Daniel Daines-Hutt – Amplify Content Academy

Download available within 1-2 hours, So rather than just share ‘success stories’, we wanted to share Scott’s perspective as a brand new memberDaniel Daines-Hutt – Amplify Content AcademyLet Me Show You How To Get More Traffic, Leads And Sales, While Writing Far Less Content…You ever feel like your content just isn’t working?Sure it gets a few leads but lets be honest here…You put in the time,do the research,and write your best but nothing happens.Nothing game changing anyway.Its enough to make you want to stop writing all together right?But the worst part?You see all these other companies using content to grow, and they are CRUSHING it, so you KNOW it works:$300,000 dollars a month- all generated with their content!Its frustrating right?Just what are they doing that you’re not?Whats their secret?I’ll tell you exactly what it is, so you don’t have to find out the hard way like I did…The best part?It works:Even if you suck at writing,Even if you’ve never seen results from content before,Even if you don’t know the first thing about ‘content’ and ‘content promotion’.Thank God For My Nan (And Google Plus)You might have heard me tell this story before.The thing is?You only know half of it…A few years back I decided to go all in on content marketing.I slaved away at my desk for over 80 hours on an article, with only my cat for company.This was it.I had done everything I was supposed to, and this was the best article I had ever written.Can you guess what happened?It got 2 measly social shares…2 shares for over 80 hours of work!And the worst part?One share was ME to my own Google Plus accountAnd the other share was from my Nan…At this point I didn’t even want to look at my keyboard again.Fortunately for me, I’m kind of stubborn.Rather than give up, I sat down to figure this all out.I’m so glad I did…Fast forward to around 6 months later , and I wrote a new article for a brand new website:I finished the draft, hit publish and then reached out to a friend to let them check it out before I crashed for the night.(I’ve never told anyone before, but there was a strategy behind this…)My buddy was in another time zone and I *thought* he was going to read it and give feedback.I’m a pretty good writer, so why would I ask him for feedback?Psychology…So let me explain:When someone is involved in the creation of something, they want it to succeed, simply because they value it more.It’s called the ‘ikea’ effect.People value things that they had a hand in creating, far more than if they were not involved.The crazy thing is?This is a great way to get an influencer invested in your content, so that they hopefully share and link to it.Sneaky eh…So I went to bed after sending the email, expecting some further feedback on my new guide.But he didn’t give me any more feedback…He enjoyed it so much that he decided to share my post for me on a huge marketing forum as a surprise!I should mention that my buddy is also a pretty big influencer in that forum.Why does that matter?Because I may not have had my audiences attention at the time, but he sure did.That’s when things went a little crazy…I woke up to over 19,000 views of that article.NINETEEN THOUSAND!The post wasn’t even ‘finished’ yet!There were a few typos, some placeholder images and no email capture at all.But it didn’t matter…Within the week it was the number #1 post on the forum.By the end of week #2?It had driven 50,000 visitors to my brand new site, along with 300 client requests…(At around $10,000 per campaign, that was a cool $3 Million Dollars in client requests!)Even better?I learned my lesson and quickly made sure that the content started to collect leads.And because of that?It still gets traffic, leads and applications to this day, years later…In fact?I will often wake up to a burst of new leads and a spike in traffic, all from an influencer finding our content and sharing it with their audience.So what was the difference?Why does this content continue to do well long after I wrote it, but the previous content only got 2 shares?…Simple.I started to focus on creating content that converts, but not only that?I learned how to actually promote it…Learning how to write AND promote high converting content, is the single most powerful way to grow your audience and sales.It doesn’t matter if you’re a freelancer, an agency, an SMB or even an experienced writer:This is how you FINALLY grow with contentThe Results So Far…A lot of people will tell you its all about content volume.“You have to create a lot of content to be successful”They are wrong…With only 8 blog posts in 2 years, we’ve had:The Top #10 content of ALL TIME on Inbound.org.The Top #10 content of 2017 AND 2018 on GrowthHackers.Content shared or referenced by Neil Patel, Sujan Patel, Glen Alsopp, Copy Chief, Co-Schedule, Joanna Weibe and even the CEO of Microsoft…Pretty cool right?But influencer’s and forums are just part of the promotion process…(They are great for traffic spikes but not for sustained long term growth)And so by working in SEO and linkbuilding also, our latest article is now getting free traffic, week after week.How’s it doing?In the last 3 months its gone from zero views in Google, to 30,000+ and we haven’t even finished promoting it yet!Not bad right?That’s free traffic that’s growing month after month!It gets better still.How?Because the content