Look, we have another female entrepreneur on my blog who is going to share her digital marketing journey and this is her Alexandra Tachalova from Russia, running her digital business and making an impact on people’s lives by motivating people to take action in their lives. I met her online and we became good friends. Making friends all over the world is always a blessing and it is so enjoyable to learn from people like Alexandra. So let’s start the interview.
Readers are pretty lucky to have you. Please tell us a little about yourself and your journey into the world of content marketing and PR?
When I look back and think about how things have happened in my career, I smile. After graduating from university with a degree in traditional PR, I thought I had made a mistake and wouldn’t get anywhere if I did something boring. But I was wrong. A lot has happened to me since then.
I realized that you never know how things will turn out in your life. Now I truly love what I do and enjoy every moment I spend working. Analytics is another topic that interests me a lot and I really enjoy studying how marketing channels work.
This really helps me develop an integrated approach to every PR and content marketing activity. For example, here is my recent post where I talk about the importance of SEO in delivering a solid content marketing strategy.
How do you drive traffic to Digital Olympus, what is your main traffic source?
Digital Olympus is a free online event. The main purpose of this conference is to give people from all over the world the opportunity to learn from talented experts who usually only present at hard-to-reach events. Unlike other online events, we do not restrict access to our recorded videos after the conference ends.
You can find all of our videos on our YouTube channel. I also prefer to rent a professional studio for all of our recordings, which also sets us apart from other online events.
The most important traffic channel for us is social media as we interact well with the audience we reach. Thanks to our speakers and attendees, word of our conference spreads instantly and people share this event with their own communities on social media.
By the way, Digital Olympus takes place on November 28th. So secure your place and take the opportunity to listen to international experts share their professional experience, learn from their mistakes and success stories and benefit from their sure-fire advice.
How much is Digital Olympus worth and do you plan to sell it?
I don’t think this project is worth anything. I mean, the concept of this event is based on my personal connections, all speakers are the people I know personally. However, this event will help me establish my personal brand, which is why I have decided that my PR strategy will be based on providing the greatest possible benefit to other people. Hope it stays that way.
Tell us about some of the SEO myths you know and whether any of them can be debunked?
I often hear business owners say that they will appear at the top of search results for a specific list of keywords. But that’s not how it works. In most industries, the most profitable keywords are the most competitive, so it is very unlikely that a new website will rank well for certain searches. In reality, a good SEO expert has to find such keywords that guarantee good ranking and attract relevant users.
What are you doing to reach big brands and become known as an author? What is your strategy?
A person can only do so much. I started promoting smaller sites and only after receiving positive feedback did I decide to target larger sites. For example, my articles are not published on Forbes or Inc., but I write a regular column for SEJ and Moz. But I would like to expand this list as I am currently working on it.
Speaking of strategy, here is my step-by-step process:
- Find the right contacts. If you don’t know who to contact, research information about people at that company online and contact the person you find through the website. Typically, you will receive a response after about 3-5 messages on LinkedIn.
- The next step is to connect with that person on LinkedIn. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to retweet and like that person’s posts on Twitter or Facebook.
- And finally, it’s time to send an email with your pitch. In most cases, Hunter.io will help you find the email address of the person you want to contact.
How many events do you attend per month? Do you build your network through events?
I realized that I don’t want to be involved in too many events. So at the moment I host a few events a year. But I still try to meet as many new people as possible.
How do you build your network? Do you think just exchanging business cards at events helps generate business? How to act smart at events to win business?
When I come to an event whose sole purpose is to find partners or clients, I do some homework beforehand. I carefully analyze which brands are sponsoring the event, network with the right people in advance and try to arrange meetings with them. I’ve found this to be the best way to build meaningful relationships and even close deals.
How to increase the reach of your shared Facebook post to your audience. Any ideas?
I noticed that Facebook doesn’t work well for B2B brands. If you look at the engagement level of a digital marketing company, you will see that it is close to zero. Let’s take it SocialBakers Facebook CommunityFor example. It has over 330,000 likes.
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However, if we look at the number of likes for a single post, it averages between 10 and 20. Posts with a higher number of likes were definitely promoted. My advice here is to use Facebook Ads. However, don’t spend too much, just a few dollars to promote your post on your fans’ and their friends’ pages.
How can I pitch my product to large companies? For example, my product SchemaNinja?
In this case I would stick to the following plan:
- Use tools like Ahrefs and Majestic to find which websites have mentioned similar products.
- Find contacts with copywriters on these websites.
- Send them an email with your product description and ask them for feedback on it.
- Structure your further conversation with them based on what they answered.
How do you want to increase the reach of your Digital Olympus brand on social networks?
As I said before, I want to use Facebook advertising regularly. Videos are also typically effective and perform better than other forms of content. Additionally, I would like to try to be more active in Facebook groups, especially private ones. I’ve found that users are much more motivated to chat in such groups.
I see you do a lot of interviews with experts? How do you reach them?
The experts I interviewed are people I know personally. So I just send them an email, that’s it.
How do you handle many things like PR and content marketing at the same time? Do you have a team?
No, I don’t have a team.
Finally, how do you motivate yourself to work hard and stay focused?
At some point in my life, I got tired of having to work 12 to 15 hour shifts. I try to keep balance because I have a hobby that is very close to my heart. I’m not sure if I’m the best advisor in this case, but I try to have a good time with my friends and family. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have to work on weekends from time to time
