WordPress + Content = The Foundation For Your Business

Have you ever felt like you’re a little late to the party?

That’s kind of how I feel about content marketing and WordPress.

Fortunately it’s not going anywhere (and is probably more important now than it’s ever been). I should clarify that it’s not like I’ve not been creating content (obviously… you probably wouldn’t be reading this if I were completely new to all of this), but I’m looking at it in a whole new light.

And my goal is to get YOU to do the same thing.

[thrive_2step id=’15346′][/thrive_2step]

I want you to create a content strategy that is at the core of everything you do online. It needs to be the foundation of your business. Sounds like kind of a lofty directive, I know (especially if you’re someone who has a hard time creating content or thinks that creating content is hard, which it’s not. But we’ll get into that in a minute).

And then there’s WordPress.

While I LOVE WordPress, let’s be clear that WordPress is only the platform.

It’s not “your business” (unless your name is Matt Mullenweg  ).

Even for those of you who have built a business around WordPress (similar to what I’ve done). It’s important that you remember that WordPress is a tool (albeit an awesome tool). It’s no different than your email auto responder. It’s a piece of software that allows you to communicate with your audience and build a relationship.

Which means you need to create and provide valuable content.

The challenge with this?

It takes TIME.

I don’t know what it is about starting an online business that makes people think there won’t be ‘work’ involved. I’m not talking about the hypey days of early internet marketing where ugly sales pages were the norm and people wanted to “make $56,242.00 in ONE WEEK!” (remember that nonsense?). I’m talking about the work that happens after you get all the cool stuff done (your logo, website, business cards… the time people spend on this stuff makes me a little nutty… but that’s for another post).

Once you have your website up, what do you do now?

No one is going to buy your high ticket service packages when you don’t show up to establish credibility and provide value.

Which is where content comes into play.

Let’s look at content from two perspectives.

The first is for your audience and the second is for your BUSINESS (because as much as we love to provide value, we can’t pay the mortgage with relationships, right?).

Content for Your Audience

When you’re getting started creating content you may not have a solid direction or know exactly what you’re going to create. That’s O.K., do it anyways. In hopes of not sounding like a broken record, your goal should be to provide value. Are you solving a problem, sharing something, explaining something? The more content you create the better data you’ll have to determine exactly what it is your audience wants from you. I don’t care if your audience is only 50 people. Help them.

As you continute creating content for your audience and sharing it (remember, just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come). YOU need to promote YOU. If you don’t do it what makes you think anyone else will? Trust me, I learned this the hard way. You’re doing a disservice to your audience when you don’t let them know you’ve created something that can help solve their problem.

[tweet_box]When you’re getting started creating content you may not have a solid direction or know exactly what you’re going to create. That’s O.K., do it anyways.[/tweet_box]

Content for Your Business

Keep in mind that I’m not suggesting you create different content for your audience and your business, ultimately they’ll lead down the same path, right?

I want you to look at the value creating content has on your business.

What does creating content for your business mean:

[list icon=”icon: check-square-o” icon_color=”#e05455″]

• It shows you’re in it for the long haul (yes, that’s an opinion, not a fact. But an opinion I think most people would agree with)
• SEO: No, it’s not dead. Creating valuable content is what the search engines want.
• Organic Traffic
• Credibility
• You become the valuable resource
• Trust
• Valuable data

[/list]

As someone who is NOT a fan of data, I still know the importance of tracking and measuring (and why I’m working with someone who is great at this. But you’ll hear more about him later). I created my first product (WordPress Genesis for Beginners) because I looked at my Google analytics and realized my posts on StudioPress were getting way more traction than anything else. So I continued creating content on the StudioPress themes and then moved to the Genesis Framework when it was released. Because I had paid attention to what people were doing on my site and created valuable content for my audience it was an easy sell because they already trusted me.

[thrive_2step id=’15346′][/thrive_2step]

Creating content isn’t something you do when you can fit it in.

It needs to be at the core of your business.

I can guarantee you’ll see an increase in sales of your products and services when you make valuable content a priority.