by malliehart | Aug 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Expertise: Everything You Need To Know Ain’t Immediate!
Did you know that you could gain expertise, and market yourself as an expert, in almost any industry, on almost any topic, after reading a single blog post?
WOW!
- Everything You Need To Know About Social Media Marketing …
- Everything You Need To Know About Web Design …
- Everything You Need To Know About On Page SEO …
- Everything You Need To Know About Performing A Craniotomy …
- Everything You Need To Know About Building & Launching A Rocket …
All easily and handily encompassed in one short read, in a single, solitary, blog post. And yes, I did stretch it to a ridiculous level with the final two!
Can you not see how ranting, raving and ridiculous this is?
Guess what? You CANNOT learn everything about anything, no matter the subject, by reading a single blog post.
Expertise = Prolonged Experience
Generally speaking I’m not one to share quotes, but when it comes to the expression and understanding of expertise, I found a handful that I think are quite fitting.
You must continue to gain expertise, but avoid thinking like an expert.
~ Denis Waitley
True intuitive expertise is learned from prolonged experience with good feedback on mistakes.
~ Daniel Kahneman
I want to take the time to think through how I feel and why I feel. I don’t want to feign expertise on matters I know nothing about for the purpose of offering someone else my immediate reaction for their consumption.
~ Roxane Gay
Expertise, as stated succinctly above, requires prolonged experience. I don’t know about you, but even slogging through the longest of blog posts doesn’t really rank as prolonged experience. Though it might feel like it during the read.
Expertise Isn’t Immediate
We’re an immediate kind of world. We want responses fast. We want our businesses to be successful mere minutes after we’ve launched them. Our attention spans are short and we want everything right now.
We’ve latched on to the idea that everything should be easy and simple, but that’s just not so, no matter how many articles are published by hungry-eyed marketers looking for the next sale.
It’s sometimes easy for them, sure. Because they’ve already put in the time, effort, training, blood, sweat and tears.
Let me share something a lot of marketers and designers aren’t willing to admit openly. It’s not always easy for us, no matter our level of expertise, no matter our client base, no matter our seeming standard of excellence within our niche and peer community.
Some days you wake up and nothing you type comes out even remotely coherent. And that means it’s not an easy day for the expert content marketer.
Some days you sit at the computer, or at the ready with your pencil and sketchpad, and manage to create NOTHING. That makes for a rough day for the brand or web designer.
Every day brings new challenges and different circumstances. Each logo requires a different mindset. Each article requires research and rewrites.
My days are, more often than not, enjoyable, because I’m running my own business, doing what I love to do. But that doesn’t mean everything happens easily.
No Article, Social Media Post, Webinar, Or Course Can Deliver EVERYTHING
Much like the terms easy and simple, everything has become quite the buzz word, what I call a clickable calamity in the making.
When you tell someone something is going to be easy, they expect to walk away and easily accomplish the task or project. More often than not, though, the term is used only to elicit clicks, not to actually deliver on the promise.
It’s the same with the promise of everything you need in a single blog post. Especially when the subject matter is obviously complicated.
The everything article doesn’t deliver, yet it gets shared far and wide because people want to believe that easy is attainable.
Quick & Easy Is Rarely Quality
When it comes to training for a skill set necessary to your business, you’re going to have to do a lot more than read a single blog post. You’re going to have to look beyond the quick fix to the long haul.
I get up every morning knowing I’ll learn at least one new thing that will help my skill set, and, thus, my business.
Learning is something I’m in for the long haul. Skills aren’t built in a one and done fashion. They’re honed, over time, with practice.
Every day I experience a new first. But the reason I gain expertise is because I don’t stop at first, I succeed through second, third, eighth, and even seventy-fifth attempts.
Everything in a thousand words? It just doesn’t exist!
What do you think?
Publishing Details
Originally published on the Go Creative Go blog in 2016.
by malliehart | Aug 9, 2024 | Mallie's Marketing Blog Posts
Killer Content Marketing Creates Opportunity!
You hear it all the time, but especially at the launch of a new year … content marketing is where it’s at! Content marketing is do or die. Content is king. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Do I agree?
I do, indeed! In fact, my focus and/or word of the year is CONTENT.
But many of you, dear readers, are still waffling about blogging – or creating other types of content, like videos, images or even podcasts. You just can’t seem to make the time to create content on a regular basis. Why?
Maybe you’re busy? Running your own business takes time. A lot of time. But …
Content Marketing Creates Opportunity!
Here’s hoping – fingers and heart crossed – that one, or more, of these five content creation benefits will sway you to add creating content to your busy schedule!
