For the past two months one company has written 4 out of 5 of the most popular blog posts on the CRM Software Blog. They have consistently been on the most popular list, but now they are completely dominating it. I told them that the blogger at Beringer Associates deserves a gold star. Then I found that they deserve a whole bunch of gold stars, because everyone at their company is a blogger. Lisa A. Beringer, Vice President at Beringer Associates, Inc. shared her company’s secret to success with me:
Read moreI Felt Like We Were Best Friends Until I Sent the Check
When someone is a prospect, they are a VIP. They get our full attention. But once they sign the contract or send the check, what happens? Do they still feel your love? A recent experience had me feeling like a top priority then totally ignored after the deal was done. And of course this made me think of ERP software....
Read more13 Interview Questions to Write a Compelling Microsoft Dynamics Client Case Study
How many case studies do you have in your marketing portfolio?
A compelling case study is an excellent marketing tool, but they are not always easy to create. Here are 7 steps I use with each case study I write. Plus 13 interview questions I ask my clients to draw out the information I need.
Read moreWhy You Need an Inventory List to Track Published Blog Posts
Wait, didn’t I already write about this? Once you have been blogging for a while, it all starts to become a blur. It is very difficult to remember what you have written about and when and where, it was published. But there is value in knowing what you have already written about and being able to quickly find the URL. Here are 4 reasons you need an inventory list and the benefits.
Read moreBig Beautiful Banners to Boost My Blog Posts
Banners are my new thing. When someone finishes reading a blog post, I want them to be see a beautiful banner that will just make them feel compelled to click to get more information.
But I am not a graphic designer. I wish I was, as it would be such an asset to my marketing career. As I get older I have resigned myself to the fact that you just can’t be good at everything, and learning when to delegate is a sign of maturity. Finally, I have found a solution. Here are a few examples of my favorite banners...
Read more2 Strategies To Promote Blog Posts on Twitter and LinkedIn – Which Do You Prefer?
How often should you promote a blog post?
When I write a blog post, I want people to see it. Of course the main way they will find it, if I have done a good job at optimization, is from their search engine.
But I also try to give my posts a boost using social media, specifically Twitter and LinkedIn, not just once but repeatedly because you will catch different peoples’ attention at different times with the same message. The question is, how much promotion is the right amount?
Here are two different strategies.
Read moreProof That More Blog Posts Equals More Website Traffic - Dynamics CRM Partner Success Story
Anybody can say that writing more blog posts is better, especially someone who owns the blog site. But I can give you proof.
A Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner who is a member of the CRM Software Blog shared their statistics with me, and the results are very clear. With an increased focus on blogging and very few other changes to their marketing strategy, this Dynamics CRM Partner has seen a
- 57% increase in website traffic in 2015 over 2014.
- 322% increase in website traffic since they joined the CRM Software Blog in 2010.
- 126% increase in referral clicks from the CRM Software Blog.
And that is not all.
Read moreMy Strategy for “Pick-Apart Posts” and Why My Prospects Love Me For It
Some people think I am annoying. But that makes me a better blog writer. I am the person who combs through the fine print, anticipates every worst case scenario and asks what the contingency plan is. Fortunately I have found that this quality serves me well for blog writing. I have had success with something I call “Pick-Apart Posts”. I will take a topic and literally pick it apart. I’ll look at it from every angle, ask every potential question my customer could ask, try to think of every scenario and then find the answers and document them.
Read moreTrue or False: 12 Things You Should Know About Traveling to Iceland in Winter
Why would you go to Iceland in the winter?
Because it is an amazing adventure.
I went to Iceland in January with two of my closest friends to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first adventure together, when we backpacked through Europe as young single girls. Although we live on opposite sides of the country, and have chosen different paths in life, we left husbands and children at home this year to experience another adventure together.
Here are a 10 things you should know before you plan a winter adventure in Iceland.
Read moreHow to ReOptimize or RePublish Old Blog Posts To Get More Traffic
You’ve heard of the 80/20 rule, right? I bet you get 80% of your traffic from 20% of your blog posts.
