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10 Ways Online Content Creators are Being Ripped Off

Author:

Beware of content thieves

It’s a wonderful time to be an online content creator. Bloggers, podcasters, photographers and video producers are doing amazing things with their content, and achieving excellent results. As someone who has been blogging for well over a decade, seeing us all come to this point is truly rewarding.

However, for as many people who are creating content online, there are others who are taking a lazy or unethical approach to online (and offline) success, and they don’t care who they steal from in the process. In fact, I don’t know a single content creator who hasn’t been ripped off in some form or another.

Even if you’re not looking to earn money from your content, you’re still losing something when your content is stolen. This is your talent and your expertise. Don’t let someone else take that from you.

If you’re creating content online, here are some things to look for.

1. Someone can “transform” your photos

When you post to a social media platform such as Facebook or Instagram, you don’t own your content, the platform does. But wait, it gets worse – someone can take a photo you posted on the social platform, make a minor  change, and pass it off as his/her own. In fact, that person can even sell it at a profit like this “re-photographer” who used screenshots from Instagram without permission and sold them at an art gallery for $90,000 each. Yes, he’s ripping off the original photographer, and yes, it’s legal.

What can you do about it: Post your best work on your own platform where you own all rights. It wouldn’t hurt to watermark your images, either. If you see someone posting your content and profiting from it, don’t let them get away with it. Be loud and proud when it comes to your content.

2. Someone can rewrite your content

Most content creators will tell you that creating the blog post or the video or recording the podcast is the best part of the process. However, there are lazy people who care more about shortcuts and less about ethics. So if they can move a few words around on your blog post, just enough so it won’t pass a Copyscape test, well, that’s good enough for them. Unfortunately, may of these copycat, ripoff artists are passing themselves off as “influential” content creators now because they were able to market the content so that it did well for them. Will they give you credit? Of course not.

What you can do about it: Unfortunately, it’s hard to prove someone plagiarized your content when it’s not written word for word. If it happens often, you can make a case by publicly comparing your content to the other person’s content and showing how it’s no coincidence this person is posting the same thing as you. Also, if the content is close enough to yours that there’s a case for plagiarism, you can send a cease and desist, file a DMCA notice, and even contact the website host who can demand removal.

3. Someone can pass off your content as his/her own

Some content thieves are more blatant and lazy than others. In fact, there are those who will simply copy your content outright.Many times you might not even know it happens unless you link internally in your blog posts, in which case you will receive a pingback from the offending blog or receiving a Google alert.

What you can do about it: If you can prove the content originated at your site – which isn’t difficult to do with dated blog posts or other content updates – you can file a Cease and Desist and DMCA Takedown Notice. If the offending content thief doesn’t remove the content after you ask nicely and slap him or her with some paperwork, you can send a DMCA notice to that person’s web host who will request removal or the site will be shut down.

4. Someone can steal your profile photos

Even if you’re not a blogger, podcaster, or video producer, you’re still putting content online. For example, your image on Facebook? That’s your content. There are so many thieves stealing profile images from Facebook and passing themselves off as another person. Someone can even use your profile photo to pass themselves off as someone completely different so they can mislead others.

What you can do about it: If someone is using your profile photo without permission, request an immediate cease and desist -but don’t leave it at that. All of the social networks have ways to report identity theft. Use the “report” button to contact the social network so they can remove the copycat profile immediately. They may even investigate further to see if there are other stolen photos being used.

5. Someone can share your clever social media posts without giving attribution

Celebrities and radio stations love to share viral content on Facebook and Twitter, but does the content belong to them? This is an iffy one because in most cases the person or brand doing the sharing isn’t stealing the content, they’re just sharing it. However, if they’re not including your name in the share, and it goes viral with no credit to you, they’re the ones who are credited with the awesome share and now people associate them with the content.

Actor Tyrese Gibson took it even further when he took videos from Facebook uploading them to his own page without offering any kind of attribution.

 What you an do about it: Unless it’s a blatant steal like the Tyrese Gibson situation you can’t really do much about someone sharing your content. You can try asking the person doing the sharing to please make sure you’re attributed as the content creator, though. In most cases the brand or person sharing is happy to comply. If someone is passing your content off as his own, contact the social network and request a takedown.

6. Someone can download your TV show or movie rather than paying for service

Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Streaming aren’t the only ways people are watching TV and movies online. They’re also downloading them via torrent sites or streaming them illegally. This means that everyone from the  content creators, producers, and actors are losing money.

What you can do about it: The networks are on it, but as soon as one site is shut down another pops up. A good recourse is to educate people about copyright laws, content theft, and theft of service. Most people who use an illegal service to download content see it more as saving money and don’t realize they’re ripping off many people in the process.

7. Someone can repackage, rewrite, or resell your ebook

Someone who is too lazy to create his/her own ebook but still wants to profit from ebook sales, probably has no craps to give about all the hard work you put into writing, editing, formatting and designing your ebook. People with no conscience or sense of right or wrong won’t think twice about taking your ebook, sticking a different title and cover on it, and selling it on their own. It’s not easy to find out if someone is plagiarizing your ebooks, either. Unlike online blog posts and articles, you can’t necessarily compare an ebook word for word unless you buy it, and the verbiage doesn’t always show up in a web search.

What you can do about it: This is a tough one. How do you know someone is repackaging your ebook and passing it off as your own if no one tells you or it doesn’t come up in a Google alert? You can monitor ebook sales in your niche, and also you can do periodic web searches for specific phrasing, blocks of text and unique terms that you will only find in your ebook. If your ebook is copyrighted, you can pursue legal action but, of course, you have to make sure it will be worth the expense to have that fight.

8. Someone can steal your title and headlines

The problem with coming up with a clever headline is that there’s a mad rush to click on something popular, everyone wants to do the same thing. I can’t tell you how many times someone took a title that was popular on another blog or ebook and used it to write his/her own original content. It’s frustrating, darn it, because you came up with it first. Can’t people find their own ideas?

What you can do about it: Nothing, really. You can’t prove plagiarism or content theft if someone used a title you created and used it for themselves but posted their own unique content underneath.  If you can prove there was a blatant ripoff (which is hard to do with just a title) you might have a case, but that type of theft is difficult to prove.

You can also try working on headlines that are so unique no one could justify stealing them. For example, John Smith couldn’t get away with sharing “Deb Ng’s Top 10 Tips for Not Allowing Smarmy Content Thieves to Rip You Off.”

