Who is the Content Guru?

Who am I? Why is this blog here?

I am the content guru! In 2003 I found myself in one of those crossroads of life. The result is that I decided to change my profession (I was no longer interested in designing seamless underwear...) and so I started writing about everything ever since.

I have been writing web content and growing my new career along with the field of web marketing. What used to be an esoteric side kick is now a full blown market, that calls for high quality content among the many mediocre writings and digital scribbles of the masses. After 10 years of writing for others and two years of writing for the benefit of my CPU alone (the digital equivalent of a drawer), I have decided to share my experience and to start posting for myself.

Content about anything and everything is what you will find here - all written be moi! No automatic generators! So feel free to read and enjoy. and if you would like me to write up some web content for you, feel free to ask...

Pages

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Is there a connection between marketing and dating ?

Actually I have recently heard an interesting comparison of online marketing or growth hacking to a dating experience from more than one source. The idea is that online marketing takes a customer through a  journey. Dating is also a journey towards finding your (it is hoped)  lifetime partner. So how does it work?


Acquisition = blind date

First the customer needs to know that a certain  company/product/ or service exists - this is done via dissemination in various channels. Today social media is the starting point for most of the acquisition campaigns. These campaigns are geared to capture leads, get the prospect to sign into a distribution list (perhaps in return for a free gift or coupon) so that the company can start the communication process and the prospect enters the sale/marketing funnel
This is like going on a blond date. You saw an advert somewhere on social media or a dating site and now you opted in for the first meeting. You probably gave the other person you email or phone number so that you can coordinate this first meeting. The communication process has started.


Activation = relationship

Now the comply has the name of the prospect and its time to gain their trust. This is done by repeatedly sending more information to this person about the company or the service and generally keeping the service in the awareness of the prospect until they take some action and become an active customer.
In the dating world, this is the part in which people go out on dates repeatedly. If the communication is working, they will continue to date and will enter into the relationship phase. During the relationship phase there are various stages and hurdles that have to be faced (like meeting the partner's parents, deciding to move in together etc.). These are the "small sale" stages, each time one of these hurdles has been met and removed, it compares to the selling of a small product or service, on the road towards the main goal/ flagship product.


Retention (resulting in revenue and referrals) =  matrimony

Now that a company has an active customer is all about getting them to make repeated purchases an also to spend more money in each purchase. up-selling, cross-selling and getting the customer more and more engaged with the product, so that the always keep coming for more. Alternatively this could mean getting the customer to trust the company enough in order to buy its flagship product, which is also the most expensive products. This could also means to get the customer into purchasing a retainer - retention mean getting the customer to always purchase, making them a source for growing your revenue. Happy customers will also hopefully refer you to new prospects and thus serve to further grow your income.
This is a lot like matrimony. Once you get married, your partner has effeminately signed up for the biggest product, you! As the marriage progresses there is always retention and re-selling points: steps that you will take together that will get you more and more engaged and involved with each other. For example - buying a house together, and having children. Here the revenue is not money but rather  deepening of the relationship and partnership. The more things you go through together with your partner the more deep the commitment you will have towards one another. It terms of the commitment currency, you are spending more and more in this relationship, becoming more committed and "repurchasing the product" every day - your commitment to your partner only grows.
By repurchasing everyday and staying in the marriage, you are serving as a reference for others to enter the marriage state. You will of course not wish to refer others to being married to your specific partner :-)
As I mentioned at the beginning of this response - I have heard this in various sources recently, but I liked the inforgrahic Quicksprout has put together on this subject, so I ma sharing it here with you.
www.quicksprout.com/the-definitive-guide-to-growth-hacking-chapter-4/
This also reminds me of a blog post I wrote a couple of year's back for a blogging competition for a job seeking website - in which I compared getting a job to dating.
First you go to the interview (blind date/ first meeting) then you negotiate the terms of employment (relationship) and then you get the job (matrimony). In the post I used another  marketing model usually referred to as AIDA. More on that in another response...here is the link to the blog I wrote.
https://jobmob.co.il/blog/market-yourself-for-dating-and-job-search/
(reference to the link in my blog:
http://contentguru4all.blogspot.co.il/2013/09/i-wrote-post-for-bloggers-competition.html)
Wishing you a great weekend and happy reading,
Ofra

Thursday, September 17, 2015

I just completed a new website - www.RTUTEC.com - and I did EVERYTHING on this one!

