Other posts in this series: How to Get Started with Content Marketing, Part One and Part Two How to Find Your Groove as a Content Marketer, Part One and Part Two The Evolution of a Content Master, Part Two
Should everyone try to be a Content Master?
My sister Ruth, the freshly-minted content starter, asked: What if someone is happy as a Content Starter or Content Marketer and doesn’t aspire to do more content than they already do? To which I answered:
I called the first level of the Content Marketing Model “Content Starter” for a reason – I truly believe that in order to achieve content marketing success you need to advance past the level of publishing one piece per month.
However, I think a LOT of people can stay at the Content Marketer level of 2-5 posts per month, be perfectly happy and achieve success.
Not everyone is necessarily cut out to be a Content Master, nor should they feel pressured to be.
How can you tell when the evolution is starting?
Sometimes you can’t. And that is why having a business coach, mentor and/or a mastermind group is so crucial once you get to the Content Marketer phase of the model.
They may be the ones to reflect back to you that you and your work are advancing to a new level of quality, visibility and leadership.
From there, it’s a matter of rearranging some things (mostly your own mindset) to fit your new role of Content Master.
Charlie Gilkey is coaching me through MY evolution and his is often the voice inside my head these days. In a blog post, he wrote: “Rather than do something small and work like hell to build a story around it, do epic shit and let it speak for itself.”
This speaks to why not everyone can or should be a Content Master. And why you sometimes won’t know you’re heading there until someone else points it out to you.
You’re not writing a story about being a Content Master, you are becoming one. You’re consistently producing masterful content that is rising to the top of the information heap on its own merit, while your real motives are to:
- Build and enhance your relationships with your clients, prospective clients and colleagues
- Continually develop the gifts and talents you’ve been blessed with
- Share your learning along the way, when it will help others to see your process
- Do what you love while helping your ideal clients take care of whatever is in the way of them doing more of what they love
- Participate in the abundant flow of value and money
Prerequisites (clues) for Content Masters
As a Content Marketer, you’ll already have these things in place:
- A business coach, mentor and/or mastermind group
- A website that is targeted to a clearly defined niche
- A basic pink spoon that is also targeted
- Social network accounts and profiles
- A blog
- A style guide and/or style sheet for your recurring writing questions
- An editor or proofreader (hey, we do that!)
Plus, you’ll have/need/notice:
- An established practice of publishing consistently 2-5 posts per month
- An editorial calendar (try @CharlieGilkey’s free Blog Post Calendar) for your expanded publishing schedule of 6-10 (or more) pieces of content per month
- A responsive, targeted community of readers and colleagues
- At least five hours per week to spend on content marketing and social networking
But the NUMBER ONE prerequisite for the evolution from Content Marketer to Content Master is having something great to say.
In Part Two, we’ll look more closely at flagship content and discuss some sources of support for Content Masters.