Blog - Page 6 of 42

Bridget Willard

What Do You Get From a Marketing Consult?
Consultants have gotten a bad wrap in the media for years. I still remember watching the movie Office Space and laughing so hard at the consultants as they re-interviewed current employees for their jobs. This scene is awesome. But I digress.

What Is A Marketing Consult?

A marketing consultation or consult is where you hire a marketing professional for a conversation to gain their insight.

Marketing consults can be either phone or video calls, depending upon the consultant. The goal of a marketing consult or consultation is to unblock you. A good consultant should ask a lot of questions to help clarify your goals and help create a plan to go forward. If your marketing consultation doesn’t feel a little bit like therapy, it’s not the right person for you.

Most of my consulting clients take their own notes and leave with homework. Often they schedule a follow-up call.

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How Does A Marketing Consultant Charge?

Though I charge for the hour, I do not pro-rate the time. Meaning, the advice and insight given during a consultation comes from my considerable and diverse experience. The value is in the advice, even if it’s given in the last five minutes of the call.

Because I genuinely care for my clients, I often send them follow-up tools, materials, or referrals as it comes to mind. There’s no extra charge for kindness, right?

How Much Should Marketing Consultation Cost?

You can pay anywhere from $1.00/min to $16.67/min on Clarity.

The better question is what type of value and growth will happen once you execute the advice? The advice is awesome but you still have to do the work.

How much is investing in your own business worth?

Will your business make $1,000 more a month?

How much is that worth to you?

Do You Need a Marketing Consult?

It depends. Do you want advice? Are you stuck? If you don’t have time to follow up on the advice, maybe it’s not a good time. Like therapy, sometimes the act of talking to a professional brings the clarity you desire.

I’ve advised my clients on a variety of topics including:
- Pricing
- Job Costing
- Time Blocking
- Auditing Website Copy
- Audience Insight
- Blogging Topics
- How to Reach Your Audience
- Email Marketing Strategy
- Social Media Marketing Strategy
- Opposition Research
Reviews of Bridget’s Marketing Consultations

“…we ended our conversion with us both laughing after I said ‘I need more monitors for more chrome tabs…’ It was a great call. If you haven’t talked with her yet, you really should line up a call!” Malcolm Peralty

“Great chatting with [Bridget] today about marketing my plugins! Now I need to get after my homework.” Kathy Darling

“An hour of talking can make an impact! We have booked an hour-long video call with Bridget and it was totally worth it. She was able to quickly define our main problem and fears associate with it. In addition, tips and tactics on where to start and how to move forward were shared during the meeting. Before the meeting, I had small doubts that an hour is even enough to cover the intro part of the problems, but it was very productive.” Raitis Sevelis
March 14, 2020
Auditing Your Blog Posts – Keep, Delete, Revise
As your website grows and you’ve been regularly publishing, there comes a time to audit your blog. What articles should you keep, delete, or revise?

Auditing Your Site Is A Lot of Work

So, when will you audit your site? You could do this every quarter or every year. It really depends upon your industry and how much it changes. If the things you write about change often (interest rates, for example), then you will want to audit posts of that type.

Regardless of how you decide to do it, it should be done. By all means, don’t just willy nilly delete posts that are older than X years. These aren’t tax records you’re throwing out. It’s content. Content is easier to revise than create. So, be mindful.

Of course, Yoast has extensive articles on this subject. You should definitely read their article on how to perform a SEO audit. My approach is less data-centric and more brand-centric. Is it true? Is it mostly true? Or is it total crap?

Keep These Posts

You read the post and you’re still proud of it. It resonates with your brand. The message is spot on. The facts are still true. Maybe this is an article you should post on Facebook and boost for $20. Get that bad boy some more traffic! It deserves attention.

Delete These Posts

When you’re writing about things that evolve, sometimes products and services die. There may be some parts of the article that ring true and could be salvaged, but unlikely. If you read it and feel completely embarrassed. Delete it. I’ve deleted articles about Blab.im and Google Plus. If you even know what those are. They died.

If you have two articles that are similar they could be merged — then you revise them. Honestly, I think that’s more work.

You can 301 these articles or not. It depends on the SEO professional that you listen to and your own business goals. If I didn’t like it, I’m doubtful people are also looking at it. But refer to your own Google Analytics. I’m not going to pretend I’m an SEO professional.

