What Is The Key to Producing "Binge-Worthy" Content?

Why is this podcast binge-worthy? 

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Maybe you watch a lot of YouTube videos or stream a lot of TV shows.

The thing these three kinds of media have in common is that they have the potential to be "binge-able": you can find yourself playing the back catalog for hours until you've heard or seen every minute. 

They feel like a book that you just can't put down. You just have to know what happens. 

When you blog, one of your aims should be to create binge-worthy content. I know it's one of mine.

I don't want to create a blog that just anyone can binge on. I want to create a blog that my ideal client just can't stop reading; she's compelled to immediately start scouring the back catalog. 

How does one do this? 

I thought I'd try to figure it out by looking at my own experience. The shows I've binged on all have one thing in common--a well-defined format. The format allows their audience to know what they will get from the show, and it allows their shows to appeal to a narrow audience. A narrow audience means a smaller audience, perhaps, but it also means a much more passionate, devoted audience.

These are people who love talking about and thinking about your content, who will share it across social media, talk to their friends and family about it. They are advocates. 

One show that I think epitomizes this theory is the podcast Denzel Washington Is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period. The format: review each Denzel Washington movie in alphabetical order.  

That's... pretty narrowly focused. 

But, because the hosts are smart, funny, and in show-business themselves, they are able to discuss an endless array of issues within this frame that involving show-business, race and ethnicity, movie tropes and stereotypes, talent, luck, fandom, making it as an artist, and much, much more.

So, because DWITGAOATP has an crystal-clear format that its hosts are committed to, all those topics don't seem disorganized or unrelated to each other. They all relate back to the show's reason for being. 

I think a blog can cultivate the same kind of following by promising a certain format and then continue to deliver within that framework. 

What do you think? 

One Simple Change That Will Make You Feel 100% More Organized

I got this great tip from Cassie Nevitt: Color-code your calendar.

Maybe you already color-code yours--but I bet you don't do it this way.

Cassie's tip was to color-code based on the category of the activity, so that at a glance, you can see the type of week you're going to have and can mentally prepare for it. 

Here's this week for me (I covered up names for privacy's sake): 

This is my coding system: 

• Blue: self-care

• Red: Husband not here =  me taking care of all baby-related needs

• Light Red: Time with husband

• Orange: Time With family

• Green: Revenue-generating time

• Peach: Planning, non-business

• Gray: Pitching, drumming up business, selling

• Turquoise: Writing

• Yellow: Education, planning for my business

• Lilac: Meeting not otherwise covered 

This color-coding system has changed the way I schedule my time.

For example, blue is my color for "self-care." Whenever I don't see any blue in my week or day, I find a place to shove some blue in to make sure I don't go insane. 

Do you have a color-coding scheme that brings order to your life? Let me know what it is in the comments! 

A Tip for Getting People From Instagram to Your Website

Don’t waste the link at the top of your bio! Make sure it’s something you really want your audience to click, because it’s the only clickable link you get (for free) on Instagram! 

If you have spent some time researching Instagram marketing, you’ve probably heard that one before. But I have another tip that’ll help you take this advice all the way home and get more clicks to the destinations where you want to send your potential customers. 

First, like I said, the link at the top of the bio is the only clickable link in all of Instagram. 

Because there’s only one link to work with, some people change that link often, and add a call to action on their photo posts to encourage people to “click the link in my bio.” Here’s a lovely, shabby-chic example: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Harp Design Co. (@harpdesignco)

But there is another way to make the most of this link without having to constantly switch it out. 

It’s by including a call to action in your bio itself.

I know! So simple. So obvious. So… under-utilized. 

Here’s an example of the IG account for the San Diego Zoo. They’ve posted a link to what turns out to be a pretty awesome contest. 

But I guess they don’t want us to click on the link all that much.

How do I know? Well … do they ‘splain what they link is? Do they even use the word “click”? Nope! 

The emoji next to the link is disabled in the image above, but it happens to be this: 

Which, yes, it’s adorable.

But it’s also a little sad and bedraggled, like it’s thinking “What do I have to do with the link below me? Why is the owner of this account wasting a precious character on li’l ole me?  

With a following of over 350 THOUSAND Instagram users, perhaps San Diego Zoo can afford to leave out its call to action.

A lot of people are going to see their bio and a lot of people are probably going to click. 

But if you have a much more modest following, as most of us do, then maximize: 

1. your chances of being found in Instagram search (by including relevant keywords in your bio)

2. your chances of getting that new user from Instagram to the page of your choosing by telling them in the bio exactly what to do next once they have found you. 

