Lessons

Lesson Info

Guide Creation Outline and Steps

here's the real problem that we're up against and that's why I want to bring this up is okay we know what we want to do a guide about we know the independence of how to make a guy hears what you're required to be to make a guide all the things you're required to do so you're required to be a writer which we already talked about how full numbers are not necessarily writers uh I'm not a writer I'm not very good at writing I can't even spell is we learned yesterday ah ah producer the producer somebody's gotta oversee this whole thing he's gotta have the strategy and the vision he's got to see through all the details to make sure it comes together you might be a great producer on this by the way because you understand your target market so well a designer it's an actual graphic designer to put this stuff together sometimes you know actually not sometimes all the time because you wanted to look professional you wanted to build an established and continue the brand trust you have you have ti...

o media mean that when I say media I really am referring to all the social sharing all the all the stuff that goes involved in getting your guide out to the world you can't just press publish and expect to just show up at your doorstep to download that guide it doesn't really work that way it's kind of like how photography doesn't really just work to just take purity pictures and just expect everyone in the world of bayram you have two decent work contributors it takes work takes effort to go out there and get contributors to get vendors to contribute and oftentimes if you don't set them up for success they don't contribute the right way not their fault you didn't set about physics says it takes time to think about how do I ask questions and actually get the answers that I can have a value in here it takes a lot of back and forth takes a lot of coordination deafened by dev I mean all the kind of back in dev development computer technological stuff that is required how do you set up the landing page that allows them to download it when they downloaded how'd I make sure they get it delivered to them how do they get the guide in a way that makes sense can they download the guide from the web page or they have to get it emailed to them when they open it do all the links work no matter no matter what no matter what platform they're using you know if they're opening their mobile devices they're going to be easier is it not work all these kind of development questions so I post this because you've gotta know going in that you're gonna have to either do or have a hand in or trust somebody to kind of take over each part of this the good news is that for a lot of tips I'm gonna share and then a lot of the stuff we're sharing a za bonus material you're goingto pretty much get a lot of this stuff checked off the list one of the bonus materials is is a template psd templates of every type of paige you're probably gonna want to have is a guide already ready for you that kevin it shootout at our our lead designer designed for you guys and so you'll get that you'll be able to plug in and just drop in your content at the links and press export and so you kind of have the design taken care of he is a video that shows you how to have a change of color schemes have add your logo in how to make it more you're branding the writer we talked yesterday about if you're not the best at writing there are people who are right guides of the company mission yesterday rachel her team photo scribe they right guides for photographers they know about that space so you can hire writer a ghost writer if you don't want to be the one actually writing or you khun write it yourself again makes you haven't proofread producer that's something I feel very comfortable for you guys to do media I think after this course you'll be well equipped to know how to share this I think you'll be very good at that by the end of this course contributors we've talked about that on and talk about how to go out and get that in theory you have all these relationships already established so that shouldn't be hard it does require haiti's we're baby sitting but just a lot of interaction you know you have to make sure you stand top and you set them up for success nothing's worse I've done an interview before and then the article got published later and I read it and I'm like I look like an idiot they did not make me look good they made me look terrible you know they had an agenda going in and they totally framed me in a way they ass specials that did not line up to where they want to go with it I did not like that did not make me I did not make the social reciprocity high with that particular interviewer so you gotta make sure you're asking the right questions send them up for success so they can succeed and the development stuff and luckily a lot of companies out there have made this process a lot easier you know I always tell I loved using mad mimi for my photographer my photography email stuff I've talked about them before and about they believe fast is best is well so I'm naturally akin to them I mean you're another customer support team to get a response back in minutes every time it's just ridiculously amazing I can't believe it actually was so impressed with what they do that I interviewed their seat there I don't know action remember he was one of the partners at the business really nice guy dean levitt he's in charge there kind of branding the customer experience stuff they really believe in taking care of the customers so I love mad mimi and companies like that that assist creative entrepreneurs and how to how to build this stuff out but no going in you have to deal with all this stuff so you have to solve all these problems you have to make sure that you have all this accounted for okay let's talk about the guide itself so hear that here that here is the creation and this is you know you want to sit down to make an outline of