Lessons

Lesson Info

Build a Distinctive Blog

I think you guys have gotten louder as boot camp has gone on. I love it. All right, let's, take a look at what today's goal is. Our goal for today is to write a blawg or other content marketing that galvanizes your relationship with customers. Would you guys like your blog's to stand out more? Yeah, that's what we're going to talk about today and it's is, I think it's going to be good, I think it's going to be good let's, take a look at what we did in the previous lesson, though first, so social media presents amazing opportunities for helping your business stand out. Of course, the key is that you can't just show up on social media like everyone else is showing up on social media. You need to show up on social media the way it's gonna work for you, the media that you want to be using the channels that you want to be using and making sure that everything is grounded in your quiet power. The things that make your business stand out. So using your unique voice and objectives to stand out...

and get things done is going to get you results with social media now, let's, take a look at where we're going from here, this is lesson twenty three build a distinctive blogged now, I've said this a few times throughout this boot camp, and I am going to say it again out there on the internet right now, everyone is saying the same things in the same fonts and it's really freaking boring don't you get that feeling like you click a lincoln is like, oh, this again, then you cook another lincoln, you're low that again, then you click another link and it's just more of the same stuff because people have figured out, well, you know, this word gets this many clicks and this kind of post with three things for that in ten things for this and here's a list of seven things about this gets, you know, a certain number, a certain number of clicks, a certain number of page views, and certainly that must be how you go about building an online presence for your biz snus except it's. Not if you want to stand out, you have to say something different and sure they're our best practices that you can use to get more page views to make sure more people are going to be reading. But if you're just saying the same things in the sea, same fonts or even in different fonts and it's boring. You're not going to stand out, you're not going to build that customer base, you're not going to be able to galvanize the relationships with the customers that you have or the customers that you want in a way that gets you sales and gets you results now let's, take a look at the key components of the standout business and in your worksheets is that hopefully you've downloaded because you have r s v p to build a standout boot camp. I've listed them down the first that first area on this particular workshop worksheet for lesson twenty three listed your standout components they're as I'm going through these this time I want you just jot down a couple of notes remind yourself what some of these things were in your business because this is lesson twenty three we've been at this for a while and you might have for gotten so I want you to make sure this is really important for this lesson. I want you to make sure that you've got some notes in there about what each of these components ofyour standout business are so first using your strengths using your strength what are you uniquely really good at? Where do yu really bring it? What comes really naturally to you that's really the very first part of your quiet power the second component is leveraging your passion what is it that gets you really worked up what is it that gets you really riled up? What do you get really excited about it's not just your singular passion like you know, follow your passion and the money will come none in n n n n l first of all, that's not true second of all that's not what I'm talking about here I'm talking about the passion that you feel for your subject matter, the passion that you bring to the conversation, the passion that you bring to the relationships that you have with your customers. So what is that passion? What excites that passion were going to come back to talking about passion a lot more in this lesson, then what was your unfair advantage was your unfair advantage that that unique opportunity that you see your unique ability to do things differently, then other people, the other businesses in your market, your competition what's your unfair advantage? Then what's your focus? We talked about this in terms of your chief initiative, and we also talked about in terms of key performance indicators what's that clear focus that you have for your business because remember, focus doesn't just change the way you work it doesn't just make you more productive and more efficient focus also changes the way people perceive your business, so if you want to stand out on your blogged your block has to share that clear focus that you have for your business then you're guiding principles we talked about that way back in lesson three build on your guiding principles what are the personal values the core values, the guiding principles that you bring to your business that again highlight how yu do what yu dio differently uh sharing your vision our penultimate key component what's the unique vision that you bring to your business where do you want to be five years from now or ten years from now? What impact in the conversation do you want to have made five or ten years from now? And most importantly, where do you want your customers to be five to ten years from now and then finally speaking with a unique voice? What is your unique voice your unique point of view? How do you represent yourself differently? I talked about my great love of star trek and doctor who and other science fiction was to talk to about my great love of craft beer and these are some of the things that I bring into my voice in my online space on my block what's your unique voice your any point of view if you don't remember this remember that in in that lesson we built a pinterest board or or another collage that brought in all of those different voices or brought in all of those different influences, so if you don't remember what you're eating voice was or your unique point of view go back and reference that pinterest board those are the seven key components of a standout business and we're going to use those to shape and inf fluency the content that we want to create in terms of content marketing to create content that truly stands out because