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Side Hustle Spark 251: Testimonial to-do’s from Copyblogger

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Pamela Wilson from Copyblogger shares some very pointed suggestions–complete with examples–on how to maximize the value of customer testimonials.

Click the word cloud for the entire post.

As is often the case with Copyblogger content, Pamela’s content could easily comprise a mini-course.

(Easy to sound like a fan-boy when it comes to their stuff.)

A few of her other tips:

  • “Too many testimonials? Run them in columns.”
  • “Break up that wall of text by adding lots of returns so the testimonial is easy to skim.”
  • “Placing testimonials in a slider is like saying, ‘I’m shy about my testimonials so don’t look at them for too long, OK?‘”

Side Hustle Spark 221: “Organize your stuff!” Today: A Chris Guillebeau/Side Hustle School collection

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So yeah, it looks like I’m some kind of fan-boy.
This is actually just a fraction of what I could have posted.

Quote from Chris:
“Never despise small beginnings, and don’t belittle your own accomplishments. Remember them and use them as inspiration as you go on to the next thing.”

Here is the ‘Organize your stuff!’ page in progress.

Side Hustle Spark 218: “Organize your stuff!” Today’s topic: Content speaks volumes.

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Today’s topic: Content marketing.

Here is the ‘Let’s get organized! page in progress.

Another good content marketing quote:
What helps people, helps business. – Leo Burnett

Find more good quotes about content marketing here.

Side Hustle Spark 201: Sharpen your blog posts with Copyblogger’s checklist

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More quality content from Copyblogger and Stefanie Flaxman.

Here is the link to the one-minute video curation. The image above is also linked.

It’s meant to give you an overview of the checklist items, but I encourage you to hit that ‘pause’ button to read the entire post.

Why no audio? I’m figuring if you’re looking at this on your phone in a public setting, you may not want to mess with volume controls. And the writer’s words do just fine without my commentary.

Why not just click to the post? Absolutely, but some folks might just want the device to guide them through the content.

This post raised plenty of points to explore and clarify. I have to better understand ‘featured images’ and the ‘more’ tag.

Hope this gives you a little help as you create your own content.

This content works for folks in all stages of their side hustles, so, by all means, pass this along.

Side Hustle Spark 176: Chris Guillebeau (Side Hustle School) advises on a personalized journal

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As I’ve said before, I could probably just hitch my wagon to and pinpoint good stuff from certain folks or sites.**
Copyblogger, Side Hustle Nation, and ryrob.com come to mind.
And then there’s Chris Guillebeau of Side Hustle School whom I’ve followed since 2014.

Because I’ve also dabbled with a journal prototype, I found a recent episode of his podcast even more relevant than usual.

As Chris points out in the opening, you may have no interest in producing and selling a personal journal, but many of the steps–his word, ‘pathway’– apply to other projects.

Here is the direct link to the actual seven-minutes of audio.

His key points:

  • Projects like this come down to a. design b. printing and c. marketing.
  • Look to team up with designers/contractors [Upwork and Fiverr].
  • Printing options: local, national, or international. At one point, he did use printingforless.com.
  • International printing may be cheaper, but adds variables like lag time [shipping].
  • His advice: For a first project, avoid international printing.
  • Marketing: Think about marketing from the beginning of the project.
  • It’s not just about the product, it’s about the message.
  • Start with message, then explore design.
  • Copyright? Everything that you make on the Internet is automatically copyrighted. It doesn’t mean it won’t be snagged by lazy, low-life toads. [My term, not Chris’s. He’s much more diplomatic than I am.]

Here is a three-page PDF of my own journal prototype–two actual pages that I would have duplicated and a page of links.

** But where’s the fun in that?

Side Hustle Spark 165: Copyblogger: “Connect Your Content!”:

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Coopyblogger Editor-in-chief Stefanie Flaxman shares advice on using internal links to create a ‘web of content’.

Title of post: One Ridiculously Easy Blogging Ingredient that Satisfies Hungry Prospects

The post’s three suggested strategies:

  1. Plan your links. Look for/aim for/point to connections between your posts.
  2. Choose intriguing words and phrases. Use terms that match or pique your visitors’ interests. (Ex. ‘call to action’ and ‘selling points’)
  3. Let your content inspire more content. Link back to previous relevant posts and add a reminder to further explore a concept in future posts.

** Because of the nature of sidehustlecurator, this post is a prime example of do as she says, not as I do.

Also due to the nature of my blog, most posts are merely pointers to the better stuff. DO follow the links!

Side Hustle Spark 164: Email subject line tips from Copyblogger

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I thought I’d follow up the ’email subject lines that worked on me’ post with advice and research from Copyblogger’s Tim Stoddart. (NOTE: **Tim S. offers proven templates further down in the post. Be sure to score those.)

A few more highlights from his November 10, 2020 post:

  • 7 out of 10 campaigns with emojis received more abuse reports.
  • In your A/B tests, change just one variable at a time.
  • Incorporate data in your subject lines.

Here’s hoping the holidays have yielded a few pleasant surprises for you all.

Side Hustle Spark 159 — A Lessons Gold Mine from Side Hustle School

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The graphic above offers just a sampler of the 36 lessons and 2 review sessions you will find at Side Hustle School’s Classroom Page. More to come, I’m pretty sure.

Each lesson consists of a detailed lesson summary and a link to the corresponding podcast episode.

At the risk of sounding not so eloquent, great stuff. As I’ve also noted about Copyblogger’s content, this is a book-on-a-page.

Keep grinding. You never know what sparks might develop!

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash