How This Tie Shop Accidentally Became A Content Marketing Master

If you’re anything like me, you’ve developed ninja-like reflexes to swat away pop-ups and ads with lightning speed. You’re never one second too late to press the “Skip Ad” button before a Youtube video starts and you DVR your favorite programming (or simply watch Netflix) to avoid all the annoying adverts.

Why have we become so accustomed to treating adverts like pesky mosquitoes?

Perhaps it’s because they’re actually pretty similar. After all, companies that spend money on ads prioritize getting in front of your face whether you like it or not.

I know this is controversial and advertisers are picking up their pitchforks as we speak, but bear with me. My point is this:  Traditional advertising is simply one way to get attention for your business, but it’s not the only way.

Ties.com knows this, and the company is proof that you can drive growth and awareness without annoying customers with ads. According to CEO Omar Sayyed, the company has enjoyed 30% revenue growth each year over the last five years, and they’ve earned trust by providing value with digital content that educates and inspires, rather than popping up when you least expect it to.

A Sticky Web Of High-Quality Content

I first heard of Ties.com a couple years ago when I stumbled upon their comprehensive knotting guide. It gives step-by-step instructions for tying classic necktie knots, adventurous knots (check out the eldredge!), and of course, the bow tie.

The guides are top-notch. Look closely and you’ll get a feel for the writing, designing, and production skills required to execute the final product. The guides include text instructions, helpful sketches, and well-produced Youtube videos for more visual learners.

Is all that effort worth the investment?

Consider this: Ties.com’s knotting guide is the first result that shows up when you Google “how to tie a tie.” The same is true for the phrase “how to tie a bow tie.”

Google’s Keyword Planner shows that those two questions get searched 800,000 times total each month. That’s nearly 10 million people who find Ties.com’s knotting guide every year, thanks to just two search terms!

That doesn’t even take into account the dozens and dozens of other, more specialized questions and keywords that the company ranks for as well. (Guess who shows up at #1 for “halloween ties”?)

The end result? A web of educational, high-quality articles, visuals, and videos that rank for key terms and phrases and consistently drive people back to Ties.com to get their questions answered.

The Winding Road To Ranking #1

Of course, Ties.com isn’t the only brand targeting these valuable keywords. The Tie Bar and The Art of Manliness both have their own tie knotting guides that rank well for the same keywords, but neither rank as high as the content from Ties.com.

It’s an impressive feat, to be sure. So how did they do it?

With such a strong roster of content success stories, you’d think the company had some master plan all along to produce smash hits and grow its web of online content into a sticky traffic funnel. But to hear CEO Omar Sayyed tell it, producing top-ranking content was almost an accident at first.

“In the beginning, we just wrote content that we found interesting,” Omar explained. “We’ve always believed in pushing out products that we believe in, and we felt the same way about our content.”

Passion without direction is risky business. The Ties.com team began to pour hours and hours into the initiative, creating a library of articles and instructional content that they thought would attract interest. Some earned decent engagement, but some were gigantic flops.

“I remember we were so excited about this one post that compared jean fits across different companies,” Sayyed recalls.

“We went to all these different stores and measured jean sizes, created an infographic using the data and even reached out to people about getting backlinks and sharing the post. But it ultimately fell short and you can’t argue with your audience.”

(I actually found that denim comparison article and it has since earned a few hundred shares on social media, which isn’t shabby, though it does pale in comparison to this pocket square video on Youtube with over a million views and 11,000 likes.)

Today their process is much more polished. The company has senior level writers on staff to ensure the content quality is consistent, they employ their own illustrators and video producers, and they filter their topics through keyword research to uncover the phrases and questions get the most search volume.

“We’re much more deliberate about picking content topics today. We may not have started by targeting ‘how to tie a tie’ but we got there eventually,” said Sayyed.

Armed with the right topics, the Ties.com creative team then determines the right medium and format to share each story. Depending on the topic, the content may lend itself better to a listicle with images, a beautiful infographic, or a quick YouTube tutorial.

The extensive focus on content is impressive, especially for a small, private company like Ties.com. Still, there are priorities. Sayyed admits the company doesn’t do a great job of proactively getting people to share their content or link back to it -- two elements that are often helpful for improving Google rankings.

“We’re not a major content-producing outlet so we have to figure out where our priorities lie,” Sayyed explained. “We either write mediocre content and do a lot of outreach, or write amazing content and wait for people to find it. It may not be perfect, but it’s the way we’ve done it.”

Their method certainly seems to work. The tie-knotting guide did so well that Ties.com started the Man Academy, with all sorts of additional manly knowledge for the style-conscious gentleman. They have a complete guide to bow ties, the ultimate guide to the tie bar and even a guide on how to lace your dress shoes like a pro.

