Unlock the secrets to leveraging content for business triumph with our seven game-changing strategies. This episode is a goldmine for entrepreneurs and content creators looking to make a mark in the digital world.
Let me guide you through the nuances of using content as your digital introduction, shaping how your audience perceives you from the get-go. We dissect the impact of a solid content-driven presence in building credibility and authority, which is crucial for both new faces and industry veterans. Get ready to step up your business game and forge deeper connections with your audience.
Strap in for a deep dive into the world of lead generation and sales funnels, where I break down the art of turning casual browsers into loyal customers. If you've ever wondered how to warm up those cold leads or introduce higher-value products without scaring your prospects away, this is the chapter for you. We'll discuss the strategy behind enticing offers and the importance of nurturing your most committed customers. This is about more than just making sales—it's about creating a community of 'star students' who believe in your brand as much as you do.
In our final segment, I share a personal tale that illustrates the magic of storytelling in content creation. This human touch sets apart the memorable from the mundane, something no AI can mimic. We also explore the critical role of feedback and analytics in honing your content to meet the changing tides of audience interest. To wrap things up, I highlight an exclusive resource for listeners eager to delve deeper into the world of content creation and digital business success. So tune in and take your first step towards writing your success story.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Speaker 1:
We are supported by Riverside. One of the things that drives me bonkers it really does is when I go to record an interview and everything looks great, right, like in the moment. Everything sounds great, you did your sound checks, all the video, everything looks fantastic. But then you go to download and it's just off right, the video's grainy, the audio didn't turn out as well as you expected and you just feel like you need to scrap the entire thing after you spent so much time finding the perfect guest or thinking about the perfect topic. Well, with Riverside, I never have to think about this. So Riverside is a platform that you can use to record your solo content or host guest for your podcast, and it is the best solution for anyone that's just getting started or even if you're seasoned pro looking to make a switch this year. Head over to crystalprofitcom forward slash riverside and use the promo code crystal15. That's crystalprofitcom forward slash riverside promo code K-R-Y-S-T-A-L-15 to get an exclusive discount for the profit podcast listeners. Again, that's crystalprofitcom forward slash riverside and use promo code crystal15.
Speaker 1:
Okay, let's get into today's episode. Today we're talking about two of my favorite topics content and business and we're gonna talk about how these two things work together, because if you've been around here for any amount of time, you know how much I love to talk about content marketing. Whether it's podcasting, youtube blogging, email marketing, whatever it is, I love to talk about content. But I really wanna hone in on how content can help you in your business. So let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystalprofit, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we? So welcome back crystal here today? And if we have not met before or you need a refresher, I am a podcast coach and content strategist and I've been doing this since 2018.
Speaker 1:
And I was thinking today specifically, as I was planning out this episode, I was like what can I really share that will help you in your business journey this year? And I came up with seven ways that your content can really help you in your business. So, whether you're a brand new business owner or a brand new content creator, I want you to start thinking about how these two things work really well together. Or even if you're a seasoned pro and you've been doing this for years and years, at this point, I wanted to give you some tips on how you can really amp up all the things that you're doing in your business and maybe even explore some of these things that you haven't thought about or it's been on your to-do list forever. And this is your gentle reminder to go revisit some of these strategies, because they can make all the difference in your growth and your revenue and really your visibility with the audience that you are trying to reach. So, seven ways that your content and your business work together. Let's dive in. So number one your content is your business card, yes, your podcast, your YouTube, your blog, however you show up on, like any of the search results, like that is people's first impression of you. This could be your content on social media.
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I actually was at a networking event recently and you know you were kind of doing the whole spiel like, oh, where are you from, what do you do? And the first thing it was really interesting because there was age ranges of all over the place, right? People that were younger than me, people that were my age and people that were older than me, and what was the first thing that we all said If they were my age? It was, oh, do you have a business card? People that were older, do you have a business card? People that were younger said do you have an instagram? That was the first thing that they said, and so it's really interesting if you think about it. Like, how do you consume Other people's content when you first find out about them?
