# Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]
The online coaching space is mutating faster than the coronavirus.

If your small online coaching business wants to make money in 2022 you need to market yourself differently.

Differently means standing out among the other <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/26/what-is-a-life-coach.html#:~:text=ICF%20estimates%20there%20are%2071%2C000,Global%20Coaching%20Study%20Final%20Report." target="blank">71,000 coaches</a> out there. To do so, you can't take any shortcuts.

The preferred shortcuts of so many other coaches involve paid ads and DMing on Instagram and LinkedIn.

But these marketing channels just don’t work for small businesses. 
How do I know? 

Because I've tried them and I've gotten burned.

You don't need to invest heavily and fail to realize that paid ads and cold calling don't work. 

Just think back to the last time that you responded to an email from a stranger or clicked on an ad on your Facebook feed. If you're struggling to recall a time in which you gave into disruptive advertising, then I've made my point.

Back in 2012 I started <a href="https://emlovz.com/" target="blank">emlovz.com</a> (a dating coaching site) and applied every shortcut I could.

We tried:

- Google AdWords
- YouTube Ads
- FB Ads
- Cold outreach

Nothing worked.

We were about to call it quits before I decided to try one last maneuver: <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/whats-the-difference-between-inbound-vs-outbound-marketing/" target="blank">inbound marketing</a>.

__Inbound marketing__ is all about attracting attention through high-value content. 

Think <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/articles/" target="blank">articles</a> that answer a searcher's burning questions, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube videos</a> that potential clients can binge for hours, and a podcast that they're dying to listen to every morning on the way to work.
![Outbound vs inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1o0DLeygQw7B8v1RRH1Q21/36b664bdaf79d72a2b7a42b73b3c2535/Outbound_vs_inbound_marketing.png)

We decided to invest heavily in creating unique content that addressed our ideal client's pain points.

Five years later and emlovz has experienced a sea change we could only dream of.

Nowadays emlovz.com is one of the largest coaching sites in the dating space.

In fact, emlovz.com sees enough traffic for me to claim we're a 1% website with regards to traffic.
![Inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Y5rdfHWwNrqvQVvkKaES4/3502a2a2a39663727386d7005ef40c30/Image_2.png)

As you can see from the screenshot above, we've racked up just under 3 million clicks from May to September of 2021.

But has this translated into earnings?

Yep.

emlovz is also in the top <a href="https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Online-Coaching-Salary#:~:text=While%20ZipRecruiter%20is%20seeing%20annual,annually%20across%20the%20United%20States." target="blank">5% percentile as far as online coaching revenues go</a>.
![top 5 percent](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/Oqtcp4pciQQmZ1WW6Og2Y/e8aca0bfc60ac8dc9b0885090c1737b3/top_5-.jpg)

*So how did we go from 0 traffic and 0 revenue to a top 5% coaching company?*

It was because I decided to stop skipping the line and we decided to start adding value to peoples' lives with evergreen lead funnels like high-quality articles and YouTube videos.

In this article, we'll break down everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business. 

## Content Marketing For Small Businesses

It doesn't matter if you're the personal finance messiah, if you don't have a quality marketing strategy to connect with people and spread the green word, no one will know you exist.

In the first portion of this article let's take a look at the vehicles you'll use to attract potential customers.

### Blogging Up The Traffic 

Blogging isn't an activity reserved for teenagers and soccer moms.

Creating high-quality written content is the best way B2B, B2C, and coaches like yourself can attract users to your website.

Google Search is where people go when they want to learn something and/or want to spend money.

With a market share of over 90%, it's no surprise that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/how-does-google-make-money-advertising-business-breakdown-.html#:~:text=More%20than%2080%25%20of%20Alphabet's,ad%20spending%20globally%20in%202021." target="blank">Alphabet makes 80% of its earnings through ads</a>. 

With all eyes on Google, ranking on the first page (but specifically within the first three results) can bring serious traffic to your business.
![organic keyword research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/39GAnFHdCUM2hpcxlfMO8u/da9bd93a30b4fdccb8495f3e4fd7fe1c/organic_keyword_research.png)

Getting to the top of Google means your website and brand is an authority.
Being an authority is exactly how to make money through content marketing in 2022.

