Cory Miller | Adventures in Entrepreneurship » Uncategorized

Businesses: Be Content Producers

Cory Miller — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:54:01 +0000

This post has been brewing for a while, I’ve been trying to let it crystalize some more, and even now I’m not sure it’s polished, but after reading so many good books and posts recently (I’ll list as many as I can remember at the end of this post) on the subject of “content marketing,” I’m going to take my first stab at it.

From this website that I started publishing my old newspaper columns in 1999, to the professional blog I started almost 4 years ago, and the fact that every venture or website we start comes with a blog attached as a central marketing strategy (see iThemes and WebDesign.com), I’ve long realized the value in delivering good, quality, practical, helpful content.

Maybe it’s because I was a newspaper journalist in my previous career, but I love good content and use it prolifically in my marketing strategies. And I believe, as so many others have said, businesses now need to become content creators themselves and stop outsourcing it to external media outlets in the form of advertising.

Here’s some thoughts on how and why businesses need to go this route:

Content is an AWESOME marketing channel and strategy. Duh, Captain Obvious! But seriously, you can attract prospective customers through it, build your brand and establish thought leadership and expertise …. oh, and you can also make sales through it and because of it. More on that later.
The media empires are collapsing around us. And there is a void being left in their ashes. Their readers still want quality content.
Develop your own readership and audience. There is no need for a middleman to communicate with your prospective audiences. By creating your own media, you can develop direct relationships with your audience. You’re not leasing another’s readership, you’re developing your own.
As I’ve blogged about before: Content is priceless. I’ll always invest in good “evergreen” or “pillar” content.
Educational marketing IS creating valuable, practical content you’re prospects aka audience need or are interested in. There are topics and tips and tutorials that your customer is looking for … in your niche, you should be THE expert on it.
Content is about being helpful. I keep using the words “valuable” and “practical” when I describe content here because ultimately if you help someone – through social media or the content on your blog – it endears that person to you. If you’re just a blaring marketing speaker, it’s not going to help your customer. But if you’re help through your content, they will associate good feelings with your brand and products that are tools in solving their problems.
Content can also be about storytelling for your brand. It’s one of the reasons I bought a Tom Bihn laptop bag (I unboxed it here). They tell a great story. So in the words of Chris Brogan, “Hire journalists. They are great storytellers.” We’re trying to tell our own story through our live show at iThemes each week, through videos, through in person workshops … and by the way, this ‘About Us’ video from Digital Tutors is brand storytelling at its finest! David Meerman Scott calls this “brand journalism,” and has some good advice for journalists.
Build community with content. One of the things we’re trying to do at iThemes is build community by embracing our customers and their unique needs. And that means not only providing products or tools to empower them to do it, but content that teaches and shows them how. We want to be their hub for building beautiful and effective websites with WordPress. American Express might be one of the best doing this with OPEN Forum, recruiting some of the biggest and best names for their free content offering. Stellar content that’s made me think better of American Express.

Content like this has been around for a long, long time. It’s nothing new.

Ebooks, white papers, blogs, videos, audio/podcasts, workshops, roadshows, webinars/teleseminars, speaking engagements, books, etc, etc …. are all pretty good examples of content creation and marketing.

I think businesses should use a combination of them … MORE, or heck, actually do some of this, starting with a blog.

How does all this relate to the bottomline? Or maybe, the question really is: how does content make sales?

Here’s what I’ve seen content do for my business …

Builds your brand – the brand exposure content brings is amazing. One of our highest linked to and visited pages on our site is our free WordPress tutorials page.
Establishes you as the expert - I love how often people cite Gary V as THEIR wine guru … and, by the way, he happens to sell wine. If I was going to buy wine (which I know nothing about), I’d go to Gary for advice … then I’d probably buy from him. Think about it: When someone helps you out in a niche, who are you most likely to buy from?
Presents your products and tools as possible solutions – It’s about exposure but not the obnoxious kind. Gary and others who do content marketing well don’t bash you over the head with marketing their goods. (In fact, I’ve seen him say he’s not that worried about it – it’s more about community.) But good content marketing exposes your products and services as possible solutions. This is the VERY tricky part about content marketing. The one we’re still refining and I hope to share more as we learn effective ways to balance content and community with paying the bills!

Here are some more reference resources about content marketing …

Book: Get Content, Get Customers: The excerpt is foundational, the rest of the book is mostly case studies but a good read
Book: Inbound Marketing: By the marketing specialists at HubSpot … they are shining examples of content/educational marketing
Post: Content strategy is the next big thing
Post: Why Brand Are Becoming Media: I’m looking forward to getting his book Engage!
Probably a ton more I missed or forgot ….

Go Where the Conversation Is

Cory Miller — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:32:26 +0000

It’s taken me a while to finally realize that “the conversation” isn’t on my blog.