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You go to a conference and you see somebody on stage and you connect with your message. You're like, oh, I wanna follow them. What do you do? Do you go to their website? Do you go to their instagram? Do you look them up on youtube? Do you google them? Like, what do you typically do when you find a brand new content creator maybe it's somebody you followed on instagram and now you're like okay, I've been consuming them for a while. Like now, what do I do? Do I go to their website? Do I get on their email list? So I always encourage people to be their own student of how they behave in consuming content and see if that is what your audience is doing as well.
Speaker 1:
So the first thing, I absolutely one thousand percent thing that your content is your business card and it's so cool okay for somebody that's brand new. I hope that you aspire for this because it is incredible when you go to a conference, you go to some in person event and someone walks up to you and says, oh, my gosh crystal. I've been following you on youtube and you are just how you sound in your videos or I've been listening to your podcast for years. It's so cool to meet you in real life. Like it's such a surreal, weird thing that I never knew what happened in my life. But it happens to all of us. It doesn't happen to someone that is, you know, been doing this for a long time, like myself. It can happen to you. Like as soon as you get started in something that you create blows up online. So it is so fun. I think it's such a like it speeds up the process of someone getting to know who you are.
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If you're credible, if you like, have some authority in your field. So Just think of your content first and foremost as the business card for you, connecting deeper with your audience, but also potential customers. People are gonna know and like and trust you so much faster whenever they can consume your content. So that is number one. Your content is your business card. Number two the second way that your content in your business can work together is I mean, if we're talking about appearing in search results, how are you gonna make that happen? It's SEO having the magic behind your content.
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So if you don't know what is that stands for search engine optimization, and this is something that I want everyone incorporating into all aspects of your content and within your business. So if you're like well, crystal, I don't know where to get started, don't worry, I have a ton of resources on the youtube channel, on the podcast, that you can check out for SEO, specifically for podcasters. But the main thing is I want you to go evaluate your business and your content. What do you want to be known for? Who is the audience that you want to attract or what is that one thing, like the thing that you're like gosh. If people just went into google or went into a search bar and typed in this thing about the topic that I want to be known for, like, what is that thing? For me it's podcasting, content creation, content strategy. Like those are the things that we talk about so much here on this channel and on the podcast, and it's the thing that I keep going back to is like this is what I want to be like the top of search results. I want my podcast to be there, I want my youtube channel to be there. I want my website to be there.
Speaker 1:
So seo is a strategic tool that everybody can use. It's not like it's exclusive thing that's only available for certain creators. Everyone can learn how to use seo strategically in their content and if you have not explored this, go start like go down a rabbit hole, right. I don't usually encourage people to get lost in youtube or go down a bunch of rabbit holes, but SEO is the thing that can really boost all the things that you're already creating. And what's really cool about it is, even if you've been creating content for a while, you can always go back and update the titles of your podcast episodes or the titles of your YouTube videos or your blog posts to make them SEO friendly. So if you have something that's already gotten a little traction, are there some things that you can do to have it boost it up in the search results. So SEO I've been preaching it forever.
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It was the thing that I didn't understand, like let's just like throw it all out on the table. Let me be a little vulnerable and honest with you. I did not understand SEO. I was like I'm not techie enough, I have no idea where to get started with this. But once I had a program that helped me understand more about it, I was like, oh, I get it now and it is one of the cornerstones of my content. I don't put out anything without considering SEO and how it's going to affect the piece of content that I'm creating. So if you've been ignoring it, okay, I'm calling you out in this episode today. If you've been ignoring SEO, this is your sign to get it together, learn how to use it and start incorporating it in every single thing that you create from here on out.
Speaker 1:
So that's number two SEO magic and having it work for your content and for your business. Now, number three building authority. So whenever I think back to the concept of the business card, the content is your business card. Authority is the thing that I always go back to whenever I'm looking at someone. So let's do the example of being at a conference and I see someone speak on stage. So I do the thing right.
