Seven Criteria For Producing Amazing Content For Your Blog

Everybody in marketing and advertising preaches, “Content is king”. We’ve all heard it.

However, it is not quite 100% accurate. A slightly better slogan might be, “Good content is king.”

In the event you wish to build a popular online presence for your business, you’re going to need to consistently publish great, high quality content. Picture every piece of content as an additional path back to your site. The more subject matter you crank out, the more opportunities you have to meet up with a potential client. It’s a numbers game.

Good content also helps develop expertise and establish you as an authority in your local marketplace. According to a variety of studies, at least 2 out of 3 people now search the web to find products or services locally. For that reason, your online content is your chance to shine and make a positive initial impression.

Based on my many years of professional writing, here are the 7 most essential directives I follow when producing content for myself or my clients:

1. Know your market. Spend some time to truly figure out who the individual is that will more than likely be viewing your content. Better yet, try to visualize an actual person if possible. Perhaps one of your best clients.

Just as you intuitively know to make use of a particular kind of language when talking to your mother vs. your buddies on ultimate fight night, same concept applies here. Whenever you have a clear image of your audience, you’ll know exactly what words to use and how best to communicate your subject matter.

2. Remain on target. Do not frustrate or alienate your audience with unrelated content, otherwise they’ll tune you out or unsubscribe from your list. For instance, if you own a roofing company, do not be publishing information about sushi unless there’s some obvious and natural connection.

Honor your audience and give them information that’s either directly or closely related to the central focus of your business.

3. Overcome the “Curse Of Knowledge”. I got this phrase from an excellent book I strongly recommend titled, “Made To Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath. The Curse Of Knowledge happens whenever you learn something new, but then you attempt to go back to your state of mind before you had access to that info.

Kind of like you can never look at a magic trick the same way once you know the secret. Yet, think back to how amazing that trick was before you knew how it was performed. That’s the Curse Of Knowledge.

When producing content you have to constantly remind yourself that a lot of individuals don’t know what you know. So do not sell yourself short. Always do your best to try and remember what it was like before you learned what you now know.

4. Keep it compelling. You never truly know for sure if your audience will find your content interesting until they read it. So while you’re developing your content you just kind of need to keep your fingers crossed and hope that they’ll like it.

A great rule of thumb is if you like your content, it’s highly likely that your audience will find it interesting as well. So, during content production you’re largely trying to amuse and entertain yourself.

I’ve watched interviews where famous authors and composers point out that this is how they create their content as well. Their blueprint for success is to just keep working until they feel great about their content, and that usually results in their audience enjoying it, too.

5. Make it as long as it needs to be. Say what you need to say, and don’t worry about how many words. I learned this one many years ago from master copywriter, Gary Halbert.

If you can legitimately get your message across in just 3 paragraphs, then do not keep writing for the sake of filling up the page. Sometimes the most powerful message is short and to the point.

Unfortunately I believe a lot of us were taught in 5th grade to just fill up space because our teacher said that our book report had to be a minimum of 2,000 words. Therefore, we usually just created filler content until we reached our word requirement, when in reality 450 words was all that was necessary.

Conversely, don’t be afraid to write long copy or long video scripts if the topic warrants it. If your subject matter is intriguing and engaging, people will gladly read a 14-page letter or watch a 26-minute video.

Remember, say what you need to say, and let your message define how many words you need.

6. Use the works of others for inspiration. Sitting down and gazing at a blank computer screen is painful. I believe that this is the reason why many individuals subconsciously avoid content creation.

Would you like to know a great way to break through this mental block? Use O.P.C.

You’ve heard financial experts talk about using O.P.M. (other people’s money). Well, for creating original content I like to use O.P.C. (other peoples’ content).

Obviously you never ever want to clone other people’s content. That’s unethical and unlawful. But it’s perfectly ok to make use of other peoples’ content to inspire you and get your creativity flowing.

Read a newspaper, a magazine, your favorite blog, go to Google or YouTube … any place that already has some content pertaining to what you want to create. Agree with someone’s ideas, disagree with them, share something interesting you just learned, create your own step-by-step manual, etc.

Whenever you use O.P.C. for inspiration, you’ll never be at a loss for items to talk about.

7. Be honest and truthful. People are more Internet savvy these days than ever before and you’re not going to put anything by them. If they’re suspicious of anything you say, they’re going to reference 10 other websites to see if you’re being straight with them.

It’s sad, but the web is full of con artists, rip-offs and liars. I’ve met some and you probably have, too. Because of this, peoples’ B.S. detectors are more finely-tuned than ever.

Don’t make claims that you can’t support. Do not manipulate data to distort the facts. Even if you know that others in your market are publishing content that is “questionable”, resist the urge to do the same. You’re better than that. Ultimately, you’ll feel better about yourself and your clients will respect you for it, too.

Lastly, remember that these 7 criteria absolutely apply to audios, videos and podcasts as well because all great multimedia productions always begin with a well written, well thought out script.

So whether you’re a doctor, lawyer, painter or wedding planner, producing high-quality content on the Internet is the key to creating and maintaining a prominent web presence. Prospective clients will perceive you as an authority, and the more content you publish the greater the likelihood of a prospective client finding you online.

For more free tips and tricks related to local online marketing, please visit Mark Brinker & Associates at http://www.markbrinker.com