How to become an Author : A Simple Guide To Writing Journey

Leave a Comment / Book Publishing / Anuradha Mandal / June 25, 2021

Everyone is not a book lover but you must have read some of the fiction, non-fiction books, and novels.

I belong to this category.

I have read a few books written by some of the best authors but never thought of becoming an author.

But, there was a paradigm shift in my mind, when I read a very interesting book written by one of my childhood friends.

She was never a very good writer, nor did she aspire to become an author.

I had this curiosity to know how she could achieve this milestone.

And her writing story motivated me to write, and my love for my writing kept increasing as days passed.

Now I have decided to write my own book. The name of my first upcoming book is “ You Can Write” with the subtitle of Connecting Thoughts With Words.

This book will be mainly for those who want to write and excel in this domain. As the world has gone digital, this resource will cover the aspects of content writing, content marketing, etc.

In a way, it will guide you on how to become an Author.

Many of you out there have tonnes of questions, and I will answer all those as you continue reading.

I am writing this article “How to become an author: A simple guide to writing journey” to help you to take a kick start.

Who is an Author?

According to Wikipedia: An author is a person who writes books, stories, poems, or other written work. Sometimes, a person who creates something that is not prose is called an author. Someone who writes music may be called the author of that piece of music, though we would usually call that person a composer.

So now the question is how to become an Author. Before diving deep into how to start your writing journey, publish, launch and become an author.

You don’t need any qualifications to become an author. There are no eligibility criteria to start a book writing. Anyone can start writing a book to become an author. Let me clarify some of the myths which are fully housed in our brain.

The Myth About Becoming Author

Myth 1:

You need to be an expert in writing.

Fact 1:

You don’t have to be an expert in writing. You need the experience. You can become an expert by positioning yourself through your writing.

Myth 2:

Need a lot of time to write a book.

Fact 2:

You do not need lots of time to write one. You just have to give 20-30 minutes per day. A book with 100-150 pages is fine to get published.

Myth 3:

You have to be qualified with great skills to become an author

Fact 3:

You just need your ideas and experience to write. There are ample tools to help you with grammar, spellings, etc.

Myth 4:

I am not famous, why will anyone read my book?

Fact 4:

Your book is your marketing tool. You don’t write books when you are famous. You write a book to become famous.

Myth 5:

Publishing a book is very expensive.

Fact 5:

It will not be so costly. Publishing and marketing your book will be very much in your capacity. Self-publishing is very easy in today’s age, plus there are various other services to support you with this.

Myth 6:

Book writing will make a lot of money

Fact 6:

You will not make money by selling books. Your book will change the perception of how people will see you. Your book will build a brand around you, and then income will start flowing.

Benefits An Author Can Give You.

Book Writing

There are numerous benefits of publishing a book. The list is mentioned below :

Personal Branding
Authority
Become a speaker
Get better job
Influence others
Impact others
Panel discussions
Radio, TV, Podcast interview.
Write newspaper column
Tell your story
Taken seriously
Multiple income sources.

I have started writing my book and I am enjoying every bit of it.

One thing which is very important to keep in mind while writing is, what type of book you are going to write.

Always keep in mind Context is very very important than content.

From the outcome perspective, there are mainly three types of books.

Credibility

This will increase and create your visibility. It will also improve your positioning and build your authority and brand perception.

Connections

This will work like a lead magnet, which will open the doors for many opportunities. It will create relationships and business networking.

Content

This requires some extensive research and deep insights. A content-based book is favorable for someone who is already a brand and this piece will bring more fame

I am writing a book, which falls in the category of connections. The following aspects are very important in book writing.

Your Primary Objective: What is the objective and what will your book do?

Your Expertise: This will mainly highlight the key elements of my skills, talent, experience, knowledge, and quality.

Your Target Market: Who is your audience or reader?

Needs & Problems: What is the kind of need of your readers and what kind of solutions are you providing to their problems?

The Planning process of Your Content

This is the most crucial step in the whole process. It can become very challenging to write the content of the book. Follow the simple steps to accomplish the journey.

I am following the same steps for my book “ You Can Write”. And these steps remain the same for the writer.

Topic Dump: First and foremost do not think a lot about organizing the topic at this stage. Just do a topic dump with as many as possible around the content of your book.
Organize: The second step is to select 15 topics and organize them into broad topics. These will be the 15 chapters of your book.
Sub-topics: Under each topic, come up with 10-15 sub-topics for each chapter. The number can be more or less depending upon the breadth and depth of the topic.
Questions: Come up with 4-5 questions for each sub-topics. You can get the questions from different websites like Quora, Google Q&A, and other related forums. Put all the questions on the sheet.