By landing at the top of a <a href="https://www.wordstream.com/serp" target="blank">SERP</a> and providing a future client with helpful information, you're building trust, respect, interest, and ideally a following.

__This is something that paid ads just can't do.__

I should also mention that creating targeted content is also more pocket-friendly than throwing money at paid ads.

To generate the same traffic with paid ads (which we don't use at all) that we do through our blogs we'd have to spend $36,800 every month.
![organic research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4SpaZGpUDJ7j0fgHQYY4C5/bb58b66c9d00688306e64dad3908b04e/organic_research.jpg)

Instead, we spend just a fraction of creating viral pieces of content that thousands of people read every day.

### YouTube Videos That Are Binge-Worthy

Blogs aren't the only content strategy for small businesses. 

YouTube is the #2 best evergreen lead source you can find on the internet today. 

However, many experts think that <a href="https://quoracreative.com/article/video-vs-written-content" target="blank">video is the future of content marketing</a>. 

They say this because:

- Videos have higher engagement than written content
- The average consumer spends 100 minutes a day watching video
- <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/" target="blank">YouTube is the world's second most visited website</a>
- Views increase as more people work from home

When you're blogging - you're catching an evergreen traffic funnel of "__readers__." 

When you're pumping out youtube videos - you're catching an evergreen funnel of "__viewers__."

Generally speaking, there are lots of people who consume content either/or.

For example, about <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/" target="blank">25% of Americans haven't touched a book in the last year</a>.

You can bet the first $10k you make from online coaching that those same people prefer watching your content to reading it.

By only creating written content you're refusing to speak to a large portion of potential clients.

But hey, even if your ideal clients love reading, who doesn't like watching a video every once in a while.

Speaking of which…

At emlovz, before we meet with a new inbound client. we automatically email them a form to complete - and we ask them where they found us.

Many say <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube</a>.
![keyword strategy session](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/FsjLun9ZC05SZaRjZUeJf/6e810c355d30e65d47ad81ea176027e4/keyword_strategy_session.png)

Only choosing a certain type of content means only speaking to certain customers.

Create evergreen written and video content to cast a wide net and speak to as many potential clients as possible.

### YouTube/TikTok Educational Shorts 

Nobody has time or patience to watch a 20-minute YouTube video anymore.

As we've seen with the rise of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, IG reels, and yes even Quibi, consumers are beginning to favor short-form video.

Refining your content marketing strategy means creating targeted short-form videos.

After you write a 2k-word blog post and then repurpose it for a long-form YouTube video, you now want to make bite-sized videos clips.

Here's an example of what a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpStGznWoLM&feature=emb_title" target="blank">YouTube short looks like</a>.

So how did this YouTube Short perform?

Take a look at the analytics provided by YouTube below.
![YouTube analytics](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/74tyX3QLJC2gwWu6RVicyi/670650efb26d1d7f09eb88592062011f/YouTube_analytics.png)

3 YouTube subscribers in just 287 views.

Think about that for a second - you take 1 minute to create a short, upload it to youtube, and 3 new subscribers in a matter of a day or two.

Remember, __one subscriber today could turn into a $5k client of yours in the coming months__ (after they follow you for a bit). 

### Guest Posting Boosts Perceived Value Of Your Website

Guest blogging, also called “guest posting” is the act of writing content for another company's website.

Generally, guest bloggers write for similar websites within their industry in order to attract traffic back to their website.

Guest posting needs to be a marketing tool you use -- not only will you be introduced to another company's audience, but any do-follow links that you embed in the guest post will <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/backlinks#:~:text=Backlinks%20are%20especially%20valuable%20for,from%20one%20site%20to%20another.&text=If%20many%20sites%20link%20to,worth%20surfacing%20on%20a%20SERP." target="blank">BOOST your domain authority</a> -- just make sure you're guest posting on sites with a higher domain authority or Alexa ranking.

