Michael Wilding

Category: Content Marketing

  • Vegetarian Chicken

    Vegetarian Chicken

    So… it’s turning out to prove harder to get this email out to you every day at exactly the same time.

    My morning’s have gone insane.

    Today we had to go back to Addenbrooke’s for a hospital appointment for Max, which took out the entire middle part of the day.

    I did begin writing this email at 7am, but then I had to leave before I’d finished it.

    Anyhoo… the important thing is that it’s here with you now in all it’s glory.

    See you tomorrow (at some point!),

    Michael

    [divider]

    Vegetarian Fried Chicken

    Here Endeth The World

    “Humans are strange.

    They’ll pay hundreds of dollars to eat food that looks like something and actually is something else in very fancy restaurants.”

    It’s a funny thought. VFC is the new KFC. Yes… KFC are launching vegetarian fried chicken.

    All fast food chains are being pressured into making their food more healthy, and in the UK the government wants people to have more options with less calories.

    So there’s a good reason for it.

    You can get the full story over at Inc. here.

    [divider]

    6 Things Successful People do Before 9 a.m.

    The Awesome World Of Productivity

    One thing seems to be consistent amongst the most successful people, they always get a lot done very early in the morning.

    Since have a baby, I’ve also found that I get the most work done before 9am. After 9am the day begins to take a life of its own.

    But what are the six things you can do to make sure you’re the most productive?

    Personally, I agree with numbers one, two, three and six. Let me know which you agree with.

    [divider]

    Republishing Old Blog Posts

    Squeezing The Juice Out Of Your Content

    I would say that content is currently the single biggest issue facing most people online today.

    Everyone needs content, and it needs to be damn good if you want to be successful.

    Gone are the days of churning out crap, ranking in Google and making loads of affiliate sales.

    The problem is… good quality content is damn expensive.

    And most folk only use it once, which makes it even more expensive.

    However, content re-purposing can squeeze every bit of value out of your content.

    This blog on Pro-Blogger is an excellent way to get started.

    [divider]

  • 10 Lead Generation Strategies

    10 Lead Generation Strategies

    So yesterday’s email is kinda late, like an entire day!

    That’s because yesterday was one of those days where I only managed to sit down and work at 4pm.

    Today I’m just doing a half day, got some fun things to get up to this afternoon, so I’m doing this email bright and early.

    And boy have their been some great posts.

    I’m keeping it short and sweet today because I’ve only got an hour left before I need to go. So without further ado, I’m going to leave you with today’s best blog posts.

    Ciao,

    Michael

    [divider]

    How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website with These 10 Lead Generation Strategies

    The Simple Way To Get More Leads!

    One of my favourite blogs is Neil Patel’s. The content he provides is amongst some of the best content I’ve seen anywhere.

    If you’re not already following his blog, then I recommend you do, or… you just keep reading this email because I’m following it and will let you know where there’s something you need to read.

    Today I want you to look at this post which shows how to drive more traffic.

    Like all of the posts on this blog, it’s pretty chunky in length, which is something he does because it’s proven blog posts over 2000 words have better SEO value.

    The only thing I disagree with in his list of ten is the infographics session. For me, they take a ton of time to create (or are very expensive) and the time-cost benefit isn’t worth it.

    Different if you’ve got some good social media presence and a network who will share it for you. Then they’re worth it, otherwise I’d give them a miss for now.

    [divider]

    How 6 Months of a Daily Journaling Habit Changed My Writing

    This Actually Works

    There’s no doubt that writing daily will change the way you write. It’s one of the reasons that I write this email every day, apart from it being enjoyable.

    Without any shadow of a doubt, if you need to write, and who doesn’t in this age of internet, then doing writing daily is the best thing you will ever do for your writing.

    The hardest part of it is the discipline of doing it.

    Loryn shares how she did it here, and has all the data to back it up.

    Which is a good thing, because there’s no way I’m every going to spend the time looking through all that data, life’s way to short 😀

    [divider]

    $27.4 Billion A Year

    The Richest Woman In Real Estate Shares Her Best Advice

    If you ask anybody, $27.4 billion is a LOT of money. Doesn’t matter who they are.

    You can also be sure that… the person who built a company from nothing to that value is going to have some pretty damn good advice.

    There’s lots I could say, but I don’t want to spoil this interview. It’s a damn good read.