Now that you are ready with a list of questions, start writing to answer those questions.

For example, one of the chapters in my book would be content writing. The sub-topic could be keyword research. One of the questions in the sub-topic could be: Which is the best tool for keyword research and why?

Make sure you write around 150-200 words for each of these questions with your knowledge and experience. You can do a lot of research while answering the questions.

This is the best way to start to write a book. These simple systems will start giving shape to your book and you can finish the process within the time frame.

Book Author

Publishing Process:

The publishing process starts with the designing of your book cover. Book cover designing is very important and the following elements can be kept in mind while doing so.

Book Title
Book Subtitle
Book Cover
Book Endorsements
Book Back Cover

The book is mostly judged by its cover, so the ingredients of the cover are very cardinal. This can be done by keeping the following in mind

Eye-catchy graphics and design

Use humor, or ask a question or promise
Author picture (Not mandatory)
Appropriate reader colors
Endorsements from the influencer or famous personality.

Layout, Editing, Formatting & Proofread

You need to finalize the dimension of the book. I have decided and finalized that I will come up with a book with 5 x 8 inches (Width x Height).

This is the most common and widely used dimension offered by different print-on-demand publications.

If you are using lots of images, graphs, charts, tables, etc editing, and formatting will be needed. This can either be done by you or you can get it done by some experts.

Proofread is the last part of this section, which is of paramount importance. There are many freelancers providing their services in this proofreading. You can get this done by them or anyone else.

ISBN Number & Barcode

ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is very important for publishing a book. The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier.

An ISBN helps in identifying the title, edition, and format of products used by publishers, bookstores, libraries, etc. This is also important for inventory control, ordering, and sales reporting.

This unique number increases the chances of your book getting found. A Barcode is not the same as ISBN. The barcode is the graphical and visual representation used during the inventory or sales transaction process.

The barcode is found at the back of the book and is derived from an ISBN. You need ISBN and pricing information to get the barcode.

Printing of Book

There are many printing services available that will print your book on-demand. The most common and standard size for printing is 5 x 8 inches.

There are two options, you can print with a paperback edition or a hardbound edition. Hardbound is more costly compared to paperback.

Names of Self-publishing Houses

There are no specific submission guidelines. Mostly these houses encourage direct talks and therefore can be reached quite easily.

Find the names of some of the self-publishing houses in India

Notion Press:
Quignog Publishers.
Evincepub Publishing.
Blue Hill Publishing.
Bluerose Publishers.
Buuks.
24by7 Publishers.
Pothi.

Names of Some of the International Self-publishing Houses.

Kindle Direct Publishing.
Barnes & Noble Press.
Kobo.
Apple Books.
Self-Publishing School.
Reedsy.
Lulu.
IngramSpark.

Marketing Your Book

Your book is your marketing material and tools and you have to market it on your own if you do not have funds.

Make the strategies and the plan to excel in this process.

Listed below are some of the ways where you can start the marketing campaign :

Social Media Marketing
Blogging
Email Marketing
Guest Post
Join the groups in various platform
Podcast and Podiobooks
Reviews
Paid Ads

Conclusion

I think you have got some good ideas about book writing, what type of book to write, how to write and how to publish and market it.

A book project is a big achievement in itself. This requires ample physical, emotional, and mental congruence.

Discipline, dedication, and consistency play a vital role in this journey.

I am writing every day for my book “You Can Write” and will very soon announce my book launch.

I have shared all the information that you would need to start the journey. You just have to come out of your comfort zone to see a miracle happen.

If this article has inspired you to write a book and you publish it, please share your takeaways in the comments sections below.

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Why Changing Landscape of Marketing is the Secret Ingredient ?

4 Comments / Content Writing / Anuradha Mandal / May 29, 2021

This article is about my understanding of why Changing Landscape of Marketing is the Secret Ingredient?

This will give an insight into the fundamental laws and the new-age technology of marketing.

This article will be helpful for students, professionals, entrepreneurs, businesses, etc. It can also provide value to someone who is willing to scale their business through digital marketing.

To dive deep into this topic let’s first understand the meaning.

Philips Kotler has defined marketing as “the science and arts of exploring, creating and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit”.