1. Unique Content Ups Visitors & Views!
The creation of unique and targeted content, what you write, record or design – rather than what you share, gets visits to YOUR site. Your website! That website is the hub of your online empire. It’s where you direct traffic to all of the other digital goodness you’re creating, sharing, discussing, dissecting and more.
Guess what? Visits to your site just might lead to someone take action (you know, via a Call to Action or other pretty button they are compelled to click), which just might land you a new connection, or even a prospect or solid lead!
In the end we’re all in business to make money, in order to sustain our lifestyle. Prospects and leads are crucial to finalizing a sale and bringing in the paycheck!
Killer content marketing drives the connection necessary to get prospect eyes on your product(s) and service(s) prize!
2. Let’s Talk Lists!
You want people to sign-up to your lists, right? Of course. Your list, or email list if you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, is something you own and it won’t go away unless you do something really stupid.
But, in order to add new lovelies to that list, or those lists – many a savvy marketer segments, so has more than one list – you have to – YES – get them to your site. Content you’ve created is a big draw when it comes to creating clicks that land eyes on your site.
When your content marketing efforts are of the killer sort, those who see it will undoubtedly want to see more. And when they want more, they like it delivered straight to their inbox. That means more list lovelies!
3. When It’s New (And Awesome), People Want To Share It!
Social media shares generally don’t get as much reach and response as unique content, whether it be an image or a link to an article or video.
Social media marketing and smart sharing is valuable to your overall marketing efforts. You don’t want to be the “it’s all about ME marketer,” after all.
But, creating unique content for your social media platforms, content that drives prospects back to your site, your calls to action and your list building efforts is really the end goal.
And it doesn’t have to take hours and hours! Twitter’s a great place for unique content sharing, even and especially with images, in 140 characters or less. Pretty please Twitter top brass, don’t raise the limit to 10K characters. SHUDDER!
4. Content Marketing Creates Conversation(s)!
Taking a stand on an issue, sharing your unique perspective or taking on the devil’s advocate role can create conversation or discussion.
Discussions and the further sharing of ideas can often spark interest in other things you have to say and share.
5. Content Marketing Inspires, Invokes & Influences!
What’s influence? It’s that special something that comes when the content you share strikes a chord, is highly valuable, generates trust or drives a discussion.
Sharing the content of others is great, and shows you’re generous and on top of your industry.
But, creating content that inspires is one of the best ways to gain an influential position and credibility in your target market.
With influence comes greater interaction and with more interaction you gain more interest in your service offerings. When you inspire someone to take action, you just might be the one hired to help implement that action!
So ….. Are You Ready To Create Some Killer Content?
Hopefully one of these five content creation benefits will strike with the AHA moment needed to make creating content one of your main marketing pursuits!
How will you up the ante on your content marketing as 2016 continues?
Publication Details
Originally published on the Go Creative Go site in 2016.
by malliehart | Aug 8, 2024 | Corporate Social Media Posts
SaaS Solution Reseller Posts For X (Twitter)
The following tweets were written for SaaS resellers, specifically Laserfiche document management and process automation resellers. All posts were published between 2020 and 2024.
Document Management 101: Archive and delete documents and other files regularly.
Outdated and obsolete files don’t just take up space. They can also get you in trouble for lack of compliance!
#DocumentManagement #Laserfiche
ECM systems make auditors’ jobs easier. Audit trails provide a detailed history of the actions performed on each document in your repository and can be accessed to create reports.
#ECM #Laserfiche
Outdated processes and workflows that hinder productivity and efficiency are just one of the downsides of waiting too long to launch your digital transformation.
What’s stopping you from transforming?
#DigitalTransformation #BusinessProcessAutomation
There’s so much more to document management than converting paper to digital files. That’s one step in a long journey toward optimizing business processes and retaining data.
#DocumentManagement #ProcessAutomation
Document Management 101: Use a consistent and logical naming system for document files and folders.
Those names should be easily scannable, naturally ordered, and as descriptive as possible.
#DocumentManagement #Laserfiche
Having a hard time finding important documents? Not sure you’re viewing the latest version? Keep your data secured and easily accessible with a comprehensive and intuitive #DocumentManagementSystem. #DMS #DataSecurity
The littlest changes can make the most significant impact, both positive and negative. Never lose sight of the process behind your products and solutions. Track it all with document versioning. #DocumentManagement #ECM @laserfiche
Automation should no longer be seen as a threat to jobs but as a tool that evolves them. Human and machine collaboration is crucial in today’s rapidly advancing automation market. #HumanizeAutomation #ProcessAutomation
Smoother operations are just the beginning. Discover cost-saving, risk-reducing, profit-boosting benefits with business process automation! #ProcessAutomation @Laserfiche
A human-centered, people-first, approach to automation bridges two worlds; the work done by machines complements and enhances the skills of human employees.
