Write a blog post…they said.
It’ll bring you new customers…they said.
And for people like me it’s easy…or so you would think.
One of the biggest problems most people have when trying to engage with this new trend of content heavy marketing is wondering what to write, how to write it, where to put it and why on Earth anyone would want to read it.
It’s understandable that writing blog posts and email marketing content gets shoved to the bottom of the priority list after several failed attempts to write something that might work.
It’s usually at this point people do one of two things, they either come knocking at my door and one of my team begins to craft fabulous content that they can be proud of (but that comes at a cost and some people don’t have that budget lying around).
Or, the task gets quickly shoved to the bottom of the priority pile and filed carefully under “complete head melter” meaning there’s little or no chance it will be returned to.
But why are we so afraid of content marketing? What’s holding us back?
Usually when we do our Ideas Clinics and Inspiration Sessions with clients around the issue of content the same thing comes up time and time again. Most people don’t understand that your content isn’t supposed to be overtly “selling” anything. Technically you should be trying to educate, inform or entertain.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to pretend the purpose of my new stream of email marketing isn’t designed to encourage people to book me for consultation sessions, ideas clinics or to do the content creation for them…but…there’s no point telling people they need me if they don’t understand why they need my service in the first place.
Creating content is intimidating for several reasons:
- It’s New – for most people the idea of content creation is new and therefore navigating this idea can be a little daunting. That’s normal, don’t freak out, at the other side of your fear is success.
- Lack Of Ideas – if someone asked you to talk about your area of expertise no doubt you could talk their leg off. In fact, if someone asked you to write a seminar, workshop or training session you’d probable rattle that out easily too. Why? Because you would know instantly what you want to convey and how you want to convey it. Sometimes writing the blog posts isn’t the problem it’s simply coming up with the concept that is giving you bother.
- Lack Of Confidence – really this is the same as above, whilst in practice you have bags of confidence when delivering your area of expertise having to write something down is almost not just having to commit to what you have written but also leaving you open to criticism from other professionals.
- Where To Start – not knowing where to start is a big problem and that’s why I would advocate starting with an issue or element of your business you want to convey and then creating a nice snappy title around that. Once you have this you’ll find it much easier to put your ideas down on paper.
- Lack Of Time – don’t be deluded into thinking you need to spend hours writing and rewriting your blog post or content. People will be reading it on the move and they’d prefer to have something that’s imperfect rather than nothing at all. A fantastic marketing consultant Christine Watson of Watson & Co Chartered Marketing and Training Matchmaker once said to me “continual improvement is better than delayed perfection” and she couldn’t have been more correct.
There are many other reasons starting on the road to content creation can be intimidating but these are just some of the main ones we see with our clients.
So next time you feel the urge to give it a go, don’t relegate it to the “head melter” pile, research some of your competitors around the world and see what content they are creating – maybe you’ll find it sparks an idea or two.
Call Excalibur Press today for your first consultation FREE – 07982628911 / [email protected]