Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Another benefit of content marketing: It’s easier to plant your flag of expertise on top of a mountain of content

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Do you feel like a fraud when you call yourself an expert? Many of us do. It’s called the imposter syndrome and I’ve written some tips to help you deal with it. (Actually, it’s nice to read that original post from 2007 and notice that I don’t necessarily have an “imposter thought” daily anymore.)

What is happening every day is that I’m meeting tons of new people, whether it’s in person (maybe at a Barrie Chamber of Commerce event or down the road at the Williams Coffee Pub) or online (on Twitter or LinkedIn).

Today, with a mountain of 385 blog posts and counting, I’m much more confident about presenting myself as an expert web writer, editor, blogging consultant, content marketing strategist and writing coach.

I know that I can point a new colleague or prospective client to any number of blog posts I’ve written about whatever topic we’re discussing.

Joe Pulizzi from Content Marketing Institute pointed me towards a wonderful blog post last week, Ten reasons to blog – even if nobody reads it from Mark Schaefer’s Grow blog.

Growing your confidence as an expert will be a lot easier for you if you persist with your content marketing, publish consistently and keep building your own mountain of content.

Five reasons to write an article, not an ad

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At a recent event for business owners, a lot of people were talking about the best way to spend your advertising dollar.

My advice? Use your advertising dollar to create a blog where you post high-quality informational articles that solve the problems of your ideal clients. Bonus: You'll probably even have money left over!

Here are my five reasons to write an article, not an ad:

  1. Ads are about selling, articles are about giving. When people browse online, they're not out to spend money. They're looking for information about YOUR area of expertise. If you supply those solutions generously, professionally and effectively, they will remember you when they ARE ready to spend. 
  2. Ads are all about you, articles are all about your reader. People are focused on their own needs. When you write high-quality articles about the topics they care about, it shows that you care about them!
  3. Ads suck you dry, articles build you up. Paying for an ad dings your wallet and may or may not result in new business. Writing an article about a problem you help solve, on the other hand, helps you develop yourself and improve the services you deliver.
  4. Ads are an intrusion, articles are a solution. People mute commercials on TV, toss flyers in the trash and curse at telemarketers. High-quality information about a topic they care about will always be appreciated.
  5. Ads say you have money, articles say you have knowledge. When you reveal your expertise and your personality in your writing, people will come to know, like and trust you. If you've shown you're a good match for their needs, then when they're ready to purchase a service, they will think of you first.

Content marketing is a highly effective form of promotion that works to attract your ideal clients. Before you decide where to spend your next advertising dollar, consider spending it on content marketing instead.

What is web content and why do you need it?

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Web content is information that you post online to attract, interact with and assist your prospective clients. It includes:

Web content goes beyond your brochure website that tells your visitors who you are and what you do. It engages your prospective clients in a conversation that is based on who they are and what they are dealing with.

It starts you out on the right foot by demonstrating your expertise and providing service right from the start – with valuable information they're looking for right now.

With high-quality web content, you can:

  • Keep your website fresh, so you can get found online
  • Keep your prospects interested, so you can make offers to help them
  • Keep your all of your business relationships warm, so you stay "top of mind" 

What if you don't know how to write these things?

Writing is a skill like any other. You can use the information and resources here on the Content Mastery Guide website to learn how to write for the web (you'll even find support for getting it done), or you can focus your time and energy on serving your clients and building your business.

For you, writing may be a struggle, and so you may not be getting the results you could be. For a writer, it's a pleasure, plus you'll have a specialist who understands how to use web content as a marketing strategy that gets results. Why not let everyone do what they love?

If you're concerned about having someone else write on your behalf, check out my post about the ethics of ghost blogging.

If you'd like to spend more time doing what you love, check out these content marketing solutions or contact me directly. 

Keep writing great content and people will notice!

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Alyssa Gregory has just been named the Small Business Information Guide of About.com, one of the largest producers of original content on the Web.

Alyssa worked with us a bit here back when we were You Talk, I’ll Write, and she also features the Style Guide in her online store at the Virtual Assistant Hub.