The Man Academy initiative appears to be paying off too. Today, the company is ranking in the middle of Google’s first page of results for the search term “how to tie dress shoes” and is well on its way to a number-one position for “how to fold a pocket square.”

Playing The Long Game

While some companies focus exclusively on targeting people who are ready to make purchasing decisions, Ties.com has taken a different, longer-term approach.

For example, consider the search term “how to tie a tie.” People who Google that phrase already have a necktie in front of them, and there isn’t any immediate commercial intent behind that query.

But that audience clearly cares about neckties, which makes it a great demographic to develop a relationship with long term. The more that we, the consumers, associate tie advice with Ties.com, the more likely the company is to get our tie business long-term.

The company has already published content that targets the most important, high-volume search queries. Sayyed says that they’re now focusing on niche phrases and questions that attract less search volume but educate people during other pivotal moments.

They also write fun pieces that don’t target any specific keywords at all, but are merely created to drive blog traffic and position the company as a thought leader in the menswear space. 10 Things Women Find Most Attractive in Men's Style doesn’t do the company any good from a Google search perspective, but according to Sayyed, it has been huge for their visibility and has increased blog traffic by 8%.

It’s comforting to see that a passionate men’s accessories company can climb its way to the top of search rankings by providing authentic, high-quality content. It means Google is doing its job by allowing the best content -- rather than just the best-optimized content -- to rank the highest.

For those looking to follow in the footsteps of the men’s fashion brand, the Ties.com roadmap is a reminder that success in Google results is less a product of rocket science and secret sauces, and more a result of smart keyword research, a strict adherence to quality, and some good old-fashioned hard work.

The Ties.com story is also a reminder that companies can grab attention through educational content rather than annoying advertisements. By earning trust and developing a relationship with its customers before they ever need to buy a tie, Ties.com solidifies its position as the men’s accessories go-to when you decide it finally is time to make a purchase.

Originally published on Forbes.com.

Ryan Erskine is a Senior Brand Strategist at BrandYourself, where he helps people take control of their online presence. Visit his website, follow him on Twitter, and read his book here.

3 Ways to Get Influencers To Share Your Content

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get other bloggers, industry influencers, and relevant companies to share your articles for you?

It’s not as hard as you think.

The key is providing a compelling reason to share your content.

And I’d argue that the easiest way to do this is using flattery. Everybody loves compliments, right? If someone wrote an awesome article about you, wouldn’t you want to share it around? I know I would.

With that in mind, here are three ways you can craft your content to encourage others to share it for you. As you write your next article, try one of the following strategies:

 

Quote Experts In Your Field

This is a no-brainer. Email a ton of the best people in your industry and ask them the same question. For example, I might ask, “What are your favorite non-traditional social profiles for SEO and branding purposes?” My article could then be something like 11 Experts Share Their Favorite Non-Traditional Social Profiles.

Make sure to explain the kind of article you’re pulling together in your email and make it clear the kind of names you’d be featuring. Don’t be bashful if you already have someone big onboard -- it’s more likely to convince others to submit their answers too.

The genius of this strategy is that everyone you quote has some skin in the game. Every time one of those experts shares the article, you’re expanding your organic reach and earning industry credibility along the way. Just remember to follow up after you’ve published to alert them to the finished product.

Loz James at WordTracker has a great example where he quotes 33 SEO experts on their link building tactics.

NOTE: If you’re not getting any bites on your emails, you can literally just dig through the blog posts of experts in your field and find the quotes that tell your story.

Highlight Awesome People or Organizations

Everyone loves to be complemented. Find some people or companies worth shouting out and give them some space in your article. Explain what makes them stand out and link to their website (everyone loves backlinks).

The benefits here are fairly obvious. Companies are likely to return the favor with a retweet or a share.

When I shared 12 Twitter Tools to Take Control of Your Online Reputation, I emailed and/or tweeted people from every single company on that list. I got retweets from Canva, Buffer, RiteTag and a handful of others. Their enthusiasm completely catapulted my article without much of my own additional effort.

Piggyback Off Someone Famous

This is a fun way to shout out someone famous and piggyback off their existing success.

I might write something like 11 Ways Canva Has Completely Changed My Career. I can expect a bit more traffic thanks primarily to the name recognition, but more importantly, it might convince Canva to share my content. They’d love to have a glowing article like that shared around.

The best part about this tactic is that the person or company you shout out doesn’t have to be directly involved in your industry. In fact, you might intrigue even more people if they aren’t related. Wouldn’t you be interested in 7 Tips From Geico’s Gecko on Improving Your Online Reputation? 

