Some links may be affiliate links. I may earn money if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these links on this site.

Rob Knowlan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Why Content Marketing Is Sexy

There’s a saying that on the internet, Content is King! So, the real power, the real leverage, the 100% juice online is content. If you can produce meaningful, valuable content; you will take on some kingly qualities. You will develop a following.  You can claim your internet kingdom and you can start gathering some royal riches. There’s another saying that originates from a Mel Brooks movie, “It’s good to be king!”

Clean, Lean and a little Mean

Nobody likes a sloppy mess. That is not sexy! You want your content to rise to a higher standard than an elementary school kid’s book report if you want to garner respect and retain readers in your space.  You don’t have to be Shakespeare.  In fact, you don’t want to be Shakespeare!  Who can follow all of that flowery rambling?  Let’s talk about some basics to keep your content readable and worth the read.

Clean

When developing your content in any form, you want to keep it grammatically correct to the best of your ability.  There are a number of resources that you can use to keep yourself on the straight and narrow style-wise.  Most tools at your disposal today have a spell checker at the very least.  Even as I type this, I see the telltale red squiggles that show me a word I’ve gotten wrong.  Some more sophisticated tools will provide grammar assistance. Microsoft Office provides a built-in grammar tool and its free counterpart, Open Office, has extensions that can be downloaded to add this feature for you.  There are also online resources such as Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and even Grammar.com to help you maintain the quality of your content. If writing really isn’t your game, but you have something to say that people need to know it may be worth your time and money to let an expert help you.  There are plenty of professional writers, editors, proofreaders and even just tutors online waiting to help you.

Lean

Another absolute must in creating your content is to keep it tight.  People on the internet have very short attention spans and they certainly don’t need you meandering all over the place like a Victorian poet.  Say what you’ve got to say so that pretty much anybody who stops in can get a grasp of what you’re sharing.  What you say is certainly more important than how you say it, but keep in mind that how you say it can easily distract people so that your meaning is lost.  If you stay on topic and deliver your information in small, easily digested bites; you will be more easily understood.  Bullet lists, numerical lists and short, punchy paragraphs are your best tools for sharing the valuable information that you are providing.

Mean

I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times already, but let’s come right out and say that you need to mean something by what you’re offering.  To provide value, you have to have their best interests at heart.  Explain it like you would to your friend.  Depending on how detailed you are planning to go, you may have to assume that your friend has some knowledge of the topic already.  You can share beginner’s information as if explaining to your friend who has no idea what you’re talking about.  You can share expert’s information as if explaining to your friend who is already a member of the club of people who know something about your topic.  So, be certain to identify which friend you are talking to in order to ensure that you’re not talking over your novice friend’s head and that you’re not boring your experienced friend with information he might already know without you having to tell him.

Put on a bit of glamor to grab attention

So, that’s a good start.  A good foundation is like having a taut, athletic body to hang some clothes on.  We don’t want our emperor not to have any clothes, so let’s make sure that we can differentiate him from any old peasant by giving him some bling.

Glitz

Is there anything more eye-catching than a sensational title or section heading?  Breaking up your content with snappy section titles will help break up the wall of words that would otherwise send many readers scrambling back to the funny pages.  Mix in some emotion to really make the titles and section headers pop.  This will act like a magnet for your reader.  If they’re getting a bit bored with the current section and they see a sexy title lingering below the current paragraph, they will be thinking “I can’t wait to get to that part.”

Polish

So, you’ve said what you had to say as clearly as you could.  That’s great, but it’s a bit dry and probably doesn’t suit your personality at all.  After all, the reason we’re sharing this content is to gain some attention.  If people want plain old facts, they can crack open an encyclopedia.  You want to give your offering a bit of pizzazz by using emotionally charged terms.  I’m not saying you need to hype the heck out of stuff, but there’s a difference between a car driving down the street and a Ferrari tearing up the blacktop.  There are words that will describe your thoughts even better than other ones.  Once you’ve written out what you want to say in the most basic, factual manner as we covered above, you want to revisit the ideas to see if there are some better words or combinations of words that you can use to express the idea you’re trying to share.  This is where the Thesaurus comes in handy.  Even a practiced wordsmith will crack open a Thesaurus to look for alternatives now and again.

Trend

Trends come and go, but if you’re quick on the draw you can tailor your information to the flavor of the week.  There are any number of data trend services such as Google Trends, PopUrls and Mashable or news aggregators such as Fark, the Drudge Report and Google News that can help you keep your finger on the pulse of what is currently foremost in the minds of your potential readers. The drawback of riding a trend is that they tend to end at some point and seem silly or at least archaic in retrospect.  For instance, people know you’re talking about fad gifts if you mention the Pet Rock but Tickle Me Elmo is a bit more up to date.  So, follow the trends to grab attention at the time of publication, but don’t be so trendy that your information becomes out of date before it has a chance to inform late-comers.

Reveal just enough to whet the appetite

Okay, we’ve got a solid structure and we’ve polished the crown.  You’re well on your way to creating your internet kingdom and ruling well. Don’t give the keys away.  Your followers won’t follow if you let them all run ahead of you.  They also won’t follow if you dump all of your magnificence on them all at once.  Spread it out.  There’s enough kingly grandeur to go around.  Take your time and let people get to know you.

Show enough to be interesting

You know enough about the topic to hold forth at length on any sub-discipline, so dish it out in little increments.  This is particularly true if you are providing information in a variety of formats.  If you are blogging, vlogging, emailing and podcasting your information (that’s a hint: don’t put your eggs in one basket) then each of the formats should point to the others.  Let your subscribers ride through the terrain of your kingdom to take in the full splendor of your knowledge and wisdom.  The only place to divulge all information without reserve is in a paid product.  You can tell everything you know in your free content, but not in one place.  Customers pay for the privilege of aggregation.  Some visitors will realize that they can save themselves a lot of time and effort by simply buying your stuff.

Hide enough to prevent overwhelm

You may know enough about your topic to write a full set of encyclopedias about it, but who wants all that at once?  I know I don’t want a whole set of encyclopedias dropped on my head at once.  Break stuff up and spread it around evenly.  This will keep readers reading.  If they want more, they can click on the next post, email, podcast or video that you’ve provided.  If they’re close to overflowing, they can walk away knowing there will be more waiting when they come back.  Don’t make people look straight into the sun! Maintain a little mystery and you will retain your readers.

Save enough for future exploration

In the interest of keeping interest in your content, you want to dish it out appropriately.  If you give somebody everything you have all at once, you’ll be left with an empty barrel and they’ll have a splitting headache.  You don’t want to leave a bad impression by overwhelming people with the full scope of your knowledge in one go.  Break it up and spread it around evenly so that people have something to look forward to when they return to your site or channel.

It’s good to be king…

Now you know what to do with the knowledge in your head and how to do it in a way that will enrich people’s lives.  The more you give, the more you will ultimately receive.  Sharing is caring and caring is sexy.  That is why content marketing is sexy.