Instagram maven Sue B. Zimmerman uses the arrow as a CTA. Saves space and gets the message across: 

Birchbox does it with the Ole Faithful, aka the Pointer Emoji

The Brilliant Business Moms do it by spelling it out: 

But no matter how you do, try it. Let me know what you think or how this helps you! 

Re-Committing to Your Goals and "The Fresh Start Effect"

It's almost March, which means this year is officially no longer new. Remember all of those inspiring Instagram posts on Jan. 1 about how this was page 1 of a 365-page book, like this one? 

Today is Day 54 of 2016. Now is the time when we start to feel less like the photo above, and more like the photo below. 

Getting punched in the mouth happens to me almost every day that I try. I flail around every time it happens, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. In fact, flailing around just makes it take longer for me to regain my balance. 

The "Fresh Start Effect" allows us to reset and re-commit to our goals. Hear more about how to replicate the "fresh start" without needing to wait for another new year or milestone.

Here's a tool I'm using every day to deal with getting punched in the mouth (also inspired by James Altucher, the podcaster you heard if you clicked the link above).

Writing 10 ideas every day. I like to do this early in my workday. Here's a method for practicing.  

What I get out of this: A safe space to spout as many bad ideas as I can think of. Not just an outlet for creativity, but a kickstart for it.

Ten minutes of absolute freedom from self-criticism. Room to be creative. Room to sound like an idiot. 

The Difference Between “Boost Post” and “Boost Your Posts” in Facebook Ad Manager

Facebook ads: Have you thought about using them? Even if you have a $5 budget to begin with, I encourage you to test them out. Not just because you'll reach more people. A colleague at my co-working space recently reminded me what else you get for your $5: When you buy an ad, you get a TON of information on who responds to your ads. That information may surprise you. Are you reaching people you didn't expect? Not reaching the people you expected to? 

Both of those insights allow you to take action, either to experiment with your messaging to reach the people you really want to reach, or to re-assess whether your target market is different from what you thought it was. 

Those are actionable metrics, as opposed to the vanity metrics I talked about in previous posts. 

So buying ads can be useful even if you don't make a single sale. (Although odds are you will make a sale if you are sharing good content with a simple call-to-action.)

Today I'm talking about dipping your toe into ad-buying, and a simple what-not-to-do. Don't click on "Boost Post" at the bottom right corner of one of your Facebook posts. Instead, go to ads.facebook.com and click "Boost Your Posts."  Here's why. 

If you click "Boost Post," here are the options you get: 

If you go to ads.facebook.com and click "Boost Your Posts," you get about 8 bazillion more options. (Yes, 8 bazillion is the official number from Facebook's own team.) 

Those include: 

"Detailed target" which allows you to find people who engage in some pretty specific behaviors. Such as... people who are likely to watch home improvement shows and have also recently bought a home in a particular zip code.

That's pretty specific targeting for, say, an interior designer. And it's just the kind of targeting you don't get if you click on "Boost Post" at the bottom right of the post itself.

So don't do it. 

Humans of New York: Why People Who Hate Facebook Pages for Marketing Should Take a Second Look

Do you know what Humans of New York is? If you use Facebook as part of your strategy for reaching people online, maybe you think that HONY is the exception that proves the rule. 

That's because while most posts from Facebook brand pages have very low engagement rates (say about 3-5% of your total number of Facebook fans), HONY sees a 15 to 20% engagement rate, including likes, comments, and shares. Tons and tons of shares.

Yes, HONY is the exception that proves the rule at the moment. I think that has at least as much to do with the strategy (or lack of strategy) that businesses execute using their Facebook pages as it does with whether Facebook "decides" to show your business posts to your friends and fans. 

What do I mean? 

HONY founder Brandon Stanton could ask his subjects anything, and he probably asks them a whole lot of things. But he only shares the photos and phrases that he knows will resonate with his audience. He knows what will matter to us, his audience, and he thinks from our point of view. 

He said as much when the New York Times talked to him last year after he shared a photo of a teenager who mentioned the principal of his school inspired him. 

Mr. Stanton noted that while he often asks people about the influences in their lives, few younger people think to give credit to a teacher. “It resonated with me, and therefore I knew it was going to resonate with other people,” he said.

The Times interviewed Stanton because he was able to raise over $1 million dollars for the school whose principal was mentioned in the Facebook post. 

I'd say that's pretty incredible engagement. ... So why do some people still claim that Facebook doesn't allow them to reach their audience? 

It goes back to something I've pointed out before: your content competes with content from all over the web. It also competes with your brother-in-law's fishing trip photos, reminders that it's a colleagues birthday, an inspirational quote your mom just shared.... 

