Do you want to make sure that your readers or viewers of your video always get value from the content you produce? Creating content using the inverted or upside-down pyramid is one top secrets for creating content that sticks and gets read or watched.

The first thing you have to wrestle with is that people today have two things that you are fighting with. First people are pressed for time. Next people tend to be multi-tasking even more these days. It’s common today that visitors online do not read content, they scan it. They pick up bits and pieces.

Very few percentage of users online read stuff. In fact most scan. Even some open a webpage, go do something else, keep this tab open to come back later in the day.

When creating content think of an inverted (upside-down) pyramid. This structure enables readers to stop reading at any point and still come away with the essence of a story. It allows people to explore a topic to only the depth that their curiosity takes them, and without the imposition of details or nuances that they could consider irrelevant, but still making that information available to more interested readers.

Structure of Content

At the top you should have the most important and relevant information. This is the stuff that your reader or watcher has to absolutely know.

In the news business this is called the lead. Typically in the lead you want to discuss the five Ws. Who, what, when, where, and why and also often how.

Next the middle is additional information that is helpful but is not all that critical. This is the meat of what you have to say, it’s your supporting points. Look at this as the added value.

Finally, the bottom of your inverted pyramid should contain the stuff that would be nice if they knew it. By the time someone gets here they are beyond hooked and want to soak up any additional piece of insight or content you have on the subject.

If you start out slow you will never get them and that valuable point or information that you would like to present will never get digested. This is the reality of the world in which we live and it’s not going to change anytime soon, with each generation being more connected than the last.

How to Put This into Practice

After you create content or communication always ask yourself this one question:

What is the most important piece of information or thing that someone needs to know?

You can do this by creating a summary in the beginning or as I did in this post a bulleted list. Over the last year you probably have seen more and more online news organizations adopt this style.

What is the least amount of words or copy that you can create so readers can leave the story at any point and understand it, even if they don’t have all the details?

It sounds counter-intuitive but this will allow your content to be consumed and appreciated by more and more people.

http://www.clickonf5.org/google-buzz-button-wordpress

Works great, I have it installed on 4 blogs and haven’t had any problems.

How to Build Authority for your Domain

Having an authoritative website helps you create more leads, prospects, and sales. Not only will this help you when someone searches for your website but it allows you to create a launching pad for other marketing efforts. There are some things to keep in mind when creating authority around what you do. Today we talk a little about this and cover things such as…

• Why Creating content means more than search engine optimization.  A high level of quality in your content is needed in order to establish a high level of authority.
• Why the adult learning theory is important in the content you create and is one of the biggest factors in creating leads and prospects
• How thinking about a inverted pyramid is important when creating content
• Some quick tips on using the big four (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube). Consistent success with social media can lead to a lot of traffic, links, exposure, and authority.
• When to worry about Search engine optimization
• Why commenting on other blogs builds authority

Remember authority is built over time and with trust.

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Create for the 10% and the other 90 will tolerate it...

I wanted to share some great insight I learned while listening to Russ Roberts on the EconTalk podcast interview his long time friend Gary Belsky, Editor-in-Chief at ESPN The Magazine. Towards the end of the interview Gary mentions:

I tell staff be more of who you are and what you’d want to see as a sports fan. It’s my job to make this judgment–will at least 10% of our readers like it and will the other 90% not be offended? (Gary Belsky, 2010)

I think that is an important clarification. The philosophy there is are you creating content that will deeply moves 10% of your audience while the other 90% tolerate it? ESPN the Magazine does this well by in its bi-monthly magazine. One issue you may find a feature story on boxing, football then next, and outlier stories such as the cover and story This is Africa on the rise of African soccer. With 40-50 million soccer fans in the U.S. and 2 million subscribers this fits the model perfectly.

Variable-Interval Reinforcement

The magazine also does something else to me adds power to the 10% argument. Dr. Tom Stafford, co-author of the book Mind Hacks, believes that slot machines and email (I relate this to content) follow something called ‘variable-interval reinforcement schedule’. He says “which has been established as the way to train in the strongest habits. This means that rather than reward an action every time it is performed, you reward it sometimes, but not in a predictable way. So with email, usually when I check it there is nothing interesting, but every so often there’s something wonderful – an invite out, or maybe some juicy gossip – and I get a reward.” (Stafford, 2006).

The magazine does this well. You are rewarded every so often with your passion or the features on your sport which you share a great affinity towards. At the core though all subscribers of the magazine are typically sports fans.

Social Media and the Web

Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and even one of the most visited website on the net the DrudgeReport.com contain this element. In past bouts of unproductive behavior I’ve found myself visiting the DrugeReport.com many times a day. This to me is a secret pill– if you rcontent or what you do doesn’t have an element of this ‘variable ratio’ feature, then I suggest you actively build one.