you could make any topic mohr different by combining your topic idea with two of these key components I mean even one would work I think to a super fun so you know, say you want teo uh, right a block post on on chairs, you know, say you've got an interior design blogged and you've got an idea about you know, our you've been noticing some trends in chairs so you could write just a block post about you know, the top trends and chairs for twenty fifteen or you could write a trend piece on chairs that incorporates your unique point of view, your unique voice or you could write a trend piece on chairs that incorporates your unfair advantage judge maybe it's how you use chairs differently in the spaces you design and why that really benefits your customers. Does that make sense? So you could take any idea and incorporate your unique perspective on any of those seven key components to create a much more compelling piece of content, and I think that if you think of any of the blog's that you just love to read you could see them doing this, and that might actually be an extra great piece of homework that I didn't think about before. That very moment is if you go and you look at those blog's that you read on a daily basis or even like I really like reading news sites like slate dot com or atlantic wire, both of those news sites have a really different perspective. They create really different content than most of the other news sites that are out there online, and both of them is both of them create content. That's really based around their stand out style, you know, so whether its depth or whether it's humor or whether it's, you know, just kind of a searing perspective, they're incorporating parts of very unique voice there on unfair advantage, their unique vision in every news piece that they write makes sense now, let's, take a closer look at one of these key components cause I think seven is a little overwhelming. So let's look at just one so that you can see the power of this let's look at passion and again, I want to make sure that you understand that I am not asking you what your passion is. I am talking about the feeling that's passion, the thing that gets you riled up gets you excited. Gets you, you know, just jibber jabbering on you know, I can I can riff on aiken, talk on ah, whole bunch of different subjects because I feel very passionately about them. What are those subjects for you? What is that feeling that you are following when you're following your passion? When you're riffing on a subject when you are jibber jabbering on about ah, some idea or some pet peeve that you have in the market or in the conversation, the first question that I like to use, uh, to kind of spur this on is what do you believe? What do you believe? Take. Take your business idea. So you know, for kate it's, arabic medicine for bridget it's being a personal chef for brianne it's creating master classes, master ko horses with with instructors. Rockstar instructors, take that idea. Take the basis of your business and say, what do I believe about this? What do I believe about this? So, kate, I'm going to put you on the spot. What do you believe about arabic medicine? Um, that it offers a really simple and extensive solution. Tio taking control of our health. Okay? It offers a simple and inexpensive solution to taking control of our health. What else do you believe? I believe that when we when we want to make real change it really starts from within on our ability to make changes not on taking stuff from the outside and filling ourselves with it yeah what else that everything can be medicine and everything will be poisoned it just depends on what and when and how much huh one more um that uh our perspective of how we see the world um outwardly goes both ways how we see ourselves how we see the world in the place in between those is where we really are aligned in ourselves and really healthy yeah oh, good yeah really I'm so glad that the cameras was on her then because did you see her eyes? I mean she was looking right at me so I could see her eyes and her eyes were big and clear and focused and so even though I put her on the spot she was able to nail those things clearly communicate them to us get excited about them you know how she had kind of forceful open but forceful body language around it that's passion what do you believe about your work about your conversation about what you are putting out into the world about what you're creating the next one is what really bugs you what really bugs you what kind of misconceptions? Assumptions misunderstandings are out there in your market in your conversation what really bugs you what just kids you all worked up kathy what really bugs you that it has to be difficult that you have tohave certain specific rules in place that runs I get that there's hr policies but you don't have tohave every little thing spelled out that limits and restricts your people because you're just killing them. What else? What else really bugs you? I know that no matter what your business is, you can have a killer culture even if it is a franchise I lived in the franchise system I still had a killer culture. Ah lot of businesses like wal marts seemed to think that you have to kill people that you have to stymie them. So no matter what the business, you could have a killer culture nice. Uh, yeah for trees were really bugs. You tell me give it to me. I could get in trouble for saying this, but when people going that that's when you know it's good when people say that they can't afford an attorney, I feel like it burns me to see people rather run their business on a wild card further just leave it to chance, then hire an attorney which is really a key person that will help your business last beyond the first few years were most small business asses are filling in those first few years people will invest in shiny business cards and brand new logo's in ah great website but won't pay yeah business coaches but won't pay to protect the brand and then come to me and two years after the fact because someone has jacked it from them that burns me what else bugs you? Oh that's it that's the big one that's the year that's what else bugs me is okay well no, I just I don't think I don't bug me I don't think they're exciting what else burns me people who make excuses for not going after their dreams that really bugs me I feel like anyone can do anything that they want to so I hear excuses and it's just that when I hear people frame them as challenges and it's just excuses so that's my