In fact, unless you’re like Penelope Trunk (an awesome, sharp writer with big-time exposure) and blog about going to your first day of marriage counseling (or even something remotely controversial), there’s a chance the conversation isn’t on your blog either.

Then today, maybe, it hit me …

I get more comments on my Facebook and Twitter status than this blog (or any of my blogs).

Yes, maybe I’m not doing something right.

Yes, I don’t like to stir up trouble and yes, I hate conflict and controversy (I’d prefer to teach, build relationships through my blog – it’s an extensive and expression of me and the other stuff’s not me).

Yes, I have a lot of Facebook friends (almost 800), and Twitter followers (around 2k) … a lot more than people coming to this blog.

And yes yes yes, I’m still a HUGE fan of blogging.

But the conversation isn’t here, and probably won’t ever be.

The conversation is there … not here.

(And you know what? I’m OK with that.)

That means, increasingly, I’ve been spending more and more time on my social media strategies on Twitter and Facebook.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far … and still refining …

Facebook is for friends and reconnecting – I’m still not comfortable with “friending” someone, which connects them to other friends (I don’t want someone thinking a stranger is OK because somehow they are connected to me)
Twitter is for business, marketing and reflection – for me, Twitter is often a rough draft of my thoughts, an awesome tool for customer service and for relationship building
My blog is still my cornerstone marketing tool - it’s still my 24/7 ever-changing resume, my primary marketing tool (on- or offline), I own the domain name real estate (I’m not leasing land owned by FB or Twitter), and so far, it’s still the best, most affordable way under the sun to get found by the search engines (when I get outranked by social media for my own domain name I might change my tune – but that’s one of their greatest opportunities actually)

What about you? What have you learned?

Wait … don’t comment here, give it a Tweet instead.

Paranoia

Cory Miller — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:44:52 +0000

Besides fear and lonliness, one of the things that pops up quite a bit is paranoia ….

Paranoia about competition

Paranoia about employees

Paranoia about the market

Paranoia about expanding

The best ways to fight paranoia, I’ve learned, is by focusing on what you’re doing and trusting in your original vision.

No related posts.

Low Hanging Fruit

Cory Miller — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:18:57 +0000

This has to do with priorities and focus for the business … logically, you want to pick the easiest targets (customers or products/services) and go after those first … the ones you can pluck fast and maximize your revenues.

Producing a cost versus benefit formula for this is vital … something I’m still working on.

On Mistakes

Cory Miller — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:57:02 +0000

I had to accept early on, that because of my inexperience as a full-time entrepreneur in my first startup, that I would make plenty of mistakes. This hasn’t been easy when you don’t want any blemishes on your record.

But finally accepting that I would make mistakes has helped. It hasn’t taken away from my desire to be learn all I can and gather all the counsel I could. Rather it’s bolstered that.

As a rookie entrepreneur, especially in the early days, fear and self-doubt are always present. And with your first misstep or trip up and those fears and doubts are magnified.

That’s why it’s key to have a group of encouragers. But people who you can also bounce ideas off and get valid, objective feedback. People who aren’t afraid to tell you to slow down or maybe speed up.

LinkedIn Showing Up For People Name Searches

Cory Miller — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:55:15 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that as I Google’d an individual’s name in order to find their websites or blogs that often their LinkedIn profiles are popping up for their name’s search results.

LinkedIn has effectively leveraged their domain’s PageRank (7) along with a good link structure for individual profiles that includes the person’s name to generate some pretty good traffic back to the service I’m guessing.

These two searches in particular caught my eye because of their profile:

The Takeaway

It’s just good search engine optimization. They are leveraging search traffic for people’s names (i.e. their user-created profiles) to continue to keep their brand and service in front of people’s eyes. In fact, I’ve used the LinkedIn search results several times to find people and their sites … and then to follow up with an invitation to join my network.

And in the process, they are demonstrating that they are a hub for people to congregate and find others … and, thus, to keep momentum up for people to continue using their service.

I Want a Workspace Like This

Cory Miller — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:39:59 +0000

I’d take probably almost any of these cool workspaces.

No related posts.

Getting Your Office Ergonomics Right

Cory Miller — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:06:29 +0000

Over the past month as I’ve gotten increasingly busier with design work, I’ve really realized the need for some good ergonomics. My posture is terrible and my back and shoulder pain is demonstrating that.

For some really good, concise tutorials on how to get your office ergonomics right, check out this outstanding site.

I’m taking much of this advice to heart and making some changes in my office environment.

I Just Couldn’t Resist …

Cory Miller — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:49:25 +0000

My wife and I are raving lunatic fans of NBC’s The Office … in fact, my cousin gave me a Dwight Shrute Bobblehead for my birthday that will soon be adorning my desk.

Here’s a preview clip of what’s coming up next on The Office.