In my last article I covered writing great blog post headlines. If you missed it Click here to read Part 1



Now that you’ve intrigued your readers and drawn them in with a great headline, you have to keep their attention. As a blogger and copywriter you have to write in a way that keeps readers from taking a quick glance and moving on.



Following are rules for creating an introduction that draws in your readers.



1. Don’t try to sound overly academic

Up to 90% of people that lose weight end up gaining most or all of it back within…


Research is valuable, but not in this context unless you’re a healthcare professional. As a blogger you don’t want to bore your readers with statistics.


You want to put yourself in their shoes by showing empathy. Let them know you understand what they’re going through.


You’re sharing the tools you used to overcome a problem.



Example:

Do you hear that?

That little voice speaking to you?

That little voice whispering to you that there’s something else you really want to do. Telling you to go ahead and make the change.

But you’re afraid.

You’re afraid to quit your job and do what your heart is pulling you to do.

You’re afraid of not having what you need to survive; a place to live, food on the table, a car and on and on.

But, mostly you’re afraid of making a mistake. You doubt yourself. You’re afraid of being wrong.



You don’t need to start every post with the empathy aspect. You can choose something else, maybe a story.



2. Get Into the Role

Trigger your readers’ emotions. Think about the range of emotions you want them to feel then get into that role as you write. Is there fear, doubt, anger, sadness, happiness, love, hope, and so on.


As you feel the emotions yourself they will come through in your writing and will be authentic.


So, decide on the emotional journey you want your readers to experience and put that in your writing and your audience will feel that.


Although this rule applies throughout your post, it is of utmost importance for your introduction.
When we write our words reveal our feelings.



3. Entice Readers down the Page


A) Open with Question a Short Sentence

This is a proven technique to draw in your audience.

If you start your post with a long paragraph readers will feel overwhelmed just looking at it.


B) Use Fewer Words

Use as few words as possible.

Write efficiently to give your words power. Whatever the number of words you use in your first draft, cut that in half.

The more you apply this technique the more proficient your blog writing becomes.


C) Set the Tempo

All writing has a pace and rhythm.

The pace of your introduction should be a little fast. Later, you can slow things down by:

Using short sentences or even sentence fragments
Keeping paragraphs to a maximum of three sentences long
Using delayed transitions to weave sentences together
Making each sentence a paragraph that leads into the next one
Reading the post out loud to be sure it flows properly and is moving forward smoothly


You want your readers’ journey to be fast and slow. To ebb and flow. To keep their attention.


That gives your words pace and rhythm.


Example:

“You’re not stupid.

You know what writing is truly about.

It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention.

Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion.

And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever.” — Shane Arthur


He then slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences.



4. Make Them Beg

Have readers begging for your solutions by adding some fear to your opening.

What are readers’ concerns? What will happen if they don’t solve the problem you’re addressing?

When you expose those fears readers feel your empathy and are more eager for your solution.

Let them know we all have fears and don’t need to hide them.


Example:

Maybe the skeptics are right. Maybe you’re foolish to think you could earn an income doing something you love, instead of tolerating what you’re doing. Who knows?


The fear of failure is painful. Giving a voice to that fear is validating and makes your audience excited for the solutions that will set that fear free.


The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free.




5. Hint at the Solution to Come

As you wrap up your introduction, hint at the solution to come.

The promised purpose of your post. What readers will gain when they follow your methods.

Don’t give it all away. Just a hint to keep readers engaged, because they bore easily.

An introduction is for setting the stage for all the sincere advice your post will provide, not to give answers.

Example:

You’re thinking about setting up a blog to advertise your side gig. You know nothing about blogging. Where do you begin?

A post for beginning bloggers, 4 Blogging Tips

I didn’t know much about blogging, but started anyway.

I used it for an affiliate program I signed up for online.

The program owner offered…



Of course you’ll keep reading.


When devising an introduction, try writing two entirely different versions approached from different angles and sparking different emotions. Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.


Your introduction must satisfy search intent or readers will click the “back” button and you lose them forever.


Search Intent is the reason for the Google search.


It is a large part of SEO (search engine optimization) which would be another article by itself.


If someone searches for “5 Tips for Business Success,” and the post begins with an anecdote people will click away without ever reading the rest of the wisdom-filled post.