other big one all right, awesome amy what really bugs theo so many okay, well one that I really can't stand uh that's huge in my space right now is like, well, okay couple become a life coach and three days people hanging up shackles saying like are hanging a shingles is saying shackles teo saying saying I'm a life coach and it's not coaching it's just I happened to give good advice and so I think I'm gonna be a coach or makes six figures in your first weekend spending you know, two hours on your business I can't stand that I also I also really, really can't stand full offi nonsensical feel into the aura and your shock cry and make love to the trees and then somehow that's supposed to increase here about a communication with your spouse like bring it back teo applicable riel world step by stuff stuff that can actually make a difference in our lives with our with our kids and our families and our communities that's not gonna help us or really hot everyone with treatment charges me nuts thank you so do you see how really getting in touch with what bugs you could create some pretty awesome content for your blogged this is where I mean look at these women this is where they come alive way do this in quiet power strategy and in an exercise I call our quiet power inventory and in the quiet power inventory this is one of the big questions and is one of my favorites because I don't really see finally who these people are I've talked to them on the phone I've answered their questions they've seen how they've run their business so far but it this question that really tells me who they are what they stand for why they do what they do, how they do it differently this is the key teo a standout blogged or content marketing of any kind you want to put it on video great you want to write a blood post awesome you want to do white papers cool you want to do webinars awesome. This is the key. One more question. What do you really love? What do you really love, shelley? Even giving? Yeah. Giving my time giving my expertise, giving tto make other people's lives better. Excellent. What do you really love? Two things are my pillars there create expressing myself creatively and making a difference for other people, expressing yourself creatively and making a difference for other people. What else? What do you really love? Megan? I really love the simple beauty city of gardening, the aesthetics just every time I walk past my garden and it's looking really beautiful, I just it just fills me up with a lot of joy. Awesome lisa, when? Like the people in my community actually really help each other, like, if I'm not around like this week, they're just so kind to each other. Yeah, under support. Yeah, they're really also and also like the creative flow that people could get into when they actually start to get how they create and how fast things can change. I love that I could see the whole blood siri's on not getting into flow on how you get into flow. Awesome one more. What do you really love her shell making other people feel good really love making other people feel good, awesome, awesome, awesome awesome talking about what you really love, whether it's what you really love when you see your customers doing this thing or you so you you're blogged readers realizing this thing or maybe it's just what you really love on a day to day basis about yourself about your work, about your environment, about what, what you're up to in the world, what you really love is another great source of compelling content. So what do you believe? What really bugs you and what do you really love? Dig deep? One thing that one exercise that I often recommend two clients is if this is at all troubling to you is that this is it all confusing if you're not it's not really getting where I'm going with all of this something that could be very helpful is sitting down with a friend sitting down with your spouse, sitting down with a colleague and and having them ask you those three questions and maybe have them pull you push you challenge you a little bit so that you're not just stopping at the surface but you really digging deep and finding out what's really in your gut. So sit down with someone, let them interview you or you know if you're you know melissa, we talked in in an earlier lesson about how you you want to be more proactive about welcoming interred views from podcasters or bloggers or whoever getting interviewed by other people outside other people is also really, really helpful the more you get interviewed, the more you'll start to uncover these things on you know it's okay that at the beginning maybe it's a little rough or that you don't have those talking points down, the more you get interviewed, the more this stuff comes up over and over again and the more you'll start to see that's what I really believe that's what really bugs me that's what I really love and to take that and then use that on your blogged is really fun, so what I'd like to do next is hot seat and who's got some trouble who has trouble coming up with content for their blogged shelly, come on up so let's start off by the telling everyone who you are, what you do and where we can find you online. I'm shelley woman I run business juice taco and I'm a business strategist that coaches creatives to have a flourishing business both creatively and financially but awesome. Why do you have trouble coming up with stuff for your block? Um I guess it gets all wrapped up in my brain like I come up with these ideas and then I think, oh well that's too long of a thing to write and so then I just don't do it oh yes so we need to stop doing that I don't have a whole lot of advice on that other than just stop that and start writing because you could always break something up, you know, if it legitimately gets too long, break it up, you know you've got some really not heady stuff, but you've got stuff that people can sometimes trip over a little bit in your industry and so, you know, breaking things up and just really small chunks, maybe you've got a two thousand were block post, you could break it up into four, five hundred where block posts might actually be more helpful, not only for you but for them as well. So I want to come up with some headline ideas because I think this is this is one of the things that especially tapping into passion but really happening into any part of your standout business can helpyou dio and when you've got headlines, it's almost like an interview question you consort of prompt yourself to start riffing, start writing and just get