A few months ago, I acquired a summary of a book called Content Rules, written by Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman. Our company subscribes to getAbstract, a business book summary service that helps me be more selective about the books I want to spend time reading.
The summary of Content Rules caught my eye because it makes the point that the marketing of products and services is increasingly becoming connected to content creation and management. The getAbstract summary put it this way:
“On the Internet, a brand new start-up, even a one-person shop, can compete directly and quite favorably with the biggest Fortune 100 companies – as long it offers superior online content.
Today, consumers find the products and services they want by using search engines. Your goal is to create engaging, compelling, and memorable content –blogs, videos, podcasts, and websites – that people like, link to, and pass on to others. This can help your material show up on the first page of search engine results – even ahead of material from huge corporations.”
As a real estate company, have you ever thought of yourself as a content provider? If not, maybe you should.
Of course at a basic level, the primary benefit a real estate company offers a consumer is relevant and helpful information concerning the process of buying and/or selling homes. In this role, you are providing content.
However, there is a tendency to want to consolidate this content production role under large corporate-powered platforms. While this is of some benefit, if you stop there you’ve left yourself vulnerable to competitors who leverage the concept of micro-publishing.
As you know, real estate is still a “local business” in most parts of the country. And on a micro-level, a local real estate office has the opportunity to become the real estate “domain expert” for a local community or neighborhood. How is this done? By becoming a niche (real estate/ your specific community or neighborhood) content provider on the internet.
Content Rules gives several (non-real estate) examples on how this can be done. Here is one I thought was interesting:
“As the new director of instruction at Reynolds Golf Academy in Greensboro, Georgia, golf pro Charlie King badly needed to bring in golfing students, but he had a very limited marketing budget. King turned to the web to build his clientele by showcasing the Academy with quality online content that would attract golfers who wanted to strengthen their games. He presented useful golfing tips and explained that golf is not as difficult as it may seem. King believed that his expertise and humor would draw golfers to his online
activities and thus, eventually, to the school.
In February 2008, King launched his blog, “New Rules of Golf Instruction,” offering free lessons via blog posts and videos. In March 2009, he published an ebook, New Rules of Golf Instruction, as a free download from his blog and Reynolds’ website. Golf magazine’s website ran an ad-libbed video featuring King teaching a satirical lesson showing angry golfers “The Proper Way to Throw a Club” into the water. The video went viral; at 1.8 million viewers and climbing, it is continuing to generate hits on the Academy’s website, providing great publicity and great fun.”
[Note: Charlie's video was moved to Golf.com (a site owned by Sports Illustrated) because it got so popular. To view it, cut the paste the following link into your browser address window: http://www.golf.com/video/proper-way-throw-your-club ]
Do you think the average golf pro at your local country club is a marketing expert? Probably not. If guys like Charlie King can do this, so can you!
The key to playing this game is to turn yourself into a content provider that produces quality content. What’s quality content? It’s content that your target audience would not only find interesting, but also helpful and sometimes entertaining.
Here is a quick checklist for the content your produce. Quality content is always…
True – Never deal in false messages. As author Annie Lamott teaches, “Good writing is about telling the truth.”
Relevant – Your message must be purposeful and must matter to your audience.
Human – Don’t write about your product; write about how people use it.
Passionate – People will not care about your products unless they see that you do. Use the strength of your feelings to engage them.
Original – An unusual story or a “fresh perspective” captures readers’ interest.
Surprising – Being a bit unexpected is interesting; being shocking is a way to go viral.
In our next WorkPuzzle, we’ll cover some additional guidelines for becoming a content provider and show you how this applies to recruiting.
Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)
Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network. Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?
By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust. Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes). To get started, click here.
Already of a member of TMOC? If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage. Questions? Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.
Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.
Comments