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I go, google them, or let's say, I go to their Instagram and maybe they have like 5,000 followers. Right, they don't have a huge following, they don't have 500,000 or 5 million people following them, but they've got a decent following, right. 5,000, it's great. So I go and I look at them. Then I start seeing some of their stuff and I'm like, oh, I kind of connect to some of this. But then I go to their website and I see, oh, like, they have so much stuff, like I need all of this, right, you do ever have that moment where you're scrolling and you're scrolling and you're like, where has this person been? Like this is the exact message that I've been looking for to solve my own problems or to help me save time, save money, like whatever the thing is, and I immediately fall in love with everything that they're creating. So this is what happened to me in my mentor, marie Forleo. I can still remember it was like 2017.
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It was before I really got into wanting to create my own podcast and I was in the middle of like trying to figure out blogging and I had went down to Rabbit Hall. I found her YouTube channel. It's called MarieTV. She's been doing it for. I wanna say I know it's over a decade. I was gonna say two decades, I don't know if it's been that. I don't think it's been that long, but it's been a long time that she's been doing these YouTube videos and they're hilarious. And I just went down, I went down the rabbit hole and I said you know what? I love this woman, I love her personality, I love all the videos that she creates and it was that like edutainment right, it was like educational entertainment, because she's got these crazy costumes and these incredible guests and like she has this alter ego, jersey girl personality. I mean, she grew up in New York and she has this whole like Jersey girl thing going on. It was just incredible from the beginning. But from then on, like in my mind, I was like she's talked to Oprah, she's partnered with Richard Branson on things and she is showing all of these incredible interviews that she's had. You can bet your bottom dollar. I was just like, oh my gosh, this woman is incredible.
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So, yes, yes, yes, on building authority, establishing herself as an expert in my mind and giving me things for free for free, right Cause this was her free YouTube channel that made me like, whenever she offered something to me. I was like, please take my money. Please take my money because you've already given me so many things of value. You've shown me that you are connected to all these incredible experts in your industry and you're like giving us this just awesome opportunity of knowledge sharing. But the other thing was I could relate to her and so many parts of her journey, like she told all these incredible stories that I was like, yes, I want you to teach me, and so that's kind of my own journey of learning from someone who has built authority in my mind and really shown me a way of how you can use your content that is free To really strategically align with your business and what you're doing. So build that authority with your content so that people want to become customers in your business. So, so, so important, all right.
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The next one is we're moving on to lead generation. So lead generation can mean so many things for different people, but for me, when I think about lead generation, I think about building my email list. This is one of the highest priorities in my business every single year is how can I get more people to join my email newsletter that I send out every single Friday, by the way, if you are not on my email newsletter, you can go to crystalprofitcom, go all the way to the bottom. There's a footer at the bottom that says one weekly updates. That's the easiest way to get on the profit media newsletter. I send one every single Friday. It has tips, tricks, like the latest content that we put out all the resources, but it's also where I share exclusive stories that I don't share anywhere else. So make sure you're subscribed to the email newsletter. But when you think about lead generation, I just always go back to the content.
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Is the net that you're casting out into the world. So it's your podcast, your YouTube blog, all of that. You're throwing this net out into the sea, out into the big blue ocean, and you're putting it out there. In the lead generation is those people that hop in the net and say, yeah, I want to go on this journey with you. Here's my email list. Or if you're doing like text messages, then you know it's your, it's. Come on, join our text community or join our Facebook group or join, you know, whatever.
Speaker 1:
Whatever community or lead generation looks like for you, but your content can play a crucial role because it's out there working for you all the time you don't have to go to a million networking events and meet everybody in person. Like, maybe you're watching this video right now or maybe you're listening to the podcast and you're like, oh, I'm going to go get on crystals email list. Like that is lead generation literally working long after I recorded this piece of content. So this is one of those meta things, like you're seeing how it works while I'm teaching you how it works. But it like don't underestimate lead generation with your content. So this is another one.
