May 14, 2025 • 16 mins
Are you looking to enhance your blogging skills? Join Alison Ver Halen, CEO and founder of AV Writing Services LLC, as she unpacks the essential elements of persuasive content creation. In this episode, you’ll learn actionable tips on how to craft engaging narratives that capture your audience's attention and compel them to take action. Discover the secrets to writing that resonates with readers, fosters trust, and ultimately drives conversions for your business.
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https://brainworkframework.podbean.com/
Connect with Alison Ver Halen:
Company Website: https://dataspeaks.ai/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zekecamusio/
Connect with Chris Troka:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-troka-3a093058/
Website: https://focused-biz.com/
Website: https://christroka.com/ #brainwork #framework #business #entrepreneurship #Writing #blogging #content
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You get what you pay for, and AIis the next iteration of that.
(00:03):
It's like if you want content for the sakeof content, sure you can go that route.
But if you want all of the things thatI just laid out that I do before I even
start writing, and then the well writtencontent, that's another matter entirely
because you can't just copy and pay.
We have to have thathuman element in there.
And I think that's what alot of people who are excited
(00:24):
about chat GPT are missing.
You are listening to Brainwork Framework,a Business and Marketing podcast,
brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
Welcome back to another episode.
With us today is Allison Verhalen.
She is the CEO and founderof AV Writing Services, LLC.
Their business helps other businessesattract, engage and convert leads
online by focusing on creating contentthat is engaging and SEO friendly.
(00:46):
Allison, so excited to have you on.
How are you today?
I am cold, as we were sayingbefore we started recording.
It is very cold where we are locatedtoday but I'm otherwise doing very well.
All things considered,good, despite the cold.
Very great.
I always like to ask our entrepreneurs,what were you doing before that kind of
led you into what you're doing today?
Yeah, I had kind of a twistywinding path to get to where I am.
(01:08):
I majored in English and psychologyin college, which turned out to be
the perfect degree for what I'm doing.
Now had no clue.
This was an option.
I actually thought I wanted to workin publishing graduated in 2009
right after the job market crashed.
So that was not going to happen.
So I did whatever jobs.
I answered phones, the usual.
What most of us did who graduated in 2009.
(01:30):
It was just whatever tokind of pay the bills.
Found myself between jobs at one pointand my roommate at the time her dad who
was an attorney was awesome and offeredto get me stuff to do around his office
until I got back on my feet and oneof the things he needed was someone
to write blog posts for his law firm.
And he knew I had a strong writingbackground, so he offered me
the gig and I was like, What?
I can get paid to write?
(01:51):
Seriously?
Yeah, sign me up!
So I jumped at that chance and startedwriting for him then an associate of
his and then for some friends of mineand it just kept growing from there.
It became clear obvious that therewas a real need for content writers,
which is was weird as someone who grewup loving writing and was always told
writers don't make any money, no onevalues writing as a skill and then you
(02:15):
get out into the world and they're likeoh no we need writers we need people to
communicate to the world what we're doing.
So yeah kind of stumbled my way into this.
I did eventually get another day job,which again was just answering phones.
It was a job not a career but Ikept writing on the side and it
just kept growing from there.
And it was one of those whereanytime I met someone and
they asked, what do you do?
I'd be like, by day I answer phonesbut I'm really a writer and I would
(02:38):
put much more emphasis on thatthan the day job I didn't like.
It just kept growing.
So once it got to a point where I couldditch the day job and do this full time.
That's what I did.
So here I am.
That's amazing.
I love that journey.
And it's so true.
A lot of us don't even realizewhat we're kind of getting into or
realize it's an option until friends,family, mentors show us an example
and then we can kind of run with it.
(02:59):
And now building your business here.
You focus on the content.
This is the story aboutthe brand and who they are.
It builds in the SEO.
This is what a lot of businesseswant to do for getting organic leads.
It helps to nurture leads.
This is kind of your allin one marketing package.
What does it look like forwhen you work with clients?
Is it a set process?
