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Three Ways to Fulfill The Great Expectations of Your Customers

April 3, 2017 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

For content marketers, the phrase “Know, Like and Trust” is a common objective. Companies and brands wants to achieve this goal by establishing a benchmark of familiarity with their audience, based on common values and reliability.

And it’s paying off.

These days, more people who see ads believe the ads are honest, according to this survey. In other words, 11% more people are likely to trust an ad they see today than the percentage of people in a similar survey just a few years ago.

What’s going on here? Everyone knows that advertisers try to get your attention in order to sell you something, and people don’t like to be sold to, right?

Not necessarily. Consumers don’t want to be “sold to,” but they do like to buy, especially when they’re confident they have all the information they need to make a decision.

Consumers expect nothing less than to know, like, and trust the brands they buy and the companies they do business with; and advertisers are rising to the occasion to meet consumers when and where they they’re needed. They’re also placing ads where viewers expect, tolerate, and maybe even welcome them.

Most importantly, advertisers are supporting those ads with appropriate content.

I believe this is a testament to the efforts of content creators and marketers to provide their readers with valuable content. Since useful content builds trust, the payoff multiplies for companies that run ads in conjunction with good content. They earn their customers’ trust and trust in their brand grows over time.

Ironically, institutions that used to enjoy the benefits of blind trust have fallen from grace in the eyes of the average person. Is it any surprise that the three top losers in this poll — those whose perceived honesty plummeted — are government, which doesn’t advertise except in the case of isolated and, ideally, nonpartisan public service announcements; religion, an entrenched institution whose reputation precedes advertising; and the media, which is undergoing the most disastrous fall from grace since the public’s mainstream addiction to it.

Now it’s not institutions, but rather companies and organizations that people hold to higher trust standards. People go online for an experience that quickly validates and satisfies their expectations.

Because your audience’s expectations are high, you too must send messages that complement and seamlessly integrate with your short-term goals, your users’ or customers’ engagement levels, and your overall brand objectives.

How do you satisfy your audience’s expectations of honesty in advertising? Let’s look at some companies and organizations that place ads that cultivate familiarity, likability and trust, and find out what they have in common. People EXPECT their favorite brands and people to do the following.

Send a consistent message.

Make an effort to keep your content coffers full and on schedule with the help of a content calendar like CoSchedule. If you blog, set a schedule with content topics that predict and speak to your audience’s inquiries. If you host podcasts, roundtables, or Twitter Chats, make sure you keep to a set schedule and format. Make use of the online tools available and fold them into your routine.
Consistency is actually easier to achieve when you allow your content themes to breathe. Some people fear they’ll lose their main audience if they stray from their core topic, but I prefer to think of content as an opportunity to play variations on a theme, like a jazz orchestra might take turns noodling around a tune. A diverse variety of messages within a theme enables you to connect with people in different ways, which goes a long way toward growing a diverse audience with a common interest.
Speaking of diversity, remember that people prefer to consume content in different forms. Your audience is comprised of readers, listeners, and viewers. Consistency doesn’t mean static. Try to provide content that satisfies all the ways people learn: auditory, visual, and sensory. Advertisers that offer a range of content in the form of images, videos, podcast, and blogs reach more eyeballs.
Invite others to weigh in. The voices of fellow experts, loyal partners, users, fans and influencers can make for pretty awesome content. A content manager at Blackbaud, Madeline Turner, asks nonprofit experts to chime in on using technology to further their mission, and pulls off a useful and interesting article for the company’s community of software users. It’s also a great opportunity to ask for their input, too.

Understand your audience.

Data and analytics: The topic of privacy is on many advertisers’ and marketers’ minds this week as old FCC privacy rules are likely to stay in effect for the time being. For some, this means that that it’s possible to cross over from trying to understand an audience to almost (ok, literally) spying on them. Internet service providers with access to consumers’ browsing habits will be able to sell that data to advertisers. That’s edging in on creepy (albeit inevitable) if you ask me, but it’s not what I’m talking about here. For many marketers, a worthy goal is attracting the right people, re-engaging current customers and staying relevant in their eyes.
- One way to transparently keep your finger on your customer’s pulse is to have an opt-in process in place and a reason to monitor and engage with your audience’s actions. Willing participation translates into natural trust. If your community already knows that you operate above a certain self-imposed level, then there are no surprises when they see your ads. Simply asking for permission reaps great returns in trust.
- Another increasingly common trust building practice is to notify your audience of how your collect data. Most websites use cookies and hidden pixels to track where their readers have been and what they are looking for on your website. Some sites go the extra mile to notify their visitors. You’ve seen the bar across the bottom a your screen telling you ‘This site uses cookies to improve your browsing experience,” or similar verbiage. That company cares about transparency and values your trust.

Feedback: Getting and giving feedback is difficult. At least it doesn’t come naturally for most of us who were taught to “be nice,” says Kim Scott, author of the book Radical Candor. If processing personal feedback is confusing, how much more so for a large company with multiple products, services and features! Making sense of hundreds of incoming opinions and questions can overwhelm a service team and muddy their efforts to deliver a great experience. In Evernote’s Taking Note podcast, Gerald Hastie shares how the company manages feedback from its community of users. Practices include surveys, user groups, and community questions and answers. All that information is useless if you don’t use it to improve your users’ experience. Asking is better than guessing when your goal is to fulfill the expectations of your customers. Trust grows when you ask and follow through with knowledge gleaned from hard-earned feedback.

Accessibility: Sometimes the best content is happening right now. If you’re not around, you’ll miss it completely. You’re able now to have real time conversations on social media. Anyone with a phone can host a get together. Storytelling on Facebook Live, Instagram, and SnapChat allows you to meet your audience and instantly harvest feedback on topics your audience favors. Watch a couple minutes of Mari Smith and a roomful of Social Media Marketing world attendees geeking out on Facebook Live with Facebook training. Then imagine how you (or someone in your group who’s a natural like Mari!) could put this easy-to-use technology to work for your company or organization.

Be human.

Effective engagement is inspired by the empathy that develops simply by being human.

~ Brian Solis

If you want humans to engage with you, then you have to act like a human. Some say the quickest way to gain trust is through vulnerability. While you don’t have to spill your coffee on yourself to show you’re human, you might share where you’ve learned a lesson, let people know you have a life outside of work, or even act a little goofy sometimes.

Authenticity sets you apart. Don’t try to be something you’re not. One of my favorite cartoons shows a dog in 1994 telling another dog, “Hey look, Roger, on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.” The next frame show the same dog, many years later saying, “Hey look, Roger, on the Internet, everyone knows you’re a dog.” You can fool some people some of the time, but if you neglect the first two trust builders (and the great expectations of your audience), you’re sure not going to fool them for long!

Own up to mistakes. The sad truth is that eventually you are going to trip up. Most of us humans fail in a less public way, but the shame we feel is huge. Maybe you’ll never release a sucky version of your software (Windows XP), hand someone the wrong envelope (Price Waterhouse), or make too-thin yoga pants and charge $98 for them (Lululemon). But a mistake you’re personally invested in probably feels just as buzzworthy.

Coming back from failures, even really dismal ones, feeds the fertile ground of growth. It actually makes us strong and brave.

In your personal AND professional life, there are times — and it may feel like years — when you’re facing into a strong wind. Remember that everyone gets their share of trouble. In the world of content marketing, braving mistakes is a great way to build connections with your best, most loyal fans.

If you’re taking chances and developing just outside of your comfort zone, then criticism is inevitable. How you handle your critics makes you memorable in the eyes of your audience (because they’re all watching, you know). Jay Baer is a proponent of “embracing your haters to keep your customers.” A bad experience shared online can unravel years of positive work and appreciation. Publicly setting things right with calm, humor, and even a degree of urgency, you’ll probably rebound with integrity and resilience; possibly even winning increased loyalty from your customers. Most people want to cheer a comeback than watch a house of cards fall.

Share your wins and strengths as well as your challenges. Even in good times, the head-spinning immediacy and publicity of social media may make you want to sit out for a spell. But your audience expects your presence.

Try to stay in the moment, and don’t overthink transparency. The sooner you deal with reality the better. A fortress is a dangerous place. When all eyes are on you and you’re advocating for yourself or your company, avoid telling your version of the story. Focus instead on what you learned. Never forget that while people may be curious about how a blunder went down, your customer mainly wants to find out what’s in it for him.