The changing pace from ancient time to the digital age is so rapid that the capacity of the change now becomes a competitive advantage.

There is constant change and evolution in marketing and the same is depicted in the infographic.

This article will focus on the below-highlighted topics :

The Fundamentals Of Marketing.
Digital Marketing vs. Traditional marketing.
CATT Marketing Funnel.
Integrated Digital Marketing.
Personal Branding – MassTrust Blueprint.

The Fundamentals of Marketing

The basic fundamentals of marketing are about science and not about creativity or innovation.

Understanding the needs and wants of the customer is the first and foremost thing any marketer should do.

The products and services are developed only after knowing the requirements of the customers.

This clearly states that Marketing starts before the creation of the products.

Marketing is all about sending the right message to the right customers at the right time. It is not just about selling but maintaining the relationship with the existing customers and keeping them happy so that they become lifetime customers.

“The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.” – Peter Drucker.

Marketing is a game of perceptions where good and valuable products sell themselves. This focuses to make the selling natural by understanding the customer and market very well.

“Communication must be HOT: honest, open, and two-way.”-Dan Oswald.

Communication

Good marketing is all about good communication and therefore the importance of communication is very significant. Often people confuse the term Communication and consider it to be a very sophisticated and hi-end fancy thing.

In layman’s language, it is the simple act of transferring information from one place, person, or group to another.

Digital Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing.

2020 is an era of technology with a very fast-changing world. Everything around the globe is changing and the same is the case with marketing.

The digital world is mushrooming in almost all sectors. But the basic fundamentals of marketing remain the same.

The difference between traditional and digital is the medium through which the audience receives the message.

Traditional marketing includes Print media (like newspaper and magazine), Broadcast media (like TV and radio ads), Direct Mail, and Telemarketing while Digital Marketing uses Websites, Social networking sites, Content Marketing, Video marketing, etc.

Traditional is a closed system with very less transparency while digital is an open system with a lot of transparency. The reach and accessibility of traditional are very limited while digital has a global reach with diverse accessibility.

Traditional is very expensive with less return on investment and is not measurable while Digital is less expensive with a high return on investment and can be measured.

CATT Marketing Funnel and Framework

The marketing funnel is the journey of your customer/clients with you.

This is a journey when someone discovers your business all the way to purchasing your products. This funnel helps in driving greater sales, strong brand awareness, and more loyalty.

The formula is Wealth = n^CATT

n stands for Niche

C stands for Content

A stands for Attention

T stands for Trust

T stands for Transaction

The success and wealth depend upon the niche you have selected. The formula represents “n” power CATT, bcoz the effectiveness of CATT will determine the amount of wealth you make.

Therefore the niche plays a pivotal role and hence the niche selection should be done properly. Niche selection is done mainly by keeping 3 things in mind that is talent, passion, and market.

CONTENT: Content is the king. Make Content that provides value and helps in drawing attention from your selected niche. Good content can be in any form like blog posts, ebooks, videos, articles, etc.

ATTENTION: Once the content is created, your next step is to draw the attention or drive the traffic to your content using SEO, Search Media, Paid Ads, Referrals, and so forth.

TRUST: After creating good content and driving enough traffic to your content. The next most important step is to develop the trust of the traffic.

Over the period of time, this trust is going to play a very important role. The trust can be built with your audiences with the help of automation, tripwires, and retargeting.

TRANSACTION: The last and ultimate goal is to convert your lead into customers by transacting with them. This CATT funnel and framework is so effective that if it is done properly that it generates natural sales.

The Integrated Digital Marketing

Integrated Digital Marketing is the integration of various marketing strategies and tools for an effective approach for your business. The main reason for implementing integrated functions is to have a huge impact and create a more influential online presence rather than having an individual impact.

Some of the digital components are mentioned below:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process or technique of increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to a website through organic search engine results. SEO mainly targets unpaid traffic instead of paid traffic.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is one of the effective ways to promote and grow your business.

Social Media Optimization (SOM ) is the use of social media to manage and grow a business. It can be used to increase the awareness of the products and services.

Email Marketing is the process of sending a commercial message to a group of people using email.

Content Marketing is the process of planning, creating, distributing, and sharing content to reach your target customers.

Personal Branding -MassTrust Blueprint

Personal Branding is the act of marketing people, products, and their business as a brand. How to brand yourself is personal branding. Personal branding is the blend of the personality, skills, and experience that your followers want to see.

“The best known will always beat the best”.