But rather than giving up on Facebook for being too crowded, what if you created content that resonated in a way that makes us, your audience, stop scrolling and pause for a second on what you had to say? How do you do that? 

Well, for one thing, you have to believe that what you're sharing matters. And then you have to tell us why it matters. Usually it matters because this tidbit, photo, idea, insight, or piece of knowledge is going to make our lives better in some way. 

One way to do this by writing a post that solves a problem. In fact, that's what I'm doing here: I'm trying to help those of you who aren't sure how to connect with your audience on Facebook. 

While HONY posts don't "solve a problem," they do have something in common with problem-solving posts: they make a connection. 

The connection in a HONY post is between the photo subject and the audience. And Stanton has gotten very good at figuring out what will facilitate that connection. That's the reason he sees so many shares on each post: audience members "get" something about the subject, and it's something they want their social connections to get, too. 

So, when you're developing your calendar for Facebook, remember what you want your audience to do: stop and click. How you connect with them is up to you but putting yourself in their shoes, and asking currently clients what they have found most helpful are two good ways to create posts that bring value to your audience and help them develop trust in you. 

The Lesson to Be Learned From This Silly Bio Generator (and 1 Great Tip that Helps Your Bio to Write Itself)

Maybe you heard about this randomized Tumblr, which parodies the tone of so many bios you see across Twitter and Instagram. If not, give it a try! I will wait. 

Well, when I saw this, I blushed. That's because my Twitter bio used to be ... enigmatic. At one point, it absolutely did have the word "intersection" in it. Eventually, it said something like:

"Steady hand. Dodgers fan. Ladies man." 

So, besides the fact that this bio is twee, there's another reason that this is a dumb way to write a bio. 

And learning this lesson is KEY to finding and building your audience. 

Because this is my Twitter bio now:

The difference? I watched Amy Schmittauer's video How to Write a Bio that Attracts the Right Following." 

Her advice: a good 140-character bio contains

• What you do

• Why it matters

• And (importantly!) what potential followers CAN EXPECT to see you tweet

That last element is so helpful because it really allows the bio to write itself. Many people take Twitter "bio" to mean: cramming my life story and accomplishments into 140 characters. (That is why I gave up after a while and just wrote some random lyrics to a song I like.) 

But that is NOT what bio means when it comes to social media profiles. Whatever you write in the bio is searchable, which means, once again, you need to think like your audience.

You should include keywords and hashtags that your potential clients might search for. And once you've popped up in that potential client's search because you included those relevant keywords, the next step is to hook them as a follower by letting them know exactly what to expect.

"I tweet travel tips" or "I answer FAQs about applying for college." Or whatever it is that you do that is of use TO THEM. Take it away, Amy: 

Want more?  

Download Your Free Guide To Finding Your Customers On Social Media

3 Ways to Build Business Using Facebook Groups

I was listening to a really funny podcast this week on Howl about "Social Media Spirals." The hosts were talking about how they can't even look through their Facebook newsfeeds anymore—it's overwhelming.

I liked this episode because it was funny and poignant. But of course, I also listened as a person whose job it is to find ways to connect on Facebook. The newsfeed is getting increasingly crowded. How can entrepreneurs and small businesses avoid piling on to people who might really love them or care about them?

That led me to think about how my personal newsfeed over the past 18 months or so has fewer and fewer profile and brand page updates, and more and more updates from Facebook Groups I belong to. In addition, Facebook has created a Groups app that you can download separately so you only see group updates. 

(If you need a tutorial on what a Facebook Group is, and how it's different from a brand page or a profile, get that info from the horse's mouth.)

I've seen Facebook Group features benefiting entrepreneurs in three key ways: 

1. Create your own. People are experimenting with all kinds of ways to use Facebook groups as part of a membership model. Some entrepreneurs have multiple groups: one that prospective clients can join after they've joined your e-mail list, another group for paying customers. This can be a great strategy if you sell a service that you can offer online. Group members can have regular access to you. (You should specify how often you'll be available to answer questions.) And they have access to each other for support and to find out 

Even if you have a brick-and-mortar business, creating a private Facebook group can be a great way to stay in touch with the clients who are the most 

2. Join 'em. Get into those groups! They are all over Facebook. Start with keyword searches in Facebook itself. See what groups your colleagues and contacts have joined. And, as always, get into your audience's shoes. Search for groups using the keywords they might use. Depending on your industry, you'll find many groups whose members post contract opportunities, as this post from The Muse points out. 

3. Post to the most relevant ones. Reach out when executing something big. If you're doing a giveaway, launching a new product or service that people have been asking for, or doing something else significant, search for groups that are relevant to the product or service you sell. 

