a simple content strategy for brave marketers only
TRANSCRIPT
A SIMPLE CONTENT STRATEGY FOR BRAVE MARKETERS ONLY
Latitude Digital Marketing Blog by @philbinmedia
What is the point of content marketing?
What’s the point of all marketing?
To sell.That’s it.
Other benefits include things like
Better brand reputation.
Are you a marketer?
Then you’re a salesperson. No getting around it.
Hear me out.
You might just want to swipe the same (painfully simple) strategy for yourself.
My daughter loves storytime.
Me too.
But I end up applying the morals of each story to marketing.
Let’s see if this one strikes a chord with you …
The Sun: “Time for a contest.”
The North Wind: “I’m listening.”
The Sun: “See that gentleman down there on the crooked path?”
The North Wind: “Yup”
The Sun: “Let’s see who can remove his coat.”
The North Wind: “No problem.”
The North Wind sucks in a hurricane of air and roars down on the man – swooshing up leaves, crisp packets, and empty Starbucks cups.
The man clutches to his coat even tighter than before.
The Sun: “My turn.”
The Sun beams softly onto the back of the man’s neck and warms the crooked path ahead.
Within seconds, the man chooses to remove his coat, sling it over his shoulder, and smile for the rest of his journey.
Not all marketers share the patience and understanding of the Morning Sun.
But if you tap into it, you can influence your customers to take the action that you want, in a way they welcome – and even enjoy.
Your audience grows in tandem with your authority.
You sell more stuff than before.
Lovely idea … but does it actually work?
5 Examples Show How the “Morning Sun” Content Strategy Could Work for You
Claude Hopkins Used Free Samples to Sell [BLANK]
Claude delivered products free of charge to housewives in the States. If they wanted more, they paid.
And for Claude, the cost of the sample was buttons compared to the profit of his larger sale …
Which landed more often than not, thanks to a quality product.
There was no risk.
He improved their lives
for free.
And they made the decision to pay afterwards.
John Carlton built the right (paying) audience withfree newsletter & blog
John Carlton followed in the footsteps of copywriting legend, Eugene Schwartz
He gave away the best parts of his copywriting books for free
His readers craved more and were happy to pay for the full hardback whenThe Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Your S**t Together
was released.
It was their decision … only they were now more inspired than before.
John picked up new prospects along the way
New orders for his seminars
And new sales for his previous books, too.
Kevin Rogers attracted new customers to a paid membership site with afree podcast.
He hosts a podcast with John that reveals (for free) many of the secrets locked behind his membership site:copychief.com.
His listeners are compelled to want more and are more likely to pay for becoming an “insider”.
Gary Vaynerchuck Wins with the “Morning Sun” Approach, Time and Time Again
@GaryVee gets a ton of attention from marketers like me
Who like to shine a light on him as an example of someone we should follow
… without myself achieving anything near what he’s achieved.
Gary first used a smart content strategy for his parents’ wine business
He built the audience online.
And the business grew as a result.
Now we see him applying it again with his latest book #AskGaryVee.
In his time running VaynerMedia, Gary’s been inviting his audience of 1.21 million followers to ask him a question via Twitter every week.
Then he answers it ina short video.
His latest book is a transcribed compilation of those same Q&A videos.
It costs £20.00 per hardback.
And I bet it’s going to sell …
Even though most of his customers have already consumed a bunch of the same content before.
Why?
Because they love Gary.
They look forward to the value he adds.
And they want to pay for more.
Starting to make sense?
Brian Clark calls this concept “Media, not Marketing”
Instead of blowing marketing messages at your audience, you produce media.
That media offers value to your prospective customers – and they welcome your paid solutions as a result.
Brian’s got a paid solution (the New Rainmaker Platform) that his listeners are happily paying for today …
…after listening to his free podcast.
Some marketers hesitate to embrace the idea.
Latitude has even been guilty of it in the past.
The North Wind believes “If I give you my best stuff for free, why do you need me afterwards?”
The Morning Sun knows there’s always more behind the curtain, like a great product/service that adds value, which can’t be added through media alone.
That’s the key to all of this.
Your ‘paid for’ products or services MUST add value to every potential customer’s life.
What’s the simplest way to get started with media production?
Blogging.
Why launch a blog when your competitors are already doing it better?
If you let the fear of unoriginality stop you from pulling the trigger
You could turn 68 and have nothing to your name.
It’s rare for originality to spawn out of nowhere.
Your originality emerges by being yourself.
You convey similar messages to your peers, but…
It’s your take on it that the reader buys into.
Your life experiences & brand story play a part in your unique identity and message.
You don’t need to produce a TV show to build your audience.
Your content doesn’t even need to be entertaining.
All you need to do right now is discover your own man on the crooked path.
Get to know your customer like a friend – and your ideas never stop.
Now, go to the website and unlock an x-ray of this very blog post
So you can clearly see the “Morning Sun” tactics I’ve tried to apply throughout.
You might as well get it now, while it’s free …
Because I’m gonna try and sell it to you at the end of the year anyway.
http://www.latitudegroup.com/blog/a-simple-content-strategy-for-brave-marketers-only/
By @philbinmedia