what you're doing before you actually go start plugging away this is the outline I need to make an outline that it kind of includes these things number one content strategy establish the goals of the guide what do you want to do in theory you want to solve a problem what problem you want to solve how you go about solving one of the three or four ways you're going to solve it what are they doing to the higher level points I'm gonna use vendors I'm going to use past customers I'm gonna use some of my past block post bam you have a content strategy basic outline how is it going to go well we're going to start we're going to intro then we're gonna move in and we're gonna interview this person they were going to pull the tips from this block post then we're going to interview his past customer will have these tips and we'll finish off with another vendor interview ben now you have a basic outline drafts next step you have to get to write it you have to do the work on your interview pull the block post bring it altogether assemble it and write it writing it is the tough part it's also easy to get really real bos um I think more like ernest hemingway than I would like charles dickens and I'm ready to guide think more about less is more than maura's more when it comes to these guys that's just my opinion but I found that most guides work better when they're to the point and a little more direct design once you have that final draft completed you want to design it this could be very simple if you understand how to use indesign or even photoshopped you can build a nice template you wanna cover page want a couple of pages of flushed out you're probably would include some images you wanna include outbound links and that's really about the extent of your export is a pdf that's the most normal ubiquitous style or format if you will of howto have guides you one he's a software where you could make it into a pdf inside of the design is we're gonna have links I really recommend adding links last because when you start editing or changing or moving things down different pages the links don't always follow and they don't always work add the links last the design is solidified everything's in there it's been proved it's been finalized you're about to press export then add any outbound links you have we say length member how were talking earlier about you know for additional traditional resource is or to see all the galleries of this exact style that we're talking about fur clothing or whatever it is you're doing outbound links are a powerful way to add extra content of the guide and to get them to reengage with your with your with your website your block and they continue to love on them became established mohr and more trust and so links ally to do that dev again that's how do I get it hosted somewhere where am I going to put it how they gonna download it on and these are things that you want to sort out with on email software provider or with your website you want hosted on your web site wordpress site drop it in there and we're press will give you a link and that link can be sent out and then that'll be the downlinks when they click on that it'll automatically download and so would press makes that capable and most photographers nowadays have a wordpress oriented sight if you don't got to figure out how to do that on your own website so that's the guide creation alan that's the outline of the process let's talk about really kind of maybe a little bit more of the ten tips to doing it I think there's really a lot when we wait get outside of the outline and more into the nitty gritty of it that we could go through so let's go and do that this follows in line with one of the bonus materials that we have available for download that you guys have if you purchase the course eh so we're going to kind of go through all of this and really really flesh it out I'm gonna want to hear from you guys at the end of the segment before we finish I really want to hear from you guys at least on idea that you have right off the top of your head from this segment that you can share with everybody for a great idea for a guide so we talked yesterday about a block post ideas and I'd love to hear your thoughts on a good guide ideas and let's try to phrase it with the target market involved that you're that you're looking at least today to focus on so number one so this is in line with the strategy choose the focus and the concept so as funny as it sounds the more specific you can make your guide the better I think it will do and that's why I really think photographers should focus more on many guides that solve a very specific problem because it's such a personal service business the more focused you can get the better you're going to do um trying to roll all of your different clothing suggestions from both engagement session and a rehearsal dinner and a wedding all in the one guy I think it be tougher and less interesting to people because it's just more ambiguous you know and you're not really actually a clothing expert but you are an expert in photographing people when they're dressed up and so that's why the more focused you khun b it allows you to really showcase your expertise and not cause confusion the more general you get the harder it is to actually be authentic and truly represent what you're an expert on and so I like to use that example you could be an expert on how to pick out your outfit for an engagement session but are you really an expert on how to pick out wedding attire you know just a tire in general that you're less of an expert on that now they're going to think more to themselves I should be going to a clothing expert or a fashion stylist or something like that for advice on that so when I say choose the focus on the concept I really mean focus on the concept and be focused on how you produce that concept number two decide on the specifics what are the things they're going to make this guy special one of the things that's going to get