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I want you to earmark that if you're like I really want to focus more on that this year, put it to the top of your priority list, because lead generation with your content will be the top of the funnel for your business. So if, down the road, you want to sell courses, membership services, coaching packages whatever that looks like for you physical products, then you have to have a way to capture those organic leads and get them into your funnel so that you can eventually sell them something on the back end with your business. So Lead generation again, if it has not been a priority for you, I want you to make it a priority in 2024 and beyond. But Tell me in the comments. If you're watching on the video, let me know, like what is it about lead generation that you want to know more about? Do you want to hear more about email marketing or how I use the funnels that you know whenever we're putting together a funnel for your content and making it strategically flow into your offerings? If that's something you want to know more about, tell me in the comments, because I would love to hear from you and you're watching on the podcast and Reach out to me. If you're in our free Facebook group, like, do that, send me Instagram DM. But I want to hear from you because lead generation if you have been ignoring this, it's time to stop again. This is your sign. It is time to put lead generation as a priority for your content in your business and I would love to offer I have so many resources on it, so reach out. Okay, don't just sit there and say I'm lost, I don't know what to do. Make sure you reach out in this community, alright. Number five filling that cells funnel. Okay, so we just talked about that. We talked about lead generation and feel, you know, like a sales funnel.
Speaker 1:
I actually have a great YouTube video that you should go check out. It's all about a content funnel and like what it looks like. I share this beautiful graphic. It's like it's a drawing that I did of a marketing cells funnel and what it can look like, where basically at the top you have your Podcast, all your free stuff, and then you get people into your email list, right. These are still like cold leads and they're warming up, and then what I called down here at the bottom is the next version, is that maybe they buy a low ticket offer.
Speaker 1:
I have a few products that are Twenty, seven, thirty, seven dollars. We have the ultimate podcast launch toolkit. We have one year of content in one hour. Like these are lower ticket offers that are easy yeses for someone to say yes, like I want to See what you got right. Maybe they're not quite ready to purchase one of my bigger ticket programs or affiliate partnerships and I'm a part of, but they're like, how you know, I'll take this, but I'll take a small risk with a lower ticket offer, but then from there, that's where you can have your higher ticket products.
Speaker 1:
Like my course, it's called profit podcasting and it's seven hundred and ninety seven dollars and so it's a bigger investment. Maybe someone that Listens to my podcast for the very first time, isn't ready to spend that kind of money and I get it like. I've listened to other coaches and course creators and I listen to them for maybe a year before I bought one of their products. That was two thousand dollars. Like it takes some people a long time.
Speaker 1:
So when you think about your sales funnel, don't just think about oh, I'm going to put this offer out into the world and people are going to convert. It usually takes people a while. But, going back to the other things we talked about earlier, you want to build that authority, use your content as your business card. So people are learning from you. They're filling you out Like, do I really want to purchase something from this person? Do I want to hand over my credit card or, you know, invest in something that's going to be monthly payments drawn out of my account for the next year? Like, there's a lot of things to consider.
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So when I think about my sales funnel, I always think about cold at the top. Then they're going to get warm, warm, warm, and then I call what's at the bottom, those star students. Right, it's the people that invest with you over and over and over again. I have a few people here in this community that they buy everything that I put out, and I just have to say thank you so much to these star students, these people that have continued to invest in me, whether it's all of the affiliate programs that I offer, it's all of my products. I call them lava, right, because at the top maybe people are ice cold, but you get further and further and further down it. Then we have lava because it spreads. These are your raving fans, the tried and true people that they will buy whatever you put out, because they are invested in you. You are teaching them things of value that are like man.
Speaker 1:
You know, crystal told me this one thing and I got results. What else does she have? Oh, she has a book. I want to go buy her book. What else does she have? And they are the biggest advocates of my brand. They tell people you got to go buy her course, you need to sign up for you know this affiliate program that she's doing. Oh, she recommended this product. Go try this thing out. And that is how things spread in your sales funnel.