I’d also wonder if you are you creating content that will deeply move 10% of your audiences and the other 90% will tolerate? More importantly is that other 90% waiting for when they will be part of the 10%?

I’m going to go real basic here… it starts with a strong foundation.

It starts with a centralized website that is designed and developed to convert.

I’m guessing you have heard this before and this is nothing new…

Then why do so many people and businesses fail to do this one step?

I see this about 70% of the time when I speak to a business owner or an individual about online marketing.

These days most people or small businesses have a website.

But having a website and having a website that converts are two different things.

If you talk to someone who is running a radio campaign you will typically get a long discussion of how the radio ad was developed. Designed with a clear call to action and had all the things necessary to justify the spending. This ad had been dialed in to convert.

But when I talk to someone about their website typically I find that people look at their website as a billboard.

Even if they have a blog or the website is based around a blog. It’s still the billboard approach just one of those new video LED billboards that are popping up all over.

I Could Go Into Why This Happens– But Don’t You Want the Answer?

See a website is more than just a form of advertising. Look at it as a interactive media connection to your target market.

If you have a strong foundation, a strong website that converts, then all your efforts marketing online pay off at least twice as much.

Also, keep in mind, this interactive media piece of your marketing is an evolving item. It changes as you engage, learn and interact.

We just recently changed our call to action.

Why?

A couple of reasons.

First, I didn’t like the old one all that much. The special report was great but it really didn’t give what I really feel we can deliver. The opt-in percentages were good but I know we can do much better.

Second, in working with  people marketing themselves and small businesses I’ve noticed a trend.

Most people know marketing online is a big piece of what they should be doing. They might not know how to get there but they feel it is where all the action is.

What I feel people really want are qualified leads. Plus the tips and strategies it takes to connect with their target market.

Also, generally I’ve found that people understand they should be doing it they just want it explained in a very step by step manner.

The most common questions that I realized people where asking were:

• What technology should I be using?
• What social networks should I be a part of?
• How do I find people who want to do business with me or buy my product or service?
• What short cuts can I use so this doesn’t take up all my day?

That’s just a few but that’s what we are going to start deliver.

What to do with this information?

Here are key things to ask yourself when developing a new or changing your existing website:

• Design the website that gets to the core of your target market.
• Design a website that has the ability to easily change design and calls to action.

Ask your self…

• Every day I want my website to produce…?
• When someone goes to my website they are there because…?
• What does my target market need to see, hear, and feel visiting my website?
• These 3 things will tell me that my website is delivering an ROI for me…1-, 2-, 3-

In the coming weeks I will be going into detail around the individual points covered in this post.

Also, I am sharing some never before secrets that I use in marketing my businesses and JV relationships online. In the upper right of this page is how you get access to these real world easy to implement secret tips and advice.

But wait… am I off base here? Is there other things that you want to know that you feel if you just had the answer– online marketing and online engagement would make a lot more sense?

The best advice I’d say from his post is the very last section, Engage.

Blogging as with social media is a two way street. It is about creating a conversation. The three tips alone about responding to every email, respond to every commenter, and commenting on other blogs are three of the best steps you can take on a daily basis to improve your readership.

Commenting for Traffic on Blogs

Commenting on other blogs is one of the best ways to get targeted traffic to your website or blog. This is where you identify a blog in your niche and you make an insightful comment on a blog entry within the site.

Beyond traffic there are a few other benefits of commenting:

• Commenting on a blog in your niche should grab the attention of the readers (then into traffic)
• Done correctly you could build a relationship with the blogger
• Further solidify your message and influence
• Create some backlinks to your website

Blog Commenting Tips

One key purpose of blog commenting is to gain new readers by enticing readers another blog to visit your own blog. Here are some general tips:

• The overall quality of the comment – ‘awesome post’ is not going to get a click. Be insightful and have opinion
• Relevance to the topic is important. We have one comment on a large blog that get’s us at least 15 unique visits a day.
• The top 1- 7 comments – being an early commenter – not many people read down to 30 comments
• Keeping it current – traffic and activity is usually highest on a new post

The best practices to blog commenting

Create a list of 10 – 20 blogs that you want to follow. Put them in an RSS feed or use a tool such as comment sniper to be notified when a new post is released.

Comment as early as possible but make sure it is relevant to the post itself. Also make sure you add value to the overall conversation.

First get to know the community before you make your comments. For instance blog posts and the community at Mashable are different than blog posts on Techcrunch.

Review and Track

Every few weeks you want to go back in your website tracking software to track and review the amount of traffic or the posts that created traffic for your website.

This is a critical step, the numbers will tell you which blog posts and comments resonate with your target audience.

Also put time in your schedule to do some commenting, this helps as commenting for traffic is more a marathon approach than a one hit wonder.