(03:20):
How are you kind of decidingthat strategy on what content
you're going to help them build?
Yeah, part of it is a set process.
Part of it, not so much.
The set part, especially if I'mgoing to write for someone is
really getting an idea of theirbrand and their ideal clients.
So every time I get a newclient, I sit down with them and
I have a series of questions.
I go through to kind of pullthat information out of them.
(03:41):
If they could give me their brandvoice guidelines, that would be great.
But normally I ask for themand people go brand voice.
What now?
And I go, okay, we have tostart from the beginning.
So for those of you listening whoare going brand voice, what now?
Your brand voice guidelines are theguidelines that lay out who you are, what
it is that you're doing, what are thewords that you always use in your content?
What are the words that you'renever going to use in your content?
(04:04):
Marketing personas are usuallyintegrated into the brand voice
guidelines and vice versa becauseyou got to speak their language.
So that's the kind of information I pullout of my clients in that initial meeting.
And then from there, itdepends on the project.
I do a lot of work with website designersand developers where we partner up and
they do the design and development andI create the content for the website.
(04:26):
That's pretty straightforward.
If I'm going to be blogging fora client, some clients, they know
exactly what they want to write about.
They have a list oftopics they want to cover.
They just don't have the time orinclination to write it themselves
and that's where I come in.
Other people have it.
Don't want to have anything to do with it.
Nope.
Take it all.
I don't even want to thinkabout my blog anymore.
So, okay, I will go ahead and come upwith a list of topics, check in with
(04:49):
the client and then go ahead and write.
And I do always every time the content is.
An initial draft is finished.
I always send that tothe client for review.
And again, usually they want to seeit at least the first few times.
Once I've been working withsomeone for a while, I have a
really good feel for their voice.
They just they're like, okay, hand it off.
They publish.
Don't even want to look at itbut for the list of when I come
(05:11):
up with the list of topics, it'salways keyword research based.
So.
Back to the SEO searchengine optimization.
For those of you not in the know.
I always look at the keywords as faras okay, what are the topics that
people are looking for answers on?
They're asking questions about itand they're not finding answers.
That's a really great opportunityto show up in searches because
(05:32):
it's not super competitive.
No one else or not a lot of otherpeople are writing about this.
So you have a lot of opportunityto rank highly for those searches
that people are looking for.
The other side of it is to make surepeople are actually searching for it.
I was working with aclient last month actually.
And she was like, Oh, I knowI can rank for this keyword
cause no one else is doing it.
And I did a quick keyword researchand I was like, good news.
(05:53):
No one else is writing about it.
Bad news.
No one is looking for it.
We got to figure out somethingthat's related that people
are actually looking for it.
So that is in a nutshell,most of my process.
That's fantastic.
And I love that intersection betweenunderstanding the brand and the audience
because you're that tool in betweenhaving that brand communicate who they
(06:13):
are and what they do and how they helpto that audience and everything about
specific keywords or where they hangout, what influences them that is all
determined based on that audience.
So to have that kind of bigpicture approach, I really
appreciate that process.
And speaking of kind of like using thetools and SEO and writers out there, AI
(06:34):
is a new tool that's rapidly evolving.
It's changing how a lot of usare working or doing business.
Are you either applyingAI into your business?
Do you see it as a threat or asa benefit or a mixture of both?
Yeah, kind of both.
I don't use it a lot.
I don't see it as a threat when I gotstarted and was like, all right, I'm going
to do this full time and be really seriousabout going out and getting clients.
(06:57):
I did run into a lot of people whowould be like, well, why would I
hire you when I could hire someoneon fiber who lives in India and does
this for a fraction of the cost?
Because you get what you pay for itand AI is the next iteration of that.
It's like, if you want contentfor the sake of content,
sure, you can go that route
but if you want all of the things thatI just laid out that I do before I even
(07:17):
start writing and then the well writtencontent, that's another matter entirely.
So the people who value whatI do are not the people who
are going to go for ChatGPT.
I actually timed myself one time.