Figuring out a keyword’s intent is one of the first things to do. It forms your headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more.


Take time to analyze results in Google so you know why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting.


Figure out the intent, and then make sure your introduction matches it.



Part Three will be covered in my next article.



Your Autoresponder and More



Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.

by Rahimah Sultan

Although there are many tutorials that can teach you the mechanics of blogging, there is more to writing fantastic blog posts.

Here are some rules to follow when creating your headlines.


1.You Need a Great Topic

Decide on your post headline (title) prior to beginning to write the article. This is your map to follow in order to stay on topic and not confuse readers. You want your readers to reach the intended objective as easily and efficiently as possible.


If you want your blog post to get opened your headline must promise readers the answer to their concerns, what they’re looking for.


To find out what your readers want research:

Review comments on your posts and on posts of other sites in your niche.

Send your subscribers surveys asking them what their greatest struggles are.

Use tools like BuzzSumo to find out what the most popular posts in your niche are (which gives insight into your target readers’ needs).

Read the reviews of books in your niche on Amazon (you’ll find a gold mine of feedback to explore.)

Now you’ve decided on a topic.


Example:

You make jewelry at home. Your headline reads:


How to Make Jewelry


This title is so broad it’s unlikely to draw in many readers.


Tools and Materials Needed to Get Started in Jewelry Making


This is a narrow specific headline that makes your readers feel you have the answers they’re looking for.



2. Take Your Cue from the Pros

“How to” headlines and list post headlines are the easiest templates with which to start. They are classics and proven to work.


“How to” headlines:

 How to start a blog in 2020
 How to make money blogging
 How to make money writing


List Post Headlines:

5 Blogging Ideas
25 Tips for Content Marketing
5 Tips for Business Success
15 One-Sentence Chunks of Online Marketing Advice You Can Use Today



3. Engage Your Senses:

Add sensory details to your headlines. Place yourself in your readers’ shoes. Imagine what they see, feel, taste, smell or hear.


Example:

How to Start a Baking Blog


This is a good headline.


How to Start a Baking Blog on Breads and Delicious French Pastries


This is a better headline. It makes an enticing statement that encourages people to want to know more.


Questions are also a great way to construct headlines that get clicked.

For example:

Are You Making Any of These 7 Common Blogging Mistakes?



4. Give a Tease not the Answer

You want to draw people in to see what you have to offer. Don’t give a solution.


Example:

How to Build a List of Subscribers Using an Autoresponder


You’ve given the answer to a problem; use an autoresponder to build a list.


How to Build a List Faster and Easier


This headline is more interesting and piques curiosity and interest.



5. Don’t be Deceptive

For instance…


5 Steps to a Healthy Life Style


is fine until the 5^th step ends up with no advice and leads to a sales page.



6. Streamline Text

Don’t fill your headline with unnecessary words that add no real value:


If You Want to Stay Slim and Trim Here are 5 Things You Must Avoid


Instead use:


5 Things You Must Avoid to Prevent Weight Gain



7. Don’t Use the “I’m intelligent” Aspect

The purpose is not to appear clever or educated.


Your headline should make sense to all readers. They shouldn’t have to guess what the benefit is.


When writing your headline, don’t use metaphors, jargon, rhymes, made-up terms, or anything that tries to be too clever or complicated.


How to be Happy on Life’s Highway


People want specifics related to their needs, not a metaphor.


And this:


How to Maintain Your Beauty as Life is a Fading Flower


What beneficial information can anyone gather from that to make them want to read more? You need to deliver clear benefits in your headlines.


You may be able to make a connection in your post and use it as an analogy, but readers are scanning headlines for things that apply to their particular circumstance. They have no clue as to why they should stop to read further so they probably won’t.



8. Stick to Your Style

Your audience already knows and trusts you, so don’t make any drastic changes.


As you continue to write your style will emerge. Once you decide your style stick with it, although you can gradually change it. Don’t make any drastic changes so your audience will still know, like and trust it’s you.


Create several (5-10) versions of the same headline. The more you practice the better you will become at writing clear, concise and curiosity-invoking headlines that readers can’t resist.


Keep your headlines to 60 characters or less so they don’t get truncated in the SERPs (search engine results pages).