9. Someone can share your design and logo ideas

There are numerous cases online of people who ripped off someone else’s logo and passed off the design to their clients as their own.It’s so disheartening because designers put their heart and soul into creating something unique and powerful for their clients only to have someone else steal it, do a minimum of tweaking and sell it to one of their clients.

What you can do about it: Fortunately this one is easy. If you find you’ve been ripped off contact the offending party and cease and desist his/her butt. Tell that person to use of the design has to stop immediately or you will contact their client who they sold the design to. Give him or her a week to rectify the situation. If the design isn’t pulled and/or you’re not given proper credit and payment, contact that designer’s client. Let them know their logo was ripped off from your design and share the proof. If it is an ethical business they’ll take the design down immediately and stop payment or request refund from the rip off artist.

10. Someone can steal your ideas

It happens all the time. You have a great idea for a website, startup, blog or other content. You share it with some friends in order to flesh it out. Then you learn someone else has been running with your idea and launched it first. Sometimes, many times, we can’t even trust people we think are our friends.

What you can do about it: Hopefully you documented every step of your process, including any emails and other communication to the rip off artist about this great idea you had. If you can prove this was your idea you can first ask the other person to offer you proper attribution and payment, including future profits or a lump sum. If the other party isn’t keen on sharing, you can take him or her to court.

Paper trails are important with content creation and sharing of ideas. You should always, always document your good ideas and only share them with people you truly trust. Confidentiality and non competes are especially good in these situations.

 Education Helps

As soon as you post something it’s your intellectual property.  The problem is, content thieves and blog scrapers don’t really care about things like intellectual property and copyright violations. Very few people know how to pursue content thieves or feel it will be a great expense to take them on.

Also, there are people who are under the mistaken impression that once something is online it falls under the public domain and anyone can use it. Most of the time when you confront that type of person they will take the content down because they didn’t know any better.

It helps to educate the world about content theft. What it is, how people steal content, and how it shouldn’t be supported. The more people who are vocal about and take action against content theft, the less likely it is to happen. Content theft is one of the few times I’ll advocate public shaming (if the content thief isn’t accommodating) and creating an uproar. This is our livelihood and we can’t let anyone mess with it.

How do you handle content theft?

10 Reasons Why It’s Essential to Host Content on Your Own Platform

Author:

Content creators should have their own platforms

Dear Content Creators,

I have something to discuss with you. Something important. I see so many talented content creators abandoning their own personal content platforms for other pastures, and I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you why I feel this is a mistake.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t use other platforms to share your content,   guest post on other blogs,  or use content platforms like Medium,  or LinkedIn to as part of a strategy create content, share expertise, and grow your business, because those platforms are important. But they’re better used as a secondary platform or as a platform for busy business owners who don’t have time or savvy to host  and maintain their own content.

Remember, there’s a difference between business people who are looking to share expertise, and content creators who need a continuous platform to showcase talent and attract clients. Business owners who aren’t content creators use the above referenced platforms, as well as different social media accounts to drive traffic to their websites. On the other hand, content creators need to have their own content platform because content IS their business.

It’s essential for full time content creators or people who want to be known as content creators to have their own personal space to highlight expertise and grow community.

My arguments for hosting content on your own platform are below:

10 Reasons Why It’s Essential to Host Content on Your Own Platform

1. All traffic comes to you

When you use another platform to host your content – whether it’s a publishing platform hosted by a brand like LinkedIn or Medium or a social network like Facebook – those platforms are getting the bulk of the traffic. Certainly they can send a good chunk of that traffic your way, but wouldn’t you like to have the benefit of ALL your traffic?

Instead of putting all your eggs in other peoples’ baskets, start your own basket. Use the other platforms as places to share your content or drive targeted traffic to your blog, podcast, website, or video channels.

2. Your blog, your rules

Let me preface this by saying I dislike the expression “My blog, my rules” because it takes away from the community spirit. If we’re not blogging with our community in mind, it’s just one big ego project, right?  So I do think other people’s opinions matter in that regard. However, there’s something to be said about having the freedom to handle your content as you like.

You control what kind of content you can post, your blog or website design, whether or not you want to bring in advertising, and the tone and voice of your content. You don’t have to sign contracts or terms of use and you have the freedom to post as often or as little as you like.

3. Hello, Myspace?

Platforms don’t last forever. People left MySpace in droves and Google+ doesn’t seem to be doing so well either. Even Medium is changing its perspective from a content creation platform to a social network. Remember b5Media? KnowMore Media? Creative Weblogging? They were promising blog platforms that don’t exist anymore. In some cases bloggers were able to keep their content, and other cases, all their content is gone.

By hosting content on your own platform, not only are you guaranteeing your own longevity, but you also own your own files. So you can take your content with you wherever you roam online.

4. Better search engine visibility

Yes, those other platforms do have the potential to send you a lot of traffic, which is why they’re a great secondary platform. However, as a content creator for hire, isn’t it more important to have your own pages indexed on the search engines so people who are searching for content creators come directly to you and not someone else on the same platform?

5. It’s your community – not someone else’s

People on the web are fickle and have short attention spans. When they’re on a platform when other writers and articles are featured prominently in the sidebar, they’ll move on to another content creator’s work. Which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with reading other people’s content. However, on your own blog you keep all the pageviews. If readers want to read more, they have YOUR content for their browsing pleasure – and not soemone else’s.

Moreover, people become regulars because their a fan of your content and you as a person as opposed to visiting a platform every day to consume random bits of content. This familiarity brings trust, and trust builds community.

6. You can monetize your own platform

You can use your content platform as the basis for many things. You can highlight your expertise, build your business as a content creator for hire, or find different ways to monetize via ads, sales of books, ebooks, webinars and courses, or other methods. The point is, you have the freedom to monetize …or not.

7. YOUR searchable archives

When I search for content on your web property I come up with YOUR content, not someone else’s. More pageviews, more established expertise, more personal brand recognition, and more showing me why you are a person I should work with.

8. Pride of ownership

Content creators who use their own platform are more to post on a regular basis. They’re also more likely to share their content and use the URL on business cards, online bios and profiles, and other promotional material. Content creators tend to be prouder of something they built and maintained on their own, and thus are more diligent about continuity, accuracy, design, and editing.

