همه با هم

Part 8

Next-Level Content Inc.

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.

PETER DRUCKER

You found the sweet spot, identified the content tilt, built the base, attracted an audience, and identified your monetization strategy. What can you do to keep the momentum going?

Chapter 23

Putting It All Together

Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

The year was 2001. Joy Cho, a recent Syracuse graduate with a bachelor of fine arts in communications design, moved to New York to find a job and start her career in design. Joy was able to land an opportunity at a boutique advertising agency in New York, where she was a graphic designer and worked with a number of clients.

SETTING THE GOAL

After working a couple of design jobs in New York, Joy moved to Philadelphia to be closer to her then boyfriend (now husband). While looking for her next job, she started freelancing and began her blog, Oh Joy! Although a hobby at the time, her blog attracted readers and thus resulted in a freelance client who came to her through the aesthetic she developed and shared on her blog. Soon her plans to get a new full-time job turned into the decision to start her own design studio as a full-time freelancer. Although Joy loved her design work (for the most part), it was hard for her to see that she could make a decent living from it. There was the constant “hustle” of having to find and maintain clients to pay the bills. On having this discussion with her brother-in-law (also a freelance graphic design) about the ability to support herself, he said, “Who says you can’t? You can absolutely make a good living doing what you love; you just have to believe it.” It was then that she began to write down her (lofty) financial goals (which she continues to do to this day). The simple act of writing them down helped to provide her with the motivation to keep doing great work and gave her the goal to make a decent living at doing what she loved.

THE SWEET SPOT

Joy had skills in graphic design. She was trained in communications design and had a keen sense for what worked and what didn’t around design and fashion (the knowledge area). At the same time, Joy was passionate about design variety. She dreaded working on the same old banner ads or client briefs. Every day Joy wanted to work on something different (the passion), and this variety led her to a new opportunity. Her sweet spot was a melding of design and fashion and variety (Figure 23.1).

Figure 23.1 Joy Cho’s life passion of variety and her knowledge area around design and fashion made up her sweet spot.

THE CONTENT TILT

Joy had the gift of extreme authenticity. She loved sharing her thoughts and ideas and knew she could find just the right balance of how much sharing would feel right to her. In an interview with Glamour magazine, she revealed that she secretly admires people who “walk to the beat of their own drum and don’t care what people think.” She wasn’t always that way, but over time, she saw how important it is to do what you love and not worry so much about what others think.

What Joy found was that this sharing method was extremely attractive to a certain audience that was passionate about design and fashion. As Michael Grothaus of Fast Company writes, “In spite of the public appetite for expertise, there’s a value in being approachable.” The people who made up Joy’s audience didn’t want to hear from “the expert”; they wanted to hear from someone who didn’t sound like she knew it all and was interested in how we can all, together, find the truth. It was this authenticity combined with her sweet spot that created her content tilt (see Figure 23.2).

Figure 23.2 Joy’s content tilt was her extreme authenticity. Mixed with her sweet spot, that became a powerful combination.

BUILDING THE BASE

In transitioning between jobs, Joy decided to launch a blog (September 7, 2005), Oh Joy! In her initial post, she announced the things you might read about on her blog: 1. Being a freelance designer & all things related to shopping, home stuff, and visually cool things.

1. Being newly engaged, in love, & in the process of planning a wedding.

2. Being the owner of three cats. Mind you, I did not get three cats on my own … they are the result of the merging of assets between Me and my New Fiancé … one + two = three.

3. Being friends with Beth without whom this blog would not be possible. She also deserves credit for the name of my blog.

4. Being a fan of food and eating … all the time. You’ll wonder how a small Asian girl could think about food so much. But really, it’s possible.

5. Lastly, being a huge nerd. This is something I have come to accept in my recent years of adulthood. I am a dork/nerd and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Once you pass your mid-twenties, the level of dorkiness within you is pretty much set.

In that first month, Joy posted 35 times and stayed true to her mission. Her posts were deeply personal, focusing on a variety of fashion and design tips (and included cats), and integrated first-rate photography and design skills.

From October on, Joy continued with her publishing velocity, posting sometimes up to three times a day. She was receiving so many client inquiries through her website that she never went back to work for another company. Within a year, Joy was confident that she could launch her own design studio off the back of the blog as her primary platform.

As Joy’s platform grew, she adopted a collaborative publishing model where she hired additional bloggers to add to the depth and breadth of the site’s content. She kept that model for a few years and then, after having her first baby, decided to go back to posting on her own from the desire to blog a bit more personally again.

HARVESTING AUDIENCE

Joy was actively building a loyal audience as more and more people signed up to Joy’s daily e-mail newsletter. As she continued to meet the needs of her audience Joy set an official editorial calendar and workflow to publish three times daily. As social media began to grow in importance, she broadened her digital footprint to build additional audiences on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. In 2008, Time magazine named Oh Joy! one of the top 100 design blogs on the planet. Figure 23.3 presents a snapshot of her blog.

Figure 23.3 Early on, Joy recognized the need to build an audience through e-mail.

DIVERSIFICATION

The three legs of the personal branding stool are now in full force for Joy, who has published three books (Blog Inc., Creative Inc., and her newest title, Oh Joy! 60 Ways to Create & Give Joy) and has keynoted at a variety of design and marketing events, even sharing the stage with Martha Stewart. Joy has a robust following, to put it mildly: Instagram. Over 200,000 followers.

Twitter. Over 70,000 followers.

YouTube. Even lower-performing videos on Joy’s YouTube page see thousands of views, and she’s now amassed 20,000 subscribers on the platform.

Pinterest. One of the most pinned designers on the platform, Joy has over 13 million followers.

MONETIZATION

Joy’s studio business is thriving; she’s consulted on design projects for some of the largest brands in the world.

In addition, Joy has designed and coproduced products for such brands as Target and Microsoft, and she has developed stationery lines, wallpaper, bedding, diaper bags, and even computer accessories. She also recently debuted a line of Band-Aids from Johnson & Johnson, which are almost certain to sell out in a similar fashion to her Target line.

Joy also accepts advertising on her site through sponsored content (or native advertising). Joy only works with brands she believes in and works with each of the brands to make sure the content works for her audience’s needs.

Joy’s revenues are diverse, from direct client engagement revenues to product sales to sponsorship to licensing deals. Even though Joy’s platform has been around since 2005, it looks as though the sky’s the limit, and the best is yet to come for Joy Cho.

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

Like all the Content Inc. examples described in this book, Joy’s Content Inc. success can be broken down into six distinct steps. The same was true for Matthew Patrick, Darren Rowse, Ann Reardon, and yours truly. Joy found her sweet spot, became a truly differentiated voice through her extreme authenticity, built the base through the blog, began acquiring a loyal audience, diversified through books and social media, and now monetizes her platform with dozens of product lines, licensing deals, and consulting opportunities.

And as for Joy’s financial goals … Joy continues to write down lofty and, in her words, “insane” annual financial goals at the start of each year. Each and every year, she has surpassed what she’s written down.

MORE CONTENT INC. CASES TO INSPIRE

Lucas Cruikshank

Cruikshank created the first YouTube channel to reach 1 million subscribers through his “Fred” character (a fictional six-year-old with anger management issues). He parlayed that success into a series of Nickelodeon hits. He’s currently on his second Content Inc. model, now going by just the name “Lucas,” which has quickly garnered well over a million subscribers (see https://www.youtube.com/user/lucas).

David Seah

After developing a loyal following for his blogging platform around design, David began to monetize his Content Inc. strategy through productivity tools. While the majority of his business is still consulting, tools such as the Emergent Task Planner and the Concrete Goal Tracker have gone from just a few sales a week to thousands a month via Amazon.com. David believes that pretty soon he’ll be able to retire on this very unexpected business (see http://davidseah.com/).

Razor Social

Ian Cleary has single-handedly built the go-to resource for social media tools at RazorSocial.com. While there were many sites that talked about social media tools from time to time, Ian recognized the need to make sense of all the social tools that were available. His directory has become a treasure trove of resources for marketers, and the site now garners hundreds of thousands of visitors per month (see http://razorsocial.com/).

Gary Vaynerchuck

Gary’s Wine Library TV was one of the early Content Inc. models to gain national appeal. With his daily videos covering wine for the “everyday” person, Gary turned his small family liquor store into a multimillion-dollar franchise. Soon after, Gary launched Vayner Media, one of the top social media consultancies, which now employs over 400 people and works with some of the largest brands on the planet (see http://vaynermedia.com/).

Greg Ng

Greg launched a frozen-food review site, Freezerburns, back in 2008. Since then, with over 1,000 frozen-food reviews and 700-plus videos later, Greg easily reaches 75,000 views per episode. “Freezerburns was the result of careful planning and identifying of a profitable, untapped niche,” says Ng (see http://www.freezerburns.com/).

LEGO

Everyone knows the story of LEGO’s storytelling empire, capped off by the unexpected success of The LEGO Movie. But very few realize that LEGO started Brick Kicks magazine (now LEGO Club magazine; see http://www.lego.com/en-us/club/) in 1987. (I received the first issue.) Red Bull Media House

A separate entity from Red Bull, Red Bull Media House produces Red Bulletin magazine (in print and digital), distributing it to over 6 million subscribers. In addition, Red Bull licenses video and photography to traditional media companies, which turned Red Bull Media House into a stand-alone profit center. According to sources at Red Bull, the content assets owned under Red Bull Media House will actually produce more revenue than Red Bull earns from selling beverages (see http://www.redbullmediahouse.com/).

RockandRollCocktail.com

Jason Miller might be best known for his content marketing role at social media powerhouse LinkedIn, but it’s his photography model that is working for Content Inc. lovers. Jason has photographed some of the greatest acts of all time, including Patti Smith and the Smashing Pumpkins. After every show, Jason shares key photos out to his Facebook audience and has built a cult following. Jason’s content tilt of marketing infused with rock ‘n’ roll has set Jason apart from the pack (see http://rocknrollcocktail.com/blog/).

The Good Life Project

Launched by serial entrepreneur Jonathan Fields, the Good Life Project has become a movement around doing good and not just doing things. Jonathan produces a weekly web show and highlights people working on amazing projects around the world. The three-legged-stool model is alive and well with Jonathan, who’s developed a bestselling book and powerful speaking platform, in addition to the digital platform (see http://www.goodlifeproject.com/about/).

Fold Factory

Trish Witkowski, CEO of Fold Factory, has become a celebrity in the direct mailing industry through her regular video show, The 60-Second Super Cool Fold of the Week, where she details amazing examples of print direct mail. According to Andrew Davis, “Her 250-plus videos have yielded over 800,000 views and more than 3,100 subscribers. In addition, Trish has become a spokesperson for a number of brands, tours the world as a speaker, and conducts workshops.” Trish’s Content Inc. initiative has been directly responsible for over $500,000 in new revenue (see her website at https://www.youtube.com/user/foldfactory).

Marriott

In late 2014, Marriott announced the development of Marriott Content Studio, which aims to become the leading media information company in the travel industry. Like LEGO and Red Bull before it, who have built substantial content platforms in their respective fields, Marriott believes that becoming a leading voice in travel is not relegated to just selling hotel rooms.

STACK Media

As high school teammates, Nick Palazzo and Chad Zimmerman realized that they had major challenges finding workout information specific to high school players. Building on that realization, they launched STACK Media and covered regular workouts from pros like Peyton Manning and LeBron James that high school athletes could emulate. Nick and Chad have turned STACK into a top 10 sports video distribution site, garnering 15 million monthly unique visitors and partnerships with over 13,000 schools (see http://www.stack.com/).

PewDiePie

Sweden’s Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, is the most subscribed YouTube personality on the planet. Since inception, PewDiePie’s videos on indie games have garnered more than 8 billion views (see https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie).

EvanTubeHD

What if I told you one of the most successful entrepreneurs on YouTube is just nine years old? Evan from EvanTubeHD.com consistently reviews toys on his YouTube channel, amassing over one million subscribers and a staggering one billion views in just a few years. According to ESPN, Evan generated $1.3 million in revenue last year. Wow (see https://www.youtube.com/user/evantubehd).

Glossier

Emily Weiss, founder and CEO of Glossier, began the company as a simple blog. 200,000 followers on Instagram and 60,000 Facebook fans later, Glossier has become one of the leading online retailers for skin care products. The business is thriving, with Emily recently raising $8.4 million from Thrive Capital and other investors (see https://www.glossier.com/).

