Whenever there’s a discussion about the importance of good content, inevitably there is always someone who chimes in and says, “What about small business?” There is a belief among many online marketers that the requirement for content is snuffing out small websites that just can’t keep up with the big boys. This is false. I will say it again. WRONG!
The only thing preventing you from publishing good content is your perceived inability to create it. Even if you’re a terrible writer or if you have no one at your office with the bandwidth to write, you can still get quality content without spending all of your time or money. How you ask? I’m so glad you asked!
Content Creation:
Guess what? You don’t have to write content yourself. There are plenty of people who can do it for you. Even if you want to write your own content, there are copywriters that can review your work and make it better. What you have to do is figure out what your content requirements are and look for someone who can create that content at a price that you can live with.
Disclaimer: While I’m talking about inexpensive content, I’m not saying that you should focus on cost when it comes to creating that content. Cheap content is never good and good content is never cheap. When figuring out your budget, please realize that you’re investing in your business. Many people don’t blink an eye on spending thousands of dollars on a beautiful website, but decide that it is a good idea of be stingy with content. That is just plain silly. OK…back to work.
Manpower and Time
I know that there will be people out there that will be wildly against outsourcing writing saying that only a business truly understand their customers and that an outsourced writer will make their content impersonal. The truth of the matter is that many small businesses just don’t have the manpower or time to create content on a scale that is necessary. This is yet another instance where advice that is good for a medium or enterprise business does not pertain to the little guy.
I’m also not saying that you should be completely disconnected from the writing process. You know your customers and you know (or should know) what is important to them. At the very least, you should see yourself as the editor. You are responsible for coming up with the content topics and making sure that you review everything before it makes it out into the real world. Where some businesses get into trouble is when they allow content to be uploaded directly to their site without reviewing it. It seems like it would be an intuitive, but you would be amazed as to how often this happens.
Content Sources
Please remember my previous comment. You get what you pay for.
1). Outsourced Consultants (Elance, etc.) – I’ve had good luck using consultants for everything from website development to content. The best part about consultant websites is that you write up the RFP and writers will actually bid to work for you. This simplifies the process because you don’t have to find the writers yourself. They find you.
Rules to follow when using a consultant:
- Don’t get burned: Make sure you review any potential consultant’s portfolio and research the hell out of them. Don’t settle for two or three references either. Only hire contractors with a bunch of reviews and reach out to past clients to make sure that they’re real. There are a ton of shady contractors out there that would be happy to take your money and either give you garbage content or nothing at all. A couple hours of research can save you a ton of heart burn.
- Get them the f%#king information!: Anyone who has ever worked in an agency knows that there is nothing more infuriating then the client that drops off the face of the planet and then shows up expecting everything to be done at once. Consultants will need your help and they will expect you get them what they need in a timely manner. If the agency is a good one, they will most likely fire you as a client if you do otherwise.
- Don’t keep your cards too close to your chest: Many people are afraid of revealing too much to a contractor, but this is not the time to do this. You content creator needs to work with you to figure out how best to leverage your content. If you have a good contractor, they might think of things you might not have. They’re the pros here and they should know what will work and want won’t.
- Hire someone who knows your market: You are going to save yourself a bunch of time if you use someone who actually knows your market. This will cut the time it takes to get them to start writing and will allow them to sound like they know what the hell they’re talking about.
- Pay them on time: Please make sure that you are just as dogged about paying them on time as you would be about getting paid yourself. Requesting regular invoices helps with this. This should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately it isn’t.
- Consider authorship markup: If your contractor is trying to develop her/himself into an influencer in your market, be cool and give them authorship. It will help the writer and it will help you. There are many companies that are hesitant about giving authorship to their own employees let alone an outside source, but as the writer develops, having a thought leader writing for you can be nothing but a good thing. Here is a link about implementing Authorship Markup: Google Authorship Markup
2). Content Marketing Agencies (Brafton, Text Brokers, Ezdia, etc.) – Agencies can be expensive (relatively), but they also have the potential to give you the best content. What they bring to the table is the ability to give you a ton of good, well written content consistently. When you’re using a contractor, you are beholden to a single person to maintain your level of quality and timetables. When you use an agency, you have a company to yell at if the writer messes up.