is so effective, it means we can drive paid traffic to it, and still see a profit…Yep$230 spent promoting the article so farLeads for $1.50 each$12,000 in sales tracked back from those adsAll from promoting just ONE article.Mind blown yet?And I know what you’re thinking…So How Did We Figure All This Out?Honestly?It took a LOT of time and effort.I read book after book and fully nerded out.Rather than just learn ‘how to write’, I learned what actually drives us as human beings:What makes us tick?Why do we share things at all?What grabs our attention, pulls at our emotions and gets us to take frigging action?And no…Not just things that go viral for the sake of it and attract the wrong audience, or sleazy ‘click bait’ hacks that work for a week.But the nuts and bolts behind the psychology of it all…Then?Then I got frustrated.Why?Because I knew I had to promote my content if I wanted people to see it, and so I read every article I could find about content promotion.(aka the actual marketing part of content marketing…)The only problem?They would mention a method but not actually HOW to do the thing.If I had to read one more frigging list post with single sentences of ‘Run a Facebook ad’, or ‘Share to your email subscribers‘, I was going to lose my god damn mind.So that’s when I said ‘sod it’The only way to figure it all out, was to get my hands dirty and get in the trenches.So that’s what I did.After months of work and tens of thousands of dollars spent, I started to figure it all out.I implemented every method I could find…I would test what works, improve on it and then cut the rest.I then took these tests and built an internal training program.It was a system of processes for our team to follow, use, and get results.How did they do?We hired a new intern who’s previous marketing experience involved selling cookies door to door.(And lets be honest, those things sell themselves.)She had never written a post before, ran an ad or had any idea what SEO was.But within a few weeks of training?She went on to get links and shares from some of the biggest digital blogs in the industry…Not bad right?People saw our results and kept asking us how we were doing it, so we improved the program and then took 40 of our readers through it…Case Study: From Single Digit Traffic To 5,000 Readers In A WeekGigi Rodgers is a full time content writer for a software company, who also freelance writes and edits for her own siteAfter joining the Amplify Content Academy she’s been CRUSHING it.Taking action, making mistakes, and getting results.What kind of results?Within just 30 days of joining she was headhunted for positions with major Fortune 500 companies in her industry…Can you imagine that?Promoting an article you wrote and instead of crickets or ‘No Thanks!’, but people loving what you wrote so much that they try to steal you to work for their company instead!Crazy right?We’re not just talking small blogs eitherHow about offshoots of Hubspot…Or working with celebrities like Rainn Willson?Yep…Pretty crazy right?We asked Gigi to share her story with you:The 5 Things That Cause Content To Fail…It wasn’t always easy.I had to make a lot of mistakes before we figured all this out.When we break it down, there were 5 major mistakes that were causing our content to crash and burn.If you want your content to work for you?Then you need to overcome these problems too…Mistake #1: You Are Not A Media CompanyHuman beings are hardwired to copy what we see.Why?Because by finding and copying patterns, it helped us to survive in the wild.Since then, we’ve evolved to use patterns to simplify our lives.It makes sense right?If you can find something you want, then copying how someone else got the result can help you get the same thing.But the thing is?We have to be careful WHO we copy…Let me explainWhen we’re reading online, its usually 2 types of content:Educational i.e it helps you learn and solve an issue, orEntertainment.The problem?We copy those entertainment sites and what they do with their content.Why care?Because these guys have a totally different business model to you!They get paid via onsite advertising.Every eyeball that sees an advert on their website, nets them a few cents.And so what do they do?Rather than get new readers or create quality content, they focus on bringing the same reader back 10 times per day.This means they churn out a whole heap of weak content, because they don’t care if it converts.This is actually good news for you.Why?Because your business model is different, it means that you DON’T have to be writing all the time to get results.Its not about volume.Its about depth and getting your readers to take action…Mistake #2: Entertaining, Not AutomatingOnce we get stuck in a habit, it can be hard to break out of it.Heck…Its hard to even see it happening.If you’re caught having to write all the time otherwise you won’t get traffic this week, then it can be scary to stop.But here’s the thing:You are far better off going out and finding NEW readers and bringing them to your old content, then you are just writing new content for the same people all the time.Why?Because new readers = new customers.People think that you need to keep interacting with your audience to make the sale.And sure, that is true.You do need a few interactions to move them to becoming a customer.But the thing is?You DON’T need to be writing new content