Do you want to create a brand online?
Try content marketing and get yourself noticed. There are two things that I learned early in my internet marketing career that must be done to even think about becoming successful online - Getting Seen, and Becoming Known.
With content marketing strategies you can accomplish both those things.
Content marketing is inexpensive, and it's easy (if you like writing and creating stuff). It's also a true investment in your business that can pay off over and over again, for years to come. You can literally create content today and have it still working for you a year from now ... or even 5 years from now. They call it marketing, but it's really just about teaching and educating interested parties on some subject. Teaching and engaging people ...bringing them into your fold by providing useful content.
It's a simple concept
Do you remember having a favorite teacher in school because they taught cool stuff that actually meant something to you? Stuff that you could use in real life. Stuff that might benefit you in some way? Or how about that friend who was unique and that always had something interesting going on. You were always open to hearing what they were up to right? You may even have thought that you could learn some things from that person.
Consider the 5 points below to get you started with content marketing. Start your journey of becoming that go-to person for some of you contacts.
1. Choose A Topic
Everyone is good at something .... everyone has something to share on some given subject ...everyone has something to contribute that others can get some use from.
2. Create a Website for Your Content
You have to have a home for your content. A central place you can send people, so they know who you are and what you are about. Your website is your home base. This is where you will drive traffic either through free marketing or paid advertising. Consider it your hub that everything else will link to or link from. It doesn't matter if you have a bricks and mortar business or if you are strictly online. Sending traffic to your website is what get's them in the door.
3. Create Your Content in Multiple Formats
This is where it gets fun. You can take the same material and spin and twist it over and over again into different formats and different delivery methods ... always keeping it fresh and new. Each time you will come up with new stuff to add, or a better way to say it ... or a better way to show it. It develops into a new creation every time. This is how you re-purpose your content. Imagine ... blog posts and articles, short reports, eBooks, videos, and podcasts. These are all types of content that you can and should should utilize.
4. Build Your Email List
The money is in the list. Yes we do hear that all the time don't we? Over and over again. So are you building a list? Have you learned how to build a list? Using content marketing is an excellent way to do it. Show people good value and they want more. Once you get people to opt-in to your list trust me you will not have trouble knowing what to send them next. One great method is to use others people stuff. Spin it into your own words and put your brand on it. You don't copy and paste. You use other peoples material to get you started ... to get the gears turning in your brain ... and take it from there. Makes sense right?
5. Market Content on Social Media
Well of course! You are on social media ... I am on social media ... everyone is on social media. So use it to your benefit! Share everything on social media, and the great thing about content marketing is that it doesn't get boring. You are mixing up all your delivery methods. Nothing is ever the same. Share your blog posts, your how-to vidoes, your explainer videos, your voice over videos... there are so many different variations of videos and thats the #1 method today. AND ... put share buttons on everything! When your content becomes so good that people start to share it on social medis... then you know you are well on your way.
Now .. rinse and repeat
You will develop a style and a routine that gets easier and easier. You might start with a blog post, turn it into a podcast, then a video of you, then a power point type video with voice-over. You can take your blog post and turn it into several social media posts. Bring images into the mix. Brand your images with your name and website domain. You get the idea right?
Content Marketing - the simple strategy of sharing material in different formats that people find useful and benefit from.
