Why you must consider starting a podcast
Once upon a time I thought to myself: “Who would listen to me talk about X?”
Today, my mentality has totally changed. Now I tell anyone who will listen why they must have a podcast.
If you’re wondering what those reasons are, look no further than the list below which outlines all of the various ways a podcast will help benefit your business.
Long form content
The biggest takeaway from speaking in an audio format is that you can say a lot more, and have people listen to it, versus doing the same with a blog.
If you were to write 3,000 words in a blog post, chances are most people will skim your article or not read all of it. It takes more time and effort for readers to read; on the contrary, podcast listeners will listen to many more minutes of content than readers will ever read.
That sounds wordy, but it’s true. It’s also why audiobooks are huge these days. Putting on a pair of headphones while working or playing a podcast during your daily commute makes the medium much more accessible than reading a blog post.
Building a personal connection
Just like talking on the phone or in person, you can build a better rapport with a podcast. There’s nothing else quite like it.
Another touch point for your audience
I’m a fan of repurposing content where possible. A case in point is this very blog post, which first appeared as one of my early podcast episodes. It may not be as detailed as the audio version, but this blog post will reach those who don’t listen to the show.
Likewise, I often take articles I’ve written and talk about them on the podcast. It’s really that easy and also makes your content accessible to a larger audience who may prefer reading or listening to one or the other.
Position yourself as an expert
If you really do know what you’re talking about, it won’t take long for others to recognize it.
Podcasting is another great way to help set yourself apart and position yourself as an expert in your trade.
Networking
While podcasting is a great way to reach potential clients and customers, you can also leverage the platform to connect with other experts within your industry. This helps all ships rise with the tide by collaborating with others in your field.
You may even be invited as a guest on another podcast, which will only help your own numbers grow.
Less competition
While podcasting is growing, it’s nowhere near the mass saturation of blogging.
With far less competition, your podcast could reach more listeners than a blog. You may also happen upon an untapped niche that’s missing an audio version, further elevating your content marketing campaigns.
SEO and reach
While everyone’s fighting for first page position in Google search rankings, a podcast is just as effective at getting you or your brand noticed. Apple iTunes, YouTube and others have excellent search algorithms which will help increase your SEO and the overall amount of people your brand can reach.
Google will even give priority to videos, especially YouTube videos, in their rankings. That’s something to consider: even if you do not have the ability to produce a video podcast, it only takes a few extra steps to add a graphic to an audio file and have a “video” published on the world’s largest video website that’s also owned by the world’s largest search engine.
Barriers to entry
While I can’t cover how to begin a podcast without making this post too long, I can say that its easier than ever to get started.
Many of the tools you need to get started with a basic podcast may be right in front of you right now. Smartphones have apps which will record audio from its built-in microphone or a set of plugged in earbuds. Microphones which attach to a laptop are relatively inexpensive as well, and free software (downloaded or included with your computer) can assist in the recording process.
Even if you don’t have a lot of technical know-how you can upload your file to any number of pay services that can host your podcast. While I don’t necessarily recommend someone else holding or controlling your content, it’s an inexpensive and easy way to get your voice heard.
Conclusion
If podcasting is something you’re truly interested in, but you need some help, feel free to ask me about better methods of recording, hosting and/or editing your own audio program.
What does this do for YOU?
This may seem like a very innocent question in the world of content marketing, but it’s a noteworthy one. Every blog you write, every post you make on social media, every word you speak on a podcast or publish in an email or eBook is significant.
For example, if you mention a third-party product (i.e. not your own) in a campaign, you may be seen as endorsing it. Worse, you could be giving away free advertising.
The first thing to understand is that anything you say or do with you audience carries weight. A simple thank you or mentioning a mutually beneficial partner is an act of good will: randomly mentioning something else may have a negative impact, which a brand spinning its wheels to gain traction cannot afford to do.
Therefore, always ask yourself: “What does this do for you?”
That’s not a selfish stance, but something that must be thought out when focusing on your content marketing strategy. Your primary focus should be sales or new business. In order to attract those customers or clients, your efforts should spotlight your brand or company.