I wrote the I had ChatGPT write somethingand then I edited it and then I wrote
another blog article on a similar topicfrom scratch and I was way faster.
Admittedly, I'm a fast writerbecause I write a lot, so this
(07:40):
will not be everyone's experiencebut you can't just copy and paste.
You have to have that human elementin there and I think that's what
a lot of people who are excitedabout chat GPT are missing.
When I do use chat GPT,it's usually writer's block.
It's usually give me some ideas so Ihave something to work with or I kind
of know what I want to write about butI'm having trouble getting started.
(08:02):
So just put some wordson the screen for me.
So again, you have something to workwith and you're not dealing with blanking
cursor syndrome, as I like to call it.
So when I do use chat GPT,that's how I use it, but it's
not a big part of my business.
No.
And that's important for a lotof people who focus more on the
quality versus the quantity.
(08:23):
That's what people are looking for.
So when creating this contentyou're absolutely right.
Those who would look out forFiverr or chat GPT just wouldn't
be your clients anyway, so it'sa different market completely.
But for you when you'rebuilding your business.
What's been effective foryou for your B2B strategy?
Are you running ads?
Are you doing more SEO content?
Are you building relationships?
(08:43):
What's been working for you?
I don't do ads.
I do almost everything else.
Public speaking is actually one ofthose that I found really effective.
So I should mention in additionto my English and psychology
degree, I also minored in theater.
So I am one of the few writers out therewho has no problems getting up in front
of a crowd and talking about whatever.
So hence my appearance on podcastsis because it was just kind of
(09:08):
the next iteration of this thing.
So yeah.
Speaking, networking has beena really good way for me to
build business and then, I doactually practicing what I preach.
I try not to be the cobbler without shoes.
I do actually maintain mywebsite and have a blog and my
newsletter goes out regularly andthe socials and all the things.
(09:29):
So it's a lot but not onlydoes it bring in business.
But it really helps me stay top ofmind and stay engaged with people
and educate people that is such animportant part of content marketing
that I think is really overlooked.
I had a client one time, I thinkshe attended one of my webinars or
something and then like six monthslater, she reached out cause she
(09:50):
had been following my newsletterand reading all my blog posts.
And when it came time to hire me.
Or again, hire a writer but not onlydid she hire me cause I was top of mind
but in that sales conversation, sheupsold herself because of something
she had read in one of my blog postsand I didn't have to try and convince
her and explain and blah, blah.
(10:10):
The content had already done that for me.
It was the easiest salescall I've ever had.
So it's been a good mixture of buildingrelationships one to one but also using
content to build those relationshipsand stay top of mind and educate,
turn those cold leads into warm leads.
Absolutely.
I love that strategy and this iswhat I've been trying to scream from
the rooftops for so long is thatthis many other pieces of content
(10:33):
that become a newsletter, an emaila touch point, a reminder to a
lead or a prospect that, hey, I'mstill relevant, top of mind, here's
something that's beneficial for you.
And that pre warmed, already to buy,already to even upsell sort of client.
Those are the ones who becomeattracted to that type of content.
So it's no wonder why so manybusinesses choose to go that strategy.
(10:56):
Absolutely.
And you can use it in the sales processtoo, which is something that I think
it's overlooked or not recognized isthe fact that if you're going back
and forth with a client, let's sayover email and they ask you something
you've had to explain 5 million times.
If you have a blog post or a videoabout it, you don't have to explain.
Write it all out again in the email.
Just be like, Oh, yeah, wehave a an article about that.
(11:17):
We have a video about that.
Here it is.
Go check it out now.
You save yourself a lot of timewhile positioning yourself as
an expert because it's not juststuff you laid out in an email.
Even if it's on your website, it'sstill somehow seems much more official
and much more credible just becauseit's on a website rather than in an
email and who knows, they might thenexplore other aspects, other blog
(11:38):
posts, other videos that you created.
Makes that sales process so much easier.
So don't just promote it and usethat in the sales process but also
actively dig up older blog posts ifit makes sense and use those in the
sales process when it's relevant.
