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CONTENTSFOREWORDBYTOMMORKES

PARTI-UNINTRODUCTIONTOCONTENTMARKETING

CHAPTER1-BAPTISMBYFIRE

CHAPTER2-THEINVISIBLEVALUEOFCONTENT

CHAPTER3-WHATKINDSOFBUSINESSESSHOULDUSECONTENTMARKETING?

PARTII-CONTENTMARKETINGFOUNDATIONS

CHAPTER4-WHATMAKESASUCCESSFULCONTENTMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

CHAPTER 5 - HOW TO BUILD YOUR CONTENT AROUND YOUR READER’S CORE

PROBLEMS

CHAPTER6-HOWTOUSECONTENTMARKETINGASATOOLTOBUILDRELATIONSHIPS

CHAPTER7-SIMPLESEOFORBUSYFOUNDERS

CHAPTER8-HOWTOCAPTUREYOURVOICEINASTYLEGUIDE

CHAPTER 9 - HOW TO DELEGATE, AUTOMATE, AND SCALE UP YOUR CONTENT

MARKETING

PARTIII-CONTENTCREATION

CHAPTER 10 - HOW TO PLAN AND STRATEGIZE CONTENT CREATION WITH AN

EDITORIALCALENDAR

CHAPTER11-HOWTOBECOMEACONTENTIDEAMACHINE

CHAPTER12-KILLERCONTENTRESEARCHTACTICS

CHAPTER13-HOWTOSPICEUPYOURCONTENTWITHVISUALS

CHAPTER14-TELLINGYOURBUSINESS’SSTORYTHROUGHTRANSPARENCY

CHAPTER15-HOWTOBUILDYOUREMAILLISTWITHLEADMAGNETS

CHAPTER16-BREATHENEWLIFEINTOOLDCONTENTWITHREPURPOSING

PARTVI-HOWTOSUPPORTANDSCALEYOURCONTENTMARKETING

CHAPTER17-CONTENTMARKETINGISATEAMSPORT

CHAPTER18-HOWTOSCALEYOURMESSAGINGWITHANEMAILAUTORESPONDER

CHAPTER19-ANALYTICSMADEEASY

CHAPTER20-SIMPLESTRATEGIESTOBOOSTYOURCONTENTWITHPAIDTRAFFIC

CHAPTER21-HOWTOHIREANDWORKWITHWRITERS

CHAPTER22-HOWTOHIREACONTENTMANAGER

CHAPTER23-THEEND

FOREWORDBYTOMMORKESContentmarketing,adiamondin

therough

Contentmarketing is themost underrated and underutilized tool in thetraditionalonlinemarketer’stoolkit.

That’s a shame because contentmarketing can be themost lucrative,compoundableformofmarketingyoucandoforyourbusiness.

I’llexplainwhy inasecond,but first, I think it’sworthexploringwhysomanypeopleshyawayfromcontentmarketing(attheirownperil).

I’ve found there are two reasons why mostpeopledon’tinvestincontentmarketing:#1.Creatingcaptivatingandcompellingcontentthatturnsnewtrafficintocustomers is hard. You can’t create great content that grows yourbusiness in 5 minutes a day (and anyone who promises somethingsimilarislying).Fromstrategytoexecution,creatingcontentthatranksinmajorsearchengines,getsreaderstoshareandsignupforyourlist,andto eventually buy your products or services, takes time, money, andenergy.

#2.You typicallywon’t findaprofitable returnon investment in the firstmonthofdeployingcontent.Inmostcases,ittakesagreatarticleorblogpostabout6to12monthstogenerateenoughtraffictovalidatethecostitwilltaketocreateit.Thisisahardpilltoswallow,especiallywhenmostmarketerswould reference the immediateROI you could hypotheticallygetfrompaidadvertisingonplatformslikeFacebookorGoogle.

Inotherwords:contentmarketing is for thosewhoareplaying the longgame.

Mostpeoplejustdon’twanttoinvestmonthsoryearsintosomethingthatmaynotturnaprofitformanymonthsoryearsdowntheroad.

Andthat’swhereyouandI, ifwe’rewillingtoput inthework,canprofitgreatly.

Inmyownexperience,contentmarketingisthereasonIwasabletogofrom$0/year tomultiple6-figures/year in less than3years.Andthisgrowthislookingtocontinue.

Why?

Becausegreatcontentgetsmorevaluableovertime.

Ofcourse,thequestionthenbecomes:howdoIcreategreatcontent?

Enter:“TheStoryEngine”byKyleGrayImetKyleGrayona remote island inThailandwhenKyle first startedworking for Dan Norris. We were both doing the “digital nomad” thingand,as luckwouldhave it,webothstartedworking forDanaroundthesame time.Myworkwas focusedonpositioningandmarketinghis firstbook“The7DayStartup.”

AsKylehighlights in “TheStoryEngine,” thatbook,whichstartedasaseriesofblogpostson theWPCurveblog,wenton tobeamassivelysuccessfulbestsellerthatgeneratednewinterestinWPCurve,aswellashelpedDanspinoffhisownpersonalbrandedbusiness.

This isoneofmanystories thatKyleshares in “TheStoryEngine” thatboth prove the point that content marketing is powerful, even beyond

growing your business, and to demonstrate that there is a replicablesystem-ascience-behindgreatcontentcreation.Thisbookwillshowyou what that is, how it works, and how to implement it for your ownbusiness(orpersonalambitions).

Toolong,didn’tread:WhatI’mtryingtosayisthis:

1. Everyone who is in business for the long haul should createcontentregularly.

2. Thosewhoplantocreatecontentregularlyshouldreadandfollowthisbook.

“TheStoryEngine”willprovideyouthestrategy,framework,andprocesstoturncontentmarketingfromasometimesconfusing,difficulttaskintoamanageableprocessforgrowingbusiness.

I highly recommendyoubuya copy for yourself andeveryoneonyourteamwhoisinvolvedincontentcreation.Youwon’tbedisappointed.

PARTI-UNINTRODUCTIONTOCONTENTMARKETING

Chapter1-Baptismbyfire

IwasonmywaytoThailandtostartworkingforastartup.Iwasgoingtomeetmybossforthefirsttime,inBangkokataconferenceforlocation-independententrepreneurs.

The startup was called WP Curve. It was a small but rapidly growingcompany that provided “unlimited small WordPress fixes at a monthlymembershipfee.”Inlittlemorethanayear,thisstartuphadgrownfromatinybootstrappedteamtoathrivingcompany.

Whatwasuniqueaboutthisstartup’srapidprogresswasthatitsprimaryand exclusive driver for growth was content marketing. WP Curve’scontentwas getting the same results for pennies thatmost companieshopeforwhen theysink thousandsofdollars intoadvertising.Myboss,DanNorris,wasacofounderofWPCurve,andhadspentmanyyearscarefullyhoninghiscraft incontentmarketing.Hiswasahard-wonskillthat came from trial anderror, relentlessattention todetail, and fromaboldsenseofgenerositytowardhisaudience.

AsIwas joiningDan’scompany,all thathardworkwasallbeginningtopay off. WP Curve was growing quickly, Dan had his first speakingopportunityatthisconferenceinBangkok,andhehadjustlaunchedhisfirstbook(ofmany),“The7DayStartup,”whichwaswildlysuccessful.

Content marketing is a demanding craft and it was difficult for Dan tobalance it with the demands of managing a growing business andpersonalbrand.That’swhereIcamein.

MyjobwastotakeoverthecontentmarketingoperationsforWPCurve,to transform the blog from a one-man show to a thriving and scalableteamofwriters. Iwas todoallof thiswithoutcompromising thequalitythathadleadtotheblog’shard-earnedrecognition.

TheplanwasformetoworkremotelyfromThailand,whichallowedforagood quality of life at a low cost, and which lined up nicely with theAustraliantimezonewhereDanlivedandworked.

The three days of the conference passed in a blur; there weredocumentariesbeingfilmed,hundredsoffascinatingconversationstakingplace,earlyriserslookingtomakenewconnectionsatthebreakfastbar,andnightowlsreadytoexploretheBangkoknightlife.Betweensessionsand meetups we would meet in his room to discuss our strategy andgoals for WP Curve’s content. With our high energy and enthusiasm,ideaswereflyingandambitiousgoalswereset.

AftertheconferenceDanreturnedtoAustraliaandIremainedinThailandtobeginmywork.

ThestrugglebeginsMyperformancemetricsweresimple:publishtenlong-formblogpostsamonthontheWPCurveblog.Ididnothavetowriteallthepostsmyself,but I was ultimately responsible for ensuring that they met the qualitystandardsDanexpected.

Lookingback, Imustadmit that Ihadno ideawhat Iwasgetting into. Ihadjustfinishedamaster’sdegree,soIhadagreatdealofwritingundermy belt. But writing for one professor or a small group of peers iscompletely different than writing for an audience of thousands ofentrepreneurs, marketers, startup founders, and other ridiculously

talentedpeople.Ihadsomeexperienceindigitalmarketing,inrunningabusiness, as well as other foundational skills to draw upon, but it wasclearthatIhadalotmoretolearnaboutwritingforandspeakingtothisaudience.

Myinitialexpectationswerewayoutof line.Ithoughtcontentmarketingwould be easy. I imagined I could sit down in themorning, whip up agreatarticleandby the time I finished lunch itwouldbeviral. I thoughtcoming upwith unique, valuable ideaswould be easy forme.Before Istarted, I was sure I would achieve some degree of internet fame(becausethat’swhat’simportant)afteronlyafewmonthsofwork.Finally,I expected that between all the spectacular content I was creating I’dhave plenty of time to growmy own business. Not tomention time toenjoythenewexoticcountryIwaslivingin.

I did not hit the ground running. The content I created came slowly atfirst.WhereDancouldsitdownandwrite13blogpostsinaday(yes,hereallydidthis),Ihadtofightforeveryword.Ontopofactuallywritingthepost,therewasgraphicdesign,searchengineoptimization,socialmediaandinfluenceroutreachthatneededtobeconsideredforeachpost.Still,creatingcontentwasn’tevenmybiggestproblem.

I had never worked remotely before. Learning how to effectivelycommunicate with my team using tools like Slack and Trello wasunexpectedlychallenging.Iquicklyrealizedthatmanysubtletiesoftoneand body language are lost in remote work, and that all remotecommunicationneedstobegearedtowardproducingresults.

Dan had an unparalleled attention to detail, which at first, to me, wasalmost incomprehensible. He wanted quality on a pixel-by-pixel basis.For example, when we shared our monthly reports on the blog, weshared screenshots of our Google Analytics dashboard. Images to be

postedontheblogneededtobepre-formattedtotheexactwidthofourreadingcolumn(thishelpedthepostloadfaster).Atfirst,Iwouldjusttryto resize them in photoshop, but Dan repeatedly rejected my imagesbecausetheywere“blurred.”

Mytryingtomeetandunderstandthesequalitystandardsleadtoalotofback and forth betweenme and Dan to create passable content. Thischallengewascompoundedbymybuddingabilitieswithremotework.

