Month: May 2023

What is a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a valuable resource or incentive offered by businesses, brands, marketers, and influencers to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, typically their email addresses. It serves as a tool to attract and capture leads, allowing businesses, brands, marketers and influencers to establish a direct line of communication and nurture relationships with potential customers.

The purpose of a lead magnet is twofold:

First, it aims to provide immediate value to the target audience. It offers helpful information, actionable insights, or solutions to problems that align with the audience’s needs and interests. By offering something valuable upfront, businesses, brands, marketers, and influencers demonstrate their expertise and build trust with potential customers.

Secondly, a lead magnet is a gateway to initiate and cultivate a relationship with leads. Once a potential customer provides their contact information to access the lead magnet, businesses, brands, marketers, and influencers can continue engaging with them through email marketing campaigns, newsletters, or personalized offers. This allows for ongoing communication, building awareness, and ultimately guiding leads toward making a purchase or taking a desired action.

Lead magnets come in various formats, such as ebooks, whitepapers, checklists, templates, webinars, free trials, or exclusive discounts. The choice of design depends on the target audience, the nature of the business, and the specific goals of the lead generation strategy.

Overall, a well-crafted lead magnet is a powerful tool for businesses, brands, marketers, and influencers to attract, engage, and convert potential customers, providing value while establishing a foundation for long-term relationships.

I will be creating and sharing the making of a lead magnet here on this blog. Stay tuned.

Dips & Winners

Vince Lombardi built the Green Bay Packers into a five-time NFL championship-winning team and famously commanded, “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” This is a famous motivational saying that you’ve likely heard many times.

Seth Godin is a marketing guru, blogger, and bestselling author. I love Godin’s stuff. I recently came across his book, The Dip. In the book, Godin challenges Lombardi’s viewpoint, stating that it is “bad advice.”

Instead, Godin offers an unconventional insight: winners do quit but choose the right moment and place to do so, allowing them to focus on areas where success is more likely.

Godin’s book revolves around the concept of “the dip.”

The dip refers to that critical juncture in any business, project, or task when you must decide to keep going or quit. It’s a decision point where we must choose whether to persist in the hope of overcoming the challenges or abandon the work and move on.

A critical problem, according to Godin, is our failure to recognize when a dip is actually a dead end.

Working through a dip can lead to personal growth, while a dead end is just that—a dead end.

Godin said, “Quitting holds importance because winning matters.” As a self-identified winner, I love that quote.

In relationship to this quote, Godin shares this insight:

“Extraordinary benefits await those who push slightly longer than others, and the gutsy minority who quit early and refocus their efforts on something new also enjoy exceptional benefits.”

In other words, leap smart or hold tight.

This resonates with me because it opposes settling, making do, or coping. His message is clear: persevere through the dip, aiming for greatness, or seek a different path.

“Mr. Inbetween,” as he terms it, represents the most common response to the dip — playing it safe, doing blameless work beyond reproach.

However, we know that coping wastes time and misdirects energy, never leading to exceptional performance or mission-based work.

This book reinforces my thoughts about mediocrity, which is an admitted fear of mine. I don’t mind being in a mediocre place with intentions of working out of it. But to settle into mediocrity is shameful.

Mediocre work rarely results from a lack of talent but rather from being stuck in a cul-de-sac. Coping squanders time and misdirects energy. If coping is your best, quitting is a better option.

And that requires an intelligent exit strategy.

In summary, my big takeaway from the dip book is:

Strategic quitting or persevering through the dip opens doors to exceptional achievements. Avoid settling for mediocrity. Embrace challenges, conquer the dips, and strive for greatness.

This relates to me because we’re faced with this decision at my day job. This relates to me as I look toward growing my freelance writing business.

Are you a Mr. or Mrs. Inbetween? Are you pushing through the dip? A strategic quitter? If we’re doing anything worthwhile, we’re all bound to face it.

Less worrying, more action

I’ve spent the previous seven days sprinting to empty a four-acre greenhouse full of annual flowers. With deadlines hanging over my head and the viability of a business on my shoulders.

Here is the resounding take-away:

Choose action over worry. Over and over again, choose action over worry for each moment during the day. Doing is for daytime hours.

When our small world starts to whirl, and everything feels chaotic, action is the only thing that saves the day. Worry achieves nothing.

Waiting for normalcy is tempting, waiting for easier days is a waist. Time only slips away while we wait. A new normal is constantly arriving before we have adjusted. Time is precious.

If you can cut back on waiting and worrying by 50%, you will notice the possibilities unfold.

Time will pass regardless, so let’s use it wisely. Discover, learn, and transform your perspective with action taking.

It’s simple, but the worrying mind often makes it difficult. Reduce the amount of time spent worrying and increase the amount of time spent taking action. The emphasis is on the action as a useful alternative to worrying.

Curiosity over loneliness

Loneliness rarely visits me because curiosity is my constant companion. The power of curiosity to conquer loneliness is profound, and I’ll explain how.

Firstly, it starts with a simple shift in perspective: be curious.

When your interest in others grows, the world unfurls like a ball of string, tied to a soaring kite. While some avoid people, I embrace them. While some advise against talking to strangers, I find joy in engaging with them.

Secondly, true inquiry demands shedding the weight of others’ opinions. As you release this burden, your mask will fall away, revealing an unfamiliar version of yourself. Embrace the freedom of not caring what others think.

The more you nurture your curiosity, the less alone you will feel. Every genuine question becomes a cause for celebration, transforming the mundane into something captivating.

Thirdly, embrace silence. Sometimes, we need moments devoid of conscious thought, without labeling them as meditation, which has lost its essence through overuse. Silence is a divine space to exist in.

