Content Marketing Tips For Beginners

So you’ve written this great piece of content, what are you going to do next? Typically your answer would be well I’m going to promote it, right and that’s how most people would approach it. You write or create and then you promote.

What if I were to tell you that promotion is two-pronged. The first part of promotion is distribution, the second part of promotion is marketing and they are not the same thing at all.

Distribution is simply taking what you’ve created and distributing it on the channels available to you. Marketing on the other hand is a whole different ballgame. Marketing is all about real relationship building.

This is where you’re making the connections with your consumers that are going to translate eventually into building trust and sales for your business.

These are two completely different things so when somebody asks me “what are your best tips for a content marketing” I focus on the marketing aspect not the distribution aspect.

Content Marketing Is a Way Of Life

In this post I’m going to share some tips for you if you’re a beginner in content marketing and my first tip today is to think of content marketing as a way of life.

I’m serious because it’s so engrained in how you actually should be living your life. Think about it what is content marketing, it’s actually adding value to someone’s life, it’s using your content to add value.

Wouldn’t you want to do the same in in your life, wouldn’t you want to do the same in your relationships, wouldn’t you want to add value to the people that you meet whether they’re family or friends or social circle or colleagues or whoever your customers are.

When you start to think about content marketing as a life advice thing and you start to add value in your business it just changes your whole mindset. It shifts how you think about marketing and it’s something that permeates every part of your business and your life.

Tell Great Stories

Tip number two is learn to tell great stories even if it doesn’t come naturally to you. You’re living a story every day so don’t be afraid to share your experiences, tips or tricks that help you get thru your story.

Today my story is learning the best screencasting techniques and I could write a whole post around tips and tricks on how to do that because that’s the story I’m living right now.

Now when you think about storytelling for your business there are certain common elements that you need to keep in mind. Every story needs to have a powerful beginning. Tell people what they’re going to get from the story.

If you hear great speeches they don’t start with an intro to their company and when it was formed. They start with a hook, they start with telling you this is the moment, this is what’s happening right now, this is the challenge you’re facing.

Hook everybody in with the current problem, that’s what you need to do with your content. Provide that hook, provide that intro and then provide that solution.

If I could actually call content marketing something else I would call it story marketing. You need to learn this skill of story marketing because this is the future, it’s where we’re headed towards so learn to tell great stories.

Learn more about: Storytelling Marketing Strategy

Believe You Are Interesting

A lot of people think that if they don’t have a rags to riches story or if they had a really great childhood or if they didn’t really have any major upheavals in their life then they don’t know have an interesting story to tell. This is simply not true.

You are interesting based on who you are, what you think, your opinions, your life circumstances, your experiences, your education, your family.

All of that makes you an interesting person already and guess what else. Interest doesn’t come from hardships or about a good story, interest comes from relatability. If you say something and I can relate to that then that makes you interesting.

You have to believe that you already are and be in the moment. Be interesting and talk about stuff that you are already interested in and attract your tribe who is also interested in those things.

Entrepreneur has a great article about the 15 Steps to Building Your Online Tribe

Build Relationships

Tip number four is to build relationships. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time you know that I talk about giving, giving, giving before making the ask. I truly believe in karma but most people give because they expect something back.

If I can share something that will make someone’s day easier why would I want something in return? I’m all for making money but if you help people achieve a goal or solve a problem you won’t need to worry about money.

Those relationships that you’ve built because you’ve shared content that helped them builds a strong bond, a loyal following. If you then have something to share, your followers will listen.

Content Marketing Tips For Beginners – Conclusion

Content marketing is a commitment not a campaign. Chances are you’ve thought about giving up but realize this is not a short-term game, it’s definitely a long-term thing.

You need to start with the end in mind. When you have a plan to achieve your content marketing goals the chances are way higher that you’re actually going to achieve success because you have a clear plan and a strategy for getting there.

I’d love to know your thoughts if you’re a beginner entrepreneur or if you’re just new to content marketing. Do these tips make sense to you? Do you think that they can work for you? How can you apply them in your business?

If you’re going through a struggle in your business let me know and let’s see if I can share some tips that can help get you pointed in the right direction.