Are you finding it hard to actively grow your business? Here are 19 actionable resources you can implement right now to supercharge your creative business.
Information is a really bad thing. Or is it?
A subscriber and regular reader of this blog suddenly fell ill recently. Now he has been placed on a compulsory bed rest due to some kind of mental illness he has.
After speaking with him on the phone for a few minutes, I came to the following painful but true conclusion…
Too much information is evil.
In the real sense anyway, too much of anything isn’t good.
This dude had overworked his brain to the point where it can no longer process anything for more than a few minutes.
He can’t even watch movies…that’s how bad it’s gotten.
Anyway, I’m praying for him. But what does mental illness have to do with this roundup?
In this post, I’ll be showing you 19 of the best content I consumed this month. Now the purpose of this roundup is not for you to read and forget.
Actually take the time to click through to the blogs and even bookmark the pages. Most of all, practice some of what you learn (that’s why they’re actionable resources).
Not only would this inform you on the right (and wrong) things to do, but it’ll also supercharge your creative business.
So let’s get to it…
Content Marketing
With the new technologies springing up every day, the demand for content is growing in leaps and bounds.
And that’s why you not only need to understand the science of content marketing. You also need to know how to create content that rocks.
Here are some resources to put you in the right direction.
1. A Data-Driven Guide to Creating Viral Blog Posts [New Infographic]
This just had to be the first. Brain Dean killed it with this one (as usual). In it, Brian shows you how to create viral content.
The interesting thing is he not only includes 21 techniques on how to do this, but also backs each technique up with scientific research and a case study.
I even applied some of his techniques in this post :). Let’s see how that goes.
2. Bee The Bee’s Knees: How You Can Become THE Resource In Your Niche
In this post, Ann Smarty says,
Every website owner wants to be popular, and it is understandable why. Ad revenue, brand visibility, regular traffic, sale conversions, affiliate programs, and much more are dependent on the popularity of your site, blog or company. Without a strong tone of authority behind you, there isn’t much chance of success against stronger competitors.
She also uses 3 companies as case studies and outlines 5 quick tips on how you can build authority as a resource.
3. Don’t Panic, But This Article Was Written by an Algorithm
When I read the headline, my response was, “Are you serious?”
Clearly, Demian Farnworth was damn serious. As he states in this post,
Machines might take over every single dirty, dangerous, dull, and decision-making task in the world, but you can and will adapt.
That’s what makes you a human.
And it’s my hope that the five responses I shared in this article give you hope that not only will you survive the robot raid on human careers, but you will thrive.
You should check out those five responses.
4. 6 Linking Techniques That Will Help Your Content Get Ranked, Found, and Read
With live examples, Niel Patel shows the importance of linking as well as how to do it.
Linking is an integral part of content creation. The wrong linking practices may mean that your content never gets ranked or found. Even worse, misguided linking practices may result in a link penalty.
5. SEJ Wrap Up: How to Make Images SEO Friendly & Retain SEO Clients
Here’s a cool resource on some of the best ways to create visual content, optimize them for search and also retain the clients you get through SEO.
Creativity
We live in a world full of creativity. Your ability to read this post was as a result of someone’s creativity. But how often do you consciously fuel your creative juices?
That’s why I’ve included the following resources. They should give you the boost you need.
6. 10 Rules Thriving Creatives Live By Every Day
Another headline you could give this is: The 10 Commandments Of Successful Creative Professionals. In this post, John shares some real habits we all need to regularly practice.
Even people who don’t sell creative services can learn from this post.
I particularly like #6: Learn from outside your field. One advice there is to “Go see as many movies as you can.”
Awesome!
Where’s the popcorn?
7. How to Increase Creativity
It is difficult—if not impossible—to measure creativity, and everyone is creative in his or her own way. However, there are steps you can take to express your creativity more frequently and more effectively. You will need to commit to making creativity a practice.
I couldn’t agree more.
The 13 tips in this post really show you how to actively boost your creativity.
8. 9 Ways to Increase Profits for Your Creative Business
While this post doesn’t exactly say how to boost creativity, it does show some really cool ways to make more dough.
You may not agree with all the methods mentioned, but you’ll definitely find a few ideas that tickle your fancy. I particularly like “Produce and sell your own products and services”.
9. 5 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity
I’m sharing this post because it includes even more techniques not mentioned in the previous resources.
I particularly like the fifth method.
Whether it be modeling clay or maracas, having fun in a simple, child-like, non-pressure kind of way is sure to set off a spark for more advanced works.
10. 10 Ways to Boost Your Creativity in Less Than 10 Minutes
10 minutes? Really??
As Brenda states,
We all lead busy lives. This doesn’t leave much time in our days to spend creatively, but your creative muscle is just like any other muscle; it needs to be exercised often or it starts to get tense. And we know we can’t let that happen! While you may not have time to sit for hours every day and create something new, you probably have at least 10 minutes to spare.
Lead Generation
Without leads, you really won’t make any money in your business. You need leads to become clients, to buy your products, share your blog posts and even talk about you on social media.