Rules to follow when using a content marketing agency:
- All the rules for using a contractor (see above)
- Know where your content is created: Many of the big agencies outsource their writing. Yes, even some of the more reputable agencies. There are many instances where an International writer would be fine, but others where it wouldn’t. For example, if your content needs are very specific to United States governmental policy it would not make sense to have a German writer develop your content. Just make sure that your expectations are clear when negotiating the agreement.
- Expect some lag: Agencies (or the good ones at least) will not start creating your content from day one. They are going to want to sit with you and discuss your requirements and desires. They are going to develop a content strategy for you and pull together the right writers to develop your content. This process takes time. Be happy though! This is why you’re paying them.
- Work with a real a content marketing agency: There are some SEO companies that have attempted to make the transition to content marketing. They, “with some exceptions”, don’t know crap about content strategy. Work with an agency that knows what they are doing. Check this article out: 4 Truths About Content Marketing Agencies
3) A Friend – You would be amazed at how few people think to look at their own network of friends and professional acquaintances when searching for someone to help with content creation. There are certain people that really enjoy the process of writing, but are stuck working in an office doing something monotonous.
Not only will they be appreciative of the chance to be creative, but they might also be happy to earn a bit of extra income. Another fact is that we tend to network with people in your industry. There is a good chance that you know someone who knows your market and who could be terrific at writing for you.
Marketing:
There are people that think that even if they are able to create content, they won’t be able to afford to advertise it. As long as the content is good, there is a good chance that people will stumble upon it and share it, but there are things you can do to boost your chances.
1) Facebook Promoted Posts – If you have a good following, promoted posts can really help drive people to your content. If you don’t have a good following, a simple “Like” campaign with a small budget of $10 or $15 a day can really increase your following. Just make sure that you use aggressive targeting when you start your campaign. If you are selling tractor equipment, there is no point in trying to get 16 year old high school kids to follow your Facebook page. Please read the millions of articles on social best practices before getting your hands dirty…please.
Helpful links for getting started with Facebook advertising:
2) Outbrain – I really like this service. It gets your content in front of hundreds of thousands of people on such websites as CNN and Fox News. The cost is relatively inexpensive and the traffic can be great. Be aware that your content can’t be sales related and that they’re pretty strict when it comes to quality.
3) Tweet Like it’s Your Job – Developing a good Twitter following will really help get your content out there. The best part about Twitter is that a really good piece of content can get tweeted and re-tweeted hundreds or thousands of times in a very short period of time. (Personally, I have not had good luck with Twitter Ads or promoted tweets, but some definitely have.)
Helpful Twitter links:
- How to Source Content on Twitter
- Some Cool Ways to Use Twitter for Great Content Ideas that Will Attract Valuable Natural Links
- Four Tools and Four Steps to Smart Twitter Automation – Cool tools to help you with automating your tweets (i.e. save you time)
4) LinkedIn – LinkedIn is an amazing resource for getting your content in front of those people you want to consume it. There are tons of different places and ways to leverage LinkedIn to drive traffic and (hopefully) conversions. Here is a great article on this very subject: How to Use LinkedIn for Content Marketing
The Quality vs. Quantity Debate:
There is no doubt that you need to create content consistently to truly benefit from it, but some people have fallen into the routine of quantity over quality.
All things being the same, one piece of well written/insightful content is worth more than 50 piece-of-shit blog posts. The time you spend making sure you have edited the hell out of an article will pay you back in spades. You must (MUST) make sure that your content is not only free from punctuation and grammatical errors, but is also accurate. There is nothing that an Internet troll loves more than finding inconsistencies or errors in a piece of content. We all love engagement, but not a 500 entry comment thread about how we have “failed epically” (Isn’t that what the kids are saying?)
My recommendation would be to create as much quality content as you can consistently. Remember that it is better to write two blog posts, week after week, than 30 in a month and then get burned out. Keep at it. Quality and consistent content is what keeps people coming back. Don’t be a newb! (OK…I know the kids are saying that!)
In Conclusion:
Content is essential. If you want to build engagement and trust as well as rank in organic search results, you have no choice but to create good quality content. This is just as valid for small businesses as it is for mega enterprises (maybe more so). The good news is that there are ways to do this without breaking the bank or spending your entire life doing it. Now, go get em!
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