Speaker 1:
So, yes, I think it's fantastic to focus on those organic leads, the people that you can get. You know more people, more people in the top of the funnel, but don't ignore the people that have already started to go through the flow, because they will turn into lava and spread all of the goodness that you are already doing in your business. And word of mouth marketing is the best marketing that you can have when other people are evangelizing for your content, for your brand and for your business. So don't ignore those people that have already become customers of yours. Make sure you're serving them so well so that they want to tell other people about all the things that you're doing. Okay, I got it on a soapbox, but here we go. We're going to keep going because, like I said I told you earlier, I could talk about this for hours and hours and hours, because it is so much fun and it is such the thing that has made all the difference in my business, which is why I get so excited about it, because I want you to see the same sort of results that I've been able to achieve in my content and in my business.
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All right, number six storytelling for connection. Now, when it comes to content and business, what I see so many people like where they fall short, like they'll come to me and say my podcast isn't working, my YouTube channel is flat, it's not growing, I can't get any more traction on social media. Like, what am I missing? What's the thing that is keeping me from really converting people that are listening or consuming my content into actual customers? It is that storytelling piece. Because you are not connected with them, you're not, you're not connected with them, and now everybody is different. I can't just say, well, if you do A and B, then that will equal C, the ultimate guide for connection with your audience. Like there's not a formula that will make that work. But the thing that I have found is showing up as yourself, right, like you need to be the person in person that you are in your content, because it doesn't translate well, let me. Let me just tell you that I could go. I'm not going to name names, but there's been instances where I've met people in person that are not at all like they are in their content and it's very sad and it like connection killer 101, like be authentically, be the person that you actually say that you are.
Speaker 1:
But the other piece is tell those stories that your audience will connect with. Now I've gone through so many evolutions. I've been doing this since 2018. I've created so many pieces of content. I've told some terrible stories, okay, or I've told some things that were probably too vulnerable. Then, in hindsight, I'm like that really didn't connect to anything that I meant for that too. So I was either over sharing or telling my audience a story and in listening back, I'm like, oh, they were probably just rolling their eyes. They did not care about that. It had nothing to do with business, it had nothing to do with content. But I was telling a story for story's sake, so don't do that.
Speaker 1:
But storytelling is another like element that you need to have in your content to ground the conversation with your audience. So, like earlier, I told you about my little journey of following Marie Forleo. Like that was storytelling. I'm trying to give you connection points. So maybe whenever I was telling that story, you thought about a content creator where you went down the deep end and you're like, oh my gosh, I found this one person on Instagram and I went all the way back to them creating stuff in 2015. And I said, oh my gosh, where's this person been? Like, you probably are thinking of someone in your mind right now that you have connected with because they told a great story or they told something that you're immediately like oh my gosh, they see me, they understand me, they know my struggles and I can relate to them and I know that they are the person to teach me. That doesn't come from you just. Oh. Okay, I'm going to say this Okay, we're going to get up on Sobox, but I promise I'll only stay here for a second.
Speaker 1:
All of you using AI to generate your content, you're going to lose 10 out of 10 times. If all you're doing is having chat, gpt or some other software, create a how to list of things and you're just regurgitating that on your podcast, it means nothing. People could go look at that and find it on a Google Well, you know any other kind of search bot. They could go to AI and ask that same question. But the thing that's going to help you stand out as a creator is storytelling. That's the thing, because no bot, no AI, can talk about that time that you were running late and you spilled coffee on yourself and you broke the heel of your shoe and you had to walk into this meeting and you had to pretend like you're this well put together person, like no, no, no, no, ai can't do that. Only you can do that. Only you can share your human experiences and the things that you've gone through as a creator, as a business owner or as a parent.
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We could just go on and on about all the different identities that you hold, but telling those stories is what really connects with your audience. I've told this story before, but I was listening to someone who had told me it was so funny and I don't even remember saying this. But now that I went back and listened to that episode, they said they connected with me because I was so real. And then I was sharing about binge watching the Netflix show Emily in Paris while I was wrapping Christmas gifts last year, and they said, oh my gosh, I love that show too, and it was just one of those throw away storytelling pieces that I had in the middle of a podcast episode. But it was the thing that she said I've been listening to your stuff ever since.
