Over the past century, the way in which people consume content has changed.
Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, video games, the internet, social media, video streaming, and we’re now looking into the future with virtual reality.
But human psychology hasn’t changed one bit.
The problem today is that we’re experiencing an overload of information.
There is simply too much bloody information for anyone person to consume in their lifetime.
And it doesn’t matter what you do, people want value.
Everyone is talking about it, but few do it.
So, when it comes to creating content of your own, and adding to the avalanche of clutter that the world offers, it’s important to provide ACTUAL value.
What is ACTUAL value?
It means analysing a market and taking the time to learn the market’s frustrations, fears and hair-on-fire problems.
After that, what you discover needs to be translated into a piece of high-value content, that answers those problems with real tangible solutions, for free.
No smelling like a sales pitch.
No self-promotion.
No generic, intangible advice.
So many businesses are afraid of giving away their secret sauce. They don’t even offer snippets of their services for the sake of helping others.
What’s there to be afraid of?
You and I know most people will be too lazy to implement your solutions themselves anyway.
You could give away your entire secret model if you wanted to, and perhaps only 5% of people will implement it themselves.
What about the rest? Well, they’ll come to you to do it for them.
Why?
Because people don’t have the time to spend 15,000 hours to learn the skills required.
They’re impatient for a solution.
This is where you come in. This entire methodology is based on the law of reciprocity.
Once you start helping people for free and solving their problems, they’ll hold you in high regard, and come to you when they need help.
This is what inbound marketers call being the “thought leader” in your industry.
By helping and empowering prospects with free valuable information that isn’t gutless, you’re bolstering yourself as an expert without being salesy.
So, where do you start? Start with the problem.
Begin by looking at your industry, and figuring out your ideal customer.
Only then, when you’ve figured this out, use AnswerThePublic.com to gain insight into what type of questions, and problems people have.
Join relevant groups on Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn or wherever your ideal customers are hanging out.
Learn, listen, and discover.
Customer research is paramount.
Try to find 5-10 interrelated problems that they’re facing, and tie it under one umbrella with the most significant problem of all.
For example, if you’re a mechanic, and common problems are:
You could tie this into one useful piece of content:
“We Exploit 5 Ways How Not To Get RIPPED OFF by Your Mechanic (Number 3 Will Surprise You)”
See how easy that was? We now have a genuine content idea that will actually be useful to people in that market.
Although we have the content idea, we now need to think of the best avenue to deliver this high-value content.
Not everyone likes reading eBooks. Some people enjoy visual infographics. Other people would rather you explain it in a video.
This comes down to understanding your audience, and the way they prefer to consume content.
Below is a list of some useful content delivery modes you can use:
- eBooks
- Quotes
- Toolkits
- Webinars
- Checklists
- PDF Downloads
- Videos
- Cheat Sheets
- Interviews
- Infographics
- Courses
- Emails
- Graphics
- Articles
- Podcasts
The delivery mode is only limited by your imagination. I encourage you to get creative.
Don’t be like everyone else.
Provide genuine value for people with burning problems.
