Working smarter, not harder is not a crazy idea that is impossible to achieve. With thorough research, planning, and intention, you can create juicy content that people will want without the content creation process taking over your life.
Depending on what stage you are at, outsourcing or delegation is a fantastic way to help you build a content empire without using too much time or energy, but we will leave that topic for another day.
Like probably most of you, I don’t love everything about my business. There are definitely a handful of things (if not more) that I do not enjoy doing, like accounting or making graphics (thank goodness for stock photos!!).
My favourite thing to do is–you guessed it–content creation. But maybe you’re the opposite. Maybe you have NO IDEA where to start and how to use content to turn online strangers into forever raving fans, even though you keep hearing the saying “content is king”.
Well friend, in today’s blog post I am going to share five ways to use content strategically to build a profitable business.
Maybe you’re wondering: “But I already have enough to do. Can you please stop adding more to my list?”
It’s not about doing more, it’s about actually having a solid plan that works to build trust with your audience and establish authority in your area of expertise.
Create a plan and stick to it
Before you roll your eyes at me, let me make this clear.
When I say plan, I am not asking you to go online and download whatever “content planner” you can find and start filling in all the blank spaces. I’ve tried this method and I’m sure you’ve tried it too.
Your first step in building a content strategy is NOT to open up any planners or calendars. Instead, I recommend you go old school and brain dump all your ideas on a piece of paper or a Google Doc.
Here are a few leading questions to ask yourself:
- What do I want to sell this month?
- How many do I need to sell to meet my sales goal for this particular month?
- Realistically, how many pieces of content can I manage to create and publish for this month? (ex: 4 blog posts/month, 12 IG posts/month, etc.)
- What topics would be beneficial for my audience/target market?
By asking yourself these questions, you will get a better idea of the structure of your content marketing game plan, and this will help lead to profit growth.
Are you following?
Don’t be afraid to sell. You’re a business owner and you need sales to make a living! There’s no way around it. Selling isn’t a bad thing unless we have motivations other than serving people and offering a solution to those who need it.
Set a 15 minute timer and think deep! Remember, you can always change your plan and that’s okay! The key is to just get started.
Master ONE platform
One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs make is that they stretch themselves too thin. What I mean by that is that they try to show up on every single platform out there (blogs, FB, IG, podcasts, Youtube, LinkedIn, etc.) and this leads them to burnout and dissatisfaction.
It’s okay to grow slow, especially if you’re just starting out or are running a one-woman show. In doing so, not only will you be able to provide higher quality content, but your audience will thank you for being diligent and engaged with them by not overextending yourself.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t blog and utilize multiple social media channels at once, but pick ONE platform to focus most of your energy on and repurpose the content you create for that platform for others.
Say goodbye to perfectionism
Have you ever tried to perfect your content to a point where you completely forget about it and it never gets to see the light? I’ve been there, done that.
Fear of failure is reallllll! It’s also the number one thing that holds us back from moving closer to achieving our goals. It can be tempting to focus on crafting the most perfect, engaging caption or the most informative, connection-filled blog post and not settling for any less.
Girl, that’s just screaming perfectionism and procrastination. It’s time to stop the overthinking mentality and actually start showing up imperfectly and giving what you have even if it seems like not enough.
What can you do instead?
Focus on helping. Make sure your content is helpful and value-packed. Your content marketing efforts WILL pay off if you focus on bringing solutions to the table and filling the missing gaps for people who need it.
Build, THEN scale
Remember the exercise you just did where you answered the question of how many products/services you need to sell in order to reach your sales goals?
The purpose of that question is to help you recognize what you actually NEED to build a sustainable business that leads to a high-profitable one.
Let’s be real: we want to build a PROFITABLE business aka making six figures, but we can’t get there unless we first make a decent living first.
You can’t run unless you know how to walk. Am I right?
When mapping out your content strategy and plan, it’s crucial to know your numbers and set realistic goals.
If you only need to book 15 weddings a year to meet your revenue goal, then focus on creating content to help you reach that goal first, then scale after. You’ll be surprised what a difference it will make by simply keeping the main thing the main thing.
Be generous
Content marketing is the most effective way to build a loyal audience and turn online strangers into paying clients. But it has one problem: it DOES take time.
While content marketing is definitely a long game, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to start seeing results quickly!
If you want to speed up your plan, I have one word for you: GIVE.
Give away free stuff. Not the useless, boring stuff, but good, high-value materials that people would regularly pay for.
Why give away free stuff?
To build trust.
Selling becomes easier when people trust you. And having trust works WAY better than any pushy sales tactics.
So friend, how do you feel about all of this? Are you excited to get started and use content (strategically) to grow your business?
I loved the post…thanks for sharing! 🙂