This guest post is by Marcus Sheridan of The Sale Lion.

Were all communicators. Thats what we do. Some of us love the feel of pen in hand. Others find joy as the fingers hit the key pad. But for me, the magic is in the communion that occurs in front of a live audience, a place where I feel more at home than any other.

Like you, Im a blogger. Im also a business owner. In fact, I own a swimming pool company. Ten years ago, I started the business with my two partners. The challenges of entrepreneurship were satisfying for the first seven years, but three years ago I knew my time of being a “pool guy” was coming to an end and the next phase of my life would soon begin.

Although I wasnt exactly clear where I was headed, I knew I wanted to be a professional speaker, and I also knew I wanted to help as many people and businesses as possible to reach their potential.

But to be a professional speaker, it has to start somewhere. You cant just say, Im a speaker and then boom!all of the sudden youre booked up for months and months.

So thats what I want to talk about today. I want to share my journey and it is my hope that youll find some lessons here that you might also apply to your life, and ultimately reach the goals you currently envision.

Phase 1: Kicking down the first door

Often times, the hardest step in professional speaking is getting the initial opportunity. In my case, being in the swimming pool industry, there was one main event held each year at the National Pool/Spa Convention in Las Vegas. But to speak there, I had a few cards stacked against me. The first of which was the fact that I was only 30 years old (meaning Id be far and away the youngest speaker). The second was the fact that I had very few connections in the industry.

Notwithstanding my low chances of entry, I decided to find out who the head of the event was, and soon learned it was a lady named Tracy. Therefore, when the show came around a little over three years ago and I attended, I found out where Tracys office was and, tossing all fear aside, I decided to approach her. Walking straight into her office at the show, I had the following conversation with her:

Me: Hello, you must be Tracy.
Tracy: Yes, thatd be me. And who are you?
Me: My name is Marcus Sheridan, and Im the best speaker youve never had. (With a big, big smile.)
Tracy: (laughing) Really now? And tell me Marcus, what can you speak about?
Me: Ill speak on anything you wantSales, Marketing, Im ready.
Tracy: How about a hot tub sales class?
Me: Ill give the best Hot tub sales class youve ever had. (Again, with a big smile.)
Tracy: Hmmm, and how can I be sure youre good?
Me: Ive got a DVD of some videos Ive made for my company in the past. (I hand it to her.) I think if you watch them, youll see Ill be a good fit.
Tracy: Whats your price?
Me: Im just asking for a chance. Thats all. If Im good, then well talk price for next year when you bring me back. (Again, with a big smile.)
Tracy: Okay, Ill let you know, Marcus.

About a week later, Tracy emailed me and let me know that she was inviting me to speak at the convention. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Since that time, Ive spoken at all the events for the National Pool/Spa Conference, and I get paid well to do so.

Lesson one: Getting in your first door sometime takes guts. I approached Tracy the way I did because I knew the cards were stacked against me. So dare to be different. Be original. By so doing, you may be very surprised to hear that magic phrase: “Youre in!”

Phase 2: Pushing harder, building momentum

Just a little over two years ago, I started blogging about content and inbound marketing for business, as well as personal development principles on my blog, The Sales Lion. Knowing that I wanted to again break into the speaking realm of my new industry, I did two key things:

1. I produced helpful and powerful content at least two times a week, without fail, for over a year.
2. I took the video recordings of the events Id done in the swimming pool industry and placed them on my site so others could see me in action.

Upon doing this, slowly folks in the blogging and marketing realm started seeing me as a fresh voice and also noticed from the videos that speaking was my passion.

Wanting badly to speak at an industry event, in January of last year, I submitted a speaking application to Blog World to speak at their New York event. As many of you might know, they get hundreds upon hundreds of applications, and have to turn away a very high majority of these applicants.

In my case, it was no different: Blog World turned me down. Instead of speaking, I hopped in the plane and went to listen instead.

Like everything in life, though, things happen for a reason, and I didnt allow the rejection of my proposal to deter the enjoyment I had for the event, and my continued vision of what was still possible.

