Traditional marketing and content marketing have something important in common.
In order to get the business results you want -- more leads, sales, and profits -- you have to do them consistently over time.
In traditional marketing, you don't place one ad or send out one brochure and think your work is done.
And in content marketing, you can't write five blog posts or record three podcast episodes and expect them to transform your profits.
If you want content to grow your business, you have to produce it regularly. I compared it to a hamster wheel here.
It's a lot of work, and you have to keep it up. That's why I recommend adopting the lazy person's approach to content marketing.
Surprised? There's a lot we can learn from lazy people.
Lazy people embrace systems that make their lives easier
I'm not one of those people who hops out of bed in the morning, ready to take on the day.
I'm more like one of those people who needs to avoid conversation or writing emails until I have at least one cup of coffee in me.
I wake up groggy and not completely with it. And I've learned to work around this with a little system.
In my kitchen, right where I can see it when I walk in, I have all my coffee gear set up in one place. The coffee, the fresh coffee filters, the mugs, and the sweetener options are all within a three-foot radius. When I wake up, I only need to press one button to start the process of making my first cup of coffee.
We can do the same thing with our content marketing.
Once we've determined what we need, we can set ourselves up with a content marketing system that minimizes friction and helps us fight any resistance we may feel toward creating content.
Mine looks like this (yours will be different):
- Capture blog post ideas in an Evernote notebook (called "Blog Post Ideas," of course)
- Use mind-mapping software to work out the basic outline of my post
- Once the outline is set, copy and paste post content into text editing software (I use Byword)
- Turn off all distractions: email, notifications, anything that will pull me away from writing
- Fill in the outline and polish until I have a first draft
I've used this system for years without change. More on that later.
Lazy people love shortcuts ... that work
Sonia Simone has established that most business shortcuts are beneficial for the person who's trying to sell them to you, but not for you.
"Just add water and serve" shortcuts are all over the web. You've seen them. They sound like:
- "I'm going to hand over (for a price) my exact system for creating five-figure webinars."
- "We'll give you all our templates: just plug in your information and get ready to cash in!"
- "Discover how to build a six-figure business with my foolproof affiliate marketing system."
When you see shortcuts like these, we recommend you turn around and begin running in the other direction.
But there's a different type of shortcut that's worth talking about. It's the type of shortcut lazy people create to make their work easier. It includes actions like:
- Picking one location to record blog post ideas and using it consistently to note ideas about content you want to create
- Keeping an ebook about writing effective headlines within easy reach for headline inspiration
- Bookmarking an article about writing an effective call to action so you can refer to it when you get to that part of your post
When you find content creation shortcuts that work for you, embrace them and make them part of your process.
Lazy people don't reinvent the wheel each time they perform a task
I can only imagine how disastrous my mornings would be if I had to deal with a different coffeemaker every time I walked into my kitchen.
Instead of going from groggy to caffeinated within about five minutes, I'd spend 15-20 minutes wandering around my kitchen looking for the user's manual and trying to figure out where to add the water and coffee grounds.
It's the same with content creation.
Once you've found tools that work for you, resist the urge to try the latest shiny content creation tool.
The magic comes from using them consistently over time.
Lazy people put effort where it counts and nowhere else
Let's put lazy people on a psychoanalyst's couch just for a moment, shall we?
What's the true motivation behind their lazy approach to life?
My guess is that they want to expend the minimum amount of effort to get the maximum positive effect.
Lazy people want less work and more results.
A lazy person looks at what's working and does more of it. And a smart lazy person looks dispassionately at what has not worked, and they stop doing it.
Their attitude is, "If I did my best but this tactic didn't work, I'm not going to work harder to make it work. I'm ditching it and trying something else!"
Lazy people are starting to sound pretty smart, aren't they?
Lazy people aren't really lazy; they're efficient
Here's my theory if you haven't already guessed it:
A lazy approach to content marketing is really smart.
That's the theme of the book I'm writing right now -- the lazy approach to content marketing.
I want to help you discover your own lazy approach to creating effective content so you can get maximum results from minimum effort.
Join me and Jeff Goins for Zero to Book
If you've thought about writing a book, you might be interested in my new podcast.
Jeff Goins is coaching me through the process of writing my first book.
Since I've never written a book before, I asked Jeff if he knew someone who I could work with as a coach.
Jeff volunteered himself (lucky me!) and had the brilliant idea to make the book coaching process available to the public for free in the form of a podcast.
If you want to hear a newbie (that would be me) ask an experienced author (that would be Jeff) all the questions a budding book author might have, tune in to Zero to Book.
I'd love to hear your ideas about this lazy approach to content marketing, too. Visit the comments and let's talk.
The post Why Lazy People Make the Best Content Marketers appeared first on Copyblogger.
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