Its the first time I have used WIX as a platform to build a website. Its biggest advantage is that really anyone can build a website using it. no programming knowledge required! its easy and intuitive and very very visual and with lovely graphics.
the disadvantage is that everything in manual! If you want something in your website, then you have to put it there! No aggregation pages, sections and automated graphics of any taxonomy!
Also, I am not aware of any SEO or web promotion advantages for this platform (no plugins).
I think its a great platform for small websites and for beginners.
RTUTec Ltd. Home page, all Images designed by me on this site

Monday, April 27, 2015

What I learned from Neil Patel regarding growing a blog and writing converting posts

Neil Patel, the founder of Crazyegg and KISSMetrics came to Israel, again. Neil came to lecture about growing a blog. Its a great privilege to hear someone so knowledgeable who is also still approachable and an entertaining lecturer to boot. Lets see if this post can demonstrate what I learned...

3 reasons to why a blog is good for your business.
The first advantage of a blog is the fact that you have control over the content that you publish. even if you allow guest posts on your blog and want other writers to contribute - the last choice is yours. In social media you have no control on how people react to your post or how the discussion will develop. When you have a blog, you can even close the comments option if you feel it does not fit your concept, or monitor the comment posted.

Neil's first tip regarding the content of the blog is that the content should teach! the idea is that people who read your content should get some value form it. If they learn something and can even implement what they learn - then this means your content teaches them things and they get value.

Neil also recommends stretching borderlines and being original and creative. If you have fun when you write and try new things, the results will be interesting and fun to read. If people feel they learned something, had fun doing so and got value, the chance they will convert is higher.

Guess what is the most obvious converting part of the blog?
One of the most important things is a good blog post is the header. Neil writes long posts of 2000 words , so he always ends them with a short summary and used headers in it 3-5 times. Headers help organize the text for your readers and informed them of what;s coming up. 80% of most people skim the headlines first and then decide if to read the actual content. Headlines generate interest, so you need to make them interesting. You want your readers to be curious regarding your content.

Neil's 6 tips for good headlines:
1. Use adjectives and questions to generate interest
2. Use shocking negative words
3. 65 characters is an ideal length for a header, 6 words is good - informative and not too long
4. Use numbers - uneven numbers work better. The bigger the number, the better (but remember the context when you decide on a number).
5. Avoid word play and double meanings, keep it simple and clear
6. make heading suited to the content beneath it

Here are some samples for good headers:
"eyebrows you would kill for, 7 tips to create your eyebrow design"
"5 management mistakes you make, that will kill your business (and how to avoid them)"
"101 ways to save money fr a small business"
"11 worse ways to pitch a VC (and how to fix your pitch)"
"Here is why investors will not give you money (and what to do to change that)"
"21 reasons why no one reads your press releases (and how you can fix this)"
"11 ways to dress like Natalie Portman for under $100".

Your opening paragraph should also invoke curiosity, here is an example.
Headline: "7 SEO mistakes you are probably making"
Opening paragraph: "Have you ever seen a first age ranking on Google search that has no keywords in it? Have you wondered how they do it?"

Headline: "7 ways to generate creative headings for your presentations"
Opening Paragraph: "If your presentation slides do not have interesting headings, people will assume that what you have to say is boring too. in this post you will learn tools that will help you generate interesting headlines for your PPT slides, and you can come back to this formula whenever you want to create a presentation."

3 things to avoid when writing your blog
Avoid over promotion:
People do not like self promotional content. If its too commercial they will not read and you lose credibility. List blogs are a great way to provide information for people that is organised and easy for them to absorb. Put yourself in number 2 of the list. 2 is the magic spot. If you put yourself first, you are being too pushy. If you go for place 3, people might just not read a bout you. so in this case its 2 that is the magic number.

Avoid over protectiveness:
People tend to keep all the best stuff to themselves, but blogging is about sharing your wisdom and knowledge. Its a hard decision to make -  where to place your best content.  Neil says that if you are just starting out and need the push from blogs that are stronger than yours, you should give them your best content. This means you cannot post it on your blog because you want to avoid double content. Guest posting and using the authority of popular blogs is a great promotional tool for you and you will get good reputation for publishing good content on such platforms. When you are stronger, you can then keep the good stuff for your own blog.

Avoid snobbery:
The web encourages the writing style to be direct and conversational. So write a lt of "you" and "I" in your content. make your readers feel like you are talking to them. Avoid being over-intelligent and keep your language simple. Dumb down your content so that the widest common denominator of people will understand (I should have written: Dumb down your content so that most people reading it will understand what they are reading:-).

Neil's 6 tips for creating a good infographic
An infographic is a visual tool to explain complex ideas, to slice and to simplify them for your audience. Its a great converting tool. Here are Neil's tips on how to best create them.
1. Keep them visual, use images not words to get your ideas across.
2. 5-6 points/ enhancements make an idea infographic  - do not make them too short or too long, or the conversion rate goes down.
3. The various points should flow - create a story in your infographic
4. Keep the color scheme simple. (BTW blues convert better on Facebook, because this matches their brand)
5. do not forget to put your URL and logo at the bottom
6. put an embedding code for sharing your infographic when publishing it.

