Simple Steps to Get Content Published on Authority Sites

Simple Steps To Get Content Published On Authority Sites

Get Content Published Research computer

What is your strategy to get your content published on the authority sites?

Yes, there is a strategy behind it. And guess what? It is easier than you think - if you know the small details the pros know.

Take the time to build out your strategy once, then reap the benefits over and over.

Research, Document, and Create Your Authority Publication System

Create a spreadsheet to document your research results.
Refine your core message and narrow down the focus to who you want to reach.
Create your mission statement if you haven’t written one.
Gather your data for your Media Page or Media Kit.
Create your client Avatar.

Familiarize yourself with the authority sites you are interested in submitting your content to. Does it fit for you and your audience? Use your spreadsheet to note the type of content, themes, and categories. Make note of the ‘hot topics’.

You will want to keep a spreadsheet with notes for each publication site you research.

Review their Submission Guidelines and note specific conditions on your spreadsheet.
Determine who to send your submission by name.
Read and understand their terms and conditions for submission.
Note the publication’s preferred method of submission.
Can I use the Authority Site Logos on my sight?

NOTE: Be careful how you use their logo and name on your website. You do not want to imply that you are part of their staff or affiliated with the publication site. Usually, you will find that information in their Brand Guidelines.

Use the words “As Seen In” above the authority site logo. Never have the authority site’s logo so big that anyone could confuse your site with the authority site. When in doubt, ask.

Editorial Calendar

Many Authority Sites will have an editorial calendar containing their upcoming themes and topics. This information is especially helpful so you can produce content around the topics. If you do not have an Editorial Calendar for your business, now is an excellent time to create one.

Allow for the time needed to do your research and write your article. Note your internal deadlines as well as publication deadlines. Plot your topics and titles on the calendar. Make adjustments, as needed.

Once you have developed your editorial calendar, stick to it ~ every day.

Include topics and dates from your authority sites so you do not miss anything. It takes work, but the benefits are worth doing right.

Create a List of Your Existing Content to Repurpose

Books I have written
Reports I have created
Videos I can re-purpose
Podcasts
Other

Are you struggling to get started creating free content? You may want to check out one of our most popular pieces of training called "How Free Products Lead To Profit".

Does Your Website Need a Facelift?

Is it time to update your website? Your website should be professional, down to having your photos taken by a professional photographer. Use clothing and accessories with the colors of your brand.

Above all, be yourself! Focus on your message, sharing and helping. When you care about your audience, they will feel that.

Developing Content

Review your previous posts and articles to see if you can update any of them that had good engagement from your visitors. You can always block out time on your calendar to brainstorm topics.

Use PLR/Done-for-You Content to get you started. It should be high quality and rewritten in your voice to your audience.

Read How to Create Efficient Content.

Do This Now

Begin following and interactive other top influencers. Comment on their posts a social media. Join their memberships and groups. Get them to respond to you.
Start publishing on LinkedIn. Get quality backlinks as a guest blogger on smaller sites. Do everything you can to grow your audience and become known as a top pro (without misrepresenting yourself).
Push yourself past self-limiting beliefs. Every interaction, every publication to an authority site and every time you focus on helping your audience, you have the ability to grow your list. Get ready to push yourself daily toward earning your first authority site guest post.

To get your content published on authority sites is not a one-shot deal. You have to begin with a plan and how to implement it. The research time alone can feel overwhelming. Split up the steps and do a little bit a day. Take the time to do it right.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is courageous and scary at the same time. But remember, once you land that first authority site article or interview, it will be unbelievably easier to land the next one. So, get out there, use these proven steps and focus on being the best you can be.

The Easiest Ways to Create Content

By Melanie Davis Team Account 1 Comment

Publishing and Repurposing Quality Content For Business Growth

Online business owners know that they need to consistently create content, whether for their website posts, articles, digital free reports and social media. For many, just the thought of creating content feels overwhelming and scary.

You are not alone feeling this way. Killer content does take time and effort, however, there are ways you can save time by creating the quality content you want without spending hours a day to write it.

So, what is Quality Content?

Thinking about writing

It is more than being grammatically correct and having accurate information.

Let’s look at the elements that help you create quality content:

Interesting - Think about it: do you ‘’like” or follow boring content? Your content should be interesting or valuable to the reader. If not, they will not ‘share it’ on social media or continue reading what you put out.
Entertaining - Not all content needs to have the entertainment factor, however, this can be an element you work in with lengthy content.
Useful - Useful content comes into place like tutorials and educational material. Note: search engines love this format!
Well Researched - When you write a blog, you should include time to research the topic. Ideally, use multiple sources.
Factually Accurate - The last thing you need is inaccurate information to ruin your reputation and credibility. Always check to make certain you are distributing facts and truth.
Grammatically Correct - This sounds like a no-brainer, yet it remains a common problem of content providers. While you want it correct for the reader, it is equally important for the search engines. Google knows when your grammar, spelling, punctuation is correct, which makes an impact on your overall quality status.
Long - This continues to be debated. Google wants articles that provide value. Quality over quantity still rules!
Mixed Media - We know in this age of technology and all of the social media platforms available, you need more than a written blog. Video, digital books, along with images are definitely needed as part of your content distribution strategy.

