In today's web, content truly is king and without your own original material, it's very difficult to make your site stand out from the rest. Creating content seems simple but there actually quite a few common challenges you might face when trying to come up with your own. Below are some tips to help guide you along the way to creating original content that sticks and makes people want to come back. 

1. Writers don’t understand their audience
When a writer doesn't know their audience well, the writing always suffers. Knowing an audience's likes and behaviors can help craft writing into a piece that resonates with them better. 

2. They Lack in-depth knowledge about the business
Just because someone is a great writer doesn't make them qualified to write the best content for a business. Without a comprehensive understanding of the business, the writing can be hollow and be a waste of time for readers who may not come back to read more after considering it of little value. 

3. Create content that is full of fluff
Content that is full of fluff is one of the worst kinds there is next to clickbait. Readers want to be feel respected so when they spend there time reading nonsense, it's almost certain they will not want to come back for more. Make sure an editor that understands the business looks at a piece before it is published to ensure that it's of some value for readers. 

4. Overselling and telling the same story
Overselling is something that happens a lot when it comes to the content that business produce. Save the overselling for other industry sites. You don't want your content to sound like propaganda and something out of an infomercial. 

5. Don’t provide enough facts
If you don't provide enough facts in your content, it won't seem believable. People are comforted by statistics and studies so make you try to incorporate it as much as you can when it's relevant. 

6. Don’t quote sources or provide references
Similar to #5, without sources to cite, the information provided may not be trusted by readers. Most people probably will not check the source material, but they do recognize when it's been listed. Doing so makes a piece seem more authoritative and less like "sales-speak"

7. Provide uninteresting headlines
Just like newspapers, a good headline is everything. A good headline should be able to capture attention immediately and spark interest. Sometimes headlines are too long or provide too much information due to SEO efforts but if you are going to be posting content on social media, its better to have a evocative headline than marketing phrases. 

8. Inconsistent schedule and blog post
For a blog to be successful, the single most important thing you need to do is ensure that it is consistently updated. Try planning posts in 2 week intervals to keep things on a schedule and topical. The best blogs are updated daily but for businesses that may be a bit much. Instead try 2 posts a week. 

9. Don’t have enough guidance from management
Sometimes top management are not heavily involved on the content side of the business. Without a company's management team treating a blog or social media channels as a serious endeavor, the content can flail. Be sure to always have someone responsible for content that interfaces with upper management. It adds a layer of accountability to it. 

If you need help creating content, please don't hesitate to contact us today and visit our blog daily. 

​To ensure success, businesses need good lead generation. It is important to have good lead generation because the better your lead generation, the better your chances of attracting new customers. Here are 9 Ways To Improve Lead Generation for your business.

1. Word of mouth. Word of mouth might be one of the most honest ways to generate leads. If someone is genuinely interested in your product, they will be happy to pass on the information to others they think might be interested. Don't be afraid to ask your customers to promote you.
2. Educational workshops. Your product is something that customers will benefit from. An easy way to get more lead generation is to offer a tiny part of your product for free. Hold an educational workshop (in person or online) to hook your customers into your list and offer them more. People are much more likely to purchase from you, if they already know the value you provide.
3. Develop strategic partnerships. Maybe you don't have a lot of followers yet, but I can guarantee that there is someone or something that does have a lot of followers that would be helpful for you. If you're selling something to do with writing, team up with a company that sells writing supplies. If that person or company has more leads, they can pass them on to you. It's a win-win.
4. Community networking. Network within your community. If you are working by yourself, reach out to others working within your niche online. If there isn't anyone else working in your niche, find a companion niche or just a partner that can help you. Everyone needs to have better lead generation, so if you can find someone in your community to team up with, you will have a better chance of generating more leads.
5. Leverage social channels. Don't underestimate Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Each of these social channels can be used to generate more leads. And these can be used over and over again and used in other areas as well.
6. Optimize your website. Make sure that you are using SEO on your website and that you are keeping your information up to date. No one wants to read about outdated information to join your list, they want to read about current trends and what is happening. That being said, be careful not to chase trends. You only want to use the things that are most important and compatible with your business.
7. Blog on a regular basis. If you are blogging on a regular basis, your blog will be visited more often and it will be ranked higher than blogs that are inactive. People don't mind reading old information, but they would rather read new information from people that they have grown to trust. If your blog posts are attracting new customers, it will be easier to use another method to add them to your email list or customer database.
8. Generate how to videos and contents. Much like educational workshops, how to videos and content will hook people in and want them to see more from you. 
9. Free reports or information. Free reports do not have to be extensive. You could have a simple free recipe to sign up for your email list about cooking. Or you could have a free checklist to sign up for your email list about productivity. Either way, people love free things and this is an easy way to incentivize people to sign up for your list.