Generally speaking, you want to bring your audience to you. You do that by sharing information on social media, however, it’s not always that simple. There’s no harm in sharing posts from someone else or publishing photos on your social media networks, but there’s little “juice” to be gained to get those potential buyers to take the next step. A breadcrumb trail leading back to your website (where your sales pitch is, hopefully, well defined) should be your primary goal.
Sharing the local weather report, that someone can get anywhere else (such as the source) probably won’t help your return on your investment of time and money. That’s an issue I see with many potential new and even existing clients. They share/post a lot on social media, but it doesn’t generate any conversation and certainly if it’s not leading back to their website with a link or call to action, it disappears into the oblivion with no interaction.
“Sharing is Caring” but you have to be careful to not overshadow your own efforts. Think of it this way – you wouldn’t buy a billboard or radio spot for someone else, so we need to ask ourselves why we’re freely promoting something, if, “it does nothing for you.”
Again, that may come off as self-serving, but that’s the entire purpose of marketing. Far too often I see people with great drive expend their energy on things that aren’t directly helping their bottom line. Don’t be that person. Get down to basics and ask yourself the question above. You may find that this concept helps streamline your overall efforts and makes them more efficient and effective!
3 Basic building blocks for any new website
For many of you out there, you’re considering getting into the world of content marketing but you’re not quite there yet. Nearly everything I’ve published on my blog and podcast to date has catered to those who already have an established website.
However, I realize there’s a segment of you out there that are starting from scratch. You’re wondering, “How do I start a blog or podcast?”
In this article I’ll go over three basic building blocks you will need in order to successfully start marketing with digital media.
Note: this article contains affiliate links to services where I may earn a commission.
Domain Name
You’ve seen commercials for GoDaddy before: but what is GoDaddy?
It’s one of several reputable domain registrars on the Internet. In layman’s terms, it’s a place you go to buy your dotcom name. (Another well known registrar is Network Solutions.)
When I jump to the next step below, you may say to yourself “Well this place is going to give me a domain name for free.”
Don’t do it!
You don’t want to your domain tied to a service you may have to move from. Imagine not being able to move your money from one bank to another: where your domain is parked is just as important. I’ve seen clients who have had their domains held hostage for an obscene amount of money. Oftentimes those clients don’t want to pay the ransom and end up having to start all over after investing years of time and money into promoting their name.
Worse, Google may not get properly notified if you change your domain name. You will then fall off of whatever page you were on, should you have a website which ranked high in search.
Another buyer beware is the cheap registrar sites. Some of these are fly by night operations, which can be shutdown by a governing body such as ICANN, causing your web presence to disappear overnight. This is the worst-case scenario when purchasing a name; in the event of the ransom situation, you may at least have some legal recourse.
Therefore, don’t skimp on where you buy your name from. The few extra dollars saved isn’t worth it.
I wouldn’t sweat the details as to which variation of a domain name you buy. A .com, .net, or .info won’t rank you any lower than a vanity .tv name. Go with what best suits you.
Also, I don’t advocate buying an expensive name. Having “pizza.com” isn’t very important if your content marketing and SEO gets “joespizzaparlor.com” ranking highly. Save that money and pocket it for other marketing efforts, such as Facebook ads.
Website Hosting
After you secure a domain name, your next step is to find a reputable webhost. This is the place where all of your files are saved on the Internet. Your domain name will point to this server.
Reputable webhosts are important as well. In the past I’ve used GoDaddy, but their service has been bloated and overpriced. Often, they will attempt to sell you everything under the sun. A website builder for a few bucks may sound like a good idea, but it’s not.
Also consider some hosts have thousands upon thousands of websites served from the same box. That means if another website becomes popular overnight, it could impact your business’ online presence going down and being unavailable.
Getting hacked is also a big concern when choosing where your website rests. HostGator is a major online hosting discounter, but has also been the source of nearly all of my hacking headaches over the years. (Sorry HostGator, but it’s true!)
There are a number of other great webhosts I’ve worked with over the years, but DreamHost is my go-to service. In fact, I bypass their shared hosting (same issues with thousands of users noted above) and go directly to their VPS or “Virtual Private Server”. A VPS is a step up from a shared server, but differs as it dedicates a specific amount of resources for only your website.