In March of last year, I finally got my first break. Within the course of two weeks, I was asked to speak at two industry events.

The first was the MarketingSherpa SEO conference in Atlanta, Georgia. They had heard my success story of using content marketing with my pool company and asked if Id be willing to share my message. Just as had happened two years before, they could not pay me for the event, nor could they pay my plane ticket, but it was an opportunity, and I took it.

The other invitation was from another person who had noticed my blog and read about my success as a “pool guy.” His name was Joe Pulizzi, the founder of Junta42, and he was gathering speakers for his inaugural eventContent Marketing World.

Never having seen me speak, Joe told me he could give me 25 minutes to share my message. I knew it wasnt much time, but it was better than nothing. Once again, I had to pay my way and all of my expenses.

Lesson two: Sometimes youve just got to get your foot in the door, even if it costs you money. If youre good at speaking, it will be more than worth the time and investment, as youll now see.

Phase 3: The moment of truth

To make a long story short, the event at MarketingSherpa was a hit. My unique story and presentation style made quite an impression, and a few weeks later the event coordinator asked me to speak at their 2012 Email Marketing Summit in Las Vegas. This time, though, I would be paid, and would also be one of the keynotes, along with Brian Solis.

Although the Sherpa conference was great, Content Marketing World was even better. The event was this past September and I knew going in that many folks I highly, highly respect in the industry would be in attendance.

Just as with the MarketingSherpa presentation, my session went very, very well. In fact, as soon as I was done with speaking, I was immediately approached by Deb Ng, who coordinates all the speakers for Blog World. On the spot, she asked me if Id be willing to present at their Los Angeles event this past November. As you might imagine, I happily accepted, and was speaking in LA a couple of months later.

But Deb wasnt the only one who was in the audience listening. That same day, the founder of Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner, asked me to speak at his online small business summit in February of 2012. This also led to guest posts on his incredible site and loads of exposure I otherwise never would have received.

Furthermore, another gentleman in the audience who was listening asked me to speak at the MeshMarketing conference in Toronto a few months later, which wound up being the first time Id ever done an event outside of the United States.

Literally, with these two events alone, my entire career started to snowball. Now, as I look ahead to all the events planned for 2012, I can only smile.

Lesson three: Carpe diem! When the moment arrives, seize it.

Endless possibilities

This year Ill be speaking at both Blog Worlds, and Content Marketing World as a keynote, as well as multiple other summits and conventions.

Thats the thing about speakingonce the snowball gets rolling, it will roll very, very fast, as one event will open up the door to three or four others. Unfortunately, most folks simply dont hang around long enough to watch this snowball grow and pick up speed.

Im not here to say that becoming a professional speaker from your blog is easy. Without question, its going to require guts, persistence, and an iron will. But it is possible.

So if this is a dream you have, my suggestion is you go out there and get it. Dont wait for it to pass on by. Will your future. Walk into the office of your target event and tell the person youre awesome.

And then, when the moment of truth comes, give the best dang presentation youve ever given.

If you liked this article, youll love Marcus Sheridans site, The Sale Lion. And while there, dont miss the opportunity to download his FREE, 230-page eBook: Inbound and Content Marketing Made Easy.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

From Small-time Blogger to Professional Paid Speaker: My Journey

This guest post is by Marcus Sheridan of The Sale Lion.

Were all communicators. Thats what we do. Some of us love the feel of pen in hand. Others find joy as the fingers hit the key pad. But for me, the magic is in the communion that occurs in front of a live audience, a place where I feel more at home than any other.

Like you, Im a blogger. Im also a business owner. In fact, I own a swimming pool company. Ten years ago, I started the business with my two partners. The challenges of entrepreneurship were satisfying for the first seven years, but three years ago I knew my time of being a “pool guy” was coming to an end and the next phase of my life would soon begin.

Although I wasnt exactly clear where I was headed, I knew I wanted to be a professional speaker, and I also knew I wanted to help as many people and businesses as possible to reach their potential.

But to be a professional speaker, it has to start somewhere. You cant just say, Im a speaker and then boom!all of the sudden youre booked up for months and months.

So thats what I want to talk about today. I want to share my journey and it is my hope that youll find some lessons here that you might also apply to your life, and ultimately reach the goals you currently envision.

Phase 1: Kicking down the first door

Often times, the hardest step in professional speaking is getting the initial opportunity. In my case, being in the swimming pool industry, there was one main event held each year at the National Pool/Spa Convention in Las Vegas. But to speak there, I had a few cards stacked against me. The first of which was the fact that I was only 30 years old (meaning Id be far and away the youngest speaker). The second was the fact that I had very few connections in the industry.

Notwithstanding my low chances of entry, I decided to find out who the head of the event was, and soon learned it was a lady named Tracy. Therefore, when the show came around a little over three years ago and I attended, I found out where Tracys office was and, tossing all fear aside, I decided to approach her. Walking straight into her office at the show, I had the following conversation with her:

Me: Hello, you must be Tracy.
Tracy: Yes, thatd be me. And who are you?
Me: My name is Marcus Sheridan, and Im the best speaker youve never had. (With a big, big smile.)
Tracy: (laughing) Really now? And tell me Marcus, what can you speak about?
Me: Ill speak on anything you wantSales, Marketing, Im ready.
Tracy: How about a hot tub sales class?
Me: Ill give the best Hot tub sales class youve ever had. (Again, with a big smile.)
Tracy: Hmmm, and how can I be sure youre good?
Me: Ive got a DVD of some videos Ive made for my company in the past. (I hand it to her.) I think if you watch them, youll see Ill be a good fit.
Tracy: Whats your price?
Me: Im just asking for a chance. Thats all. If Im good, then well talk price for next year when you bring me back. (Again, with a big smile.)
Tracy: Okay, Ill let you know, Marcus.

About a week later, Tracy emailed me and let me know that she was inviting me to speak at the convention. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Since that time, Ive spoken at all the events for the National Pool/Spa Conference, and I get paid well to do so.

Lesson one: Getting in your first door sometime takes guts. I approached Tracy the way I did because I knew the cards were stacked against me. So dare to be different. Be original. By so doing, you may be very surprised to hear that magic phrase: “Youre in!”

Phase 2: Pushing harder, building momentum

Just a little over two years ago, I started blogging about content and inbound marketing for business, as well as personal development principles on my blog, The Sales Lion. Knowing that I wanted to again break into the speaking realm of my new industry, I did two key things:

1. I produced helpful and powerful content at least two times a week, without fail, for over a year.
2. I took the video recordings of the events Id done in the swimming pool industry and placed them on my site so others could see me in action.

Upon doing this, slowly folks in the blogging and marketing realm started seeing me as a fresh voice and also noticed from the videos that speaking was my passion.

Wanting badly to speak at an industry event, in January of last year, I submitted a speaking application to Blog World to speak at their New York event. As many of you might know, they get hundreds upon hundreds of applications, and have to turn away a very high majority of these applicants.

In my case, it was no different: Blog World turned me down. Instead of speaking, I hopped in the plane and went to listen instead.

Like everything in life, though, things happen for a reason, and I didnt allow the rejection of my proposal to deter the enjoyment I had for the event, and my continued vision of what was still possible.

In March of last year, I finally got my first break. Within the course of two weeks, I was asked to speak at two industry events.

The first was the MarketingSherpa SEO conference in Atlanta, Georgia. They had heard my success story of using content marketing with my pool company and asked if Id be willing to share my message. Just as had happened two years before, they could not pay me for the event, nor could they pay my plane ticket, but it was an opportunity, and I took it.

The other invitation was from another person who had noticed my blog and read about my success as a “pool guy.” His name was Joe Pulizzi, the founder of Junta42, and he was gathering speakers for his inaugural eventContent Marketing World.

Never having seen me speak, Joe told me he could give me 25 minutes to share my message. I knew it wasnt much time, but it was better than nothing. Once again, I had to pay my way and all of my expenses.

