Visual Marketing

  • Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop: Write an Article or Post From Your Itinerary or Event

    blog-hop

    Welcome to our March Blog Hop!

    This month we want to help you experience success in your business and life, featuring articles, how-to’s and resources for you today that have helped each consultant, blogger and business owner on the hop in their own lives and businesses. Get ready to be inspired for a fabulous year ahead of you as you move along through the blog hop.

    You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Chérie Ronning at Chérie Ronning, Consultant-Mentor-Speaker on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you make sure to see and learn from all of the articles featured here today.


     

    Write an Article or Post From Your Itinerary or Event

    Starting my normal work day conducting my daily perusal of my Facebook newsfeed and checking to see what I could content curate or bring to the attention of my followers.  I do that to supply my peeps with content that they can use on their social media and newsletters.  I teach my clients that they don’t have to write the article (but fully attribute it), just a few comments or notes about their views or impressions of the article, and how it would benefit their followers.  It’s another way to get yourself in front of people and let them get to know you and your business.  You never know when a “tickle” will turn into a “trickle” of business.  And today I’m inspired to write this article!

    So I found this fabulous blog post from The New York Times Travel section that was so yummy with images of Siena, Italy.  Then a detail of what the traveler did while in Siena, and get this, for 36 hours.  It was so enticing, and almost out of body experience.  I really felt I was there and along for the trip.  Then I thought if I was a travel entrepreneur and needed to write a blog post, article, postcard, warm letter, whatever, THIS is how and what I want to create.  I want to create that oozing, yummy, out of body feeling of coming along on the journey because it entices me to book the trip!  And who would I book it with?  The person writing the article, the travel entrepreneur that is giving me this oh so sensual experience.

    And on top of that…writing the article should be easy!

    How to write this inviting experience?  Pull from your own experience in vacation or travel, use an itinerary that you created for a client or yourself and relive the experience.  Sure images are fabulous and you MUST include them, but your potential customers want to have the sights and smells of being there.  So let’s take a look at the article I’m referring to:  36 Hours in Siena, Italy (you might want to have two browsers or pages open so you can flip back and forth).

    1. Title:  something catchy but simple.  Here are some pointers from Karyn Greenstreet and her article: 3 Headline Formulas for Non-Copywriters
    2. Imagery:  I love the collage that they did on the Siena article.  If you have a smartphone then you should be able to use Instagram.  If not, here is an online source: Photovisi
      or PicMonkey. If you can’t do that then place the images next to a paragraph.
    3. Short lead in:  write something about the trip, how-when-where!
    4. Daily or hourly itinerary:  now this is the fabulous part.
      1. Take 24-48 hours of your trip itinerary and list out what places you visited or experienced.  It might just be swimming with the dolphins or eating breakfast on the bus.  Pick out the highlights for that 24-48 hours and those are your points or paragraphs.
      2. Place yourself there, and relive the sights, sounds, smells, people, shopping, and feelings.
      3. You can also give advice or your impression of a particular aspect of your journey.
      4. Use the NYT article as a guide for what is making you feel like you’re in Siena, Italy or want to visit!

    Believe me this doesn’t have to be only for travel entrepreneurs.  Bridal industry entrepreneurs, you can use this same method for enticing your brides with how you will calendar/layout/time their wedding day or a typical wedding day.  Make sure you use the sights, smells, and feelings of each chronological event.  You’re not only showing them what you do but you’re allowing them to buy into it and FEEL it!

    So what do you think?  Want to try this?  I really see this as a way to serialize your vacations, events, and parts of your business so it invites and draws in your customer.  Again, it would be terrific for that warm letter or postcard to potentials!


    The next stop is Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Consulting on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again next month!

    1. Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Consulting
    2. Debra Burdick at The Brain Lady
    3. Deb Brown at Touch Your Client’s Heart
    4. Vicki Heise at Live Your Healthy Life
    5. Rochelle Togo-Figa at Speaking Breakthrough Strategist
    6. Robin Hardy at Integrity Virtual Services
    7. Chérie Ronning at Chérie Ronning, Consultant-Mentor-Speaker
    8. Kim McDaniels at iBiz Design Duchess <<– you are here!