Other hosting services offer a VPS, but nowhere near DreamHost’s cost, reliability and features. You won’t have to worry about bandwidth with their lowest tier plan, as it includes unlimited traffic. 30gb of storage space should be enough for most businesses unless you serve large files from your website.
If interested, you can sign up for a DreamHost VPN plan here.
I won’t lie: finding a good email provider at a great price is nearly impossible. Like domain names, many webhosts offer email as an included freebie to further incentivize purchasing their services.
This can get you by and in many cases is okay.
In other scenarios, the email can be crippled, go offline, or have wacky problems. Even DreamHost isn’t immune to these problems and it comes with the territory of “you get what you pay for”.
The good news is that DreamHost can incorporate a business Gmail account by the press of one button. Office 365 users can also configure settings to use their email platform as well.
Either business email platform is great. Each comes with different features you may want to compare for the cost. However, if those costs seem a bit high for a side business or hobby, there’s nothing wrong with using the freebie email on a trial basis. Sometimes the newer domain name may get you flagged as spam, but that’s a risk anywhere – unless you buy from the big boys. (They have a higher success rate delivering email based on being the largest providers on the planet.)
Regardless of your approach, your email is another online face of your company. What I don’t recommend doing is using a plain ol’ Gmail or Outlook account. Those have the same risk of being flagged as junk mail, plus they don’t give the impression that you’re a serious individual.
Having an address such as info@abccompany.com goes a long way toward positioning yourself as an expert in your niche.
My top things every website should have
You’ve heard a lot of tips for content marketing, but we need to go back to the hub of where those campaigns send people: your website!
If you have a poorly designed website, even the best campaigns will fall flat. To avoid leaving potential clients or customers in the dust, here are X things every website must have.
Contact Information
9 out of every ten website visitors come to your website for your address or phone number.
Okay, that’s a made-up statistic, but would you even want a single person to visit your site in order to speak with a human one-on-one and not be able to find the information?
Or, would you prefer someone searches on Google Maps for your business, but can’t find it because your site is lacking a physical address they can visit?
Believe it or not, I’ve experienced each of these things during my time as a web developer and social media manager. The number may have been fake, but why risk not having this information in an easy to find place on your website?
My recommendation:
Place this information in your footer. The phone number can be repeated in your header as necessary.
Contact Form
Continuing with my fake facts, 1 out of 10 people don’t want to talk to you in person. Maybe they don’t have time. Maybe they don’t have interpersonal skills. Whatever the reason might be, you need to provide a way for them to message you.
The best way to do it that is with a contact form. That’s because a hyperlinked email address will not only attract spam, but it also might not work if the end user (who could be technologically challenged) does not have a mail program setup on their computer or smartphone. (Or they’re using a public or shared device, i.e. at a library.)
My recommendation:
Create a separate “Contact” page on your website for this form. Make sure you also include your physical address and phone number where applicable but don’t use your email address: doing so will only get you a lot of spam inquiries and potentially cause you to miss a real one in the pile of spam mail messages.
Homepage Link
Don’t assume that everyone who visits your website instantly arrives on your homepage. Make sure you have a clear and easy to find home link in your navigation bar.
Many websites also link the company logo in the website’s header back to the homepage as well. That never hurts, as it’s expected behavior to click on that go to the homepage. However, you should also make sure it’s spelled out for less tech-savvy users who aren’t aware of standard web conventions.
About Page
If you don’t have a lot to say about yourself you may put this information on the homepage. In fact, it may be better there as a mission state or a brief blurb. “Less is more” in this case and having someone click on an About page to only read two sentences may give the wrong impression.
For everyone else who needs to list certifications, accomplishments, or your entire staff list, a full-fledged About page is necessary.
A Blog
If you don’t know why a blog is crucial to have on your website, then I have an entire article dedicated to telling you why one is! Click here to read Why every website on Earth needs a blog.
Social Media Links
Remember the lesson about your address and phone number? The same thing applies to social media. If you belong to a particular platform, then you must link to it! Make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find you. Remember, this is about building a relationship — and your content marketing platform. It’s more likely someone will return to your website after following a Facebook post or a tweet, then physically entering your web address or bookmarking your site to check on it daily. (Imagine if they had to do that with 100 profiles they were following!)
