What's New on the 10 Topics Liquid Diamond Follows?

It’s up to the individuals to adapt to a new way of working. From strategy to tactics to implementation – the platforms and tools are changing and so must we. Leaders like Rand Fishkin and Dixon Jones show us they way with investment and innovation.

It's great to be part of an industry that can adapt to change so rapidly. While there are many elements of this market to fix there are also sizable opportunities that we are all in a great position to take advantage of. Change is the only constant in our industry.

Good article about vision & long term planning in startups.

From the article: "Meaningful companies are built upon a strong timeless vision. Let’s look at some examples…

“To organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” — Google
“To be the pulse of the planet” — Twitter
“To be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” — Amazon

These statements may sound abstract and grandiose, but as you begin to think about it, you realise why a plan like “To be the Best iPhone Photo App for Sharing Pictures with Facebook Friends” or “Let’s Build Stuff and See What Happens, Right?” just won’t cut it.

The vision for a company must be robust for years at a time. Technologies, social networks, trends, all come and go, and a company must stay relevant regardless. Notice how Google doesn’t mention search, Amazon doesn’t mention books, and Twitter says nothing about apps or tweets. This is long term thinking. You can’t base your company around current technologies, trends, or other companies. It’s about what you are doing for your customers. If you set out to build “The Number One MP3 Player for Bebo Pages”, well, sorry about it. [..]"

Recommended!

Read the entire article here: http://blog.intercom.io/why-startups-need-a-strong-vision/

Information about your brand is essential to content marketing, but objective content is your way to write to your audiences about what matters to them.

Excerpted from article intro:

"We often fall into the trap of assuming that lead nurturing is a completely email-driven strategy. But technically, lead nurturing is defined as consistent and targeted communication to move your leads further down the funnel.

So while email has proven to be a very effective tool for this, it is not the only bridge between your company and its leads.

Social media has emerged as an increasingly important part of people’s lives, and the savviest marketers have found ways to integrate it into lead nurturing to build stronger relationships.

To help you establish stronger and more personal relationships with your leads, take a look at these ideas to help you better integrate your lead nurturing and social media marketing.

1) Include social follow widgets in lead nurturing emails.

2) Use social share modules in your emails.

3) Add social calls-to-action to thank-you pages.

4) All together now ... add social widgets in thank-you emails!

5) Initiate a lead nurturing workflow when a lead mentions your company on Twitter.

6) Utilize your employee's social media accounts.

7) Always respond to social inquiries.

8) Monitor for branded terms that may indicate sales readiness.

Each element is analyzed with more information. Read full article here: http://j.mp/JYGmip

We've seen our fair share of QR codes in every possible configuration, but this has got to be the coolest I've seen in a while.

The Guinness QR Cup reveals itself only when the dark beer is poured into it. Once there, the entire cup becomes your personal portal to all things social media!

Excerpt from the article:

"The question is…is your site prepared to convert one percent of those visitors? Five percent? Ten percent?

For each trait you use in your landing page plan, you’ll have the opportunity to increase conversions by at least one percent…and at least 10 percent if you use all 10. 

1. Create an ultra-convincing byline with this 3-sentence formula:

To create a compelling byline use the 3-sentence formula. Each sentence answers the following questions:

*Who are you?
*What do you do and for who?
*What’s the call to action?

2. Create a landing page specific to that audience...

3. Write a truly killer headline with the 4 U’s:

The best method I’ve ever found for writing killer headlines is to use the 4 U’s approach:

- Unique...

- Urgent...

- Ultra-Specific...

- Useful...

4. Write killer copy using the PAS formula:

*PAIN – Identify a real problem that your target audience has.

*AGITATE – think in terms of the consequence they could suffer if they don’t act to fix their pain.

* SOLVE – Once you’ve satisfactorily agitated your prospect…offer your product as the solution.

5. Put call to action above the fold:

Just make sure the CTA is above the fold because most people will make a decision about what to do within the first 4 seconds of being on your landing page.

6. Put a short video on the landing page:

What this does is puts a human face onto the landing page, builds instant credibility and engages those visitors who are power skimmers.

7. Request only the absolute bare minimum:

High conversion rates on your landing page will only come when you make the requirements for subscribing very low. In fact, for every additional piece of information…and every additional field you add…you could be losing conversion points.

8. Add social proof:

You can tell visitors of your successes quickly and easily in a variety of ways:

#Subscriber count – Announce how many people already subscribe to your blog or email newsletter list.
#Social media followers – Show people how many people are connected to you via social media.
#Logos – Display the logos of reputable companies who’ve endorsed you.

9. Use killer design:

The killer design communicates professionalism, trust and security.

10. Test:

The truth is that everything can be tested…and that you should get in a habit of testing to learn more about your visitors and prospects. The more you learn the better you will get!"

Read full article here: http://j.mp/JlMUa4