If you are an expert at something and if the world does not know about you, then it’s of no use. It is not enough to be good at anything, people should know that you are good at something. So portraying yourself is very important and that is where personal branding is very important.

Evolution of Personal Brand: The journey of a Personal brand starts with learning and ends up with Startup.

Learn– You should learn a new skill or you can hone the existing skills with the help of concepts, facts, and procedures.

Work– After learning you need to work on the new skill and start taking action on it. This can be done by starting working and implementing the concept for getting a better understanding. You can take up a full-time job, a part-time job, freelance, or can start your own work.

Blog- Start writing about whatever you have learned and experienced. It can be in any form like Blogspot, articles, etc. This helps in developing your personal brand.

Consult– Once you are done with the work and blogging start consulting people. You can do one to one or one to many consultations. This is a better approach when compared to freelancing or working for them.

Mentor-You can start mentoring only after you have gone through the above-mentioned four stages. You need to learn first, then work on it by implementing it in the real world, then write about it and then consult, and then only you can mentor somebody. Mentoring helps you to scale your understanding to a new level.

Start up-Finally you can go for a start-up. You can do this by the kind of understanding you have developed while going through this journey of developing your own personal brand.

This is how the evolution of the personal brand works and the framework which is developed for this is named as MASSTRUST blueprint.

In this article, you have learned about the fundamentals of laws in tandem with their communication. Insight of funnel along with the integrated digital strategy was also discussed.

This write-up is a part of the Digital Deepak Internship Program and I consider this program as one of the best. This is the kind of internship which follows a pedagogy which is learning by doing where you are forced to take action.

If you are also willing to be a part of this golden opportunity, you can click the link below and apply for the Internship program.

Click to Apply

You need to be updated with the latest changes and technology and this is the secret ingredient.

How did you like the article?

Share you thoughts in the comments section below.

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Top 5 Hottest Courses Across the Globes

1 Comment / General / Anuradha Mandal / May 23, 2021

There are various courses available in the market for a bright and successful career.

Selecting the best course out of many is a tough task.

Proper research and insight are much-needed work before jumping and pursuing any course.

Courses leading to its subsequent career are very important. It is the individual’s choice and inclination that plays a vital role to fix it.

Here are the top 5 hottest jobs across the globe for a successful and lucrative career path. Find out the details highlighted below:

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or a robot controlled by a computer to do tasks that are usually done by humans because they require human intelligence and discernment.

Life with technology is almost impossible. Technology is ruling the world.

It is estimated that the AI market will be a major player in this field. AI is growing at a rate of 43%.

This is the reason why the demand and scope of AI professionals have increased manifold.

Day to day examples of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is commonly used in day-to-day activities, but you may not be aware of this. Below mentioned are the example of the daily work where the concept of artificial intelligence is used.

E-Payments
Digital Assistants
Chatbots
Google Maps
Face Detection
Face Recognition

Who is eligible for taking up Artificial Intelligence courses and jobs?

Candidates with a sound knowledge of coding languages such as Python, Natural Language Processing, and Machine learning algorithms will be preferred.
Candidates who have completed -BTech Artificial Intelligence, BTech in Computer Science- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, MTech in Artificial Intelligence are fully eligible to continue with the course of Artificial Intelligence.
Candidates with problem-solving acumen can go for this course.
Candidates with a good hold in mathematics must definitely go for this course.

Job Role after completing this course

There are various jobs available in different companies across the globe after completing this course. Some of the most sought are mentioned below :

Data Analyst
Big Data Analyst
Data Engineer
Machine Learning Engineer

Top Recruiters looking for Artificial Intelligence Profile

Listed below are the name of the few recruiters who take individuals with artificial intelligence knowledge and degrees. There are various other companies that are interested in hiring professionals with this background and courses.

Google
American Express
Amazon
Myntra
Flipkart
Adobe
Genpact
Mobikwik

2. Machine learning

Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being clearly programmed.

Machine learning focuses on computer program development that can access data and use it to learn on their own.

Machine learning is a modern-day innovation that helps in many professionals and industrial processes as well as in daily activities.

MI helps in using the statistical tools and techniques to make intelligent computer systems to learn from the database available. Machine learning is artificial intelligence but Artificial intelligence is not Machine learning.

Machine learning is a subset of Artificial Learning (AI).

Day to day examples of Machine Learning

Machine Learning is commonly used in day-to-day activities, but you may not be aware of this. Below mentioned are the example of the daily work where the concept of Machine Learning is used.