(Hmm... maybe I'll write that next.)

No, Geico’s Gecko hasn’t written anything about fixing online reputations -- don’t quote me on that -- but he has plenty of fun quotes out there from ads and whatnot. By pulling insights from those commercials and relating them back to online reputation, I can make a fun article that still gives readers important lessons about online reputation management. No guarantees on getting the lizard to share your content though…

Closing Note:

When seeking extra attention for your articles, it can be tempting to use crazy titles and even crazier content. But remember, it’s important to keep your blog in line with your brand. It would be pretty disappointing if your next article blew up but didn’t quote portray you the way you wanted. Get creative but don’t forget that you’re building your online reputation along the way.

How to Get Published on Major Web Publications

There could be a whole course on getting guest posts on third party publications. There’s a lot to learn about list-building, pitching, and maintaining editor relationships.

At the risk of oversimplifying, today we’re just going to tackle the basics.

1. List-Building Publications

The first step to getting published is to know the places you want to target.

If you already have some ideas, jot them down now. Is there an industry blog you’re particularly fond of? Could you publish on your company blog? What about the blog of an organization you’re involved with? A publication you have a connection to?

Get your ideas down and then it’s time for a little external research.

Do a quick Google search for the best blogs in your industry that accept guest posts. I might try “the best reputation blogs that accept guest posts” but I could also try marketing, social media, or something similar.

Then, do your due diligence. Once you find a list of sites, look them up to make sure they’re legit and their content fits in with your brand (and the content you want to pitch them!) You might want to check the sites out on compete.com to learn how many monthly unique visitors they get. You can also check them out on mozrank to figure out the authority of the page (i.e., how valuable it is for you to be on there.)

Of course, remember that getting on a decent site in your industry is better than none at all. Baby steps.

2. Find Pitching Requirements

The next step is to look up the requirements for pitching to particular publications. Some places ask for a specific subject line or certain formatting requirements. Ignoring these directions is the easiest way to get rejected.

This is easier than it sounds. When I search “techcrunch post guest post requirements,” the first thing that comes up is A Guide To Guest Columns On TechCrunch, a whole page on this written by TechCrunch for bloggers like us.

3. Building a List of Editors

Muckrack is a tool we use at Brandyourself to get access to email addresses of editors, reporters, and writers. I find this tool invaluable, but if you don’t have this kind of access, there are a couple of things you can do.

• Look up the masthead. Do some investigation online to find contact info of the editors. Some publications will have names and email addresses right there on the Team page. Others will just have the names, but you can search them online and often find their contact info no problem. It’s not as if publications are exactly hiding from .

• Use submission forms. Some publications, like the Huffington Post, have submission forms where you can pitch your blog post without having an editor’s contact info.

4. Draft your pitch.

The last step is to draft the email you’ll be sending out.

Here are some best practices I’ve learned from experience:

1. Use an engaging and simple subject line. I like GUEST POST: Name of the Title Here.

2. Address the person by name.

3. Explain quickly what the article is about and why it’s important for the publication. Maybe it hasn’t been covered yet. Perhaps it’s super timely. Or it’s right in their wheelhouse.

4. Keep the email short and sweet. Imagine if you had to sift through hundreds of these every week.

5. Copy and paste the article (with copyright free, cited images) directly into the email. I attach the word doc too but this extra step is useful because I’ve had editors tell me they don’t open attachments.

5. Send ‘Em Out

Once you have your list of editors, your publication requirements, and your pitch, then it’s time to send out your emails. Even with a terrific piece, this is primarily a numbers game. Remember that this is basically the email equivalent of cold-calling until you start developing some real relationships with these people. Try following up several days later and don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a nibble on your first try. It might take a few more articles and a longer list of editors before you begin forging those editorial connections.

How to Turn Your Slideshow Into an Animated Video

Today, I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to create original video content for Youtube.

Youtube has the potential to rank well for your name -- you just need to nurture it and let it prosper.

One of the easiest ways to make videos? Animate your slideshows.

We’re going to use Keynote to make the magic happen. If you made your slideshow on Keynote already, then great. 

If you did it on something like Canva, just import the JPG files and drag them one by one into Keynote as slides.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to start adding animations.

Click Animate in the top right corner.

Then click on your first slide. You need to have the slide selected so you can make a “transition animation.” Otherwise you’ll be making an “action animation” for one of the elements in the slide. 

Under Transitions, click Add an Effect, and choose one to see what it does. I like Doorway, so I chose that one.

Go through each slide and do the same thing. Feel free to keep the same transition for each slide to give a consistent effect, or go for different ones to switch it up.

