5 Tips to Improve Your Content Marketing

Do you want to become a leader in your industry?

Are you ready for a steady stream of perfect-fit clients to knock down your (proverbial) door?

Awesome! You are in the right place.

Becoming a known expert is easier than ever with the power of information —and you have valuable wisdom and insight to share!

The key to content marketing success is creating interesting content that your audience is going to find valuable, useful and shareable!

In our last post on the subject of content marketing, How to Create Engaging Content that Attracts Your Dream Clients, I talked to you briefly about something called VIRAS. VIRAS is an acronym that, when followed throughout the content creation process, improves our content and attracts more of the best-fit clients.

VIRAS stands for = valuable, inspiring, relevant, actionable and specific.

Let’s take a look at each of the five pieces of VIRAS —together they form a five-step process you can apply to improve your own content marketing.

1 // V is for Valuable

When considering content to share, ask yourself — will my potential client receive value from this information? Even better: will my perfect-fit client? If the answer is no, then skip it and focus on what WILL deliver value to a potential or existing client.

For example, is it important for you to know that I cleaned houses for 5 years during high school and college? Only if I can connect it to a specific lessons learned to deliver a valuable insight: such as, doing whatever it takes to reach your goals, time management, early entrepreneurial skills and developing boutique services that advance your income and opportunities.

2 // I is for Inspiring

Keep your content inspiring and positive. Although you definitely want to employ effective psychological triggers (like loss-gain, opportunity cost, and urgency), remain as positive as possible in your messaging. Walking the line between motivating and empowering is a skill in sharing content that your perfect-fit clients and customers will adore. Remain as positive in your language as possible —including reframing negative calls to action in positive terms.

For example: Although I could have written the first sentence of above paragraph as follows: "Don't use a negative tone in your content." Do you notice how that sentence elicits a different feeling? A simple reframe using positive language has a lighter tone and an empowering after-effect.

[Tweet "People won't always remember what you say, but they'll remember how you made them feel"]

3 // R is for Relevant

Is the content you are sharing relevant to your perfect-fit client? Only share content that is of direct relevance to your potential client or customer. If you can connect an experience, story, or insight to a current lesson that interests your Dream Client, then by all means, go ahead.

Here’s a quick example: Although I’m a certified yoga therapist and have a yoga teacher training school, I don’t share content related to yoga anatomy, therapeutic yoga or the Wisdom Method on this blog. Why? Because it’s not relevant to my perfect-fit client — unless I’m sharing exact strategies I used to grow my business.

[Tweet "Your business isn't about you: it's about the problems you solve for your clients. @thekellieadkins"]

4 // A is for Actionable

Your content needs to have a point. Asking yourself a simple question — “What’s the point?” — is a great place to begin to ensure your content is actionable to your client. There needs to be a clear action for the reader / viewer to take after consuming your content.

What do you want to the reader / viewer / listener to do after they read / watch / listen? What action-oriented tips will you leave them with? Is there a next step —either in another piece of Free content (perhaps behind an opt-in gate or application) or in a paid product or service?

5 // S is for Specific

Last but not least, ensure the content you are sharing is specific to a particular person, client or customer. Your mom may read your blog, but chances are you are not trying to attract your mom into your business.

Consider what the client needs that you, or your amazing offers, can provide. In fact, be sure that each piece of content you share has a specific gain for your client. Better still, noodle over the top 5 problems you solve for your Dream Client and create content that provides those solutions!

It helps to envision your specific Dream Client when creating content. Imagine them receiving the content in great detail: how will they feel before reading / watching / listening? How will they feel after? Who will they share it with? The more specific you become with your content, the more it will resonate with your Dream Clients.

[Tweet "Envision a specific Client to create content that converts "]

Pass each of the content pieces you create through this VIRAS litmus test and you’ll see more engagement and interaction on the content you create. This interaction will lead to you gaining more followers / fans who will want even more of what it is you are sharing. Keeping people waiting on the edge of their seat for the next thing you create is a total business sweet spot.

I’d Love to Hear from You

What were your biggest takeaways from today’s article? How will this help you move your business forward and attract more clients? Leave your insights in the comments below!

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I'm loving these content marketing tips from @thekellieadkins

How to Create Engaging Content that Attracts Your Dream Clients

Knowing how, and where, to attract your dream clients can feel elusive to most entrepreneurs. The “if you build it, they will come” philosophy doesn’t always hold up and, unfortunately, most entrepreneurs learn this the hard way! However, there is one strategy that does work when applied correctly and that strategy is: content.

Crafting the right content for your audience is critical to your overall success.