Yes, absolutely.
And before when we were talkingyou mentioned you have some
(11:58):
exciting new irons in the fire.
Are you able to share those with us andwhat you're kind of preparing for in 2025?
Yeah, I have a couple ions andfire actually, one of which I
mentioned to you before we startedrecording and one of I did not.
The one I did mention, which is closerto completion is my not completion but
launch at least is my podcast which isgoing to be called marketing spotlight.
(12:20):
It's going to be me and anothermarketer geeking out about
marketing for 20 to 30 minutes.
It's something we marketers tendto do anyway and at some point we
were like, why should we keep theseawesome conversations to ourselves
when we can share them with the world?
So I have recorded a few episodesthat will be coming in April of 2025.
For those of you listening, the otherexciting thing I was planning to
(12:42):
launch last year and it did not happen.
So it will be sometime later this yearis a series of online courses that will
live on my website and it's just goingto be a bunch of courses all about what I
do, content marketing and SEO and how youcan leverage them to grow your business.
So if you want to go the DIY route butyou don't know where to start, that'll
be a really great place for you to start.
(13:02):
So that will be on mywebsite, avwritingservices.
com coming sometime in 2025.
That is wonderful.
And where else can peopleconnect with you online?
Yeah, my website AV as in my initials,Alison Verhalen, AVwritingservices.
com.
LinkedIn is anotherplace I hang out a lot.
I think I'm the only Alison Verhalenon there, so I'm pretty easy to find.
(13:23):
And then YouTube again, my podcastwill be coming out but until then I do
have a bunch of videos up on YouTube.
You can go check out also AlisonVerhalen content marketer.
Very nice.
And we'll have all of those linksavailable down in the description
and the show notes, whatever isavailable at the time of publishing,
we'll make those available.
So you can connect with Alison here.
Now, if you could go back in time andtell yourself one piece of advice in
(13:45):
order to get where you are to today,what would that piece of advice be?
It would definitely be to thinkmore strategically about what
I want and how to get there.
I did a lot of the throwing spaghettiagainst the wall when I was starting out.
And yeah, a lot of stuff didnot work and there's a certain
amount of entrepreneurshipthat involves that anyway.
But I feel like I could haveavoided a lot of those mistakes
(14:07):
by just sitting and thinking aboutwho do I really want to reach?
And what am I really doing here?
That and thinking about it.
The client more than thinkingabout myself and what I want would
have made things a lot easier.
That is some great advice, and wereally need to shift our perspective
in order to better serve ourclients some great advice here.
With that being said, you also werewalking by a store window and saw a pillow
(14:30):
with some advice that not is contradictorybut I think feeds off of it well because
on one piece of just taking quick actionwithout a thought process behind it.
There's also those who are overthinking.
Tell me more about that.
Yeah, it was a pillow.
I saw on a display window that said,hold on, let me overthink this and
it made me laugh because I think asentrepreneurs, we can all relate to that.
(14:52):
So I have not bought the pillowbut it does make me laugh every
time I pass by that window.
Absolutely.
Just some words of wisdom for all theentrepreneurs, marketers, business
owners out there who either get kindof stuck in this feedback loop of
overthinking and not taking action.
And those who are so quick tojump into something without
even having a game plan ready.
So find that balance, see whatworks best for you and then
(15:13):
just take action from that.
Alison wanted to allow you theopportunity just to have the stage.
Is there anything we haven't covered yet?
Anything you just wanted to talk aboutor mention with our audience here?
Oh, gosh, I could talk about this all day.
So don't hand me the mic.
I will say I do talk a lotabout this on my blog again.
AV writing services.
com lots of blog posts.
There are lots of content about and mybook content marketing made easy which
(15:36):
you can get on Amazon is not only fullof this information but I wrote it
specifically because I was sick of SEOprofessionals talking about like SEO is
rocket science and it's only for the elitefew who know how to work Google's magic
and that's really not the case at all.