If you made your slideshow in Keynote, you can animate different elements within each slide as well, but there’s no need to go overboard with this. I like to keep these simple so they don’t come across as cheesy.

Once you’ve finished adding transition effects, it’s time to add some audio.

There are a number of websites that offer copyright free tunes. My favorite is Incompetech but you can do a quick Google search and find more.

Once you’ve downloaded a royalty-free mp3 file you like, go back into Keynote and click Document at the top right corner. Then click Audio.

Drag your audio file into the Soundtrack section. 

Then it's time to export.

Hit File → Export to → Quicktime.

Hit next (or change your playback settings if you wish) and save the file.

And that’s it!

Now all that’s left to do is go into Youtube, upload the video and give it a title and description. 

Give me a shout on Twitter if you’re having trouble and I’ll be happy to help.

And the Oscar goes to...

9 Solid Ways to Repurpose Existing Blog Content Into New Media

Today is a choose-your-adventure kind of day. I’m going to explain a variety of ways you can squeeze more value out of your already-existing blog content. Then you’re going to choose a few of your favorites and get to work growing your audience.

First a quick explanation…

Will duplicate content hurt me? No, duplicate content is not likely to get you penalized unless it is spammy or keyword-stuffy. Naturally good content repurposed elsewhere is a perfectly acceptable way to get more eyeballs on your content and direct traffic back to the original publication.

→ Try to choose at least 3-4 of the following options that make the most sense for you!

1. Republish

By republishing your content on other platforms -- like Medium or LinkedIn Pulse -- you extend your reach by taking advantage of already-existing communities. You can put a link at the end of your article saying “originally published on....” to help drive traffic back to the original article and your website.

Medium and Pulse are great, but also look for niche blogs in your industry that allow republished content. The first few articles I published on SocialMediaToday.com were ones that I had already written for my blog. They were months old but got a new burst of traffic thanks to the renewed interest from their readers.

2. Share Your Content in New Ways

Nobody wants to see you tweet the same title over and over. Find tweetable one-liners in your article that you can share on Twitter and link back to your article. Or, share your article with a few engaging sentences as status updates on LinkedIn and Google+. Remember, you want to make sure you fit in with the style of the social network.

3. Answer Questions on Quora

Answering relevant questions on Quora is an easy way to spread the reach of your blog post and provide real value to people who need it most. You can give a short answer and provide a link back to your full article for those who want to read more. For more on this, check out Day 16.

4. Summarize and Outline

You can also take your content and post summaries of it on sites like Medium, WordPress.com and Blogger. Remember to link back to the original article!

5. Turn Your Article Into a Slideshow

If you’re not on Slideshare, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to promote your articles and build your brand. There are over 70 million professionals on there, sharing and viewing slideshows on a variety of topics. Featured slideshows can get thousands of views -- and you can bet a percentage of that will click through to your website.

Second, Slideshare tends to rank incredibly well in search results and it looks professional to boot. The fact that Slideshare is owned by LinkedIn doesn’t hurt either. Check out Day 12 for a step-by-step guide to transforming your article into an awesome slideshow.

6. Turn Your Slideshow Into a Video

If you made a killer slideshow, why not animate it by turning it into a video? It’s great original content for your Youtube or Vimeo profile. This is really easy in Keynote, where you can add transition effects from slide to slide and textbox to textbox. You can even add audio to make your video really shine. Stay tuned for a more in-depth discussion of this on Day 19.

7. Turn Your Slideshow Into Shareable Images

Slides can sometimes exist by themselves as individual images and still make sense. Classic examples are slideshows that have quotes, tips, or interesting facts. If it makes sense for you, export your slides as individual images and post them on visual profiles like Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

8. Craft Bespoke Pinterest Pins

You can always share your article on Pinterest using the default image, but you might encourage more engagement if you make a custom pin for your articles. Use Canva’s kick-ass presets to quickly transform your article’s image into an amazing vertical Pinterest pin. Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at bespoke pins on Day 20.

9. Make An Engaging Infographic

Got an interesting stat or two? You can turn them into a terrific infographic (I recommend Canva -- they have awesome templates for this) and can even add it to your article to help make your point visually!

Do you have any suggestions that are missing from this list? Let me know your favorites in the comments below.

How To Make A Great Infographic Without Any Design Skills

We’ve all seen those amazing infographics.

The ones that look professional and get the point across in a few seconds flat. The ones that tell a compelling story yet are powerful in their simplicity. The infographics that get shared over and over and over again.

There’s really not much point in making an infographic unless it falls into this category.

But the good news is that great infographic design is not as scary as you might think.

