Create an Email Marketing Course to Promote Your Resume Writing Business

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Even with the popularity of social media, email marketing remains one of the best ways to connect with prospective resume clients. The key is getting them to provide you with their email address. One way to capture email addresses of prospects is to enroll them in an email course! How do you get them to sign up for the email course? Help them solve a job search-related problem!

An email course combines email marketing with information marketing. Use an autoresponder like AWeber to set up the enrollment process (AWeber will automatically generate the code to copy-and-paste onto your website or blog to capture email addresses and it will also handle the fulfillment of the delivery of the emails to those who sign up.)

Probably the most intimidating part of this process is coming up with the content for the email course. But actually, that's not as difficult as it seems either! You can either re-purpose information you already share with your clients -- or use Pass-Along Materials.

(You can take almost any of the Pass-Along Materials and divide it into lessons. Each message can be anywhere from 150 to 1,000 words. Make sure each email message builds upon the last one while also offering a benefit. Be sure to include a call to action. For example, you may direct readers to visit your blog for more information on the topic, or you might send them to a sales page on your website where they can learn more about your services related to that topic.)

Your email course needs to scream BENEFIT to your readers. It's not as difficult as it might sound. One way to easily demonstrate the benefit is to position it in the title of the course. For example,"Five Ways to Make More Money in This Job -- Or Your Next Job" can walk them through the principles of salary negotiation.

Think about how you can provide the most value to prospective resume clients and then craft a course that solves a problem for them. Make sure the title of the course makes the benefit apparent. (One recommendation: Don't teach subscribers how to write more effective resumes or cover letters -- these types of courses are not as effective in converting prospects into clients as email courses focusing on topics that are related to other areas of the job search -- LinkedIn, salary negotiation, online reputation management, etc.)

When formatting your email course, each lesson should follow an easy-to-use format. This system ensures your readers know what to expect. It also makes it easier for you to create valuable content with less effort. Here's a template you can use or re-work to fit your needs:

• Address your reader by name and start the lesson with a short sentence that identifies the topic of the lesson. 
• Write the content of your lesson. Use bullet points, steps, or numbers to help make it easy to read.
• End the lesson with a look ahead to the next lesson. This helps motivate your reader to look forward to your emails. 
• Include a signature and a P.S. that includes a call to action. 
• Start the next lesson by briefly reviewing what they learned in the previous lesson and introducing the current lesson. 

If you currently have an email marketing system in place, consider updating it with a course. You can use it to drive traffic, build a larger list, sell more products or services, and strengthen your relationships with prospective — and even current — clients.

How to Use On-Page Search Engine Optimization To Get More Traffic To Your Resume Business Website

One of the most frequently asked questions I get from resume writers is, "How do I get more prospects to visit my resume business website?" (This is also known as "website traffic.")

An important part of the overall search engine optimization process is what is known as "on-page search engine optimization." Basically, this is just making sure that you're labeling your website content in a way that the search engines will find useful so that they can direct folks who are looking for what you provide (interview-winning resumes!) to your site.

Having your on-page SEO done well isn’t necessarily going to help you achieve the #1 position for the type of searches your prospective resume clients are making. However, if you don’t have your pages well optimized, chances are you won’t rank at all.

Taking some time to label your pages and content properly is an all-important prerequisite to getting your website ranked on the front page of your preferred search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.). If you don’t have your on page SEO done properly, chances are you won’t be found on the first, or even second or third pages of the search.

The primary reason you want to do on-page SEO is so that Google can accurately tell what your page is about. A poorly optimized page will seem like it’s about "everything." A well optimized page, on the other hand, will tell Google exactly what the page is about, so Google can give you strong rankings for your chosen keyword(s).

Here’s how to optimize your resume business website page for search engines. For the purposes of demonstration, we’ll be using the “All in One SEO” plugin for WordPress for a number of these steps.

Step 1: The Title Tag
The title tag is the most important tag in all of your SEO efforts. It’s what Google places the most weight on when they’re trying to determine what your site is about.

Your title should have as much of your keyword towards the front of the tag as possible.

Different pages on your site should have different title tags. Do not have the same title tag throughout your entire website. If you do, you waste each individual page’s potential to rank for unique keywords.

For example, below is a setup for how your WordPress pages and posts might look like. You can configure your system to by default put post’s title first, then the blog’s name second, rather than the other way around.