These elements provide an excellent guideline on ways you should approach when you create content.

Easier Ways to Create Content

There is no getting around the need for written content. Let’s explore some ways that can make the process much easier.

Outsourcing - This, of course, is your biggest way to save time and have quality content written specifically for you.

Roundups

Roundup for posts

This is a popular type of blog post. The readers get to discover an abundance of information on a single topic in one place. Creators love it because they do not have to write a lot of original content. If you are unfamiliar with Roundups, the basic process of creating one is simple.

Pick a topic.
Find several different pieces of content online that fit the topic. This can be articles, videos, audio or images.
Create an article that each links to each item, as well as a description for each. Your description link is the unique content that attracts search engine traffic and makes your article interesting to your readers.

Keep in mind that Roundups require a lot of work to create, but they do not require the same level of in-depth research that articles typically take since you are just writing a description of other people’s content.

Interviews

What better way to connect with a niche-mate and their audience than to interview one. The only writing you need to do will be the questions for the interview. Email the person the questions and they send you the answers.

You can interview anyone who knows your topic. You want to select someone that is known in your industry. Bonus for you ~ their large following will be directed to your site to listen to their interview. This is a great way to get new traffic and followers.

Re-Blogging

This is a time-saver for you. Simply take someone else’s blog post or article and contact the writer for permission to publish it on your own site, giving full credit of the article to the writer.

Guest Posts

This technique is a win-win for you and the guest. You get free content and traffic to your site, and the guest receives new traffic to their site.

We have shared with you some of the easiest ways to have quality content created and published for your site.

What is your favorite way to create content? Please share it below.

Every month in the MyNAMS Insiders Club, we focus on a foundational business topic all businesses need to create sustainable long term income. February is our Content Publishing Challenge. If you need you to focus on publishing for your business, join us now for just $1. You'll get access to all of our workshops, challenges, courses, templates, workbooks, monthly PLR plus our weekly mastermind! It's the best deal for growing your online business.

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Are you talking to the right people?

By Jen Perdew 1 Comment

“Are You Talking to The Right People?”

Make sure your message is right for the market...

You wouldn’t advertise underwear at a nudist camp, right?

A great salesperson can sell anything to anyone, right?

Let’s get the cliches out of the way right away… here’s a few examples:

He could sell sawdust to a lumberyard.
She could sell hay to a farmer.
He could sell wood to a forest.
She could sell a cape to Superman.
He could sell crutches to a sprinter.
She could sell a cage to a lion.
He could sell ice to a polar bear.
She could sell salt to a thirsty man.

This is relative to the topic today, because I’m going to prove to you that a GREAT salesperson NEVER sells someone something they don’t need.

In fact, if your message doesn’t match the actual market need with a real solution, expect at best one-time sales to customers who will never buy anything else from you again and at worst more refunds than you can handle.

Either way, your reputation is destroyed.

A great salesperson is a problem solver and a service provider.

A great business finds the problems in a market and creates solutions THAT group needs - desperately.

Once the problem is clarified and the solution is identified, the exact market with the desperate issue has to see the solution as not only an opportunity to fix a problem but a real Godsend.

When that happens, prospects come looking for you. And your business blows up.

So, What’s the problem?

Communication. It’s always communication.

Let’s look at an example. Read this brand message paragraph below. If you know anything about motorcycles, you have no doubt who this company is without naming the product.

But what’s the problem? Is it that we’re in an...

“Era of decreasing personal freedom”

Or that these are…

“Macho guys (and Macho ‘Wannabees’)”

Or that these guys want to…

“Join a gang of cowboys”

Look at it again.

In an era of decreasing personal freedom, these Macho guys (and Macho ‘Wannabees’) want to join a gang of cowboys…

That’s not really a problem. It’s a description of the symptoms of a problem.

In fact, the problem is more emotional than physical. By the way, it’s ALWAYS more emotional because a desperate problem causes some kind of pain, loss, or deprivation.

When describing the problem, it’s important to ask people suffering the problems a few questions:

What does it feel like to experience that problem?
When does the problem first appear?
Does the problem cause you emotional pain or suffering? In what way?
Do the people in your group have this problem? Does the group want a solution?
How does the problem affect your livelihood, status, money or relationships?
Does the problem seem desperate and/or hopeless?
Would you pay for a solution to the problem?