#ProcessAutomation #DigitalTransformation
by malliehart | Aug 8, 2024 | Ghostwritten Social Media Posts
Leadership & Company Culture
The following content was all ghostwritten for a CEO’s LinkedIn profile. All posts were published between 2023 and 2024.
Leadership & Control
Leadership is all about control.
It’s about knowing when to take control and knowing when to let go and delegate.
Control is a valuable skill when you know how to balance it.
#Leadership
Try & Fail
When leaders allow their team members to try and fail, they create and maintain a culture that allows team members to grow and evolve through their efforts.
Hands-on knowledge comes with both success and failure. To never fail is to play it safe. And the most significant gains come when you test your boundaries and leave that place of safety.
#Leadership #KnowledgeManagement
Delegate Well
What does it mean to delegate well?
Leadership by delegation is about trusting your team. This doesn’t mean passing off tasks you don’t want to do.
Rather, leadership must empower members to take ownership and step up to each challenge.
Trust = Growth.
#Leadership #Teamwork
Ideas Over Hierarchy
If your company culture means more than a tagline on your website or social media profiles, you’re likely embracing ideas over hierarchy and job titles.
Good ideas can come from anyone on your team. Back those team members up when they innovate with the company in mind!
#Leadership #CompanyCulture
Remote Work
Remote work continues to shape the business landscape. It’s not going anywhere.
Employee experience is affected by both the opportunities and the challenges remote work presents.
While remote work offers more flexibility and is beneficial to work-life balance, it can also create isolation and gaps in communication.
Leadership must help navigate the positives and pitfalls of remote work when developing and maintaining company culture and employee experience.
#EmployeeExperience #CompanyCulture
Effective Communication
Effective communication is a two-way street. Listening is as essential as speaking.
When you actively and effectively listen, it inspires creative thinking, helps build and maintain trust, makes that team member feel valued and appreciated.
Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more innovative and more open to collaborative efforts.
#Leadership #Listening
by malliehart | Aug 7, 2024 | Ghostwritten Social Media Posts
Smarter Sales & Customer Retention
The following content was all ghostwritten for a customer success representative’s LinkedIn profile. All posts were published between 2023 and 2024.
Transparency In Sales
There’s a lot more to transparency than answering questions openly and honestly.
Transparency also requires that you make information accessible and understandable for everyone involved in the interaction, conversation, or deal.
In sales, transparency requires a clear explanation of product features, costs, and associated risks. This principle assures prospects and current customers make informed decisions based on all the information available. Creating and maintaining trust is crucial to building long-term business relationships.
EthicalSales #SmartSales
Your Greatest Sales Tool
The greatest tool in your sales arsenal is? Listening. Sure, knowing your product, charm, and charisma all help. But if you can’t or won’t listen to what your lead says, you’ll end up selling what they think they want, rather than what they need.
Take the time to listen to what your leads want. Then ask smart follow-up questions and listen to the answers. Only then can you take all that you’ve heard and use it to sell a solution, rather than a product or service.
It’s this kind of sale that leads to a long-term relationship and retention.
#SmartSales
You’re Selling Yourself
If implementation is part of what you’re selling as a software reseller, you’re not just selling a product or a solution. You’re selling yourself, and your ability to capably implement the software set-up and roll-out. You’re selling your experience, good and bad, and all that you’ve learned and what has changed as you completed past implementations.
Those looking for software solutions are also looking for the people to BEST implement those solutions. Be THAT reseller!
#SmartSales
Sales AND Retention
Short thought for the day: Your sales team should be rewarded for new sales. No one disagrees with that. But another kind of sales should be just as celebrated. Renewals and follow-up sales to existing clients.
Salespeople who sell and implement so well that they keep clients year after year? Those are the real assets to your sales team!
#SmartSales #CustomerRetention
Change Is Constant
Change is constant.
I’m realizing this as I’m in the middle of a second week of business travel and attending an industry event, in person, for the second week in a row.
So, yes, change is constant. Yet, the phrase, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” remains true.
Digital transformation, doing business digitally, from marketing to records management, it’s all about change. And I have to embrace those changes. I have to keep up with the industry news. I have to keep my customers, prospects, and leads up to date on those changes.
But I still have to engage in ethical sales practices and I still have to walk what I talk. That’s where the “sameness” comes in.
I choose to continue to embrace ethics and ethical practices while I’m traversing ALL the change.
It’s not easy. Or quick. It means sales and implementations aren’t a slam dunk. It means I have to build trust and confidence before I can sell and implement.
But I wouldn’t change that. Not for all the easy and quick sales in the world. Even amidst all that is changing, I choose not to change my ethical sales practice.
#EthicalSales #SmartSales