Readers usually don’t click these links.


Example:


How To Start a Blog in 2020 – Easy to Follow Guide for …

www.bloggingbasics101.com › how-do-i-start-a-blogLearn to blog. Step-by-step guide to learn how to start a blog, choose the
best blogging platform and avoid the common
blogging mistakes made by newbies.

Part two will be covered in my next article.

Get Your Hosting and More


Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.

by Rahimah Sultan

Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing partnership as are influencer and affinity marketing.

The world of commerce is competitive. As a business owner, you often find yourself competing against other business owners — for exposure, for customers, and for money.

While competition will always be a part of business, you can partner with others to promote your product or service. With partnerships you can grow your audience and boost sales.

In this article, Affiliate, Influencer, and Affinity Marketing: Your Full Guide to Partnership Types, you’ll find an in-depth discussion of partnerships.




Your Web Hosting Essentials




Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.

 by Rahimah Sultan

The world of online marketing is fast paced and therefore unpredictable. To have success, you must be willing to continually test and refine your campaigns.

Most traditional business experts talk about following the money and not your passion. If you’re too attached to a business, then you won’t be able to see clearly what to do when it’s not going well. You won’t be able to tell if you need to scrap it and start over.

You need to adapt and don’t be attached, and always test. Read The World Of Online Marketing Is Fast Paced, Which Makes it Unpredictable for the details.

Need An Autoresponder?

Click here for yours now
 
 
 
 
 
 

by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

A sales funnel is the buying process that you use to lead customers or prospective clients through to purchase a product. It is a series of steps within a particular sales model. These steps can consist of landing pages, blog pages, retargeting ads for bringing people back into the loop if they’ve left, and email follow ups.

Simply put, a sales funnel is the journey you take your website visitors through when trying to sell your products and services to them.

The top of the funnel works to attract people, the middle of the funnel is a kind of nurturing process such as getting people on your email list, and in the bottom you’re doing additional follow up.


Here are four main stages for your sales funnel:

Read magnet
Lead magnet
Introductory offer
Core offer


One strategy you can use to create sales funnel opportunities is to send an email to your list asking them what they need help with, a kind of survey. Your subject line can be, “Can I ask you a question?” Then ask the question.

As people respond, track the common issues or problems that are most popular and use them to create a funnel based on those core needs. You can also incentivize responses by saying you’ll pick a certain number of people to receive a one-on-one 15-minute consultation or whatever else you choose. Now you have a way to address their needs and concerns and a way to get to know and better understand them.


Your Read Magnet makes it all about the reader, before ever asking for the opt-in.

Now that you’ve got your funnel, it’s time to warm up your reader. This can be done by using the survey results to start mapping out a blog post that hits on the one struggle most of your audience is plagued with. Go in-depth with the information.

It doesn’t have to be a blog post. It could be a video, podcast or a Facebook live broadcast that you transcribe and turn into a blog post. Make sure this is all related to the overall purpose of your sales funnel. This should link to your lead magnet which has been included throughout the post.


Your Lead Magnet

Now you want people to see your lead magnet. You can do so by emailing your list with a link to the post, posting the link inside your Facebook group, placing it on your social media channels, and driving some paid traffic, among other things.

You want people on your page consuming content and opting in for your lead magnet, which can be:

1) Cheat sheets
2) Checklists
3) Swipe files
4) Buyer’s guides
5) Email courses
6) A recording of a talk you gave
7) Step-by-step blueprints

This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Be creative.


Introductory Offer

Once people have opted in, it’s time for an intro offer that is a relevant low-cost offer you make to a new subscriber once they have joined your list. Offer something that is relevant to your funnel and that is hard to say no to, while you “have their attention.”

Each step feeds into the next without any disruptions to the flow. This avoids losing anyone who might otherwise close the window or delete your email.


A few tips…

1) Keep intro offer below $50
2) The offer should be relevant to your read magnet, lead magnet and core offer
3) It should 10x the value they’ve received in your read magnet and lead magnet
4) It should be offered on the Thank You page once someone opts in for your lead magnet
5) It should not be used as a money-maker, instead use it to change the relationship from subscriber to customer


A few things to offer, among many:

A video course
Done-for-you graphics
Audio course
Mini-group coaching calls
$1 trial for your product or software

Now you sell your intro offer through another blog post. Once someone opts in for your lead magnet, they’re redirected to the post that contains something of real value, while they wait for the lead magnet email to arrive. They can only get this by following the instructions and clicking the link to the new post.