Step 2: Meta Description
Your meta description tag doesn’t actually help you rank higher. Instead, what it does is tell Google what to display beneath your search listing. This can help you get a lot more clicks from Google by writing the “right thing” to hook your audience in. 

Each page on your site can have a different meta description. You definitely want to write the meta description for your home page and the popular pages on your site yourself. For the pages on your site that aren’t too popular, Google will just take an excerpt from your website and use that as your meta description. 

Step 3: Meta Keywords
Your meta keywords tags tell Google what keywords you think your site is relevant for. It doesn’t bear much weight as far as helping you rank goes, but it can really help Google figure out what your site is about. It takes just a minute to do them and is good SEO practice in general.


 

(Yes, you definitely can come up with a better description for your site -- and be sure to include your keywords!)

Step 4: URL Structure
Generally, you want your URL to contain your keywords as much as possible. You never want to use just your post ID or the date as your URL. You should also avoid cryptic URLs that contain data that no human being can read.

If you want to use just your post title as your URL for example, this is how you’d do it in the WordPress “Permalinks” settings.



Step 5: Image Alt Tags
Optimizing your alt tags plays a much larger part on SEO than a lot of people think. It won’t single-handedly help you improve your search engine ranking, but it is an important factor for your on-page SEO.

Give the images on your site good alt tags. Make sure the filenames are meaningful and make sure that your alt tags are descriptive. If you have purely navigational images on your site, such as white space or button backgrounds, name them numbers (111.jpg) rather than a text-based keyword.

In WordPress, you can change the alt tag of images by going to that image’s preferences.

Step 6: Noindex Non-Content Pages
You should "noindex" your non-content pages. Your affiliate pages, your category pages, your archives, and so on should all be "noindexed." This is particularly true if those pages contain duplicate content. On most blogs, category and archive pages are mostly duplicate content, so you definitely want to noindex those pages.

Step 7: Internal Linking
Internal linking is one of the most crucial factors you can do to improve your SEO.

Make sure you have links going from all your content pages to other pages on your site. Embed these links within your actual content, or within links on the site or bottom of the article.

Things like “You May Like” boxes or “Related Posts” boxes are all good choices.

Step 8: Have a Robots.txt
A robots.txt file just tells search engines where to go and where not to go. This is a good way to disallow search engine spiders from going where they’re not supposed to.

This can help you keep the areas you don’t want from ranking out of the search engines. For example, you probably don’t want the paid areas of your site (like a members-only section) indexed and shown in the Google search engines.

Step 9: Low Ad-to-Content Ratio
One factor that’s become more prominent since the Google Panda and Panda 2.0 updates is the ad-to-content ratio on your website. As the name suggests, the idea is to avoid stuffing your site with ads.

Google knows that great websites tend to only have a few ads on their pages. On the other hand, people who focus too much on milking their visitors for as much cash as possible tend to produce lower quality content.

So, therefore, pages with more ads tend to rank lower. Of course, you do need to make money – just limit your ads to one or two per page, rather than including ads all over the place. 

Step 10: Regular, Fresh, High Quality Content
Finally, it all comes down to content and content quality. Google is looking to promote websites with high quality content.

Produce fresh content as often as possible. The more fresh content you have, the higher your chances of ranking. Blogging is a great way to add new content -- but also consider articles, videos, and audio links as ways to share content. (Check out "Using Content to Capture New Career Clients" for more on this topic.)

These are the most important on page factors to pay attention to in search engine optimization. Get your on page optimization right before you try and topple your competition.

If you found this information helpful, check out "Website Traffic Secrets for Resume Writers."

Or this post by Vayu Media.

The Difference Between Social Networking For Business and Personal Use

I'm "friends" with a lot of resume writers and careers industry professionals on Facebook, I "follow" lots of you guys on Twitter, and I'm "connected" with many folks on LinkedIn ... and in the course of participating in these social networks, I've noticed there's sometimes confusion between "business" social networking and "regular" (personal) social networking. Business social networking is more than just using social networks to grow your resume writing business. It represents a completely different mindset and approach to social networks.

What Is Business Social Networking?
Business social networking is social networking for the express purpose of making new contacts for your careers industry business and furthering your business development efforts using social networking tools.

In other words, you're not there just to "hang out," to post pictures, to make random comments, or to garner as many likes as possible. Instead, you're looking to connect with prospects, clients, and influential people who can help you improve your life and business in some meaningful way.