people to kind of lean into the guide if it's boring if it doesn't solve their problem in a fun interesting unique way you know there's making the guide and then there's making a guy that's really cool you know there's shooting a wedding and their screen awaiting the way that they love and fall in love with you at the end of the day because it's more than just the wedding there's ways to spice the guide up and a lot of that can make it interactive you know could be through the way you make it interactive a lot of that can also be with the specifics you choose to include you can choose to include very specific images you khun choose to make it very inspirational on its design and make it a very inspirational design so there's specifics you want to kind of list out in the beginning that are going to be your focus of that kind I'm going to be doing a guide on this but I really want a little walk away feeling that so how do I walk away making sure they feel that as I do this now customize the content the content really needs to be customized for your target market and you want to make sure that they have reasons to go yeah they do know she does know me so you have to make a point to do that you have to find a way to say that I have to find a way to say uh I have to find a unique way when you're writing to make sure that you introduced those kind of things member a guide is about building additional trust and there's so much trust that comes when you get that lean in when you how do you know me so well and so this comes from knowing your target market but it's really important you know again if you're shooting if your target market is getting married on the beach there tattooed brides getting married the beach well then you're gonna want to lean in and mentioned the beach throughout the guy because you know that your target market is focused on the beach so you can talk about well you know most of our you know you probably will want your your engagement session at the beach and so most of the topics I'm to share with you about what to wear take into consideration that we're going to be in the sand and we're gonna be running through salt water and things like that getting specifics that get him to lean in because of what you know about if you're shooting mountain brides you know he talked about shooting mountain brides I think byron you brought that up active fit adventurous brides well you get to placate and get to plead into that every single time I think it's wrong when I lean in there is the word I'm looking for that really allows you to recognize that and talk about it in terms so they lean and go yes he does know me he does know me he knows I'm adventurous he knows I want to get out there and run through a river when I'm doing my engagement session he knows that that's exactly what I want to do I'm gonna want to roll up my jeans and get wet so make sure you pick out clothing that allows me to roll up my jeans and get wet so you want to find opportunities to get that lean in that's important in the guide your building trust you're showing them that I know not just how to solve your problem but I know you so well that I'm not to solve your specific problem how to make you feel better about it in the process get to know that target market but what I really want to point out if you don't write specifically for that you're not going to do that you're not going to just write with those lean and opportunities you have to write the content and then looked back at opportunities to try to get the lean in portions you get people to lean in and kind of opt in our self actualized to it number four design the template this sounds easy until you realize that there's a reason why graphic designers are entirely entire industry on their own and they're very you know well paid because the good ones are really good at it you know again I got to say I would really recommend that you hire a graphic designer for this you know me I've been standing up here all day saying I think you should shoot and you should market you should focus on the areas that produce you profit and that you authentically have to be doing other than that I think you oughta hire someone to help you out is one of the areas I really think that you need to have because it will also give an expert an opportunity to come in and breathe their life on your target market and on your vision and on your authentic brand and they're going to bring things the table you never could have before trusting experts is really important and I think this is a great opportunity a trusted expert eso expert designers we're gonna listen to what you're trying to accomplish with the top three things and they should take those things into consideration and make the design supporting of those kind of things here and you are targeting outdoor adventurous brides and grooms your guides are going look different then if you're targeting tattooed brides on the beach weddings you know I mean if you're a portrait photographer and you target families that have older children that they're coming back from college for family portrait sessions you're going target completely different than if you're targeting the you know the back to school photos you know that's a different segment your guide should look different it should talk different it should speak differently and it should be designed differently make sure the design of your guide complements the goal and the brand you're trying to attract number five adan links so this is what we talked about doing it very end once you are done with all the content once you're done with the design you add in the links I'm not going to spend too much time on that other than to say that to make sure that the length work and to make sure you don't have any typos there it's one thing to misspell words another thing when somebody clicks on a link and it doesn't work anymore it's it can happen sometimes because when you copy the link it chopped off the h t t p but then