My Top Ten Lessons From 20 Years As A Content Marketer
I've learned a thing or two!
Grab a coffee, Pull up a chair, and I’ll tell you a story of success and failure.
On May 5th, 2005, I sat down to write my first blog post; I had no job and no income, I was up against it.
Twenty years later, I have a great lifestyle. I work a few hours a day, and I’ve earned several million dollars online.
From small acorns…
Here are ten lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Lesson #1 - Build Habits
This was one of the later lessons I learned, but it’s one of the most important; if I learned it sooner, I would probably be sitting on a boat anchored off a paradise island right now.
Start by building the habits that will help you succeed; with a habit, you’ll take action every day; without a habit, you’ll find reasons to do other things.
My writing habit was the most important habit I built, it was hard and a struggle and I almost gave up several times but now writing is a habit and I write every day without having to think about it.
Build your habits.
Lesson #2 — Stick to One Marketing Method
Pick one thing and stick to it for at least six months, It normally takes that long for things to start to work. I’ve seen so many people give up and move on just as things were about to change for them.
To put this in perspective, when I started, I was still earning less than $100 a month after 14 Months because I’d jumped around trying different things.
After 18 months, I earned $4000 per month because I had focused on one form of marketing for the previous five months.
Lesson #3 — Do you need that tool?
You don’t need half the tools you’ve bought or will buy in the future. Try to focus on learning techniques, and they will last you for a lifetime.
I once cancelled around $14,000 worth of annual subscriptions in one day that I didn’t need… $14000!!! that’s the price of a small car!
Now I use Medium, Substack, Convertkit, Canva and Reedsy, that’s around $60 per month.
Look at the subscriptions you have and find alternatives.
Lesson #4 — Communication is your most important skill
Communication is the first technique you should master. Often a series of good informative posts or a conversation and a checkout link will far far far outperform a sales page. But remember, everything comes down to the offer.
My biggest converting offers are always the ones I send to small groups of subscribers AFTER I’ve talked to them and engaged with them.
Learn to communicate effectively with your audience
Lesson # 5- Know Your Offer
If you don’t have a good offer, or you don’t understand your offer, you’ll never succeed.
Your offer will dictate who your target audience is, it will dictate the message you put in front of that audience.
It will also dictate your success.
Take time to create an offer that will fix a problem your Ideal Audience has.
Lesson # 6 - Your Offer Isn’t Your Product
I am always amazed by the number of online marketers who don’t know the difference between a Product and an Offer.
I have a course called Email Infotainer; It teaches people how to write high-converting emails.
Email Infotainer is my Product.
My Offer, on the other hand, is anything I want it to be:
• Create high Converting Emails That Sell Real Estate
That could be an offer to Real Estate Agents
• Sell More Books with High Converting Emails
That could be my offer to authors.
Take time to work out different offers for audiences, and don’t confuse your offer with your product.
Lesson # 7 — All Successful Campaigns Are Temporary.
Never get comfortable.
There’s always something around the corner that will cause you problems. So expect them, take them in stride, and move on.
I’ve lost at least three successful businesses because Google or Facebook changed the rules or because a new, far superior tool came along.
This is also the #1 reason you must build an email list, you won’t realise how important your list is until you talk to someone who has gone from $1m a year to zero almost overnight and hadn’t built a list during the “good times”.
Lesson #8 — Failure Isn’t Always Bad.
You are going to fail repeatedly. All the best marketers I know are serial failures, and that’s not a bad thing.
Just be sure to analyse what went wrong and try not to make the same mistake again. I’ve learnt more from failed campaigns and sites than from successful ones.
Many things I try fail; it doesn’t matter. That’s a lesson. I can take that knowledge to the next project.
Learn to embrace failure as you would success.
Lesson #9 — The Simple Option Is Always The Best Option.
Don’t overcomplicate your marketing. Start with the basics and build it up over time.
To use a baseball analogy don’t try to hit home run first time out, just try to get to first base.
Build the minimum viable business to start with: 1 offer, one landing page, one list, and one traffic source. Get that working, then start to grow from there.
You’ll launch quicker, you’ll get results quicker, and you’ll grow quicker.
Lesson #10 - The Most Important Question
What Happens Next?
This is the most critical question you can ever ask, and you should ask this multiple times a day
You write an article:
What happens next?
I publish it
What happens next?
My audience reads it.
What happens next?
They go to my landing page… ohh, I’d better add a link!
What happens next?
They optin to receive the free report.
What happens next?
etc..
Constantly ask this question, and you’ll build up a system that takes your audience where you want them to go.
Conclusion
I’ve had an amazing time as a writer and content marketer, and I’d recommend it to everyone as a career choice. But it’s not all plain sailing. You will have ups and downs along the way. Learn from them, and you’ll be stronger next time.
What Happens Next?😀
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Never forget, Enjoy what you Do!
Lesson six really got me. I learned something there. Thank you!!
I really like number 9 & 10. I must focus on those.