’m sharing skill-honing exercises from various sources around the web. If you have the time, try one of more of these exercises during your next writing assignment. If you have some downtime, you can practice on an oldRead more

To start off, stop thinking about the topic as boring, even if it’s about something like air filters. Rejecting the “boring” label for any subject is the first step to turning a tedious topic into compelling content. Below are some ideas for your next steps: Find Out What Questions People Are Already Asking If you’reRead more

 When I first ventured onto social media networks years and years ago, I didn’t have a plan. I just knew that people said it was a good idea to be there. As a  result, my LinkedIn account and Facebook fan page just sat there, doing nothing for me. When I later joined Twitter, I wasRead more