Medical diagnosis.
Image and face recognition
Speech recognition
Self-driving cars
Virtual assistant- Siri, Alexa.

Who is eligible for taking up Machine Learning courses and jobs?

Machine learning is a hot course with lots of scopes and opportunities. Therefore this course can be taken seriously for making a career.

There is no fixed qualification to pursue this course. But, one must possess knowledge of basic computer technology and a good understanding with a degree in mathematics can take up this course.

Candidates should have a basic knowledge of Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra, Python, and Statistics.
Candidates should have a basic knowledge of Machine Learning, such as the terminologies of machine learning and machine learning types.
Candidates should have a strong command of working on data collection, data cleaning, data integration, and data pre-processing.

Job Role after completing this course

There are various jobs available in different companies across the globe after completing this course. Some of the most sought are mentioned below :

Machine Learning Engineer
Software Engineer
Data Scientist
Data Analyst
Data Architect
Software Developer
Research Scientist
Data Science Manager

Top Recruiters looking for Machine Learning Profile

Listed below are the name of the few recruiters who take individuals with machine learning knowledge and degrees. There are various other companies that are interested in hiring professionals with this background and courses.

Google
Amazon
Adobe
Uber
Facebook
Apple
Microsoft

3. BIG DATA

Big Data is an extremely large set of data- both structured and unstructured that a business is overloaded with on a day-to-day basis.

Big data is data with a very large size and is very complex that traditional data management tools cannot store it or process it efficiently.

Big data is a database with a huge size.

Big Data is used to analyze and systematically extract information from too large and complex data.

Day to day examples of Big Data

Big Data is commonly used in day-to-day activities, but you may not be aware of this. Below mentioned are the example of the daily work where the concept of big data is used.

Facebook user profile
Google search index
Stock Exchanges
Online shopping

Who is eligible for taking up Big Data courses and jobs?

The world is full of organized, unorganized, structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. The true meaning of these data can be only made through various analyses etc.

Therefore, the demand for professionals who can understand this big data is increasing exponentially. This is a booming sector with lots of scope and opportunities.

There is no hard and fast rule to be eligible to continue with the course of a big data professional. However, a fair understanding of mathematics, statistics, programming, and domain knowledge is needed to excel in this career. Also, a basic understanding of R/Python/Matlab/SAS programming will be very helpful.

Job Role after completing this course

There are various jobs available in different companies across the globe after completing this course. Some of the most sought are mentioned below :

Big Data Analyst
Big Data Architect
Big Data Engineer
Data Developer
Data Scientist

Top Recruiters looking for Big Data Profile

Listed below are the name of the few recruiters who take individuals with big data knowledge and degrees. There are various other companies that are interested in hiring professionals with this background and courses.

Amazon
Flipkart
IBM
Walmart
Linkedin
Deloitte

4. Data Science

Data science is a multi- interdisciplinary subject or field which encompasses the processes and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data. The data can be in various forms, either structured or unstructured, to be evaluated with the use of mathematics, statistics, and computer science.

The main objective of data science is to take the information from the data to evaluate and use in making strategy, decision making, product development, and many more.

Day to examples of Data Science

Data Science is commonly used in day-to-day activities, but you may not be aware of this. Below mentioned are the example of the daily work where the concept of data science is used.

Gaming
Face recognition
Speech recognition
Online shopping
Internet searches
Ecommerce

Who is eligible for taking up Data Science courses and jobs?

This sector is booming and will continue to grow in the near future. This has huge market potential as per the several surveys conducted across the globe.

A newcomer or a professional from a different profile like Marketing, IT, Engineering can make a career in this.

Candidates should have a fair knowledge of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics is needed.
Candidates should have a fair knowledge of data visualization like the access, retrieve, and presentation of the data.
Candidates should have a fair knowledge of data analysis and hypothesis testing will be an added value.
Candidates should have a fair knowledge of the languages like Java, Python, etc.

Job Role after completing this course

There are various jobs available in different companies across the globe after completing this course. Some of the most sought are mentioned below :

Big Data Engineer
Machine Learning Engineer
Data Engineer/Data Architect
Data Scientist
Data Analysts
Business Analysts

Top Recruiters looking for Data Science Profile

Listed below are the name of the few recruiters who take individuals with data science knowledge and degrees. There are various other companies that are interested in hiring professionals with this background and courses.