You can use tools like SEMRUSH and AHREFS to confirm a website's domain authority.

## Think LONG TERM From The Start

Creating a quality content marketing strategy involves understanding who your target audience is and which areas of content creation are worth investing in.

All your content creation efforts won't be worth a thing if you don't first establish your ideal audience.

### Select A Niche!

There are over <a href="https://ilifecoachtraining.com/life-coaching-is-currently-a-2-billion-industry/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2020%2C000%20coaches,second%20only%20to%20Information%20Technology." target="blank">20,000 coaches in the USA</a>20,000 coaches in the USA.

Most are defined as __"life coaches."__

A life coach is pretty explanatory, it's a coach that helps someone get their life together.

The issue with this is that our lives are layered, nuanced, and all our problems can't be fixed by some life guru that magically has all the answers.

To stand out you must define your niche.

What kind of coach or small business are you?

You could label yourself as a generic "life coach" but what sets you apart from all the other coaches out there?

Either way, you'll need to define your niche.

Emyli for example isn't a life coach, she's a __dating coach. More specifically she's a dating coach for men that targets men in urban areas that are upper-middle class and between the ages of 30-50__.

You may think that by creating a super-defined niche you're turning your back on a large swath of people.

That's true, but it's only one way to think about refining who you are and your target audience.

I like to think that by creating a specific niche you're able to create more meaningful services and content for the audience that your coaching skills can best serve.

### Side Hustle Until You’re In The Green

Be sensible when starting off.

I understand your desire to ditch your corporate job and dive headfirst into the water - but not everyone knows how to swim and even fewer of us know how to swim using the correct technique.

Don't be afraid to build your small business and make money through online coaching as a side hustle to start.

Hell, Emyli didn't leave her corporate job until our revenue was close to $70k.
Take your time to learn the ropes and build a sustainable business before <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-lessons-from-alexander-great-hern%C3%A1n-cort%C3%A9s-jay-harrison/" target="blank">burning the ships</a>. 

### Delegate And Build A Small Army Of Creators

Being an entrepreneur is a lot like running a country - albeit an incredibly small one.

As the president of your newfound country, you can't possibly imagine doing everything yourself.

How are you supposed to run each branch of your country, build the infrastructure, and make diplomatic visits to other countries all by yourself?

The best entrepreneurs know how to delegate.

Your first appointments as an entrepreneur should be to hire a:

- Ghostwriter
- Social media intern

This is certainly the case if you're building your business as a side hustle and don't have 5-10 hours a week to create new content and execute an SM strategy.

## Research and Build Your Small Business Program BEFORE You Launch

Whether you’re a coach or small business owner you first need to understand your target audience before launching.

Jumping into the fire that is being a small business owner will only work if you first know what you’re getting yourself into.

Don’t get burned by refusing to do your due diligence in learning both about your competitors and target audience. 

Use SEO tools like SEM Rush and Ahrefs to figure out what type of content your ideal client is interested in learning about. 

During the nascent stage of your company, it’s important to identify your ideal client and understand their pain points. You can do this by interviewing those you think would be interested in your business. 

Understanding their psyche and pairing that with keywords they’re looking for is a recipe for creating amazing content. 

If you have more questions about content marketing for small businesses and coaches feel free to check out my website and <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/" target="blank">contact me for a brief strategy call</a>.

content marketing for small business

A break down of everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business.

Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]

# Video SEO
 
I posed the question to SEO professionals what they thought was the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic. I got over 100 responses which I broke up into <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/44-underutilized-seo-strategies-and-tactics" target="blank">8 categories</a>, and 44 sub categories. This is part 7, which highlights the underutilized strategies related to video SEO.