Lesson two: Sometimes youve just got to get your foot in the door, even if it costs you money. If youre good at speaking, it will be more than worth the time and investment, as youll now see.

Phase 3: The moment of truth

To make a long story short, the event at MarketingSherpa was a hit. My unique story and presentation style made quite an impression, and a few weeks later the event coordinator asked me to speak at their 2012 Email Marketing Summit in Las Vegas. This time, though, I would be paid, and would also be one of the keynotes, along with Brian Solis.

Although the Sherpa conference was great, Content Marketing World was even better. The event was this past September and I knew going in that many folks I highly, highly respect in the industry would be in attendance.

Just as with the MarketingSherpa presentation, my session went very, very well. In fact, as soon as I was done with speaking, I was immediately approached by Deb Ng, who coordinates all the speakers for Blog World. On the spot, she asked me if Id be willing to present at their Los Angeles event this past November. As you might imagine, I happily accepted, and was speaking in LA a couple of months later.

But Deb wasnt the only one who was in the audience listening. That same day, the founder of Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner, asked me to speak at his online small business summit in February of 2012. This also led to guest posts on his incredible site and loads of exposure I otherwise never would have received.

Furthermore, another gentleman in the audience who was listening asked me to speak at the MeshMarketing conference in Toronto a few months later, which wound up being the first time Id ever done an event outside of the United States.

Literally, with these two events alone, my entire career started to snowball. Now, as I look ahead to all the events planned for 2012, I can only smile.

Lesson three: Carpe diem! When the moment arrives, seize it.

Endless possibilities

This year Ill be speaking at both Blog Worlds, and Content Marketing World as a keynote, as well as multiple other summits and conventions.

Thats the thing about speakingonce the snowball gets rolling, it will roll very, very fast, as one event will open up the door to three or four others. Unfortunately, most folks simply dont hang around long enough to watch this snowball grow and pick up speed.

Im not here to say that becoming a professional speaker from your blog is easy. Without question, its going to require guts, persistence, and an iron will. But it is possible.

So if this is a dream you have, my suggestion is you go out there and get it. Dont wait for it to pass on by. Will your future. Walk into the office of your target event and tell the person youre awesome.

And then, when the moment of truth comes, give the best dang presentation youve ever given.

If you liked this article, youll love Marcus Sheridans site, The Sale Lion. And while there, dont miss the opportunity to download his FREE, 230-page eBook: Inbound and Content Marketing Made Easy.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

From Small-time Blogger to Professional Paid Speaker: My Journey

This guest post is by Greg McFarlane of Control Your Cash.

Everyone has them, except possibly R.L. Stine. Im referring to those days when youre lacking either the inspiration or the energy to write something fresh and/or inventive.

If you can somehow get those days to occur on a regular schedule, say weekly, theres a solution. Outsourcing.

Im not talking about running guest posts, nor contributions from freelance or staff writers. I mean leveraging the work of dozens of other bloggers in your genre, for your mutual benefit.

Host a blog carnival: a roundup of timely posts from other bloggers, concentrating on a particular area of interest. Your colleagues write the posts, then you assemble, fold, collate, and link to them for presentation to your regular audience.

My blog, Control Your Cash, hosts the weekly Carnival of Wealth. As you can probably deduce, the carnival is germane to my blogs focus on personal finance. The Carnival of Wealth goes live at around 2pm GMT every Monday and features bloggers from, at last count, four continents.

Every week I receive dozens of submissions, which means that my biggest challenge is getting each weeks edition of the carnival down to a workable size. The carnival posts frequently receive the most comments and trackbacks of any posts on my site. In other words, hosting a carnival means something for everyone. In descending order of importance, thats:

• interesting content for my readers and my contributors readers
• an increase in legitimate visitors for my site
• an increase in legitimate visitors for the contributors sites
• a respite from research for me
• inbound and outgoing links aplenty for everyone.