My recommendation:
Try to add these in the footer of your website, just like the phone number and address.
What are you waiting for?
These improvements to your website will not only make it easy for first-time visitors to get around, but it may also improve your search rankings. So, what are you waiting for? Get to it!
For an expanded version of this conversation give my content marketing podcast, The DisContent Show, a listen!
Tips for creating better blog posts
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or someone terrified of making typos, writing an entry into your blog shouldn’t be a hassle. With the following tools and tips, you can circumvent making errors while also working more efficiently and effectively.
I use each of the following tools when creating blog posts. I hope you too will find them useful.
Microsoft Word
I’ll be straightforward here: I used to hate using Word to draft my articles.
And yes, “hate” is a strong enough word!
One of the big problems you may face copying and pasting your text out of Word is that the format will get jumbled when transposing it into a WordPress website. Luckily there are a few ways to get around carrying over any goofy formatting.
First, strictly stick to the default settings. Do not change fonts, font sizes, font colors or anything other than the standard bold or italics formatting. The only exception is if you use the “styles” panel in the task ribbon to set Heading styles (such as Heading 2; don’t forget that Heading 1, by default, is your WordPress title on well-formed sites).
And by all means, never use underlined text! Your website visitors may confuse it for a hyperlink and you wouldn’t want them to miss any important links in your post by thinking anything with an underline “doesn’t work”.
Before you paste your finished product into WordPress, however, there are some other tools which will help you quickly fix up any errors you may have made and clean up your copy.
Note: Many of these tips are for Windows users only. However, some of the programs listed below can be replaced with a Mac-equivalent. For example, you may use Apple’s native Pages app instead of Word, or sync your files in the cloud using Google Docs.
Lightkey
Lightkey brings predictive typing that you’re likely familiar with from your smartphone or tablet, over to the personal computer.
If that’s something you like the sound of, then I highly recommend using this software, which is free of charge as well! Lightkey will custom tailor itself to your specific writing genre and help you avoid having to retype long or difficult words and phrases within the same document, or in future documents after you’ve used it for a while.
You can download Lightkey here.
Spelling & Grammar
Word’s built-in spellchecking tool will catch a lot of grammar errors, but it won’t get all of them. I like to use this first, as you may have industry-specific terms you want to ignore by running a different spelling and grammar tool. You can avoid having these terms marked as errors by right-clicking on the word which has the squiggly underline and choosing the “Add to Dictionary” option in the context menu.
Once you’re finished checking your document with Word’s built-in tool, there are a few more steps you should take to ensure nothing was missed.
Grammarly
You may have seen this utility advertised on TV. Or if you’re a YouTube user, I can guarantee you haven’t gone long without having one of their ads interrupt a video.
The barrage of marketing lets you know Grammarly offers a paid service, but their basic free service is something you can integrate directly into Microsoft Word. At the click of a button Grammarly will make suggestions: just be wary of which ones you need to change, as, with the built-in Word tool, Grammarly is still a robot.
If you click on changes without reading the context of what you wrote, you may make your blog post worse! That’s important to note because Grammarly will warn you that you cannot revert changes using the undo button. Tread carefully by saving before and after you run Grammarly before proceeding further.
You may sign up for Grammarly here.
You’re Ready to Publish
Once you are satisfied that your writing is a masterpiece (or at least improved from its rough draft iteration) it is time to go live with your new post.
In most cases, you should be able to simply copy all of your document (you may use the shortcut Ctrl+C), open your new draft in WordPress, and paste.
But what if some of the formatting is messed up? Well, I have some helpful hints for that too.
The most common “goof” when going from Word to WordPress is paragraph spacing. If your paragraphs don’t have line breaks, delete what you pasted in WordPress and go back to Word. Within Word, select all of your text (Ctrl+A) and go to the Design tab on the ribbon. You should find a button with the label “Paragraph Spacing” near the top-right and within its corresponding drop-down menu, there are a few options to correct the spacing issues.
More than likely your fix will be the “open” option, but you may need to use trial and error to determine which setting works best for you.
Conclusion
I hope these blog writing tips have helped you out. If you have further questions on how to improve your writing or need some help proofreading documents you produce, don’t hesitate to contact me.