  • One portion of fried blood please

    One portion of fried blood please

    Would you eat fried blood?

    It was a question asked this morning when we were served up black puddings.

    If you’re not sure what black pudding is, it’s a blood sausage eaten here over in Great Britain and Ireland.

    Some people love it, some people hate it.

    Me personally, I love it.

    I love it so much that I had two!

    But here’s what’s funny…

    Often you find that someone will say that they don’t like it even when they’ve never tried it.

    Why?

    Because of the thought.

    If you told them it was sausage meat and black oats, they’d try it and probably like.

    Perception is everything.

    And it’s the same in business.

    It doesn’t matter whether you’ve done something before or not. What matters is that the person who’s asking you to do it believes you can do it.

    Of course, if you can’t follow through with what you’ve sold, then you’re going to find yourself in difficulty.

    But you get the idea 😉

    When you look at marketing, this becomes even more important.

    Marketing is all about perception.

    Heck, there’s even copywriting known as “blind copy” which means you are selling something without telling the potential customers what they’re buying.

    In this case the product itself is completely irrelevant.

    What’s important is the journey and the emotional tones.

    I generally don’t recommend this because you will always end up with more refunds than normal, simply because customkers are buying without knowing what they’re buying.

    AND… that means it’s used most often for products which are sub-quality.

    But, like anything, in the right situation it can generate a huge amount of revenue.

    Bottom line, perception is everything. Always consider what perception you want your audience to have, and tailor your content and copy to it.

    Have a great weekend,

    Michael

  • The 7 Best Free Image Websites

    The 7 Best Free Image Websites

    If you’ve got a website, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a personal blog or a business, you’ll have come across the need for images.

    And it can be damn hard to find images that work with what you’re writing about.

    Of course, if you’re running a photo blog then you’ll be fine 😉 but for the rest of us, we need to find images regularly.

    There’s a huuuuuuge temptation to use images that we find on the web.

    But you shouldn’t!

    Because… most of them belong to someone, and that someone can charge you for them.

    “How would they ever know?” you may be thinking.

    They know because images can have tracking embedded in them.

    This tracking means that the owner can get a report of every website where the image is published, and if your website is on the list without their permission, you may get a knock on the door, or an email you don’t want.

    To get around this you can use sites like 123rf.com which provide cheap images. They’re good, but if you’re going to use a lot of them or have a zero budget then it’s going to be a problem.

    So… here’s where to go to get images, with full permission of the creator to use them on your website, for FREE!

    1) Pixabay / Canva
    2) PikWizard
    2) Free Range Stock
    3) Snappy Goat
    4) Pexels
    5) PicJumbo
    6) UnSplash
    7) Free Images

    There you have it, the top seven free image websites. Between these websites you can grab millions and millions of images.

    ***UPDATE May 2018***

    While this isn’t included in the list above, Canva have contacted me and asked if I would add them to the list above. Since they’re a great site, I’ve included them as joint first 🙂

    ***UPDATE November 2018***

    Pikwizard has contacting me asking to be included in the above list. I’ve taken a look at them and their site is easy to navigate, has some great images and is quick to download. I’ve put this in at number two.

    See you soon,

    Michael

  • A bit of an apology

    A bit of an apology

    I’m sorry.

    I’ve still not finished my guide to using Amazon SES for sending emails.

    I know, I know.

    I’m convinced that somebody has shortened the hours between waking up and going to sleep!

    TBH, I was considering blaming Christmas. But considering I’ve not bought a single Christmas card or present, I figure that wouldn’t really be fair.

    It’s just that everything has been crazily busy!

    Anyhoo… I wanted to send you a quick apology, and give you the heads-up that it will be finished next week (and it’s definitely worth waiting for).

    In other news… we spent nearly three hours awake in the middle of the night while Max screamed at us. It was a joyful experience, but one I’d be happy not to repeat.

    However, it meant he was pretty tired this morning (as were we!) and it gave me time to start using AdMailr in these emails.

    You’ll see their adverts above and below the stunning piece of writing you’re currently reading 😉

    I’ve never used them before, but heard some very good things, so I will keep you posted as to how I get on with them.

    Michael

    P.S. They’ve added MailWizz email software to their system for me, which means if you decide to follow my guide to cheap emailing with Amazon SES and use the same software as me, you can also use their advertising!