Where it all began

Id love to take credit for creating my carnival from scratch, but the truth is that I picked it up secondhand. Its the brainchild of Shailesh Kumar at Value Stock Guide, who started the carnival a year and a half after he began blogging about personal finance. During that period, while he got to know similar bloggers, his own blog found its voicea fusion of personal finance and lifestyle, vaguely similar to what I do at Control Your Cash.

As a submitter to other carnivals, Shailesh had trouble finding ones whose area of interest overlapped his own. His posts were too personal finance for the lifestyle carnivals, too lifestyle for the personal finance carnivals. So he created his own, an amalgam of the two. As Shailesh puts it, There was no one carnival that addressed this super-genre.

Leveraging the goodwill and/or notoriety that come with commenting on other sites, the Carnival of Wealths founder received 20-odd submissions for each of the first few editions. Most of those were via invitation, rather than from bloggers who read the announcement of the carnival and then decided to submit.

As a carnival builds, a combination of momentum and prodding helps it grow. It requires haranguing your submitters to tweet about the carnival, and to share it on social networks, which theyll probably be happy to do anyway. Simple courtesy dictates that anyone who submits to a carnival should offer a reciprocal link, but even the promise of a unilateral link is enough to attract other bloggers and help a carnival grow.

(If youre wondering, I had originally offered to host the Carnival of Wealth once a month. And did so. Then, after a few months, I got the opportunity to take it over permanently and jumped at the chance.)

How it works

The mechanics of hosting a carnival are straightforward. To keep the submitters happy, Ive made it easy for them to submit their posts. My carnival has a dedicated page at BlogCarnival.com, with rules for submitting and a firm deadline. Each submitter includes a summary of her post, and if it fits (many of them dont come close), I run it.

BlogCarnival.com sends me the submissions as theyre received, which I then hold onto and leave unopened until Im ready to begin assembling. One thing Ive learned is that its inefficient to deal with each submission as it arrives, and then add it to the carnival if it passes muster. Better to let the submissions collect until the deadline, then address them en masse in one concentrated writing session.

Hosting other peoples work in a carnival doesnt have to mean surrendering the tone that distinguishes your blog. Far from it. I make it a point to showcase every edition of the Carnival of Wealth in the same style that my site is infamous for.

The best part of hosting a carnival is that it guarantees me a slew of readers who wouldnt normally visit my site. Fans of the submitters who make the cut will leave comments on Control Your Cash, and hopefully bookmark it.

The Carnival of Wealth is anomalous in that the same blog hosts it every week. Most carnivals rotate among a series of bloggers, each of whom gets penciled into the schedule months in advance, whereas I seldom incorporate guest hosts. (In fact, I only do so when the Carnival of Wealth conflicts with my spot in the rotation for someone elses carnival.)

Id rather have people visit my site. And Id rather have my readers know they can find the Carnival of Wealth as a regularly scheduled feature on Control Your Cash, as opposed to anywhere else. Plus the carnival roundups are just plain fun to write, and doing so gives me the opportunity to read some brilliant posts that Id never have discovered otherwise.

Hosting a carnival can be a lot of work in the initial stages. But its work with a huge capacity for leverage. When you host a carnival, it fosters relationships with like-minded bloggers and readers. Done correctly, it cant help but make your blog grow.

Greg McFarlane is an advertising copywriter who lives in Las Vegas. He recently wrote Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense, a financial primer for people in their 20s and 30s who know nothing about money. You can buy the book here (physical) orhere(Kindle) and reach Greg at greg@ControlYourCash.com.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Create and Host a Blog Carnival

This guest post is by Greg McFarlane of Control Your Cash.

Everyone has them, except possibly R.L. Stine. Im referring to those days when youre lacking either the inspiration or the energy to write something fresh and/or inventive.

If you can somehow get those days to occur on a regular schedule, say weekly, theres a solution. Outsourcing.

Im not talking about running guest posts, nor contributions from freelance or staff writers. I mean leveraging the work of dozens of other bloggers in your genre, for your mutual benefit.

Host a blog carnival: a roundup of timely posts from other bloggers, concentrating on a particular area of interest. Your colleagues write the posts, then you assemble, fold, collate, and link to them for presentation to your regular audience.