Engaging blog posts, videos, live streams and downloads can draw your potential clients in and help them feel as though they are in the right place. Aligned content can provide them with the “taste test” they need to move from prospect to customer confidently.

Let’s take a look at the steps required to take your content from boring to soaring.

Step #1 - Cozy Up to Your Customers

The first thing you need to do is understand who your prospects are and what they want. Not all people are created equal so what works in your business may not work in mine and vice versa.

The best way to figure out what people want, content-wise, is to look at your audience and do some research to figure out where they are. If you already have a content strategy, use data from your current content systems to determine which is performing the best. For some, that may be your blog or newsletter, for others, it’s social media.

Jot the following platforms down on a sheet of paper and rank them in order of most engaged to least engaged:

• Blog

• Newsletters / Monthly Content or Broadcasts

• Videos

• Podcasts

• Audiobooks

• Social Media platforms

The second best way to figure out what works is to survey your audience. You can use a survey tool to send a questionnaire to your list and your social media networks. Keep the survey short and sweet and ask questions like, “Where do you do most of your online content consumption?” or “Where do you spend most of your time online?”

Understanding your prospect’s behaviors, and their preferred consumption style, will help you to narrow your efforts in on what works.

Step #2 - Determine Your Own Level of Commitment

Creating content is hard work and is incredibly time consuming. Since we can’t create content for every platform, every day and maintain a high degree of quality, we need to be much more selective about where we spend our time.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How many hours can I, realistically speaking, put into content creation?

• Which mediums are the easiest for me to create content for?

• What am I willing, and able, to create on a regular schedule?

Because consistency is key in content marketing, the most effective content to share is the one that you will consistently create. Consistency is how you build trust with your potential clients and generate the connections necessary for business.

Step #3 - Figure Out Your Posting Schedule

Once you know the platform you’re going to create for, based on your prospect’s preferences, and you’ve created a schedule that you can easily commit to, the next step is to jot down a posting schedule so that you can stick to it.

In most cases, a weekly schedule works best for most people (i.e.: 1 blog post per week, 1 newsletter per week, 5 social media updates per week, etc.) but you need to find the balance that works for you.

Also remember that different platforms have a shorter shelf-life for content. Choose the platforms where you are able to remain consistent in order to gain traction.

Prioritize your content schedule so your potential clients get in the habit of hearing from you — and get excited about what you are sharing!

One of the ways to get them excited is to ensure that your content is valuable, inspiring, relevant, actionable and specific (VIRAS). Read more about the VIRAS approach to content marketing here.

Step #4 - Determine Your Content Focus

What are the top struggles your perfect-fit clients have right now? Those solutions are a great place to start with content creation.

What are the problems people are coming into your practice with —and how do they feel after they’re resolved? That’s a great way to feature the transformation your services provide.

What are the results that your clients and customers have received from your signature offers? Divide those results into how-to articles and create content that walks them through the process of getting those results.

If you are just beginning to create a content strategy, you may need to get a high level overview of your existing content. Run everything through the VIRAS test and eliminate anything that is off-brand or irrelevant to your current work.

Questions + Taking It Further

If you have any questions about the first four steps, please leave them as a comment below or pop on over to join the discussion in the Kula, an incredible group of Conscious Female Entrepreneurs. 

Ready for more? Head over here for 5 tips to improve your content marketing strategy for Coaches, Healers, and Helpers who want to attract more clients …with integrity.

How To Work Less + Earn More (Steal these Strategies)

Before you become an entrepreneur, there is often a moment in time when what you want bumps up against your current state. For example, let’s say you crave freedom and flexibility but you’re stuck working a 9-to-5 job. Your desire for what you want will naturally bump up against your current limitations, thus providing you with contrast.

This contrast can be used as a compass to point you in the right direction… provided that you are ready to be guided.

For many entrepreneurs, it was this compass that led them to the land of self-employment. Sometimes we get here with a fantastic guide to lead the way (ie: a mentor or coach) and other times we’re on our own - navigating unfamiliar terrain and hoping that we find our way.

No matter how you reach your destination, sometimes it still doesn’t look exactly how we envisioned it. Maybe you craved freedom and flexibility, but instead arrive at the heart of entrepreneurship and realize you’re working more than you did before you started. This newly found contrast can be a bit unsettling as the journey was meant to lead you to your preferred end state.

