It seems simple enough, but how can you as a small business owner or service provider practice content marketing yourself? And how do you come up with content that’s going to get people’s attention and be valuable to them? The articles below address these questions and others around content marketing. There’s a basic introduction to the topic, an article about setting content marketing goals, a blog post about “Hemingway-esque” content marketing, and finally a practical, straightforward set of 20 content marketing suggestions that any business owner should find useful. Taken together, they provide a good foundation to understanding the why and how of content marketing.

Content Marketing 101: How to Build Your Business With Content
Copyblogger Senior Editor Sonia Sloane lays it out in a clear and concise article, with links to even more useful how-to articles about different aspects of content marketing.

10 Content Marketing Goals Worth Pursuing
Another Sonia Sloane piece, this one about setting content marketing goals. As with any business endeavor, it’s essential to know why you’re doing it and what you want to get out of it. As Sloane writes, “Content all by itself — even terrific content — is just content… It won’t transform your business or get you where you need to go, until you add one thing… Content marketing is a meaningless exercise without business goals.” True true.

The Hemingway Guide to Content Marketing
A useful, literary-minded blog post from Jesse Noyes at Eloqua that uses the example of Ernest Hemingway to show how you should approach content marketing. Even more than the tips that Noyes offers, the post in itself is a good example of content marketing. It’s original, has an angle, and is more engaging than a typical marketing how-to article.

20 Content Marketing Ideas for 2012
So you’ve got a sense of how to practice content marketing, but how do you actually come up with good content? Lisa Barone of Small Business Trends provides 20 ideas to get you started.

What’s been your experience with content marketing? Has it impacted your business, or do you feel like it’s a waste of time? And what challenges have you had with it? Feel free to leave your comments.

One nice touch of all the new themes is the shadow effect below the splash image, which provides depth and movement to the page.

Keep in mind that you can switch your site theme and edit your theme to make your site look just how you want it to. We’ve seen a lot of great sites now in which the site creators have used the theme editing capabilities to give their sites a totally unique look!

To start, every page on a vSites website uses a page template, which defines the layout of the page. By default, the homepage uses one page template and the secondary pages on the site use another, typically with a narrow column on the left or right. You can see the page template that a page uses at the top of the Site Editor:

Many small business websites show some of the same content on multiple pages; for instance, you might see the same contact form on different pages of a real estate agent’s or contractor’s site. To make it easier for vSites users to do this, we automatically add modules that are added outside of the main body section of a page to the same section of the other pages that use the same page template. For example, let’s say your website has a services page and a photo gallery page that use the same page template. If you add a Facebook Like Module to the narrow column of the services page, it will also be added to the narrow column of the photo gallery page. Likewise, if you remove it from the photo gallery page, it will also be removed from the services page. That’s how it works.

If you want to add modules to one page of your site and only have them appear on that page, you can either add them to the main body section or create a new page template for the page. To create a new page template, go to the Control Panel, click the Page Templates link, and click the Create New button. There are four page template options: One Column, Two Column Left (narrow column on the left), Two Column Right (narrow column on the right), and Three Column. For whichever page template you choose, you can select which sections of the page you want included in it. Before saving the new template, give it a name by clicking the pencil icon at the top.

Once you’ve saved the new page template, apply it to the page by clicking the page link at the top of the Site Editor, clicking the General Settings tab, and choosing the new template. Since it’s a new template, you’ll need to add modules to all of the sections in it, which you can do easily by clicking the Saved Modules tab on the Add Module screen.

So, to sum it up: modules that you add outside the main body section of one page will also be added to the other pages that use the same page template. If you want to add a module to just a single page on your site, either add it to the main body section of that page or create a new page template and apply it to the page, then add your saved modules back to the page.

How to Use Twitter for Marketing & PR
I almost skipped this post because of the undeniably bland title, and I’m glad I didn’t. This is an enormously useful article from Hubspot Chief Marketing Officer Mike Volpe. He offers several good, fresh ideas, such as getting your CEO tweeting and connecting with customers that way, as well as a straightforward set of steps for getting started on Twitter.

How Does “Phoenix Real Estate Guy” Attract Clients On Twitter?
If you’re not familiar with Jay Thompson, you should be. The self-labeled “Phoenix Real Estate Guy” uses Twitter really, really well (he’s got 11,636 followers!) and has become well-known in both the real estate and social media marketing worlds for his social media savvy. He also writes a great blog that I recommend you subscribe to. Anyway, social media scheduling app Garious did this post on their blog about Jay and how he’s used Twitter to build his client base. The anecdote he provides is one of the best uses Twitter I’ve come across.

How and Why I Use Buffer
John Jantsch of the small business marketing blog Duct Tape Marketing makes the case for Buffer, a service that lets people schedule tweets and Facebook posts. He goes into detail about how he uses Buffer, which I appreciated.

