by   28 Comments

How to Build an Audience Using Gamification

Image of Chessboard

Back in November, Firepole Marketing’s Content Editor made a complete and utter fool of herself.

On purpose.

And she was happy to do it.

She was participating in a local event called the Impossible Montreal Scavenger Hunt, and doing so required a team of ostensibly mature adults to engage in activities from the bizarre (marionette Mario Brothers re-enactment) to the dangerous (construct and use web-slingers), to the simply embarrassing (narrate the introduction to an adult film).

Why would they do this? Because they wanted to win.

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer
by   29 Comments

4 Proven Strategies for Finding a Wider Audience for Your Content

image of vintage target

Yes, content is king — that’s old (and very profitable) news.

Content is the fuel of permission-based marketing, and an excellent instigator of engagement.

It’s the marketing that your audience wants to receive.

There’s just one little problem.

Sure, content is king — but without an audience, the king can get awfully lonely.

Sorry, but even terrific content doesn’t get out there and find an audience all by itself. You need a practical plan for how you’re going to find and grow that audience.

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer
by   37 Comments

The Naked Marketing Guide to
Compelling Copy that Closes Sales

image of feet and flower

How smooth is your copy?

Is your writing powerful, seductive, and engaging? Can you move people to act, without having to give it a second thought?

Some people are like that. The naturals. They always know exactly what to say, and how to say it.

Lucky them.

The rest of us have to work at it. We have to study and figure it out, one hard-learned lesson at a time.

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer
by  

A Fool-Proof Formula for Easily
Creating Compelling Content

image of mathematical formula

There’s a secret to writing a lot of compelling content.

Every successful, prolific content writer knows this secret, and most other people … well, they don’t. And that’s what contributes to the mystique around the magical wordsmithing powers that some writers seem to have.

Well, no more.

Today I’m going to share that secret with you. The secret to prolifically creating excellent content isn’t inspiration or brilliance — it’s found in structure, planning, and research.

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer
by  

How to Build an Engaged Audience with Content Marketing

image of danny iny's engagement book

Most bloggers are after the same things.

They want traffic to their blogs, comments on their posts, and sales of their products or services.

These are all great goals, but they’re really just symptoms of something else: having an engaged and responsive audience.

You can’t have a lot of consistent traffic, comments, or sales without a great audience — your traffic source will dry up sooner or later (AdWords, anyone?), your commenters will stop commenting, and your sales will disappear.

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer
by  

19 Ways to Get Paid for Your Writing

image of $100 bill

Good writers should get paid for their work. It’s as simple as that.

If this is what you want to do professionally, then you should be paid for it.

A dirty little secret of this business is that many writers that earn a full-time income by putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, aren’t any better than the writers who don’t make a dime.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Let me be clear, you’re not going to find any “get rich quick” ideas in this post. But those writers that earn do have a secret weapon …

[ Continue Reading... ]

Buffer