each week, to make those interactions happen!Instead?You simply write a series of content that helps them convert into a customer, and then you automate it so that this series gets sent to each new reader.That’s how you can step away and still grow.The trick of course is getting those new readers to come to you…Mistake #3: Shotgun Marketing StrategyThere’s so many promotion channels out there, that it can be kind of overwhelming.SEO,Paid Ads,Forums,InfluencersPress etcEven then, each channel has multiple variations and platforms…Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads- the list goes onSo the question becomes:Just where should you spend your time to market your content?All of them?None of them?Well the truth is that every channel out there can help you grow, but they all have strengths and weaknesses.The trick is knowing which channels to use, and when.The best part?You don’t need to use all of themBut you DO need to use more than one, if you want to sidestep those weaknesses…Mistake #4: Its Not Inbound Vs Outbound…There’s a big disconnect in the marketing space.The inbound guys just want to write content so that people will come to them.The outbound guys?They’ll do outreach and ads all damn day, but they’re not actually building assets that help them grow.Its ‘Hunting’ vs Farming’But the thing is?They’re both doing it wrong…Why?Because you need a blend of both if you want to succeed and bypass those weaknesses.Let me explain:If all you do is outbound sales, then eventually you’ll fail.Get sick or try to take time off, and you don’t make any money that week.Not only that?But you’re selling one to one, not one to many.Even if you focus on paid ads, each channel is making it harder to succeed.You can’t just send them straight to a squeeze page anymore…Likewise inbound alone is madness!Why?Because it can take months of work to see results from SEO and so that content?It does nothing for you, if no one is seeing or reading it yet.In a recent study by Ahrefs, they found it could take 120 days just to get to page #1 rankings.120 days!And lets face facts here:Until you get to page #1, you’re not going to get much traffic in the mean time…So what can you do?Well imagine if didn’t just stick to just one promotion method?What if you could create long term content assets that rank and get traffic in Google.Better still?What if you could also promote that content to a brand new COLD audience, but at a profit?This means you can get traffic while you wait for it to rank.Better still?It means you can scale out to people who don’t even know about you yet- before they even start searching in Google.Before they even know what problem you solve…All while using content to make your life easier.Pretty cool right?And that’s just 2 promotion methods!Imagine if you used a few other channels so you could guarantee that you would get traffic on day #1 that the article goes live?#5: Going Alone Without A GuideHere’s something crazy…A study was done by scientists at Max Plank University in Germany.Its goal?To see how we respond, when we lack direction.Here’s how it worked:They sent people out to areas that lacked natural landmarks, such as deserts and forests. Places where the landscape looked the same, for as far as they eye could see.The scientists then left the subjects to find their own way out, and would track them via GPS.Do you know what happened?The test subjects would walk for about a mile in a straight line towards a direction they had chosen, but then?Then it gets a little weird…Lacking a specific landmark to help anchor them, they ALL started to walk in circles.Every person on every test.They would get so far, and then just start circling back to where they had been.(Some of them even turned around and went back the exact way they came- without even realizing it!)Why?Humans work off a system of Action, Feedback and ResponseWe use anchor points to help us plot a path, and then make minor course corrections.You wouldn’t think it would make a big deal right?But without a guide point to anchor us, we start second guessing decisions and suddenly we’re wandering in circles…What does this have to do with content?Oh so much…Without a clear end goal, you can never get to where you want to be.Worse?Without a process or a plan to get there, you’ll keep wandering in circles just like those test subjects.You have to have direction.A roadmap to take you from a, to b, to c and beyondYou have to know what action to take, and what mistakes to dodge.You need a process to help stop you second guessing and course correcting in circles. Otherwise your content will never really get the results that you’ve been craving.Instead time will pass and you’ll look up and find you’re not far off from where you started.Let us help you get you to where you want to be…The Amplify Content Academy is our step-by-step content creation and promotion program.Its designed to help you side-step these mistakes, so that you can create and leverage highly effective content that drives traffic and grows your audience.Its not just any old course…Its an indepth system to help you step off the content hamster wheel, and instead create assets that help your business for years to come.How?You start with a content idea and end up with a fully promoted, email capturing, traffic generating article by the endHeck…It’ll even help you step away and