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It's like the hook of getting people in, so share about your life, share about your stories. You don't have to get too personal and overshare, but I highly recommend having that storytelling element. This is one of those other things. If you're not very good at storytelling. Get some resources, buy some books, listen to some podcast, purchase a course, whatever you have to do, but storytelling will be the thing that grounds your content and your business together so that you can have those connection pieces with your audience. All right, number seven the last one Content analytics and a great feedback loop.
Speaker 1:
So I went to Craft Commerce last year and I saw Nathan Berry speak. So if you don't know who Nathan Berry is, he is the founder of ConvertKit and Craft Commerce is ConvertKit's annual conference. I'm gonna be there in 2024. So shout out, if you're coming to Boise, idaho, let me know, because I want to make sure that we have a drink or hang out and sip on some fun beverages and get some snacks, because it is going to be so incredible.
Speaker 1:
But I saw Nathan Berry speak and he talked about this concept of flywheels and now I didn't know what a flywheel was. So while he was talking I was like hang on, I was trying not to be too conspicuous, like Googling, like what the heck is a flywheel? Like what is he talking about? But basically it's the continuous circle of your content. So if someone organically finds you in whatever way that they do right any of your content that you're putting out. How are you nurturing them through the life cycle of being a customer of yours? And by customer it could just be a consumer. They may not ever even buy anything from you.
Speaker 1:
But the thing that I have found is what does that feedback loop look like? Literally, draw it out, draw it out. I encourage you go get on Nathan's email list, because he has incredible resources on what this looks like and whenever he talks about it it's like okay, you have your organic leads coming into your podcast. They're gonna get on your email list. Then they're gonna get into your welcome sequence where they learn more about you and your products and your business. Then they're gonna eventually maybe buy a low ticket offer from you and then buy your other product or service and then maybe even sign up for one of those affiliate programs that we talked about. So it's the same concept of the funnel, but it's put in a circular form because you want these people constantly circling through everything that you're talking about.
Speaker 1:
And where the feedback loop comes in is I ask my audience all the time like tell me what you think about this podcast episode. Tell me what you think you know. Reply back to one of my email newsletters, reach out in our free Facebook group, like I want to hear from you, because that feedback loop of hearing from my audience is how I have this continuous circle of content that I can create for you, and I know it's exactly what you want and, from my perspective, it's what I know you need to learn as a creator, as a business owner, as someone that's just getting started or as someone that's been doing this for a while and you're trying to figure out how you can make it better. So don't shy away from having better feedback loops in your content, from being able to make these decisions to where you can have this better circular flow of your audience. And if you need help with you know insights or analytics, how to track things, go to my YouTube channel. There are so many resources on downloads and metrics and how I track these in my business, so make sure you go check them out. But that's all I have for you today on how to really get strategic with content and your business.
Speaker 1:
But one thing before we go here is I've already mentioned Marie Forleo earlier, so if you're watching this in real time, she is actually hosting a three day free training that's called the dream business bootcamp, and so I want you to go to crystalprofitcom forward slash dream and go check it out. It's absolutely free and this, like Marie, is the person who taught me SEO. She taught me all about content. She taught me all about running an online business. So it totally flows into all the seven things that we've talked about here today, and I want you to go sign up for this free training.
Speaker 1:
I love whenever I can give you a free resource that's not going to cost you anything, but it's going to add so much value to your content creation and your business journey. So go check it out while it's still available. Go to crystalprofitcom forward slash dream to sign up for Marie's three day dream business bootcamp. So one more time, crystalprofitcom forward slash dream to sign up for Marie's free training. But that's all I have for you today. So make sure you are subscribed or following whatever you're listening or watching today. Thank you so much. Make sure you go check out our other resources that we have and, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.
