How to get fast, fresh & easy ammo to trigger your content marketing

Do you ever fantasize about…

…finding new, quick and simple ways to generate ideas for content marketing articles?

If so, you can stop daydreaming now.

Here’s why. During the past year or so, I wrote a variety of marketing articles from sources on my bookshelf or stored in my computer.

Getting the needed info from these resources, most several years old, took minutes.

So let me share some of the article themes I came up with, and their convenient origins.

You’re payback? By the time you’re done here, you can start using some or all of these ideas to igniteideas for your own stealth marketing campaign.

And, not light-weight pieces either. Your articles can still “pop” with authority and actionable info.

First up…

Scary stories prompt chance to show legal know-how

Legal minefields abound in copywriting and marketing. So showing prospective clients that you’re knowledgeable about these threats is vital.

But coming up with the best approach to do this can be tough.

In fact, I struggled with this last spring–then a website I visit daily, Maajak.com–provided an eerie solution.

The martial arts and strange-news site had displayed the following link: http://io9.com/7-terrifying-cursed-objects-that-exist-in-real-life-1560847160

The article tempted readers with the following headline: “7 Terrifying Cursed Objects That Actually Exist.”

As you can see, the piece cites creepy examples of cursed physical objects that have supposedly caused many unexplained deaths. (You’ll even see Annabelle, of recent movie “fame” in there.)

Bizarre, yes. But for some other reason the article struck a chord—I felt I could use the info in some future copy or content.

Two days later, an idea struck me. It turned into this theme for an article:

   “You wouldn’t want one of those cursed items in your house, would you? What about certain legal landmines? In the same way, you wouldn’t want them in your copy or content either.”

Here’s the head and part of the lead of the piece that resulted:

Do These “Cursed Objects” Haunt Your Health Copy?

10 booby traps that can kill your copy, career, and cash reserves

These stories are bizarre…

They tell of people getting hurt, harassed, or murdered by objects that have dreadful curses placed on them.

Creepy, huh?

But we’re going look at a few anyway before covering how they connect to health copy.

https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/do-these-cursed-objects-haunt-your-health-copy/

In contrast, this next article resource had sat on my bookshelf for almost 15 years. And it provided…

Help from the fog-cloaked streets of 19th century London

The Quotable Sherlock Holmes (Warner Books, Inc., 2000) is a theme-based treasure trove of sayings from the fictional detective.

And, just over a year ago, while glancing through the book, the following well-known Holmes’ quote got me thinking.

 “Data! Data! Data!” he cried impatiently. “I can’t make bricks without clay.”

Were there enough quotes available to cover the process of writing long-form copy or content?

A quick check–online and off–said yes. In fact, some quick paste and copying gave me the bare bones for an article that earned me the easiest $200 I ever made.
The 1,122-word article that followed showed both my grasp of the writing process and my ability to easily and engagingly share it with others.

Here’s the head and lead:

Bull’s Eye Writing Tips…From Sherlock Holmes?

Can the methods of a fictional detective from the fog-shrouded streets of 19th-century London help today’s tech-savvy writer?

Absolutely. In fact, these concepts are so elementary to apply, they can enrich your entire writing experience.

But they’re not just for newer writers. Veterans will find them worth reviewing as well.

Writing a sales letter, landing page, or content marketing article? Doesn’t matter, Sherlock’s principals still apply.

So let’s take a look at how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s consulting detective can help you write more successfully—from start to finish…

http://www.kathrynaragon.com/writing-tips-sherlock/

Later, I used a similar framework in a marketing piece to promote my special report…

Hands down here’s the easiest content marketing promo to write

Even though it’s one of the simplest articles to write, you don’t see a lot of copywriters doing this.

Essentially, you shrink down your marketing special report and use the resulting article to promote that special report.

I saved time and money by doing this last year.

You see, I faced a minor marketing dilemma.

Initially, here’s how I reached prospective clients:

After researching them, I’d personalize my special report, then send it to the printers. From there, I’d mail it at the cheapest rate. This took time and cost about $7 per piece for mailing and printing.

I needed a better, yet still proactive method. Yes, I could have switched website platforms so it could be downloaded from my site. Then drove traffic and so on. However, I didn’t want to do that.

So instead, I wrote the following and posted it on my site:

Avoid the huge mistake most health & fitness marketers make online

Guess who just landed on your website?

It’s Penelope Parkington, 51, whose last teen just moved out. Now she has plenty of time to start doing some of the things she’s put off for the last 20 years—active social life, Caribbean cruise, getting her PHD.

And Penelope wants to look and feel stellar doing those thing. While she doesn’t have money to burn, she does have it to spend—if she’s convinced she’ll get one-of-a kind results.

So she’s on your site looking for nutritional supplements, fitness equipment, or workout DVDs to help her reach her goals. Penelope’s already looked at several other sites, plus she’s looked offline at sales letters and magazine ads.

And each time she’s asking, “What’s separates this stuff from all the rest?”

https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/avoid-the-huge-mistake-most-health-fitness-marketers-make-online/

Then, I used LinkedIn and other social media platforms to get traffic (Did the same with most of the other articles here).

Problem solved.

I used a similar idea several months for this next piece. Here you simply…

Transform a sales page/letter into a story-based marketing article

Last winter, I wanted to push my website content auditing service. Up till then, I had a landing page which had been promoted on social media shortly after creation.

But since marketing stories were the rage, I decided to go that route.

But what story could I use?

Then I got one the old-fashioned way—by eavesdropping.

While at a local deli, I overheard a manager—her nameplate said Rachel—talking to an employee. She complained about how she always had to rescue her little brother from some problem.

“Aha,” I thought, as I waited for my breakfast Panini.

So later that day, I used Rachel’s complaint and my current promo– https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/hey-health-wellness-or-fitness-pro-has-your-website-traffic-flatlineddeadening-sales/ –to create this stealth sales article:

How Rachel got “bit in the butt” trying to be sneaky…but became her company’s hero soon after

What’s worse?

Getting the “Evil Eye” from your boss throughout a two-hour-long meeting and not knowing why…

Or…

…knowing why and realizing you’re about to get “bit in the butt” for a bad decision you made six months ago?

Definitely the latter, decided Rachel, company marketing coordinator.

And glares from Beatrice, her boss’s executive secretary, and Albert, her counterpart in Sales, just jacked up her anxiety even higher.

https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/how-rachel-got-bit-in-the-butt-trying-to-be-sneakybut-became-her-companys-hero-soon-after/

I’m betting you can probably easily do this with your own direct response-style promotions.

Anyway, shortly after finishing that article, I faced another challenge: How do I show prospective clients my knowledge of the rules and regs of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)?

I did that with this final article about an example how…

Unproven claims provoke punishing FTC Fines

The original plan was to do a round-up of several recent FTC rulings from press releases stored in my “FTC” email file.

You know the kind of article I mean.

The FTC caught these companies doing X, so don’t do X. Not too original.

However, a careful re-reading of the releases and linked info revealed a crucial tidbit in one of the rulings. In fact, this affects how even you—and I–might handle a future project.

In essence, a company used a third-party endorsement about the successes of a nutritional ingredient as evidence that their formula could thwart diabetes.

The court’s reply? “Unacceptable.”

Focusing on that angle, I wrote the following:

Attention Supplement Marketers:
Is This Copywriting “Technique” Setting You up for a Hefty FTC Fine?

When a Glendale, Calif., company tried to use this popular technique as part of their defense against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…

…A federal judge in California denied its use and slammed them with a $2.2 million dollar judgment.

The court had accused the Wellness Support Network, Inc. (WNS), with marketing bogus products that claimed to treat and prevent diabetes, the agency’s press release reported.

https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/attention-supplement-marketers-is-this-copywriting-technique-setting-you-up-for-a-hefty-ftc-fine-2/

The social media and website payoffs were jarringly good. Hundreds of favorable comments, clicks and connections.

So let’s conclude with more about that notion of payoffs.

You’ll get at least 4 if you remember and use these 5 tips.

•  You’ll have peace of mind as you start your projects. Why? Because you know you can get the info you need lickety-split.

•   You’ll pump out commanding content faster and easier than ever.

•   AND, you won’t be dipping from the same pool as your competition. The sources you use may be comparable, but the material will be uniquely your own.

So keep these in mind…and go from empty fantasies to the reality of prolific content marketing.