My blog, Control Your Cash, hosts the weekly Carnival of Wealth. As you can probably deduce, the carnival is germane to my blogs focus on personal finance. The Carnival of Wealth goes live at around 2pm GMT every Monday and features bloggers from, at last count, four continents.

Every week I receive dozens of submissions, which means that my biggest challenge is getting each weeks edition of the carnival down to a workable size. The carnival posts frequently receive the most comments and trackbacks of any posts on my site. In other words, hosting a carnival means something for everyone. In descending order of importance, thats:

• interesting content for my readers and my contributors readers
• an increase in legitimate visitors for my site
• an increase in legitimate visitors for the contributors sites
• a respite from research for me
• inbound and outgoing links aplenty for everyone.

Where it all began

Id love to take credit for creating my carnival from scratch, but the truth is that I picked it up secondhand. Its the brainchild of Shailesh Kumar at Value Stock Guide, who started the carnival a year and a half after he began blogging about personal finance. During that period, while he got to know similar bloggers, his own blog found its voicea fusion of personal finance and lifestyle, vaguely similar to what I do at Control Your Cash.

As a submitter to other carnivals, Shailesh had trouble finding ones whose area of interest overlapped his own. His posts were too personal finance for the lifestyle carnivals, too lifestyle for the personal finance carnivals. So he created his own, an amalgam of the two. As Shailesh puts it, There was no one carnival that addressed this super-genre.

Leveraging the goodwill and/or notoriety that come with commenting on other sites, the Carnival of Wealths founder received 20-odd submissions for each of the first few editions. Most of those were via invitation, rather than from bloggers who read the announcement of the carnival and then decided to submit.

As a carnival builds, a combination of momentum and prodding helps it grow. It requires haranguing your submitters to tweet about the carnival, and to share it on social networks, which theyll probably be happy to do anyway. Simple courtesy dictates that anyone who submits to a carnival should offer a reciprocal link, but even the promise of a unilateral link is enough to attract other bloggers and help a carnival grow.

(If youre wondering, I had originally offered to host the Carnival of Wealth once a month. And did so. Then, after a few months, I got the opportunity to take it over permanently and jumped at the chance.)

How it works

The mechanics of hosting a carnival are straightforward. To keep the submitters happy, Ive made it easy for them to submit their posts. My carnival has a dedicated page at BlogCarnival.com, with rules for submitting and a firm deadline. Each submitter includes a summary of her post, and if it fits (many of them dont come close), I run it.

BlogCarnival.com sends me the submissions as theyre received, which I then hold onto and leave unopened until Im ready to begin assembling. One thing Ive learned is that its inefficient to deal with each submission as it arrives, and then add it to the carnival if it passes muster. Better to let the submissions collect until the deadline, then address them en masse in one concentrated writing session.

Hosting other peoples work in a carnival doesnt have to mean surrendering the tone that distinguishes your blog. Far from it. I make it a point to showcase every edition of the Carnival of Wealth in the same style that my site is infamous for.

The best part of hosting a carnival is that it guarantees me a slew of readers who wouldnt normally visit my site. Fans of the submitters who make the cut will leave comments on Control Your Cash, and hopefully bookmark it.

The Carnival of Wealth is anomalous in that the same blog hosts it every week. Most carnivals rotate among a series of bloggers, each of whom gets penciled into the schedule months in advance, whereas I seldom incorporate guest hosts. (In fact, I only do so when the Carnival of Wealth conflicts with my spot in the rotation for someone elses carnival.)

Id rather have people visit my site. And Id rather have my readers know they can find the Carnival of Wealth as a regularly scheduled feature on Control Your Cash, as opposed to anywhere else. Plus the carnival roundups are just plain fun to write, and doing so gives me the opportunity to read some brilliant posts that Id never have discovered otherwise.

Hosting a carnival can be a lot of work in the initial stages. But its work with a huge capacity for leverage. When you host a carnival, it fosters relationships with like-minded bloggers and readers. Done correctly, it cant help but make your blog grow.