Amazon
Citrix
LinkedIn
IBM
Walmart Labs
Myntra
Sigmoid
Flipkart
Couture

5. Blockchain

Blockchain is a system of recording information or database in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. It is a database full of information that is stored electronically in systems.

Blockchain may look very complicated and complex, but the core concept of blockchain is quite simple and easy to understand.

Blockchain is a type of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with a cryptographic signature called a Hash.

Day to day examples of Blockchain

Blockchain is commonly used in day-to-day activities, but you may not be aware of this. Below mentioned are the example of the daily work where the concept of blockchain is used.

Cryptocurrency
Voting machine
Storing public data
E-Commerce business

Who is eligible for taking up Blockchain courses and jobs?

Blockchain technology is one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide with incredible scope. Blockchain is the best technology that many industries will be using and implementing in the future.

There are no hard and fast set criteria for pursuing this course.

Candidates should have a basic knowledge of information technology, data security, and computer science. An understanding of distributed systems, networking, cryptography, and data structures would be a plus.
Candidates should have basic fundamental skills and knowledge in the technical field.
Candidates should have a basic understanding of Blockchain Security.
Candidates should have a basic knowledge of blockchain platforms.
Candidates should have a basic knowledge of Distributed Ledger expertise.

Job Role after completing this course

There are various jobs available in different companies across the globe after completing this course. Some of the most sought are mentioned below :

Software Engineer
Product Manager
Risk Analyst
Business Analyst
Tech Architect
Crypto Manager
Blockchain Project Manager.
Blockchain Quality Engineer.
Blockchain Developer

Top Recruiters looking for Blockchain Profile

Listed below are the name of the few recruiters who take individuals with blockchain knowledge and degrees. There are various other companies that are interested in hiring professionals with this background and courses.

TCS
HCL
IBM
Visa
Microsoft
Deloitte
Amazon
Ernst & Young.

There are many courses available, but the one which is most suitable for you is of utmost importance. It is always advisable to do proper career research before selecting any course or job.

This is the shaping stone of your career, which will stay with you for a long period of time.

So take a wise decision before opting for the one.

How did you like the article, please share your choice of course in the comments section below?

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Content Marketing : Free Guide for Beginners

3 Comments / Content Writing / Anuradha Mandal / May 10, 2021

Content Marketing has come out to be one of the strong buzzwords in recent years.

But the reality is different.

And the reality is surprising.

Content Marketing has been around far longer than the internet was.

Content Marketing is as old as 300 years ago.

It was during the year 1732, when a man named Benjamin Franklin, published his book called Poor Richard’s Almanack.

It was way back he introduced the world with this Content Marketing approach.

Content Marketing is all about storytelling and we humans resonate very well with the stories. Our attention has a tendency to go to those who have good stories.

The impact manifolds when the same story comes out in the form of storytelling. This is a mix of creating good content and marketing it in a correct way.

Now coming back to your question.

What is Content Marketing?

Before you understand the meaning of Content Marketing, lets us first know the meaning of Content.

Content is any form of information that will educate, infuse, motivate, inspire, convince a set of your targeted audience.

Now, that you have the meaning of Content in place.

Let’s move to the next step.

According to Wikipedia- Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online.

This marketing uses things like articles, e-books, videos, entertainment, and webinars that answer specific questions people have and provide them with solutions.

Some of the best examples seen are mentioned below :

1. Amul

This is a great approach from Amul in the form of Content Marketing.

Everyone knows about the cute animated girl in all the products of Amul.

Whenever there is any fresh issue or a cause. Amul girl always comes out with its own opinion in the form of content.

2. Oreo India

Orea cream biscuit ads, which teach us how to eat biscuit?

‘Twist Karo, Lick Karo, Aur Phir Dunk Karo’.

This ad created a niche in the market which was dominated by Parle and Britannia.

This was considered as one of the best content marketing examples

3. Flipkart

One of the ads of Flipkart with the tagline “‘India Ka fashion capital’ touched on the customers’ thoughts and preferences. This content successfully created an awareness of the latest trends and fashion in the public mind.

4. Shaadi.com

Shaadi.com came up with the hashtags #takethe pleasure off. This was the latest ad where the mother appreciated her daughter’s decision to say no to a marriage proposal she was not keen on.

Most of the ads in Shaadi.com are female-centric, where they try to touch a chord with their audience with very general concepts.

The Different Types of Content

Following are the different types of Content used in different formats for marketing.

