Sonia Simone says, “2016, right? Such a strange, difficult year. Lots of us are thinking about the artists we lost — poets, musicians, cultural icons. Of course, famous people die every year — but this one had a nasty streak. Bowie, Prince, Ali, Cohen, Fisher, and so many more. People who went far beyond entertaining us. We never met them, but they changed everything”. Why Your Voice Matters More than Ever This Year Copyblogger  [...]

Stefanie Flaxman says, “I watch a lot of YouTube videos about the best ways to clean your bathroom. In fact, I realized that I spend way more time watching “hacks, tricks, and tips” about how to efficiently clean a bathroom than I do actually cleaning my bathroom. Given the hundreds of thousands of views on these types of videos, perhaps it’s not just me. And I started thinking … this might be similar to bloggers who read about editing tips. Editing, like cleaning a bathroom, isn’t always the most fun, so bloggers might spend more time reading about editing tips than actually implementing... [...]

Brian Clark says, “One week from today, Copyblogger turns 11 years old. In some ways, it feels like only yesterday that I came up with the concept for this blog in December of 2005 and launched it the next month. Except that I was 38 at the time, and now … I’m not (ahem). There was plenty of emerging talk about commercial blogging going on back then, and Copyblogger was specifically designed to add to the conversation in a way that wasn’t being addressed. Fortunately, I had spent the previous 7 years figuring out how to build online audiences that built businesses. Today we call that... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “The year of the rollercoaster is nearly finished, and, as we usually do around this time, I wanted to pull together some of my favorite posts for you. This collection of posts (and a single podcast) is a celebration of the writers who worked hard every week to teach, inspire, and entertain us — and it’s also a bit of a manifesto for what we want 2017 to be. Our vision for 2017 is: – The year of the individual voice – The year of community – The year of the real, human writer Here are some of my favorite Copyblogger posts from 2016, starting with just... [...]

Aaron Orendorff says, “I’m sure you’ve heard this stat: more than two million blog posts go live every single day. And that’s just talking about blogs. You don’t even want to start contemplating total online content including emails, landing pages, product pages, podcasts, and social media. Standing out in the deluge is harder than ever. Even for established publishers it’s tough. For beginners … it’s a nightmare. So, what’s the solution? While there is no magic bullet for content marketers, there is one type of content that can cut through the noise and deliver long-term... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “Promoting your content has clear short-term benefits — like attracting new readers, social shares, and comments. But did you know it’s also a critical part of your search engine optimization strategy? Even the best on-page SEO efforts don’t work as well if no one links to your site, so one of your biggest jobs is spreading the word out about your content. Think of it this way: You’ve got to attract incoming links to rank well in search engines, and no one is going to link to you if they don’t know you exist. In this post, we’ll talk about why content promotion... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “Promoting your content has clear short-term benefits — like attracting new readers, social shares, and comments. But did you know it’s also a critical part of your search engine optimization strategy? Even the best on-page SEO efforts don’t work as well if no one links to your site, so one of your biggest jobs is spreading the word out about your content. Think of it this way: You’ve got to attract incoming links to rank well in search engines, and no one is going to link to you if they don’t know you exist. In this post, we’ll talk about why content promotion... [...]

Sean Jackson says, “Of all the pages on your site, there is only one that actually makes you money: your purchase page. But too often this page is ignored; most people just use the default shopping cart that comes with their dCommerce system. If you are serious about selling digital goods online, then you will want to listen to this episode. We deep dive into the specific elements you must have on your purchase page to maximize sales conversions. And we go one step further and discuss the “other” page that is as important as your purchase page. In this 30-minute episode, Jessica Frick... [...]

Jerod Morris says, “What are Jonny’s “4 Ds of Pristine Production?” You’ll find out in this week’s episode of The Showrunner. We begin this episode by discussing the how and the what of podcasting — and more importantly, which one we place a greater emphasis on. (You probably won’t be surprised by our answers.) Then we dive into Jonny’s 4 Ds, which cover: The type of mic you should choose How to hack your room to get better sound Why preparation is king And thoughts on delegation … which is a good thing, just not too soon And then Jerod adds a few Ds of his own”. Professional... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “You know how holiday buffets are … you take a little bit of cheese, and then another kind of cheese, and then four more kinds of cheese, then squeeze six desserts onto the plate, and finally you take a tiny square of Jell-O because it’s basically a vegetable? No? Just me? ANYWAY. This week we have a little buffet assortment for you … without the Jell-O vegetables. On Monday, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick were nice enough to host me on the Members Only podcast, where we talked about the days when I launched my first membership community. We laughed a lot and had... [...]