Identifying the problem is difficult. We talk around it to get the feeling behind it.

Having been a Harley Davidson rider myself, the problem in our example is:

Men want something that makes them feel like men again.

There’s insecurity, longing for respect, more prestige and some serious mid-life crisis resolution going on.

But no company is ever going to advertise that they’re “The ONLY motorcycle manufacturer that makes big, loud motorcycles for men going through a midlife crisis.”

But that’s a heck of a market. Motivated men with discretionary money and enough insecurity to want a lot of power under their butts.

Of course, that is not stated explicitly in the brand copy but the message resonates with the buyers in the market!

Actually, it’s not even a hard sell.

If you get the message in front of the right market, the only thing left to do is pick out the color, check the motorcycle inventory and schedule a delivery date.

This works in any niche if you find a motivated buyer with a desperate problem that you can solve.

But the key is putting the right message in front of them.

Get that right, and a bad salesperson becomes a wealthy person.

Dan Kennedy, one of the most respected marketers in the world, said something like this (and I’m paraphrasing),

If you have the right message-to-market match, then your sales message doesn’t have to be that good to ‘work’. BUT if you have the WRONG message-to-market match, then the best sales letter in the world won’t work at all.

We’ve had a lot of success selling products to interested audiences.

And we’ve had our share of flops too.

When we send an email that gets little response, the issue is usually that the message didn’t resonate with that audience.

It didn’t match. In some way, it was incongruent.

Nothing kills marketing faster than incongruence.

A marketing relationship is like a date.

Having a rich, sumptuous dinner at a 5-star French bistro complete with a soulful jazz singer accompanied by a soft piano and a stand-up bass sets the tone for an elegant, relaxed, intimate evening.

Follow dessert with ring-side seats at a mixed martial arts slugfest with sweat, blood and god-knows-what-nastiness raining down on you seems a bit (maybe a ton) incongruent with your original message.

And probably spells the end of that relationship.

Incongruence is a jolt to the system.

It’s like walking on the beach in a snowstorm.

Or dogs smoking cigars and playing poker around a table piled with chips and cash.

The subtlest of inconsistencies can coat your message with a thick layer of what-the-heck-is-this? And if they have to ask that question, it will confuse your market to the point that they walk away.

A confused prospect will not buy anything.

So your brand message has to be congruent from the first word to the last. If there’s a hiccup along the way, you’ll lose the market.

To reinforce your brand message, tell stories

Stories help your audience remember your message clearly because they attach the emotion and images you create with a narrative.

A message without a story is just data.

Nothing cements a message in a prospect's brain like a story. And if you create a story around your message and deliver it to the right market, they will remember the story for years to come hanging on to your message all the while.

So, your assignment is to create a brand message that is clear and succinct. Then, wrap that message with an entertaining story that’s hard to forget.

I know what you’re thinking…

“I don’t know any stories.”

Of course, you do. You tell dozens of them every day. All you need is a little instruction on how to shape those stories into unforgettable tales that embed your brand message to leave a memorable impression on your market.

That’s why we’ve created our brand new Simple Story Selling course.

In part 1 of this 4-part course, we focus on using stories to communicate the brand message most effectively to drive sales and keep the pipeline full.

We break down these messages into a simple 6-part formula using the book Zag: The #1 Strategy of High Performing Brands.

And then, we find the right market that wants to hear your story.

But first, it starts with the brand message. And you can download a special fill-in-the-blanks template today to create your compelling brand message fast.

Download the template and pop your new brand message in the comments below.

5 Affiliate Marketing Strategies that Convert Like Crazy

By David Perdew 3 Comments

5 Affiliate Marketing Strategies that Convert Like Crazy

These are my favorite techniques that have earned us more than a million dollars in affiliate commissions over the years.

And believe me, we’ve tried dozens of techniques.

First, if you’re looking for secret shortcuts here, you’ll probably be disappointed. We like to focus on the fundamentals to build a solid business and I really encourage you to do the same.

Probably, the most important things we do that makes us successful affiliate marketers are:

Cull - focus on the good stuff. Only promote products that are going to enhance our members productivity and enhance our reputations.
Commit - once we make a decision to promote, we use the product, get to know it inside out and go all in on the promotion
Continue - stick with it. If it’s a 5-day promotion, we continue to promote through the entire period. If it’s evergreen, we schedule it over time and create content to support it.

We’re in it for the long haul. That’s rewarded us well. And we’ve created great partnerships and relationships.

So, in the 10 years we’ve been doing this, these 5 tactics have become our favorite:

#1 Favorite Method - Email Marketing

Email marketing is still the king of online marketing ROI.

If you’ve got a list of prospects, mailing them offers can earn you a lot of money, if you do it correctly.