Why McDonald’s should have known better
With a single hashtag — #McDStories — McDonald’s provided the world with a helpful case study of the potential pitfalls when a company asks people on Twitter, “So, what do you think of us?” Forbes‘s Shelley DuBois gives an intelligent and entertaining analysis of the McDonald’s blunder.

Have your own insights about Twitter? Let us know by posting a comment.

1. New easy-to-crop Splash Image Module
We’ve made it super easy to crop and customize the splash images on your site. With the new Splash Image Module, you can upload an image and easily drag and reposition the photo right in the Site Editor. This should be a big timesaver for many vSites users because you no longer have to use another application to crop the image or worry about the splash image taking up your entire page. Just another way that vSites makes it easy to build a website.

To utilize the new cropping capabilities, just select “Splash Image” on the Add Module screen, then upload the image you want to use.

2. Two new listings modules and a new slideshow layout
If you enjoyed the ease of the Listings Module before, you’ll love it even more now. With the new Featured Listing Module, you can showcase one specific property on your site; if you would like to show off all of your listings, you can create a Mini Listings Module in which site visitors can easily click through to all of your listings, similar to a vFlyer listing widget. Both modules are fully customizable, easy to add, and seamlessly integrate into your site.

Additionally, we now offer a slideshow layout for the Listings Module that rotates through the first photo of each of your flyers.

3. An alternative to vFlyer’s Facebook app
By the request of our users, we have come up with an alternative to the vFlyer Facebook app, which is currently not compatible with Facebook’s format. We hope to have the app working again soon but in the meantime, this alternative allows users to display their listings on their Facebook Page. Stay tuned for a step-by-step instruction manual but if you want to learn about the workaround, give our support team a call at 800-594-5930 ext. 1 or email us at support@vflyer.com.

4. Other Enhancements and Bug Fixes
We pushed a number of other enhancements and bug fixes to the system:

• An issue with the iPad slideshow is now fixed and the slideshow now works as expected.
• Previously, if a vMarketing user chose the Standard print layout, the logo would not appear in the PDF. This issue is now fixed.
• In vSites, when clicking through the photo gallery a pop-up slideshow will now display photos that are selected.We hope you enjoy the new features and capabilities in vSites and vMarketing. If you have any comments or questions, please let us know.

  Lastly, stay tuned for some new vSites themes in the coming weeks. I took a quick peek at some of the work our designers have been doing and it looks great!

Apparently Angela also has a talent for building websites, as the site she built with vSites shows. We at vFlyer are simply blown away by her site; it has great branding, is well organized, balances text and images well, and makes good use of lots of different module types. It also just looks fantastic.

I caught up with Angela this week and she kindly answered my questions about her business, her website, her experience with vSites, and her advice for other business owners thinking about building a website.

Can you tell me a little about your business?

I joke that I have self-confidence in a bottle. In today’s world, appearances matter. It’s not fair, but it’s fact. As a makeup artist, I have a pretty deep bag of tricks that I use to make women look and feel their best.

I’m based in suburban Chicago and for now, I’m a one-woman show. I work with brides, but I also do commercial work for photo shoots.

How did you get into makeup?

I have always loved makeup. No matter how fat you get, lipstick always fits! I did my first makeover at 16. Back then it never occurred to me that I could make a living putting makeup on people. So I went to college and then worked in a series of soul-crushing corporate jobs. When the recession struck and being downsized seemed unavoidable, I decided to pursue my passion full-time.

How did you learn about vSites?

It was by accident. I was looking for a service that had web templates but offered a LOT of customization options. I didn’t want to hand code the whole thing, but I didn’t want to be trapped either. As I looked at people’s websites, I noticed that realtors had clean websites with lots of pictures, so Googling around, I tripped over vSites. Once I tried it and saw the vMarketing complement, I signed right up.

How did you decide how to design and structure your website?

I have a marketing background, so I knew basically that I wanted the website to be graphic but still feminine. I also wanted it to reflect my personality. I tried to design it with my different market segments in mind.

Why is it important for your business that you have a quality website?

Brides and personal clients are now doing all of their legwork online. A professional website gives people the confidence that you will handle their needs competently.

What’s your favorite vSites feature?

MODULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why no one else has thought of this I’ll never understand. You just figure out what you want and where you want it and click. Easy.

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about building a website for his or her business?

Do it yourself. It’s not about saving money, it’s about retaining control. As a business owner, you need to understand everything about how your business runs. A service like vSites makes it easy to produce professional-quality sites.

My other advice… don’t reinvent the wheel. Look at the websites of successful companies in industries with similar clients. For example, I looked at interior design and real estate because they are high-ticket, emotional services in female-dominated industries.