still get traffic, without feeling like you’ll starve if you don’t create new stuff that week!AccountabilityCommunityEasy to follow lessons with checklists, videos and step-by-step guidesPersonal consulting so no more ‘what if’s’The Academy training is based off fundamental principles and strategies that are designed to work long term.No more 5 minute hacks or clickbait.Instead we use psychology and direct response methods to get people to sit up, and take action- and then apply it to content marketing.Why?Because new platforms can come and go, but the principles remain the same.We break each of them down, and show you how to apply them to every part of the writing and promotion process:-Actionable Lessons-Follow Along Guides-No Hacks Or Gimmicks-No More Guesswork-No more reading surface level list posts or random podcastsSimply follow the training, and get results…How Is The Amplify Content Academy Different?Amplify is the first content marketing program to not just focus on ‘how to write content‘.That’s the easy part.We care about the PROMOTION and marketing of that content, so it actually gets you traffic and leads…How?By focusing on 3 primary goals:#1 How To Create EFFECTIVE Content That Drives ActionsSure we’ll teach you how to write easier, faster and more effectively than ever before- but most importantly?We’ll teach how to create content that converts.Content that gets leads, links and sales.That gets your audience to say “How am I only just finding this site?…”That gets them to take action.Heck…Content so good that people try to steal you for their own company!Why care?Because the better your content performs- the less traffic you need to get results.How?Because suddenly its doing twice the work it was before… or more.(Doubling your conversions is the same result as doubling your traffic)Even better?We don’t just stop there…#2 How To Get Traffic From Day ONE Of PublishingMost people focus on traffic methods that take a while to kick in, and nothing else.Not here.We’ll show you how to get traffic to your content from day ONE of publishing it.That’s right- no more waiting for results to trickle in.Even better still?We’ll teach you how to ‘trade up the chain’ and build traction, so you can leverage new opportunities. This way you’ll see an ROI faster than ever before.No more waiting weeks before you get traffic.That’s not to say we’re against those other methods…#3 How To Scale And Automate Your GrowthIf you want to truly scale your audience- then you need to go deep with SEO and other promotion channels.To get past those quick traffic spikes, until you get traffic that comes in day and night, consistently.Even better?You’ll learn how to get that traffic, even when you’re not thereSystems and processes that help you create long term growth that scales and builds on itself.Better still?You’ll learn how to create automated campaign’s that help you find new people who don’t even know about you yet.Ongoing traffic long after you wrote the article.And I know it sounds scary but its actually quite easyEspecially when you have people who are in the trenches with you to guide you along the way…Inside The Amplify Content AcademyThe Amplify Academy features indepth training video’s, coursework, case studies, examples, templates, worksheets and more.All recorded, transcribed and downloadable in multiple formats for you to access and use, where ever you are.There is a LOT of good stuff in here, so lets break it all down…Roadmaps.(To Help You Achieve Larger Goals)Want to do content marketing effectively?Well the truth is, there’s a lot of smaller parts to take into consideration.It’s more than just the look of an article, or how good your headline is. You want it to bring people in, get links, convert customers etc.And so to make your life easier, we’ve created 3 core roadmaps for you.Paths to take you from a to b to c.They walk you step-by-step through larger goals, so that you don’t miss anything…Roadmap #1: Content CreationFrom First Idea To Published ArticleThe goal of this roadmap is to take you from an initial article idea, to a finished, polished, published piece of content that’s ready to be promoted.It covers:How to find content ideasThe 9 Content Archetypes (with templates) to speed up your writing, and structureHow to choose your article topic, and whyResearching the subject to stand out against competitorsYour 30 minute first draftEditing for appearance, layout, design and flow. First impressions count and you want readers to see you as an authority in your space.Editing the article for Copywriting, so that it connects with your audience and keeps their attention. Everything from headlines, subheads, intros and more- so that you pull them down the page.Editing for SEO and Search Engines. All the steps to take so that you appear in Google for your article topic, without ruining your content or writing for machines.Editing for conversion. Every article should have a call to action- a way of changing the relationship with the reader and get them closer to becoming a customer. And so we show you how to convert more of your readers than every before.By this point the article is finished and ready to be promoted!And so we show you how to promote it also…Roadmap #2: Article Promotion Path.