ONE WORD: PATIENCE

If you’ve made it this far, I’m going to ask you to go one step further:

Be patient.

There are only nine months between when I believed I was a complete failure and when I started something that looked to have the promise of success. As I think back, it would have been so easy to give up and go find a “real” job.

I can’t even imagine that. I love my career, the time I have with my family, the flexibility of my schedule, and how I wake up every morning inspired to work on a project. If I hadn’t been patient, none of this would be possible right now.

I launched the business in April 2007. It wasn’t until the end of 2010 that I felt we were on to something. The next three years we made the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Today we have a $10 million business, and I’m still able to pick my kids up from school. It wasn’t easy, but having patience made all this possible. It takes time to build a loyal audience. It takes time to find the right revenue model for your Content Inc. business.

But there is no doubt in my mind that this is the absolute best way to launch a business. Yes, it’s different … some may say it’s strange … but it’s a better strategy than just hoping that a new product idea will take hold. Be like David, who fought the urge to fight just like everyone else had against Goliath (and lost). Take a different route and put the odds in your favor.

GETTING STUCK

As you progress through this model, there will be moments where you feel the model isn’t working quite to your expectations. That makes sense. Content Inc., as a way of launching a business, is a new muscle for most people. We’ve been used to communicating through mass media for so many years, and now we are trying to figure out how to deliver value to our customers outside of our products and services.

If you are struggling with your program, come back and review this chapter. You may be struggling because of one of these reasons: Selfish content marketing. Create content that solves customers’ pain points. Stop talking about your products and services so much. If you do, make it about your customers.

You stop. The biggest reason why content marketing fails is because it either stops or isn’t consistent. Remember, the content you deliver is like a promise to your customers. The biggest reason why the examples in this book succeeded was because the people never stopped producing amazing and compelling content.

Activity instead of audience. Having people share and engage with your content here and there doesn’t mean much unless you are building an audience. One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not planning, in advance, to acquire an audience through content creation and distribution.

No point of view. In order to position yourself as an expert in your industry, you need a point of view. Take a stance. Walking the fence is boring and, more importantly, usually doesn’t work.

No process. I see it every day. Scenario: Marketing campaign … ads to be placed … then someone asks about the blog or white paper … people scurry about … someone runs out to get the content. Plan up front to create, repurpose, and distribute content.

Where’s the call to action? Each piece of content should have a call to action or behavior you’d like to see. What would happen if you asked “why” to each piece of content you create? By doing this, you’ll be compelled to either know the call to action or kill the content (for lack of purpose).

Channel silo. Are you paying attention to one channel at the expense of all the others? We want to have one main platform, like a blog, but you’ll miss the true power of content marketing by not leveraging all available channels as you expand your model. Think like a media company. The greatest media companies of all time focus on all three legs of the stool—digital content, print content, and in-person content.

Forgetting employees. Employee expertise is the most underutilized content marketing asset. Your employees give your brand life. Leverage them in the creation and distribution process. Start with the 5 percent that get it. Show success stories and move on to the rest of your employee base.

Tip: Don’t force your employees into a process they won’t do. Gather the raw content from employees however you can.

One word: editing. Editing may be the most underrated piece of the content marketing process. Sometimes we as entrepreneurs don’t understand that the first draft of a piece of content is called a good start. Enter the editor. Get one or hire one.

What’s holding you back from your Content Inc. model?

MOVING FORWARD

Yes, there will be challenges. There will be times that you’re not sure you are on the right path. That is natural for any entrepreneur or small business owner. But here’s the truth: Until now, it was cost prohibitive for entrepreneurs to build a loyal audience. Until now, the communication channels were not available. Until now, the audience wasn’t willing to connect.

Until now.

By reading and following the Content Inc. method in this book, you have an opportunity to make a difference in your life, with your family, with your career path, and in the world. My hope is that you seize that opportunity today and never look back.

CONTENT INC. INSIGHTS

The Content Inc. model is successful because of six distinct and important steps. What steps are you missing in your model?

What’s holding you back? Whatever it is, pinpoint the problem and move forward. Content Inc. is an amazing opportunity for any entrepreneur striving to make a difference in the world.