If you have no list now, obviously you can’t be effective with email marketing, so building your list is the priority.

There are two schools of thought.

Short, sweet, direct and salesy. Many affiliate marketers prefer this. And some make a ton of money with 2 paragraph emails without any relationship building. We don’t do this.
Value-based, story-based relationship. This is where we excel. Our emails are longer. Our goal is to build a long-term relationship with our community.

We almost always start with a personal story that highlights the problem and reveals the solution.

I reveal things about my personal life (and sometimes that of my family too) so that people feel like they know me well because friends buy from friends.

By the time, the story and the solution are revealed, someone clicking to the sales page is prepped positively to make the purchase WITHOUT spending a lot of time on the sales page.

This is important.

Sometimes, sales pages for really good products can hurt the sales, so we’ll even tell people sometimes that the product is great, but the sales page is really bad. Scroll to the buy button and click it.

#2 Favorite Method - Bridge Pages

A bridge page bridges the buyer from your promotion to the sales offer.

It’s important because it’s a chance to do a warm review or Demo of the product. This is usually done with video. You don’t have to be on the camera, but you can still do a product walk through or Demo of how the product solves the problem.

It is really important to use your voice for the most effective warm handoff.

A bridge page is all about delivering targeted traffic. Period.

The affiliate link is on the button in the Bridge Page. So, the ONLY people who click that button are the ones who are interested in the product.

Others have decided based on your Bridge Page that they are not interested and go away. Product owners REALLY appreciate that because your conversion rates will be huge even if your clicks are small.

Here’s what one partner said about our promotion using a bridge page.We were getting $37 EPC. That means for every click to the sales page, we made $37. Most were making less than a quarter of that.

#3 Favorite Method - Demonstrations / Walkthroughs

When I was a kid, I watched a door-to-door salesman who knocked on our door to demonstrate a Rainbow vacuum.

It was like a magic show.

The Rainbow was a water-based vacuum with a clear case.

This thing was built for in-home demonstrations. And it was all the rage for awhile.

The salesman would throw some dirt on the floor - good ol’ rich, black d

irt, and the vacuum would suck it up turning the spinning water in the clear case into dark mud.

How could you refuse? It worked - like magic.

Nearly everyone rails against multi-level marketing companies (and Rainbow was one), but Direct Sales or Network Marketing or MLM - whatever you want to call it - was built on the in-home Demo model, or “Party Plan”.

Think about.

Tupperware
Amway
Avon
Pampered Chef
Scentsy
Mary Kay
Send Out Cards
Isagenix

Just to name a few.

I’m not suggesting you join an MLM. The in-home Demo sales is dying if not already deceased. But the concept can be translated to the online world because people want to see how stuff works before they buy it.

A Demo can be video or text with images, but the goal here is very simple: Show prospects how it works and what they’re getting.

That’s why Demonstrations must include two qualities:

Detailed “How to Use” (insert product) information, plus…
Proof. Remember the dirt on the floor becoming mud in the water, that’s Proof with a capital P.

Your Demo needs to be just as convincing.

Combining the Demo with the Bridge Page and you have an incredibly effective process that converts like crazy.

#4 Favorite Method - Case Studies

I love Case Studies. I love to read them and love to produce them. And love to use them to make even more affiliate product sales.

We’ll talk about two kinds of Case Studies here but I cover video case studies as well in my ebook (you can grab that at the bottom of the page):

1. Case Studies as reports
2. Case Studies as blog posts

Case Studies all have a few things in common:

- Detailed training sessions
- Teach people how to do something
- Authority based on real experience
- Includes the tools and resources
- Reveals the results

Without results, the training is really just theory and doesn’t have the authority of experience.

Case Studies can’t be produced overnight though because the experience often takes awhile to build.

But Case Studies in any format are awesome because everyone naturally wants to know which tools and technology you used to get the results. In fact, they’re disappointed if you don’t have the resources listed at the end of the report or video.

Case Study as Report

I’m an old newspaper editor, so I love putting together special reports. Case studies are a natural.

In a good Case Study report, we include:

Problem identification
Solution identification
Step-by-step instructions for implementing the solution
Images like graphs, tables, charts, drawings, or screenshots that clarify the process visually
The tool that made the solution possible with an option to purchase it.

Case Study Reports don’t have to be 7-figure successes. It doesn’t have to be that flashy. Any success can be turned into a Case Study.

In fact, here are a few examples of Case Study opportunities:

My first sale
My first $1,000
My first $10,000 month
How I won a contest
How I tripled my list in 60 days
How I created my first successful ad campaign
How social media delivered 10 new clients this week
The effectiveness of my 10 day Influencer campaign
One customer’s journey using my product

And about a million more.

Sometimes, a Case Study report can be a product as well. We did exactly that with our 5 Days to $12K Case Study.