(How To Promote Your Content At Launch + Ongoing)There are a lot of promotion channels out there.We’ve mentioned before that each have their strengths and weaknesses right?Ads are great but they stop when the budget runs out.SEO is free traffic, but it takes months to kick in.And so that’s why you need to use other channels to support them.To not only remove any weaknesses, but to take advantage of each channels strengths.In this roadmap we walk you through an indepth process to start promoting your article and get traffic on Day #1, as well as ongoing traffic in the future.We breakdown each promotion method, when to do it, why, and how.We cover:How to work with influencers for FREE so that you can get immediate traffic and authority when you launch your article. These people already have your ideal audience and so we show you how to get infront of them, and build up powerful referral traffic.How to leverage forums to attract press, traffic and an audience. Most people mess up with forums and get banned- we get traffic and we show you how to do this systematically.How to start running paid ads to your content, at a profit. We cover a number of methods to start getting traffic from new people, without breaking the bank. We teach you how to understand what you can spend so you know you’re making money and not losing it.How to scale your ads and grow even further. Rather than just show you how to run an ad to your article, we now break down how to scale that paid audience while still making money. Why care? Because once you can do this, you can now grow like crazy.How to start promoting your content to build traffic and backlinks. We walk you through 9 different methods to build backlinks to your content so that you start to get free traffic in Google. This means free traffic that’s often worth thousands in equivalent paid ads. Better still? You’re building out new traffic channels to make yourself future proof.How to create links for SEO. Rather than just focusing on outreach methods, we show you how to actually create links back to your content. We dive deep into guest posting on major publications, and how to become a podcast guest to build massive traction.Pretty cool right?With this roadmap you have a step-by -step process to drive traffic to every article that you write.Better still?This roadmap is just covering a few promotion channels, so that you can get a result.Want to scale it up even further?We cover other promotion methods in the traffic library, but more on that soon…Roadmap #3: Your 12 Month Content PlanMost websites suffer from missing content.Not ‘articles’ as such, but pieces of content that they need to hit certain strategic goals.And so they either:Get sales but no real traffic (the ads focused peeps)Get traffic but no real sales (the SEO people), or worse.They struggle to get traffic or sales.The goal of this roadmap is to help you fill in those missing assets to make your site far more effective.We cover:How to automate your sales process. We walk you through how to research and write a series of content that’s designed to both get traffic, and convert your coldest readers into customers. This series helps get them to your offer, get them ready for it and understand why they need it AND want to buy it. Most sites only convert 2% of their audience into customers, because they miss these elements.How to improve that process to convert more of your audience into customers. No sales method is perfect, but we can always refine it. Now that you have a sales process in place, we walk you through how to improve it to convert other sections of your audience.How to create a content series for traffic and authority. Now that you have sales, we walk you through how to plan out, write and promote the next 5-8 articles on your site. This helps people see you as the go to site for your topic, and builds up your rankings and audience.Finally we get strategic. Every article can get SEO traffic, but some articles can totally skew your rankings. That’s the final goal for this plan. We show you how to find, write and promote a data backed guide that skews your SEO rankings and lifts up the traffic of every other article on your website…So there you have it.3 Roadmaps that cover incredibly important parts if your content marketing journey, and turn them into actionable step-by-step processes for you to follow.These alone could be worth thousands of dollars, but we don’t end there…Training Libraries(A Content Marketing ‘Netflix’ To Supplement Your Efforts)We mentioned this before, but the Amplify Academy is not just used by you…We actually use it for our own internal staff training.This means that when we test out new methods and create training for ourselves, we then go ahead and add it into the academy as a bonus!So rather than just the core roadmaps, you also get a buffet of additional training to supplement your marketing that’s being added to on an ongoing basis.Maybe it’s an update.Maybe its a new promotion method or channel.Or maybe you just want to access one of the smaller courses that we feature in the roadmaps?If it works for us, then we add it into the libraries so you can use it also!