My love (and hate) relationship with Instagram
People love to fawn over Instagram and for a long time I was opposed to even having a presence on the social media platform.
That may come as a surprise to many. As a content marketer, I’ve seen many other experts recommend jumping on every new train which enters the station. First, it was Facebook, then it was Twitter, now it’s Instagram and Snapchat and whatever else the next fad may be. This is great for content marketers who make their living off of creating materials for their clients: it’s another avenue from which to generate revenue.
But what about the average Joe who is doing this on their own time and dime to build brand awareness?
To those folks I don’t have an easy answer, other than Instagram is its own animal. Here are some of the positives and negatives of using Instagram in your social media marketing campaigns.
Hate: The point of no return
For active readers of this blog and listeners of the DisContent Podcast, you already know I’m a big advocate of owning your own content. That is, you want to make sure your information and/or content is on your website, your podcast, or sent via an email newsletter or published in an eBook.
Posting to social media means that information is locked to a service like Facebook; which locks out anyone who doesn’t use Facebook.
Social media should be a means by which you announce your new article or list a podcast episode. It shouldn’t house all of your information, because it may soon disappear. (Or worse, never be seen at all.)
I’m keen on saying Your website is your baby and as such, Instagram offers only a single way to go to your site: within your profile bio. Any other mentions of a URL or link to your content won’t be hyperlinked. That means you have to rely on your audience, the same audience scrolling rapidly through their app, to remember where to go to view your info or manually type it into your site.
The good news is that’s how we want to train your followers: to visit your website. The bad news is that Instagram may never connect them from point A (the Instagram site or app) to point B (you).
Love: Not so fast
One thing that’s different with Instagram versus its social media siblings is that you might see content posted well beyond the usual “expiration date” of a post made on Facebook or Twitter. It’s not unusual to see an Instagram post pop up on your feed a week after it was made.
That’s a good thing. It means you have a better success rate of someone seeing your content!
No preference: The eyes have it
As mentioned earlier, since you cannot share links, everything that gets posted to Instagram is an image. It was always intended to be a photo-only platform but has since expanded to video as well.
If you’re in an industry such as running a café, you may have a built-in reason to post photos as you can create a gallery showcasing your food. But if you’re an author, outside of a book cover you may be scratching your head for ideas.
Love: Generating content
Even if you’re not a graphic designer, using Instagram isn’t hopeless. In the author scenario above, you can take a quote from your book (or better yet, a testimonial) and add it to any number of online image creation apps which are available (usually at no charge).
Canva is a great one I use myself, just to get a quick and dirty idea done.
Event posters are also a no-brainer for Instagram, however, you will want to make sure it can all fit within the square box specifications of the platform.
Hate: Grab the phone
If you want to do anything besides setup your basic account and profile information, you better grab your smartphone: Instagram won’t allow you to post photos directly from a desktop computer. (At least not without some workarounds.)
That can be a challenge for people who have pictures they’d like to post but don’t have them on their phone. In that case, a number of tools can be used to help move files between devices.
Love: Hashtags
Instagram is a great place to network with complete strangers with the use of hashtags. It’s much like Twitter in that regard, possibly even better, as relevant information will find its way to your screen.
That means more eyeballs on your content.
Hate: Sharing should be caring
Want to share someone’s Instagram post to your account? Good luck.
The most you can do is make a screen capture of their image or use a web service to download it. From there you’ll end up posting it as yourself, which in a roundabout way amounts to stealing.
There are apps which will allow you to re-gram Instagram posts, tagging the original account in the process. They are a bit clunky to get used to, but it’s the only way to properly credit the original content creator on the network.
Conclusion
Now you can see why getting involved with Instagram can be a confusing task. The social media network operates much differently than Facebook or Twitter when it comes to sharing content. However, with a large installed base of potential followers (audience) and the ability to create business profiles which synchronize with your Facebook page, it’s becoming harder to ignore Instagram.
Just be aware that you will more than likely have to create original content specifically for their platform, which could cost you more time and/or money long-term. In order to make an educated decision of whether or not to join in the frenzy, you’ll want to weigh the benefits of maintaining a steady stream of content on Instagram versus that of repurposing your usual posts on multiple channels. If you feel you can post on Instagram consistently without stretching your overall content marketing efforts thin, go for it.
If not, focus your efforts by targeting those social media networks in which you can post the same thing to with little or no modification: Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn.
Beginning your eBook
I discussed the benefits of having an eBook on a recent episode of the DisContent podcast. There are many merits to putting your knowledge in print. Among the important reasons for producing an eBook, expanding your audience, positioning yourself as an expert, and making money from the sale of your book are the primary motives to create one.
If the benefits of making an eBook have you excited to start one, you’re probably wondering what the next step is. That’s what this article will focus on, as starting an eBook isn’t necessarily as easy as establishing a blog.
What is your motive?
This may seem like you’re putting the cart before the horse, but the very first thing you need to think about when creating an eBook is your intended end result.
Are you looking to make money? Or are you trying to expand your audience?
The answer for how you want to end up will dictate how you begin.
Self-Publishing
The process you will be utilizing to produce an eBook is called “self-publishing”. That means you are not going through a publishing house as you may do with producing a traditional paperback book.
The biggest benefit for doing this on your own is 100-fold. There are many other great books which deal with this topic that you can explore, but in short, you won’t be at the mercy of editors, brick and mortar bookstores with limited shelf space, tiny royalty payments or having to buy X amount of copies of your own book upfront (which will all but definitely collect dust when they don’t sell).
Therefore, the DIY path to creating the great American novel is the best for 99% of aspiring authors.
Expanding your audience
One way to leverage an eBook is to offer it as an incentive for sharing your email address or following a social media page. A popular idea is to give a book away for free in order to build your email newsletter.
If this appeals to you, then creating your eBook may be as simple as typing up a Microsoft Word document and saving it as a PDF. Then, you can set up a WordPress plugin or integrate the offer into many popular email marketing programs (i.e. MailChimp).
PDF format
A PDF may give you the opportunity to be more creative as well. You can use more images and creative design within PDF documents. If you’re a more advanced computer user, you may even use desktop publishing applications, such as Microsoft Publisher or Adobe InDesign, to create your materials.
Where a PDF differs, however, is copyright protection. Traditionally, once your product is made available to the public, the cat is out of the bag. If your eBook is in PDF format and is only available for purchase, you can bank on people sharing it. That may not be a bad thing as it will increase your reach, but it will also impact your profits.
That’s why I typically recommend those who are seeking to make money from eBooks use the Amazon Kindle path.
EPUB, MOBI and online bookstores
Years ago, Amazon revolutionized electronic books with the launch of the Kindle device and bookstore. Today, Kindle book sales account for over 70% of all eBook sales.
Instantly, anyone can become an author. However, and this will go back on one of my mottos, you can’t simply type a book into Word and publish it on the Kindle store.
Well, you can, but you definitely shouldn’t.
I know I’m famous for saying “Just be good, don’t worry about being great.” Unfortunately, this phrase doesn’t hold up well if you’re selling an eBook versus posting a publicly accessible blog article or social media update. You will have to proof your book for grammar errors and typos, plus make sure it’s properly formatted…
Formatting eBooks
Remember my line above about simply typing into Word? That’s the problem you may face if trying to self-publish. Many self-published eBooks are trash. Some estimates are as high as 80%. The books are either crippled with poor formatting or so many mistakes they are unreadable. That’s because most people will process their Word document through a tool and call it a day.
This isn’t mentioned to scare you away from self-publishing. It’s still the easier path than hiring anyone to publish a book for you. You keep 100% of your profits and own your book.
That’s the good news.
The not-so-good news it if you don’t have experience with HTML coding, formatting your book could be a daunting task. Again, this isn’t the end of the world but mentioned to point out that properly formatted eBooks are built in the same way as basic websites. You may need a helping hand (such as mine) to cross the finish line and have your book displayed in the Kindle store, Apple iBooks store or Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.
Armed with this knowledge, you’ll also know whether or not your vision for a book applies to the Kindle world. Books read on the black and white device are nearly all text-based. If you have a lot of photos, diagrams, charts or illustrations you wish to place in your eBook, the EPUB/MOBI pathway to these stores may not be the route you want to go. Amazon, for example, will charge a delivery fee with each copy of your book sold: for text-based books, this amounts to pennies.
However, each image added to an eBook will increase its size and thus increase the delivery charge. Since the Kindle device itself is a simple black and white screen, limiting the number of pictures in your book should be a priority. I mention this specifically to my audience here, as I believe all of you are leveraging content marketing for a business or hobby you wish to grow into a profit center.
This advice does not apply to children’s books, which is a different application entirely (as the book is likely full of illustrations). Children’s books are also specifically tied to devices which have the ability to graphically show them, such as the Kindle Fire or an iPad, rather than your basic Kindle device.
Still interested?
You should be. eBooks are a tremendous way to reach new followers and increase your footprint as an expert in your field. The few caveats mentioned here are pitfalls to avoid on your way to establishing you as a credible author. Should you have any questions about further steps to take in the eBook creation process, feel free to send me a message.
Where to find royalty-free photos for your blog
Pictures make everything pretty: including your blog posts.
Adding a nice featured image to each post will decrease the chances of someone scrolling on by your post when you share your links to social media. However, you can’t just jump on the Internet and download any picture for your personal use. In fact, doing so may see you hit with legal action, including a stiff fine in the mail, if you happen to acquire a photo from a large stock photography house such as Getty Images or Corbis.
Of course, you could always sign up for a subscription to those large stock photography websites, but doing so could cost you a solid chunk of change.
When mentioning these drawbacks to others, I always get asked: “How do I find photos for my blog then?” Luckily, there are some free or low-cost ways to get around sinking a fortune into your content marketing campaigns.
Low-cost stock photo sites
If you’re willing to pay a little for quality photos, you may be surprised at what’s available for bloggers.
Sites such as Dreamstime, Shutterstock, and Bigstock offer lower-priced options than the bigger sites, but depending on your needs, those could still cost you in the long run. However, versus the free options listed below, you will see that the middle-tier stock photo sites offer higher quality photos with a larger selection. (It sounds cliché, but you get what you pay for sometimes.)
Pixabay
One of my go-to sites for free photos, Pixabay offers unlimited downloads of royalty-free photos. Most photos are licensed under a CC0 Creative Commons license, which means it’s free for commercial use with no attribution required.
Pexels
Pexels works in much the same way as Pixabay. In fact, you may see many of the same photos on both sites. Regardless, it’s nice to have more than one place to search in case you can’t find the right fit for what you’re looking for.
Unsplash
Unsplash releases new photos on a consistent basis. Their collection varies from that of the first two sites and offers high resolution (large) images from a number of reputable photographers.
Photo Pin
Rather than mess around with the various options within Google Images and hope you get a right-free image, use Photo Pin.
Their website scours the web for Creative Commons licensed images. Their search engine also helps you avoid perusing Flickr within the same way, saving you a lot of time in the process.
Death to Stock
I used to be an advocate of this website as it offered restriction-free photos for no cost. It was founded by a pair of photographers who would publish a monthly pack of images via their newsletter.
However, the clever “Death to Stock” name has turned them into a pricing model akin to the very sites they opposed. That’s the buyer beware, as you may find what you need here but there are now some strings attached.
Best of the rest
I wanted to give you a few more options below, but with a disclaimer: these sites can be cumbersome to use and shove a lot of ads in your way. Still, it never hurts to have more than one option when hunting for that perfect photo to accompany your blog post.
Why you can’t rely solely on social media
When I first meet business professionals who are interested in digital marketing, their questions almost always surround how to get seen on the first page of Google or building their Facebook following to thousands of page likes.
They’re almost always surprised to find out that Facebook is merely a conduit to bring leads back to your website. Some businesspeople struggle to find value in other social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram if they’re not already using them too. Often, they are looking to get into more social media networks and that makes their efforts, overall, stretch thin.
Rather than focus on social media, and those vanity numbers associated with it (retweets, shares, likes, and views) you have to first concern yourself with having a strong foundation for digital marketing.
That usually begins with content marketing.
I notice companies who share other page’s posts or make short blurbs about themselves with no way of getting back to the main source of information: your website. A well-designed website should already have your products and services listed on it, as well as calls to action to contact you for more details or to make a purchase.