Greg McFarlane is an advertising copywriter who lives in Las Vegas. He recently wrote Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense, a financial primer for people in their 20s and 30s who know nothing about money. You can buy the book here (physical) orhere(Kindle) and reach Greg at greg@ControlYourCash.com.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Create and Host a Blog Carnival

This guest post is by Neil Patel of KISSmetrics.

If you want to create blog posts, white papers, and even ebooks that clearly communicate your idea and compel your readers to do whatever you ask, you need to use this little formula.

It deals with the four different learning abilities people have, but its also based in a rock-solid copywriting technique Ill tell you about in a minute.

Lets take a look.

Learning styles and decision-making

There are basically four learning styles:

• Analytic: These learners like facts and will evaluate how your information compares to other facts and competing claims. About 20% of people are analytic.
• Commonsense: These learners are practical and want to know how things work. About 20% of people are commonsense learners.
• Dynamic: These learners look for interesting information, but are more gut learners and teachers. They want this information for themselves and for others. Approximately 25% of people are dynamic learners.
• Innovative: These learners demand reasons why they should learn something. They look for the personal benefit in content. Innovative learners make up the most of people at 35%.

This analysis may seem a little too scientific for writing blog content, but its not. Its really relevant to another common formula known as AIDA, which says that each of us moves through four stages in the decision-making process: attention, interest, desire, and action.

As Ill show here, youll gain attention when you approach the beginning of a post with the innovative learner in mind. Youll stoke interest as you make the analytic learner happy. When you give the commonsense learner what she wants, youll build desire. And finally, as you create your call to action, youll get the dynamic learner involved, too.

Lets see what this approach to writing looks like.

Grabbing the attention of the innovative learner

Every good writer knows that its the headline that attracts attention, and explains why you should read the article. It gives a compelling reason, something the innovative learner demands.

Great headlines have four qualities. They are:

• Unique: A unique headline is one that nobody else can use because of its unique selling proposition. If 40 other blog posts could use it, then it is too general.
• Useful: The reason why how-to guides are popular is because you get answers to your problems, which, as you can imagine, the innovative learner loves.
• Ultra-specific: My post, 10 SEO Trends You Cant Ignore If You Want High Rankings is a good example of ultra-specific since I used both a number and isolated this post to SEOs.
• Urgent: By putting a deadline into your headline you create urgency. For example, 30 Days until the Price Doubles or Last Chance: Registration Closes at Midnight are urgent headlines.

After youve grabbed the attention of readers with your headline, hook them by writing a great opening paragraph, which starts with a great first sentence. Here are some examples from Huffington Post:

• It was a pleasure to burn. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• “We were just outside of Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Asking questions and using statistics and quotes are also great ways to attract the attention of the innovate learner in the first sentence. So does making a crazy statement that simply cant be true, but then promising to show your reader that it is.

Building interest for the analytic learner

Your next step in writing irresistible content is to build interest through the presentation of cold, hard factssomething the analytic learner needs. In other words, you provide proof of your claims.

Heres an example of proof gone wrong from the copywriter Robert Bly:

A motivational speaker just sent me a free review copy of his new book, published earlier this month.

A banner on the front cover proclaims the book is an international best-seller.

Yet when I check it online, the book is ranked #292,514 on Amazon.

Surely, if this just-published book were in fact an international bestseller, it would be at least in the top 100,000 on Amazon right now, no?

Does the author realize how silly, or at least unbelievable, his claim to bestsellerdom looks to the intelligent reader who bothers to check?

Or is his assumption that people today are so naive they will believe anything correct?

My experience, by the way, is the opposite: people are more skeptical than ever today, and their B.S. detectors have never been more accurate.

The moral of the story is if youre going to make a claim, back it up. Link to your sources, provide graphs and statistics. Most people are not going to believe what you say unless you have proof. So give it to them.

By the way, dont make a claim and then search for data to back it up. The analytic will see right through that. Instead, you should start with the data and then your insight or idea will develop from it.

