Content That Helps vs Content That Sells

Some of you might find it confusing to see the difference between a strategic piece of content that serves, and one that only sells. And I’m here to help you with that today. Tune into the episode to learn about the difference between the content that helps and the content that sells, as well as what to do and what to avoid in terms of content creation.

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Show Notes:

• What every piece of content must do first
• The price we pay for content that’s not authentic
• How creating the right content feels
• How your audience reacts to aligned content
• What happens once you publish the content that helps
• What makes you create the wrong content
• The thoughts you have that mean you’re creating only content that sells
• What your body and feelings are telling you about your content
• An easy way to get back to creating valuable content

Mentioned:

• Epic Biz Year
• Fearless Content

Transcript

Welcome to the new episode. Hope your year is off to a great start. I’m still reviewing last year, taking the lessons and letting go of what no longer serves me, and creating the vision for 2023. I really think it’s a process that goes differently for everyone and that takes a different time. In my case, it’s weeks.

I can definitely do a quick exercise on that and get it over with, but that’s not the point. It’s when you know deep within that you’ve let go of the past 12 months so you can create space for new things to manifest in your reality.

I’m taking different workshops, doing journaling around that, energetically leaving a lot behind, and tuning into my heart’s desires to find out what it is I really want. Because the worse I can do is set the wrong goals, or set them for the wrong reasons, only to end up living a reality 12 months from now that doesn’t make me happy.

If you need some help reviewing your last year in business and mapping out your content, offers and launches for 2023, I created a mini program for you to do just that. It’s called Epic Biz Year and it’s a series of videos that go together with a workbook filled with strategic exercises and transformative journal prompts that will help you see what worked and didn’t work in your business last year, and what you can do better to bring consistent cash flow, grow your audience, release the most aligned offers and have fun and flow while doing all this. Doors to Epic Biz Year close in just a few days so you can go from planning your vision to actually executing it.

Now, let’s move onto today’s topic. 

I want to introduce to you a little concept I came up with lately when I realized I wasn’t doing my best as a business owner. I wasn’t creating content that felt aligned, it wasn’t with the best intentions, and sometimes maybe it was more with the goal of selling than serving.

And while selling is still an act of service, that’s when it’s done with the right intention, when you put the right energy behind it.

Any content you create online must first serve your people. So if the sole reason why you chose the topic and published it is to convince yet another person to buy because let’s say your last launch didn’t go well, then you have some mindset work to do and a change of direction is needed.

Sometimes the difference between a piece of content that sells and one that helps might be tiny, but it’s why the reader will feel off and might not trust you anymore, might not feel welcome or safe in your audience, and might go follow someone else instead.

Even people who’ve been following you for years can be turned off because of a single piece of content you shared that isn’t authentic. So the price to pay here is huge.

Content That Helps

The content that helps might look like this.

Inspiration hits and you act upon it. You create what feels right, it’s your soul’s calling.

You feel good during and after the creation process. You don’t worry about who will see it or how many sales it will lead to. You just know it’s part of your mission to get it out there, without trying to make it perfect, and it will find the people it’s meant to reach and touch. What happens next is not up to you.

It’s the content that leads to emails and messages from your audience telling you that resonated with them. Thanking you for this, saying it came in the right time and when they needed it the most, that it hit home and inspired them.

You feel like you can cry when you receive these. You know you’re doing exactly what you’re meant to be doing and this only motivates you to do more of it.

While publishing the piece, you have a smile on your face, you’re relaxed but also excited. You infuse your powerful energy into this piece and it’s transferred to anyone who engages with it in any way.

You know that content can change lives, but that it’s people’s job to consume it and take action. You can’t push them, you can’t expect anything, and you can’t let your business depend on it.

This one piece of content is your daily gift to the industry and to your audience and anyone who will ever be part of it.

Once you publish it, you don’t wait for anything to happen. You let go of it. And while you might have a list of tasks you gotta complete to distribute that article, podcast episode, video or social media post, you do it without rush, pressure or expectation. You just do it, neutrally, because these are the business activities for the week. Then you let go and move onto the next things your intuition guides you to.

Content That Sells

What about the content that sells? It’s none of what I just described. Instead, it’s this.

Your intuition didn’t make you create that content. There was no inspiration that you followed to sit down and write that article, record that episode or post that graphic on socials. You’re in your mind while doing this.

If you notice the thoughts that go in your head during the creation process, you might notice they aren’t empowering, genuine or flowy. They are logical.

Maybe you are unconsciously imitating the piece you saw someone else publish that led to them gaining many new followers or making a few more sales. So here you are trying to do the same now, but telling yourself it’s in your own unique way so it’s not copying.

During that same week of posting it, you catch yourself imagining how it’s gonna be the sole reason why someone decides to work with you or why many people will buy during your next launch and it’s gonna be your biggest one.

But then you try to quiet those voices as you remind yourself you’re here to serve people first.