Relax. Breathe. Shake it out. Lose the uppity voice, the jargon, and inclination to pontificate. Not that you’re guilty of any of that, of course!

One easy way to develop a natural, human voice in your content is to read your content out loud, preferably to another human. (Dogs don’t count.)

It’s a process, but it’s one you can easily get good at, if you strive to know, like and trust your customers the same way you want them to know, like and trust you.

Remember your objective. To earn your customer’s trust and fulfill their expectations, you first have to be there, with consistency and an understanding of their needs and desires.

In the end, content marketing is a two-way street.

Seven Simple Writing Techniques To Keep People Reading To The Bottom Of The Page

January 6, 2017 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

The famous copywriter Joe Sugarman says “the purpose of the first sentence is to get the reader to read the second sentence.” Effective writing is all about flow and purpose.

Your goal is to get the reader to consume your entire page; to get to the end of the text, if not to actually read every single word.

How do you do that, and how do you know when you’ve achieved that? Well, the best way to test the readability of your copy is to use the Flesch Reading Ease Score.

Do people read your emails down to the bottom of the page? After you’ve picked your topic, outlined its main points, and decided what you want your reader to take away or do; the writing should be easy, right?

Well, it’s not always that easy. Even if you’re speaking in your natural voice, and you’re sharing the true and meaning-packed morsels of wisdom you were put on this earth to say; even if your headline is riveting and your layout inviting — your JOB is to get your email (or article, blog post, or press release) actually read by human eyes and minds.

As Sonia Simone declares so earnestly, “You have a voice that’s irreplaceable. It can’t be turned into a clever algorithm. It can’t be duplicated and it can’t be churned out for a penny a word.”

With such a message to deliver, your writing must be readable.

If the point of “good copy” is to get your reader’s eyes moving down the page, and even instigate action on the part of your beloved reader, then it pays to know some basic copywriting tips.

When your reader answers your call to action, you’ll know your copy is readable. In that case, there are also probably a lot of other things going on that are working well together – strong graphics, a desirable offer, good credibility – but your writing plays the critical role.

Before testing your writing on your reader, why not test it yourself? Did you know you could even do that?

I’m going to show you how to score the readability of your page, and then how to accomplish your readability goals.

The Flesch Reading Ease Score and the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level both measure your writing’s readability. Developed to ensure standards in military technical training manuals, the scores can be used to easily gauge the readability of your writing too. You’ll find them within the spelling tool in Microsoft Word.

For more in-depth understanding of your score, you can also copy and paste your text into the space provided on this handy and informative website. It’s actually kind of fun to play around with your sentence structure and word choices on this site. Try it and let me know how it goes.

Now here’s the kicker about reading ease: Did you know that the average person reads and comprehends — and hits the sweet spot of persuasion — at about the 6th and 7th grade reading level?

If you can consistently write copy that falls somewhere around the 60 – 70 score (the reading ability of an average 13 – 15 year old student) then you will reach, satisfy, convince and convert the most people.

Reading comprehension varies based on education level and experience (the lower the Flesch Reading Ease score, the more difficult to understand) but even college grads and other “smart” people respond most readily to writing that is within the 60 – 70 range.

word magic? — Working your magic through words…

Working Magic Through Words

Are there tricks to this? Is there some magic formula for achieving this score when you write? While the Flesch scores take into account sentence length and word length, here are some practical ways to squeeze the most juice out of your writing, while keeping it clear and simple.

Use short, punchy words. Don’t neglect the juicy descriptive words; just remember to jab with words that can take the place of long phrases every now and then. Remember, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Use meaty words to interest and engage people. If you are stranded in realms of possibility, or spend too much time in thoughtful rumination — verbal navel gazing — you can lose your reader really fast. Ground yourself in the real world. Think red meat, not pie in the sky. That means…

Employ action words to sweep the reader along. Stay away from “be” “is” and “are.” These words form passive sentences that bore readers to sleep. Use them only when you absolutely must. Compare the following sentences:
- It was decided that the gymnasium be locked after the institution’s operating hours in an effort to thwart the local vandals’ destruction. (Flesch Reading Ease 38.3; Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level 12.0)
- To stop the vandalism at the gym, Mr. Brown decided to keep it locked after school. (Flesch Reading Ease 82.2; Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level 5.7)

Grab your reader with descriptive verbs and adjectives. “She says.” could be “She squeals.” or “She drones.” Each sentence would contribute about the same to the reading ease score because of structure and word length…but what differences between them!