Blogging
Video
Podcasting
Infographics
Email
Visual content
Ebooks
Lead magnets
Whitepapers
Presentations
Quizzes
Checklists
Courses
Webinars
Free apps
Tools

Why Content Marketing is important.

Content Marketing is very important and it’s gaining popularity at a very fast pace.

Most of the business use it for various reasons and they have been using it for hundreds of years.

But, you have to understand one basic fundamental.

Is Content Marketing right for your business?

Just because all the businesses whether B2B or B2C is using, doesn’t mean it will be the right fit for you.

The answer to this is many, but you need to find the best answer for this.

One answer out of many can be, the power to provide the solution for your problem should be the top priority.

Content Marketing acts as a powerhouse and has the capability to solve the below-mentioned issues.

1. Content Marketing has the power to drive traffic

Good well-written content in the web pages brings traffic to your website. So it is considered as a traffic problem solver.

2.Content Marketing has the power of lead generation

Well-versed content brings traffic to your website. Quality and engaging content will provide value to your audience. A right lead magnet will act as a catalyst in the conversion of your visitor to a lead.

A lead magnet can be any piece of valuable information like an ebook, checklist, webinar, courses, etc. Thus, Content marketing has the power of lead generation.

3.Content Marketing has the power of conversion.

Figure out the problem of your audience and try to address their problem. Explain to them the possibilities of overcoming the problem.

Help them with the solution and try to fix the problems.

This helps in conversion.

4.Content Marketing has the power to build the brand.

Solve the problem of the audience. Keep yourself in their shoes, to get the real feel.

Create content which is of value to them and provide solutions to their problem.

Keep doing this consistently. Over the period relationship is developed and trust is gained.

This helps in growing your brand and this happens in the long run.

Content Marketing Strategy

Content Marketing plays an important role in providing a tremendous opportunity for businesses to increase their outputs.

By producing valuable and relevant content to users, you can improve your online presence, trust and build a community and grow your brand.

Content Marketing is just not about creating and distributing the content on different platforms.

Content Marketing when used effectively as a powerful tool can help in growing online visibility and thus generate a profitable customer base.

The following steps will help in creating and executing the Content Marketing approach in a proper way :

Set your Goals.
Frame your KPIs
Understand your audience
Select the best content channel
Finalize your Content types
Create content calendar and content
Distribute and market your content

Content Mapping

Content Mapping plays a pivotal role in the content marketing strategy.

Content mapping is the act of understanding your audience so well that you can then create content for each stage of their journey toward buying your product.

So, mapping the content with the buyers’ journey can create wonders.

Here is when the Content Marketing Sales Funnel Strategy comes into the picture.

Content Funnel Neil Patel — Source_Neil Patel

Content Marketing Funnel is a process or an approach that helps a business or brand attract their customers and guide them through their buying journey.

There are mainly 3 stages of this funnel.

TOFU (Top of the Funnel) – Awareness

is the top of the funnel and is the wider portion of the funnel. TOFU is all about creating visibility and awareness of the products, services & business.

The main objective of this stage of the funnel is lead generation. All the information is collected at this stage to use in nurturing the leads down the funnel.

MOFU (Middle of the Funnel) – Consideration

It is the middle stage of the funnel, you need to position yourself as the best services or product provider to the customer. At this stage, you need to provide maximum value so that they are willing to learn more about your company.

Interest and consideration are the main goals in this stage of funnel marketing.

The main intent in the middle of the funnel is to capture and nurture leads.

BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel) – Decision

This is the bottom and the lowermost part of the funnel, where you have already created a lot of trust and value with your customer.

It is at this stage that you have to present yourself in a compelling way. This is the stage where leads turn into real and loyal customers.

The main objective in this final stage of the funnel is to convert leads into customers.

Conclusion

Content Marketing is like an ocean. The more you dive in the more you get the experience.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

I hope you got a good idea of what it takes to be a good content marketer.

Share your content marketing insight in the comments section below.

Content Marketing : Free Guide for Beginners Read More »

Content Writing vs Copywriting : Which is your first choice ?

7 Comments / Content Writing / Anuradha Mandal / May 7, 2021

When you are asked the same kind of questions repeatedly, you develop a keen interest in that particular topic.

This happened to me when I have encountered these questions, what is Content writing and Copywriting.

Not only this, mostly there is confusion between Copyright and Copywriting, mostly it is considered the same.

But there a day and night difference between these two.