And yet, you don’t serve. You convince, you sell, you copy, you go against your creative energy, you don’t hear what your heart is telling you to do anymore.

You’re watching the people earning big figures in your industry and you’re headed there too. You listen to their advice and at some point start believing that their way must be the only way.

Right before you publish the piece of content for the day or week, you are hyped, thinking ‘This is it! This is going to blow my engagement, lead to many email sign ups, and attract new clients. If one new client comes as a result of this post, I will reach my milestone for the month and then I can share it publicly so more people can join.’

Do you see where I’m going with this?

The most challenging part comes next. Once you hit publish, you begin waiting. But you tell yourself you aren’t waiting because that energy only repels people and money. You did your manifestation practices and now move on with your day, at least that’s what you believe.

But your whole body is tense waiting for likes, responses and – ultimately – sales. You’re told it’s easy and quantum leaps can happen in a day, so why not directly have a sale from this one post?

This energy is inside you the whole day and maybe for the next few days. You do what you can to ignore it, to let things flow, to be open to receiving. And yet, you’re eagerly waiting for the engagement.

But what you get is either no engagement or some generic responses. You then start wondering what’s wrong with the post.

Maybe you should have done it differently? The message in it is strong but no one sees it. So maybe you can delete it and make a prettier graphic, have a more attention grabbing title, or even use paid ads to boost it so it can show up in more people’s feeds and so they can follow you and then buy from you.

You leave the post there, and move onto the next idea. Same energy, same hopes, the same cycle is repeated.

Until you’re exhausted, you’ve lost hope. It feels like you’ll never make it online. Like no one will ever buy. Like you’re doing something wrong.

That situation will repeat itself until you sit down, face the reality, admit to yourself what intentions you’ve been having with that content, and realize it’s the content that sells.

Then you ask yourself what the alternative is and you decide to focus on the content that helps. No matter how long it takes, no matter how many times you need to publish, as long as it reaches even one person and helps them in some way, you’ve done your job.

Which type of content are you creating?

Do you see the difference between these 2 types of content?

Now, it’s time to ask yourself which one you’ve been doing lately. If your audience got quieter, if you aren’t as passionate about your business as you were a year ago, maybe these are signs that you’re more focused on the content that sells. And it’s only getting you further away from your goals and your mission.

The content that helps is always available to you. You can always go back to it. Or if you’ve never created it before, it’s never too late to start.

Tune into your intuition, listen to your heart, remember why you started that business and who you’re here to help.

Then write for that one person today. You know them best because it’s probably who you were some time ago, before you began teaching what you teach online.

That person has struggles and hopes and dreams. How can you make their life easier today?

What’s one mindset shift that has helped you before and which you can share with them? What tips can you give that one person so they can start their transformation? Or what words of encouragement would they like to hear if they are having a hard time?

The Connection

And here’s the secret. These will be the pieces of content that make them say ‘Wow, they are giving me so much with their free content. I wonder what else I can learn from them if I join their program?’.

It’s the content that makes them deeply grateful and they eventually want to give something back to you.

It’s the reason why they share these posts with their audience or their friends and speak highly of you.

It’s why you become their mentor and listen to every word you say and come back to your main platform daily or weekly to see what’s new.

This is how you go from helping, to helping and selling, all while creating the content that helps. See the connection?

I think these are related in a beautiful way. One leads to the other, but only if approached with the energy I descried.

At the end of the day, you know what feels right and what feels off. Act on those feelings. They are guiding you to your aligned business, the one that’s easy and flowy, where engagement happens all the time and you don’t need to try hard. Where sales are a result of serving first. And where you always know you’re doing the best you can do and sleep peacefully as a result of it.

So that’s what I have for you today. Just one little concept I came up with but it’s so powerful that it can be a game-changer for your business.

It’s worth checking in with ourselves often, every few months or even weeks, to see if we haven’t accidentally started creating only content that sells. Don’t let it continue for too long. Be in control of where your business is going by constantly re-evaluating everything. And content plays such a big part of it.

It’s what can magnetize the right people to you and let you hit your financial goals. One of the best courses I’ve created and that got so much positive feedback is Fearless Content and it’s exactly on that topic.

It’s a 4-week program that will help you get clear on what’s no longer serving you and release it energetically, re-organize your whole business from a place of abundance, and achieve radical alignment in your content creation. I combined content creation and branding with personal growth and spirituality to create a 4-step formula for Aligned Content Creation. 

This course is for anyone who isn’t clear on their niche, passion, platform, brand and content goals. Who creates too much content and feels burned out. Or is feeling stuck and lacks clarity. It’s for you if you’re doubting your skills as a content creator. If something just doesn’t feel right when you sit down to write/record/design/etc. 

Inside, I teach not just that but also Human Design, soulful marketing and sales funnels, and both the strategy and energy behind anything content related. Learn more here.

Thanks for being here today, and I’ll see you next time.