What is Content Marketing

It's selling without 'selling' because its educational and fun

 

Content Marketing means consistently educating, inspiring or entertaining a target audience with free, helpful information to make you an authority and attract the right people

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Instead of advertising your business IN a magazine. You become the magazine. Cool yeah!?

Like a supermarket that makes a free recipe magazine, hoping you buy the ingredients from them

 

Pick one social media channel. YouTube is probably the best. The channel is not important. What you put into it is. Your aim is to improve lives. Make the reader the hero, don't make yourself the hero with every 2nd post a photo of you

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Content can be

1. Original - Your ideas like tips, case studies, giving back, start a debate, funny or behind-the-scenes

2. Remixed - From other sources e.g. book review or industry research

3. Shared - Inspirational quotes and funny stuff

MAXIMISE 1 and 2 because it's the most useful to your readers

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Probably best to start with evergreen (doesn't 'date', like news stories) articles such as 'How to' and 'your point-of-view' because these are usually the most valuable (see other article on this site)

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Example - You're Fashion Resumes, so include resume and interview tips AND spice-it-up with ... 60 second interviews with people that have quirky occupations in fashion, career conventions, tips from recruiters, fashion shows, behind-the-scenes ...

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Educating, does not mean 'explaining what you sell' - that's just selling

Educating means using your knowledge to help others solve THEIR problem, for free, so they trust you and remember you for a long time

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Giving away stuff or knowledge, for free, is not a new concept. Here's 3 examples;

1. When you buy gourmet ice-cream, it’s a free taste-test

2. When you buy software, there's a 30-day free trial

3. When you buy a car, it’s a free test drive

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Don’t fall into the trap of trickery / persuading.

Example; A coach writes an article called ‘Should you hire a coach?’. The article concludes it’s a good idea to hire a coach. Hello?!

 

It’s impossible for you to give away too much for free, because of 2 types of limitations

• The first limitation is in the client's mind. No matter how much information you give them, they will always have questions. You partly solve their problem, THEN some will be happy to pay for more help

• The second limitation is the one YOU impose. Have a free, phone chat for 15 minutes. Then ask, “am I helping you?” If they answer "yes", book them in

 

Joe Pulizzi has done some good work on Content Marketing

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Next Article - How to write articles

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