Still more challenging was working with our guest writers. I needed toholdthemtothesamequalitystandardsthatIwasattemptingtoachieve.Eachwriterhaddifferentneedsandtimelinestogettheirworkdone.ButIhadonetimeline,onegoal:togetthosetenpiecesofcontentpublished.Mytaskoftenfeltlikeherdingcatswithasandstormapproaching.

DownforthecountAfteraboutthreemonthsworkingforWPCurve,Iwasreadytogiveup.Iwasfrustrated,exhausted,andcompletelyterrifiedtoopenmycomputereach morning. The clicking noise Slack made when I received a newmessagewouldmakemyheartskipabeat.IfeltIwasconstantlyontheedge of being fired, always fearing thatmy nextmistakewould bemy

last.

I hadproduceda fewverygoodarticles thatwerewell-receivedby theaudience,butIwasnowherenearhittingourpublishinggoals.

Mostof thetime, itwouldtakemuch longer tocreatethecontent thanIexpected.

Self-doubthadtakenaholdofmeandIwonderedifIwouldeverbeabletohitthosegoals.IbegantodoubtifcontentmarketingwassomethingIwould ever be good at, or if I couldmake it in the fast-pacedworld ofstartupsandentrepreneurship.

IdecidedtomusterthecourageIhadleftandtogiveitonemoremonth.Iwould give itmy all. But I knewa brute force attempt to create all thecontentmyself would fail; I needed to revisit the systems that were inplaceandmakethemworkforme.

Thecomeback“Leadershipmust focuson improvingprocesses,notonperforming thework or on repeatedly snuffing out brushfires. Quality products orservices, a stable staff, and profitability are the result of the qualitysystemsthatunderliethem,notthereverse.”

-SamCarpenter,Work TheSystem: TheSimpleMechanics ofMakingMoreandWorkingLess

I started by digging into our standard operating procedures anddocuments,andthentailoringthemtomeetmyneedsandtoreflectmyunderstandingoftheexpectationsfortheblog.BeforeIbeganworkingonthem,thesedocumentswereincompleteandvague.Danwasoneofthebest in theworldat creatingstandardoperatingprocedures,buthedid

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2754442.Sam_Carpenterhttp://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/6194463

notneed themforcreatingcontent.That taskspecificallywaseffortlessforhimafterspendingyearshoningthiscraft.So,hehadnotspentmuchtimedocumentingtheprocessandproceduresforhiscontentstrategy.

In his book “The 4-Hour Chef,” Tim Ferriss explains an interestingparadox about masters when it comes to sharing their process withothers:

“Then there is the second danger of heroworship, career specialistsoftencan’texternalisewhattheyinternalise,thesecondnatureisveryhard to teach and this is true across industries. As Erik Cosselmon,Executive Chef of Kokkari, my favourite Greek Restaurant in SanFrancisco said tomewhen I didmynovice questioning ‘the problemwith me is that I have always been a cook, I don’t remember everwantingtobesomethingelse.’

DanielBurkaadesigneratGoogleand thecofounderof techstartupcalledMilk echoes the sentiment ‘I don’t think Iwould be particularlygoodatteachingthebasicsofCSS(alanguageusedfortheformattingofwebpages),nowIdotwelvethingsatonceandtheyallmakesense.Ican’t rememberwhichoneof thosewereconfusingwhen Iwas juststartingout.’

These top 1.0% have spent a lifetime honing their craft they areinvaluableinlaterstagesbuttheyarenotidealifyouwanttorocketoffthegroundfloor.”

In many ways, the inexperience that made my first few months sochallengingmademethebestpersonforthisjob.Ihadtheadvantageof“thebeginner’smind;”myignorancewasanasset.

I took nothing for granted--therewas no part of the process that didn’t

http://amzn.to/2pT3dXC

required thought and direct attention on my part. So, I was able totranslateallofthesenecessarydetailsintothedocumentstomakethemwork.Ineededeverystepspelledoutforme,soIwasabletospelloutevery step. To survive, I needed these documents to be effective, andtheywouldnothaveworked if thatneedwasn’tever-presentas Imademyrevisions.

Ireworkedandreorganizedtheprocessessotheywereeasierformetofollow.IwentbackthroughallthefeedbackIhadbeengivenoverthefirstfewmonthsandtranslateditintoastyleguidewithdetailedscreenshotsandchecklists.Eachdocumentwasnumberedandorganizedsoitcouldbecited:“Checksection5-Cforourimageguidelines.”IcreatedtimelinesforeachstepofcontentcreationprocessthatIexpectedguestwriterstofollow.

I examined our editorial calendar in Trello and created a colorcoordinatedlabelingsystemsoIcouldseeataglancethestatusofallofthe posts that were planned and that were in the process of beingcreated. I was able to plan out the month’s content in advance andmanageallofmycommunicationwiththewritersinoneplace.

Byfocusingontheseprocesses,Iwasfinallyabletohitmymonthlygoaloftenposts.SomeofthebestpostsIwouldeverwriteontheWPCurveblogwerewrittenduringthatmonth.

Oneyearlater…The followingyear Iwasable tohitourgoalsofcreatingcontentat thevolumeandquality thatwasexpected.Traffic to thebloggrewatabout10% month over month. Working with guest writers became almosteffortless.

Ourwriterswerealsogratefulforoursystems,whicheliminatedmostofthe vagueness in expectations and back-and-forth that is a constantsourceoffrustrationformanyfreelancewritersandcontentcreators.

Our articles describing our content creation processes and how wemanagedourdocumentationbecamesomeofthemostpopularpostsonthe blog, and were consistently generating new leads and emailsubscriberswhowereinterestedinusingthemintheirownbusinesses.

ContentmanagersfrombrandslikeFoundrMagazinebegantoadoptourdocumentsandsystemstomanagetheirpublishing.

Don’treinventthewheelYou’re probably not as lucky as I was to have someone like Danconstantly pushing your limits and showing youwhat it takes to createtrulygreat content. Insteadofamentor youprobablyonlyhavesilenceandconfusionasyouwork toget your contentmarketingcampaignoffthe ground. That silence can be deafening if you have a growingbusinesstoworryabout.

ThisbookiswhatIwishIcouldhavegiventomystarry-eyedselftoreadontheplanerideovertoThailand.ThoughIcan’tgobackintimetohelpmyselfout,Icanhelpyou.

IfearmanypeopleexperiencethesamepainsandfrustrationsthatIdidastheytry tobeginor toscaleuptheircontentmarketingefforts.Manypeople give up before getting the results they seek, or before evenestablishingthesystemsnecessarytoreaptherewardsofcontent.Most,like I did myself, put the cart before the horse when they approachcontent creation. Even as a one-person team, the right documentationcansimplifyandclarifyyourapproachtocontent.

Youdon’tneedtoreinventthewheel;mostofthesystemsandtemplatesIdescribeinthisbookcanbeappliedtoalotofdifferentbusinessesandbrands with only a few small tweaks to make them fit with your owncontentmarketinggoals.

Whatyou’llfindinthisbookThis book is broken up into 4 key sections, each a crucial aspect ofcontentmarketing.Thechaptersarearrangedsothattheideasbuildoneach other. The chapters each begin by first explaining foundationalconceptsandstrategies,thenlaterdiveintospecifictactics.

Part 1 - Introduces content marketing and what kinds of businessesshouldbeusingit.

Part2 - Explores the “big picture” behind contentmarketing and helpsyou set up the foundational tools and strategies that ensure long-termsuccessinyourcontentmarketingcampaign.

Part3-Divesintocontentcreation.We’lllookateverythingfromcomingup with unique ideas for new content, to breathing fresh life into oldcontent.

Part 4 - Outlines various strategies and techniques you can use tosupport your content marketing campaign, from using paid traffic topromoteyourcontenttobuildingateamofwriterstohelpscaleupyourcontentcreation.

HowtousethisbookThereareseveralapproachestothisbook.Itcanbereadfronttobacktoexploreallofcontentmarketingoritcanbeusedasareferencetosolvespecificproblemsthatyou’reexperiencing.

Ifyouarenewtocontentmarketing - If you’re totallynew tocontentmarketingandyouwant tounderstand thewholeprocess I recommendreadingthisbookfronttoback.

Ifyouunderstandcontentmarketingbutwant togetbetter - Ifyoualready practice content marketing and have a grasp on thefundamentals,thenIrecommendusingthisbookasmoreofaplaybook.Jump around to chapters that are most relevant to you and thechallengesyou’refacing.

Ifyouwanttodelegateyourcontentmarketingassoonaspossible-Givethisbookaread-throughsoyouunderstandtheconceptsandthelanguage and then give it to the team member who will take on theresponsibilitiesofcontentmarketing.

I have templates that allow you to quickly put the ideas and strategiesfromthisbookintoaction.EachchapterintheFoundationssectionhasatemplate that correspondswith it.These templates canbedownloadedforfreeatthestoryengine.co/resources.

http://thestoryengine.co/resources

Chapter2-Theinvisiblevalueofcontent

Contentmarketingisablackswanintheworldofdigitalmarketing.Withanever-growingsuiteofdata-trackingtoolsoutthere,itseemsthateveryindividualactiontakenonlinecanbemeasuredoutindollarvalue.Thisisnot so with content marketing; some of the highest-impact results ofcreatinggreatcontentcannotbemeasuredorevenanticipated.

Often content marketing strategies are described and measured withphilosophiesadopted fromothersareasofdigitalmarketing:conversionrates, customeravatars, salescycles, clickthroughsandcalls toaction.All of these focus on an immediate and measureable ROI (return oninvestment).Theresult isthatmanyofusseeourcontentaslittlemorethanalandingpageorsalesletter.Thoughtheseareimportantthingstoconsider,treatingyourcontentmarketinglikealandingpagewillundercutyour results in the long run. By focusing so closely on this particular“tree,”you’llmisstheforest.

PatrickHourihanwritesabout theuniquenatureofcontent inhisarticle“HowcontentmarketingcandeliveranewROI–ReturnonInspiration:”

“We are witnessing an evolution of the content marketing purchasecycle, where people are jumping in at various stages. The purchasefunnel is becoming less linear, more organic and fluid, with contentmarketinghelpingbrandsdriveothergoalssuchasbrandbuildingandrelationshipbuilding,aswellasdrivingsales.”

http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2015/06/24/how-content-marketing-can-deliver-new-roi-return-inspiration

This presents a problem for most traditional marketing strategies thatfocus on targeting a specific pain point at a specific moment in thebuyer’s journey. The broader set of goals that content is driving alsomakes itdifficult topinadollarvalueon interactions.Thegoodnews isthat although they can be difficult to track, the rewards of contentmarketinggofarbeyondsimplesalesandconversions.

Tobeclear,I’mnotsuggestingthatyourcontentshouldnotbeseenasatooltogeneratetraffic,leads,andrevenueforyourbusiness.Theseareallessentialfunctionsofyourcontent.ButIwouldlikeyoutoconsiderabroaderphilosophythatwillopenyouuptoalltheincredibleserendipityand opportunity that content marketing uniquely provides, all whileboostingthoseclassicmetrics.

Unfortunatelymanyofthesebenefitscan’tbetrackedinGoogleAnalyticsoranticipatedwithanydegreeofcertainty.Butwithafewtweakstosomeofthelanguageyouusesurroundingyourcontent,youshouldbeabletoaimforthemandseethemcometofruition.