During a 5-day, middle tier, launch promotion, we took first place on the leaderboard while competing with some of the top names who have much larger lists.

The product owners were interested in how we did it. So, I created a detailed 37-page Case Study outlining the daily process and the techniques we used to claim the first prize and more than $12,000 total.

And this Case Study continues to sell even 2 years later.

Case Study as blog post

Since we’re covering blog posts in the next method, we won’t spend much time on it here.

A blog post Case Study is limited by space. Once a blog post gets to 3,000 words or more, it becomes cumbersome - and tiresome. Anything longer should probably become a report.

But Case Studies less than that word count can be very effective and make great anchor posts.

Search Engine Optimization people love blog posts Case Studies because they’re shareable. Shareable content becomes back links which give the blog even more authority in the search engine results.

Essentially though, a Case Study as a blog post has the same goal and structure as the other two types we’re highlighting.

With any of the three types of Case Studies, the goal is the same: Use overwhelming proof through the step-by-step training to persuade the reader or viewer to purchase the tools to achieve the same solution.

#5 Favorite Method - Blog Posts

It’s almost impossible to have an online business today without some kind of blog.

You can do video blogging, story blogging, product review blogging and even educational articles on your blog.

All of those can be very useful as an affiliate marketer.

Let’s talk about product reviews.

This is a fantastic way to create long term, drip income - the surprise sale that shows up unannounced year round. One of my old mentors used to call that mailbox money.

A product review is different from a Case Study in a couple of ways.

Think of the popular “unboxing” videos you see on YouTube or in some marketers’ feeds. They like to open the box, pull out the product, turn it over, open it up, turn it on (if need be) or install it, and see that it works.

Results are not really the issue. Remember, a Case Study is about the step-by-step processes used to achieve specific results.

The product review is strictly features and benefits.

Product X has Feature 1 and Feature 2 which yield Benefit 1 and Benefit 2.

My Glasses (PX) have a clear frame (F1) and UV protection on the lenses (F2) which helps me be a little more stylish than my old glasses (B1) and protects my eyes from the sun (B2).

There’s no proof that I AM more stylish or that my eyes are better protected. Those wouldn’t be verifiable results unless I had specific stats to support it.

The key is to be really honest. If there’s something you don’t like, point it out. If it is better than a competitor, do a side by side comparison.

The more detail, the more your reader will agree with you and buy.

Your review counts. Reviews are so important that Amazon incorporated them into EVERY product they sell.

The psychological value of a review is immense. It’s called social proof. Social proof is the thing that convinces everyone it’s okay to take chance because other people have taken that chance already - successfully.

Here’s an example:

When shopping for a new webcam, price and buyer reviews are probably the two most important factors shoppers pay attention to.

If we wrote a blog post recommending the Logitech C930e vs the others suggested by Amazon on this page, we’d tailor it to highlight the benefits of the c930e by describing the features and benefits.

But it’s the most expensive - nearly $100.

But it has great reviews - 950 4.5 star average.

The only real competitor on the page is the Logitech c920. It has the same review average with 9,819 reviews and is just $65.

As a shopper, I’ve quickly eliminated all but two options by looking at price and reviews. It’s time to compare the two - use my affiliate link to both. We’re setting the high bar with the c930e and touting why it’s so great. And we acknowledge the c920 is awesome too because it has so many reviews, but it is the older model.

So, I’d pull out the features - side by side - and compare them.

The good thing is that no matter webcam the buyer purchases, my link is attached to the buy button.

Cha-Ching.

Put It All Together

You may have noticed that all 5 of our favorite methods for selling affiliate products seem to have a connection. Essentially, by using these 5 methods, you’re creating a really sweet content plan that is monetized.

Combining Email Marketing to Bridge Pages with Demos and Walkthroughs or Case Studies and finishing off with a Blog Post gives you a ton of evergreen promotional methods and opportunities.

I hope you see this as a way to improve your affiliate marketing!

If you want to learn more about how to use these strategies along with examples, click the button below and download my Ebook 5 Affiliate Marketing Strategies That Convert. It's over 21 pages of fully detailed strategies, examples, videos, and links to check out our best performing content.

Storytelling – How to Write a Story to Grow Your Business – FB

By Jen Perdew Leave a Comment

Are you using the Power of Storytelling to build your story brand and dominate your competitors?

Storytelling: A Fundamental Guide to Becoming THE Storyteller by Learning How to Write a Story that Persuades...

There’s no better way to build relationships than with stories and becoming the storyteller.

If you have a blog, Facebook page or another publishing platform for communicating with your tribe, then, your job is to fill that platform with stories that persuade your prospects to take an action you want them to take.

So, you must learn how to write a story that sells, and the art of writing stories.

Stories aren’t just long tales. Good storytelling reveals evidence. Stories provide proof of your thesis.

