Brain Stuff: New Content to Convert and Build a Community
That's a very high-school drama-esque question there.
How do I get you to like me?
That’s a very high-school drama-esque question there.
Next question.
How do I get you to buy from me?
That’s a little more entrepreneurial.
Unfortunately, they are very related.
Today, I want to talk about content, specifically how to create content that will help you gain customers while also building a community.
HOW TO THINK ABOUT CONTENT
Think of your business as a deposit and withdrawal system.
When you ask somebody to buy something, you withdraw social capital. Every time you provide valuable information to your audience that helps them improve their lives somehow that is a deposit. The more deposits you put in, the more likely you will be able to make a withdrawal.
Most business owners only ever focus on the withdrawal piece.
Why?
Because that’s the sexy piece, what can we sell? What’s the new Facebook campaign? How do we market our product in a new way?
But if you’re not on top of this deposit side, which is content, you will only have a business for a short time. So this is very important. And you need to make sure that you’re doing it correctly.
When I first started as an entrepreneur, I would do these launches.
Essentially, I would spend a few weeks hyping a new program, we’d open it for a limited time, and then we would shut it down.
It’s an exhausting business model, which I do not recommend as the ONLY way you make money (like I did at the time), but it works.
And when I would do these launches, I would FEEL BAD!
I was so uncomfortable asking people for money; it made me feel bad. We can unpack my deep-rooted psychological problems later; for now, know I felt bad.
I felt so bad that I came up with a “rule.”
After every ONE launch, I would create THREE new amazing free resources for my audience; that could be a new video training, a new ebook, etc.
And I stuck to it. And guess what? My launches kept working. Launches normally burnout. People get less excited, and the launch becomes less effective.
But they kept working for me.
Little did I know I was implementing some high-level psychological principles, and I will unpack those two principles today.
BRAIN STUFF: RECIPROCITY
How do you build a relationship with another human being through content?
Even if you have a brick & mortar business, 99% of your content will go through a digital medium.
Implementing psychological principles into your business is not “How do I trick people into buying stuff?”
It’s answering the question, “How do I develop a relationship with another human being through my content?”
The Answer: Reciprocity and Liking
Reciprocity is a simple one.
You’re giving somebody something for free: Your Valuable Content.
The higher the value and the more you give, the higher the likelihood that someone will do business with you. For example, say we were hanging out for a weekend, and every time we went out to eat, you bought my meals for no reason.
Let’s assume I let you do that, and you bought all my meals.
And then you asked me for something simple. At the end of the weekend, you say, “Hey, man, I gotta move this refrigerator out of my garage over to my parent’s house. Can you help me out?”
That’s the reciprocity principle. You don’t have to do anything or think about anything to have that principle in place.
Reciprocity is simply you providing the content just to provide the content. That’s what you need to be doing.
Two Rules to Reciprocity:
You give with NO expectation of getting anything in return. If it happens, it happens.
You NEVER “call out” reciprocity; I.e., “Hey, I did this thing for you, so can you do this for me.” That’s a great way to end a relationship.
BRAIN STUFF: LIKING
No one wants a robot to provide content. If you’re spitting out a research article or “just the facts,” your content will fall flat.
That’s not getting someone to like you.
And, whether you like it or not, content growth IS a popularity contest.
So how do we get someone to like you through content?
Pretty simple…
- Option #1: Share personal stories
- Option #2: Show Your Personality (humor, directness, etc.)
- Option #3: Both Option #1 & #2
Let people know that you have family and friends, and let people know about your failures and successes.
If you think people don’t care about this stuff, please tell me why people watch millions of Instagram stories of influencers… LIVING THEIR LIVES (however much of a facade these lives may be).
People are interested in YOU.
Add these things into your messaging and into your content, and ensure you’re telling your story every time you provide content.
For example, if I want to write content about how to get stronger, I could go out there, link to the research articles in the program, and say, this is how you get stronger.
But I’ll make the research exciting and readable if I have a story along with those research articles about my journey, how difficult it was, and my overall results.
And if I fit that into my content, people are starting to like me a little bit more because they know more about my story and my journey.
So make sure you’re throwing that messaging into your content. And it might be uncomfortable at first. But the more you start providing content and doing this, it’ll just be a part of your style.
Things to Know about Liking
Some people may decide they DO NOT like you. That’s ok. Chances are, you would not like them and would not want to do business with them.
If you are uncomfortable sharing your personal stories, don’t worry; the world also needs accountants and actuaries. I.e., do something else…
Did you catch that last line there?
That’s me showing you my personality, AKA how much I don’t care about you encountering discomfort when you tell me you want a deserted result.
That’s me telling you to try harder.
Some of you like that.
Some of you don’t.
I’ll write for those who like it.
And you do the same with your content.
Try harder,
JM
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