9. You can sell your web property one day

You may decide to retire one day and not wish to keep your blog or podcast going. However, if it’s a popular space, you can sell it. If you’re blogging on someone else’s platform, they keep the millions they earn in a sale and you’re stuck having to deal with new management and new rules.

10. You can still share on other platforms

Don’t confuse “own” with “only.” You can still share content elsewhere. Go ahead and guest blog for another blogger who will drive beneficial traffic to your own platform, or use  another content platform to showcase your expertise and drive traffic, to, again, your own interests. That’s all important and will help to establish your authority and grow your business as a content creator. Just make sure you’re not doing all the work while giving someone else all the benefits.

As a content creator it makes sense you have a place to share content as inspiration strikes, while serving as a home base and showcase for your creativity.

Why would you give that to someone else?

Thanks for listening,

Deb

Telling More, With Less

Author:

by Donna Freedman – NMX Speaker

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Donna Freedman

Want to keep people reading your site? Keep this old journalism adage in mind: “Show, don’t tell.”

Your job as a writer isn’t to force-feed facts so that readers will be sure to Get Your Point. Yesterday was the hottest day I can ever remember. My clothes were sticking to me and my hair was sweaty and I almost came down with heat stroke.

Overkill! Here’s how author Annie Dillard described a rough summer day: “It was hot, so hot that the mirror felt warm.” That is a great detail – and all she had to do was notice it.

Use too many descriptors and your narrative bogs down. The right details show rather than slow the story, turning even a run-of-the-mill topic into a memorable piece of writing.

Bloggers should aim to tell us more, with less. And yep, that can be very difficult at times. When I’m writing, I’m often reminded of a line from that song “Against the Wind”: What to leave in, what to leave out.
Leave in as much as you need to create vivid pictures. Leave out the ordinary stuff.

Suppose your topic is the day you proposed to your sweetheart, or the moment you realized that your current way of living was unsustainable. Forget details like “the sun was shining the day I asked my girlfriend to marry me.” So what? The sun shines a lot of the time. It’s memorable only if, say, you live in Seattle and were just coming off 58 cloudy days in a row.
But if at the moment of your proposal a street musician started playing “Smoke on the Water” on the tuba, you bet I’d put that in. Especially if the guy drowned out your dry-mouthed, “Will you marry me?”
Think back to the day you decided to get smarter about money. As you turned away from the ATM that wouldn’t let you withdraw any cash, you saw a bank poster exhorting you to save for your future. Both the poster and your reaction to it – Future? I can’t even pay my bills in the present! – are nice touches when describing a frugal epiphany.

Carefully chosen details help readers imagine a scene or situation they’ve never personally encountered. They provide color and texture – and an entry point for readers who’ve also heard “Smoke on the Water” played on the tuba. (I actually did hear this once, in Chicago. Cracked me up.)
Incidentally, “details” can also mean “research.” Which blogger do you take more seriously: The one who writes,“The average U.S. college student will graduate with an average debt load of $29,400, according to the Institute for College Access & Success.” Or the one who writes, “Students are taking out a lot of college loans these days.”

The same rule applies to facts as to other descriptors: Put in too many and your blog post will sink under the weight. Use only the most important facts.

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to have details come over and sit on your lap. Broken glass crunching under your feet as you walked to your first day on the new job in a dicey neighborhood. The hissing of the ventilator that kept your mother breathing after a massive stroke. The part-garbage-part-berry odor that let you know a grizzly was very close to the trail you were walking.

Most times, though, you’re going to have to pay attention – to your topic, your surroundings, your life. Annie Dillard noticed a mirror. What will you notice?

Choose the most evocative material you have to connote a scene, a mood, a memory. Liven up those green-vegetable pieces (the ones you do because they’re good for readers) with facts or statistics that provide perspective as well as color.

Remember: Show, don’t tell. A few carefully chosen details let readers draw their own pictures. Too many details slow the narrative. Ordinary details don’t belong in your posts, unless you explain why they were actually extraordinary.

(Donna Freedman’s NMX presentation, “Stop Calling It ‘Content’!,” will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 13. Donna has 31 years’ worth of professional writing experience, the last eight of them online. This guest post was based on an excerpt from her new online course, Write A Blog People Will Read. Use the coupon code NMX20 to get 20% off the course fee.)

NMX: You’re Right, It’s Not the Same

Author:

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I recently took a short break from working as Conference Director and Community Manager for NMX. The reasons for the break aren’t as important as the reasons I returned – because as a content creator I believe in this conference, what it stands for, and the creative people who make up the NMX team and community. I returned for them, I returned for you, and, yes, I returned for me.

During the time I was away, I received a lot of feedback about NMX. Most of the feedback was positive with a “but” thrown in. “But it’s not the same,” as when it began in 2007.

No, NMX isn’t the same, and that is a good thing!?

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New Media and online content creation have evolved and we have to evolve with it. We can’t stay the same. “Same” is boring. ‘”Same” is a failure to adapt. Why would anyone want to go to the same conference over and over again, particularly in a new media world that is constantly changing?

NMX is not the same because our attendees aren’t the same, nor is our focus. When BlogWorld & New Media Expo was first announced in July of 2006 no one had ever heard of Twitter because it wasn’t public yet. Myspace was the big social network and of course Instagram, Google + Pinterest, Snapchat and others were years away from coming to life.

In 2007 bloggers dominated NMX and the mainstream news. We were known as “BlogWorld.” Heck, I still call it BlogWorld…but we were always much more than that. From the very beginning we were talking about podcasting, web video and social media. All forms of content creation were represented in the exhibit hall and the conference.

From the very beginning Rick told me and anyone else who would listen that podcasting and video were going to eventually become huge parts of the show and the corporate marketers and PR pros would fade back into the PRSA’s and marketing worlds they came from. Over the years we evolved and our community of attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors evolved with us. The one thing that remains constant is that NMX exists to serve content creators. So, no. We’re not the same.

Many online brands that are popular today launched at BlogWorld, including a couple of now-popular social media events. Many of the successful (and Internet famous) content creators and social media professionals you look up to today made a name for themselves speaking at BlogWorld/NMX.

Nothing makes us happier than to know we had a part of in someone’s success. If everything stayed the same, we couldn’t continue to introduce new people, products, and services so we can help them succeed as well. Of Course NMX is different now. We hope to always be different, because our attendees are too interesting and creative to be interested in the “same.”