​You can contact NextStep Marketing, LLC for more information about improving your lead generation.

What is a squeeze page?
In Internet and online advertising vernacular, a squeeze page is a Web page that contains information that would interest the marketer's targeted readers. Squeeze pages are designed to obtain a reader's name and e-mail address information by encouraging users to opt-in to an e-mail list to receive more information about the topic. Marketers will collect the permission-based e-mail and information to follow up at a later date. (Vangie Beal) Squeeze pages are also referred to as landing pages.
 
What is the purpose of a squeeze page?
The purpose of a squeeze page is to gather email addresses from potential customers. Email address are an important lead generation tool for businesses. By opting-in, customers have given you permission to send key marketing messages and information to them.  The larger your list, the more opportunity you have to educate your clients on your products, services, etc.
 
Squeeze pages can drive traffic to your website. The goal is to have good educational content about your products and an enticing offer or promotion prompting customers to buy. Incentives, often referred to as "calls to action"' should include something of value to your audience and is important to your message. Incentives should be unique to you and your message and should align with your website content and offering. Here are some examples of squeeze page incentives.

1. Free Offer
2. Buy One – Get One Free
3. 30 Day Guarantee
4. Discount Offer
5. Free Trial

To learn more about marketing and squeeze pages, contact NextStep Marketing, LLC.
 
By Vangie Beal, Define “Squeeze Page” http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/squeeze_page.html

NextStep Marketing is part of the Duct  Marketing Conlutant Newtwork. 

CHICAGO, IL AND KANSAS CITY, MO (PRWEB) AUGUST 26, 2016

UpCity, the leading local inbound marketing software provider, and the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network, a global network of independent marketing consultants, today announced a technology partnership and integration.

The partnership will build on UpCity’s expertise in providing local inbound marketing software to simplify SEO, local and social marketing and combine it with Duct Tape Marketing’s proven system for marketing consultants and their small to mid-sized clients.

As part of the announcement, UpCity will be supporting the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network through their comprehensive software. Consultants using the UpCity platform will be able to utilize a Duct Tape-specific project plan and robust reporting via a white-labeled application to efficiently deliver results to their customers. 
“It is imperative to have a solid process when executing on an inbound marketing strategy for a local business,” said Phil Singleton, CEO of Kansas City Web Design and a Duct Tape Marketing Certified Consultant. “With UpCity’s platform I have become more efficient by managing my team through a custom process and reporting on our activities to our clients all in one place.”

To support small to mid-sized businesses looking for help, UpCity is providing Duct Tape Marketing software support for the Duct Tape Marketing System. The Duct Tape Marketing System is an innovation in online marketing and training, providing an in-depth curriculum that includes SEO, Social Media and more. It is designed for small business owners currently managing their own online marketing who want an integrated marketing system and strategic consulting.

“UpCity’s powerful local inbound marketing platform has become an integral part of Duct Tape Marketing’s offerings,” said John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing. “Creating effective and affordable marketing systems for our consultants and small businesses is no easy task. UpCity has made that process much simpler.”
“We are very proud to partner with a high-caliber organization like the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network,” said Dan Olson, CEO at UpCity. “John Jantsch and his team work tirelessly to bring the best marketing solutions to consultants and small businesses. Providing our software to their network further validates the vast need for software to help scale local marketing programs.”
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Also as part of the announcement, UpCity will also be featuring Duct Tape Marketing consultants on UpCity’s Top Local Agency marketplace. The Top Local Agency marketplace is a resource for small business to find the best digital marketing service providers, including web designers and SEOs, in more than 60 cities across the United States and Canada. Verified Duct Tape consultants are now featured and can be contacted directly by small businesses looking for help with their local marketing needs. 

About UpCity
UpCity provides a comprehensive local inbound marketing platform to help digital marketing agencies scale SEO, local and social marketing services. The UpCity platform serves as a single operating system that includes robust project management, sales tools, reporting, and can be fully white labeled to streamline client engagements from onboarding to ongoing engagement. UpCity, a venture capital-backed business based in Chicago, was founded in 2009. Learn more at http://www.upcity.com. 

About the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network™
The Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network is a growing network of independent marketing consultants who use the Duct Tape Marketing System and set of “done for you” marketing packages to help grow the revenue and profits of small and mid-sized businesses around the world. The Network was founded by John Jantsch, author of the Duct Tape Marketing book. Learn more at https://ducttapemarketingconsultant.com/

As you may know, NextStep Marketing has been providing high quality digital marketing services to clients just like you in Charlotte since 2007. However, today we’re excited to celebrate our designation as a Top Local Agency in Charlotte, NC by UpCity!

