Copyblogger Weekly Wrap: Week of DEcember 13, 2010

Sales and marketing is all about reframing, so after getting nailed with snow last week, I decided to make the most of the next round: the huge “snowpocalypse” due to arrive early this week. I would bend it to my will. I would use it for nefarious business purposes.

So I thought: What if I did one of my promotions where I set up WordPress blogs for free while buried in my living snow tomb? That sounded compelling. I talk a lot about story, and this was a fun one: “Man trapped under seven feet of snow keeps warm by doing marketing stunt, eats own foot to survive.” Man, it sold itself.

So I filled the wood bins to overflowing. Made sure both the tractor and generator worked, and filled both with gas. Bought extra gas. Bought supplies. Rented Jingle All the Way.

We got like 2 inches of snow. Next up: my “Overreaction is Underrated” sale.

Here’s what happened this week on Copyblogger:

Monday:

How to Find the Gold in Your Business

If you’re myopically focused on how much traffic, tweets, or comments you get, I’d argue you’re looking in the wrong place if sales aren’t going up accordingly. This post is all about how to take the large amount of “raw material” that passes your online home every day and sift through it to find your “pure gold” customers. (NOTE: “pure gold customers” are not the same as “Solid Gold dancers” in at least 9 out of 10 cases.)

Read the full post here.

Tuesday:

How to Make People Give a Damn About Your Business

So you’ve accepted that you’re telling a story with your marketing, but still your readers are saying, “Frankly Scarlett, I don’t give a damn about your business,” and then you realize the war is over and you still have your beloved plantation and tomorrow is another day, right? Well, cool, but you still want people to give a damn because we don’t all live in the old South. So, you should really read this post to learn how “putting something at stake” can keep people riveted to that story of yours.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday:

Tim Ferriss on How to Reinvent Yourself with Blog Marketing: IMfSP Radio # 6

Man, I’m jealous as hell of Brian for getting this chance to talk to Tim Ferriss, who is one of my personal heroes. But you can be there vicariously by listening to this episode of IMfSP Radio, where these two dudes talk about how Tim used blogging and “blogger outreach” to propel himself to bestsellerdom and interwebs phenomenon.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday, part 2:

Get a Copyblogger T-Shirt, Help a Child Learn to Read

If you get a Copyblogger T-shirt, the fine and goodhearted folks at Copyblogger will donate 100% of the profits to the childhood literacy program Reading is Fundamental, also known as RIF. I recommend doing this because not only are the shirts spiffy, but you’ll also be supporting an organization with a good acronym. (For contrast, here are some real-life examples of bad acronyms I have seen: WTF, LOL, and FUD.)

Read the full post here.

Thursday:

Donald Trump’s Top Three Tips for Dominating Your Niche

There’s a lot we can learn from Donald Trump, be it his business acumen, his hair styling regimen, or his ability to consistently hook up with hot Eastern European women. This post has three hot tips for the first item on that list, which will naturally augment the last item on the list. (Side note: I once saw Donald Trump speak. He was barely coherent in his message. It’s like he said, “Screw you, I’m Donald Trump! I’m not going to prepare or have a point.” And I had to respect that.)

Read the full post here.

Friday:

Three Keys to Creating an Online Experience Worth Paying For

How to you create an irresistible reason for people to join you in a membership program? Why, you create an awesome experience for them. It’s not about the stuff… it’s about the experience of getting the stuff. Although I have to admit that I still don’t understand why anyone would pay for an American Express card. Is it the cool look? Because you know, I’ve seen cooler, like ones with monkeys on them and stuff.

Read the full post here.

This week’s cool links:

• Why Investing in Your Customer is the Best Bet You Can Make: We’re all in this big social media thing (and the business that comes with it) together. It’s time to lean into it, to go all the way, and to reinvest in the people around you.
• Lady Gaga and me: I was tempted to use this one solely because of the awesome title (which could only have been better if “and” were changed to “is”), but there’s a really important point here. Are you focused on the one person who doesn’t like you or isn’t paying attention? If so, knock it off.
• The 5 Critical Errors Most People Make When they Start Using Social Media for Business: This one is really good, and the title says it all. Want to alienate and annoy people while getting nothing out of social media? Then do these things.
• Do Your Readers Have Fan Stories?: Well? Do they? Because they should. Give this post a read, because if you aren’t generating retell-worthy fan stories, you’re leaving a lot on the table.

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant’s “free WordPress blogs setup” promotion ends on Sunday, December 19th. Get yours before it’s all over!