For example, you can tell the author behind this Social Media Examiner article started with the data first, writing a very insightful article from his findings.

Show the analytic that you’re an authority

Further proof for the analytic learner is authority. You need to prove any claims you make and then you need to show why they should believe you.

One way I show that I have the authority to speak on the subject of writing popular blog posts is by mentioning my blog that was named among the Technorati Top 100. It shows that someone else with lots of credibility recognized me as an expert.

Youll see blogs with As Seen In sections with the logos of important companies and media sources, like the Wall Street Journal, underneath. This is an endorsement and its another way of showing you have authority.

Heres what WordStreams footer looks like:

If sources like Entrepreneur and CNN back you, then people feel they can trust you.

Testimonials from readers and clients are also a form of authority, so dont forget to include one or two when appropriate.

Teasing the commonsense learner with desire

The next step in writing irresistible content is to develop desire for your claims. Youve attracted readers’ attention, built their interest … now you please the commonsense learner who wants to know how something works.

How do you do this?

Simple. Explain what it is that your offer will do for them. Maybe youll show them how to pick stocks, lose weight, or grow an organic garden.

But dont give away the farm. What do I mean by that? Here are some examples Ive seen where writers give away the farm:

• a blog post that explains explicitly what a guy needs to do to pick up hot women
• a sales letter that unpacks the secret to save money for your childs college education right in the letter
• a video sleeve copy that demonstrates the best ways to run a marathon
• a movie trailer that spills all the funniest jokes and the most exciting plot twists.

Dont get me wrong: I appreciated the information. The problem is I didnt buy any of the products or act on any of the advice. Why should I? Everything I needed to know is right in there. No wonder their conversion rate stinks.

Dont over-educate. Tease the commonsense reader into action like this:

• Does your audience want to overcome depression? Then tell them you have a five-step program that will transform them into a happy and productive person but don’t give away the steps free.
• Does your audience want to retire at 21? Then tell them how youve helped hundreds of people build wealth using an ebook marketing strategy a strategy they can get their hands on once they go through a rigorous application process.
• Does your audience want to lose weight? Then tell them youve figured out how exactly to do just that with the right combination of exercise, food, and vitamins. But dont tell them what that combination is. Just tell them how these will make them live healthier and longer.

See how that works?

It tells the commonsense learner what something can do for them, but not how. It doesnt give away the specifics.

Sometimes you can let them peek behind the curtains, like giving them just one of the steps in a six-part process, but not so much that the commonsense learner has everything she needs. Leave something juicy off, dangle it in front of their faces, and promise you will give it to them when they act.

Pushing the dynamic learner to act

Now that youve attracted attention, built interest and developed desire, your audience, namely your dynamic learners, should be primed to pounce on your offer. So, tell them what to do.

There are five characteristics to a good call to action:

• Specific: Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do. Please enter your name and email address to download a free copy of the ebook, for example.
• Meaningful: Readers are more likely to act if you tell them the reason why you want them to act. Register for the event now. We only have ten seats left.
• Repetitive: A good call to action is repeated at least three times in your copy. Each time should be slightly different, but it should always be clear what you want the reader to do. And it should be the same thing each time.
• Smooth: A good call to action is natural to what you are writing. It feels like it ties all your copy together neatly. And it should never scream or be full of hype.
• Polite: It always works bests to ask your reader to do something rather than command them. For example, Why not subscribe right now before the offer ends at midnight? works much better than Subscribe right now before the offer ends at midnight.

Conclusion

Once youve worked your way through the AIDA formula in your copy, youve naturally given each learning style what they want, and in the meantime, written some pretty compelling content a large audience cant resist.

Furthermore, the great thing about this approach is that you could break a topic up into four different posts for each learning style. Or you could do a longer post, including the above approach for all of them. Either way, youll create content that people find irresistible.

What other formulas do you use to create irresistible content?

Neil Patel is the co-founder of KISSmetrics and blogs at Quick Sprout.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Develop Irresistible Content with this 4-Point Formula