Tothisend,considerthevalueof...

...areaderwhoisnotan“idealcustomer,”butwhoisaravingfan,whopromotesyourcontenttoothers.

...amore talented recruitingpool that’s inspired toworkwithyouafterreadingyourcontent.

...meetingfuturecolleaguesorbusinesspartnerswhoareinspiredtocollaboratewithyouthroughcontent.

...newstrategicpartnersforyourbusinesswhonoticedwhenyoulinkedtotheminaposttheyenjoyed.

...anew investor inyourbusinesswhoappreciates thequalityofthecontentyoucreate.

Thecommonthreadbetweenallthesepossibilitiessuggeststhatcontentmarketing is a tool for building relationships and creating awareness.Now, I can’t guarantee to you thatanyof these thingswill happen,buttheyaremuchmorelikelytohappenifyouseethecontentyoucreateasmore than just a landing page. In this chapter, I’ll discuss exampleswherethesevaluableopportunitiesaroseforafewstartupsthatchosetofocusheavilyoncontentmarketing.

So,what’spossiblewithcontent?Content marketing casts a broad net to attract attention. Many of thereadersyouattract throughcontentwillnotbe idealcustomers.Thoughtheymaynotmakeapurchasewithyou, if theyareengagedwithwhatyouare creating, theyare likely to becomebrandambassadors and torefer you to ideal customers whenever they have the chance. Most oftheseinteractionswillhappenoffsiteorin-person,awayfromanytrackingpixels.

AlexTurnbull, founderofGrooveHQ,mentionsthis inhispost“HowWeGrowOurBusinessByMarketingToThe“Wrong”People:”

“There are a tremendous number of readers who aren’t Groovecustomers.But, through readingour content, they’vebecome fansofGroove.Whilenotallofthesereadersneedcustomersupportsoftware,manyofthemhavefriendsorcoworkersthateventuallydo.Andwhentheyaskforrecommendations,ourreadersarethefirsttojumpinandsuggestGroove.”

DanNorris, foundacofounder forWPCurvewithcomplementaryskillsthrough content marketing. In the post “Is startup validation bullshit?”,Dan discusses his challenges getting traction with Informly despitemeeting the criteria for a “lean startup.” This post generated over a

http://groovehq.com/https://www.groovehq.com/blog/top-of-the-funnel-marketinghttp://wpcurve.com/is-startup-validation-bullshit/

hundredcommentsandresonatedwithfutureWPCurvecofounder,AlexMcClafferty.YoucanstillseethebeginningsofthepartnershipbetweenDan and Alex in the comments on that post. This partnership wouldeventuallycarryWPCurveto7-figuresinrevenueandleadtothestart-up being acquired byGoDaddy. In the comments on that post, there’sevensomeforeshadowingofDan’sbook“The7DayStartup.”

Alex Turnbull has had similar experiences with content driving therecruitment for his business. He writes, “We have 3 full-time teammemberswhoall firstheardaboutGroove fromourblog.Eachof themindividuallyreachedouttomeatdifferenttimesaboutworkingforus,andeachof them turnedout to be terrific hires.When youput yourself outthere as a company, people really get to knowyou.Sowhena readerwantstoworkforyou,theytypicallyalreadyknowwhatyou’reallabout,andtheculturalfittendstobemuchbetterthancandidateswhoapplyviaajobpostingsite.”

Alex has even managed to build relationships with high profileentrepreneurs andattract their help through contentmarketing.Groovewillshortlybeannouncingthatanewinvestorandadvisorisjoiningtheirteam. They made this connection initially through their blog interviewseries.

HowtooptimizeforthehiddenvalueofcontentmarketingA common mistake most content marketers make is focusing on acustomer avatar with specific pain points and trying to write directly tothose pain points. This may work for a short term interaction like aFacebookad,butaswehaveseen in thecasestudiesabove, contentmarketingismoreaboutrelationships.Someofyouraudiencemayfollow

http://wpcurve.com/the-7-day-startup/

youforyearswithoutconverting.

DanNorrismentionsthisinhisbook“ContentMachine:”

“Somepeople in the communitymight endupbecominga customer.Theymight fityourprofiledirectly.Most,however,willsimplybecomeconsumers and advocates of your content. Some may read it andoccasionallyengagewithit(commentorshare).Othersmightbecomeravingfansandshare itwitheveryonetheyknow.Theseareallgoodresults, because theyget yourbrand in front ofmorepeople throughmoresources.”

ContentasrecruitingOne possible way to reframe the customer avatar is to define it assomeoneyouwouldliketorecruittoyourteam.Youwanttowritecontentthat inspires that person to join you in your vision.Writing in this wayfundamentally changes how you write and what you write about. Thisteammembercouldendupbeingasmalladvocate foryourcontentoryournextbiginvestor.

Gregory Ciotti from Help Scout uses this strategy in his content anddescribestheprocessbelow.

“Oneofthemostimportant‘jobs’contentisresponsibleforisrecruiting;well-writtenarticlesareabsolutelyarecruitingstrategyandoftenafirstimpression.Whether they’re introduced to your company through theblogorthey’velearnedabouthowyouworkviapiecesincludedinyourjobpostings,curiouscandidateswant to findouteverything theycan,andthey’lldosowithwhatyoupublish.

With the ‘content as recruiting’ concept well understood, you’ll keep

http://amzn.to/2jKhzpvhttps://www.helpscout.net/

higher standards for your publishing, you’ll have an easier timeencouraging your teammates to write, and you’ll be more deliberatewithtransparency.Ifthere’s1“readerpersona”toalwaysbemindfulof,it’s the future talented teammate whomay become attracted to yourteam and company because of what you publish. There’s noway tomeasurethat.”

TheHelpScout teamuses this ‘contentas recruiting’strategy innearlyevery interaction with their readers, not just on the blog. In the post“BuildingaNewsletterWelcomeSeriesfromScratch,“Gregorydescribeshowhecontinuestobuildtrustintheirnewsletterwelcomeseries.EachemailgivesyouaglimpseintothecultureofHelpScoutandthepeopleontheteam.

Each email in their sequence strives not only to add value and sharerelevantcontent,butalsofostersapersonalconnectionwiththereader.The content is not simply delivered as a list of links, but as arecommendation fromaHelpScoutemployee. Itbuilds trustwhenyourreaderscanseethatarealpersonenjoyedthearticlethatthey’reabouttoreadanditalsogivesyouraudienceaglimpseatwhothatpersonisandwhattheyvalue.Theinverseisalsotrue,yourtop-shelfcontentwilllendcredibilitytothepersonthatrecommendedit.

Thelensofrelationship-buildingIn later chapters, we’ll get into more detailed strategies to apply thisphilosophy of “content as recruiting” to all elements of your content. Iencourageyou toseeall the futurechapters, strategies,and templatesthatIsharethroughthislens.Thisperspectivewillchangehowyoutakeinthisinformationandhowyoudesignyourfuturecontent.Itwillimprovethequalityofwhatyoudoandadddeepermeaningtoit.

https://www.helpscout.net/blog/autoresponder-series/

Fornow,hereareafewtipsyoucanstarttouserightaway:

Design for trust and readability -Don’t bombard your audiencewithpop-upsorotherdistractionstothecontenttheycamefor.Makeyouropt-instimelyandnon-invasivesotheyappearasalogicalnextsteptotakeafterconsumingyourcontent.

Createcontentthatallowsforreaderstogrowintoidealcustomers-MerylJohnson,CEOofBeanNinjas,considersheridealcustomertobean online business that’s making six figures. But her content strategytargets people inmuchearlier stages of their business.ShehasmanygreatarticlesonhowabootstrappercanmanagetheirbookkeepingwithXero. The bootstrapper she writes the article for may not be an idealcustomer now, but they are on their way to becoming one. In 6-12months,theymayhitthat6figuremark,andbythen,they’llhaveawell-establishedrelationshipwithBeanNinjasandwanttobuyfromthem.

Beauthenticand transparent -Tell stories thatare relatableand thatresonatewith your audience.Don’t only talk about victories; be honestaboutyourmistakesandchallenges,andsharewhatyou’velearnedfromthem. This often feels risky; content that is authentic and emotionallyrelatable can make you feel vulnerable. This fear is strongest whenyou’redoingyourbestwork.

Beingauthenticalsomeans thatyoumayneed toshare ideas thatarecontrarianorcontroversial.PeterThielputsitbestwhenheasks,“Whatimportanttruthdoveryfewpeopleagreewithyouon?”inthebook“ZerotoOne.”Thepostswhereyoutrulyspeakyourmindandshareunpopularideasorkilla“sacredcow”are thearticles thatenergizeyouraudienceandcreateanemotionalconnectiontoyourbrand.

Giveactionableadvice - Be detailedwhen instructing or guiding your

http://amzn.to/2jB7yZz

readers to a solution. By the time they finish reading your post, theyshouldknowexactlywhatstepstheyneedtotaketogetacertainresult.

Showthatyoucare-Respondtocomments,tweetsandemails,andtryto addmore value if they ask a question. Also, ask peoplewho shareyourcontentwhattheyenjoyedmostaboutitorifthereissomethingelsetheyarehopingtoseeonyourblog.

Giveyourbeststuffaway-Trytogiveawayasmanyusefulthingsasyoucan.Youdon’talwaysevenneedtoaskforanemailaddress.Createtemplates, guides, checklists; provide things that the reader can takeawayfromthepost.

ConclusionInthisagewheredataisking,itcanbechallengingformarketerstostepaway from the analytics dashboard and focus on the less tangibleaspectsofcontentmarketing.However,it’sclearthatthefruitsofcontentmarketinggofarbeyondsimpleleadsandsales.

Writing to inspire, teach, and engage readers will enlist them in yourvision and in your mission. If you focus on the relationship aspect ofcontentmarketing,youwillexperienceareturnoninvestmentthatcannotbemeasured.

Chapter3-Whatkindsofbusinessesshouldusecontent

marketing?

Contentmarketingisastrategywithadvantagesanddrawbacks.It’swell-suited for some types of businesses and not so well-suited for others.Certain aspects of your business will help you determine what yourapproachshouldbe.

In this chapter we’ll explore some of the businessmodels that tend tobenefitthemostfromastrongcontentmarketingcampaign.

DigitalproductsDigital products like courses, online communities, and templates workwell with content marketing because of how easily they scale. Digitalproductscanaddhugevaluetoacustomerbutgenerallyhaveverylittleoverhead.Thisallowsthebusinesstofocusalotofinvestment--timeandmoney--inmarketing.

Somecommondigitalproductsinclude:

OnlinecoursesEbooksMembershipsandcommunitiesSoftwareandtools

Digital products are also excellent for content marketing because theycan instantly be delivered anywhere. With content marketing, you cantarget a global audience without worrying about expensive shipping orfulfillment.

RecurringrevenueRecurring revenue means your customers are paying on a monthly,quarterlyor sometimesannualbasis.Recurring revenueproductsoftentaketheformofservices,software,oronlinememberships.

Contentmarketingeffortsaregreatforattractingcustomerstothistypeofbusiness,butwhat’strulyspecialaboutcontentforthistypeofbusinessisthatitcanalsohelpretaincustomers.