In the stillness, I notice traces of curiosity emerge. At the very least, I can be curious about myself, even if I can’t fully grasp it. Allow yourself to sit in silence, without a whisper, without a care, and simply observe.

Curiosity lies at the heart of authenticity, freeing us from the clutches of loneliness.

When curiosity extends beyond the surface, it delves into the depths of our being.

Personal writing

In my cedar trunk are cherished artifacts from my past: calendars, notebooks, letters, and photographs. I’ve carefully curated them, hoping they’ll be discovered by future adult children, or their children or their children, etc. seeking wisdom, like browsing a website or favorite social media feed. These treasures embody the essence of my life, transcending mere desk-bound tasks.

I write at varying frequencies, driven by the seasons and my preferred platform at the time. I find solace in journaling with a dollar store notebook and a thin-tipped Sharpie, clarifying my thoughts. I sometimes send letters on my Smith-Corona typewriter.

I photograph my children to capture fleeting moments, storing the memories securely in the cloud, and use these pictures as writing prompts.

Ultimately, how I express myself matters little; writing, collecting, or documenting. What’s essential is faithfully recording life’s significant moments. Each entry, like a precious bookmark, holds immeasurable value to me.

To look away from the pack

What would this look like for you?

Alternatively, I could look away from the pack instead of do something similar to everyone else. There’s more room to move. There’s more room for growth. More room to spread my wings. More room for error, too, and that’s part of what is scary because it’s unknown.

For example: SEO company websites look and feel the same. Freelancers, too. Most florists sell exactly the same flowers, maybe wrapped in different paper. The gyms have similar training schedules. Real estate agents run the same mailers.

For most, if the formula looks like it’s working we’re happy to follow it. Of course, follow the well trodden path!

But… if we stick with anything long enough, heading away from the pack could be best because most people don’t take the risk of going where everyone else isn’t.

How can I help you?

I find joy in assisting others. Whenever someone seeks advice or opinion, or expresses their needs, I want to readily offer my support. However, before extending a helping hand, I often ponder a crucial question: How can I assist? The most valuable aid I can provide is empowering individuals to help themselves. When it comes to working with children above 10, this constitutes the majority of my efforts—around 90%. With clients, it comprises about 10% of my work. As for relationships, it plays a significant role, accounting for nearly 50% of my endeavors. The best “help” is help that is tailored to provide assistance that is truly meaningful and beneficial not just serving our ego or fanning our power.

Where to start

I often talk about how to start? Usually in the context of taking yourself online and hanging a shingle. This post is about where to start, and who to start with.

My first piece of advice in building your personal business, or anything of personal business value, is to start as if you already have a platform. Express the body of principles for which you will take a stand. Then be clear about who you want to hear it. Doing this will build a presence, develop your voice, and be a place from which you share those principles and ideas.

The big reveal

How we respond to a situation defines our true character, not the situation itself.

Whether we’re unemployed, blonde, Italian, divorced, overweight, slim, poor, wealthy, or any other label we associate with, it holds no significance beyond how we navigate through those circumstances.

Discovering our truth often comes at the expense of innocence. Still, as we delve into the depths of self-discovery, we can reclaim a part of that innocence on the other side if we emerge successfully.

Why Teachers Make Exceptional Content Marketers and Copywriters

Harness the expertise of former educators who possess the unique skills to captivate audiences, simplify complex ideas, and build lasting relationships through compelling content.

As a former teacher, I bring unparalleled skills and experiences to content marketing and copywriting, making me the perfect choice for your content marketing needs.

Not just me. Most teachers inherently possess these skills to help your content marketing and copywriting needs.

Let me explain why teachers are poised to be a secret ingredient to unlocking content marketing and copywriting success.

Explaining Difficult Concepts: Teacher-turned-writers excel at breaking down complex ideas and tailoring explanations to meet the needs of diverse audiences. They can uniquely communicate clearly and concisely, ensuring your message resonates with your target market.

Making Great Plans: Teachers are experts at creating detailed plans to guide their teaching. This translates seamlessly into content marketing.  A teacher-turned-writer will bring a fresh perspective, strong organizational habits, and an editorial calendar to ensure your marketing efforts are strategically executed and deadlines are consistently met.

Conducting Research:  Teacher-turned-writers are skilled researchers with a background in education. They know how to find, summarize, and organize information to create compelling arguments. This ensures that your content is well-informed, engaging, and provides value to your audience.

Tracking Progress Over Time: Like in the classroom, teacher-turned-writers understand the value of long-term growth and progress. They prioritize delivering consistent results and building a solid foundation rather than chasing instant success. This means that teacher-turned-writers will offer sustained content marketing success that stands the test of time.

Mastering New Topics Quickly: Teachers are known for adapting to new subjects at a moment’s notice. Teacher-turned-writers can quickly grasp new concepts, ensuring they stay up-to-date with industry trends. Whether a new technique or a niche topic, teacher-turned-writers will confidently deliver content that demonstrates expertise and resonates with your audience.

Understanding the “Battle for Attention”: Engaging an audience is a skill teachers excel at. They know how to capture attention through storytelling and interactive discussions. Teacher-turned-writers will create content that grabs your audience’s attention and keeps them engaged from start to finish, ensuring your message resonates and drives action.

Building Relationships: Teachers forge strong relationships with their students through effective communication and trust. Teacher-turned-writers aim to build meaningful connections with your target audience in content marketing. They understand how to make people feel empowered and valued, resulting in lasting relationships and increased brand loyalty.

For these reasons, I recommend teacher-turned-writers as a great choice to unlock your content marketing and copywriting efforts’ full potential.

I’m a teacher-turned-writer, and proud of it.

Contact me today to discuss your specific needs and get started on creating compelling content that drives results.