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Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs, Book Review

Introduction: Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs

Make a Killing With Content: Turn content into profits with a strategy for blogging and content marketing.

These days, the more I learn, the more I realize just how little I really know. To offer more value to my readers, I have been reading up about delivering epic content. And that is one of the reasons why I read, Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs. It has often been said that there is nothing new under the sun, but Lacy Boggs has a unique perspective on producing content. The book made me think about things that I did not even know were important. You do not know what you do not know.

For years I have been saying that I want to monetize my blog. And I have, to a certain extent, but I am not where I would like to be. I have taken courses on affiliate marketing, and I am earning a lot more as an Amazon affiliate marketer, but not as much as many people that I know. If I am being honest, the topics that I want to write about, the affiliate products that go with them are not big money makers. But that is okay, because that is where my interest is and my passion shines through.

Have you read?

SummaReview of The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is creating and sharing valuable, relevant content with your followers for the purpose of generating leads and Business.

What is Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs About?

If you are the typical blogger, you blog to make money. You are in business to make money, and you do so by offering a valuable product or service. The goal of Making a Killing With Content is for readers to become content marketers. Your blog can be the best sales tool for your business.

I learned a lot of important things from Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs, but some key information that was transforming for me was that there are two types of blogging.

Make a Killing With Content: Two Kinds of Blogging by Lacy Boggs

  1. Blogging as a business model: When blogging is a business model, you sell advertising, write sponsored posts, and use affiliate products to make money. You generate money through the content you create. You need an audience, and to make a lot of money you need a lot of traffic. This is where I am right now, not realizing that was what I was doing.
  2. Blogging to support your business: When blogging supports your business, you sell a product and service beyond your blog content. This is what I have been moving toward for the past nine months. You might also sell advertising, sponsored posts, and affiliate products.

When you are blogging to support your business, you need the right kind of traffic. Having 1,000 true fans, the ones that care about what you have to offer, is better than having 100,000 unengaged people. The content you produce has to connect with your true fans. Another piece of information that I found helpful, is that your content should lead your readers down the path to purchase. You have to produce content with care and have a strategy in place. You use content to build a path to sales. Traffic should not be the end game on a blog post. Always think about how you can add value to your potential clients and customers.

You should be writing to your prospects and not to the masses when you produce content. Who is your ideal customer? Write and promote content that converts and is tailored. Your goal is getting the right kind of traffic that converts into leads for your business. To get leads when you blog to support a business, your blog posts have to be deep, providing a lot of value to potential customers and clients. The blog is the medium, the content is King and Queen.

You are a storyteller, and your blog post should lead the potential customer down the path to a sale. Every piece of content must have a purpose, and be part of a larger plan

5 Elements of a Strong Content Marketing Strategy

  1. Why you are doing this – your goal.
  2. Who you hope to reach – your ideal reader. This person is an evangelist. Figure out the customer journey. Your ideal reader and ideal customer are not necessarily the same. Create a content plan to reach them.
  3. What story you are telling – your key message. This is your hook for your product or business. Each time you want to sell something with your blog, you have a new core message. You drive this key insight with a series of blog posts that leads the customer to the sale.
  4. Where you are going to post your content. Where are you going to share your message? Blog, email, social media.
  5. When you are going to post – your editorial calendar. When will you share your message?

A blog is a part of content marketing. I surprised by the number of things that fall under content marketing according to Lacy Boggs. Content marketing includes blogs, articles, white papers, recipes, slideshow presentations, audio files and podcasts, Facebook updates, tweets, pins, Instagram, Webinars, audio recordings, videos reports, how-to guides, checklists, worksheets, infographics, pictures, e-books, demonstrations, and case studies. Your blog is the hub.

Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs: Full Marketing Strategy

If you read this blog often, you know that I usually do exercises in books while I am reading them. I quickly jotted down the information below and plan to flesh it out more.

My Mission:  To make reading and learning more enjoyable.

Business Goal: To get 1,000 professionals reading a book a week within two years.

Core Message: Reading books can help you to keep your skills sharp.

Ideal Reader: Professional women age 35 to 49 years old

Where to Have your Content: Blog, email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, podcasts, and Webinars.