Other things that were discussed were the best time to post blogs (depending on the platform you are sharing in), how to get a guest post chance, monotization and promotion of the blog. Remember that people do not always see the first time you promote your blog on a social media platform, so do not be afraid to repeat the post 3-4 times during the 10 days after posting (then come back to it in 6 months time...fr round no. 2 of new readers). Neil also discussed the posting frequency. Although its best to post more often, if you do not have something really good to post and nothing interesting to say, then do not post!

To sum it all up
So why was it worth buying the ticket to hear Neil Patel lecture this week in Israel?
I learned why a blog is good for my business.
I learned of the importance of headlines and how to create good ones.
I learned what to avoid when writing my blog.
I got great tips for creating infographics.
To top it all off I learned about monotization and promotion.
It was great to hear Neil talk, its obvious he has fun being the marketing hackathon that he is,
I feel secure in recommending his marketing blog "Quicksprout". I am sure I will continue to learn.
Thank you Assaf Einstein for inviting Neil back to Israel.









Saturday, January 24, 2015

Colours and what they mean to us in marketing

when creating a marketing campaign, the use of colors can sometimes be the difference between failure and success. Its the special combination and balance in an advert that draws attention but not only that, it guides people to take action in a specific and desired way. In a logo the choice of colors can change the message underlined in it.

But even a more generic view is required. Sight is the major sense in which we relate to the world surrounding us. People who can see get 80% of their information through their eyes, by actually seeing it. What we see is light in various wave lengths - that is, we see colors. Colors are therefor a major tool in the way the human mind learns and communicates. This mans the marketer needs to ask, what effect do certain colors have on people and how this can be harnessed for the sake of marketing. I have put together a short review of the major colors and what they mean to us (in the western world).

Red: The color of fire and energy. Red will always catch you eye and draw your attention. Energy can be positive and friendly but sometimes it bursts out! Red is used to market sports, entertainment but also foods, fashion and cosmetics. If you want your message to be about provocation and buzz Red might be a good color to use, as long as you do not overdo it. Remember that red can sometimes be perceived negatively (we stop at a red light).

Orange: Orange is a lighter  version of the energy red. Its still exiting but also a bit milder and even childish, so Orange can radiate confidence. Orange is used to market safety products, products for higher efficiency and children brands. Its  a happy and friendly color.

Yellow: Yellow is a very bright color. it radiates positive energy and optimism. Yellow is used to market child care brands but also technology start-ups and innovators.

Green: in today's world green is fore and foremost the representing color for the environment; for recycling and nature. green is all about youth nurturing and growth, green represents the health of the planet and of society. Green is used to market health products, government initiatives and scientific programs.

Blue: Blue is the color of water. Its calm and clean. It enfolds within many mysteries but also encourages trust. Blue is used to market many high-tech products and is very popular in the Internet. Blue is used for business and trade initiatives but is also manifested in the health and medical industry.

Black: signals stability and strength, combined with professionalism and class. Black is always solid and just right. It helps put the message together. Black and grays and slivers are used to market prestigious and traditional brands.

Purple: Purple is the color of wisdom and magic. It represents both knowledge and the mystic, it has a healing property.. Purple delivers a message of creativity and imagination. It is used to market spiritual fields such as astronomy but also health activities that have oriental routes such as yoga and aromatherapy.

Brown: Brown is the color of the earth. it represent for us the ordinary and routine. Its a color of history and tradition, representing a steady and safe conservative way of thought. Large companies with a deep tradition will use this color for their marketing combined with gold. Brown is especially suited to market activities in the mining, construction and finance worlds.

Colors effect people very deeply. But color psychology is just one part in the puzzle of messaging and marketing. However in a fast pace world, in which on had but fractions of seconds to create an impression and interest a potential buyer to read more, color is a major part of the puzzle. Remember that colors are what we see, but even of more importance to marketers is the fact that colors are also the first thing we notice (even if its done unconsciously and automatically).

Great info graphics on this subject are:

Color in culture
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/colours-in-cultures/?utm_source=CMblog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=InfographicsforDesign

The color emotion guide:
http://thelogocompany.net/blog/infographics/psychology-color-logo-design/?utm_source=CMblog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=InfographicsforDesign

Colours ofthe web
http://www.colourlovers.com/business/blog/2010/09/15/the-most-powerful-colors-in-the-world?utm_source=CMblog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=InfographicsforDesign