People tell me all the time, “David, you're a born storyteller.”

And I do have a bit of a reputation for my storytelling ability in email and blog posts. Below, you’ll see one that came in from Felicia Slattery, one of the top speaking coaches in the US.

But the truth is, I've never met a born storyteller.

And I certainly am not one.

All the great persuasive storytellers that I know have learned that skill through practice and patience.

It IS a skill. And if you don't learn the skill, then chances are that you’ll fall flat.

Instead of informing and entertaining, you become self-indulgent and annoying.

Don’t do that.

Learn the storytelling process

Why? Stories sell. If you're in business (and I assume that everyone reading this is in business), it's really important for you to focus on why you do what you do.

It’s the same with storytelling.

The London School of Business did a study on selling with stories and it confirmed what we all suspected.

People retain 65 to 70 percent of information shared through stories while only 5 to10 percent of information is retained through dry presentation of data and statistics.

Storytelling is the most effective way to persuade people to take an action because they are invested in the story AND they want to listen to your tale instead of being resistant to a sales message.

Great storytelling is the best way to build real relationships. And as The Storyteller, you have the power and authority of the microphone - or the computer keyboard, and can build a relationship with dozens or even thousands of people at a time.

One of my favorite sayings is that every action should have a marketing result. That means every activity becomes a profit center.

Every story, every communication, every persuasive email – all are little sales people running into the world to represent you and your brand. If you’re not building relationships with those tools, you’re driving folks away.

That is exactly why we focus on storytelling and how to get marketing results from stories.

Storytelling is even more important today because of the shifting communication platforms

There are two basic schools of marketing online. The first is old school. The second is new.

Old School Marketing

To understand Old School vs New School, you have to first understand Advertising and Publishing. They’ve been intertwined for centuries.

The publisher controlled the advertising because he had the press or broadcast spectrum.

In the old days, an advertiser or a publisher sent out a single message from a single source trying to reach as many people as possible and convert them by controlling who saw that single message. It was a numbers game, a shotgun blast.

The one-to-many broadcast method is still effective, but not as effective or FAST as more modern methods.

The Old School approach was called interruption marketing. And it is basically the province of commercial publications such as magazines and newspapers, television and all of that.

Here's a quick example of how interruption marketing is changing:

How do you watch TV today?

Do you sit down at the appointed time when your favorite program is broadcast?

That's the way it was when I was growing up. If you wanted to watch your favorite program, you sat down in front of the TV at the appointed time and watched - including the commercials or you might miss part of the program.

Today, according to a 2017 Accenture global study, only 23 percent of people around the world watch their favorite programs on a television set. (The rest are watching on mobile, computer or gaming devices.)

And of those 23 percent, many of them will watch recorded programs while fast-forwarding through the commercials.

Old School advertising has shifted. But to what…

New School Marketing…

Today, the audience is in control of the distribution of the content. And the better the story, the better the distribution because it’s all about sharing.

With the advent of social media, the number of shares and views is the key to everything. Unknown stars are born on Youtube and Instagram because people relate and it spreads like wildfire.

Relationships are built with the new “influencer”... which is kind of weird when you think about it, because the relationship only exists as long as they follow the influencer and check in regularly for new content.

Why?

Because they’ve created a story about themselves that their followers love and that they will distribute for them… They feel connected to a star...

Today, advertisers and publishers send out a message to the masses - hopefully through an influencer - and then rely on individuals to share that information.

If the story is not share worthy, it dies.

Creating viral content is all about sharing good stories.

Big brands have finally caught on and realized that storytelling is the future of advertising

When NBA All Star Dwayne Wade announced that the 2018-2019 season would be his last as an active pro basketball player, Budweiser (master storytellers for years) saw an opportunity to honor him.

Wade had been swapping jerseys with other NBA players after key games. Budweiser took that interesting fact about Wade and produced a poignant story about him.

In less than a month, the YouTube video had 5 million shares.

It’s impossible to watch the 4-minute video without being moved by his humanity.

And if you watch it closely and you’ll see the 7-step storytelling process… because all great stories follow that process.

The storytelling process is the reason Facebook and YouTube are so amazing - for good or bad.

We’re entertained by the stories and allow ourselves to get sucked in to Facebook and YouTube and Instagram because we love to share those stories with other people.

Click on the video to watch the story...

If storytelling is so effective, why isn’t everyone doing it?

There’s a serious problem with storytelling - and it’s mostly between your ears.

Right now, you're probably thinking…

I don't have any stories!
My stories aren't interesting…
Nothing interesting ever happens to me…

Of course, that’s not true.

Once you learn how to tell stories from your everyday life that persuade people to take the action you want them to take, you’ll realize that EVERYTHING is fodder for a good story.