Forrecurringrevenuebusinesses,thebiggestthreattosurvivalischurn.Churn is the rate at which people unsubscribe from a service. Mostsoftwareasaservice(SaaS)providersknowthisnumberwellandspendalotoftimethinkingaboutit.

Contentmarketingallowsyoutocontinuallyprovideaddedvaluetoyourcurrentcustomersaswellastoyourprospectivecustomers.Bycreatingcontentthathelpscustomersbemoresuccessful(eitherwhenusingyourproduct or in related areas of life/business), you encourage yourcustomerstostickaround.

Good content can help with customer onboarding. When beginning touse SaaS products and online communities, new customers oftenbecome overwhelmed. By stringing some of your most helpful contenttogetherina“bootcamp”styleemailseriestointroduceyourproduct,youavoidoverwhelmingyourcustomersandkeepthemfromleaving.

HighlifetimevaluecustomersLifetime value measures the value of customers over their wholerelationship with you. Sometimes this can mean one purchase of arecurringproduct,orperhapsitmeansyourcustomerispurchasingmanyproductsovertime.

Ifyouhavecustomerswithahighlifetimevalue,thencontentisagreatplay.High lifetimevalueusuallycomesfromrecurringrevenueproductslikewhatwediscussed,orfromasuiteofproductsranginginpricefromlow($1-7)toveryhigh(thousandstotensofthousands).

Suchabigpurchaseisnotadecisiontobemadelightly.Contenthelpstobuildtrustwithyourpotentialclients,toeducatethemaboutyourprocessand your brand, and to demonstrate your expertise in an area so theyknowthey’llbegettinggoodvaluewithyou.

Understandingthelifetimevalueofyourcustomersallowsyoutobemoregenerouswiththemthroughyourcontentandintheearlystagesofyoursales.Itdoesnotfeellikesuchabigdealtogiveawayadigital(orevenphysical) copy of the book that youworked hard to create if you knowthere’s a good chance that you’ll sell some of your more profitableproductsdowntheroadasaresult.

Businesses that benefit from educating theircustomersEducatingyourcustomerswithcontent thathelps themunderstandandsolvetheirproblemsiscommonintheB2B(businesstobusiness)world.However, many B2C (business to consumer) brands can benefit fromcontentcreationaswell.

Daniel Galle from Nolah Mattress (http://nolahmattress.com/) creates

http://nolahmattress.com/

content to help people make the right choice when buying a mattressonline. He knows that most of his audience will be buying a mattressonline for the first time, and may be hesitant. He provides greatinformationtohelpguideaconsumerthroughcommonpitfallsofbuyingamattressonline.This contentwouldbehelpful even if the readerdidn’tendupbuyingfromhim.

KateGalliett fromFitForRealLife (http://fitforreallife.com/) isanonlinefitness andmobility coach. She helps people recover from the chronicachesandpains thatpeoplewriteoffas “gettingold”and tomoveandplay like they were young again. She regularly publishes articles andvideoswithusefulexercisesforcommonproblems.Thesepostsbringalotofawarenesstoherbusiness,eveniftheydon’talwaysresultindirectsales.

AmyCazin fromPrimalPitPaste (https://primalpitpaste.com/),anaturaldeodorant company, educates her audience on the health effects ofartificial ingredients in personal care products. Illustrating some of thedownsidesofthebigbrandsshecompeteswithhelpshertodifferentiateherselfandtoattractcustomerswhoarelookingforhealthierproducts.

Allkindsofcoachesandconsultantscanbenefitfromhavingcontentthattellstheirownstoriesandexperiences.Oftenthismeanscreatingcontentthat shows their target customer how to get the results the coachpromises,allontheirown.Thisgeneroussharingmakesthemfeelmorerelatableandestablishescredibilityandexpertise.

LocalbusinessesLocal businesses that depend on a local audience are often limited intheiroptionsforcontentmarketing.Thebroadnetthatcontentmarketingcastsisreducedbytheneedtofocusonaspecificarea.

http://fitforreallife.com/https://primalpitpaste.com/

Tourism isabigexception to this.Businesses thatwork in tourismcancreate content to help incoming tourists plan their vacations andrecreationactivities.Thiskindofcontentgetstheirbusinessofferings infrontoftheconsumerattheperfecttime.

ConclusionIf your business does not quite fit themold for contentmarketing, it ispossible to pivot into a model that does. Though I don’t recommendreinventing your business for the sake of yourmarketing strategy, youshouldbeawarethatyoucanalwayschangecourse.

Forexample,KateGalliett--the fitnesscoachmentionedabove--used toownabrickandmortargym.Shehadastronglocalclientbasebutwasdissatisfiedwith the limitationsofherbusiness.Sosheclosed thegymdown and took a new direction. Over time, she developed a followingonlineandcreatedanonlinetrainingprogramtoreplaceherface-to-facepersonaltraining.Nowmostofhernewcustomersdiscoverherthroughherblogorthroughthevideosthatsheshared.

PARTII-CONTENTMARKETINGFOUNDATIONS

The point of this section is to identify many of the common reasonscontentmarketing campaigns fail, and to help you create systems thatprotectagainst these.We’ll learnhowtoensure long-termsuccesswithyour content and how to take advantage of the full spectrum ofopportunitiesthatcontentmarketingcanofferabusiness.

Most people who are new to content marketing dive into it head first.They get a sense of artistic zeal and start creating blog posts. Theycreatewhenthefeelinspired,butthe“honeymoon”periodwearsoffsoonandtheinspirationdriesup.

Other business owners have incredible stories to tell, but are too busymanaging theirbusinesses tohave time forwriting.Writinghasasteeplearningcurve,andspendingseveralhoursadaypracticingisusuallynotanoption.Althoughthereareplentyofwritersout therewhocouldhelpthebusinesspersoninneed,ateamofwriterscanbedifficulttomanage.Thus,thatbusinessowner’sstorygoesuntold.

Mostblogsfailbeforetheyevergetasignificantamountoftraction.Hereareafewreasonsthiscommonlyhappens:

Shinyobjectsyndrome-Wheninexperiencedcontentcreatorsdiscoveranewtrend,tool,ortactic,theyoftenattempttocramitintotheircontentmarketingsystems.Theirteamhastochangecoursetomakethetoolfit.Thecontentchangessomuchthatitcan’tgettractionorbuildtrustwiththeaudience.

Nodifferentiation-Contentmarketingisextremelycompetitiveinmostindustries,andstrategiesthatdon’tdifferentiateoftendon’triseabovethenoise.

Isolation - Often, an early blogwill only focus on directly promoting aproduct and its features. This comes across as self promotional to the

readersandtypicallydoesnotgetmuchtraction.

Keywords over value - Many marketers are adept at finding greatkeywordstoputintotheirarticles,butdon’tsolvetheproblemsthattheiraudienceiswrestlingwith.

Burnout - Content marketing can be demanding and time-intensive.Withoutalargercontextanda“why?”behindthework,manypeoplecanburnoutoncontent.

Can’tscale-Oftenasinglefounderwillworkontheblog.Overtimethatfoundermaywant tomakeahire tohelp create content, but their newhirecan’tcapturetheoriginalvoiceandspiritthattheaudiencefellinlovewithinthefirstplace.

Inthissectionwe’ll lookat thefoundationsofyourcontentstrategyandsetupthesystemsyou’llusetoguideyourcontentmarketingcampaign.

What’sthebigpicture?Thissectiondoesnot focusoncontentcreation; it looksat thesystemsandtoolsyou’llusebehindthescenesofyourcontentcreation.

Youwill learnhowtodiscoverwhat topicsyouraudiencewants tohearabout,andhowtobuildyourcontentaroundthosetopics.

Oncethesesystemsaresetup,you’llhaveaclearideaofthepurposeofyour content, aswell aswho youwant to reach out to and collaboratewithtoservethatpurpose.You’llknowhowtotakeyourvisionandturnitinto something bigger than yourself. You’ll create the storyline for yourcompany.

Thesesystemswillbecomeanassetthatyoucanhandofftoacontentmanager, thusenablingothers to reliablycreatecontent thatserves the

originalvisionyoucreated.

You’lllearnhowtocreateyourownsystemsandprocessesthatyoucandelegatetoyourteamtosaveyourselftimeandtomakesuretasksgetcarriedout inapredictableway.Thiscanhaveapplications farbeyondjustcontentmarketing.

You’ll learn how to leverage your content to create opportunities tocollaborate with other influencers in your space. This may result inthought leaders promoting your content. You may find yourself gettingmore search traffic, andother serendipitousopportunitiesmight appearasaresultofyourcollaboration.

You’ll learn how a little bit of work up front can save countless hoursdowntheroad.Thiswillstreamlineyourcontentcreationandallowyoutoscalethatprocessquicklyandeasily.

Whatshouldyoukeepinmindwhilereadingthissection?Thoughnoneofthedocumentsorsystemsthatwediscussinthissectionwill be forward-facing, they are incredibly important. Investing indevelopingandmasteringthesetoolsnowwillsaveyouhundredsifnotthousandsofhoursinthelong-run.You’llbeabletogrowanddelegatetoyour content team with ease, while always understanding what’shappeningwithyourpublishing.

Remembertobepatientwithyourselfandtotakeagoodamountoftimeputtingtogetheryourcontentstrategy.Itprobablywon’tbeperfectatfirst,butoverthecourseofmonthsyou’llhoneinonwhatworksforyou.

As you’re reading these chapters, think about your journey with yourbusiness; the victories, defeats, inspirations, frustrations, and lessons

learned.Whichofthesestoriesdoyouliketotell?Whichseemtocapturethe attention of the people you’re speaking to? Which offer valuablenuggetsofwisdomanotherbusinessownercoulduse?Theseideasandstorieswillcomeinhandyaswecreateyourstrategyandfindwhatyoucanuniquelyoffertheworldthroughcontent.

Remember thatmany of the tools and systems like a content strategy,style guide, keyword bank, and key relationships are all available astemplatesatthestoryengine.co/resources.

KeytermsandconceptsBeforewedivein,let’sprimeyouonafewtermssoyou’llbeabletotakein the ideas in the following chapters without having to research thedefinitions.

SEO(SearchEngineOptimization)-SEOisthepracticeofgettingyourcontent to appear in search engines when someone enters a specificterm.Thehigheronthelistofsearchresultsyoucanappear,thebetter.

LongTailKeywords - Long tail keywords are common keywordswithadded descriptions. They don’t get as much traffic as more generalkeywords,butbecause theyaremorespecific, theyareeasier termstotarget to achieve high search engine ranks. An example of a long tailkeywordmight be taking a keyword like “ski boots” and changing it to“bluecrosscountryskiboots.”

Leadmagnet - This is a downloadable piece of content that your sitevisitors trade in exchange for granting you access to their contactinformation.Toyourvisitorsit’sahelpful“nextstep”totakeafterreadingapost;foryouitservesthecrucialroleofgatheringemailsandbuildingyourlist.

http://thestoryengine.co/resources

SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) - This is a written document,often step-by-step instructions, that explains how to carry out a certaintask.

Let’sgetstarted!

Chapter4-Whatmakesasuccessfulcontentmarketing

strategy?

Four years ago Alex Turnbull, CEO& Founder of Groove, a customerservice SaaS, hated Fridays. Friday was the day that their metricsproviderwouldsendaweeklysummaryof theirnumbers for thatweek.Andthosenumbersremindedhimthathiscompanywasontheedgeofcollapse,afewmonthsawayfromrunningoutofcash.

Uptothispoint,theirmarketingeffortshadn’tbeenworking.Nobodywasvisitingtheirsite;nobodywasbuyingtheirproduct.Facedwitha“guntothe head” situation, they decided to rework their content marketingstrategy. As Alex puts it, “We realized that there was an entire worldbeneath the surface of content marketing strategy that we had beenmissingtheentiretime.”

Theyditchedtheirblogthat focusedoncustomerserviceandstartedtoresearchandtalkwithbusinessesaboutwhattheyactuallyneededhelpwith. They found most businesses had problems just like theirs;challenges like cash flow, hiring,marketing.SoGroove re-worked theirstrategytogenuinelyhelppeoplewiththeseissues:

“Just as we did with our product, we decided to rebuild our contentmarketingstrategyfromthegroundupwithaneyetowardswhatcouldactuallyhelpourmarket, rather thanwhatwethoughtmight looknice

onablog”(AlexTurnbull).

Threeyearsaftermakingthistransformation,Groovenowhasaquartermillion visits each month and 5 million dollars in annual recurringrevenue.Theycredit thisall to thechanges theymade to their contentmarketingstrategy.

“YoucanfindthisfullstoryontheGroovebloginthearticletitled:Behindthe Scenes: “How We’ve Built a $5M/Year Business in 3 Years WithContentMarketing.””

Whenmostpeoplestartwithcontentmarketing they think that they justneedtostartwriting.Sotheywrite,write,andwriteuntil theirhandsfalloff.Manypeoplestartcontentmarketingbyjustcreatingonlywhentheyfeel inspired.Theircontentendsupbeingscatteredandnevergetsanytraction.Whiletheabilitytoproducealotofcontentiscertainlyvaluable,thatalonewillnotgetyoutheresultsyouarelookingfor.

Contentmarketingisa long-termmarketingplay.It takesawhiletoseeresults.Theimpactofeachpieceofcontentissubtle.Yourcontentbuildsupovertimeandeachpieceaddstothecumulativeeffect.

If yourcontent focusesonacertainaudienceandgoal,eachpiecewillcontribute towardachieving thosegoals, likea teamof rowers in sync.Unfocusedcontentwithoutdefinedgoalsismorelikeatugofwargame,alotofeffortbutlittlemovement.

Adocumentedcontentmarketingstrategygivesyouthefocusandclaritytocreatecontentthatmovesyourbusinessforward.

Whyshouldyouhaveacontentstrategy?“Ifyoudon’tknowwhereyouaregoing,you’llendupsomeplaceelse.”–

https://www.groovehq.com/blog/how-we-built-a-5m-business-with-content-marketing

YogiBerra

Astrategykeepsyouconsistent;itcrystallizesyourideasandyourvision,anditenablesyoutosharethatvisioninaclearway.Itprotectsyoufromthe risk of getting caught up in “shiny object syndrome,” followingwhatever new marketing trend appears. Having a written strategydocumentalsogivesyouatooltomakedecisionsonyourcontent.

Your strategy is also the foundation for building a content marketingteam.Itcreatessomethingbiggerthanyourselfthatyourteammemberscanunderstand,identifywith,andreferenceintheirwork.

YourstrategymustbedocumentedTake a look at these statistics from the B2B Content MarketingBenchmarks,Budgets,andTrends—NorthAmericashowingthedramaticdifferenceawell-articulated,documentedcontentmarketingstrategycanmakeforyourbusiness.

“Lastyear,35%ofB2Bmarketershadadocumentedcontentstrategy,48% had a verbal-only strategy, and 14% had no strategy. Adocumentedcontentmarketingstrategyimpactseffectiveness:

53%ofthemosteffectivemarketershaveadocumentedcontentmarketingstrategy

40%oftheleasteffectivemarketershavenostrategyatall.”

Just by having a documented strategy you put yourself at a bigadvantagecomparedtomostcompanies.

Here’sanexercisetodemonstratewhatmightgetlostintranslationwitha verbal-only strategy. Recall a picture of a landscape with manydistinctivefeatures.Maybefromavacationyouenjoyed.

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf

Now,callafriendwhoisgreatatdrawingandaskhertodrawapictureofthatlandscapeforyou,usingsimplythedescriptionthatyouprovideoverthephone.Takeasmuchtimeasyoucandescribingittoher.

Onceyou’redone,haveyourfriendsendyouthepicture.Mostlikelyit’snothingatalllikewhatyouthoughtyouweredescribing.

If you do this exercise, please let me know, I would love to see theresults!

Thesameinaccurateresultswillhappenwithaverbal-onlystrategy.Wethinkwe’re very clearwhenweexplainour visionandbranding forourcontent to the people we work with, but then are constantly frustratedwhentheresultsdon’tmatchupwithwhatwewereaimingfor.

Having a strategy written down means you can get specific with yourteamonthedetailsofyourstrategyandyoucanmakesureyou’reallonthesamepage.Someonecanpointoutaspecificsectionandsay “I’mnotclearonthis.”

Having something inwriting alsomeans it can be improved over time.New ideas can fortify and enhance your strategy without burying yourvisionordistractingfrompreviouselementsofyourstrategy.

HowtocreateacontentstrategyNowthatwe’veestablished thevalueandnecessityofhavingawrittenstrategy, let’s considerwhat actually goes into creating a strategy. Thefollowingisalistofquestionsthatoutlinetheimportantbuilding-blocksofa successful content strategy. As you read the rest of this chapter, jotdownnotesandquestions,ordownloadthecontentstrategytemplateatthestoryengine.co/resourcesandworkthroughitasyouread.

http://thestoryengine.co/resources

Whatisthemissionofyourcontent?When asked to define the mission or purpose of their content, manybusinessownerswouldrespondthatthegoalis“togetmorecustomers.”WhileIagreethatcontentshouldbedrivingcustomerstoyourbusiness,it’s shortsighted and ineffective to have this as your mission; mostreaders can see through content centered only on that goal, and willmoveonveryquickly.

You need to have a clear vision for your content; the content yougenerateshouldserveapurpose,andhaveamissionapartfromtherestof theoperationsof yourbusiness.Thismeans thatwhile your contentwill serve the end-goal of your business, the mission of your contentshouldnotbeidenticaltothatultimategoal--yourcontentshouldhaveitsownpurpose.

Howdoyouwant tochange theworldwithyourcontent?What isyourexciting, inspiring vision that you would like to share? How will youcapturetheimaginationofyourreaderssotheywanttobeapartofwhatyouaredoing?Imagineyourselffiveyearsfromnowspeakingonstageaboutyourblog.Theblogisatit’sfullpotentialwiththousandsormillionsofreaderswholistencarefullytoyou.

Remember, the mission of your blog does not have to be a long orcomplexstatementinorderforittobecompelling.Infact,inmanyways,simpleisbetter.

Whoisyourtargetreader?The target audience for your blog may be different than the targetcustomerforyourbusiness.Contentmarketingisa“broadnet”youcastandisalong-termplay.Thepeoplewhostartreadingyourblogmaynotbecome customers for months or years, or they may never become

customers at all, but theymay refer close friends to you after readingyourblog.

Forexample,MerylJohnson,CEOofBeanNinjas,whowementionedinanearlierchapter,servesonlinebusinessmaking6figuresormore.Buthercontent strategy also targets people inmuchearlier stages of theirbusinesses. She creates content that allows readers to grow into herideal customers over time. So when they hit that 6 figure mark they’llknowwhototrustforhelpwiththeirbookkeeping.

EmpathymapsforyouraudienceAnempathymapisawaytodescribethestateofmindandexperienceofsomeone visiting your site.With anempathymap you’ll describemanydifferentsensationssomeoneonyoursitewillfeel,thusconsideringwhatyourreadersmaybethinking,seeing,feeling,fearing,anddesiring.

An empathy map can be a great tool for bringing on writers anddesigners, and for giving them a fast way to understand the needs ofyour audience. Your map can influence how your new hires research,create content, design images, as well as impacting the tone andlanguagetheychoosetouseastheygenerateyourcontent.

https://beanninjas.com/blog/content-strategy/

BelowisanexampleoftheempathymapweusedforWPCurvetobriefourwritersonouraudience:

Thinks: Our readers have hopes of creating and growing their ownbusinesstoapointwhereitcansupportthemandmaybetheirfamilies.Buttheyconstantlyfearitcouldfail,orthattheircompetitionistoostrong,or that they won’t be able to stand out online. They have some basicexperience creating websites inWordPress, but there is still a lot thatseemsforeigntothem.

Hears:Ourreadershearaboutaproduct likeWPCurve,makingthingseasierforthembytakingcareofallthesmallfixestheirsiteneeds.Thislets themfocusonmarketing,salesandmoving theirbusiness forward.Insteadoflearninghowtocodeorhiringanexpensivedeveloper.

Theyhear(read)plainandclearlanguageonourblog,notbusiness-yormarketingbuzzwords.

Sees:Whenpeoplereadtheblogtheyseeacleanreadingexperience.The introductions are straightforward. There are no pop ups or otherdistractionsinthesidebar.Justsimplecontentandcleandesign.

Theydon’tnoticeit,buttheyseehighqualityimagesthatareconsistentin size. Images are relevant and add to the value of thewriting or theemotionalpullofthestory.

Feels: Our readers feel safe on our site becausewe are not trying toforce conversions.Theyhavea senseof authenticity fromour content,andfeelthatvalueisbeinggenerouslyofferedtothem.

For example, this comment appeared on a post: “Wow. This is exactlywhatIneeded.Atthisexactmoment.Cheersman.”

Wevaluetrustandtransparency.Wearehonestinourcontent,whetheritisdescribinghowwedosomethingorourprogressforthemonth.

Thiscommentappearedonapost:“Terrific!Thanksforpullingbackthecornerofyourdrapestoletusseein.Definitelysomegoodstuffhere.”

They feel a personal connection.When they comment, they get a fastandthoughtfulresponse.

Pains:

Shortoncash–Theyarebootstrappingabusinessandneedtogetvalueoutofeverypennyandoutofeverymoment.

Non-technical–Theyneedhelpwiththeirwebsite.Theycanputthe basics together but having someone available to fix thetechnicalproblemsishelpful.

Toomuchgarbagecontenttosiftthrough–Thereissomuchpoorinformation,cheapcopiesofcontentandclickbaitonline,it’sdifficulttofindanyinformationthat’sworthwhile.

Hardtoworkwithfreelancers–Therearesomanylow-qualitydevelopers just looking to give a quick solution to a problem in

ordertomakeafastprofit;itishardtoknowwhotogotoforhelpwiththeirwebsiteproblems.

