Clay Posey Marketing Fusion

Everybody gets putting free, or “freemium” content on their website, but I have a question; “Is your content truly free?”

I know you don’t get a VISA number to process their order, but if your content hides behind that form that wants Name, Address, Email, Phone, Website, Company Name, Fax…  is it really free?  No.

You just trade your content for information.  They don’t pay, you don’t “give” them their content.  Not Free.

Here are the new rules to make free truly free:

Be warned, it feels a bit like a free fall.  All your instincts tell you not to do it, but once you step off of the edge, the view is magnificent.  The objection is that there is no data to go into your lead nurturing funnel.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Do this right and you’ll have true;y golden leads waiting for you on the other side!

Before we start, know that your results may vary.  Professional Driver on a closed course, do not try this at home.

Okay? Here we go.

First, your content MUST be top tier.  You have to have something so strong people can’t wait to read it.  The goal is for it to get passed around, reposted, co-opted, forwarded, read and re-read. This multi-layer exposure that happens far outside your control is EXACTLY what has to happen for this strategy to work.

Second, the content  must be available for immediate download at zero cost – meaning not only zero dollar cost, but also zero information cost.  That no cost eliminates anxiety and promotes the referrals , blog links, tweets, retweets, forwards, downloads and traffic you are looking for.

Sprinkled throughout, starting on the cover page,  but especially at the end of the content, strategically place your calls to action.  Create a STUNNING OFFER to make the reader want to go to your website for more.  A click thru link that is a strong and clear anchor text call to action should follow that goes to a specific landing page where you now have earned the right to ask for the data.

You will not get as many form submissions this way as you would if you put your paper behind the form.  I have to ask though, do you want a high body count of names and emails that won’t respond, or do you want to talk to the handful of people that have a true need for your offering?

Do your due diligence to optimize the page, test and improve, and if you have a little luck to go with your skill, you get a viral campaign that generates leads.

You will get less form submissions this way.  The ones you get will be higher quality.  You have taken your process from low friction (simple two question form) to lubricated so it slides all over the web.

Another tip, don’t just let it sit there for free.  Promote it in social media, email, and anywhere else you can think of as a truly FREE instant download.  Get your colleagues to blog about it.  You blog about it.  Ask for retweets.  Encourage downloads – the more the better because the more people will then see your compelling content, your thought leadership, and your expertise.

If you want to know more or see a case study or two, drop me a line.  It’s free. Really.

Get found on the internet

Have you ever noticed that the internet is getting crowded?  Run almost any search and get hundreds of thousands if not millions of matches in Google.  Here are some amazing stats:

1. There are over 1,000,000,000,000 unique URLs in Google’s index.  That’s ONE TRILLION folks! (source)
2. There are over 133,000,000 Blogs indexed by technorati. (source)
3. At the time I’m writing, somewhere over 2,688,656,000 tweets on twitter since it started and that will rise at a rate of 300 per second! (source) Yep, I timed it.
4. There are over 250 MILLION Facebook users and 120,000,000 of them log on at least once each day. (source)

And here we are, the inbound marketing crowd telling you that you can get found on the web and have your customers come to you!  Yeah Right. (was that a “Bah! Humbug!” I heard in the background?)

So how do you rise out of the trillions of users on the trillion sites to be found?  Reality check: You don’t want or have to get found by everyone.  You just need to reach the folks who have a need for your offering.

The key to it all is CONTENT! Before we talk about search engine optimization (SEO), before we talk about pay per click (PPC), or banner ads, or display ads, or even affiliate advertising, realize that CONTENT IS KING.  Compelling Content.  Here are 6 tips for creating compelling content.

1. Use varied fonts, sizes, italics, and colors within your site.  Be dramatic in your presentation and layout of your content.
2. Use fresh, streamlined words as you write.  Play with language!  Use words in surprising ways if you can without distorting the meaning.  Keep it fresh with frequent updates and additions to your site.
3. Have a point and get to it.  Especially in your blog.  When we do talk about SEO, we’ll discuss the importance of each page covering only one topic.
4. Work on the architecture of your site.  Build a site that encourages people to check out one more page.  Yes you write for search engines, but write for people too.
5. Use a variety of media – video, audio, pictures (with alt tags of course) to enhance your words.
6. Write for your audience – know your target audience and talk to them about what is important in their world not yours.

Most importantly – just do it.  The web is a fluid medium.  I’m reminding myself that adding content is really more important that adding perfect content!  You can always revise later.  Just Do It!