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You may not realize it, but you run a media company. You are, I am, and all other entrepreneurs are too.
The reality is that we all are, whether we like it or not. This is due to the evolution of the business ecosystem over the past few years, and this is true regardless of your industry or the size of your business.
Today, your business is both your main business and a media company.
This means that to be successful in the years to come, we will need to produce content in all its forms. This includes text, graphics, audio and video content. The amount of content we need to produce will continue to increase.
Why do we all have a media company today?
A lot has changed over the past decade.
The combination of social media and high-speed internet has given people more ways to engage with others on a large scale. Traditional media are fragmenting. And the world has become noisier than ever, with marketing messages popping up at every turn.
As a result, entrepreneurs are forced to produce more content to stay relevant in the eyes of their audience. This content will live on social media, Amazon, and even your own website.
This essentially turns all competing brands into media companies.
This does not mean that the media will become your core business. Only that you will have to produce media in order to stay competitive. A parcel medias.
So how do we do this?
Identify your message
The first step is to figure out what you want your content to say and who you want to say it to. If it’s not useful, no one will be interested. If it’s boring, no one will read it or watch it, no matter how useful it is. And if it’s never promotional, it won’t generate revenue.
Your message requires a delicate balance between useful information, entertainment and promotion.
The best approach here is to figure out what questions your potential customers are asking, and then plan a series of content to answer those questions. Several tools are available for this, including:
- google trends
- SEMrush
- Respond to the audience
- Quora
- Fox FAQ
- Keyword.io
- BuzzSumo
It is more efficient to consolidate your content creation. I recommend creating a few weeks at a time, so keep that in mind when researching topics.
Related: Using Virtual Events to Increase Awareness, Brand Loyalty, and Revenue
Choose your channels
More is not always better. Using media effectively doesn’t just mean putting your content in front of as many eyeballs as possible. This means putting your content in front of the right eyeballs.
There should always be a strategy behind it. Anything less is just a guess, and we all know it wastes time, energy, and money.
It’s not just about whether a channel is right for your brand. It’s also a question of whether it’s good for your brand right now.
We all have limited time available, so focus on what you can handle right now until you can make time to add additional channels. It’s always better to do one thing well than to do a lot of things badly.
Some channels you could leverage include:
- Social networks
- Your website
- podcast
- Books
- Events
It should also be noted that while we are talking about channels here, this same concept also applies to individual social media platforms.
Related: 5 Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid
Have the right mindset
Most people are afraid to post content at first. Especially the video.
This is because we are all worried about how we will be perceived by others. This problem is worse today than it has ever been, and I blame cancel culture and the growing army of trolls and bullies who thrive on attacking others online for it.
So let’s set expectations here. If you create any type of content, you will attract trolls and bullies. There is no way to avoid this. You just have to be comfortable with the fact that some people won’t like you. In fact, some will even be downright hostile towards you. Getting comfortable with it requires both exposing yourself to it and reframing the way you see it.
“Although it can be difficult to deal with bullies and trolls, you can choose how you react, how you make sense of these situations and whether you let them derail you. Sometimes it can be traumatic, but overcoming these challenges provides an opportunity to become stronger, more resilient and ultimately more successful,” says Dr. Fern Kazlow, Licensed Clinical Psychotherapist and Peak Performance Consultant.
Create and publish your content
Content creation is relatively simple. You write the article, record the podcast or shoot the video. Now I want to be clear – simple doesn’t mean easy. It just means it’s not complicated.
But your content must be good. For it to be good, you have to involve people on an emotional level. A powerful way to do this is to leverage storytelling. Especially your story, which we often call the hero’s journey.
Sara Connell uses her story of overcoming poverty, abuse and an eating disorder to go from earning less than $20,000 a year to nearly seven figures in three years in her content.
“I’ve always loved to read, but one book in particular completely changed the trajectory of my life,” she explains. “I was single, working in a sexually abusive job, had developed a life-threatening eating disorder, and felt trapped. I picked up the book, Holy Hunger, in an airport bookstore and continued to read throughout the flight, the taxi ride and the following night. What I read was my story – a woman who had suffered trauma and was trapped in an eating disorder. More importantly, she shared what she did to get better. This led me to make a call for help the very next day. This single book allowed me to regain my health, leave a violent job and pursue my vision of becoming a writer.”
I want to emphasize that while the idea of creating and publishing your content seems overwhelming, remember: you don’t have to do it all yourself. You need to focus on the parts of creating this content that only you can do.
Yes, you must be the creator of your videos and podcasts. It cannot be outsourced. You can sometimes get away with using a ghostwriter for textual content, but it’s essential that they truly understand your voice. Otherwise, you will attract the wrong audience. But everything else should be outsourced or automated. That’s why it’s essential to have a clearly defined process for the entire workflow behind creating and delivering your content.
“Process is the difference between scaling or failing. With a well-defined and documented process in place, you are able to assign tasks with relative certainty that they will be performed correctly and consistently. This lets you focus on creating the content you need to grow your business,” says Robert Nickell, founder of virtual assistant agency Rocket Station.
This process should literally document every step of the task. Don’t assume anything. It should also include all the resources needed to accomplish this task.
For example, you can save the video and upload it to a folder. From there, one or more team members can:
- Edit raw video file
- Export it to files for every channel and social media platform you use
- Download the video(s)
- Enter title, description and other applicable information
- Add it to your queue to share it again later.
Each of these subtasks will also have its own additional subtasks. The idea is to create a foolproof framework for your team to follow for the groundwork so you can scale your content creation and dominate your niche.
Grant Cardone and Gary Vaynerchuck are two prime examples.
Both are prolific content creators, and while they play a pivotal role in their content, they usually don’t produce or publish it themselves. They have entire teams working behind the scenes, fully dedicated to producing a massive volume of high-quality content.
You should too. It will make the difference between success and obscurity.