Take another example: a purple paint color chosen for an office could be either “sickly” or “soothing” — simple descriptions that powerfully alter the reader’s perception and emotion.

Vary your sentence lengths. Sentence lengths should both sizzle and pop, almost like the rhythm of an exciting tennis match. Long volleys back and forth are satisfying to watch and more leisurely — but can last forever. Rapid rallies at the net add excitement – but they don’t last as long.

You should be able to write in both styles, just as a pro tennis player can play at the net and the baseline with equal efficiency. Go back and forth between short and long sentence lengths to keep your paragraphs balanced and your cadence natural.

Don’t be afraid to utilize white space. Certain copywriters who write in one-sentence paragraphs create some of the best emails I’ve read. The physical space between each thought works as hard as the actual text to pull the reader along. Of course in this case the writing must be spectacular.

One of the best methods you can use to find your most powerful voice as a writer — and to keep people reading — is to write without self-editing. Write like a banshee. Force yourself to say it like it is, any way you can, and just the way you want to. Forget about spelling and grammar. Set a timer for only two minutes (if you have to) and write like mad.

Before you go back and cut your writing to the bone, you’ll find kernels of richness in there, as well as a lot of garbage. Don’t leave the chaff for your reader to remove; he won’t. Only after you have thrown it all up on the page (sorry for that graphic description) should you edit yourself.

That’s right, I didn’t forget the editing part. Take all of the above writing techniques into account and then…

The Final Step… Edit Your Work.

Be ruthless. See if you can cut the length in half. That could have (and probably should have) been technique number eight, but editing is a whole new topic, IMHO. Editing’s just as important to getting people to read to the end, but not exactly in the gooey pond of connective content I’m talking about today.

I was talking yesterday with a friend (and one of the smartest women I know), a Wharton MBA and a big mucky-muck at a computer company that rhymes with “Spell.” She told me how she goes through her emails and trades big words for smaller ones, scratches everything that isn’t absolutely crucial to her main point, and then goes back again and cuts the entire email down to a third of the original. She sighed, “It’s so sad…” and I countered, “It’s wonderful; that’s good writing.”

While practice is the best way to improve your writing, you can sharpen your writing style with these tips. As your copy grows stronger, your Flesch Ease Score will reveal how readers will receive it.

If I’ve missed any tips for making your copy more readable, why not let me know in the comments below. Thanks, and if you’d like more writing tips in an easy video format, login and get these 21 quick and easy videos. Click here for access.

*This post has been updated from an earlier post dated Jan.12, 2012.

Sixteen Welcome Email Ideas That Really Engage New Subscribers

July 26, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Do you sign up for a lot of email lists, or are you discriminating about giving your email address? Hey, you’re here, so I’m going to assume that you sign up for useful emails!

I should admit that right at the start of this email that I sign up to a lot of email lists. As a result, I get to see a lot of welcome emails.

After you receive that first email from the sender, you know more about the company, the individual, or brand. With the first open, and all consecutive emails sent through a welcome series; you learn enough to determine whether you want to stay or not.

You might stick around to see what’s next, or you may unsubscribe for various reasons. Sometimes the email is boring. Sometimes the company sends too much email. Sometimes, the sender emails so sporadically that you forget who they are or why you ever signed up in the first place. In all cases, they fail to hold your interest.

Since this can be the case with email marketing, it pays to examine the welcome email and see if you can determine elements that hold your interest… and then try to copy some of those ways you can hold attention of our new subscribers.