when you plugged it into adobe and exported it adobe near the h t t p and then when you click on a link it didn't work so check your links make sure they all work and understand that this guide could live on for a while and so make sure those links stay up for a while don't let those links fall down later on you know we've all had that happened where some somebody got ahold of a link that we don't have active anymore and it's just kind of embarrassing you're thinking about all the people that have that length I clicked on it was a dead link and they got that for for error whatever so understand that whatever link you put in there you need to stay active for a long long time to come because you can't ever pull back that guy once they downloaded its in their in box they can open it up at any time and click on that link so make sure those links stay active keep that in mind if it's a slide if your lincoln out to a slide show that goes away after thirty days that idea if you're linking out to something that you know after ninety days it's not available online if you're thinking about the thing you need a password to get into think about those things your blood not your links number six this is really just for your learning purposes use a service like bentley to create tracking you or else inside of beit dot l y actually type that's actually a website doesn't have a dot com and I know it's kind of crazy you could just insert your long long link and I'll give you a shortened link which is nicer to share and social media looks a lot better you will also show you how many people click on it and when they click on it and this allows you to see what people act we care about in your guides it's going to help you rebuild future guides if you know one hundred people download a guide and over the course of three months you find that nobody clicked on one of the things you put probably wasn't of much interest to them but if you find that out of one hundred downloads you got one hundred clicks well that's probably a lot of interest to them you get to learn from that it's more of a learning mechanism number seven is designed graphics and this is more the side of the social share side take that guide and make sure you have all the different social media graphics the blogger post graphics the landing page graphics all the graphics that you need to then share this guide most of the work of building a guy who's actually in getting that guide out there and sharing it remember you're trying to solve problems for your customers don't fall short of building this great guide and then not getting in the hand of your customers have your target market there's work that's involved there to make sure you kind of get the full design repertoire um when it comes to your graphics number eight is constructed landing page where is this gonna live is going to live on one of your block landing page could be a block post it could be a page on your web site it could be any number of these things where is it going to live how we're gonna get it you know there's also a lot of conversation about had the landing page that's optimized for lead generation really talked about lead generation that's not really as much of an importance for professional photographers obviously if you use it you could use it to your advantage and would work well so let's landing page isn't really a conversation about legion is a conversation about where you gonna put the guide how are people gonna get it you got to think about that and you got to set up a system where people get it and it could be a little confusing at first you know we're not really developers not really people who who do this kind of thing wordpress can make it pretty easy for you there are plug ins forward press that allow you to build a wordpress paid on your website and then dropped one of their plug ins in and it will make a landing patriot people can submit on email if you want to email it to them or if you just want to have a blank page or they can just download it right away you don't even need them toe abdul in madras that's very simple to do in wordpress number nine launch the guide haven't actual launch don't just publish it and let the world stumble upon it as they will having a launch gives you a reason to talk give you a reason to share with your target market that you're doing something for them that you're helping them they're loving them having launches are awesome they're fun they're exhilarating they're great and what what have we seen in social media things start to get mo mentum I'm not saying you're first guide is going to create a viral mouse from of downloads but I am saying that sharing is contagious when people see other people sharing it gets contagious and this is what a launch basically does it heightens the it heightens the information sharing last number ten track the performance don't just you know have a method to track how many downloads you get have a method to track what links people click on have a method of tracking and over time keep track see which guides do better than others learn from that always be learning we'll talk about that a lot in the email section at the end of today always be learning but you have to set up a mechanism to track the performance of this stuff and make sure you have that tracked the worst thing you can do is realize a year from now after you've released sixth many guys that you have no clue which ones are the most popular and you have no clue which ones we will like the most and you have no clue what part of the guy they like the most or what they utilize the most in the guide that's the worst thing ever right now you're probably a guy's got to get these guys out there I got to get these block post up spend a little extra try and make sure that you contract their performance so that in a year you know what's working and you can pivot on that you can make choices about where to go with it about what the next year's worth of guide content looks like