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  • Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop

    nbc-blog-hop-jan-2015-001

    Welcome to our very first Blog Hop for 2015!

    This month we want to help you start the year off with a fresh start featuring articles, how-to’s and resources that have helped each consultant, blogger and business owner on the hop in their own lives and businesses. Get ready to be inspired for a fabulous year ahead of you as you move along through the blog hop.

    You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Jill Russo Foster at JillRussoFoster.com on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you make sure to see and learn from all of the articles featured here today.


     

    woman-laptopGet Leads on your List Fast by Doing This!

    You already know you need a great leads list. But what you may not realize is how simple it can be to get these leads on your own list quickly by just focusing on this process broken down step-by-step.

    What’s your expertise, what sets you apart, what’s your “IFO” Irresistible Free Offer? You’re trying to get a business going, creating a website, and now you have to create an offer to get people on your list! So much to do! But…your IFO doesn’t have to be exhausting.

    An IFO can be any of the following that you might already have in your marketing tools and can repurpose:

    • A speech you presented locally: pdf, audio recording, video
      • Haven’t given any speeches? Phone it in! Set up a free conference call account, I use Free ConferencePro.com, and record your speech.  You already have the speech in a document (pdf) so now you have two forms to offer.
    • An interview you had with someone locally or on the web: pdf, audio recording, video
      • Don’t have an interview? Let’s pretend! Use your free conference call account, and have a friend interview you.  Record the interview and now you have an audio and transcript (pdf)!
    • PowerPoint Presentation to a group: slides, pdf, Animoto, video
      • What’s Animoto? You can create stunning videos, with music, for free (limited length) from your PP presentation. Also convert it to a pdf and you have a packaged IFO!
    • Webinar: slides, pdf, Animoto, video
      • Have you heard of MeetingBurner.com? It’s a great webinar tool, very inexpensive and you can do a show and tell, share your computer, share your brochure, and record the audio and video!

    Here are a few tools to help you create your IFO:

    ebookcover460And to make the presentation of your IFO beautiful, professional, and enticing…you might want to create an e-cover. What’s an e-cover?  An e-cover is a fictitious image of your IFO, whether it’s a pdf/report, or a digital version.  Some tools to help you create an e-cover are:

    Now you have your IFO completed you want people to see it!  Try any of these:

    • qr-codePlace your opt-in box on your website as high on the page as possible and to the right.
    • Place your opt-in box in a website pop-up.
    • Place your opt-in box or link, after a blog post.
    • Place your opt-in box or link, on your website footer.
    • Direct people on your social media to grab your free report.
    • Use a QR code on your site and any print media.

    One last note:  I use the word OPT-IN a lot but the words you should use on your web-page should be terms like: Subscribe or Join Me or Grab My Free Report. The words used, make a BIG difference to conversions. Most visitors will not know what OPT-IN means, so for that reason avoid using the term OPT-IN on your site.

    Try these ideas and let me know if you need some additional help.


    The next stop is Sharon Lewis at Questiam Leadership Development on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again next month!

    1. Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Consulting
    2. Cari Vollmer at PassionIntoProfit.com
    3. Wendy Bottrell at Lifestyle Transformation
    4. Debra Burdick at The Brain Lady
    5. Janet Slack at Solopreneur.Biz
    6. Vicki Heise at Live Your Healthy Life 
    7. Rochelle Togo-Figa at Speaking Breakthrough Strategist 
    8. Lisa Ivaldi at InsightClarityGrowth.com
    9. Robin Hardy at Integrity Virtual Services
    10. Sandra Gardner at Tall Red Poppy // Marketing, Magic, & Design Sanctuary
    11. Deb Brown at Touch Your Client’s Heart
    12. Jill Russo Foster at JillRussoFoster.com
    13. Kim McDaniels at iBiz Design Duchess <<– you are here! 
    14. Sharon Lewis at Questiam Leadership Development
    15. Chérie Ronning at Chérie Ronning, Consultant-Mentor-Speaker

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