Is it someone who’s smart, connected, and understands your business? Or is it this guy?
This was posted under the heading “Worst Tragedy Related Misunderstanding You’ll Read All Day.”
Yeah, pretty much.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: you can outsource writing, you can outsource scheduling, but you can’t completely outsource content marketing. This is what happens when you do.
There’s a restaurant near my house that changes its menu every six months whether it needs it or not.
Just when you get settled on a new favorite – say a turkey meatloaf sandwich or an Asian chicken salad, they rip it right out of your trembling fingers and replace it with something else.
I really hate that.
When people work with your company, they want to know what to expect. Consider this:
Can you relate?
Change is not inherently good or bad.
I’m in favor of the occasional quantum leap. I want you to surprise people. But I want you to do it within a framework of security.
When you decide to make a big change in your business, your first priority should be to communicate the particulars of the change and why it matters to your clients. How will this change improve your clients’ experience?
If you’re making a change that will not improve your clients’ experience, but is geared toward improving your own efficiency or profitability, tread carefully. If possible, consider keeping your mouth shut.
Netflix, anyone?
The Death Knell
The death knell of any change is the perception that it’s arbitrary or self serving. Take your time, figure out the pros and cons, and craft your message carefully. You may only get one shot.
Photo by Michael Loke
You want more traffic, right? So how do you get it?
There are lots of ways, but one of the most effective is by creating sharable content.
“But Ann!” you wail. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to show up at the top of the search engines?”
Ah, young padawan, one result begets the other. More on that later.
Why You Should Care About the Social Web
So, the web is social.
That means that one of the main ways we’re exposed to new content is through our online friends.
I have a niece who always finds the most interesting and/or thought-provoking and/or unabashedly feminist stuff on the interwebs. She’s also really good at finding adorable cat videos.
Every time she posts on Facebook, I’m right there, because I know she serves up quality content.
Well, quality to me. And that’s the beauty of the social web:
1. Shared links are embedded with social proof.
When a person shares your content, whether it’s a blog post, or a video, or a tool, that share comes with built-in social proof.
That person is saying, “I found this useful/interesting/hilarious and I think you will too.”
When the person sharing the content is someone I trust, that makes me trust you.
Cha-ching.
2. Your target market sorts itself.
You create content. You put it out on the web. It gets shared.
Sure, some people click on it, and some people don’t. But the people who clicked on it self-selected.
Look, you’re a big kid, right? You know that getting everyone to like you is impossible. What you do just may not appeal to everyone, and that’s okay.
The clickers looked at your content, evaluated the person who shared it, and decided it was worth a click.
Hopefully many of them then shared it with their networks, of their own volition and with no strings attached.
You didn’t force anything on them. And that’s a good thing.
By creating consistently sharable content over time, you will create a dynamic market that’s pre-disposed to receiving your messages.
Cha-ching, part deux.
This target market may overlap with the target market that buys your products or services, or it may consist of influencers or referral sources.
It’s up to you to decide who you want to go after and to create content that will appeal to that market.
Have I convinced you?
Come back tomorrow, and I’ll show you how to create sharable content that gets you noticed.
Photo by McBeths Photography
I don’t have a lot of patience for people who are slower than me.
I pride myself on being hyper-efficient. I make decisions quickly. I put them into practice. Push, push, push.
Not everyone shares that pace.
Have you ever had the experience of just sort of knowing the right answer, but no one else sees it? And after hours of discussion and argument and Mountain Dew, the group finally lands on the solution you proposed? Only no one remembers it was your idea in the first place?
I hate that.
Here’s the thing: people need that process.
Being right is not good enough. It doesn’t justify not giving people their say. Everyone has the right to express themselves.
So what if they’re wrong? So what if it takes a little longer? When people feel heard, they feel good about themselves and they believe they are contributing to the team.
Next time you start thinking that other people are terribly inconvenient, remember the human cost of not letting people have their say.