*Note: I was unfamiliar with “makeup heads” and intrigued by the Marie Osmond thing, so I did a series of Google image searches to try to find a picture of a Marie Osmond makeup head (which I now know was part of a celebrity makeup head line that Mattel launched in the late 70s and that also included Farrah Fawcett and the Bionic Woman). Apparently — and disappointingly — no such picture exists.

M Squared Introduces App-less iPad Open House Management
Washington, D.C., real estate brokerage M Squared announced last week its introduction of a new iPad-based software for collecting buyer information at open houses. The proprietary software lets open house visitors leave their email addresses and then get automatic email updates about the property they visited as well as nearby comparables and upcoming open houses. I would guess that the “cool factor” of its being an iPad app (well, not really an app, but who’s counting?) and its simplicity will increase the likelihood of buyers leaving their information on it, thus increasing the likelihood of a conversion from an open house. I suspect that other brokerages and real estate technology companies will follow M Squared’s lead.

Brand IS Important, So Who’s Brand Should YOU Be Building?
What a thoughtful, enlightening piece from InmanNext contributor Teri Conrad on the gap between broker brand and agent brand. She raises some really interesting questions and I also love the way she incorporates Twitter and video right into the post.

Real Estate Link Building with Pinterest
At vFlyer, we’re paying more attention these days to social sharing site Pinterest, which allows users to post content (pictures, mainly) to a “pinboard” and share it with everyone else. Sound familiar? It takes the fundamental concept of every social networking site — sharing — but it presents it with a new interface and tone: softer, prettier, more visual. It’s no surprise that women comprise a majority of the site’s users so far. In any case, this is a good piece from the Real Estate Marketing Blog about how real estate agents can use Pinterest to build up links to their website. It’s tough to gauge the SEO juice in a Pinterest link, but this article does make a good case for the value of it.

#BlackoutSOPA: How 87,000 People Taught Us About The Future of Online Activism
A fascinating account on Techcrunch from the founder of #BlackoutSOPA of how in less than two weeks, an organization that did just one very simple thing — replace people’s Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ profile photos with a “Stop SOPA” image — gained 87,000 users and national attention. A reminder that it’s often the simplest ideas that, when executed well, have the widest appeal.

I found an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor this afternoon about how kids increasingly don’t know much about King (aside from the fact that they get to miss a day of school because of him). I’ve certainly come to take King’s struggles and achievements for granted, and this piece made me stop and really consider why today is a national holiday.

That, of course, is unrelated to the Marketing Monday Roundup, for which we’ve compiled several other interesting articles about technology, social media, and online marketing. Here are the winners this week:

Why Social Is So Disruptive to Traditional Marketing
I appreciate Judy Shapiro’s piece in Social Media Today because she helpfully articulates the shift from a content distribution platform to a community distribution platform. She also serves as a model of a marketing industry veteran who’s adapted to the new landscape (or rather, is adapting) and is embracing new ideas about what marketing is in the social web.

Justified – Beginning Steps To Proving Your Internet Marketing Point
Carrie Hill’s post on Search Engine Land is specific to using Google Analytics and AdWords to measure marketing success — which is useful in and of itself — but I also like her opening point about the need to justify marketing expenses and why it’s essential to have clear metrics to measure your success.

11 useful tips for marketing your brand on LinkedIn
A well-written, concise set of tips from Katerina Walter on The Next Web for how to use LinkedIn as a business.

What’s in a gTLD?
We’re accustomed to a rather limited set of top-level domains: .com, .net, etc. We’re now seeing the expansion of TLDs to the point that someone could conceivably own “.beaches” and license the subdomains of it (for instance, “spain.beaches”) to others. This insightful column in The Economist nicely contextualizes this development.

Online Shoppers Are Rooting for the Little Guy
Not exactly a triumphant story about small businesses rising above the online retailing behemoths, but an encouraging New York Times piece nonetheless for small and mid-sized retailers.

1. New social sharing feature on flyers
By default, flyers now have a Share tab on the right that, when moused over, lets people like, tweet, and +1 your flyers with a single click. The new feature means that promoting your flyers is no longer up to you alone; now anyone can share a flyer with the Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and Google+ circles. This is the essence of social media: providing the tools to share content and make connections to a wide and diverse audience.

The social sharing feature is a good complement to the existing social media toolbar, which lets you integrate your social networks into your flyers.

2. Listing integration in vSites now easier through WYSIWYG Editor
The vSites WYSIWYG (or Freeform) Editor gives you free reign to make your website content look exactly how you want it to. Now it’s even easier to pull your flyer content into it. When you add a text or image link to the WYSIWYG Editor, there’s now an option to link to any of your published flyers. From the “Link Type” drop-down menu, select “Listings” and then choose the flyer you want to link to.

3. Bug fixes
We resolved the following bugs in our system: