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On May 16, 2018 By In Business Blog, Open Sky Copywriting

Distilling Experience Into Advertising for Your Small Business

As a small business owner, how do you create marketing that is potent and persuasive without breaking the bank?

From advertisements alone, your target market is exposed to thousands of messages every day. Putting a number to it is difficult. Researchers have said anywhere from 100 to 5000 ads per day. When you think about it, almost everywhere we go, physically or digitally, there is advertising.

Corporations have entire departments with seasoned professionals devoted to winning your attention. They employ research and data firms to find out as much about you as possible. Then they spend thousands, even millions on buying ad space in all the places they think you’ll be.

For this reason many small business owners back away from marketing and rely solely on referrals. But you can have potent marketing without investing all of your profit into media buying.

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On May 9, 2018 By In Business Blog, Open Sky Copywriting

Bill Gates’ Secret to Being Useful From 1996

In 1996 Bill Gates said that content would be the future of the internet. Nearly 20 years later, we can see that he was bang on. In fact, the internet is flooded with content: games, articles, cartoons, videos, memes, podcasts, music, streaming audio and video, and web apps.

To the annoyance of many, corporations have begun to catch on to this as well. We get bombarded with content that just doesn’t matter to us. But any smart organization knows that if they are going to provide an attractive user experience, they have to provide content that matters to the user.

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On May 2, 2018 By In Open Sky Copywriting

Rhythm In Your Content Marketing Mix: Creating an Engaging Content Strategy

The traditional marketing mix follows the 4 P’s model: price, product, place, and promotion. But marketing within that model requires some finesse. Especially in your content marketing mix. So give your marketing some rhythm.

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On April 25, 2018 By In Business Blog, Open Sky Copywriting

Create Advertising People Want to Read; Think Like a News Editor

In advertising, relevance is king. The message of the ad has to matter to your audience. The same goes for news agencies. If the news story isn’t relevant, it won’t get ratings or readers.

How news editors pick stories for each issue will teach you a lot about how to develop your next advertising campaign.

You can make your advertising sound like “breaking news” or a big announcement, but I’m talking more about how news editors pick stories that their audience wants to read or see.

How do you craft advertising that your audience wants to see?

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Small Business Marketing - The Coffee Shop Principle - Joel Arndt

On April 10, 2018 By In Business Blog, Open Sky Copywriting

Small Business Marketing – The Coffee Shop Principle

Whether you like it or not, you don’t have a business without the right attention.

Small business marketing fails when trying to grab everyone’s attention all at once. It’s like being in a coffee shop, shouting at everyone to buy your product. It can work if someone there is desperate for what you’re offering. But mostly you’re going to piss people off.

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On May 13, 2016 By In Open Sky Copywriting

Inside the Marketing That Powers GoWrench Auto’s Industry Disruption

GoWrench Auto is a Hamilton company that’s disrupting the auto repair industry. They’re expanding to other cities and building an app. Referrals, content and digital marketing power their expansion.

Getting your car serviced is like going to the doctors. You need to take time off work or out of your family life to get it done. You’re either sitting in a waiting room for 45 minutes or driving to the shop, getting a shuttle back to work, then getting a shuttle back to the shop, and driving home or back to work. Inconvenient. But that’s how it is. (more…)

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On May 12, 2016 By In Open Sky Copywriting

Twitter’s influencer pipe dream

Influencers are millennials trying to cash in on their social media followers.

Twitter wants you to believe that influencers drive purchase decisions.

This social media exec says otherwise.

“Just because photos look good and have 200,000 followers means nothing. You can’t rely on content creators all day long.”

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On April 12, 2016 By In Open Sky Copywriting

What is Facebook Instant Articles?

Have you seen the links on Facebook with the little lightning bolt icon in the top right corner yet?

Tap the link and, woosh, the article swoops in from the right. It was quick and you didn’t have to leave the Facebook app. Scrolling is smooth, images, videos and ads fit perfectly, and liking or sharing is only tap away.

This is a Facebook Instant Article. Last year Facebook invited a handful of publishers to test Instant Articles. Today (Tuesday, April 12th, 2016) Facebook is opening the platform up to everyone. (more…)

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On April 11, 2016 By In Open Sky Copywriting

6 Websites That Create an Inspiring Reading Experience

If you’re going to publish content for customers or readers, make reading an inspiring experience.

Just like the sales process, you want as little friction as possible when people encounter your content. Providing an enjoyable reading environment makes your message memorable, holds readers to the content longer, promotes sharing, and could even lead to inspired action. (more…)

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On April 2, 2015 By In Open Sky Copywriting

The Marketing Engine You Can Rely On for Years to Come

“Do you think car engines are better quality now than they were 20 years ago?”

“In general, yes. But not better than 40 years ago.”

I asked my best friend this question because he is currently rebuilding his 1974 El Camino. He is a car nut and mechanical genius. His answer caught me off guard, so I dug for clarity.

“What made cars that much better 40 years ago?”

His reply made me think of the current state of marketing.

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