Online Content: The Power of Emotion

I ran across a thought-provoking article on Bloomberg Businessweek today, addressing how effective brands harness the power of emotion. Steve McKee (@SteveMcKee) states, “A feature can always be matched. A claim can always be mimicked. But an emotional sweet spot is something your brand can occupy all by itself.” McKee’s words remind us to step…

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Writing a Blog Post That Generates Sales Leads

Generating sales leads from your blog while remaining authentic is not only possible, it’s mandatory! But, during the editorial planning and brainstorming process, it’s easy to overlook the most effective sales-generating blog post ideas. Am I saying you should rehire Your Inner Sales Guy? Heck no! I’m encouraging you to add genuine, straight-up value that…

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The Simpler Side of Social Media ROI

Today I was talking to a client by phone and was telling her a story about how I have a speaking event and webinar guest appearance coming up—both thanks to a colleague I’ve known for a year or so. She asked, “How did you two meet?” Then it hit me… We never have! It was…

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The Most Essential Part of Your Blog’s Design

YOU! Hmmm… I could actually just end this post right there. 🙂 It really IS that simple. As a Thought Leader, your impact doesn’t end with the content. You also need to dominate your blog’s design. That means incorporating an image of YOU in your blog’s masthead, header or another prominent, site-wide area. Feeling shy…

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How to Handle a Cyberjerk

“Some arrogant !#*&@$ sabotaged my LinkedIn Discussion.” “This rude guy commenting on my blog post just won’t let it go!” “Why am I so irritated with this Twitter twit? I don’t even know her!” The topic of cyberjerks has come up a half-dozen times with clients in the past few months. I get calls, emails…

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Ten “Keeper” Quotes from NSA 2010

Last week, I was privileged to attend the 2010 National Speakers Association (NSA) Convention. Although I was honored to share my knowledge at a “Meet the Pros” table, my favorite part of the convention was soaking in everyone else’s wisdom and experience. With over 1,200 Thought Leaders in one room, the air had an electricity…

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5 Steps to Finding News Feeds and Blogs Worth Following

After writing 5 Steps to Organizing the Blogs You Follow, I received many questions on how to go about finding relevant, high-quality blogs. Thank you for your questions and feedback! Influential Thought Leaders tend to embrace others’ ideas and soak up information like sponges. They can’t get enough of peoples’ knowledge and live to build…

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5 Steps to Organizing the Blogs You Follow

One of the best ways to stay on top of what’s shaking in your industry and “sharpen the saw” each week is to read content-rich blogs! Just as reading books helps make us better writers, reading blogs helps make us better thinkers and bigger networkers! Yet, I still hear over and over again, “Yea…I’ve been…

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Embrace and Nurture Your Followers

Once again, TED blows us away with their simplified dissection of leadership and how to “make a movement.” Key messages: You’re not a leader until you have your first follower. As a true leader, you must embrace your followers as equals! How does this translate to your online presence? Respond to comments on your blog…

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7 Ways to Show Tweeters Some Love at Your Next Event

As savvy presenters know, it pays to double-check all critical “production” elements before each speech. Your mic, projector, platform—it all paves the way for how well your audience perceives and absorbs your presentation. So, what about making it easy for your audience to SHARE your content? Yes, today, it’s not uncommon to see audience members…

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Content is King Offline, Too.

Emmy award-winner, Bill Stainton, captured the attention of NSA Central Florida this week as he presented, “What I learned from 29 Emmys that Speakers Need to Know.” Bill’s insight and expertise left me with pages of fantastic takeaways. He challenged us to focus on our presentation through three lenses: The Producer Lens, The Writer Lens…

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