And they don’t even have to be your experience. You can tell a story about something that happened to someone else if you talk about how it relates to you.

But maybe you’re thinking …

“I’m afraid of revealing too much about myself. I’m a very private person.”

It’s true. You can tell too much.

But you have to try really, really hard to reveal too much.

Below are a few examples of different ways to expose your heart while telling stories that move people to action. And sometimes that action is simply to like, share or comment. But that small action is enough to help you build better relationships which will in turn help your business.

Good storytellers use tragedy recounting terrible episodes in their lives that reveal the lessons they’ve learned. And by doing that, they establish immediate rapport and empathy with the audience. It’s the beginning of a relationship.

This was a long post. And while I wrote it as a tribute to my great friend and mentor Gerald, I also wanted people to understand the power of mentorship. To do that, I had to reveal the lowest point in my life and how Gerald helped me out of it.

My goal was not to sell anything. It would have been really crass to add at the bottom of the story, “And if you’d like to improve your life, hire me as a mentor too… and you’ll get what I got from Gerald.”

I would never do that.

But I definitely wanted to praise him and demonstrate how he helped me climb out of my hole. To do that, I had to expose my heart. People responded with likes, shares and comments. None were negative.

Is it manipulative? No, because I was writing from my heart and letting you into my world. If you never read another story I write, that’s okay too.

Risking ridicule or embarrassment, storytellers often reveal something really stupid, silly or emotional that’s happened in their lives. And of course, those episodes come with lessons that can be shared, or you can present a solution that helps your reader avoid that same mistake.

Below, is the first 100 words of a 900 word email. Now, you might be thinking, “900 Words! Who’s going to read a 900 word email?”

Many, many people did, and I got a ton of engagement. It was a story that led to an opportunity to meet personally and talk about a nutrition program.

“Subject: They called me chicken legs…

Hey there ~Contact.FirstName~

I’m really hesitant to tell you this because it’s a little embarrassing, but here goes...

When I was in junior high school in New Castle, Indiana, I got tagged with a nickname that haunted me for many years:

Chicken Legs!

Even now, when I look at my skinny legs, I think about those folks who called me chicken legs. In a minute, I’ll tell you how I got stuck with that name, but first let’s go back to a time long, long ago…

I was very skinny…”

I could talk about one of the most embarrassing and hurtful times of my youth, and what I learned from it, because I’m willing to be open and vulnerable with my community.

After years of reading these types of stories, the community expects it - no, demands it from me. I can’t get away with sending short, straight-to-the-point emails. My friend and mentor, Matt Bacak, makes millions with email. A 100-word email from Matt would be an epic post. His audience expects short and direct.

Mine does not respond to those.

If you're going to be successful online, especially if storytelling is going to be part of your portfolio, you become a bit more transparent.

To relate to people, you have to be relatable.

Be real.

So, I encourage you to let go of the facade that you try to hide behind. We all have that facade to protect us. But, in the end, it’s what holds us back.

Once you understand the process, storytelling is simple.

Search your day with an open mind, and you’ll find story possibility after story possibility.

I guarantee you that interesting things are happening all around you.

You’re learning lessons every day and you can build stories from that experience. If not your story, you can tell stories about other people - living and dead - and relate to those to make them your own so they reveal the truth that you discovered in your daily living.

To get started telling stories from your life that persuade others, use our proven structure that works. That’s why I developed a 7-step template to tell persuasive stories with a point.

This 7-step process has worked since cavemen were telling stories around the campfire about the day’s events.

The 7-steps are:

The Hook
The Setup
The Parachute
The Theme
The Transition
The Sell
The Tie Back - or Resolution

I describe each of those in the template itself, so be sure to grab it.

Wait, that’s not what I learned in high school English class…

Mr. Dicken was my English teacher. I loved him, and he taught me about great writing. We covered all four types of writing:

Expository – Writing in which author’s purpose is to inform or explain the subject to the reader.
Persuasive – Writing that states the opinion of the writer and attempts to influence the reader.
Narrative – Writing in which the author tells a story. The story could be fact or fiction.
Descriptive – A type of expository writing that uses the five senses to paint a picture for the reader. This writing incorporates imagery and specific details.

Persuasive Storytelling is not what you learned in college or in high school.

In journalism school, we’re taught to start with the LEDE - that’s always the most important information, not necessarily the most engaging.

And that’s important if you’re scanning the news site (or newspaper if you’re as old as me) because you can read the first couple of paragraphs of all the stories and get really well informed.

None of the four writing types really fit what we’re doing as storytellers… or do they?

Actually, ALL four types of writing are using in storytelling.

In a really good story, the teller is:

Shaping a situation (using descriptive writing) by telling a relevant story (using narrative writing) that helps the reader understand (using expository writing), the reader takes the action that you lay out (using persuasive writing).