We’re a different conference because our focus is different

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We hear NMX described as a “blogging conference,” “tech conference,” “podcasting conference,” “social media conference,” or “content marketing conference.” The truth is, we’re none of the above and we never were. Social Media Marketing and Content Marketing weren’t even buzzwords when NMX was born.

  • We’re not a blogging conference because we cover all aspects of online content creation. Blogging is very important and will always have a huge spotlight at NMX. Back in 2010 one of our favorite speakers Lee Odden has explained it this way Blogs are the hub of social media and everything else makes up the spokes. If you just change the word blog to content you have an perfect description of how we view the world of new media. NMX is about all content on the web.
  • We’re not a podcasting conference, either. Like blogging, podcasting has an important focus at NMX, but our sessions for content creators go far beyond podcasting. We see podcasting as one of the three critical legs of the new media chair; blogging, podcasting and web video. They are inextricably linked – particularly for any independent content creator who is trying to compete and succeed in a world full of content.
  • We’re not a tech conference. Our community is tech-savvy for sure. They enjoy gadgets, wearable technology and keep up with all the latest tech news. They are definitely “early adopters”. However, while technology plays an important part in our event, and while our attendees love to see our exhibitors and sponsors who are technology-based, technology is not our primary focus. If you rely on the latest technology to create, distribute, consume and monetize your content you will find it at NMX.
  • We are not a social media conference. Social media plays an important part in content creation, but social isn’t who we are or what we are about – Social media makes up the spokes we use to bring our audience to our content.

NMX really isn’t difficult to pinpoint or nail down. We are a conference for new media content creators. If you blog, podcast, create web video, or take beautiful photographs, you belong at NMX.

We’re a different conference because we keep it affordable

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We understand that many members of our community are independent content creators, which means they are in business for themselves, or that their employers don’t have the budget to send them. That’s why we do everything we can to keep NMX affordable. That means we can’t pay tens of thousands of dollars to bring in A-list celebrities. Every big name speaker you have ever seen at NMX is there because they love new media as much as you do.  We don’t focus on shock and awe, we focus on smart people sharing smart ideas.

We hope you agree that meeting people at a table in the new media lounge is far more beneficial than yelling at someone over loud music.

We’re a different conference because we don’t mind if you share

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If you look at YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, Instagram and other platforms you’ll see hundreds of past NMX sessions, and we don’t mind. We like to think of NMX as the Grateful Dead of conferences. We don’t mind when attendees take video or audio at our sessions and keynotes. We encourage it, because that means more exposure for our speakers and our event. That is the new media way. Besides, it’s a great way to share some knowledge with our friends who couldn’t be there. As a conference for content creators it would be pretty lame if we encouraged everyone to create and share their content far and wide except from our event.

We’re different because it’s not about what you have to sell, but what you have to teach

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If you want to speak at NMX you have to have a better reason than “I wrote a book” or “I want people to learn about my product or service.” One thing we take seriously is that there is no selling from the podium. On the extremely rare occasions a sales person gets through, you can bet that person will never be back. In fact, we have an agreement with NMX attendees – if anyone gets up and starts selling during a presentation, you can heckle them all you want. Selling is for the Expo hall, not our sessions.

We’re a different conference because we value knowledge and passion over influence

When we look for people to speak at NMX, we’re looking for teachers and story tellers, not “influencers” or self appointed “experts.” For us, knowledge, passion, and creativity trumps influence every time.

Many of the well known speakers you see on the speaking circuit today  got their start at NMX. We’re proud to say we knew they were smart before they became famous for being smart. So we’re happy to introduce some speakers you might not be familiar with, because nothing makes us prouder than to watch them launch amazing careers from the NMX stage.

Now, this isn’t to say we don’t value influence because we do. However, if we do bring in someone with a well known name you can bet your bottom dollar it’s because we felt they had something important to teach – not because we thought they might put butts in the seats.

There Is No Other Event Like NMX.

When Rick first had the idea for NMX it was because he had been searching for an event like it for months and it didn’t exist. He wanted to attend an event full of bloggers, podcasters and web video creators just like him. He wanted to learn from them, meet people who were as passionate about new media who he was and who he didn’t have to explain what a blog was. No one understands that more than me.

When I attended the first BlogWorld 2007, I was very shy and had never traveled by myself anywhere, but I took a brave, big step and flew to Las Vegas because I felt the same passion for blogging that Rick did. When he spoke about his passion and his need for this conference, I got it. Sometimes I feel as if some of the people in my life don’t understand why I am so passionate about NMX, but I can truly say that everyone at NMX from the speakers to the attendees are MY people. I am so happy to be here. I can geek out about blogging to my heart’s content and no one thinks I’m weird.

Over the years the buzz words have changed but no other event has even come close to creating what NMX is. Do you remember when Twitter first came on the scene? Several Twitter conferences popped up overnight. People told us we should change the name to TwitterWorld. We stuck to our vision and our core belief that blogging, podcasting and web video were born to be together and that they all depend on each other. We still believe that today.

Why should you attend NMX if it’s so different?

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Let’s break it down:

  • Familiar faces, but not the same old, same old: You’ll meet both old and new friends at NMX, but it’s never the same thing each year.
  • Affordability: We do everything we can to keep NMX affordable for our attendees.
  • Networking: You won’t meet any brighter or more creative people than those who are attending NMX. You will find opportunities all around you.
  • Sponsors and exhibitors: Our sales team works hard to hand pick sponsors and exhibitors who best represent our mission and our responsibility to all online content creators. Whether it’s the tools and technology you need to succeed as a content creator, or in life itself, there’s ROI for everyone at NMX.
  • Attendees who are invested in the experience: Most attendees at NMX pay for their passes out of their own pockets rather than have costs covered by an employer. This means they’re more invested in the experience, and are 100% focused on learning and networking.
  • Red carpet events: All Content Creator and VIP pass holders are invited to attend the 10th Annual Podcast Awards and 4th IAWTV Annual IAWTV Awards and red carpet events.
  • Parties, mixers, and other networking events: Rub elbows with well known content creators as well as creative up and comers.
  • People who want to work with content creators: Many brands are looking to hire content creators, and they’re coming to NMX.
  • Blogging Lifetime Achievement Award: In which we will present an award to someone who has really made a mark in the world of blogging.
  • People who are looking to grow their online presence: Are you looking to up your game and grow traffic and boost your online presence? You’ll learn how at NMX!

