Most People Have Content Marketing Backwards

Each part of my book Content Marketing Secrets reads out the way most people approach content.

First you create the content. Then, you use content marketing to expand your reach. Finally, you monetize by leading all of that traffic to the right pages.

That’s how it works from a consumer’s experience and for the end result.

However, “Create, Market, Monetize” is not the right way to think about your content brand.

If you think like this, you’ll create content on anything in your niche that you desire without any purpose behind that content. Sure, it would provide your audience with value and help build trust. But other than that, there’s no purpose behind the content.

The top content marketing experts don’t start their thinking process with the creation step. Instead, they start with the monetization step.

Determining what you’ll monetize will make it easier for you to create content that better aligns with your offers.

I create and provide free content with the intent of monetization. Providing value and building trust are two givens. Those form the foundation of the content I create, but I focus on monetization for two reasons:

1. Since, for me, value and trust building are a given, I can focus on monetization without sacrificing any value
2. If I don’t focus on monetization, it’s going to be really hard to monetize the content I create later

Let’s use my blog as an example. Right now, I’m talking about content marketing. I’ve already mentioned my book and can point people to the Content Marketing Success Summit like I just did.

I’m not pushing a sale and ending it there. I’m just sharing valuable insights and giving you options.

It’s no secret that content creators need to make money in order to continue creating content. You can use each of your blog posts to promote your product(s) or other people’s product(s) in an informative but non salesy way.

I know what products I have available. I then choose my content topics accordingly.

Another way you can think of monetization first is by creating free content that you incorporate in future products. It’s not uncommon for me to make some small edits to a blog post and put it in one of my books.

I’ll also take some of my free videos and put them in the bonus section for my training courses. It’s a way of providing customers with more value. Each product I create is a mix of exclusive content and some free content people forgot about. The products allow me to put my best blog posts and videos back in front of people.

And you’ll remember and implement more from a video in a $97 training course than if you just found that video on YouTube. With the right knowledge, you can use content marketing to expand your reach.

In Conclusion

Content marketing has always fascinated me. We all have the ability to make money from our content and serve a tribe at the same time.

But the monetization piece is pretty important for the content creator. We need money to keep going and providing more people with massive value.

What are your thoughts on this approach? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.