So I really wanted to make itaccessible and explain it in plain
(15:56):
English so everyone can understand it.
So that is content marketing madeeasy available at your local Amazon.
I love it, Allison.
Thank you so much for comingon our podcast and sharing your
tips and tricks, wisdom, what'sworking for you in business.
So excited to watch your journey andkeep up the great work out there.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was fun.
Thanks so much.
It was a pleasure.
You get what you pay for, and AIis the next iteration of that.
(00:03):
It's like if you want content for the sakeof content, sure you can go that route.
But if you want all of the things thatI just laid out that I do before I even
start writing, and then the well writtencontent, that's another matter entirely
because you can't just copy and pay.
We have to have thathuman element in there.
And I think that's what alot of people who are excited
(00:24):
about chat GPT are missing.
You are listening to Brainwork Framework,a Business and Marketing podcast,
brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
Welcome back to another episode.
With us today is Allison Verhalen.
She is the CEO and founderof AV Writing Services, LLC.
Their business helps other businessesattract, engage and convert leads
online by focusing on creating contentthat is engaging and SEO friendly.
(00:46):
Allison, so excited to have you on.
How are you today?
I am cold, as we were sayingbefore we started recording.
It is very cold where we are locatedtoday but I'm otherwise doing very well.
All things considered,good, despite the cold.
Very great.
I always like to ask our entrepreneurs,what were you doing before that kind of
led you into what you're doing today?
Yeah, I had kind of a twistywinding path to get to where I am.
(01:08):
I majored in English and psychologyin college, which turned out to be
the perfect degree for what I'm doing.
Now had no clue.
This was an option.
I actually thought I wanted to workin publishing graduated in 2009
right after the job market crashed.
So that was not going to happen.
So I did whatever jobs.
I answered phones, the usual.
What most of us did who graduated in 2009.
(01:30):
It was just whatever tokind of pay the bills.
Found myself between jobs at one pointand my roommate at the time her dad who
was an attorney was awesome and offeredto get me stuff to do around his office
until I got back on my feet and oneof the things he needed was someone
to write blog posts for his law firm.
And he knew I had a strong writingbackground, so he offered me
the gig and I was like, What?
I can get paid to write?
(01:51):
Seriously?
Yeah, sign me up!
So I jumped at that chance and startedwriting for him then an associate of
his and then for some friends of mineand it just kept growing from there.
It became clear obvious that therewas a real need for content writers,
which is was weird as someone who grewup loving writing and was always told
writers don't make any money, no onevalues writing as a skill and then you
(02:15):
get out into the world and they're likeoh no we need writers we need people to
communicate to the world what we're doing.
So yeah kind of stumbled my way into this.
I did eventually get another day job,which again was just answering phones.
It was a job not a career but Ikept writing on the side and it
just kept growing from there.
And it was one of those whereanytime I met someone and
they asked, what do you do?
I'd be like, by day I answer phonesbut I'm really a writer and I would
(02:38):
put much more emphasis on thatthan the day job I didn't like.
It just kept growing.
So once it got to a point where I couldditch the day job and do this full time.
That's what I did.
So here I am.
That's amazing.
I love that journey.
And it's so true.
A lot of us don't even realizewhat we're kind of getting into or
realize it's an option until friends,family, mentors show us an example
and then we can kind of run with it.
(02:59):
And now building your business here.
You focus on the content.
This is the story aboutthe brand and who they are.
It builds in the SEO.
This is what a lot of businesseswant to do for getting organic leads.
It helps to nurture leads.
This is kind of your allin one marketing package.
What does it look like forwhen you work with clients?
Is it a set process?
(03:20):
How are you kind of decidingthat strategy on what content
you're going to help them build?
Yeah, part of it is a set process.
Part of it, not so much.
The set part, especially if I'mgoing to write for someone is
really getting an idea of theirbrand and their ideal clients.
So every time I get a newclient, I sit down with them and
I have a series of questions.
I go through to kind of pullthat information out of them.