Copyright is an Intellectual Property right and Copywriting is the art of writing a copy with the purpose of advertising and marketing.

Confronting the same issue, I thought of writing it down to give an explanation to solve the query for the larger audience base.

So, the big question is :

What is Content Writing and Copywriting?

What is the difference between Content Writing or Copywriting?

Given a choice, which will be your first choice as a Career?

Let us first understand the simple meaning of Content.

According to Wikipedia, Content is Information and experiences created by individuals, institutions, and technology to benefit audiences in contexts that they value.

Content is also “ something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts”.

What is Content Writing?

The act of creating content for the internet by planning, writing, and editing web content. It helps in providing solutions for particular problems for a certain set of audiences. Often Content is referred to be as a very broad term where you have to convey your message through words.

Content writing encompasses blog posts, social media posts, white papers, ebooks with a purpose to educate, inform and delight your audience with a particular topic.

Other examples of Content Writing is ebook, webpages, blogs, videos, podcasts.

The main goal of Content writing is to answer the distinct questions and solve the problems by providing information and value.

Content writing is focused on creating an engagement with your audience over a period of time. This builds a trust factor in you and ultimately creates interest in your product and services.

The content writer generally creates content which the reader wants to read, with an intention to rank in the search engine. This helps in getting traffic, organic searches, and leads.

The main goal of a content writer is to information. So content should be easy to read and understand. The reader should feel fully informed and convinced after reading a piece of content.

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the art of writing a copy with the purpose of advertising and marketing. The end product called a Copy or Sales copy is written content with the sole purpose to create awareness and ultimately persuade the group to take action.

Copyblogger famously says: “Copywriting without content is a waste of good copy,” and “content without copywriting is a waste of good content.”

Comparison between Content Writing and Copywriting

	Content Writing	Copywriting
Purpose	Engagement driven Informative & Promote Brand Loyalty	Sales driven Sell & Convert
Objective	Branding	Sales
Length	Its is long	It is short and crisp
Goal	Encourage loyalty and engage properly	Sell a product or convert a customer with a clear call to action CTA
Examples	Online and Offline Ads Slogans Taglines Web pages Email campaigns Television commercial Radio commercial Video scripts Catalogs Billboards Sales letters Direct mail letters Social media	Articles Blog posts Newspaper Magazine Press Releases White papers Email newsletters E-books Books Print magazines Podcasts Television Film

A Content writer generally informs, while a Copywriters generally sells.

Difference between Content Writing and Copywriting

Content does serve a lot of purposes, it attracts an audience, engages them with the information, provides values and solutions. Copywriter on the other hand persuades and convinces them to sell.

A Content writer writes a long-form of copy while a copywriter writes a short form of copy.

A content writer drives organic traffic, while a copywriter converts traffic into lead.

A copywriter creates a sense of urgency while the content writer engages and builds trust.

Copywriter senses urgency and scarcity and wants to take immediate action with an emotional response. On the other hand, the Copywriter uses a compelling headline with proper CTA to take prompt actions.

Content writers are the foundation of future sales.

Even though the content writer does not focus on selling. But they are the foundation for future sales. Over the period of time, their valuable content will produce sales.

Content writers focus on long-term strategy.

Content focuses on providing information and value to their target audiences. This takes time to engage and build trusts, which over time pays off. Copywriters go with a short-term strategy to convert and sell instantly.

Which is a better choice between the two.

The answer to this depends on certain factors. It depends upon the individuals or the business. Both copywriting and content writing are different but have complementary skill sets.

They both have different styles and tricks and need different training. Their way of approach to provide solutions comes from different mindsets.

From the business perspective, if the company is focusing on blogs and needs SEO, then copywriters are not needed. Good engaging and valuable content will serve the purpose of the company.

They only need great content.

My Suggestion

The difference between content writing and copywriting is very significant. Content informs, with the sole purpose of selling later. Copy sells and drives action.

A good blend of content and copy skills will drive the success of your marketing efforts.

Now coming back to your question on “Which is a better choice Content Writing or Copywriting”?

This is a subjective question.

And the answer to this lies with you.

It depends on which company you are associated with and what exactly your skill sets are.

A company focussing on building brand and awareness will pay more to a Content writer. Similarly, a copywriter in a popular advertising firm will earn more than a content writer.

You can be a content writer or a Copywriter or both.

This depends completely on you.

You can share the choice between the two by writing in the comments section below.

Content Writing vs Copywriting : Which is your first choice ? Read More »