This was a response to a question in Episode 4 of Hustleburg, an episode devoted to answering your questions.
You should start creating content in two ways. The first place to find guidance will be from listening to your customers. Listen for what it is that they need. By listening for their needs first, you begin to understand how your business can meet those needs. This offers you a starting point for much of your content creation. You need to help them solve a problem.
When you examine the underlying issues of your customers, you’ll understand how to better craft your content to help them
As you listen, keep in mind that what they will likely not explicitly give you directions about what they need you to solve. Too often, we, both the customer and the business, focus on the obvious, external problem. That external problem is only a symptom of the underlying internal issue that drives their desire for change.
For example, when you have a plumbing issue, it’s not so much that you need to have your toilet unclogged or sewer line snaked, while that is certainly the obvious and important issue to address. What you are really feeling is the internal problem of how you would feel about being unable to use your toilet, having to rid your waste in some other way. In 2020 America, we live in a society where anything other than indoor plumbing is pretty weird. You would probably feel very odd if you evacuated your wastes in an outhouse, had a Porta-Potty on the side of your house, or used your yard. All of these show that you are unable to operate by the norms of this society. THAT is the internal problem you’re actually solving with a plumber.
Add Value to Their Lives
While you listen, you also need to add value with anything you share online and your other marketing materials. You should share about the things you’ve observed how you can help them to help solve their issues in your areas of expertise. It’s not just a non-stop advertisement about what you do. You should be adding value to their life.
Connections Win
Sometimes, you’ll have areas of interest overlap with your customers, and it won’t be in your field. That’s not just okay. It’s preferred. You should always be presenting yourself as an expert in what it is that you do, but sometimes it’s those related areas or personal interests in another aspect of your life that you share that will forge a connection.
To give you an example, I’m more likely to do business with someone who is a Braves fan or is a fellow alum of the University of Georgia than someone who isn’t. When all other things are equal, that is something that will help me make the decision, because I have that connection or shared experience with someone. That’s only something I learn through interacting around that interest. That’s not to say that I exclude someone due to those factors, but I’ve found time and again that I am definitely more apt to do.
When they are able to connect with you over shared experience or interests, that’s going to be a win for your business. Use this knowledge to expand beyond a single focus for your content.
Five Topics for Your Content
- The main thrust of your business
- A related aspect to #1
- Another related aspect to #1
- Something that makes you a real person that interests you.
- A second topic of interest that shows you’re real.
When you deploy these varied topics in your content, it shows your community that not only are you an expert in your field, you’re a real person. If you go back to my earlier plumbing example, people aren’t always looking for a plumber. They will, however, remember that person they connected with over a shared fandom or who grew up near them is one when the time comes. They aren’t looking to hire a plumber. They are looking to hire someone they connect with who understands their internal struggle when the toilet won’t flush.