 

Surprises in store…

I’m not at liberty to divulge any secrets about our opening keynote. Suffice  it to say it will be like nothing you’ve seen before at NMX or any other recent conference. Once photos and videos are shared online, you’ll want to make sure everyone knew you were there.

I’ll tell you this –  where we’re going, we won’t need roads.

One million stories at NMX…and none of them are the same

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NMX isn’t just a conference. It’s inspiration. Everywhere you look is an idea. Everyone you meet has a tale to tell or something interesting to share. A ticket to NNX is a ticket to the world.

There are one million stories at NMX…which story will you tell?

Top 10 Reasons to Stop Writing Top-10 Posts

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number-ten Lists: Bloggers love them. Readers love them. Pinterest loves them. So why not write lists all the time, right? Well, not so fast. Before you go churning out one more top-10 list on your site, consider the following reasons why you shouldn’t:

1. They’re Overdone. Everybody writes top-10 posts. You can find top-10 posts about everything from Ask Men’s Top 10 Websites to Use in 2014 to the FedEx Blog’s 10 Best Posts in 2013. Why be like everybody else? When you join the top-10 crowd, you can get lost in the sea of similar content.

2. They’re Gimmicky. In an oversaturated blog world, top-10 posts can be rather lacking. They’re gimmicky. They’re link bait. They promise something valuable but often leave readers disappointed, feeling like you’re just trying to get them to click through your site.

3. They Come Across Phony. Why are your top 10 reasons your top 10 reasons? What’s the significance? Why are they the best? Most lists won’t say this, creating a phony significance that your readers will know isn’t real.

4. You Might Annoy Your Readers. Curated content is OK, but too much curated content can annoy your readers. So when you merely repackage past posts into “top 10s,” your readers could wind up feeling cheated — and cheated readers don’t stick around.

5. They Make You Seem Stale. Everybody knows lists are a go-to tool for writers stumped for ideas, so when you post a lot of lists, you tell your audience you’re out of things to say.

6. They Take Time. Despite how they may seem to readers, lists take time to create, even if you’re just sifting through blog archives to find which posts to use. If this time isn’t yielding results, it’s wasted — why not focus on drafting original content instead?

7. They Don’t Go In-Depth. By their very nature, top-10 lists tend to be quick, shallow articles that don’t explore a topic in depth.

8. Write 10 Posts Instead. That quick top-10 list could turn into 10 informative posts if you would break it apart and explore each point further. This not only generates more content for you, but it also gives more value to your audience.

9. You Run Out of Ideas and Fill Your List with Fluff. When you’re writing a “top 10,” you may feel pressure to come up with more ideas than you have — and those fluff ideas aren’t actually helpful to your readers. Top-10 lists put you into a box.

10. Care about What You’re Saying. Here’s one of the biggest reasons not to write a top-10 list: You don’t care about it. When you’re only writing a list to write a list, everybody will know it. So rather than writing about what you think you should write about, write about what you care about instead.

Your Thoughts
Do any of the above reasons ring true to you? Do you write top-10 lists? Do you read them? Why or why not?

10 Easy-to-Fix Content Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making

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Content Mistakes

Over the past few years, content marketing has emerged as the answer to a lot of our online marketing challenges. And because it works, we all do it—but not all of us do it as successfully as we’d like.

Granted, there’s no fool proof marketing plan that guarantees success. The only guarantee we have is that we’ll make mistakes and hopefully, learn from them. Unfortunately, a lot of times we don’t even realize we’re doing something wrong…and that’s where the trouble starts.

Below are 10 easy-to-fix content marketing mistakes you may not even know you’re making.

1. Not Reusing Content Effectively

The beauty of content marketing is in its reusability. Just because you’ve written a blog post doesn’t mean its life expectancy is limited to that post alone.

Expand on the topic and write a short ebook, report or white paper on it. Turn it into a presentation, a podcast, or even a video. Better yet, invite an authority on the subject and interview them. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Editor’s note: You can also do the reverse and take other content, like ebooks and presentations and turn them into blog posts. For example, every year, we turn the presentations at NMX into several blog posts, like this one we published based on Dino Dogan’s session at NMX 2013.

2. Using Jargon

Using industry jargon is a big fat “no” in content marketing and most of us know it. But we still end up using it in our content. We forget that our audience might not have the same understanding of the subject that we do.

Sure, we live, breathe and sleep our respective niches – but our readers don’t.

So go through your existing content and weed out any jargon used in your copy and replace them with layman terms.

3. Ignoring Your Current Audience in Favor of Attracting a New One

This phenomenon used to be a classic customer service mistake but it’s found in content marketing too now. A lot of times, content marketers are so focused on gaining new readers/followers/subscribers that they ignore the ones they already have.

Find a balance between the two but always give more importance to your existing audience. After all, retaining an audience is a lot easier than attracting a new one.

4. No Email Subscription Option

Is your content marketing strategy too focused on social media? Do you measure the success of your content in terms of social shares?

If yes, then it’s time to step back and think about email subscription. Social shares are fleeting. Once someone shares your content, they’re gone. There’s no way to contact them again or even find out who they were in some cases.

Email subscription on the other hand gives you the foot in the door you need to make a lasting impression.

HubSpot does this brilliantly. They have visually appealing call-to-actions for email sign ups after every post they publish.

5. No Incentive or Bribe to Encourage Sign Ups

Here’s the thing. Folks who sign up for newsletters don’t do it because of your stellar content. Well some do, but they’re very rare. Most of them sign up because they want to receive something in return. Something they can only get if they sign up for your newsletter.

Jon Morrow used his free report “52 Headline Hacks: A Cheat Sheet For Writing Posts That Go Viral” to get 13000 email subscribers for his new blog before he wrote the first post.

Crazy, right?

Your audience is more likely to do what you want if you give them an incentive. So make them an offer they can’t refuse.

For even more tips, check out this post on getting more email subscribers.

6. No Automation in Place

Even if marketers have their email subscription and incentive in place to capture leads, your subscribers will forget about you if you don’t follow up.

Even if they think the free report/ebook/ecourse etc. they received was brilliant, they won’t seek you out unless you do so first.