that get it going so that you've got something to post on your site because you can always go back and edit, right? You can, you know, I use ever note for this, so I'm constantly coming up with headlines that are based on my standout components the standout components of my business, the things that get me really riled up the things that I really love I'm constant coming up with headlines for that, and then I just pop them into a blank evernote uh, note put the headline in the er at least the working headline in the title area, and I just leave it blank or, you know, maybe I jot down a couple of notes or maybe, you know, I read something or someone asked a question and that's what got me to think of it? And so I might jot a couple of notes down there, but I don't I don't sit down and write it on the spot, I just create the space to be able to do it later most of the time. That's how I use every note so let's, talk about some headlines that you could use I guess I also get caught up in like it's already been written before someone else has already said it. Oh, thank you for setting me up so nicely, shelly. So when you incorporate the seven key components of a standout business into any topic, you are all the math automatically going to say it differently than someone said it before on dh that's going to touch someone new in a new way, so just because I write something, you might not understand it when I write something or you might it might just not jive with you but maybe when chris gilboa writes it you get it or maybe when daniel import rights it you get it and so we all need to be I think we all need to be almost recycling the same content ideas but making making them stand out with our standout components so that other so that more people can understand the things that we're all talking about the things that were all teaching great if you could come up with a unique topic idea but generally I think that's a stretch much rather use say not say the same thing but I'd much rather you talk about the same things other people are talking about but say it in a really different way incorporate as much of your unique voice in different ways as possible all right so let's talk about some of those topics that you're afraid that everyone's already said so just some general topics let's start on the financial side what are some financial lessons that you wish your perspective clients knew finance doesn't have to be the f word okay what else numbers aren't hard if you can add two plus two you could do your numbers and you don't have to give me like headlines right now feel free to just talk about like topics like that cash flow cash flow yeah exactly what else piano budgets are spending plan is people like to call it now what else? Insurance science that's a good line what else? Professional services such as a lawyer you one more ah system a system for numbers uh okay financial system's perfect now I didn't have any problems with these e just wanted teo I wanted to get us like stuff that yeah, that we could that we could play with. So tell me how you might talk about cash flow in a way that incorporates something that really bugs you um shiny like the tec the race to the top for technology or the race to the bottom on numbers and so people well especially photographers will be like oh, the four d camera just came out I need to go spend eight grand on buying that camera oh, so wasting money on tech tech they don't need that could be totally one of them. The other one I was thinking is that people think they need the latest and greatest object when they don't have the money or don't have the cash coming in tow actually support. Okay, so they're not looking for months out to realize like, oh, I don't have anything booked and now I just spent four grand on that new camera in march and I don't have any money coming in june and actually that additional money is going to cover june yeah so people not pledging for their tech obsessions yeah uh grace what's a way that you could talk about cash flow in that you incorporate ah particular strength that you have um that probably would be I don't know actually uh or you're unfair advantage so if there is there a creative way to talk about cash flow there is it would be maybe like understanding when you can buy it instead of saying you can't buy it okay understanding when is the time for you to advance that technology um creative clash flow know when to say yes yeah so kind of putting more of a positive spin on it than a negative cool I like that headline um that's fun all right, talk to me about uh well yeah talk to me about pl er how can you incorporate your unique point of view your unique voice in piano so a lot of people come to me because they want to uplevel their game they want to take their business to the next step and so being able to show them love like this is how you actually read a piano so when your accountant comes back to you and says like a you made this much money you actually understand that what those numbers mean and you're better educated to make the decisions yourself rather than relying on your bookkeeper and accountant that's how I teach piano okay, so something like going crow you knowing your please and uh something like that um what's a really creative way to talk about piano because part of your unfair advantages combining your creative side with your financial side right is there a story you can tell about piano like an analogy or a metaphor probably ok I haven't thought of one but I probably could sure so we'll insert metaphorical capital here uh great do you guys see any opportunities you guys have got to know shelly over the last twenty three lessons actually um I'd say probably showing how um you're really good at networking and kind of creating relationships and you know you're a wealth of information so maybe showing um creatives kind of how to especially with cash flow like how how to create a system for building relationships so that when you do buy that when you do want to buy that camera you're not so worried about how am I going to make this money like you kind of have a system in place I guess so what about talking about relationship flow yeah like networks is more than money I kind of owe kind of that idea yeah and then also with the one with the p and l just you know how to speak your accountant's language like me I'm like like that like what my accountant say like what does that mean like like because bank account yeah so dio do you see what we were doing here? We took some really basic ideas