I'm an industrial copywriter and write sales copy and marketing content for B2B industrial manufacturing companies. Why that field and industry? Well, I have 30 years of experience in the … Click to Read More
Lead Gen: Is Your Content Gated … or Barricaded?
It's role-playing time. In your role, you have a great business with a new, rock star product. You need to get more exposure for your new product to generate interest and drive sales. That's always the case with new products. My role is that of an experienced web copywriter. So it just happens that you and I meet by chance in the local café. As we talk, sipping our Swiss Mocha lattes, your new product comes up in conversation. As you describe it, your eyes light up. It's easy to see you're excited. But suddenly, you look … [Read more...]
Writing Content for Robots and Real People
Robots. He told me he wanted me to write … for robots! The puzzled look on my face gave me away. He smiled and sat down, leaning back in his chair as he tossed his black hat onto the rack. "You need to write so that the search bots can find the website and index it." “Say, what?” “Google sends out these robot spiders. When they find our content, they'll crawl it. And the site will creep quickly to the first search page." Now, that sounded downright disturbing. But, trying to save myself, I responded, "Oh, … [Read more...]
Toilet Paper Content Marketing for B2B Industrial Manufacturers
Got a quick question for you. How do you sell more toilet paper to commercial or industrial businesses? Think about it for a few minutes. The answer is pretty obvious, but many people miss it. Now, if you said you should make it pretty, softer or stronger, you're just a little off base. Not that those things aren't important. But, there is a better strategy you can use to get those rolls flying off the shelf. Of course, price is always a factor. Buyers will always look for the best price, particularly for something as mundane as … [Read more...]
Wind Chimes – Recycling Your Content
I like recycling. It really bothers me if I can't find a way to reuse something. Of course, it's not always possible and some stuff does end up in the trash (preferably, the recycle bin). But if you think hard, sometimes things can be repurposed, saving you some serious cash. Or even making some of it. Here's a perfect example. Many moons ago, I used to work for a sign shop. We made everything from small placards to huge, lighted signs. I worked as a fabricator and helped wire our customers' signs. We used EMT, which is thin wall … [Read more...]
Cupcakes, Candlesticks and Content Marketing
In the late 1830's, two men were involved in different businesses. William was a candle maker from England and became well established in Cincinnati, Ohio. James, on the other hand, relocated from Ireland and apprenticed himself to a soap maker in that same town. Strangers in a new land, they might never have met. But … Fate struck a blow that brought these two men together to form a single company. They married sisters Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, daughters of Alexander Norris. The father-in-law convinced the young men to become … [Read more...]
B2B Web Copy – Why Meta Matters
I recently attended a four-day Web Copy Intensive seminar in Austin, Texas. The roster of speakers read like a Who's Who in the field of web copy and marketing. The topics ranged from content marketing to landing pages to lead generation and email auto-responders. In all, seven different aspects of online copy and marketing were extensively covered. I was there because even this old dog can learn new tricks. A B2B copywriter that doesn't keep up with new information and techniques is treading water. Eventually, he'll tire out and, well, … [Read more...]