…Library #1: How To Sell With ContentIn this library we break down a number of methods of how to use your content to make money.We cover (or are creating soon):How to write pre-frame sales sequences– including content templates.How to write an effective sales page that sells without you being there.How to track conversions and salesHow to onboard trials into customersHow to further improve your offer, by interacting with the non buyers on automationHow to monetize your traffic with affiliate offersHow to set up your own affiliate program to get referral sales and backlinksPretty cool right?Well that’s not the only library we have for you!…Library #2: Content CreationThe goal of this library is to help you create, improve or outsource your content creation on multiple channels.We cover (or are creating soon):How to find content ideas for your audience, influencers and search engines.The 9 content archetypes and their templates, so you can simply follow along and write effective content.Editing for appearance mini course. The 5 steps we follow to help your content make you look like an instant authority.Editing copywriting mini course. The 6 copywriting methods that we use to pull our readers in, create an emotional connection and get them invested in your content.Editing for SEO mini course. The 7-step process that we follow to make sure that every article is found in Google, so that its able to get traffic once we start to build backlinks. (You’ll be surprised how many articles are out there with backlinks but Google has no idea what they are about, and so can’t refer them to people)Editing For Lead Capture master class. The 11 step process that we follow to make every article a conversion machine. Most articles convert less than 2% of their readers into subscribers, but this method converts between 10-83% of our readers!…How to create a content ‘style guide’ so that every article fits your brand. This helps your message resonate, and helps for editing guest authors.How to design custom images for your content, to improve their appearance and help your articles stand out.How to outsource image design to 3rd parties. How to find them, connect, build a brief and get your designs made.How to outsource content creation, so you can find freelancers to write for you.How to find influencers to write for you– so they send their audience to your site.How to create video content for ads, explainers and more.How to design custom pages for whitepapers and ultimate guidesHow to research and create a data backed guide (whitepaper)Pretty epic right?A whole heap of training to help you improve your content, but it still doesn’t end there…Library #3: Traffic + PromotionYou already know that you need to promote content if you want to scale our results right?And so we have an entire library based on either promoting your content, or ways to drive traffic to your site.We cover (or are creating soon):How To Run SEO Split tests + Improve Your SERP CTR (so that you not only rank, but you get more clicks from people who find you in Google)How To Leverage Old Content, With Automated Social SharingPaid Advertising FUNDAMENTALS. How paid ads work, how to understand your business numbers, learn what you can afford to pay for a customer and still make money, and much more.Keyword Research Deep Dive. Tips and tactics to find high traffic, low competition terms for your content.How To Track Keywords. What gets measured, gets managed. We show you how to track your rankings to see your progress.Linkbuilding Methods Deep Dive. We break down 13 ways to promote your content, so that people link to it, and it gets more traffic. All step-by-step, with examples.How To Pitch Press + Journalists. How to find press that want to talk about your subject, and pitch them your ideas for free traffic.Guest Posting For Links + Traffic. Sometimes you just have to go out and create backlinks, and one of the easiest ways? Is to find powerful sites who have your audience, and write for them. This gets you traffic, links and authority- and we break it all down from the pitch, to writing, editing and more.How To Be A Featured Contributor On Major Publications. Another great way to build authority and get easy links, is to get content featured on major news publications in your industry. We don’t want to build a news site, but we can leverage them for a short while and get traffic.Facebook Ads Deep Dive. We break down a number of techniques to get traffic, test ads, and start running campaigns to promote your content at a profit. Not only that, we show you how to bring back previous readers and convert them into subscribers and customers.Facebook Ads: Scaling Your Ad Spend and still staying profitable.Twitter Ads Deep Dive + Scaling. We break down a new paid traffic channel that you might not have used yet, how to run on it, test it and scale if its profitable for you.Instagram Ads Deep Dive + Scaling. Although owned and run by Facebook, instagram ads and audience require different techniques and angles. We walk you through how to promote your content on there for easy traffic at a profit.Youtube Ads Deep Dive + Scaling. One of the largest traffic channels, with consistently low costs. We run you through how to set it up, write an ad, record the video, test it and make a profit!How To Grow Your Organic Traffic With Youtube Content. We don’t just have to pay for traffic on Youtube- we can repurpose content there and drive people back to our site, and we show you how.Forum Marketing For Traffic + Promotion (Organic). We walk you through how to interact in forums, how to build authority and expertise, how to drive traffic to you and more.Paid Forum Promotion: How To