that shelly wants to write about heck maybe these are the categories on her site she's got cash lopiano budget in spending plan insurance professional services and financial systems those air the categories that she writes in then she takes each of these categories and she thinks in terms of her seven key components of her standout business she thinks about her voice she thinks about her vision she thinks about her unfair advantage and when when you get stuck the most fun question to come back to is what what bugs you yeah thank you for what you are yeah that's the most fun one to come back teo and you could always come up with headlines for that so you know what pisses you off about cash flow pml budget insurance for fashion all services financial systems you could come up with a least five headlines for each thing based on that I know you could right yeah absolutely on dso that's how you do it that's how you create headlines for your blogged that aren't just the same headlines everyone else's writing uh but that instead incorporate what makes you naturally stand out questions about that? Wow you guys are awesome cool thank you shelley thank you. Grab mike lika so your best headlines are often buried in your passion excavate them so we talked about passion with shelly we talked about some of the other components as well dig deep don't just write about what everyone else is writing about right about what everyone else is writing about in your unique way be more different on a lot of times when you really excavate your passion when you do think about what really bugs you you're going to find things that no one else is writing about because you know our unique point of view are unique voice are unique strengths give us individual passions where we believe different things then other people in our industry that's good go against the grain whenever you can you know you don't want always sound contrary but a lot of people are looking for a breath of fresh air in your industry I guarantee it this happens in every industry it works in jewelry it works and creativity sure it works in arabic medicine it works in life coaching it works in food back to creativity everyone there are always people out there looking for a breath of fresh air this is how you give them a breath of fresh air questions about writing ah blawg or creating content marketing that really stands out any questions you guys were gonna go all right amazing blog's often that really personal things I write get so much more response than the sorts of things you're talking about here and yet sometimes I wonder what it is about the personal things that they're really learning sure leo remind me your fascination archetype rock star innovation plus passion yeah passion stories, stories yeah, you are creating a direct emotional connection so that's always going to work really, really well for you. So what you want to be thinking about when you feel really drawn to telling a particular personal story is what's the takeaway here and just make sure that you're always including that take away because people it doesn't matter if there's a take away or not because of who you are they're going to connect to that piece of content but it's not really for furthering their relationship with you it's not it's, not that follow up that they need to understand why they should buy from you unless there's a take away so don't confuse just the just that just because they're sharing this mohr that they're commenting it mohr on it more that you're getting them closer, making a buying decision that you also have to engineer in a little bit but you're using your strength and you're using your unique language teo at least start off where you can take that piece of content and that's wonderful. Any other questions for shell? I do have a blogged um but sometimes I feel like I have to all right I rein myself in because I'm not sure that my customer really wants to hear my opinions on things, but is that just a limiting beliefs and probably yeah, I think people are actually really interested in our opinions our best customers see us as leaders our best customers look up to us both as business owners as visionaries, ahs people who have ideas and have opinions and I think that it's a mistake to kind of abdicate that position in your business if you're not willing to put yourself out there as a leader is someone who is who speaks out on what you really believe then your customers aren't going to be as willing to follow you and I follow you I mean purchase your products right? Okay and so everyone's gonna lead in a different way we all have a different style of leadership but if you have strong feelings about something I think you'll find that there's a there's a good way to get to you know, to put that across in a way that it feels natural to you feels natural to them and increases by in in your business. Okay, so let's take a look at today's homework I bet you can guess what it is. So I want you to start off by writing ten headlines so basically just like what I did with shelly start off with some tops um just general topic areas things you know you kind of want to write about but you don't know how you want to write about them and then craft individual headlines based on your passion and then also bring in some other key components all right, so think about your strengths think about you're unfair advantage think about your unique voice or your unique point of view and use those standout components of your business to create some really interesting headlines go for at least ten give yourself cem cem variety all right then turn one of those headlines into a block post and do it fast don't overthink this all right? This is not I don't want this to be a block post that you're writing for our do it fast make it short make it punchy if it's not something that you personally want to put on your block post on facebook post it somewhere else s o that you're you're still publishing it you're still exercising uh this this muscle of writing content that really stands out and you're doing it quickly and then post a link on your facebook page post a link to your block post or whatever piece of content you're creating to your facebook page and tag terry gentilly and creative live so we can check it out. I want to see what you guys are creating I am loving seeing all the quotes and the links and images and the videos that have gone out already and I want to see more of it so please tag me with your block post so that I can check out what you're creating