How much do you want this information?
Are you willing to give me your personal information to get it? Even though you know that means I could start nagging you endlessly?
These are the questions we are asking our website visitors every time we ask them to fill in a form to get a piece of content. This is “gated” content. There is a gate in front of it, and their contact information is the key.
Ungated content is not guarded by a form. Anyone can see it and download it anytime.
In this post I give you my thoughts on the arguments FOR and AGAINST gated content. And the bold decision we made for our Dynamics GP website.
Read moreDo your prospects understand what you mean? I am not talking about using acronyms or techy lingo, although Microsoft Dynamics partners are notorious for that too. My question is, are you sure that your prospects understand the meaning of your words the same way you do? I found out I was doing it wrong.
Read moreWhen I talk to people about content marketing, specifically blogging, I usually hear three main objections:
1) I have nothing to write about.
2) I don’t have time to write.
3) I’m not good at writing.
In this article, let’s tackle the objection that you have nothing to write about.
Read moreDo your product experts run the other way when you ask to interview them for a blog post? You have to remind them what is in it for them. If they answer your question now, they can avoid answering it for prospects and clients over and over again in the future. Because your published blog post can serve as a knowledge base resource. Instead of answering the question in an email, they can just send a link to the blog post. This saves them time but also shows the prospect or client that they didn't just make up the answer on the spot. Your company is experienced and prepared and one step ahead of them because the answer has already been published.
Read moreI have a three step formula I use so that I never run out of blog content.
Step 1) Record
Step 2) Transcribe
Step 3) Polish
Let me explain how this works
Many of us who are charged with writing blog posts are marketers, not the Dynamics ERP/CRM software or industry experts. Unless you are very lucky, those experts would never consider writing a blog post; they are too busy being billable. This is not a problem; you just need to follow this formula.
Read moreI love to cross items off my to-do list. Sometimes I will write something down after it is done, just so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off. When I started marketing Microsoft Dynamics back in 2000 the emphasis was on direct mail, telemarketing campaigns and other types of outbound marketing activities. Kids these days don’t realize the time we spent printing labels, stuffing envelopes and walking to the post office....uphill both ways.
In almost every way I much prefer this new age of inbound marketing focused on content creation and social media. However there is one thing I miss about the good old days of outbound marketing: at least I knew when it was finished!
Read moreMost of us can think back and remember a favorite teacher, someone who truly believed in us even at a young age. I remember Mrs. Whitney, my 5th grade English teacher. I wrote short stories and poetry and declared my intention to become a writer. Mrs. Whitney felt this was an entirely attainable goal. I think if I looked hard enough I could find a middle school yearbook collecting dust somewhere with an encouraging note from Mrs. Whitney telling me she looked forward to reading my first book.
Sometime during high school and beyond, the idea of becoming a writer faded into the background and a career in sales and marketing seemed entirely more sensible.
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