I’m going to show you how to make an infographic. No real design skills required. We’re going to use a website called Canva, which makes graphic design super easy. You can use Canva to make slideshows, blog graphics, Pinterest pins -- and infographics!

They have amazing templates, an intuitive workflow and lots of free icons, shapes, and more.

Follow me as I take you through the process step-by-step. I’m going to make an infographic along the way to show you what I mean.

Let’s go!

1. Decide Your Story

First decide the story you want to tell with your infographic.

What’s the one takeaway you want your viewers to get out of this? If you have your story and conclusion ready to go, designing will be MUCH easier. Every piece of data, every picture, every subheading will help tell that story.

For this example, I’m going to make an infographic that gets people motivated to take control of their online presence. The main takeaway will be that people should care about their search results.

2. Find the Data

Remember, infographics are a visual way to represent data or information. You first need some compelling data before you can represent it visually.

Find the data, information, or critical pieces of knowledge that you want to get across in your infographic.

I’m going to use these key pieces of data to tell my story:

1. Over 1 billion names are google every day 

2. 75% of hiring departments are required to look applicants up online

3. 70% say they have rejected applicants based on what they’ve found online

Conclusion: bad results hurt you; good results help you.

3. Find a Working Template

Go to Canva.com.

Under “Create a Design” pick Infographic.

Then scroll down on the left and find a template that gets you excited. There’s a ton of terrific free ones but feel free to use a paid one if you feel like coughing up $1.

4. Give Your Infographic a Title & Theme

First, I went ahead and deleted all the text on the template and titled my infographic.

Then I tried to mess with the size of the colored blocks. I soon realized that this template wasn’t very malleable, but that’s okay. Canva is so easy to use that I was determined to make this design work for me, template or not.

I liked the colored blocks idea (thanks Canva!) but wanted to make them myself to give me more flexibility.

So, I deleted the template. Then I went over to Search → Shapes → and chose a rectangle.

I resized it and changed the color.

Then I added my title back in.

Then I added two thin black lines on the top and bottom to give it a sharp border. All I did here was add two more rectangles, but made them black and super thin. That’s it. Already looks good though right?

I then did the same rectangle trick to make a general layout. Remember that simple designs are the most effective. That blue color is nice but I only used it in the title block so it would really pop. I’ll use the color again when I add in text and icons.

The last thing I did was add a small triangle to creatively transition from the title block to the next block. You can find that triangle in the same shapes section.

5. Show Your Data Visually

You already have your data so this step is the fun part. Take your first piece of data and decide how you can showcase that quickly to your audience.

My first piece of information is: Over 1 billion names are google every day.

There are a lot of ways to do this. I decided to just use text and a simple vector image of a globe. Remember, when it comes to infographics, less is more. Simple designs are easier to scan and concise text wins every time.

My next piece of information is: 75% of hiring departments are required to look applicants up online

Well, one of the easiest ways to represent 75% is a ¾ circle. I went over to Search → Charts and found the perfect free image. Then I changed the colors to match my blue theme.

I threw some white text over it and changed the sizes and fonts to emphasize what’s most important.

Then I did a similar thing for my third piece of data: 70% say they have rejected applicants based on what they’ve found online.

I made a judgment call and decided that I would make this piece of data more relatable by adding people to it. I used Canva’s search bar to locate a cool icon of “people” and then changed the color to match my blue theme. I threw some more white text on top and ta-da.

For my last piece of data -- Bad results hurt; Good results help -- I wanted to add that human element again.

First I just added the text. I used the same blue, but switched up the color at the end to make the point more clearly.

Then I added emoji vector images and gave examples of what I was talking about.

7. Add a Call-To-Action

Finally, make sure you add a call-to-action. You don’t want to spend all your time making this awesome infographic and not capitalize on it.

What do you want people to do? Sign a petition? Join a mailing list? Visit your website? Just share this on social media?

Whatever it is, make that ultra clear at the end of your infographic.

Closing note:

And that’s really all there is to it!

Here are 5 Infographic Best Practices to keep handy:

1. Tell a Story Visually -- First decide the story you want to tell with your infographic.

2. Captivating Design -- Colors are important. Infographics that stand out have staying power.

3. Less is More -- Too much data is confusing. Simple designs are easier to scan. Use extremely concise text.

4. Data is King -- The right data is naturally compelling. The right way to show it is in a way that’s easy to understand. Do your research ahead of time so you have your data ready to go when it’s time to start designing.

5. Call-To-Action -- What do you want people to do after they finish reading? Sign a petition? Join a mailing list? Visit your website? Share on social media?

Please give me a shout if you have any questions along the way!

Here’s a look at the final product: