Do This Not That Marketing

Marketing Advice, Grow Your Business

by 1 Comment

Nine Content Ideas for Any Niche

I’m participating in Connie Ragen Green’s Productivity Challenge right now (find out more by going here), and I’ve committed to blogging every day. It’s good practice for me and, to be honest, I’ve got plenty to say. But if you’re struggling to come up with ideas to produce content (blogging, social media posting, creating videos, etc.), you might need some ideas to get you started.

When you are trying to come up with content ideas for your niche, you can use a few basic starters for the content that will work for literally any niche. Once you have these nine ideas, you can break them down into individual points for blog posts, podcasts, videos, eBooks and more.

  1. Make a List of Good Points – Every niche has some good points about it that your target audience might find interesting. You can write Seven Awesome Things about XYZ and it always fits. Seven Awesome Things about Eating Veggies works, so that means any type of idea will work.
  1. Make a List of Bad Points – Just like the good points will work, you can twist it and write the opposite. When you’re known for being for something, being against it can grab your audience’s attention. Using the veggie idea from above, assuming your niche is a vegan blog, you can turn it into Seven Reasons You Don’t Want to Eat Veggies – then make it a funny article saying things like “You hate being healthy” or something like that.
  1. Ask (and Answer) a Question – This is a great way to come up with ideas to create content. You can use questions actually asked directly of you, or you can search for questions on any website, blog, forum or social media network that you’ve seen within your niche.
  1. Make a List of Facts – This can work really great for content ideas since in reality there are going to be far more than seven or ten facts about your niche. You can literally do this trick as often as you can come up with a list of facts in relation to your niche.
  1. Make a List of Misconceptions – Just like there are facts, there are almost always misconceptions about your niche. Perhaps you host a niche website or blog about the subject of bird watching. You can write many articles or create many YouTube videos addressing misconceptions about various breeds of birds or even misconceptions about equipment used in bird watching.
  1. Give the Best Advice for Solutions – For each niche there are various problems with corresponding solutions that you are likely offering to the audience. You can use this fact to help create content focused on the best solutions and the best advice for using the solutions properly.
  1. Give the Worst Advice for Solutions – Conversely, there are always some solutions that don’t work or that are a bad idea. Why not write about the bad ideas, the bad solutions, and the answers that don’t work, and then turn it around to offer your own solution after talking about what’s wrong with the other ideas.
  1. Tell the Top Three Beginning Ideas – In any niche there is a very basic beginning to consider. Starting at the very beginning is often forgotten because it seems so elementary to you, but to someone who is new to the niche it will not seem like minutia, it will seem super interesting and important.
  1. Be Controversial – Sometimes, being controversial is a great way to get more ideas for content. You can find a blog post that a mover and shaker talked about and tell why you agree or disagree. You can also connect some content with current events. A word of warning here—don’t be controversial in a way that will turn off your audience. In the end, some people may agree with you and others may disagree, but the people that disagree are more likely to remember the negative association. So be controversial, but be careful. For more about controversial marketing, check out this article on Forbes.

These content ideas can work for any niche. Just plug in your niche to the ideas and see for yourself. You’ll soon have a plethora of ideas and will never run out of them, so that you can generate content on a regular basis for your niche.

If you have other ways to generate ideas for content, please feel free to comment and share.

 

by Leave a Comment

Developing a Content Marketing Mindset

Developing a content marketing mindsetI just finished rereading Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and it got me thinking about developing a content marketing mindset. Today, so much of marketing is about online content. For almost all businesses, marketing online can be used to support marketing offline. And for many business, online marketing can become the primary way to market a business.

As I’m sure you know, most people don’t run to the phone book anymore when looking for a business. (Side note: last time I asked someone if they had a phone book (which I was going to use to prop up a projector, not look up a number), they laughed!). Instead, they look for a business online. They ask their friends online. They research online before making their purchasing choices. Whether you have an online business or an offline business, developing a content marketing mindset can help you market your business more effectively and increase your sales exponentially.

Build Your Credibility

The first step toward developing a content marketing mindset involves using the online world to build up your credibility. Use your blog, release white papers, and participate in social media and more to ensure that your reputation is well represented online. Work to perfect every social media profile (it will take time and experimentation) and don’t start an account unless you are willing to keep it up to date at least weekly.

Seek Out Thought Leadership

Getting to know thought leaders in your industry can actually rub off on you and make you into a thought leader – eventually. Find and follow thought leaders in your industry, comment on their blogs, offer donated original content, review their products, and ask them to review yours. Interview them on a podcast. Do what you need to do in order to become part of their circle.

Understand Your Business

As you are building credibility and hobnobbing with thought leaders, study your niche and your business. You need to know everything there is to know, inside and out. That way when someone asks you a question you’re ready with a good answer and “sound bite” that can be used, makes sense and is true representation of what you do and what you stand for. Plus, you’ll have more to say (blog) if you know more.

Become a Strategic Publisher

Learning to think like a publisher is essential today in the online marketing world. Developing a publication calendar will go far in helping you know what information you’re going to share with your audience over time. If you take the time to develop a calendar, you can match product launches with the content. Doing without a publication calendar is a huge mistake. Planning in advance from day one will ensure that everything you do has a purpose.

Develop Your Own Online Space

In the old days of marketing, content marketing consisted of sending out duplicate articles to article directories. But, today content marketing consist of filling out your own online real estate with content before you even think about donating to any other sites. There are some people who disagree, but generally speaking I think it’s smart to establish your credibility and authority on your own site before you shift your attention to other people’s sites. The more relevant, useful and enlightening content that you can put on your own online real estate, the better for SEO, and the better for your audience.

Remember That You Are in Control

Sometimes, as a business owner it can be hard to remember who is in control. But, if you can accept that you’re in control of your own business and your own destiny, you’ll have a better chance of successfully developing and following through on your ideas, as well as meeting your goals.

Build Your Lists

One way to remain in control is to always be building your lists. Your email lists are the difference between success and failure when it comes to online marketing. Set up sign-ups for your newsletter or lists on your content and on your websites in ways that your audience cannot refuse. Plus, provide value by using the lists appropriately to build relationships and provide information.

Build Communities

One way to build relationships is to build online communities through your content marketing. Using your content, lists, and social media networks to build a community is an essential component of content marketing today. Because just producing the content isn’t enough; you have to push it out to your audience, too. Although I focus primarily on my own websites, I do use social media to help build community among those I serve.

Online marketing, and specifically content marketing, is an essential element of marketing today for almost all types of businesses. Developing the right mindset will help you develop the right marketing plan and that will move your business forward.

If you’d like to discuss how to implement a content marketing strategy, please email me for more information.

by Leave a Comment

Content Marketing Mistakes

Content Marketing Mistakes

Content marketing mistakes can undermine the impact your efforts are having. Find out what they are and what to do about them here.

Content marketing is a very important method of getting the word out about your products and/or services. Content marketing is the best way to inform, educate and engage your audience while building authority in the eyes of your audience. However, there are some common content marketing mistakes that you’ll definitely want to avoid.

Ignoring SEO – Search engine optimization involves both on- and off-page actions that you can take to ensure that search engines find your website, blog or product. SEO uses certain techniques and tactics to help your audience find you. Don’t think that it doesn’t matter. The more you put these improvements into place, the better your results.  And if you notice things have gone off the rails, SEO-wise, don’t be afraid to face the facts and fix what you can.

Not Using Automation Wisely – Automation can be misused, but it needs to be used to help make everything possible. You’re only one person. Even if you have an assistant, virtual or otherwise, automation will help you get more done. A good rule of thumb is that you should personally respond and interact with people on social media and within comments of your blog, but you should use automation for everything else.

Not Promoting Your Content – When you create any type of content that you want people to find, you should promote it via your social media networks and email. You can even promote it via pay-per-click ads (although I don’t do this, I know people that have and thought it was worth the investment). If you don’t promote your content, you’ll get a lot less positive results from it.

Forgetting to Optimize Your Headlines – Part of search engine optimization involves headlines, but it deserves a special mention. There are some ways to ensure your headlines are optimized. First, put the keywords in the first three words. Second, when possible, test out more than one headline to see what gets the best response.

Creating Poor Quality Content – Your audience doesn’t want a ton of content under all circumstances. If you cannot create quality content on a daily basis, don’t. Create quality content on a schedule that works for you. If it’s high quality, answers questions, and solves problems, it will be welcomed.

Not Publishing Enough – This may sound contradictory, but you do have to publish enough to get noticed and keep the interest of your audience. Don’t get so bogged down in perfection that you neglect creating new content at least weekly.

Giving Up Too Quickly  – We’re in an instant economy, and many people aren’t interested in building something sustainable. If a few blog posts don’t result in an immediate flood of business, it’s tempting to quit. The reality is that if you are building a business that will last, you’re going to have to build it brick by brick, post by post. There’s no real shortcut to sustainability. Ultimately, though, if you quit you won’t get the results you want.

If you can avoid these content marketing mistakes, you’ll have a lot more success with your content marketing efforts. To read about Neil Patel’s take on content marketing mistakes, feel free to check out his article here. If you have other mistakes you’d like to warn your fellow readers about, please share them.