It's Goal Oriented on Both Sides
One key difference between "regular" and "business" social networking is that there's a goal on both sides. You're dealing with clients, prospective clients, media contacts (journalists, bloggers), and careers industry colleagues who all have a goal.

Nobody is on these social networks to waste time (and this includes business networking on Facebook). This completely changes the "vibe" of the whole experience. The idea is to create win/win relationships and situations online as quickly as possible, then get back to business. You might be sharing ideas, information, or content -- but it is oriented towards achieving a specific goal (even if that goal is simply to create a stronger connection with someone).

The Favor Bank Is Important
In the standard world of social networking, the favor bank doesn't really exist. Nobody expects you to like their content back if they come over and like yours. (Except for birthday wishes on Facebook and Endorsements on LinkedIn!)

In the business world, however, the favor bank is a very important thing to keep in mind. If you help introduce a resume writing colleague to a career coach in their area, both the resume writer and the career coach "owe" you a favor. Or if you share their content with your business social networking audience (which might be bigger than theirs), they may feel they "owe you one"

It's not a one-to-one trade. Nobody keeps exact score. But you'll generate a lot of goodwill. Next time you need a referral, a retweet, or a LinkedIn recommendation, they're most likely going to say yes. After all, they want you to owe them in their favor bank as well.

The Long-Term Value of Business Social Networking
Standard social networking is mostly about the "right now." It's about posting what comes to mind, liking what you see, and spontaneous interactions.

Business social networking, on the other hand, can have a much more long-term outlook. You build a relationship with prospective clients long before you try to make a sale. If you're looking for a subcontractor relationship with a resume writing colleague, you follow what they're posting on their business social networks (Facebook business page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn personal profile and company page) and engage with them through those channels.

Business social networking can help introduce you to new people, but it can also help you cultivate and build relationships with people you already know. If you meet a colleague at a conference, or attend one of their teleseminars, follow their business page in addition to friending them on Facebook.

As you can tell, the world of business to business social networking is very different than the layman's social network. There's a goal orientation. Time is more scarce. People are out to help each other and long-term relationships matter.

Brainstorming Content Ideas

A few days ago, I wrote about Career Brainstorming Day 2012. (Join me in Minneapolis, if you're able to!). It got me thinking about brainstorming. Specifically, brainstorming content.

I talk to a lot of resume writers who say, "I'm not sure what to write about in my blog." Or "I want to do a teleseminar, but I don't know what topic will get people interested in attending."

One of the best ways to engage readers is to be innovative.

A couple of the most common ways to generate content ideas is by reading industry publications or doing keyword research.

Those tactics are good and handy to keep in your pocket. But they can get old, too. You may begin to lose enthusiasm because you're writing about the same topics over and over again. The key to fresh, and exciting content is to come up with new content ideas that inspire you.

Here are a few new ways to brainstorm content ideas.

Word Association
Grab those top keywords, the ones that are most popular for your prospective resume clients to use, and make a list. Write one keyword or keyword phrase at the top of a blank piece of paper. Begin to let your mind wander and write down words and phrases that come to mind. Don't filter or judge any idea — even if it feels ridiculous. Write it down! Once you've filled the piece of paper, continue onto another piece of paper and a new keyword.

Don't start writing any articles. Enjoy this exercise until it feels like you've taxed your imagination. Then put the papers away. The ideas will float around in your mind throughout the rest of the day. If you are inspired to write, then sit down and write. Otherwise, pull out the papers in a day or two and grab a few ideas that feel interesting. Start writing.

Random Idea Generator
There are a few fun tools available online. One fun tool is a random word generator. You can have the tool provide a word, or two or three words, and then you use those words to create an article or blog topic. It really forces you to think outside the box and can be a fun way to brainstorm new content ideas.

Visual Representation
Eliminate words from the brainstorming process. Use a visual tool like a magazine, photo album, or a site like Pinterest to view images related to your niche. Let those images inspire topic ideas. You may want to be able to print the images to use as you're writing. Or you can cut them out if you're using magazines for inspiration.

Finding topics and ideas to write about can be a challenge for any resume writer. When it becomes a challenge, it's easy to lose focus and interest in your niche topic. Instead of continuing to use old brainstorming techniques, consider embracing a few new ones. You might be surprised how productive they are.