Content has been a big buzz word in the entrepreneurial world for the last few years because people have seen the power it has to grow your business... buuut it's also the bane of our lives, amIright?

I mean it just takes SO. DARN. LONG.

And no one actually sees or listens! So really, what's the point?

Well friend, grab yourself a cuppa (ahem...wine) and stay with me a moment because I'm going to tell you EXACTLY how your content can grow your business and why it's worth every single, painstaking second.

Without your content, you're basically mute - and you can't grow your business if you're mute.

Your most important job as a business owner is to find your peeps (ie. your ideal clients) and let them know who you are so they can fall in love with you and you can all live happily ever after... 

*pictures you and your ideal clients skipping off into the sunset together....*

But did you know - your other job is to repel people who aren't your ideal clients? 

I don't mean that in the strongest sense of the word.  I don't want you going out and upsetting people! What I mean is, your content should contain enough 'you' to appeal to the right people but turn the wrong ones away.

Not sure what I mean?

Let's say your ideal clients are busy Mums who want to lose weight but struggle to find the time or the will power. They care about their kids - but they're ready to get their body back and along with it, their self-confidence.

Now, to appeal to these people you'll create content that empathises with life as a Mum. Perhaps you'll talk about your own kids and the times when you've had a poor body image but were able to overcome it.  You'll also create content that provides quick and easy exercises and meal plans that can be fit around family life.

In doing so, you're also 'repelling' the fitness seekers who are looking for something more in depth.  Perhaps someone who wants to train for the marathon.  You'll also be subtly repelling non-mums - not in an offensive way, but by talking about things which they won't connect with such as your kids and your post-baby body.

Make sense?

So, your content can be a powerful tool to attract just the right audience and filter those who aren't quite the perfect fit. 

In the early days of your business, it can feel like you're a tiny minnow in a sea of killer whales. That's to say, it can be hard to get visible and even harder to build any kind of credibility. After all, no one knows who you are yet!

So how do they get to know you - and how do you persuade them that you know what you're talking about?

I think you know the answer....

Yep. Your content.

By using your content to solve problems for your ideal clients and demonstrate your expertise in your industry, you will build both your recognition and your authority.

Of course, the opposite is also true. If you create content that isn't of value to your ideal clients or that doesn't show your expertise in its best light (because people are distracted by the typos, the factual errors or the flat-out lies for example..) then there's no quicker way to lose credibility and the trust of your audience.

There's a reason it's called Content Marketing. The content you create is your most powerful tool to reach and attract NEW people.

How? Lots of ways!

OR, you know... don't do any of that stuff.  Spend hours creating your masterpiece, hit publish and then maybe post it once on Facebook...

Then sit back and let it gather dust while all those potential customers go and check out your competitors' blogs... #toughlove

So many business owners get completely obsessed with the aesthetics of their business and brand...

Their logo, their website design and their brand photos...

But branding is so much more than that! In fact, I like to think of your brand as being rather like your business personality. And it's that 'personality' which should shine through in your content so that your potential clients can start to connect with you and like you.

You're building relationships here - and any relationship built on pure aesthetics ain't gonna last long.

Fill your content with YOU and you'll automatically strengthen your brand and become immediately recognisable just by the way you communicate and how that makes your audience feel.

Content that is toneless or which lacks that beautiful flash of humanity that's unique to you will be neither memorable nor brand building.

Of course it's great if you can use your content to connect with your audience and build some 'likeability', but the golden goose of all marketing is to create advocates. An advocate is someone who likes you SO much that they tell their friends about you, they share your content and recommend your business to others.

A referral like that is worth SO much more than any marketing you could create for yourself!

So when you're planning your content, consider how you can encourage such advocacy in your own audience. What will make it so valuable, so memorable that people won't be able to help but share?

Taking this extra effort to choose your words and your purpose carefully can make the difference between an excited and engaged audience or one that passes you by with barely a second thought...

Wait, what? How is YOUR content supposed to reveal information about your audience??

Now before you roll your eyes and assume I've been on the gin again, just bare with me while I explain...

You see, your content continues to add value even long after you've published it (and not just in the sense of bringing in traffic).  By tracking certain KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) you can identify which topics are most popular, which result in most engagement and which fall flat.

Then all you need do is create more of the good stuff and less of the rest.

Pretty nifty, right?

Of course, if you don't track your content performance then you'll miss out on all those juicy insights... your loss.

Ooh, now we're getting to the heart of the matter.  Your content will make you moola - and that, my friend is why you're in business.

Yes, yes, I know there are all those other reasons too - but ultimately, we're all in it to make money (or we'd have set up charities rather than businesses, right?)

The thing is, content that sells doesn't happen by chance. You can just chuck a few words on a page and expect people to be clamouring over each other to buy.

I mean you can try it... let me know how that works out.

OR you learn how to create content that acts as a magnet to your ideal clients, that tells them what they need to hear and convinces them that you and your business are what they've been looking for.

Thought I was going to leave you hanging? Nah! I've totally got your back.  If YOU want to start producing the type of content that converts like crazy then don't go before grabbing your exercises below...