You want to keep the reader engaged while moving them down the page to where you present the intro offer for the first time. Now you’re building trust.


Core Offer

Your core offer has to be a great one. It has to be detailed, value-packed and help your customer achieve a specific outcome, goal or result.

Your core offer can be an online course, high-ticket coaching, done-for-you services, some software, mentorship, a physical product, etc. It’s your call.

A sales funnel gives you leverage and puts you in control to be able to do what you want whether it’s more travel, to stress less about generating leads if you’re selling services or digital products, and growing your business.


You can use these four stages for your sales funnel to move your business forward.

Source: How To Create a Dangerously Effective Automated Sales Funnel


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by Rahimah Sultan

Your business has unlimited potential to grow when it targets the internet as its market. You need to have a blog, make sure your website meets your prospects expectations, and don’t stop with just a website.

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by Rahimah Sultan

In the online business world there are three key things needed to grow your business. These Internet Marketing Solutions include targeted traffic, something to sell, and a marketing funnel. These key factors are needed for all products and services sold online.

Targeted Traffic

The first element you need to grow your online business is a steady flow of targeted customers visiting your website and online sales pages. These are people who are…

Read more

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by Rahimah Sultan

Email marketing is all about building trust and relationships so people will buy from you and maybe become a repeat customer.

Put your customers first by giving them helpful information and tips before referencing your products or services. Email marketing can be a fast way to reach thousands of customers.

Despite the false predictions by the so-called experts, email is not dead. Yet it’s only getting stronger and more powerful. The year 2017 proved this to all with 59% of marketers choosing email to be the most effective channel for generating the highest revenue.

You can read Syed Balkhi’s discussion on 5 Email Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2018 here.

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by Rahimah Sultan

Content marketing today appears much different than it used to look. There are new tactics, trends, data, and content tools that have transformed our approach, and it’s easy to forget the core purpose of content. There are several things that all brands, marketers, and industry leaders need to know about content marketing today.

It takes effort, you have to be consistent, social media is not the only way to distribute content, plugging your products is not its only function, your blog can’t do it alone, it fuels and offers PR opportunities, and you have to walk before you can run.

John Hall details these points in his article The Truth About Content Marketing And What Brands Need To Know

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by Rahimah Sultan

If you run a small company or are thinking about starting a business, you may find that the world of blogging is something you want to be part of. It’s a great way to get the word out to consumers about your product or service.

As a business owner, the key to having a successful blog is keeping your goals clear and concrete at every step of your blogging journey. If you’re just learning about the exciting possibilities of blogging technology, it’s very easy to get sidetracked.

If you want your blog to succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan that includes how often you will update, how you will promote your blog and retain readers, whether you will feature photographs or video, and other aspects, and then stick to it with the same kind of determination that you used when you first started your business.

Blogging is an essential way to get your message out to others. You can incorporate text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media in your posts to make your content more appealing to readers.

There are many platforms for blogs that include WordPress.com, WordPress.org, Blogger, and Tumblr. There are pros and cons to consider when choosing a platform. You have to make an assessment and choose the one that best suits your needs for now and in the future.

WordPress.com is free but you will not technically own your blog. It can be suspended at any time, and .wordpress is in your domain name. WordPress.org is free, you have control and there are search engine friendly options, although you must pay a host to support it.

WordPress.org requires you to have some basic understanding of how the web servers and the installation process works. Although you can set one up in under 5 minutes, WordPress.org requires some technical skill for uploading files to a web server using FTP (file transfer protocol) and such.

Blogging for business is a way to showcase your passion and expertise and a way to brand yourself and your products. It allows you to present your knowledge and skills to the public. A good post length can contain as few as 350 to 400 words.

If you’re looking for a way to take your business to the next level, consider what starting a blog might be able to do for you.

If you have been thinking about blogging for business, now may be the time to start. Once you get your blog up and running and get a few followers your confidence will grow. Just take the first step.

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