Kim Austin

I've been having a few issues with the service I use to send out emails to the subscribers of the Web Writing Advice blog. I updated some settings, but in doing that, some subscribers didn't get the April email newsletter. Darn it! I contacted tech support and got everything smoothed out this morning. Emails should be good to go for May! Here is the new April post for those who missed it! Enjoy! ***************************************************************** When you’re caught up on your paid writing projects, and waiting for feedback or revision requests from your clients, what do you do? A PTO day can refresh your creativity if you’re feeling mentally exhausted. But, if you’re focused and energetic, schedule a day to work on your number one business client: YOU. I’m always surprised when I hear small business folks talk about fitting their business promotion, marketing and website updates in when they have time. That’s a haphazard approach. You need to regularly dedicate time to work on your business, not in it. Next time you have a free afternoon, day or week, try polishing your business assets. https://lnkd.in/gshTv4Ev #WebWritingAdvice #Freelancing #FreelanceWriter #Downtime

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Most bloggers are getting results. Three out of four report that blogging is working for their brands. See the Orbit Media Studios 11th Annual Blogger Survey to learn about the ways they’re using AI, length of a typical blog post, etc.

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I learned something new today going through the newsletters in my inbox. This one was from Medium. Did you know that 60% of marketers create one piece of content per day? When copywriter Noya Lizor investigated, she found that this stat was originally from a 2012 study, cited in a 2013 blog post, and resurfaced in 2021 without a valid source. The original study now leads to a 404 page. LOL! That’s a zombie stat: a misleading, outdated, or misinterpreted number that keeps circulating. Here’s how to spot one: 1. Outdated Information: If the data is several years old, like Lizor’s example, it's a zombie stat. 2. Lack of Citation: Look for hyperlinked citations. A Forbes post full of uncited marketing stats is a red flag. 3. Fabricated Numbers: Some stats, like the 10,000-step myth, are made up for marketing. Another type is the "telephone zombie stat"—one that loses context as it spreads. Data scientist Elle O'Brien debunked a stat claiming 44% of Americans don’t want kids. The truth? 23% of Americans aged 18–49 who don’t have kids aren’t likely to have them. Sharing a pro-tip out of habit, Always trace the origin of a statistic and check its context to avoid being misled by these numerical half-truths. It's a hard nut to crack, but we ought to do what needs to be done. Keep your stats fresh and your voice active! #zombiestat #thursdaythoughts

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CMSWire Contributor Chad S. White with another insightful piece on email marketing, the bread-and-butter — still — for many orgs. What digital channel has more reach, more targeting power than email? Seriously. As an aside, though, these passages by Chad today forced me to step back and think about generative AI: "Based on the rise in factual inaccuracies I’ve been seeing in recent months, I think generative AI may be making this problem worse. That’s because LLMs are trained on this outdated information and it appears some folks are using generative AI to provide background for their articles.  Rather than share all of the inaccurate and confusing statements I’ve seen lately (and potentially reinforce that bad information in future training for generative AI models), I’ll focus on the truth of how email marketing works." Such a good point. We need more content out there like this. It's astounding to me that one of the most transformative technologies of the past two centuries has an information-gathering model of "I take stuff off the Internet and regurgitate it." I don't have the fix. What data source is better than the Internet? And at least we're consistent. Generative AI is RIGHT in line with how we share information today. Posting headlines that illustrate our points in social media arguments without verifying the information. Sharing Google results that back our contentions without a single care WHO posted the content or the actual original data source. Generative AI does the same. "Hang on, lemme scour the internet, with zero veracity measures, and share what I find in compelling, perfectly-written bullet points. Be back in 2.3 seconds." And we accept it. We post it. And feed that vicious cycle of poor information. If there was ever a time to ensure what we say and post at least starts from a foundation of truth, it's now. We can at least set up future generations for a slightly better information-gathering future — and maybe they'll make a few better decisions. Maybe. https://lnkd.in/eNWz8uFy #cmswirecontributors

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Connectively is dying! To be honest, good riddance. Introducing Connectively lost Jolly SEO tens of thousands of dollars this year, hurt many of our writers individually, and overall added further disruption to our space without backfilling it with a clear leader, i.e. created a vacuum. Just to underscore those assertions, our old #HARO conversion data was 1 win for every ~12 pitches. With Connectively, we shot up to just 1 win for every 50 pitches! Over the course of an entire year and thousands of pitches, we optimized our way back down to 1 in every ~30. Still, Connectively was the worst converting platform for us... and, it charged you money to use it. Lose-lose. While we can pause for a moment to mourn this final chapter of HARO's death... I wrote an article for Backlinko that shares with you some superior alternatives: Peter Shankman's Source of Sources, Help a B2B Writer, and even Cision's own Profnet. These all convert far superior, and are decent quality as well. Check out the article for data, use cases, and tips: https://lnkd.in/dYj4hCJ6

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Does your job include curating content for social media channels? If the answer is yes, you'll want to take a few minutes to read over this Hootsuite post. In it, the author explains what content curation tools are and why they make life easier. While it does promote itself (Hootsuite), it's honest about the other tools that are out there for consideration. What do you think? Have you tried any of the others listed? Here's their top five.