(03:41):
If they could give me their brandvoice guidelines, that would be great.
But normally I ask for themand people go brand voice.
What now?
And I go, okay, we have tostart from the beginning.
So for those of you listening whoare going brand voice, what now?
Your brand voice guidelines are theguidelines that lay out who you are, what
it is that you're doing, what are thewords that you always use in your content?
What are the words that you'renever going to use in your content?
(04:04):
Marketing personas are usuallyintegrated into the brand voice
guidelines and vice versa becauseyou got to speak their language.
So that's the kind of information I pullout of my clients in that initial meeting.
And then from there, itdepends on the project.
I do a lot of work with website designersand developers where we partner up and
they do the design and development andI create the content for the website.
(04:26):
That's pretty straightforward.
If I'm going to be blogging fora client, some clients, they know
exactly what they want to write about.
They have a list oftopics they want to cover.
They just don't have the time orinclination to write it themselves
and that's where I come in.
Other people have it.
Don't want to have anything to do with it.
Nope.
Take it all.
I don't even want to thinkabout my blog anymore.
So, okay, I will go ahead and come upwith a list of topics, check in with
(04:49):
the client and then go ahead and write.
And I do always every time the content is.
An initial draft is finished.
I always send that tothe client for review.
And again, usually they want to seeit at least the first few times.
Once I've been working withsomeone for a while, I have a
really good feel for their voice.
They just they're like, okay, hand it off.
They publish.
Don't even want to look at itbut for the list of when I come
(05:11):
up with the list of topics, it'salways keyword research based.
So.
Back to the SEO searchengine optimization.
For those of you not in the know.
I always look at the keywords as faras okay, what are the topics that
people are looking for answers on?
They're asking questions about itand they're not finding answers.
That's a really great opportunityto show up in searches because
(05:32):
it's not super competitive.
No one else or not a lot of otherpeople are writing about this.
So you have a lot of opportunityto rank highly for those searches
that people are looking for.
The other side of it is to make surepeople are actually searching for it.
I was working with aclient last month actually.
And she was like, Oh, I knowI can rank for this keyword
cause no one else is doing it.
And I did a quick keyword researchand I was like, good news.
(05:53):
No one else is writing about it.
Bad news.
No one is looking for it.
We got to figure out somethingthat's related that people
are actually looking for it.
So that is in a nutshell,most of my process.
That's fantastic.
And I love that intersection betweenunderstanding the brand and the audience
because you're that tool in betweenhaving that brand communicate who they
(06:13):
are and what they do and how they helpto that audience and everything about
specific keywords or where they hangout, what influences them that is all
determined based on that audience.
So to have that kind of bigpicture approach, I really
appreciate that process.
And speaking of kind of like using thetools and SEO and writers out there, AI
(06:34):
is a new tool that's rapidly evolving.
It's changing how a lot of usare working or doing business.
Are you either applyingAI into your business?
Do you see it as a threat or asa benefit or a mixture of both?
Yeah, kind of both.
I don't use it a lot.
I don't see it as a threat when I gotstarted and was like, all right, I'm going
to do this full time and be really seriousabout going out and getting clients.
(06:57):
I did run into a lot of people whowould be like, well, why would I
hire you when I could hire someoneon fiber who lives in India and does
this for a fraction of the cost?
Because you get what you pay for itand AI is the next iteration of that.
It's like, if you want contentfor the sake of content,
sure, you can go that route
but if you want all of the things thatI just laid out that I do before I even
(07:17):
start writing and then the well writtencontent, that's another matter entirely.
So the people who value whatI do are not the people who
are going to go for ChatGPT.
I actually timed myself one time.
I wrote the I had ChatGPT write somethingand then I edited it and then I wrote
another blog article on a similar topicfrom scratch and I was way faster.
Admittedly, I'm a fast writerbecause I write a lot, so this
(07:40):
will not be everyone's experiencebut you can't just copy and paste.
You have to have that human elementin there and I think that's what
a lot of people who are excitedabout chat GPT are missing.