When you post to your website, it’s there for as long as you keep it there.
That’s why social media isn’t the be-all and end-all for your marketing efforts. Social media is very volatile. A tweet may be gone in seconds, shoved down the page based on the number of people you follow, and how often those people tweet or retweet other accounts.
Producing content, such as a blog post or a podcast, takes time. However, that time is well spent when you own your content. Furthermore, that content doesn’t disappear overnight in a sea of tweets or friends and family posting photos.
Your website is your baby.
It’s your digital brochure and conforms to your specifications. It can host as long of a blog post as you’d like, archive photo galleries, or even list a podcast episode. You can write an article, update your audience on an event or share a new product with them.
Unlike social media platforms, you are not confined to playing by the rules of Facebook or Twitter, forced to only post graphics to Instagram, or compete for space within Google Plus circles. With your website, you make the rules. And since you own the platform, anyone can refer back to your website when they need to find that information.
Try doing that with Twitter or Facebook. It’s nearly impossible to scroll through even two days’ worth of posts sometimes… even when you know the person or page that posted it!
Therefore, make your website the number one place to find your content. Social media should only be used as a means to promote the content you produce outside of it. A quick hello or update is always acceptable.
However, keep in mind that you don’t want to undermine your main source of information for your brand or business by tossing it into the gigantic sea of social media. Instead, leverage social media as a way to notify those swimming in that giant body of water to your efforts. In this way, your message doesn’t get lost among all of those persons floating along in those pools.
In addition, make sure you are on the platforms you can best support. Being on every social media network isn’t as important as making sure you keep those channels updated with content which makes your account a “must follow”.
I’ve always been hypercompetitive: but you’d never know it
While recently training on the treadmill for a fitness test I started thinking about something I’ve always done at times throughout my many years of athletics: push myself harder.
I’ve never been satisfied unless I’ve known I’ve given something my best. I’m never content with where am I and always striving for more. (Yes, that’s why DisContent isn’t some random slogan.)
However, you’d never know I was so hypercompetitive. Even back in high school, I wouldn’t make my intentions known that I wanted to make an upperclassman look foolish for dogging our sprint drills by beating them to the finish line. I never let others know I was trying to outdo them in training.
And even in my daily life, I don’t tip the hat to my competition that I want to beat them at their own game.
It’s that humble “keep it to yourself” mentality that keeps me grinding. Each day I need to outdo myself. I don’t worry about things which are outside of my control either. So, what if a competitor is bigger? Strive to get to where they are, but don’t do so to your detriment. You can control the outcome of your efforts: you cannot control what they do.
Therefore, what they do does not dictate what you do.
It’s another one of my mottos and with good reason. A rival may have more years, more time, and/or more money invested in a certain venture than you do. Knowing that you do good work, you can continue improving on what you do well. That path will eventually lead you to greatness.
No one gained 10,000 Twitter followers overnight. They started with one. One became ten, ten became twenty, and eventually, one hundred led to one thousand.
You have to start somewhere. Dwelling on what others are doing is not a productive way to use your precious time. There’s never harm in seeing what the competition does well and creating a pattern for yourself to follow. However, be warned that simply copying what someone else does will never make you stand out.
You won’t be unique. You won’t have a niche. You will be seen as an imitator in a world that rewards innovators.
When success gives you the highs but failure gives you the lows, always take the high road. Don’t allow someone else to manipulate what you’re doing. They may attempt to do so because they feel threatened you may overtake them.
Don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing that, even if you know it to be true. Do as I learned as a teenager: keep it to yourself. Soon others will take notice and then, they’ll do the talking for you.
Note: this may seem like a vague entry into my blog, but if you apply this to any aspect of your content marketing or business efforts, you’ll find yourself wasting less time and negative energy on those things that will drag you down.
A prime example could be someone who makes negative comments about one of your blogs, podcasts, or social media posts. You want to cater to the larger part of your audience, that is, those who will advocate for you. Sometimes you’re better off ignoring what we like to call trolls. It will only make you question the very thing you are doing to be successful: and that success will sometimes breed jealousy.
Don’t fall into that trap. Be hypercompetitive: just don’t let them know who it is you’re trying to be better than.