Gains(motivations):

Creatingtheirownsourcesofincome

Freeinguptheir timeandeffort tryingto fix theirwebsite toworkongrowingtheirbusiness

Doingwhattheyarepassionateabout

Growingtheirbusiness

Remember thatanempathymap isausefulexerciseeven if youdon’thaveanywritersorteammemberstohelpyouwithcontentyet.Creatingthe map will help you understand and anticipate the mindset of yourcustomersandtoservethembetter.

Whataretheproblemsthatyourcontentwillsolve?A strong understanding of your target reader will help you identify theproblemsthattheyneedhelpwith.Theseproblemsdon’thavetobetheexact same ones your product or service solves, but they should berelated.

For example, Meryl Johnston from Bean Ninjas has a bookkeepingservice, but on her blog she often talks about business growth.Why?Because someone who is considering hiring her for bookkeeping isprobably facedwithmanydecisions aroundbusiness growth eachday.They’re constantly considering whether a new hire, a new tool, oroutsourcing is the best option to fill the gaps in the growing business.Merylunderstandstheseproblemsbecauseshealsohastofacethem.

By discussing business growth on her site, Meryl opens up new

opportunities to capture the attention of her ideal customer while stilladdressingissuesrelevanttohercentralproduct.

Tofindthesekindofrelevantissuesforyourowncontent,considerfourorfiveproblemsthatarespecificenoughtoberecognizableandvisceralfor your audience, yet are broad enough that you can create manydifferentpiecesofcontentonthetopics.

Choosing problems to target allows you to create a structure andcoherence toyourblog. It alsomakes iteasy for you tocreatecontentthatresonateswithyouraudience.

We’lltalkmoreindepthaboutthisinthenextchapter.

Whatmakesyourcontentunique?Literallymillionsofblogpostsarewritteneachday.Thebestandfastestwaytocutthroughthenoiseistobeunique.

Doyouhaveany skills or technical advantages youcanuse?Perhapsyoucandovideobetterthananyoneelseinyourniche.Orifeveryoneinyour industry is doing written content, can you do a podcast instead?Perhaps you’ve got a good taste for design and can create visuals tosupportyourcontentthat lookmoreprofessionalandgetmoreattentionthanyourcompetitor’scontentdoes.

There’s nothing more unique than your own story and experience.There’s only one you. Many successful content marketers like AlexTurnbull fromGrooveshare theirexperiences ingrowingandmanagingtheir businesses. They’re transparent and vulnerable with theirinformation. They share some of the numbers of their businesses, theproblemsthattheyhavefaced,eventheirfailuresandshortcomings.

Yourbeliefsandperspectivescanalsogiveyouanadvantage,especially

around ideas that are polarizing. Can you take a controversial orcontrarianstanceonatopicthatisimportanttoyouraudience?Whataremostpeopleinyourindustrydoingwrongthatyoudodifferently?

Whatareyourgoalsforyourcontent?The goals you have for your content marketing will determine manydifferentfacetsofyourstrategy.Isyourprimarygoaltobuildawarenessfor yourbrand, or togenerate leads for yourbusiness?Prioritizingonegoaloveranotherwill impacthowyouexecuteandplanyourcontent.Itwillimpactwhereyouinvestyourtimeandmoney.Asyousetyourgoals,youwillconsider:

Howmanyteammembersyouneed

Whatkindofcontentyouwillcreate

Whoyouwilltargetforcollaborationandoutreach

Herearesomeexamplesofgoalsyoucouldchooseforyourcontent:

Improvethequalityofleadsforyourbusiness

Increasethequantityofleadsforyourbusiness

Drivemoretraffictoyoursite

RankforcertainSEOkeywords

Increaseyourpresenceonsocialmedia

Allofthesegoalshavespecificandmeasureablemetricsassociatedwiththem.It’simportanttoassociatemetricswithyourgoalssothatyoucanknowwhetherornotyouaresucceeding,andsothatyoucanmeasurethatsuccesswithoutanybias.

Ongoingvs.milestonesTherearetwodifferentwaystotrackprogressonyourcontentgoals.Thefirst method is ongoing goals, the second is milestones. Each haveadvantages. Ongoing goals provide a consistent challenge; they don’tneed to be changed often, and grow with you. Milestones can be asourceofmotivationandcreateasenseofprogressorurgency,buttheyneedtobeplannedandupdatedovertime.

Examplesofongoinggoalsincludethingslike:

10%monthovermonthgrowthintraffic

5%conversionratesonyourleadmagnets

Examplesofmilestones:

Reach7,000monthlyvisitorsbyAugust2018

Generate1,000newleadsfromourleadmagnetsinthreemonths

ReviewingandrevisingyourstrategyYouprobablywon’t get everything right the first time.Over the spanofmonthsyou’lllearnnewthingsaboutyouraudience,changeswillhappeninthemarketplace,andyourbusinessmightevolveaswell.

Yourstrategyshouldevolvewith it.Everycoupleofmonthsyoushouldset aside a few hours to meet with your content team to review thestrategy and to ensure that everything in there is aligned with what isactually happening.Having your team involved in this processwill givethemmore of a sense of ownership with your strategy and invite newperspectivesthatyoumaynothaveconsideredbefore.

However,it’simportanttobeconservativeinhowmuchyouchangeyour

strategy.Don’t allow thenext “shiny object” to sidetrack you, anddon’tmakesweepingchangesonawhim.Anymodifications toyourstrategyshould be carefully chosen and should have good reasoning behindthem.

ConclusionAcontentstrategy is the foundation forallof yourcontentmarketing. Itshould inform every decision you make for your content. Having yourstrategywrittenout inaway that’seasy tounderstandmeansyoucanenrollothersintoyourvisionandscaleupyourcontentteamwithease.

Remember that contentmarketing is a long-term strategy, designed tobuild relationships with your audience over time, and to cultivate trustalong theway. Don’t jump into contentmarketing expecting immediateresults.

If you want some help getting started with your strategy you candownloadaContentStrategyTemplateon thestoryengine.co/resources.Thisdocumentincludessectionswithpromptquestionsforallthepointsmentionedabove,aswellasavideotutorialtoshowyouhowtofillitout.

http://thestoryengine.co/resources

Chapter5-Howtobuildyourcontentaroundyourreader’score

problems

Oneof the reasonsmanycontentmarketingcampaigns fail isbecausethey lack focus in their content creation. This flaw occurs when eachpiece of content created is well-intentioned and addresses problemsreaders have, but when there’s no continuity between the posts. Eachpostpulls the reader inadifferentdirectionorattempts to solveanewproblem.

Thisiswherethe“coreproblems”sectionofyourcontentstrategycomesintoplay.Itenablesyoutosee“theforestforthetrees”intermsofyourcontent. Instead of solving one problem at a timewith your posts, youcanplanoutmanypoststhatalladdressthesameproblemfromdifferentangles.

WhatIloveaboutthe“coreproblem”philosophyisthatithelpsyouwithmuch more than content creation. It enables you to create consistentmessagingthroughoutyourentiresalesfunnel.Italsoallowsyoutofront-loadalotoftheworkthatisnecessaryforputtingtogethergoodcontent.

In this chapter we’ll discuss how the “core problem” philosophy caninformand direct almost every branch of your contentmarketing.We’lltouchonmanydifferentareasofyourcampaignlightly.We’llbreakdownthe details for how to manage each of these different areas in laterchapters,butfornowthefocusisonhowthe“coreproblem”willbethe

commonthreadbetweenallofyourcontent.

IdentifythecoreproblemsyouwanttosolveforyourtargetreaderIn terms of content-generation, if there’s one element of your targetpersona that you must emphasize and understand, it’s their “coreproblems.”

Acoreproblemisapersistentchallengethatyouraudiencefaces.Asyouareidentifyingandoutliningthisproblemforyourownstrategicpurposes,remember that it should be specific enough that people immediatelyunderstand it, but broad enough that you’ll be able to create lots ofvariations of content for it. Each core problem you develop contentaround should have clear connections with the problem your servicesolvessoyoucanbesureyou’reattractingtherightkindofattentiontoyourbusiness.

HerearesomeexamplesofcoreproblemsfromWPCurve.You’llnoticethateventhoughourservicewasforfixingWordPresssites,onlyoneofourcategoriesdirectlyaddressesWordPress.Weunderstoodthatmanypeoplewhowouldbeagoodfitfortheservicehadmanyotherthingsincommon; theysharedother “coreproblems” thatcouldoverlapwith theproblemthatourbusinesswasdesignedtoaddress.

Content marketing - WP Curve is a great service forbootstrapping startups because it keeps developer costs low.Contentmarketing isapopularplay forbootstrappers lookingfortrafficwithoutabigbudgetforadvertising.

Driving traffic to your site - If they have a website, they’relooking forways todrive traffic to it.Sowediscussedstrategies

and tactics--likeSEO,paid traffic, andemailmarketing--that candrivemoretraffictoasite.

Starting/ launchingabusiness -WPCurvewasknown for itslaunchstory(toldinDanNorris’book“The7DayStartup”)Manyofour clients used our service to keep costs low on new productlaunches.Sowediscussedhowtosuccessfullylaunchabusinessand the many key decisions that need to be made before youlaunch.

Businessgrowth -Therearecountlessstrategiesandtacticstogrow a business online, but with limited resources, anentrepreneurneeds to identify themosteffective from theseandnotwastetimeontherest.

Improving yourWordPress site - CommonWordPress issuesthat entrepreneurs face on their sites, like optimizing for sitespeed.

Your core problems should becomea framework for how you organizethecategoriesonyourblog.Eachproblemgets itsowncategory.Allofthecontentyoucreateshouldfitnicelyintooneofthesecategories.Thisgivesyouseveraladvantagesdowntheroad:

You’re able to see which categories or core problems areresonatingwithyouraudience.

You’reabletohoneinyourmessagingbasedonthecoreproblemtheviewerhas.

Youcanretargetpeoplebasedonthecoreproblemtheyresonatewith.

Buildrelationshipswithinfluencerswhocanspeaktoeach

http://amzn.to/2nvR7zr

problemThe“coreproblemsphilosophy”givesyouanewframeworkwithwhichtoseekoutandbuild relationshipswith influencers. Insteadof just lookingfor people who solve a similar problem to the one your businessaddresses (these people may be direct competitors and not alwayscomfortableworkingwithyou),youareable targetpeoplewhoaddressthe core problems you target. It’s likely you’ll have enough commonground in terms of audiences that it’s worth collaborating, but not somuchthatyou’reindirectcompetitionwitheachother.

Eachofyourcoreproblemsshouldhaveauniquesetofinfluencersandthoughtleadersrelatedtoit.We’llexploresometacticsandapproachesforcollaboratingwithinfluencersinalaterchapter.

IdentifykeywordsrelatedtoeachproblemSEO (Search Engine Optimization) and keyword research are usuallyhighprioritiesforcontentmarketers.Knowingyourcoreproblemsallowsyou to do keyword research for entire categories instead of individualposts.Youcancreatea long-termSEOstrategyinsteadof just tryingtocreatecontentaroundsinglekeywords.

Many of themost desirable keywordswill be very competitive and youwon’t be able to rank for them by just creating a single post. Butconsistentlytargetingthesehigh-valuekeywordsovertimewillallowyoutoslowlygainsearchtraction.