__Video SEO Sub Categories:__
- <a href="#Optimizing_YouTube_Videos/Website_Videos">Optimizing YouTube Videos/Website Videos</a>
- <a href="#Audio_and_Video_Transcription">Audio and Video Transcription</a>
- <a href="#Product_Videos">Product Videos</a>
<a id="Optimizing_YouTube_Videos/Website_Videos"></a>
 
## Optimizing YouTube Videos/Website Videos
![Optimizing YouTube videos](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1akswNx3yqXOfWvGGBpw5b/5c10d71d611957be0faf948456cc30da/YouTube.png)
__Alex Shute, Editor-in-Chief of <a href="https://faithgiant.com/" target="blank">FaithGiant</a> shares his thoughts on why you should optimize with videos:__
"Videos are one of the SEO tactics that often get overlooked but can significantly impact your website and brand performance. It is a digital marketing tactic that isn’t used to its full potential by many businesses. YouTube in particular is one of the most consumed forms of content available today. People spend a ton of time watching videos, and data shows users often watch several videos during each session. YouTube videos are favored heavily by Google and it is also favored by millennials.

"Videos are great for tutorials, demos, client testimonials, firm overviews, and more. It increases engagement, boosts conversions, and increases revenue. It’s actually a good idea to conduct keyword research before producing videos so you can make sure there is an audience for the video topic. Use Google Trends to determine how a keyword topic is trending and to see what other variations you may want to use. Be sure to optimize your video content for accessibility by including video transcription, subtitling, and captioning."

__A great example was given by Thomas Anthony, Founder at <a href="https://www.thomasanthony.co/" target="blank">thomasanthony.co</a>:__

"Repurposing content + embedding YouTube videos into blog articles is an under-utilized SEO tactic that can help niche websites OUTRANK big brands. One of my clients, <a href="http://emlovz.com/" target="blank">emlovz.com</a>, was seeing ~225,000 monthly readers on their blog about 8 months ago. That’s when they started repurposing their blogs by converting them into scripts, then filming a YouTube video, and then embedding that video into its associated blog. Their traffic has jumped to nearly 275,000 readers since then."

__Julian Lloyd from <a href="https://www.mindsetmedia.ca/seo-search-engine-optimization.html" target="blank">Mindset Media</a> tells us how he does this:__

"What I typically do with clients as part of my larger SEO approach is I create a YouTube channel for them (if they don't already have one) and create some quick videos to post on it. Honestly the quality of the videos doesn't even matter that much as far as I can tell - but that doesn't mean I'm putting garbage videos up for them. You still need to keep in mind that bad videos can hurt their brand image if they get lots of people to go to their YouTube channel. But I see the technique working regardless of quality.

"For example, one of my clients in the mental health industry has written many blogs on a large area of topics so what I do is take that content and repackage it and send it to someone on Fiverr to create a 1-minute cartoon animated video. They have someone read out the script that I've created from the blog and they animate it to keep viewer attention. Once it is approved by the client I take the video file and upload it to YouTube and choose my title and description carefully. Sometimes I literally have the title of the YouTube video match the blog title and other times I vary slightly. Within the description of the video I put a lot of information about the topic and even include a reference to the fact that we have written a more in-depth article about it on our blog - at which time I backlink over to our blog using rich anchor text. Just for kicks, I like to also embed this video in the blog itself. This is something I consider very simple to do but nobody seems to be taking advantage of it. Another separate benefit of this is that you can re-use the video for your social media as well."

__Charles Leduc, Chief Operations Officer at <a href="https://www.bustmold.com/" target="blank">Mold Busters</a> also touts using YouTube videos to rank:__

"Google ranks relevant Youtube videos very high on the search page. Any business looking to take advantage just needs to create compelling video content, and drive traffic to their website through Youtube. Not only does it drive traffic toward your business, but it builds authority on your industry, and we are the go to authority for mold and indoor air quality as a result."

__<a href="https://kevinmiller.com/" target="blank">Kevin Miller</a>, a digital marketing expert, who was recently named "Entrepreneur of the Year” for the 2021 American Business Awards states:__

"I believe an underutilized SEO strategy is to post videos on your website. Videos are great for both entertainment and education. The best part about it is that video content ranks really well in search engines, so you get two benefits for the price of one. In addition, it keeps people on your website for longer periods of time. Not only are videos beneficial to SEO, but they also have the power to go viral across social media platforms. If you own an eCommerce store selling products online, adding instructional videos will help with your sales by providing educational content in the form of short films. And lastly, video marketing helps you rank in search results organically instead of using PPC ads."