There are some elements of awesome welcome emails that you should be using in your welcome email or welcome series to new subscribers:

Welcome them warmly.
Remind them of perks of being on your list.
Offer a deal or coupon code.
Use a strong call to action: download an app, allow the user to set preferences, click a “shop” button (or allow them to choose to shop for either men or women, etc.)
Make sure you’re mobile friendly. (79% of smartphone owners are more likely to use it for email than to make calls.)
Include social media buttons.
As a retail shop, design your emails to include navigation bars so readers can actually start shopping different departments — just like your website.
List what to do first, second, and third.
Link to other products and info.
Share a little about yourself and your team, your mission statement, etc.

This welcome email provides a great opportunity to connect some web content dots and build in warmth and engagement.

Have you ever met someone new and started up a conversation? Granted, this comes easier for some people than others, but if you’re friendly, you usually start by talking about the obvious. The event you’re attending or the food that is being served. Then, you take the conversation a little deeper. Perhaps one of you comments on the conditions of the soccer field, or the music program, or the ingredients on the table, and then… something else happens.

You make a connection that helps you get to know each other better.

The welcome email makes or breaks all your your email campaigns of the future because it sets the tone for your relationship.

Think of a real conversation you’ve had that started on one level and ended with the beginning of a friendship or a promise of a possible future action on the part of either of you.

Good networkers naturally do this. They ask questions that get the other person talking. They look for ways to share a book title, or a mutual friend’s name, or even a laugh. They may even try to discover how they can help their new acquaintance.

That’s what you want to do with your very first email. Right at the start, when you have the chance connect on another level with your content, make sure you do exactly that!

Not only does it break the ice, it brings the new subscriber into your community. As Jay Baer advises marketers, “You need to instead build a touch-point corral that allows you to surround your customers with messages from multiple venues and modalities.”

Besides including engaging elements within the email itself, think of other possible content you could share. Use content you already own to introduce people to your brand and to kick off a new relationship:

A Pinterest board.
A Facebook post that triggered a lot of comments or links to popular articles on your blog.
A curated list of books, movies, quotes with an interesting theme.
A useful infographic.
Some recent tweets.
A picture of your cat — for the ultimate connection!

Begin your relationship with something that allows you to meet your customer on different social channels or around a broader variety of interests… Then communicate authentically.

A welcome email is a great place to start off on the right foot, when your subscribers are highly engaged and interested. Don’t waste the opportunity to bring them in closer.

Why not take the first step in claiming your corner of the market? For a memorable first touch, get the FREE brand assessment before sending that welcome email campaign!

Everything You Need To Woo Clients You Learned In Kindergarten

January 15, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Good content gets you noticed, warms people up to your business, and, when the time comes, helps them decide to do business with you over everyone else.

But first, you have to be someone worth listening to.

Just like in real life, you can’t just charge in, demanding attention as an expert, and expect clients and customers to throw money at you – especially if you’re just starting out, or your business is brand new.

The same goes with your content and copy. Content shows your value, and copy closes the deal. Sometimes it takes awhile; a content plan is an investment, and usually doesn’t yield overnight results. But if you practice some things you already learned in kindergarten — basic people skills — you can make less content a lot more effective, and speed up the results you’re looking for.

Attracting, keeping, and finding new customers is the lifeline of your business. It’s also the job that a lot of small business owners dislike the most — constantly “selling” yourself. Even professionals with degrees, badges, accolades, years of experience, a huge network, and plenty of current projects, have to work at keeping a constant flow of customers.

It may feel like you’re marketing yourself all the time, but if you live and breathe these three rules from childhood, it’ll start to feel natural.

Show and Tell, and Share.

Show: If you want to be remembered for your expertise, show them.

Tell: If you want to connect with people and stand out, tell them your story.

Share: If you want to be the familiar friend people are comfortable going to (and like to play with), share freely.

That’s really the secret of good content in a nutshell, and you learned it when you were five.

Let’s go over them one at a time.

First, show your expert status.

Don’t trumpet your own success, not all the time. Rather, show how you made your clients successful. If within your marketing copy you genuinely celebrate the people you’ve helped, then your prospects will make a mental note: you became the expert you are because it isn’t all about you after all.

This is why testimonials, case studies and interactive content are golden. Your content should be sprinkled moments that can be felt and experienced.

Videos and tutorials show clients how to tackle tasks and reveal what makes you unique.

Downloadable quizzes or interactive self-assessments show you’ve thought a lot about what matters to your customers and clients and want to help them navigate trouble spots.

Slide decks they can click through at their leisure are also a great source of bite-sized content people love to consume.

Chances are you already have tons of hidden content that a freelance writer or designer can help you package into user-friendly content. Bring it to the forefront and show your prospects your unique value.

The benefit to showing what you can offer is you can then ask whether and how you helped. Feedback points you in a more accurate direction toward finding the right clients. Always ask for feedback, even for small services you provide, in order to get a better sense of how people are “feeling” your content and interaction with you.

Feedback helps you understand what you do well. It also reveals what you don’t do well, and the people you shouldn’t be working with, if you didn’t know already. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with the client; they may be easy to work with and a good fit for your products or services, but somewhere your systems or work processes don’t match.

Others will see what they can achieve by working with you. You don’t even need to tell how cool and smart you are…they’ll figure that out on their own.

Second, tell a story.

Many of the most believable and effective experts speak from their own personal experience. They didn’t just decide one day to become a guru in some industry. They just sort of “fell into it.” (I hear that a lot.)

A hobby becomes a passion. A passion becomes a business. Pretty soon people are looking to you for advice. If you do a good job describing your passion and how it evolved, people will trample a path to your door!

Uly8 posted this on Instagram today… The part about lighting yourself on fire makes me a little uncomfortable, but you get the concept.

I’m thinking of one client I used to write for. This southern cowboy met a girl and fell in love. Next thing he knew, her dad showed him some things about real estate notes. He studied the business, married the girl, and started buying and selling real estate notes (mostly dirt) of his own. That was thirty years ago, but it’s a great beginning to a long story about his career as a “note guy.” Of course he tells it much more colorfully, including a cowboy rope trick on stage, but that’s the gist of it.

Eddie woos his clients by telling his story with humor, and a great southern accent. He gets attention and makes a memorable impression on new clients who value his experience to help them learn the note business.

But it does more than that. It proves his credibility and character.

It allows folks inside his personal life. It shows people that they can do it too, if they are inquisitive and really want to learn.

Finally it reveals a drive to succeed. Don’t we all want to see that in the people we hire? Great beginnings tend to be humble, especially among people who are wildly successful. “If he works this hard on his business,” we think, “he’s going to work his can off for me!” A well-told story makes a real and lasting connection with new customers.

So maybe you don’t have thirty years of experience. Or maybe your experiences don’t seem to fit in a nice neat package. That doesn’t matter. You still have a story to tell. Some of the most incongruent experiences combine to make you perfectly suited to do amazing things, and provide great value for your clients and customers.

I used to worry that my multi-faceted past made me totally unfit to do anything, except maybe tell stories. I was embarrassed that I have been a flower arranger, a bank teller supervisor, a semiconductor equipment sales engineer, and a doll maker. But I’m over it now…

Ever since the TED talk in which career coach Emilie Wapnick celebrated the “multipotentialite,” people who have a range of interests and jobs over one lifetime; I’m a believer in telling your story, as weird as it may be.

Never hide your story. Tell it loud and proud.

Your story is the stuff that happened between your “beginning” and where you are today, even if it’s short. People love juicy stories — always have and always will — and they’re hungry to hear yours.

Let your content tell your story.

Third, share your content freely.

You learned this in the sandbox: What you give away always comes back to you in spades, so be generous with your content.

Even if it goes against your business nature and your bottom line, you must believe in the exponential power of sharing. The most helpful and successful people, the ones who understand the value of investing in a content strategy, already ooze free information.

They’re happy to relay what they know about their service or industry because they thrive on others’ success. They’re not concerned with “giving away the store” because they know that in the end, the ones who are there to offer general help and advice are the ones who win the business when it comes to serving specific individuals with specific solutions.

Anyway, let’s face it, everything you can ever know is already available on the web. Information is free. Relationships are valuable.

Heike Young paraphrased Content Marketing Institute’s Robert Rose regarding gated content: “If you have a good content asset, you can share it for free. Customers will like it so much they’ll want to subscribe after consuming it.”

In other words, if you’re concerned that you’re giving away too much free information, then you’re missing the point about content marketing. It’s about building relationships and adding value to those relationships. Please don’t make the mistake of guarding your hard-earned expertise. People don’t pay for a small glimpse behind the curtain. They need it to make a decision to buy.

Finally, you need to share your content in words and pictures with your friends and followers online.

The way to build your business is to make sure that as many people possible have access to this information about you. You don’t have to tap dance all over the Internet screaming “me, me, me.” Just go where your customers already are and touch on the three elements you already learned in kindergarten, Show & Tell. And share.

Email, blog posts, articles published on Medium, Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora (one of my favorites) and other social sharing sites… these are all invaluable sources for sharing the content that people NEED to see and hear from you before they actually become customers.

Yes, it’s an investment, but you don’t have to drown in it. All you really need are a few well-positioned and targeted pieces of content, shared thoughtfully among the right audiences.

Creating content and managing it is the key to attracting those who are actively looking for experts in your field. If you want to become that expert they will want to engage with, learn from, trust, and buy from; practice the big three:

Show how people benefit by working with you.
Tell your story.
Share what you know about your field and how you do it better.

Would you like to position your expert status and attract new business with a content strategy that woos clients, but doesn’t overwhelm you with more demands on your time? Contact us to talk about getting one or two great pieces of content working for you.

Labor Day, #GoHEB, and Suzie’s Beans

September 7, 2015 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

As summer draws to a close, all of its pleasures seem a little sweeter because they are about to disappear. I always want to hurry up and squeeze a little more out of it simply because summer “over-gives” like no other season.

Lush, bountiful summer. As summer begins to rest, I’m always a little sad about the things I did not receive from her.

That day on the boat was divine… we should have gone out on Lake travis again while the lake was full.
The Texas peaches I bought at HEB were delicious this year… we should have driven to Fredericksburg (the source) and had a bowl of homemade peach ice cream at that place by the side of the road.
And why didn’t I take the kids to Krause Springs?

Fall is edging in, the days are getting shorter, and yes, there are things I regret NOT doing this summer. But there are a couple of things I’m doing today to help lengthen summer’s glory this weekend.

I’ve been meaning to do both all summer, so this is my last hurrah; then I will let summer go.

1. I’m making Suzie’s Beans to bring to a potluck today.

2. I’m posting a #GoHEB pic on Instagram.

Here’s why these activities bring summer full circle.

Suzie’ Beans

Making Suzie’s bean recipe is critical because A. I’ve just been craving this dish like crazy, and B. I haven’t contributed to even one potluck anywhere yet this summer! That’s just not right.

The first reason stands on its own. I’ve been consuming more beans and nuts lately (and a little less meat), and this crock pot dish is over the top as a BBQ side. I always think of Suzie when flipping through my book of recipes from family and friends. Suzie is/was an old girlfriend of a single guy friend of the family’s. This guy always picks really great women to date, and brings them to parties etc., but after a few months the story always goes something like, “We needed some space away from each other.” I never ask details, but I usually wish I’d asked for the the girlfriend’s contact info so we could’ve stayed friends. (Admittedly, that might be awkward.)

All I have left from the Suzie Year is this bean recipe. She was quite famous in the neighborhood for bringing these to get-togethers, and I like remembering her good nature when I see this recipe in my book. I’m making this for the first time ever. Maybe someone will remember it. The recipe’s at the end of this post.

The second reason for making the beans is that, for all the running around this summer, I haven’t connected with the folks closest to me. By close I mean “proximity-close.”

Running a home business keeps me hopping, so even though I work from home, and have managed to get together with family and friends this summer, I’ve been missing many of my neighborly connections.

There’s something special about neighbor friends. I believe in blooming where you’re planted. When people say they don’t even know their neighbors, I’m a little shocked. In a very practical way, you need those people… don’t you? And the bonus is since you never know what you’re going to get, neighbors make life interesting!

We live in Spicewood, just west of Austin. Austin’s slogan is “Keep Austin Weird,” but in Spicewood it’s “We’re all here because we’re not all there.” Some highlights: Willie Nelson lives just up the road in Briarcliff. The golf course he built is a local legend, though not even close to being one of the best in the area. (“Get high and golf.”) Krause’s Springs has the coldest water, and the most beautiful swimming hole. Opie’s BBQ is pretty famous, too, although neighbor Chet’s brisket and sausage is far better.