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Ditch the me-centric messaging! In B2B content marketing, communicating an understanding of the challenges your target audience faces is key. Hear why from content-marketing expert, Wendy Jacobson. I'll be publishing the entire interview with Wendy later this week. #b2b #b2bmarketing #contentmarketing #buyersjourney

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Some visitors to your website or social media may not be ready to buy just yet, but that doesn't mean you should just let them leave. Offering them a lead magnet entices them to sign up for your email list where you can continue to contact them. This allows you to build know, like, and trust with them, making them more likely to buy when they are ready. Now you don't want to just say, "Hey, sign up for my newsletter!" to get them on your email list, you want to use a quality lead magnet. #growmybusiness #localbusiness #marketing

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Everyone is being asked to “do more with less.” While the lack of resources may be frustrating, it’s also an opportunity to simplify your content program. Content budgets are smaller today because they were bloated previously. And most of that money didn’t produce better content or more customers. Overproduction of content (which is just one type of waste) creates all kinds of issues: The chance to do less is actually a blessing (with the caveat that “less” often means layoffs, which is very tough on the individuals affected). Instead of maintaining a wide-ranging content strategy, I recommend that most teams be thinking about how to get the best information to readers as quickly as possible. Read on: https://lnkd.in/gD6PJsXt #contentmarketing #marketingstrategy #contentbugeting

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Great blog from Sterling Sky on Citations! 🌟 💡 How many citations does a small business really need? 👉 "While citations may impact organic results, they might not influence local rankings as much as we once thought." ✅ Clean, consistent citations are key, especially across major platforms, but don’t get lost in the weeds expecting a massive SEO boost! Check out Whitespark Inc. for an excellent citation solution!🌟 https://lnkd.in/eycJGSCM #Citations #SEO #MapPack #Google #Smallbusiness

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If you’re a changemaker or visionary brand, I’ve got good news and bad news. Bad news first 📛 Your marketing content has to lift a lot heavier than the average personal brand. It requires more time and energy, and your sales pages will need to be longer. Your content must work harder, not because your audience is unaware, but due to: ✔️ Inertia: Many recognize issues but feel powerless to act. ✔️ Overwhelm: The scale of problems can paralyze potential changemakers. ✔️ Comfort zones: Some prefer to stay in their bubble. ✔️ Lack of motivation: Not everyone sees themselves as fighters for change. The good news 🫂 There is a strategy you can use to connect with your audience and exact change Focus your content on: ✔️ Empowerment: Show how individuals can make a difference. ✔️ Bite-sized action: Break down big problems into manageable steps. ✔️ Inspiration: Share success stories to motivate action. ✔️ Community building: Create a sense of belonging for changemakers. Your content should inform, inspire, and provide clear pathways to action such as a framework. While this approach requires more effort, it’s essential for building a movement around your cause. Even better news 🙌🏾 This is where writing a book becomes invaluable. It’s a powerful way for changemakers to amplify their message, share their vision, and connect with a broader audience. By documenting your journey, you can inspire others to make meaningful change. If you feel called to share your story and inspire change, this is your sign. 🤘🏾 Submit your manuscript (or at least 3 chapters) for consideration. If selected, you'll be invited to a discovery call where we'll provide a complimentary review of your work and discuss the publishing process. Submit Now – Only 3 spots left for 2024! https://lnkd.in/equhjEpQ

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While I don't consider myself an SEO expert by any means, I do think it's incredibly important for content strategists to follow trends in the search space and understand how people are discovering our clients' content. So I followed with great interest the creators event held at Google last week. It's obviously a complicated and frustrating situation for all, but was struck by one sentiment expressed by multiple attendees: has Google lost control of their AI? Do they fully understand why certain things are surfaced and others suppressed? It sounds like none of the creators invited to this left satisfied with the answers. This is having a devastating effect on smaller publishers who live and die on traffic, magnified as more and more content is pulled through into AI summaries on the Google search results page. But we're whistling past the graveyard if we think these trends aren't going to affect bigger brands at some point. Especially as AI search engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT's recently launched product become more prominent, anyone in the content space needs to understand how these tools are finding our clients' content and what they're pulling into results. I'm not sure anyone really fully grasps how much AI search is going to change the Web. And if the companies running these tools don't really understand their own algorithms -- look out. #SEO #content #Google

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This week on the All About Digital Marketing Blog Substack (a little later than planned), guest blogger and Founder of Search Engine Corner, Ankit Iyer details a case where he has used Forum websites (Reddit, Inc. and Quora) to reach customers for a client, FuseBox One and boost his web presence! I'll be honest, this blog has me quite excited because I can see a new avenue for my own marketing and I hope that it will be an equally useful read for you! https://lnkd.in/e_VxsspT

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Action Items for the Growth Marketer: Bookmark this article. Develop strong business cases for SEO initiatives and align them with your company’s business model. Foster internal relationships and continuously advocate for SEO to ensure necessary resources and support.

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When it comes to B2B marketing, website metrics are a core measure of success. A company’s website is often the headquarters of its brand and business interactions. https://lnkd.in/gYUcmbBK

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I would add mining PAA to this segment. Don't go overboard there... It's great data, but you don't need to act on every single one. From John Mueller: "I do want to caution. that it's easy to go overboard with tools like these, You don't have to create pages to cover every possible related search terms. It's important that the content which you publish, actually adds value to the web overall and that it doesn't just repeat what others have said. Be selective, focus on your own expertise, focus on your users that are likely to be relevant for your business." #google #seo

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