
Reality check: if you’re not consistently creating content in your business, you’re going to have a tough time building a business based on your knowledge and expertise. In this post, I break down why this is the case.
I regularly hear people complain about creating content. They talk about how hard it is to consistently create content. Well, reality check — building a business isn’t easy.
Unfortunately, in the online marketing space, there’s a prevalent notion that building a business should be easy. This is causing people to think they don’t have to do hard things.
I’m here to tell you that while business should be fun, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. You can enjoy your business in a way that doesn’t feel like drudgery, but there’s still hard work involved.
Sometimes you won’t feel excited about your business, but you still have to do the things that are necessary to build a successful business, like creating content.
It’s Tough To Succeed In Business Without Content
Here’s the hard truth: If you’re not willing to create content consistently in your business, you’re going to have a tough time succeeding in building a business based on your knowledge and expertise. Because of the nature of the business you’re building, this is just the reality.
If you’re building a business that’s based on physical products, content is less important. But when you’re in the knowledge business (i.e., selling a service, expertise, or knowledge product), your stock in trade is your knowledge and thought leadership.
You need to demonstrate to the world that you have knowledge and expertise. That means you need to be willing to create content and to build a level of trust.
Content Establishes You As An Expert
Content should be the core of your marketing. It establishes you as an expert and thought leader, so you have to create content regularly.
Content positions you as someone worth following in your area of expertise. When people see your content out there, they can experience you and what you have to say without having to buy from you first.
That’s an important concept because people want to decide whether you’re someone worth paying before they pay you.
Content Attracts People Into Your World
You’ll hear some people say that we all need to be content creators now. Often, they mean that we all need to create social media content and reels and things like that. And I say, NO. That’s not the content you need to focus on.
Instead, you need to focus on thought leadership content. I’m not saying you shouldn’t create social media posts and reels. But you need to focus on content that digs in, takes a stand, and shows people that you know what you’re talking about.
The funny videos and all that stuff are okay. They’re like the sprinkles on top of the icing on top of the cake. But when I’m talking about content here, I mean long-form content that actually delivers a real message.
Some people may not agree with me and argue about limited attention spans these days so our content needs to be short and tiny to get people’s attention. But here’s the question: Do you have a program that’s going to deliver results to people in 15-second videos? No.
Yes, you need to have a hook, something short and sweet that gets their attention. But after that, your long-form content is what will deliver real value.
You need to create more longer-form content where you go deep and demonstrate your expertise. If people aren’t willing to consume that, they’re not the people who are going to buy your product. Forget about them.
You have to create long-form content because it plays a role in getting people into your world and nurturing them into buyers.
Content Nurtures, Helps You Sell, and Retains Customers
When you’re putting content out consistently, people get to know who you are and understand you more and more over time. It helps you nurture them, so when it comes time to sell, guess what, they’re already pre-sold.
Some people won’t like you. But other people who have listened to your content and like what you’re putting out and how you think about things, they’re in. You have pre-sold them with your content.
Now, even in the sales process itself, you need some content, such as a webinar. But if that’s all you can do, then you’re going to have a big problem trying to do so much in one presentation.
The regular content you put out there is what retains people. Hearing you in their ear, reading your blog, or watching your videos regularly is what will continue to connect you with the people who’ve already bought from you. It will help reinforce the decision they made to buy from you, so they’re more likely to buy again.
Content Moves People Towards Buying From You
When you’re starting, one piece of long-form content a week is okay. But ultimately, you need to think about a content strategy that identifies the messages you need to deliver to your audience. You also need strategies to help you establish thought leadership.
In order for your business to be successful in the long term, you need to understand where content fits in your business journey. You’re not simply trying to build an audience to monetize with ads. You’re trying to build an audience to monetize by selling your products and services. You have to create content that serves those ends. That means establishing yourself as an expert to be followed and listened to.
Your content should be something that will move people towards wanting to buy your product. It’s not about pitching and selling. It’s about recognizing the problems that people face and why they wouldn’t buy your product and addressing those issues.
Long-Form Content Makes Creating Other Stuff Easier
If you create long-form content regularly, creating other content becomes easier.
For example, much of your social media content can come from your long-form content. You can pull out quotes and audio clips and put them on social media. This will cover about 80% of your social media work.
Quit Complaining and Start Creating More Content
If you want to build a business based on your knowledge and expertise, then you need to start creating more content. If you’re creating one piece of content a week now, start creating a second piece each week.
The more content you create, as long as you have a consistent theme that helps people and provides value to them, the better.
When you’re creating content, you’re not going to know in advance what’s going to strike a chord with people. But when you find that thing, people will listen, read, and find your content.
Producing content is simply part of building a business. If you want to build a business that thrives, then stop complaining about how hard it is to create content and start creating more. It might not be fun for you, but it’s part of the work.
To learn more about how you can create a successful online business, be sure to enroll in BADA$$ Online Marketing University (BOMU). This is my signature training program where I provide all of my courses for FREE. That’s right. It’s my way of providing value to people and helping online entrepreneurs.