What Does This Mean?
UpCity’s Top Local Agency marketplace is a resource designed to connect small and medium sized local businesses with high-quality digital marketing service providers in their local area, allowing business owners to get the services they need quickly, from a service provider they can trust. The UpCity team independently reviews agencies across North America to determine the best service providers in each local market, ensuring that no matter where you are, great digital marketing services are never more than a click away.

Check Us Out!
To check out our profile and discover the UpCity Top Local Agency platform for yourself, follow this link: http://upcity.com/local-marketing-agencies/profiles/next-step-marketing#contact.

About UpCity
UpCity provides a comprehensive local inbound marketing platform to help digital marketing agencies scale SEO, local and social marketing services. The UpCity platform serves as a single operating system that includes robust project management, sales tools, reporting, and can be fully white labeled to streamline client engagements from onboarding to ongoing engagement. UpCity, a venture capital-backed business based in Chicago, was founded in 2009. Learn more at http://www.upcity.com/.

About NextStep Marketing
We focus on educating clients on how to increase market exposure and improve sales performance. At NextStep, we believe in strategy first and work collaboratively with client leadership to define, monitor and implement inbound sales and marketing tactics that drive success.
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In fact, we believe so strongly in developing strategy first that we trademarked the term StrategyB4Tactics®. Through understanding and identifying organizational goals and objectives, NextStep helps clients create inbound marketing strategies, processes, and tactics to improve brand awarness, get new customers, grow sales, and provide greater market penetration.

Thanks for being the most important part of our continued success: our awesome clients!

Outbound marketing: Is it right for your business? When non-marketers think of marketing, most of what they are imagining is outbound marketing: Reaching out to potential clients in an attempt to convince them to buy a product or service. Print and radio advertising, trade shows, telemarketing, and cold calling are all examples of outbound marketing.

This style of marketing is so ubiquitous that many marketers never even consider alternatives. But to ensure that your marketing plan is customized to your business, it's imperative that you examine all the options and choose marketing techniques that best suit your unique needs.

While this kind of marketing is traditional, and therefore comfortable for many customers and marketers alike, outbound marketing attempts can also be seen as interruptive, so much so that methods of avoiding this style of marketing have become standard in today's society: Ad blocking software and TiVo, for example. Because of this, outbound marketing has become less and less effective over the last few years.

What is the alternative?
But outbound marketing is not the only option. On the other side of the coin is inbound marketing, a style of marketing that uses methods like search engine optimization, blogging, and social media to intercept people who are already looking for what your business offers.

Take, for example, a company that sells equipment to hospitals. That company could use outbound marketing to cold call all the hospitals in their area, or send an email blast to a purchased mailing list of hospitals, and hope that one of those hospitals needs to purchase new equipment. They might obtain a new client or two from this method. However, much of their efforts would be wasted on hospitals whose equipment is not yet in need of replacement. 

Imagine instead that this company channeled their efforts into optimizing their online presence through SEO and blogging to make them a hub for hospital equipment information and sales. Then, when a hospital has already decided to replace their equipment, they can search for a source and find that company. As opposed to the "cold" audience of an outbound marketing attempt, the audience for inbound marketing is already "warm." By the time that hospital is on the seller's website, they're already prepared to make a purchase.

Do you have to choose?
Luckily, businesses can dabble in both kinds of marketing to find a balance that's right for them. Unfortunately, many businesses are so stuck on outbound marketing that they haven't had a chance to realize how lucrative inbound marketing can be. Finding the perfect mix can be challenging, but ultimately will spell success for your business.

But you don't have to calculate that perfect mix alone. Contact us to discuss how NextStep Marketing can help create a strategic plan that will help your business stand out above the competition.

                                                  Outbound Marketing Charlotte | Inbound Marketing Charlotte 

​You've probably heard it's important to list your business with local business directories, but are you wondering why? There are 5 Reasons Why Local Business Directories Are So Important To Local SEO including the fact that your business:

1. Gains greater visibility since many people access the Internet daily in search of businesses in their neighborhood. By listing your business in various directories, you broaden the number and types of audiences who see it.
2. Becomes more accessible so people know right where to find you at the moment they need you.
3. Undergoes brand development, which is vital for every business regardless of their size. With all the competition it's important to stand out from your competition. When you're listed in the directories people can also leave you reviews so you can better your brand.
4. Provides those in your neighborhood with in-depth information about your business and what it does. Local publicity isn't only great for promotion, but also for increasing your customer base.
5. Has made a cost-effective investment in your business enabling you to improve its search engine listing, while also offering you authentic customer reviews, and enabling you to reach out to a larger audience. All these things cost much less when working with directories than with other types of publicity you may attempt.

Now that you know why your business needs listed with local business directories, isn't it time you start having yours listed? Since you should answer "yes," we invite you to contact us so we can help you get started right away.

LinkedIn is an excellent source for new prospects. Whether you're new to the professional social media site or you haven't yet used it to connect with potential customers, here are five strategies that can help you market your products or services using LinkedIn.

1. Keep First-Degree Relationships Warm
Having regular contact with your connections, whether it's a shared article or a request for their expertise, gives you an opening to ask for introductions to their connections. These second-degree connections are a fertile landscape for potential prospects, and you already have a foot in the door.

2. Join LinkedIn Groups
It's not enough to just join the industry-relevant groups, though; you should also add value if you want to find prospects. Consider hosting a webinar about your product or service and inviting those in your groups, turning fellow members into personal connections.

3. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
The bare minimum won't cut it when prospecting on LinkedIn. Instead, make sure to fill out every section with compelling content, from samples of your work to references from colleagues and friends.

4. Take Advantage of Targeting
LinkedIn makes it easy to find the specific market segment you're looking for with their search function. For example, if you typically work with small firms, you can narrow your potential prospects to anyone in a specific region or industry who works in a company with fewer than 100 employees.  You can also use the alumni search function, which will give you an opening among others who attended your alma mater.

5. Browse with Purpose
When you're looking at a profile of a potential prospect, check out the "People Also Viewed" section at the right. This will naturally lead you to others with similar experience, opening another portal for sales leads.

Learn more about social media marketing from NextStep Marketing, LLC. 

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Carolina Social Media Marketing 
Carolina LinkedIn Marketing 

The rise of social media completely transformed the way in which companies build their advertising campaigns. Companies must now adjust their ad dollars toward social media. The old adage in advertising and marketing is advertising budgets follow eyeballs, and everyone’s eyeballs are on social media. The evolution of social media and how companies market their brand and profit from it is more than just a passing fancy, it is a full on paradigm shift.

Here are a few statistics that support the evolution of social media marketing and how prominent its role is in the bottom line of companies that use aggressive digital campaigns:

• E-Marketer and The Wall Street Journal project that companies will spend $35.98 billion dollars worldwide on social media marketing by 2017.
• Marketing analysts expect Facebook alone to generate $15.5 billion dollars in ad revenue.  
• According to E-Marketer, companies in the U.S. and Canada expect to spend nearly $10 billion by the end of 2016.

A perfect example of the dominant role social media marketing plays in today’s advertising is The Economist. The company’s social media channels helped the brand increase its profits by 13 percent year-over-year in 2015. The social channels also played a pivotal role in helping the company increase the amount of subscribers to its premium package. The company’s digital subscribers topped 300,000 in 2015 due in large part to its social media marketing campaign.

Let NextStep take your brand to new plateaus by allowing us to build a social media marketing campaign that will increase sales and convert traffic into customers. Contact us and watch your bottom line grow with an aggressive, proven campaign that works in today’s digital era.

          NextStep Marketing | Carolina Digita Marketing Agency | Charlotte Social Media Agency

​Facebook is big, really big, so there are more than a few things going on there we probably don't think about too often. Here are 6 facts about Facebook you may not know.

1. Facebook = target. According to a story in United Kingdom newspaper The Telegraph, Facebook is assaulted by hackers about 600,000 times a day.
2. Yo Ho, Yo Ho. "Pirate" is a language setting you can choose. A WikiHow article offers complete instructions on how to make this happen.
3. "Ain't nobody got time for that." Users spend, on average, 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Bloomberg reported in a July 2014 article that some users spend more time on Facebook than on their pets.
4. "Say hello to my little friend!" Pacino is regarded as the first "Face" on Facebook according to a 2010 article by Carolyn Stanley on Flavorwire.
5. Are you smart? If you have a smartphone it is likely you check Facebook 14 times a day on the clever little device. The U.K. Daily mail reports users spend a half hour on the app, many while working out at the gym.
6. Careful, they might kill you. In February of 2012, Gizmodo reported that two people were murdered for unfriending a man's adult daughter in Tenessee.

Whether you are a Facebook fanatic or you don't bother with the site much at all, chances are good it has made a difference in your life one way or another. From getting dumped or divorced to falling in love with a new television show, Facebook has changed the way a large number of people view the world we live in. Learn more about how the world can see you at Next Step Marketing LLC.