Mr. Dicken would be proud of me.

I can’t really get into the entire 7-step process today in this blog post because it’s already gone on too long, but let’s look at the first step - The Hook...

The Hook is the KEY element in persuasive storytelling.

It has to be intriguing, shocking, surprising, astounding, paradoxical… You get the point. It’s a grabber.

Isn’t that usually the headline? Very often, it can be.

Let's look at a great hook.

One of our students, Tim Maudlin, came to us with a problem.

When I first met Tim, we had a short consultation call. He said, “You know, I don't think I actually have a business that can be converted to online.”

He did t-shirts for causes - charitable, personal or medical challenges, or church causes.

After talking a bit and taking our storytelling course, he produced a 66-second video. Remember, the hook is the first thing to grab your attention. Here’s the transcript of the video below:

“I thought I had just killed my boys.

Friday, March 2nd, 2012 is a day I'll never forget. That’s the day a tornado ripped apart my hometown. My boys didn't die that day. But five of our neighbors did.

The next day, March 3rd, 2012 is also a day I'll never forget because on that day I learned one very simple yet important lesson from one t-shirt that made a difference in my life and in my community.

It’s a lesson that I want to share with you and a story that will inspire you. T-shirts that inspire. The $89,000 tee shirt. How one tee shirt inspired and healed a broken community. Available at Amazon.com.”

Tim did a great job with is following our 7-step template and produced an intriguing story. There are some obvious places to improve that script and we go over it in the course, but his Hook was great!

Every parent wants to know what happened after he says...

“I thought I had just killed my boys.”

It’s real. It’s surprising. It’s gut-wrenching. And we want to close the loop it just opened. How. Why. What. Tell me more.

Simple Steps To Get Content Published On Authority Sites

Research, Document, and Create Your Authority Publication System

Editorial Calendar

Create a List of Your Existing Content to Repurpose

Does Your Website Need a Facelift?

Developing Content

Do This Now

Publishing and Repurposing Quality Content For Business Growth

So, what is Quality Content?

Easier Ways to Create Content

Outsourcing - This, of course, is your biggest way to save time and have quality content written specifically for you.

Roundups

Interviews

Re-Blogging

Guest Posts

“Are You Talking to The Right People?”

Make sure your message is right for the market...

You wouldn’t advertise underwear at a nudist camp, right?

So, What’s the problem?

That’s not really a problem. It’s a description of the symptoms of a problem.

But the key is putting the right message in front of them.

Nothing kills marketing faster than incongruence.

Incongruence is a jolt to the system.

To reinforce your brand message, tell stories

I know what you’re thinking…

5 Affiliate Marketing Strategies that Convert Like Crazy

#1 Favorite Method - Email Marketing

#2 Favorite Method - Bridge Pages

#3 Favorite Method - Demonstrations / Walkthroughs

#4 Favorite Method - Case Studies

Case Study as Report

Case Study as blog post

#5 Favorite Method - Blog Posts

The product review is strictly features and benefits.

Put It All Together

If you want to learn more about how to use these strategies along with examples, click the button below and download my Ebook 5 Affiliate Marketing Strategies That Convert. It's over 21 pages of fully detailed strategies, examples, videos, and links to check out our best performing content.

Are you using the Power of Storytelling to build your story brand and dominate your competitors?

Storytelling: A Fundamental Guide to Becoming THE Storyteller by Learning How to Write a Story that Persuades...

There’s no better way to build relationships than with stories and becoming the storyteller.

But the truth is, I've never met a born storyteller.

And I certainly am not one.

Learn the storytelling process

Storytelling is even more important today because of the shifting communication platforms

Old School Marketing

New School Marketing…

Big brands have finally caught on and realized that storytelling is the future of advertising

If storytelling is so effective, why isn’t everyone doing it?

“I’m afraid of revealing too much about myself. I’m a very private person.”

Once you understand the process, storytelling is simple.

This 7-step process has worked since cavemen were telling stories around the campfire about the day’s events.

Wait, that’s not what I learned in high school English class…

None of the four writing types really fit what we’re doing as storytellers… or do they?

I can’t really get into the entire 7-step process today in this blog post because it’s already gone on too long, but let’s look at the first step - The Hook...

If you're ready to grow your business with content, we're here to help you become a master storyteller.

Today, get the start you need to become a persuasive storyteller with our templates and worksheets - IT'S FREE!

7 Steps to Telling a Story with a Point Infographic - This graphic walks through all 7 steps of creating a quality story.

Storytelling Template Worksheet - A document for you to create each piece of your story using each of the 7 steps.

Excel Idea Worksheet - Generate your ideas and test the universal truth behind those ideas

Sample ideas using the Excel Idea Worksheet to lead you along the right path to design your stories