When I do use chat GPT,it's usually writer's block.
It's usually give me some ideas so Ihave something to work with or I kind
of know what I want to write about butI'm having trouble getting started.
(08:02):
So just put some wordson the screen for me.
So again, you have something to workwith and you're not dealing with blanking
cursor syndrome, as I like to call it.
So when I do use chat GPT,that's how I use it, but it's
not a big part of my business.
No.
And that's important for a lotof people who focus more on the
quality versus the quantity.
(08:23):
That's what people are looking for.
So when creating this contentyou're absolutely right.
Those who would look out forFiverr or chat GPT just wouldn't
be your clients anyway, so it'sa different market completely.
But for you when you'rebuilding your business.
What's been effective foryou for your B2B strategy?
Are you running ads?
Are you doing more SEO content?
Are you building relationships?
(08:43):
What's been working for you?
I don't do ads.
I do almost everything else.
Public speaking is actually one ofthose that I found really effective.
So I should mention in additionto my English and psychology
degree, I also minored in theater.
So I am one of the few writers out therewho has no problems getting up in front
of a crowd and talking about whatever.
So hence my appearance on podcastsis because it was just kind of
(09:08):
the next iteration of this thing.
So yeah.
Speaking, networking has beena really good way for me to
build business and then, I doactually practicing what I preach.
I try not to be the cobbler without shoes.
I do actually maintain mywebsite and have a blog and my
newsletter goes out regularly andthe socials and all the things.
(09:29):
So it's a lot but not onlydoes it bring in business.
But it really helps me stay top ofmind and stay engaged with people
and educate people that is such animportant part of content marketing
that I think is really overlooked.
I had a client one time, I thinkshe attended one of my webinars or
something and then like six monthslater, she reached out cause she
(09:50):
had been following my newsletterand reading all my blog posts.
And when it came time to hire me.
Or again, hire a writer but not onlydid she hire me cause I was top of mind
but in that sales conversation, sheupsold herself because of something
she had read in one of my blog postsand I didn't have to try and convince
her and explain and blah, blah.
(10:10):
The content had already done that for me.
It was the easiest salescall I've ever had.
So it's been a good mixture of buildingrelationships one to one but also using
content to build those relationshipsand stay top of mind and educate,
turn those cold leads into warm leads.
Absolutely.
I love that strategy and this iswhat I've been trying to scream from
the rooftops for so long is thatthis many other pieces of content
(10:33):
that become a newsletter, an emaila touch point, a reminder to a
lead or a prospect that, hey, I'mstill relevant, top of mind, here's
something that's beneficial for you.
And that pre warmed, already to buy,already to even upsell sort of client.
Those are the ones who becomeattracted to that type of content.
So it's no wonder why so manybusinesses choose to go that strategy.
(10:56):
Absolutely.
And you can use it in the sales processtoo, which is something that I think
it's overlooked or not recognized isthe fact that if you're going back
and forth with a client, let's sayover email and they ask you something
you've had to explain 5 million times.
If you have a blog post or a videoabout it, you don't have to explain.
Write it all out again in the email.
Just be like, Oh, yeah, wehave a an article about that.
(11:17):
We have a video about that.
Here it is.
Go check it out now.
You save yourself a lot of timewhile positioning yourself as
an expert because it's not juststuff you laid out in an email.
Even if it's on your website, it'sstill somehow seems much more official
and much more credible just becauseit's on a website rather than in an
email and who knows, they might thenexplore other aspects, other blog
(11:38):
posts, other videos that you created.
Makes that sales process so much easier.
So don't just promote it and usethat in the sales process but also
actively dig up older blog posts ifit makes sense and use those in the
sales process when it's relevant.
Yes, absolutely.
And before when we were talkingyou mentioned you have some
(11:58):
exciting new irons in the fire.
Are you able to share those with us andwhat you're kind of preparing for in 2025?
Yeah, I have a couple ions andfire actually, one of which I
mentioned to you before we startedrecording and one of I did not.