__Paula Glynn, Director of Search Marketing & Digital Strategy at <a href="https://pixelstorm.com.au" target="blank">Pixelstorm</a> also recommends:__

"Create short videos to let people know about your site and how it can help them, then post those videos on YouTube and other sites. People love watching videos online. Videos are more personal than text, and they're great for conveying your message quickly and efficiently."

<a id="Audio_and_Video_Transcription"></a>
## Audio and Video Transcription
![audio and video transcription](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/23jrYqsOc9xMggameB95tg/976e11d3fde5d5a3a5fd195d09f593b1/audio_and_video_transcription.png)
"Audio transcription is an SEO strategy that helps you stand out from the competition but is one of the most neglected SEO strategies", __says Imani Francies, a digital marketing expert with <a href="https://clearsurance.com/" target="blank">Clearsurance.com</a>__. 

"The process of translating various audio and video products into text files is known as media transcription. Audio and video recordings are incapable of doing so, and subtitles beneath them are sometimes insufficient. Subtitles can be created from transcribed material. The videos become more intelligible and accessible to a larger audience as a result.

"Having your podcast or video transcribed ensures that it receives the same SEO advantage as, for example, a blog article. So viewer engagement can be increased by using transcriptions. Basically, it ensures that you have covered all of your SEO bases."

__Jignesh Gohel, Founder & Marketing Head of <a href="https://www.olbuz.com/" target="blank">OLBUZ</a> agrees__:

"Getting Your podcast/video transcribed is a great way to make engaging media and to make sure that it will get the same SEO benefit as say a blog post."

__Lauren Amor, Organic Search Specialist for <a href="https://tandem.buzz/" target="blank">Tandem Buzz</a> explains:__

"By transcribing the audio of a podcast or video, not only are you catering to ADA compliance (which contributes to SEO's E.A.T standards) but you're also getting those keywords on your site/content that wouldn't otherwise be there. Without a transcription of your audio, you're trying to pack in keywords into your title and description (which shouldn't ever be too long)." 

<a id="Product_Videos"></a>
## Product Videos
![product video](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/6nAY0QUeU07uciJUGKAjjr/6bc4abdf1597aaef32163a014264c946/product_video.png)
<div><center><a href="https://www.videosforeveryone.com/product-videos-production/" target="blank">Image Source</a></center></div>
 
__The benefits of using product videos is explained by Jeff Neal from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCritterDepot" target="blank">Critter Depot</a>:__

"One of our favorite digital marketing strategies is product videos. Some of our best selling products are live worms and crickets. And having a tutorial video on what it's like to get worms in the mail has been great for boosting on page retention and time on site. These metrics have helped us earn first page rankings for making our highest converting products.

"But its benefits go beyond our site. Because now we have a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCritterDepot" target="blank">YouTube Channel</a> that provides supplemental income to our main site.

"So we emphatically express that product videos are amazing."

### In conclusion:

Perhaps focusing more efforts on audio and video resources will be just what you need to up your SEO game!

__Other Categories in this Series:__
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>

video seo

This is what the experts say are the most underutilized SEO strategies regarding video SEO

#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies

Underutilized Video SEO Strategies

![44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3Fl6DS4NzmZwOc5OJECq2X/fb00d3f59ce36fc2efb316c467b304e2/44_Underutilized_SEO_Strategies_and_Tactics.jpg)
Recently I asked marketing and SEO professionals what they felt the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic was. With over 100 responses I was able to compile them into these calegories:

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/7-underutilized-video-seo-strategies" target="blank">#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies</a>
 
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>

My intent is to shed some light on a strategy or two that you haven't focused on yet, or perhaps remind you of some SEO basics that you haven't thought about in a while. Who knows? Implementing one of these underutilized strategies may be all that you need to push your rankings to the next level.

44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics

In response to the query, "What is the most underutilized SEO strategy?" I received over 100 responses, and here they are organized into 8 categories.

Blog - Video SEO