Email auto-responders are the best way to do that. They keep your audience engaged even when you don’t have the time to talk to them. It also saves you hours and hours of time you’d otherwise have spent coming up with content ideas.

Spend time creating an auto-responder series relevant to your subscribers and then watch as they become more and more engaged with your content.

7. No Guest Blogging

Content marketing isn’t worth the time, money and energy you invest in it if you don’t have authority. One of the fastest and most effective ways to build authority is by guest posting on reputable blogs.

Find popular and well respected blogs in your niche and reach out to them for guest blogging opportunities. Plenty of popular blogs accept guest posts and even have guidelines listed for them on their website.

Want more advice on guest blogging? Check out the following posts:

8. No Branding

Your online marketing efforts can’t be successful until you get your branding right. And having a great logo, professional web design, and stellar content is all well and good but that’s not the whole equation.

Your branding needs to be on every piece of online property you have your name on. That includes everything from the background and cover photos of your social media profiles to your email signature.

Here’s a tip not many people think of. If you’re investing in stock photos, get the right license and brand them as well. This way, when someone tweets, shares or pins your photo, folks will know at a glance who the content belongs to.

9. No Clear Call to Actions

The whole aim of producing, publishing and marketing content is to get people to take a specific action. Yet so often, we forget to include a call to action. We assume that since it’s a blog post, readers will comment. Or just because it says “free report”, folks will automatically sign up to download it.

If you want your readers to take action, you have to prompt them to do it. Figure out what action you want a particular piece of content to encourage and then spell it out.

10. Ignoring Smaller Tools and Tactics

Content marketing isn’t just about the big things like blog posts, newsletters, freebies and guest posts. It’s also about the small things you do to prolong the life of your content.

Don’t shy away from using different tools within your content that encourages sharing. Occasionally give away a freebie for the price of a tweet or a Facebook share. Include a “Click to Tweet” link in your blog posts, ebooks and other content to make it easy for people to share it.

Take a quote from your content and put it on an image to make it more share worthy. The Write Life does a great job of doing so in their posts. They then use those photos in their Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ updates.

What’s other easy-to-fix content marketing mistakes have you seen people make?

Image credit: Bigstock (altered)

6 Keys to Every Great Blog Post

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bigstock-Blog-10686950 Despite the uniqueness found in every blog post, there are certain commonalities that exist in every great blog post. Use this list and make sure your post has all six of these elements before sending it out to the world.

1. An Intriguing Title

Why are you reading this post? It’s probably because you wanted to learn about how to write a better blog post. My title was intriguing, attracted the right audience, and brought in readers like you.

Use different types of hooks to grip your readers. Some of the most captivating hooks include:

  • The Educational Hook: connects a concept with the mind.
  • The Topical Hook: connects a concept with the news.
  • The Fresh Spin Hook: connects a concept with a normally unrelated idea.
  • The Self-Interest Hook: connects a concept with the reader’s personal identity.
  • The True Story Hook: connects a concept with real-life stories.
  • The Curation Hook: connects a concept with a series of unrelated ideas.

Can you tell which hook I’m using in my title?

2. Examples

Blog posts are much more interesting and useful when the author uses examples. Some ideas of examples that you can use in your post include:

  • Pictures
  • Charts/Graphs
  • Screenshots
  • Videos
  • Article References
  • Statistics
  • Excerpts
  • Case Studies

These are all great ways to show (not tell), and it helps keep the post more interesting and sharable.

3. Breaks in the Content

Breaking up your content is a crucial part of a great blog post. While it doesn’t change your message, it can quickly determine whether or not readers will actually read through and share you blog post.

People don’t like to read. Instead, they scan blog posts, looking for the most important points before moving on.

The Nielson Norman Group found that only 16 percent of readers read web pages word-for-word. That means that most of you aren’t actually reading this. You simply read my subheadings and moved on.

Posts without breaks in the content are visually unappealing and hard to read. Here are a few tips on how you can break up your content:

  • Use subheadings.
  • Write short paragraphs.
  • Include bullet points or numbered lists.
  • Bold or italicize important points.
  • Add pictures.

Remember white space is an element of your blog post. Use it.

4. Proper Conventions

If I run across a post that’s packed full of spelling and grammatical mistakes, you can be sure that I’m never returning to that blog again no matter how qualified the author is to speak about the subject.

Realistically, though, I can easily let a few mistakes slide; mistakes are understandable. However, if an author’s not willing to edit and revise their content, it’s not worth my time to try putting the pieces together and guess what they’re trying to say.

On the other hand, a blog post that uses proper conventions sounds more professional and is easier and more enjoyable to read.

Bookmark a good grammar site and check any rule or wording that you are unsure about, or use a grammar checker if you don’t have a second set of eyes to scan your post before it goes live.

5. An Engaging Appeal

While I wouldn’t say that an engaging aspect is essential for a great blog post, it certainly helps peak readers’ interest and helps them get the most out of the piece.

You have to get your readers involved. For example, you might include an exercise to get your readers more engaged in the subject, or you could simply ask a question for them to answer in the comment section.

The Write Practice certainly has this down, and they have thousands of followers because of it. In each of their posts, they include a practice exercise and have readers share their results in the comment section.

6. A Unique Voice

A survey conducted by SmartBlogs.com found that 43.41 percent of respondents say a distinctive voice is the number one aspect a successful blog needs.

This means that readers love unique writers, someone who doesn’t copy another writer’s voice and can put their own personality to their work.

Your voice should not be forced, and it is yours alone. Not sure what your unique voice is yet? Use these 10 Steps for Finding Your Writing Voice which includes exercises like:

  • Describing yourself in three adjectives
  • Examining the types of writing you like to read
  • Listing your favorite cultural influences

Your unique voice will set you apart and give your audience a reason to follow you. So find a voice, stick with it, and add some creativity and uniqueness into your posts.

When reading blog posts, it’s clear when the post is great, but when we break it down like this, creating your own spectacular blog post becomes a bit easier. Do you include all six in your blog posts?

Image credit: Bigstock

3 Steps to Increase Blog Visitors, Mailing List Signups, and Product Sales

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3 Steps to Increase Blog Visitors, Mailing List Signups, and Product Sales

What’s the difference between a $100 bill and a $1 bill? Same paper. Same ink. So why do we value one more than the other?

The copy.

Like dollar bills, the words you put on your blog or speak during your podcast will make all the difference as to how people value what you create.

Good copywriting is similar to baking a cake. You can have all the raw ingredients, and know what the end result should be, but if you don’t mix and bake everything in a specific order, the result isn’t nearly as good.

The following three copywriting tips, used in the correct order, will help you to get the results you’re looking for the next time you write a blog post. You’ll increase visitors, increase subscribers, and make more sales.

Step One – Know Your Market

Before you write a single word of sales copy, you absolutely need to understand who you’re selling to. You need to understand their needs, desires, and objections to anything you have to offer.

You want to build rapport, which is essential for any successful selling situation. You can do this by speaking to readers in the language they themselves use. Anything else is like using profanity in a church – you’ll show “you don’t belong here.”

Reading other blogs, browsing forums, and looking over product reviews in your niche/industry will give you a good feel what the people you’re trying to connect with want, what they don’t want, and how they communicate with each other. Even if you’ve been in your market for years, and even if you’re part of your own market, this is something you should do on a regular basis to make the most of your content creation.

Step Two – Kick The Door Down With a Great Title

When you’re ready to start writing, pay special attention to your title. It doesn’t matter how good the meat of your content is if nobody reads it. A great title says, “I’m here. Let’s talk!” It’s the big entrance you need to get your the full attention of your audience, so they they’ll read the rest of your message.

A great headline, like a great blog post title, is a promise to the reader that you’ll meet a need, fulfill a desire, or solve a problem.

Look to sales headlines for great examples of what a powerful title can be. These headlines, written by professional copywriters, wouldn’t be used if they didn’t get results.

Here is an example for a one-hour laundry service. A time-poor businessman needing clean clothes for an important meeting would highly respond to something like this:

We’ll Dryclean Your Suit Within One Hour – Or You Don’t Pay!

This is much better than a general slogan, such as:

Great Service for Over 15 Years

Nobody cares how long you’ve been in business – they only care that you’re able to solve their problems. When you let them know this is possible, they’ll read the read of your offer.

Like a businessman who needs clean clothes, the people who come to your blog are also looking for a solution to their problems. Do your blog post titles offer these solutions?

Below are five problem-solving blog post title formats that you can use to get started. Feel free to edit any of the examples listed so they’ll apply to what you’re doing.

1. The “How to” Title

  • How to Lose 10 Pounds in Only 7 Days
  • How to Make Money as a Professional Gambler
  • How to Lose Your Shirt in the Stock Market
  • How to Get a Date Tonight
  • How to Live on Only $2/day!

2. The “Fear” Title

  • Are You Making These 7 Mistakes?
  • Do You Have Any of These Symptoms?
  • What The President Isn’t Telling You About Gun Control
  • What Does Congress Know About Social Security That You Don’t?
  • 57% of Americans Have This Disease – Are You One of Them?

3. The “Simplify” Title

  • Lose 10 Pounds Guaranteed (Without Exercise!)
  • Get More Done in Less Time
  • A Clean House in Only 20 Minutes? Yes!
  • 3 Easy Steps to Get a Low-Interest Mortgage
  • 7 Healthy Meals Using Just 3 Ingredients

4. The “Solution” Title

  • Sleep Better With This Strange Trick…
  • My Kid Was Failing Math…Until This Came Along!
  • Tired of Riding The Bus? Get a New Car for Only $97/month!
  • If You Think Your Spouse is Cheating, I Can Help!
  • Finally! A Diet The Really Works!

5. The “Secret” Title

  • Insider Tricks to Beating the Stock Market – Guaranteed!
  • The Secret Doctors Don’t Want You to Know
  • The Diet Only Celebrities Know About…Until Now!
  • Right-Wing Secrets Every Democrat Should Know!
  • Liberal Secrets Every Patriot Should Know!

Step Three – Ask For What You Want!

When you write a blog post, keep in mind what you want readers to do. If you want them to sign up for your newsletter, ask for that. If you want them to follow you on Twitter, ask for that. If you want them to leave comments on the blog post, let them know! Every post needs a strong call to action.

Don’t assume that people visiting your blog or reading your blog posts will know want from them. Unless you specifically ask, they don’t. Be crystal clear about what you want from your readers. That is the only way they’ll know what you want.

Final Thoughts

There is no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to creating effective blog posts and titles for them. Simply look to the words your readers are already using to describe the problems (and solution to those problems) they are already asking about. Finish this process by asking for what you want them to do – sign up for your email newsletter, leave a comment, buy a product, etc.

Do you have a favorite blog post title that solves a problem or a call to action that worked extremely well? Please share it in the comments section.

Image credit: Bigstock

Should You Create Content for Beginners?

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classroom

Sometimes, I forget that the whole world hasn’t been blogging for years like I have.

I know that sounds incredibly arrogant, but I think we all get wrapped up in our own worlds at times. We forget that others haven’t had the same experiences that we’ve had. And, we forget that others might not understand some of the things we take for granted.

Last week, I wrote a post about how to incorporate content for all education levels on your blog. But maybe “how can I please everyone?” isn’t the right question to ask. Instead, maybe we should be asking is “should I be trying to please everyone?”, which is a question that would normally get a resounding, “NO!” from me. When talking about niche, the advice I’ve heard time and time again is that it makes sense to focus. It’s advice that resonates with me, advice that I’ve seen work (and others have too). I’ve even written about choosing a great niche.

Focusing on one niche, however, means that you write about a single topic, rather than writing about kite-surfing and your kids and fashion and tech news and politics all on one blog, which rarely works. What I’m wondering, is should you focus on one education level?

In some niches, this isn’t a question that needs to be asked. For example, on my food blog, education level isn’t a huge deal. Some beginners want to challenges themselves in the kitchen. And even the most experience chef can appreciate a quick and easy meal as long as it is tasty. But here on the NMX blog, there’s a bigger divide between the beginner and the pro. While I can create content for people at all experience levels, should I?

What about on your blog? Would you better serve a specific audience if you stop creating content for beginners? Or vice versa, if you stopped creating content for more advanced readers and instead focused just on beginners.