The one I did mention, which is closerto completion is my not completion but
launch at least is my podcast which isgoing to be called marketing spotlight.
(12:20):
It's going to be me and anothermarketer geeking out about
marketing for 20 to 30 minutes.
It's something we marketers tendto do anyway and at some point we
were like, why should we keep theseawesome conversations to ourselves
when we can share them with the world?
So I have recorded a few episodesthat will be coming in April of 2025.
For those of you listening, the otherexciting thing I was planning to
(12:42):
launch last year and it did not happen.
So it will be sometime later this yearis a series of online courses that will
live on my website and it's just goingto be a bunch of courses all about what I
do, content marketing and SEO and how youcan leverage them to grow your business.
So if you want to go the DIY route butyou don't know where to start, that'll
be a really great place for you to start.
(13:02):
So that will be on mywebsite, avwritingservices.
com coming sometime in 2025.
That is wonderful.
And where else can peopleconnect with you online?
Yeah, my website AV as in my initials,Alison Verhalen, AVwritingservices.
com.
LinkedIn is anotherplace I hang out a lot.
I think I'm the only Alison Verhalenon there, so I'm pretty easy to find.
(13:23):
And then YouTube again, my podcastwill be coming out but until then I do
have a bunch of videos up on YouTube.
You can go check out also AlisonVerhalen content marketer.
Very nice.
And we'll have all of those linksavailable down in the description
and the show notes, whatever isavailable at the time of publishing,
we'll make those available.
So you can connect with Alison here.
Now, if you could go back in time andtell yourself one piece of advice in
(13:45):
order to get where you are to today,what would that piece of advice be?
It would definitely be to thinkmore strategically about what
I want and how to get there.
I did a lot of the throwing spaghettiagainst the wall when I was starting out.
And yeah, a lot of stuff didnot work and there's a certain
amount of entrepreneurshipthat involves that anyway.
But I feel like I could haveavoided a lot of those mistakes
(14:07):
by just sitting and thinking aboutwho do I really want to reach?
And what am I really doing here?
That and thinking about it.
The client more than thinkingabout myself and what I want would
have made things a lot easier.
That is some great advice, and wereally need to shift our perspective
in order to better serve ourclients some great advice here.
With that being said, you also werewalking by a store window and saw a pillow
(14:30):
with some advice that not is contradictorybut I think feeds off of it well because
on one piece of just taking quick actionwithout a thought process behind it.
There's also those who are overthinking.
Tell me more about that.
Yeah, it was a pillow.
I saw on a display window that said,hold on, let me overthink this and
it made me laugh because I think asentrepreneurs, we can all relate to that.
(14:52):
So I have not bought the pillowbut it does make me laugh every
time I pass by that window.
Absolutely.
Just some words of wisdom for all theentrepreneurs, marketers, business
owners out there who either get kindof stuck in this feedback loop of
overthinking and not taking action.
And those who are so quick tojump into something without
even having a game plan ready.
So find that balance, see whatworks best for you and then
(15:13):
just take action from that.
Alison wanted to allow you theopportunity just to have the stage.
Is there anything we haven't covered yet?
Anything you just wanted to talk aboutor mention with our audience here?
Oh, gosh, I could talk about this all day.
So don't hand me the mic.
I will say I do talk a lotabout this on my blog again.
AV writing services.
com lots of blog posts.
There are lots of content about and mybook content marketing made easy which
(15:36):
you can get on Amazon is not only fullof this information but I wrote it
specifically because I was sick of SEOprofessionals talking about like SEO is
rocket science and it's only for the elitefew who know how to work Google's magic
and that's really not the case at all.
So I really wanted to make itaccessible and explain it in plain
(15:56):
English so everyone can understand it.
So that is content marketing madeeasy available at your local Amazon.
I love it, Allison.
Thank you so much for comingon our podcast and sharing your
tips and tricks, wisdom, what'sworking for you in business.
So excited to watch your journey andkeep up the great work out there.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was fun.
Thanks so much.
It was a pleasure.
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