Perhaps equally as important is that it rewards your customers for responding to your marketing. Instead of getting the same old sales pitch they get useful, informative or simply entertaining content.
It's precisely because it rewards people for their attention that it works so well when combined with other marketing strategies - and smart businesses can use that fact to kick-start their existing efforts. Let's try an example:
Suppose you run a nice upmarket caf?. Traditionally your marketing might include advertisements in the local paper or printed flyers and menus for you to hand out. In terms of content, it's pretty much a sales pitch along the lines of, "here we are, this is what we offer and isn't it great."
None of that really does anything for your prospective customer though. On the other hand, as a content-led business you can make a few small changes to those leaflets or ads that actually gives your prospects something of value - and increases the response rate accordingly.
Start by looking at your ideal customers, what do they want? Could they be interested in healthier alternatives? Saving money? Trying new things? In this case we'll assume that healthy eating is important to your customers, they want to know how to prepare wholesome meals with minimum fuss.
With that in mind, you might decide to create a series of attractive recipes and simple suggestions for healthy alternatives to burgers and pizzas. That kind of information is useful in itself and so will appeal to your market much more than a standard sales pitch.
With a strong content idea in place the next step is to incorporate it into those advertisements or flyers. Your ads can be recipes in themselves, designed to be cut out and kept (or at the very least say 'check out our website for healthy recipes options'). Instead of using traditional flyers or printed menus, you could opt for branded recipe cards - something that people will be more inclined to hang on to.
Done well, your great content makes you the place to go for healthy eating when your prospects couldn't be bothered to try those recipes themselves. And if they do put your recipes into practice you'll likely benefit from additional word-of-mouth - provided they taste as good as they look.
In short, if you start with a focus on creating valuable content to attract and keep customers, then bringing that content into your existing strategies is the prefect way to give flagging advertising and marketing campaigns a real kick-start.
The biggest complaint I have encountered with clients in the past ten years of personal training has been their lack of time to workout. Most professionals (especially those with a family) do not have an hour per day to spend exercising. Nor do most of us want to look big and bulky like the models we see on the cover of Muscle and Fitness. Why, then, should you keep training with a straight set bodybuilding routine that takes too long to complete and do 30 minutes of cardio on top of that? The answer to the time crunch is circuit training. It is an effective way to burn fat, gain muscle and improve athleticism in less time and with better results.
So, what's the problem with a straight set bodybuilding format? Well, though straight sets are extremely easy to comprehend for people new to fitness, they are also an extremely inefficient way to order your exercises. In most commercial gyms you'll typically see someone perform three sets of 8-12 reps for let's say the bench press. They pump out the reps, go to the water fountain, talk with some buddies, watch a couple of highlights on ESPN, and then lollygag back to the bench area to hit up their second set. In general, most people, guys in particular, tend to take about 3-5 minutes between sets. In the case of three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one movement pattern (a horizontal push). That means you would spend a whole hour to perform 4 exercises! I can think of a thousand things I would rather be doing than spending a whole hour in a commercial gym.
A much more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises is utilizing the alternating set format. Here you'll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another non-competing, or antagonistic, exercise and rest for a short period of time. Alternating sets allow you to work different movement patterns when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The outcome is training efficiency and amazing results. You will accomplished more in less time and crank up your metabolism so that you are burning more fat throughout the day. Outlined below are several ways to perform alternating sets:
1.) Supersets: Switch off between two non-competing exericses(e.g. upper body and cardio exericse).g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges)
2.) Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges)
3.) Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises
Though supersets and trisets are excellent options, circuit training is by the far my favorite way to train. To demonstrate why, let's examine a circuit training template using timed set intervals:
The 40-20 Five Exercise Circuit: You will alternate between 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:
Exercise#1- (Kettlebell Front) Squats
Exercise#2- (Kettlebell) Clean and Press
Exercise#3- Lunges
Exercise#4- Forward Roll-Outs with the Power Wheel
Exercise#5- Swings
Rest for 30 sec.-1 Minute After the Circuit
Perform this circuit up to four times for a 20-25 minute total body fat burning, strength-building workout.
Think of how much more work you completed in the same time it took the bodybuilder to do 3 sets on the bench. You did 15 sets! How efficient! The short bursts of exercise not only helped you build strong muscle, it also put you far ahead of our bodybuilder friend on cardiovascular benefits and you are out the door in half the time.
To recap, the key to creating the optimal metabolic workout for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity and keep rest periods short. You will accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my HeadSTRONG clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:
Exercise#1- Double-Leg Exercise (such as Sandbag Deadlifts)
Exercise#2- A Pushing Exercise (such as Pushups)
Exercise#3- A Single-Leg Exercise (such as Sandbag Overhead Front Lunges) Exercise#4- A Pulling Exercise (such as Sandbag Rows)
Exercise#5- A Core Exercise (such as Russian Twists)
By following this simple template there are endless possibilities for exercise variations. The goal is to work hard and be done. Keep your workouts short and effective, follow a sound eating plan, and you will see amazing results!
Both Mark Nagurski & Shawn Manning are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mark Nagurski has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Advertising Guide and Start Online Business. Mark Nagurski is a small business marketing consultant and regular contributer to numerous online and offline publications. If you found this introduction to content marketing useful you'll find more free content marketing resources, ideas and case stud. Mark Nagurski's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.
Shawn Manning has sinced written about articles on various topics from Start Online Business. Russian Kettlebell Instructor Shawn Manning is the owner of HeadSTRONG Athletics in Wilmington, NC. Manning runs boot camps and kettlebell workshops that have helped numerous clients lose fat and improve their athleticism. Visit the website at. Shawn Manning's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.