The Advantages of Reaching All Experience Levels

Here at the NMX blog, we do write for all experience levels, and there are several reasons we will be continuing to do this:

  • Reaching a Wide Customer Base: Our end game is to promote an event, where the target market is comprised of everyone from people who just started a blog yesterday to people who have been doing this for over a decade. So, our blog need to reflect this. Who is your target market?
  • Hooking the Newbies: Writing for all levels allows us to pull in people who are just getting started. They’ll find the beginner content helpful and know that they can grow with our blog by bookmarking the more advanced posts to read later.
  • Keeping People Interested: Speaking of growth, because we have content for all levels, people don’t outgrow our blog and move on to other blogs.
  • Enjoying Flexibility: Writing for all educational levels also allows us to have more flexibility to write about topics that inspire us. We also publish lots of guest posts from our speakers and community members, so covering a broad spectrum allows up to work more easily with people who are interested in contributing.
  • Teaching New Skills to “Experts”: It’s no secret that I don’t love the term “expert” – and while my disdain for this word comes mostly from people who call themselves experts when they’re not, I also don’t often use that term because in this new media world, everyone has something to learn. Someone who has been blogging for ten years might know NOTHING about Pinterest and learn something by one of my beginner posts on the topic.

I like that our blog and our conference has such a wide appeal, though it does pose a few challenges as I manage the schedule here on the NMX blog.

The Advantages of Creating Content for One Experience Level

Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you might want to specialize by creating content for a specific experience level:

  • Defining Your Market: It’s easier to define exactly whom your blog is for when you specify an education level, and once you define your target market, you can more easily promote your content to those people.
  • Optimizing for Search Engines: If you’re creating content just for beginners (or pros), you can optimize your posts to be found by these people via search engines. That’s a bit harder to do when you’re creating content for a wider range of people.
  • Focusing: Sometimes, I feel scattered and unfocused when I’m creating content. When you’re blogging for a specific education level, it’s a little easier to stay organized.
  • Leading to Affiliate Products: Just because you only create content for one experience level doesn’t mean you can’t sell to everyone else. If a beginner lands on your advanced post, point them to a product perfect for beginners (or vice versa). You can make a lot of money with affiliate products if you’re smart about it!
  • Building a Community: Word spreads when your content is exactly what someone needs, so by specializing, you can often more easily build a community around your content. Even if people outgrow it, they’ll still promote you to others who could learn from your content.

So which choice is right for your blog? I think there’s a valid argument for both “for” and “against” in this case. It really depends on your specific goals and your niche.

Do you create content all experience levels on your blog? Or do you focus your content?

Blog Writing Tips: 5 Ways To Write Posts that Google (and Your Readers) Love

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3d person holding a megaphone forming the word blog. According to Jamie Stilgoe’s Guardian article, Google is on a mission to eradicate content farms and poor quality link building. Google is out with a machete to axe any web page with content that doesn’t measure up to the quality that was hitherto expected only from principal brands.

The content marketing scene has changed drastically through the years of the existence of the Internet. There was a time when nothing more than a cluster of words did well, but fortunately, it’s a new ball game altogether now. It isn’t just businesses and brands that are buckling under the mounting pressure; bloggers, individuals, and almost everyone else with written content on the web is feeling the heat.

While blogging – as an art, as a source of revenue for bloggers, and as a great medium for marketing and brand building for businesses – faces the brunt of Google’s policing, content marketing in all forms is set to change. It’s time to prepare for the future.

Here are five ways to make sure that your blog posts are left standing long after the bloodbath is over…

1. Choose Your Topic…Before You Start Writing

On the Internet, you do have space for rants, ravings, and ramblings. You can randomize your communication as much as you want. But this can’t be done when you are blogging professionally. As a blogger writing for yourself or for a business, random is out; focused is in.

Strong posts are not random, covering several scattered ideas. Create separate posts for each thought, instead. Stay focused as you are writing and even consider coming up with an outline first so you stay on topic.

2. Back Up Your Statements

When Paul Graham writes about startups, businesses, and anything to do with entrepreneurship, it tends to be a post that’s worth reading. When Warren Buffett talks on investing, you’ve absolutely got to bookmark the post. But that’s about Paul Graham and Warren Buffett, not everyone else, right?

For the rest of us, we have weapons called research and pointed justification. Present an opinion, but back it up with the words of an authority. Bring out a clear message, but tag it with observations others have made. State facts and then line up your thoughts based on them.

Write what you want to but pour credibility into your posts by using research, facts, expert opinions, and other references. Strong writing is adorned with specifics and evidence.

3. Be Passionate

Either you are passionate about your niche or you are not.

If you are writing with passion, it’ll show in your blog posts. Unfortunately, it’ll also show if you aren’t. One of the secrets of great commercial writing lies in the throws of passion and character. When you begin to write about something you feel strongly for, there’s no way your posts will begin to read like content-mill chaff.

Passion produces energy. Passion leads the way to clear, concise, opinionated, and strong articles – just the kind of fuel blogs need. Do yourself a favor and don’t blog if you aren’t passionate about your business, the niche you blog on, or the topics you write on.

We are talking about years of effort wasted. The Internet is not a dumping ground for useless bytes of information.

4. Write Confident Posts

Meek writing is weak writing. Blog posts with unsure and indirect “umms,” “perhaps,” “So, I’d like to conclude with,” are all signposts to your readers that they are on patchy roads without tarmac. They are reading looking at weak efforts that have no value to offer.

Strong writing is also often opinionated writing. It’s writing with facts and truth backing up every post, but it is also experience, knowledge, oddity, disposition, personality, and the uniqueness that’s “you” which shows through your writing.

5. Don’t Write if you have Nothing New to Offer

Mike McGrail pointed out in points out in Social Media Today that a blog is flexible, that it’s yours, and that it’s a perfect hub. I say it’s more than that—it’s a platform which enables you to provide value.

Every post you write should have a “takeaway” lesson. The value you offer to your readers is in the takeaways from a blog post: Was it pure information? Was it opinion? Was it insight into an in-depth topic? Was it entertainment?

Every piece of content must offer something. Your blog posts should inform, inspire, trigger a train of thoughts, engage with your readers, and point out a new angle to look at that old mousetrap.

Editor’s Note: The biggest lesson in this post, perhaps, is that if you write posts your readers love, Google will love them as well. If you want to survive every single Google update, win over your readers. You’ll always have the edge with SEO if you write posts that your readers want to share!

Want to learn more about writing posts that readers (and Google) love? Join us at NMX 2014 in Las Vegas to learn from some of the world’s leading content creators! Learn more here >

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