All of us struggle with finding time to write new blog posts. So instead, here is a strategy you can use to get more traffic and leads from the blog posts you have already published. First you want to find out which of your blog posts are the most popular.
Read moreThe Key Personality Trait of a Great Marketer
What personality trait should you look for when hiring for marketing?
Should the person be organized, creative, detail oriented? You could argue that all of those qualities are important.
But I believe the key personality trait of a great marketer is OPTIMISM - unfailing, unflagging optimism: the belief that just because something hasn’t worked before, it might work this time. Or the prospect who hasn’t responded to the last ten marketing touches, might just call today.
Read moreAn Easy Way to Generate More Content with Less Work – Blog Rewrite Service
So many blog sites, so little time. Everyone wants original content, but there is only so much time in the day for writing.
When you spend the time researching and crafting a great blog post it is tempting to post it on more than one site. But that little voice in your head should remind you that duplicate content is bad; search engines don’t like duplicate content and it will not improve your SEO.
If you plan to use the same content on multiple blog sites, it should be rewritten it so that the content is fresh. This does not just mean changing the title and a few sentences.
Read moreFour Ideas to Promote Your Session During an Event
What if you plan a party and nobody shows up? Or worse, just one or two show up and you stare awkwardly at each other while they wonder where all the cool people went instead?
The same is true if you present a session at an event.
Don’t just rely on the event coordinators to promote you, do your part to get people into the room to listen to you. Attendees usually have several sessions to choose from during a single time slot, and plenty of people to distract them in the hallways, so you have tough competition. There are several things you can do to promote your session DURING the event. Here are four ideas:
Read moreInside the Enterprise Software Podcast: Interview with Bob McAdam
What is involved in producing a successful podcast? Bob McAdam, one of the hosts of the Enterprise Software Podcast, along with Todd McDaniel and Darcy Boerio, shared his story with me about how their podcast started, what is involved in producing it and some of the benefits along the way.
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The History of How the ERP Software Blog Actually Got Started
“Can you imagine if we actually got one member in every state?”
I clearly remember sitting in our kitchen and asking my husband that question just before the ERP Software Blog launched in June 2009. Fast forward 6 years later and we have over 150 members across several sites that are the most popular ERP and CRM group blogs, not just in our channel, but on the web.
But let’s go back to when it all began.
Read moreIs Someone Plagiarizing Your Blog Content?
People who intentionally plagiarize blog content, and pass it off as their own, are slimy. There is an easy way to find out if someone else is plagiarizing your content (or if you have copied theirs!)
Read more3 Ways to Avoid Posting Duplicate Blog Content
Duplicate content is bad. You should not post exactly the same blog article on more than one site. But many of you that write for the ERP/CRM Software Blogs also write for your own company blog sites. How can you avoid duplicate content across company and group blogs? Here are my 3 tips:
Read moreHow to Safely Post Duplicate Content on Multiple Blog Sites
You know that posting duplicate content online is dangerous, but I bet you do it anyway.
You will get the most SEO value for your hard work if you rewrite the post for each blog you intend to use it on. But, I know that when you have worked hard on an article, posting it more than once is just so awfully tempting that it is hard to resist.
So here are steps you can follow to use canonical link tags to identify duplicate content and hopefully avoid any Google penalties.
Read moreHow To Use Yoast To Optimize Your Blog Post
Once you have made the effort to write a blog post, isn’t is worth just a little more effort to make sure it is optimized so people (and search engines) can find it?
An easy way to optimize your post for SEO is to the “Wordpress SEO by Yoast” tool. This is already installed on the blog sites that I manage. There are 4 basic fields on the “General” that take just a few minutes to fill out but can improve your SEO results.
Read moreDirectories & Events Every Microsoft Dynamics Marketer Needs to Evaluate
Once you have been in the Dynamics channel for a while, you know where to get the information you need.
For example, here are my “go to” directories when I want to find a specific ISV product or partner. (Hint: if you are an ISV partner that wants to get found, you should check out these lists too). And a list of top events for Dynamics partners you shouldn't miss.
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