Powerful Calls to Action: How to Get Your Reader to Take the Next Step

By Pamela Wilson

effective-calls-to-action

A note: My first book will be out soon! Here’s an excerpt from one of the chapters.

What was the first thing you ever had to sell? For me, it was Girl Scout cookies.

I was ten years old, dressed in my distinctly unfashionable Girl Scout vest, skirt, and knee socks, walking along the side of the road listening to the gravel crunch under my sneakers. The sun beat down on our neighborhood, and I could smell the melting tar on the road.

I was in a state of abject terror, my sweaty hands clutching a wrinkled order form.

I didn’t even know the …read more      

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The Psychology of Search Engine Optimization: 10 Things You Need to Know

By Neil Patel

mind

Think you know SEO? It’s all about keywords, content, and optimization, right?

Not quite.

Despite what you may think you know, search engine optimization has far less to do with content, coding, or site architecture than with psychology.

The reason why people search for things in the first place is what matters. That’s especially true when it comes to effective SEO.

I know, I know. You’ve been told time and time again to use specific keyword densities and to otherwise tweak the way in which words are arranged on the screen.

What does psychology have to do with any of it?

As today’s most …read more      

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Email, Belonging, and the Compelling ‘New’ Element of Persuasion

By Sonia Simone

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(Tap tap … Is this thing on?)

Oh, hi! Welcome to the new Copyblogger Weekly … also known (to me) as our Firehose Management Protocol.

The Weekly came from a message we heard from our subscribers:

I love you guys but … holy guacamole that’s a lot of emails.

And, as a person with Way Too Many Emails in my own overstuffed inbox, I feel your pain.

On Thursdays, we’ll be publishing this roundup of the week’s Copyblogger and Rainmaker FM content for you. You can use it to zero in on the content you most want to read or hear, so you don’t miss …read more      

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How to Become an Innovative Growth Hacker in One Month

By Neil Patel

growth hacking

So, you’ve got an amazing idea for a new business. If you build it and market it the traditional way, they will come, right?

Not anymore.

It doesn’t matter what your niche is. There are bigger competitors in it, and traditional marketing has gotten them far. As for your business coming in and taking over? Good luck with that.

I tried that once. I created a product with my co-founder, Hiten Shah. It was pretty amazing.

But then we realized something disturbing.

We were competing against Google.

Ha-ha.

Google? You don’t compete with Google. Instead, you get squashed, obliterated, bought out, or ignored.

We had to do something …read more      

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How to Build a Business that Sets You Free, with Sol Orwell

By Brian Clark

un-sol-orwell-3

Startup, raise money, cash out, repeat. That’s the narrative that Silicon Valley feeds you.

Problem is, that approach is not only statistically rare, it’s rarely successful. Most venture-backed companies fail, plain and simple.

On the other hand, we have the narrative of the typical small business owner. Long hours for long years in order to create a meaningful business and an enduring legacy.

But what if you took a different approach? What if you started a business that supported you while you walk away to enjoy life?

And when the urge strikes you to start the next thing, you do it — simply …read more      

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