Createalistofkeywordsyouwouldwanttotargetforeachcoreproblem.Include these keywords in your documented strategy. Each time youwriteapost,youcansprinkleafewofthesekeywordsintoslowlyclimbthesearchrankingsforthesekeywordsandrelatedones.

These keywords should also help you frame the messaging on yourlandingpages,email seriesand the leadmagnets that youdevelop forthatcoreproblem.

We’ll discussmore about how to do keyword research and other SEOtacticsforyourcontentinanotherchapter.

Create a lead magnet that helps with eachproblemA lead magnet is crucial for building an email list, nurturing youraudience,anddevelopingcustomers fromyourvisitors.Onceyouhaveyour core problems determined, create an attractive lead magnet foreachproblem.Theleadmagnetshouldclearlyrelatetothecoreproblemandgiveactionableadviceonhowtosolveaveryspecificandcommonaspectoftheproblem.

One of the most important factors in determining conversion rates forlead magnets and other onsite opt-ins is relevance. Using the “coreproblemsphilosophy”withyourleadmagnets,you’llbeabletoboostyourconversions by displaying lead magnets that solve the underlyingproblemsofthemaincategories.

Aleadmagnetdoesnothavetobealongebook;makeyourleadmagnetshort. This increases the chances that the people who download yourlead magnets will use them and be successful with them. If a leadmagnet is too long,someonemaystart readingbutnever finishor takeaction,whichdoesnothelpyourbrand.

We’lltalkmoreaboutspecifictypesofleadmagnetsyoucancreateandsomebestpracticesinalaterchapter.

CreateawelcomeseriesforeachcoreproblemThe “core problem philosophy” also gives you a way to segment yourmessaging to your audience. If people download a lead magnet for aspecific core problem, they’re sending you a specific signal about theirwants,needs,and thecurrentstateof theirbusinesses.Thisgivesyouanopportunitytosendthemmorecontentrelatedtothatcoreproblem.

Foreachcoreproblemandleadmagnetyoudevelop,youshouldcreateasimpleemailseriestofollowup,introduceyourselfandyourteam,andsuggestmorecontentthattheymightfinduseful.

These series should consist of 3-5 emails, each discussing differentaspectsofthecoreproblem.Sincethey’vealreadypointedoutthecoreproblem that’s on theirminds currently, it’smore than likely that they’llfindanotherpieceofcontentinthiscategoryhelpful.Thiswillkeepthemengagedwithyourbrand,amazedathowyouseemtobereadingtheirminds,andmorelikelytoadvocateforyouorbecomeacustomer.

We’llgetmorein-depthoncreatingemailseriesinlaterchapters,fornowit’sjustimportanttorecognizehowyourcoreproblemswillinfluencehowyoudevelopyouremails.

Gasoline on the fire - boost your content withpaidtrafficNowthatwehavethiscontentmarketingstrategyandcampaignsetup,wecanstartdrivingsometraffictoit.Alloftheworkyouhavedoneuptothispointwillmakeiteasiertosetupyourads,andwillmakethemmoreeffectiveinthelong-run.

Beforedive intospecific tactics, let’sdefine twodifferent kindsof trafficthatyou’lltarget.

“Cold traffic” refers topeoplewhoareunawareofyou,andhaveneverinteractedwithyoubefore.Thiskindoftrafficneedsto“gettoknowyou”beforetheywillconsidersharingtheiremailormakingapurchase.

“Warm traffic”arepeoplewhoareawareofyourbrand,haveseenandmaybeengagedwithsomeofyourcontentandasmallamountof trusthasbeenestablished.Thiskindoftrafficarenotyetacustomerofyours,but would probably be open to sharing their email, or making a smallpurchase.

“Hottraffic”referstothepeoplewhohavealreadymadeapurchasefromyou. Which means they trust you and are likely to make anotherpurchase if it’s well positioned. We won’t discuss “hot traffic” in thischapter,butit’sgoodtounderstandthethreedifferentlevels.

ColdtrafficThe first step in reaching this group is to send cold traffic to your bestposts.

Youcandefineyour“best”postsinafewways:

Poststhatspeaktoanurgentprobleminyouraudience

Postswiththemostsearchtraffic

Posts with the highest conversion rates for lead magnetdownloads

Poststhathavethehighestrateofsocialsharesandengagement

Sendingcold traffic tocontent is lessexpensive than trying togenerateleads;peoplearelessskepticalwhentheyseeanadforcontentinsteadofsomethingtryingtocapturetheiremail.Don’tworryaboutconversionfromthetrafficyoudriveatthisstage.You’llbeabletoretargetthemin

thefutureandmovethemforward.Fornow,youjustwantyourcontenttomakeagoodfirstimpressionwithyouraudience.

Ifyouneedhelpwithtargetingforcoldtraffic,checkout“WhyRetargetingIsn’ttheEndAlltoFacebookAds(AndHowtoGetColdTrafficThatIs)”.

Useyourkeywords-Thekeywords thatyouhave found foryourcoreproblem are also useful for your ad copy. Since those are the wordspeoplearesearchingforwhenlookingforasolutiontothecoreproblemyousolve,includingtheminyouradsisano-brainer.

Usingthesamekeywordsthroughoutyourcampaignfromadtocontentto your lead magnet also builds up consistency and familiarity in yourmessaging. Consistency builds trust, and trust is the foundation of asuccessfulcontentmarketingcampaign.

Targettheinfluencersyoumention-Targetthefollowersofthesameinfluencers you are building relationships with and mentioning in yourcontent. Seeing people they already know and trust quoted andmentioned in your content will help readers to cultivate a sense offamiliaritywithyourblog,evenifit’stheirfirstvisit.

WarmTrafficIfyouhaveagoodamountoftrafficflowingtoyoursite,youcansetupsomewarmtrafficcampaigns.

Createadsforyour leadmagnets thatsendpeople to the landingpagefor the leadmagnet.Youcan retargetpeoplewhohavevisitedposts inthe category that corresponds with the core problem the lead magnetsolves. Since the people have read or at least visited your content,there’s a good chance they’re feeling the pain from that core problemyou’rediscussingandarelookingforwaystosolveit.

https://adespresso.com/academy/blog/retargeting-isnt-end-facebook-ads-get-cold-traffic/

You’ll want to carefully watch the frequency of your ads here. With asmallaudiencesize(3-10k),it’seasytoover-sendadstoyouraudienceand frustrate them. You’ll want to exclude anyone who has visited the“thankyou”pageforyourleadmagnet.Sincethey’vealreadyconverted,there’s no sense in sending ads to them. You may want to excludeanyonewhohasvisitedyourlandingpagewithinthepastweekaswell.Thiswill keeppeople fromseeingyouradsomuch itannoys thembutstillleavesroomfor“secondchances”toconvert.

Ifyou’restartingwithasmallaudiencesize,Irecommendchoosingyourhighest converting lead magnet and retargeting all of your visitors. Astrafficgrowsovertime,youcanstarttosegmentyourtrafficandtestnewleadmagnets.

ConclusionBy focusing on the core problems of your audience, you’ll be able tocreate content that truly helps your readers. You’re able to get muchmore specific on the content you create, themessaging you send andhowyoupresentyourselftoyouraudience.

We touched on many different aspects of content marketing in thischapter. It can feel overwhelming to imagine all these differentmovingparts inyourcontentcampaigns.Don’tworry,we’lldiveintoeachofthedifferentareasofyourcontent in laterchapters inthisbookandexplainthehowtoapproachtheminamanageableandeffectiveway.

Chapter6-Howtousecontentmarketingasatooltobuild

relationships

If there’s one skill that can have an outsized impact on your business(andlifeoutsideofbusiness),it’srelationshipbuilding.Thinkbacktooneof the big turning points of your life--that first customer, that new job,closing thatdeal--itprobablyhappenedasaresultofa relationshipyoubuilt.

OneofmyfavoritequotesthatcapturesthisideaisbyKareAnderson-“When you connect with people around a shared interest and action,you’reaccustomedtoserendipitousthingshappeningintothefuture.”Sohowcanwemakemoreofthismagichappen?

Building and maintaining relationships is the core skill of a contentmarketer. A successful content marketing strategy needs to build andstrengthen relationships.Relationships provide awealth of content andprovidetheopportunitytocross-pollinateyouraudiences.

This chapter will guide you in building relationships through contentmarketing. I’ll give you some simple strategies and tactics to buildrelationships, and provide you with a tool to keep track of all of theinterestingpeopleyoumeetasyougrowyourbusiness.

Whyyoushouldproactivelybuildrelationships

In his post “Why is Hiring a Great Content Marketer So Difficult?”,GregoryCiottioutlinesthecoreskillsofa“unicorn”contentmarketer.

Notice that networking is one of the three vital skills.Gregory explainsthat“Industry leaders inanytopicallknowandregularlychatwitheachother; content marketers should know how to connect with up-and-comersandbiggerplayers.”

In the nascent stages of a contentmarketing campaign, you’ll need torely heavily on networking and relationship-building to get some earlywinsonyourblog.Untilyoudeveloporganictrafficfloworalisttodrawon,yourrelationshipswillhavethebiggestimpactonthesuccessofyourcontent.

You’llneedtostartmakingconnectionswithinfluencersinyournicheandfindopportunitiestocollaboratewiththem.Havinginfluencersshareandlinktoyourcontentwillprobablybethefirsttrafficyouseeflowingtoyoursite.You’llneedtomakethishappenconsistentlytobegingrowingyourownaudience.

http://www.gregoryciotti.com/hiring-content-marketer/

In later stages of content, the opportunities to build relationships onlygrowanddiversify.Youcanaimhigher for thepeopleyoureachout to,and many people will begin to approach you with opportunities tocollaborate.

Like all other key elements of your content marketing campaign, it’simportant tohaveasystemthatkeepsyouconsistent inyourapproachandkeepsyoufromrepeatingyourwork.Thismayseemoddtousetoolsandhaveasystematicapproachtodevelopingrelationships,especiallyifyouaresomeonewhoisextrovertedlikeme.Butitisfartooeasytolosetrackofvaluablerelationshipswithsomanydistractionsthesedays.Youneedasimplesystemtovisualizethetribeyouarebuildingandtohelpsupportyouinreachingouttothem.

WheretofindinfluencersIfyouarenewtoanicheor industry,youmaynotknowanyoneinyourspace toconnectwith.Don’tpanic.Noman isan island,and thereareways for you to meet influencers using connections or means alreadywithinyourgrasp:

AskyourcustomersorfollowersIfyoualreadyhaveafewgoodcustomersorfollowers,hoponacallwiththemandaskthemwheretheygettheirinformation,whotheyfollow,andwho they think you should know. Here’s a few sample questions youcoulduse:

Whatblogsareyoucurrentlyreading?

Whoare theup-and-comingpeople inyournichewhoaredoingsomethingunique?

Whatpodcastsareyoulisteningto?

Are you reading any interesting books on topics related to yourwork?

Whateventshaveyouattendedinthelastyear?Werethereanyspeakersorpeopleyoumetwhoimpressedyou?

ToolstofindinfluencersSooner or later you may want to expand your horizons beyond theawarenessofyourcurrentaudience.Here’safewtoolsthatwillhelpyoudothat.