Spicewood is a quirky place, though getting less so, as everyone from all over the world flocks to claim a little piece of the Hill Country as their home, too.

We met most of these neighbor friends back in the summer of 2001, splashing around in Bee Creek when Willie (my son, not the singer) was just 9 days old. Everyone was playing or lounging in the natural clefts of smooth rock as they sipped on cans of beer while water slipped over their bodies. Imagine Bee Creek as a natural spa designed by God and maintained by our neighborhood association, and you’ll get the picture.

My fondest memory from that day was nursing my newborn on a rock as the water rushed by, and not one of our new neighbor friends batted an eyelash. Good times. We get together with those same good folks every year at a BBQ potluck at the home of Chet and Clara, the best meat slingers in the hood. We’re heading over there in an hour or so. It will be nice to catch up.

#GoHEB

The second thing I’m doing today to commemorate Summer 2015 is post a pic to Instagram with #GoHEB. It’s my way of thanking HEB for sending me a box of BBQ goodies earlier this summer.

About nine weeks ago I posted something on Instagram about prepping meat for the grill. The folks at HEB saw it and tweeted me to DM them my address so they could send me a surprise.

A few days later this box came in the mail with picnic supplies; condiments, french fried potato sticks, sweet hot spread for sandwiches, and aluminum foil.

Care packages from my favorite stores are always welcome (as if this happens every day), but the way this came about got me thinking about the use of hashtags in a brand’s marketing.

I didn’t even mention HEB in my Instagram post, but it got around on Twitter. Because I’m in Texas, HEB’s home state, their social media/marketing people must have identified me as a possible loyal customer.

If I weren’t a loyal customer before, I would be now.

Who doesn’t like getting goodies in the mail? How can you live in Texas and not shop at HEB? How could someone accept a gift and not post a picture with the hashtag they suggested: #GoHEB.

Smooth move, all you content marketers at HEB! Hashtags, especially with a gift attached, entice other people to share their content that’s relevant to your audience. Pictures sweeten the deal.

Not every business can afford to send gift boxes to potential champions of their brand, it’s true. But this social media marketing campaign by HEB certainly gets me excited about hashtag campaigns a small business person might easily develop.

Request pictures of your product used in different ways.
Discover locations of your customers.
Ask for ideas (naming your next flavor) or recommendations (future course subjects), etc.

Well, here is it, finally, the pic I’m posting to my Instagram. I kept forgetting to post pics of the finished product over the summer — the actual burgers, briskets and fish I grill using HEB products — probably because I’m so excited to eat the stuff that it slips my mind. Today as I fixed Suzie’s Beans I remembered to stop and appreciate the labor of the folks who are responsible for making HEB my favorite grocery store. Here’s the pic…

…and now, for the recipe.

Suzie’s Beans

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean hamburger, ground beef, or ground turkey. (I used HEB’s grass fed, free range, natural beef.)

1/2 lb lean bacon (pork, beef, or turkey)

1 med to large yellow onion

1/2 cup BBQ sauce of choice

1/3 cup (or to taste) brown sugar

1/3 cup (or to taste) white sugar

1 31-oz can pork and beans

1 15-oz can red kidney beans

1 15-oz can black beans

1 15-oz can navy beans

1 15-oz can butter beans

1 10-oz can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 tsp black pepper and/or garlic pepper

1 tsp (or to taste) chili powder

1 tsp (or to taste) paprika

1 tsp (or to taste) cumin

as many diced/sliced jalapenos you think you can handle

Preparation:

Brown meat and bacon. Drain well. Dice and sauté onion and jalapenos. Drain beans and Ro-Tel well. Combine all ingredients in a baking dish or crock pot. Bake in oven at 350° for 1 hour or heat in a crock pot on low setting for 2 – 3 hours. Makes 3 quarts; serves 12-15; may be used as a dip, side dish, or a main dish.

That’s it! lots of ingredients, but easy peasy.

Off to swim and party with the neighbors. (Thank God I’m not nursing a baby!) Don’t forget to use lots of hashtags — especially on Instagram!