Revise These Posts

Revising posts can be a great way to keep content fresh. Maybe you’re writing about Twitter like I do. Twitter changes things — often. I am constantly having to edit posts for technical details that have changed.

If the article still rings true to you and your brand, then keep it but update it. Maybe add in a video. Find quotes from your peers and their blog posts. Spruce it up. Spend maybe 30 minutes once a week on these.

Questions to Ask Yourself
- Has technical information changed but the premise is solid?
- Does the feature image need to be updated to reflect my current branding?
- Is the meta description there and/or can it be revised to look better?
- Is the headline good?
- Should the URL be changed? If yes, then be sure to put in a 301 redirect.
After the Post is Revised
Blog Audit: Start Somewhere

For me, downloading some sitemap or looking at a giant spreadsheet of all of my articles would be so overwhelming, I would do nothing. My philosophy is that something is better than nothing.

So, I use Revive Old Post on this website to cycle my content on Twitter. When people respond to those tweets, it comes to my attention. I make it a point to look at one of those articles once a week. It’s part of my block of time that I dedicate to my business on Friday afternoons.

Oh yeah, have you downloaded my content planner yet? This might help you organize your writing and social posts!
February 14, 2020
How To Be A Good Podcast Guest
Being a guest on a podcast is an important way to market yourself. As Warren Laine-Naida would say, being a podcast guest is great off-page SEO. You’re finally invited to be a guest. Easy right? Wait. Let’s talk about this a little bit.

To get the best response to the podcast — and to be invited again — it’s important you’re a good guest. So, I bet you’re wondering how you can do it well? Is it easy to be a good podcast guest? You’d think it would be. But it isn’tI

Aside from being on a few podcasts and interviews, I was the co-host of The Smart Marketing Show (WPblab) from 2015-2021. Believe me, you can be a bad guest on a podcast. I’ve also started my own series of interviews called “.”

It’s important for podcast guests to get the tech right, be prepared, show up on time, not deliver a monologue, and actually listen to the podcast.

A Good Podcast Guest Gets the Tech Right

WPwatercooler, for example, has guest guidelines (which you can read here). If the podcast host or producer gives you guidelines, follow them.

Suffice it to say that you should have the following:
- Headphones. Feedback or echoing back will interfere with the conversation.
- A microphone of some sort even if it is in your headphones.
- Light. Some kind of light should be shining on you. Natural light is best. Turn off your celing fan.
- Fast WiFi or a hard connection. (Otherwise, you cut out and sound like an overdubbed Kung Fu movie from the 1970’s. In case you’re wondering, that’s not good.)
- No background noise. This means not doing a podcast in a crowded co-working space, coffee shop, or at a four-year-old’s birthday party.
A Good Podcast Guest is a Prepared Guest

Every host has their own style. Some of them like to ask specific questions and others riff. You may even receive critical questions ahead of time. Read through them the day or week before. Be a prepared guest. Unprepared guests aren’t invited back. And the podcasting world is very small. Hosts talk to each other about guests. So, if you’re not a good guest, you may hurt your reputation.

A Good Podcast Guest Listens to the Podcast

Listen to at least one episode of the podcast you’ll be on. Two may be better. You want to understand how you can fit into their podcast, not the other way around. Being a good guest means serving someone else’s audience. So, it’s not about you. If that bothers you, start your own podcast. And, don’t forget to promote your episode — before — and long after it’s been recorded. Even better; write a recap and include a link to the podcast. As an example, Scott Rogerson of UpContent did this when he was on my show.

A Good Podcast Guest Is Concise

It’s tempting to deliver a monologue but, remember it’s not your show. It’s also not about you. Allow the hosts to ask their questions. Give concise answers — soundbites. It’s good to elaborate but be mindful. Allow the hosts to ask follow-up questions. Try to stay on track. This is even more important if the podcast is edited. Take breaths. You don’t have to say everything that comes to your mind. I promise.

A Good Podcast Shows Up Early

Be on time. And when I say on time, I mean early. We all have bad days. All of us. But schedules are crazy for everyone. Do your best to plan for buffer time. Live podcasts may start at 9:00 AM for example but the pre-show is at 8:45 AM.

Want More Podcasting and Speaking Tips?

I’ve built a playlist on YouTube. This includes tips for podcasts that include video as well as in-person tips.
February 7, 2020