getting creative

How to Boost your Credibility

With more and more people vying to make their voice heard, how can you make yours stand out? In this episode of my podcast with fellow content pro and Digital Marketing Expert Rachel Clapp Miller #ContentHacks takes a look at the role of credibility and why it’s so important to growing your business and/or brand.

Plain and simple, credibility creates opportunity.

It’s not enough to have a good bio these days. There are a number of ways you can boost your credibility.

 

Lessons from a Storyteller Strategist

Content Hacks welcomed its first guest for this episode.
I first met Roshanda Pratt as a producer back in my TV days. She is another fellow journalist who left the biz to help other people tell their own stories. She is authentic and funny and smart and we were thrilled to be able to pick her brain for our expert series.

A better strategy for getting media attention

Any working parent knows what it’s like to have to take a phone call or reply to an email when your child is looking at you with big eyes begging you, “Pay Attention to Me!”

It’s a good tactic for a toddler. But as children get older, simply begging for attention doesn’t cut it. In fact, it gets a little old. As kids age they learn we can’t give everything they do the same attention so they begin to chose what’s really important and draw our attention to that.

Pitching your story to the media is a little bit like that.

Simply asking for attention doesn’t guarantee it.

The media needs to know why now? What is so important that it needs our attention?

Digital marketing guru and communications specialist Rachel Clapp Miller and I tackle some of the most important things to consider when pitching your story to the media in our latest podcast, ‘Content Hacks.’

Here’s a link to the blog I mentioned in the podcast.

The Most Overlooked Sources of Content

There is nothing worse as a content creator than the panic that sets in when you sit down to write and a good topic seems to escape you. Now what?

Sometimes the best content is right under your nose! But you won’t see it if you don’t know where to look!

Lucky for you, I created a podcast with my ever so creative friend, Communications Specialist and Digital Marketer, Rachel Clapp Miller. In the latest installment of Content Hacks, we’ll tell you where to look for new ideas.

And you might be surprised what the number one thing you can do to find good content is….

 

The Best Content Advice I’ve Ever Received

I have worked in the media for more than 2 decades. That means I have worked with a lot of News Directors, Executive Producers, Editors and other bosses.

Each one taught me something. But a handful of them gave me advice that I find myself still repeating to this day.

Communications Specialist and Digital Marketer Rachel Clapp Miller and I were recently talking about our favorite managers and decided to share some of the best advice with you in our podcast ‘Content Hacks.’

In less than 10 minutes we’ll share the answers to questions like, “What do people remember most about the stories you tell? Which of the 5 W’s is the most important? What is the one thing you should do after you think you are done writing?”

Take a listen and then let us know what is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Content hacks to make your life easier

You look at the clock for the third time in 5 minutes. Your heart races. Your eyes pore into the blank page in front of you as your brain screams ‘WRITE SOMETHING!” For many people, creating content to raise brand awareness does not come naturally.

Yet, it is increasingly critical to the long-term success of your business or organization. Long gone are the days of cold calls, hard sells and stale press releases. You need authentic content that connects with your customers and, more importantly,  potential customers. And did I mention, you need it FAST!?

In this edition of our podcast, Content Hacks, Rachel Clapp Miller, Communication and Digital Marketing Specialist and I recently shared a few hacks that can help ensure you don’t have to relive that moment of panic every week.

Have a listen then check out the handy downloadable checklist below!

Here’s a short list.

Keep a content calendar.

Develop a system for retaining ideas to use later.

Write something every day

Use email as both a way to elicit answers from a source and as the subject of possible topics.

Write backwards. Start with a compelling headline.

Don’t write at all. Instead utilize photos, infographics, podcasts and other platforms to reach your audience.

If you like these ideas, download this PDF for a quick checklist to follow every week. Content Hacks Reference Sheet

Why isn’t anyone reading your content?

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The age old riddle of the tree is a good question for anyone responsible for helping raise awareness of a particular brand or organization.

Think of it like this, ‘If you post a blog, a photo, or a white paper and no one reads it, did you really say anything?” or did you spend a lot of time creating content for nothing?

None of us has time to spare! So let’s agree that creating content for nothing is a waste of time. There are a lot of reason why content doesn’t work. It could be a topic that doesn’t matter to your audience or it could be a great topic that no one will read because of the way it’s presented.

Rachel Clapp Miller, Communication and Digital Marketing Specialist and I recently started a podcast called Content Hacks. In our first installment, we look at what makes effective content.