Common Metrics to Track

  • Email opt-ins
  • Email open rates
  • Email click through rate to sales page
  • Conversion rates

AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

To lay a path for people to follow, you have to know where you are going. You can write a series of four blog posts using AIDA. And each blog post is based on one of the four elements of AIDA.

Attention:  Challenge readers’ assumptions and grab them. Promote your opt-in. Promote this post heavily.

Interest: Hold your readers’ interest. Make them want to keep coming back for more. Expand on the ideas you used to challenge your readers. Analyze why your solution is better. How is it different from other solutions? You can use language such as “I go over this in more detail in the book.” I really appreciated this example.

Desire: You want to generate desire for what you offer. Case studies and before-and-after work well. You can write a post about your experience or you could ask them to imagine what their life could be like with your solution.

Action: Write a post announcing your product. You can use AIDA during product launch. Look at the blog post series as part of a whole. Create them as part of a sequence. Outline before you write. This makes a lot of sense and I plan to use this idea.

Customer Awareness Spectrum

How aware are customers of your product and solution? You need different content for different stages of awareness. This is aligned with AIDA.

Unaware

People who are unaware of the problem you solve have to be introduced to the problem. Identify the problem, then grab their attention. Echo words to them that they understand. Use the language they are accustomed to using.

Problem Aware

She knows the problem exists and is looking for a solution. They are looking for an expert who understands what they are going through. This corresponds to the Interest post.

Solution Aware

They know they have a problem and know that a solution exists. They could be comparing solutions with the intention of choosing one. They need to know why your solution is the best. This is aligned with the Desire stage.

Aware of You

They are aware of the problem and aware of your solution. They need to trust you. They need to believe your solution can help. They are ready to take action, and need a nudge from you. Use language such as it is time to buy and here is why.

Write Compelling Content That Sells

What are the traits of a blockbuster movie, and how can you apply it to a blog post? I liked the analogy between epic content and a blockbuster movie. Here are a few traits of a blockbuster movie.

  • Good production values
  • Large in scope and scale
  • Tell a big story
  • Reach a big audience

Write content that make people think, inspire them, and move them in some way.

Epic Blockbuster Content

What is epic blockbuster content? Very useful to reader, goes deep, emotional, unique and better than what is out there. It improves the reader’s life as well as your business.

Define what your epic content will do for you, so you will know if you have achieved your goal with the content. Do you want more traffic? How much? Do you want opt-ins to your list, and how many? Do you want influencers to link to it, and how many? Do you want a certain number of social media shares? Spell it out, so you know when you achieved success.

Formula to Write Epic Content

  • Mindfully plan
  • Ask the right questions
  • Explore the gap
  • Imagine the possibilities
  • Call to action

Mindfully plan: It all starts with a plan. Plan how you want your content to come together. Each piece is part of a larger plan to lead people down the path to a purchase. You need to know what you want each piece of content to accomplish.

You also need a plan for when you sit down to write the content. Do you have a system in place around all it takes to write – planning a topic, researching, scheduling to write, writing and editing?

Ask the right questions: What do potential clients and your customers want and need? Listen for connections, what do you have in common with them? Listen to buying signals, what stage are they on the Customer Awareness Spectrum? What signals tell you a customer is ready to buy from you? Listen for changes that lead to opportunities. What kind of changes your ideal customer may go through before she needs your service? You want to be valuable to them.

Explore the gap: Where is the customer now in comparison to where she could be with your solution? Help people to clearly see that.

Imagine the possibilities: Help your customers to imagine solving their problems with your help. Help them to help themselves. This is what creating a Desire post is about. Use the wheel of life to powerfully connect your solution to your customers’ basic needs. Help them to imagine the possibilities.

Call to action: Remind people what they will get before you ask for the sale. Ask for the sale.

Final Thoughts: Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs

Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs is a short book, but it is packed with great information. They say when the student is ready the teacher appears. I needed this book at this point in my life.

 Make a Killing With Content: Turn content into profits with a strategy for blogging and content marketing. Cashing In With Content: How Innovative Marketers Use Digital Information to Turn Browsers into Buyers Authority Content: The Simple System for Building Your Brand, Sales, and Credibility The Art of Impact: How to Use Content Marketing the Right Way to Build Your Brand, Grow Your Business and Make a Difference

The post Make a Killing With Content by Lacy Boggs, Book Review appeared first on The Invisible Mentor.



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