Followerwonk (https://moz.com/followerwonk/) -ATwitteranalytics toolthat helps you identify influencers in your niche. It gives interestingbreakdownsanddataondifferentinfluencersinyourspaceandcontrastsyour audiences. This information can help you strategically reach newpeople,or tocross-pollinatewith influencerswhoyourcurrentaudiencealreadyknowsandloves.

Littlebird (http://www.getlittlebird.com/) - This is a great tool that helpsyou find influencers based on content. It was recently acquired bySprinklr,anenterprisesocialmediatool,sokeepaneyeoutforLittlebirdtoappearontheirfeatureslistsoon.

iTunesPodcasts-Podcastshaveawealthofinformationoninfluencers.Asinglepodcast that’s relevant to yourbusinesscouldhavedozensofguestswhowouldmakeforgoodpeopletocollaboratewith.Don’tforgetthatpodcasthoststhemselvesareinfluencersaswell.

Facebook groups - Find Facebook groups related to your niche andidentify theownersand the influencerswhopostwithin thegroups. It’seasytosearchforthesegroupsbykeywordsbutmakesureyoudoyourdue diligence in terms of research on each group. Remember that

https://moz.com/followerwonk/http://www.getlittlebird.com/

engagement (posts from many different people, lots of comments andlikeson thecontent, frequentposting) ismuchmore important than thenumberofpeopleinthegroup.

Paid communities - Private forums and paid communities are goodplaces to connect with people. It tends to be a bit easier to reach outsincethereisasmallbarriertoentry.

Quora (http://quora.com/) - Quora is a site where people go to askquestions.Thequestionsareopenforalmostanyonetoanswer.Thisisapopularplaceusedbysome influencers todrive traffic to their sitesbyanswering questions related to their areas of expertise. Search forkeywords related to your niche and look for people who have lots ofupvotesonanswerstopopularquestions.

OfflineplacestofindinfluencersEvenifyourbusinessisentirelyonline,youshouldstillfindwaystomakeconnections in offline environments. Meeting people in-person candevelop a relationship much faster than can exclusively collaboratingonline.

Conferences-Lookforeventsandconferencesrelatedtoyournicheorindustry. These can vary in ticket price but are often well worth theinvestment.Plus,theycanbelotsoffun!

Masterminds, workshops and small events - If you can find anintimatesettingwithpeopleinyourindustryorniche,Ihighlyrecommendtaking advantage of the opportunity. Meeting regularly with a group ofhighcaliberpeopleanddiscussingeachother’s challengescanquicklysetthefoundationsforstrongrelationships.

Payforacoach-Agoodcoachcanprovidemanybenefitsandinsights

http://quora.com/

toyourbusiness.Acoachisalsolikelytohaveawell-developednetworkthatheorshecanintroduceyouto.Bewaryandjudiciousaboutwhoyouchoose to invest in though; therearegood coachesand therearebadones. Remember that you don’t necessarily have to reach out tosomeonewhocallshim/herselfacoach.Your“coach”couldbesomeonewho is a few years ahead of you in terms of business knowledge andacumen.Offertopaythispersongenerouslyforamonthlyphonecall.

HowtobuildrelationshipsusingcontentContent is an excellent tool that can be used to break the ice withinfluencers and to plant seeds for strategic partnerships and otheropportunitiesdowntheroad.Nomatterwhatyourapproachistobuildingrelationships,youshouldbesuretofocusonaddingvalueforthepeopleyouareconnectingwith,ratherthantakingitaway.

Keep in mind that the person you want to reach out to is probablybombardedwith,“CanIpickyourbrain?”requestsonadailybasis.Heorshecanspotsomeonetryingtotakeadvantagefrommilesawayandwilllikelyignorethosekindsofrequests.

Toavoidthis,findwaysthatyoucanbeagenuinehelptothepeopleyouwant to connect with. Don’t worry about getting compensated for thevalue you add. You should trust that the rewards for building thisrelationshipwillcomeinthefutureandrememberthattheymaynotcomein the form of something you’re expecting or even aware of right now.Therelationshipitselfandthetrustyoubuildbetweenyouwillopendoorstomoreinterestingandserendipitousopportunitiesinthefuture.

LinktotheircontentThisisthefoundationalmove;it’seasytodo,youdon’tneedtotakeup

anyone else’s time to do it, and everybody loves a backlink. This alsoreinforces your content and makes it look higher quality by havingalignmentandinputwithothersinyourspace.

Ifyouquotesomeone,makesuretonotonlyincludethequoteandalink,buttocreateanimagewiththequote.Theimagecanbeapictureoftheauthorifthere’sahighresolutiononeeasilyavailable.Ifyoucan’tfindaphotographoftheauthor,considerusinganicelandscapeorbackgroundimage that’sblurredslightlyand thatallows the text tostandout.Makesureitlooksgoodonsocialmediatoo.

Whenyoudecidetoquotesomeoneinyourcontent,anothernicegestureis toconsideraddinga “click to tweet”with thequote thatmentions theauthor’sname.This sends thepersonyouarequotinga little reminderthatpeopleareresonatingwithhisorhermessageandittellsthatpersonthatyourcontentisdrawingattentiontohis/herwork.

Finally,onceyourpost ispublished,send theauthorwhoyouquotedaquickemaillettinghimorherknowyoumentionedtheirwork.Ifyouusedanimage,attachtheimagetomakesurethey’rehappywith it.Youcanincludea“clicktotweet”(http://clicktotweet.com/)linkintheemailaswelltomake it super easy for that person to share your postwithout beingpushybyrequestingitdirectly.

Buildrelationshipsbypromotingothers’contentPromotingcontentisanendlesstask.Showingyoursupportforsomeonebypromotingtheircontentisaneasywaytoearnabitofgratitude.Doingthisconsistentlyoveralongperiodoftimewillhelpfosterarelationship.

Thisalsohelpsyourrelationshipwithyouraudience;youdon’twanttobepromoting your own content all the time. That comes off as tacky andselfish.Havingadiversesetofideasandvoicescomingfromyourfeeds

http://clicktotweet.com/

willbuildmoretrustandengagementwithyouraudience.

SharecontentYou should be keepinga goodpulse on the content and influencers inyour niche. If you see something that interests you, see if there’ssomeone youwant to connectwithwhomayalso be interested in thatmaterial.Youcanemailittothemorshareitwiththemonsocialmedia.Usethecontentasaconversationstarter.Poseaquestiontothepersonyouwanttoconnectwith:

Isthereanideainthecontentthatyoufindcontroversial?

Maybetherearesomeideasthatyoufoundlacking?

Isthereanythingyouwoulddodifferently?

Theseareallgoodconversation-startersandcanhelpyoubreaktheiceasyoureachouttoothersinyourfield.

Asyouget toknowpeoplebetter,youwilldiscoverother interests theyhaveoutsideoftheirindustry.TheymayhaveapassionforskiingortheirfavoritebookmightbeDune. Ifyoucomeacrosscontent thatrelates tothese passions, you’ll have an opportunity to buildmore of a personalconnectionandcutthroughthenoise.

CreateguestcontentWritingguestpostsforotherinfluencersinyourspaceisoneofthemosttime-honoredways tobuilda relationship.Youdosomeoneabig favorwhenyoucancreatesomethinggreatthatresonateswiththeiraudience.Plus, this gets you in front of their audience which helps expand yourreachanddevelopbrandawareness.

Inordertogettheballrollingoncreatingaguestpost,lookupthemost

popular content using BuzzSumo (http://buzzsumo.com/) for the blogwhich you’d like to contribute to. Look for a way that you can add auniquetwisttothecontentthat isperformingwellontheirsitewithyourskillset.Whenofferingtodoaguestpost,don’tbeafraidtoaskquestionsabout what they think the best content on their blog had been.Sometimes social shares, traffic, or even number of comments can bemisleadingintermsofwhatcontentistrulyperformingthebestforthem.

Co-createcontentAnother opportunity to both flatter and help an influencer you want toconnectwithisbyinvitingthemtoco-createcontentwithyou.Thiscouldbe as simple as asking them a few interview questions for a rounduppost.Arounduppostisacollectionofideasfromdifferentinfluencersona certain topic. An example would be asking different entrepreneursabouttheirmorningroutineslikeIdidhere:http://wpcurve.com/morning-routines-of-entrepreneurs/

Another method would be to offer to interview influencers for a casestudyortocollecttheirthoughtsonanarticleyouarewriting.Reachoutto them and set up a call on Skype. Let them know that you will berecording thecall (I recommend theeCammcall recorder).Ask themafewquestionsandstartaconversation.

RepurposesuccessfulcontentAneasywincouldbelookingupsomeofthetopcontentthatinfluencershavecreatedinyourareaandsimplyrepurposeittoanothermedium.Ifit’s a popular piece of content, chances are it will do well in anothermediumandwillhelpbuildawarenessfortheoriginalpieceinanewway:

Have some pre-written questions ready to ask and when they say

http://buzzsumo.com/http://wpcurve.com/morning-routines-of-entrepreneurs/http://ecamm.com/

somethingthat’s interesting,askthemfollow-upquestionsandgetthemto go deeper. Since you’re recording, youwon’t need to take notes. Aquick15-30minutecallcanturnintodozensofgreatquotestodrawfromfor the content youcreate in the future. Justmakesure yougive themcreditfortheirideas.

Ifit’savideoorapodcast,turnitintoagreatarticle.

Takeanamazingblogpostandoffertoturnitintoaninfographicoraslideshare.

Takeagreatinfographicandturnitintoanemailcoursethattheycanuseasalead-generationtool.

Whateveryoucreate,asktheoriginalcreatorstohostitontheirsiteandpublish it. Make sure they link back to you and negotiate how they’llattributecredittoyou.

KeepingtrackofyourrelationshipsHavingasystemtotracktherelationshipsyouaredevelopingmayseemunnecessary. But over the course of months and years, your contentmarketingwillprovideyouwithdozensofopportunitiestocollaborateandbuild relationships. If youdon’t haveaway to keep these relationshipsorganized,somewillslipthroughthecracks.

Thisprocessbecomesevenmorecomplexasyoustarttogrowacontentmarketingteam.

Totrackandmanagetherelationshipsformycontentmarketing,Iuseatoolcalledthe“KeyRelationshipsDocument.”IlistinfluencersIcurrentlyknowaswellasthosewhoIwanttoreachouttointhefuture.Onmylist,Iincludesomebasicinformationabouteveryone:

Theirsites/socialmediachannels

Contactinformation

Abriefdescriptionofwhotheyare

Notesdetailingmylastinteractionwiththem

Don’t keep everyone in one big list; I recommend organizing them bycoreproblems.Thisway,eachinfluencerislistedunderthecoreproblemmost relevant to them. This makes it easy for someone on a contentteamtoknowwhotoreference,collaboratewith,aswellaswheretofindtheircontent,andhowtocontactthem.Thisdocumentmakesiteasyformy team tobuild anddevelop relationshipswithoutmuchmanagementonmypart.

ConclusionNomatterhowbrilliantawriteryouare,norhowinterestingyour ideas,withoutbuildingrelationshipsyourcontentwillnotgofar.

Remember to focus on adding va