The good thing is leads are everywhere. Unfortunately some of us don’t really know how to acquire these people so they become more involved with our businesses…as I’m hoping you’d share this blog post after reading it :).
Well, the following resources would put you in the right direction.
11. How I Got 100’s of Followers & Subscribers by Publishing on LinkedIn
While guest posting is still very effective, social media is also one awesome pool of leads. As Brian states in this Firepole Marketing post,
Until recently, I always recommended that content marketers focus on high ROI activities like guest posting and SEO while limiting time on social media.
However, I was able to get 1 and 3 articles featured on LinkedIn Pulse by putting my own tips into practice.
Did you see that? I underlined “putting my own tips into practice”.
12. 3 Marketing Experts Tell How Simple Strategies = Big Conversion Boosts
Complexity doesn’t always win. And this post proves it.
Here’s a takeaway from the post:
Start by figuring out what you want people to do. If anything on the page could distract them from a path of doing what you want them to do, then get it the hell off of there.
13. How To Design A Great Ebook Without Design Skills (+ 10 Ebook Page Templates For Your Book)
A lead magnet is one very important part of lead generation. But the design also has to be on point.
In this post on Fizzle, Chase shares a bunch of images, tools and tricks to help you design your own ebook without spending any money on a designer.
It contains 13 steps of pure awesomeness :).
14. How to Generate Leads Through Content Marketing
*Drumroll* It’s Neil Patel again, with another ultra-practical post.
In 7 very actionable steps, Neil shows you from start to finish, how to generate leads, from research to email marketing.
Different types of content will generate different numbers of leads for you. At one point in 2014, I generated 17 leads in a month out of over 500,000 monthly visitors. To me, that’s not impressive.
But today, I attract hundreds of potential clients every month, because of the type of content that I’ve come to focus on. You’ll learn what that content is, and how to write it. With the right content, you’ll find that promotion will be a lot easier.
Some bloggers would make a killing with that number of visitors.
15. From Beginner to Pro: A Complete Guide to Tripling Your Email Conversion Rate
In this article, Neil (again) shows you how to:
- determine what your audience values
- ask for email addresses in the right way
- use tools to quickly gather email addresses from visitors
- determine the optimal places to ask for email addresses
A lot of us don’t actually have the patience to learn what our audience crave for. And that’s harmful. Guesswork won’t cut it.
Yes, it requires a ton of research. But that’s the first step to even generating leads in the first place.
Website Design
This is something you can’t do without. A website is the home of your online business. And it has to actually look inviting to your leads.
With the growing number of web design hustlers professionals these days, we’ll probably have much more design mistakes made on a regular basis.
In case you’re looking to design a new website, or to tweak the one you have, here are a few resources to supercharge your efforts.
16. Building A Web Design Business Fast: Why WordPress Is A Great Springboard
WordPress is the reason why I get to mess with code today. With the growing number of “Plug and Play” themes, you can setup your own website without being a tech guy.
However, before making it a business, it’ll be good to get some professional skills, so you don’t mess up a client’s business.
As Brian states in this post on Millo,
With just a few clicks, I can install a beautiful, fully-designed (you read that right), customizable, responsive theme for just about any application and industry.
17. Web Design Is Dead
First it was SEO, then Guest blogging. Now it’s web design?
In this post on Mashable, here’s what Sergio really means,
But what really matters is not how you arrange things on a page: it’s the content, in terms of a specific user need. That’s why Google is starting to display actual content in some search results, without you having to visit another page.
18. 6 Usability Mistakes You Should Not Make On Your Next Web Design Project
In this post on Techcabal, Kemi shares some really interesting mistakes you’d want to check out. The funny thing is a lot of rookie web design professionals and entrepreneurs think these mistakes are cool.
As Kemi points out,
You want to build a website that will be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes… Yes, but don’t drive your visitors away. Make your websites usable; offer your users amazing user experiences, which always lead to customer satisfaction. Delight your customers with brilliant design decisions.
19. Get A Web Design Crash Course For Free
Interested in boosting your design skills? I stumbled on this course and hopped on right away.
As I mentioned earlier, I mess around with code as well. So this is a really helpful resource if you’re like me.
After all, it’s also free.
That’s a wrap! 19 actionable resources that would supercharge your creative business.
If you feel this is something other people can gain from, share it on social media. Join me in the fight against the curse of too much information, by actually sharing more (I’m wondering how that makes sense).
By the way, this is my first link roundup :-).
Aww! Thanks for mentioning me in this article.
Quite right! Too much information kills. But you need the boatloads to survive the internet rage, right?
Fortunately, I’m a doggone bullcrusher. I’ll be back online very soon. Albeit, the month isn’t known.
I had to bro :).
Yeah, but boatloads of the right kind. Sometimes I intentionally don’t read some articles just to avoid the headache of consuming information I can’t really apply.
Thanks for your comment bro (as always). Hope you get back on your feet soon.