I've bumped against these contrasts more times than I can count in my 10+ year journey of entrepreneurship. By far, the most effective changes I've made in that decade of self-employment came after I committed to the following things:

1. STOP being everything to everyone: self-explanatory, but I'll explain anyway. I used to offer a variety of services —with a variety of niches within my niche. It kept me in a chronic state of overwhelm and, if I'm honest, kept me from actualizing my earning potential for far too long. I saw the most growth (like, 10x —exponential— growth) when I niched down and REMOVED services from my business.
2. STOP being the bottleneck in my business: I was a solopreneur for a long time. I did it all and that meant that I was frequently the bottleneck in my business. It wasn't until I automated, systematized and outsourced that I could grow the way I needed to grow to align my business and values.
3. EXPAND my influence and increase my income without working more, so that I could be earning even while doing what my heart desires most. That meant I filtered every goal through this lens: Will it take me away from spending time with my daughter and quality time with my family? If so, will it supply me a maximum return on my investment? This lens allowed me to say "heck, yeah!" to some opportunities and endeavors (being interviewed on podcasts, writing a book) and "thanks, but no, thanks" to others (traveling for speaking engagements).

Committing to things in thought and paper is simply one piece. The next step, the much more difficult one, is action.

My first step was to take out my sparkly sword of discernment and chop away at the offers and services that no longer fit my business vision —or business values.

Then, I outsourced the things in my business that didn't light my fire —or skipped them entirely (this is why I'm no longer sharing updates on every social media platform and instead focus on only two platforms: here and here).

I got better at dealing with my fear of self-promotion and started showing up in a bigger way. The results have been astounding.

My “no more playing small” approach to business is working — as of today I'm earning 3x more and working half as much!

The best part? I only made a few simple tweaks — and since I'm a "Learn it to share it" kinda gal, I'm over-the-moon excited to share exactly what I did and teach you how to do it too!

The Simple Strategies I Used to Get Massive Results (With Less Overwhelm) —and How To Apply Them in Your Business

Cut out the offers that were draining resources. In my case, that was also a significant source of revenue so I had to get creative. Yoga Teacher training was a significant income source but the time spent to manage the school meant it used up a lot of resources. When I took a (non-emotional) look at the numbers, the answer was clear: retire myself from (most) live trainings and focus on the Virtual Studio and supporting budding Yoga Teacher Trainers through the Wisdom Method Licensing program.

> Your turn: What signature offers or services are bringing in the LEAST amount of revenue for the resources invested (time, energy, money)?

Stepped fully into my zone of genius empowering holistic entrepreneurs to do more of what they love, more profitably. When I took a step back and evaluated my business strengths, the answer was clear: I love mentorship. Although mentorship is a part of the Yoga Teacher Training, I really enjoyed mentoring other holistic entrepreneurs in their businesses. I often had to limit my business mentoring in order to keep up with the several simultaneous trainings I ran through the Wisdom Method School of Yoga —as I also provide mentorship to the program attendees. When I embraced mentorship specifically as my particular zone of genius, retiring myself from live trainings didn't feel as scary —it was simply the better business decision.

Stepping away from teaching live trainings also allowed me to eliminate the offers in my business that didn’t speak specifically to my niche: although I do work with yoga teachers, I also mentor coaches, acupuncture physicians, bodyworkers, intuitives and helpers of all kinds. The yoga-specific offers moved to the backburner (and offered only to those who need them) so my niche got simultaneously broader and more clear.

> Your turn: What is your particular zone of genius in your business? How can you align that (more) fully with your primary revenue stream?

Got specific and focused in all marketing and promotion. Once I stepped into my zone serving holistic entrepreneurs, I became much more confident and creative in marketing and promotion tasks. Before, I used to dread writing blog posts, newsletters and social media updates. Now that I’ve focused in on empowering holistic entrepreneurs to earn more, work less and increase their influence, I have so much to say that showing up and sharing inspiring, relevant, actionable content is actually fun! Even better, my fear (a.k.a. “internal ick-factor”) of self-promotion is nearly gone. Telling (the right) people how I can help solve their problems (namely: not earning enough, not enough clients, hitting an income ceiling, low visibility, overwhelmed) feels like a service —not sales.

> Your turn: What are the top 3-5 problems you solve for your clients or customers? Now focus all your content marketing efforts on answering the questions they have about those problems, educating them about how you can help them solve those problems, and sharing your particular solution(s) to those problems.

So, now what?

Now it’s your turn! Spend some time answering the questions above and apply the insights gained to your business.

Leave me a comment below and tell me how it all goes for you, too!

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Are You a Conscious Entrepreneur Who is Ready to Play Bigger?

If you want to kick the overwhelm, overworked, burnt out beyond repair cycle, head over >> HERE << to work smarter (NOT harder). I’ll *see* you on the other side!