Beth Anne of Brilliant Business Moms recently used this strategy to publicize a giveaway that resulted in 5,000 new e-mail subscribers for the BBM list. Read the full post here. Here's the part about groups: 

“We intentionally had our amazing VA, Ellen, do the sharing for us, since she could say something like “Hey everyone, the ladies at Brilliant Business Moms are hosting a great planner giveaway, here’s the link!” versus me saying, “Hey, I’m hosting a giveaway, please go enter….pretty please…. I’m just crossing my fingers that you’ll all take pity on me…..”

On Day 1, Ellen was able to find two [relevant] Facebook groups that allowed link sharing, and post our giveaway there.”

— http://www.brilliantbusinessmoms.com

This strategy allowed the Brilliant Business Moms to get the word out about themselves to a relevant audience, and added the motivation of a giveaway to get people clicking. 

Two keys here: one is to make sure that the group moderators allow promotional posts. Check the group guidelines after you join. Many groups allow a promotional post on a specific day or in the comments of a specific moderator post. The other key is to make sure your post doesn't sound like you're begging, as the Brilliant Business Moms pointed out above. You can do like the BBM did and ask someone to post on your behalf. Or... 

I think this strategy can also work if you've already been spending some time in this relevant group posting useful, helpful information and answering questions without the expectation of anything in return. Then, when you do post something promotional, the other group members will recognize you from the previous interactions they've had with you. If you've spent a lot of time in a group sharing knowledge and supporting other group members, and your promotion feels relevant to the group members, it is less likely to fall through the cracks.  

3 Lessons Magazines Taught Me About How to Get Your Audience Clicking

In a past (career) life, I worked as a fact-checker and copy editor for national magazines. That included fact-checking and copy editing the magazine cover, which meant I got to see all of the other editors' notes on the "cover lines"—those enticing titles framing the cover girl. I learned how editors construct cover lines and how they choose what to call out on the cover. 

Although I never worked for Cosmo, theirs are my favorite. Notice a trend? 

Sexy sex sells sexy magazines. 

Lesson 1: Write titles from the point of view of your audience. 

The toughest, and the best editors excel at asking this question of every story:

"Why should we care?" 

Once they've answered that question, they often slap that answer on the cover. When I thought about the title for this blog post, at first I thought of the title, "3 Lessons I Learned from Magazines." 

But why would you care about what I learned at magazines? I'll tell you why: because it'll help you get clicks! 

Lesson 2:Try numbers in the title. 

Did you notice the title of my post? 3 lessons. THREE. People want to know what they're going to get when they open a magazine (or click a link). Including a number in a post works so well for web content, and here's why: it lets the audience know that they will be able to SCAN the article. Somehow, THREE points will be highlighted. They'll be able to quickly scan these points and pick them out.  

Another way magazines use the number in the cover line is to represent an abundance of info. "YOU'LL LEARN SO MUCH IF YOU BUY ME!" screams the magazine.  

When I worked at Gourmet, we would often verify a cover line like "32 Tips and Tricks for the Juiciest Chicken." Those tips might be found throughout the magazine, and we would page through the magazine to verify that there were 32 and that we hadn't missed any. But the overall effect of the cover line gave the impression that if you opened the magazine, you'd be swimming in tips and tricks! (You can see another example of that in the 99 SEX Questions cover line in the Cosmo photo above). 

Lesson 3: Learn from experience. 

As a content creator, when you share something and see a lot more engagement than usual (likes, comments, shares, clickthroughs), take note!

In Cosmo's case, they know that cover lines that feature SEX (NAKED is a close second) sell magazines. They have tested and learned. So they continue to get the word SEX on the cover, month after month. 

In your world, this might mean you keep blogging about topics that you've seen your audience respond to in the past. You try different things until you land on something! And you re-share content that engaged them in the past. Don't be afraid to repost popular content. 

Try This When Sharing Your Content to Your Facebook Brand Page

BBM created a lovely graphic to promote our interview, using a cute photo of a very exhausted mom and dad, and a very sweet baby who did not yet sleep through the night. 

Today, the Brilliant Business Moms posted my conversation with them about their Facebook brand page. They do a great job sharing their brand on social media. We talked about a lot of things, but one theme I returned to over and over: Put yourself in their shoes. 

For example, if you are going to blog about a particular topic, always think about titling the blog post using the same keywords that your audience might use to Google it.

You want to do this not only because it may help your page come up in Google search results, but also because when you share post to Facebook that has a title you're audience is interested in, they are just plain more likely to click. If you want your audience to read your blogs, listen to your podcasts, and watch your videos, you have to explain what's in it for them. The title is a great place to do that.