I asked Alyssa about her experience with content marketing and how it led to this new frontier for her business.

1. How did you leverage your formidable body of online content to demonstrate to About.com that you are an expert on this topic?

Great question! It certainly can be a challenge to get an extensive body of content to work for you and not against you. Hundreds of articles can be overwhelming for the reader to see, and it’s equally overwhelming for the writer to show the quality of the portfolio and not just the quantity.

I tried to zero in on the pieces I considered the most relevant and effective, and use the rest as a collective summary of my writing experience, bolstering the samples I sent in. Luckily, it worked!

2. What are your secrets for continuing to publish great content on a consistent basis?

It’s hard when you’re on the spot and feel pressured to spit out good content on demand. And that’s what it can feel like at times when you write for multiple outlets on a daily or weekly basis.

There are three things I do to try to prevent the pressured feeling from creeping in.

First, I plan in advance. At least one week in advance, I’ll go through all of my writing responsibilities and create a mini editorial calendar outlining what I will be writing about each day. This can take some time, but it really streamlines the process when it’s time to get writing.

If I have a little extra time, I’ll go a bit deeper and outline each article, do some preliminary research, and take time for some brainstorming so I have a running start when publication day comes. Ideally, I would love to write a number of pieces in advance, but this rarely happens with my schedule!

The second thing I do is keep a running idea file. I use it to keep track of everything from posts I read that inspire me, thoughts I have during the day, articles I want to write, etc. My full list usually has around 200 items on it at any given time, so I have a flexible list of material to pull from for when I do my planning. And since most of my writing is on small business topics, I can mix and match ideas for different sites.

Finally, I have found that it pays to be open minded when it comes to ideas. Inspiration can come from anywhere — blogs, comments, commercials, magazines, kids. If you’re receptive to taking in new things and can think broadly enough to relate it back to your topic, you may be surprised when an idea hits you.

3. How do you manage your ideas?

I use Evernote to maintain my idea file. It works great because it automatically syncs from my PC to my Mac. I can also access and add to my list from my BlackBerry so I don’t have to worry about losing ideas that come to me when I’m doing other things. Here is more information on how I use Evernote for idea management: http://www.sitepoint.com/how-i-use-evernote-to-manage-my-ideas/

Congratulations, Alyssa – keep up the great content! And I know you will.

Blogging: Passive marketing, or an introvert’s dream come true?

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Did you see the first post in this series? Click here for Ghost blogging: Unethical, or an extrovert’s dream come true?

When I first started building a coaching practice and learning how to be successful in self-employment, I heard the idea that there are two types of marketing: active and passive.

Active marketing included tasks like networking, giving free sample sessions, speaking to groups – basically the activities that got me in direct contact with another person who was a prospective client or referral source.

Passive marketing was “behind the scenes” work, things like setting up a website or sending a newsletter – quiet, solo tasks that were pretty appealing to an introvert like me.

(Actually, I’m more of a combination, as most of us probably are. I’m extroverted when it comes to performing – I love being in front of a group, whether I’m singing or speaking.)

This early education may have warned me against spending too much time on blogging, as a passive activity that would keep me hiding out and not getting in front of real people. But I see blogging as a wonderful opportunity to combine both forms of marketing, active and passive.

Writing is a task I can enjoy in my quiet time. Then, by publishing relevant content to my blog on a consistent basis, I create the opportunity to have active conversations.

Readers email me or post comments to my blog, or a post may serve as a conversation starter on Twitter. When I write connective content and link to other bloggers, that is another chance to correspond with someone I may not have met otherwise.

What’s more, most of these conversations happen in writing, so I can think as long as I need to before responding (something else introverts really appreciate).

Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self-Promotion for Introverts®, wrote about introvert authors as social media mavens, and how blogging and other forms of social media give the introvert more control over social settings. (There are more fascinating insights and comparisons in her book.)

Blogging and other social media tools have really leveled the playing field for people who aren’t as comfortable in traditional networking forums. Introverts, let’s show them what we’ve got!