Someone wise once told me, "You can make the best product in the world but if no one knows it's out there, it's useless". They were right. Getting my content out into the world is all about marketing. Not aggressive marketing, but seductive and engaging marketing. What do I mean by that? I mean making content that turns heads and inspires folks.
All along my journey as an entrepreneur, I have produced content that has inspired friends, family and strangers along the way. What am I doing that is so special? I'm telling the right story to the right person at the right time.
To create content that turns heads, you have to know who you're talking to. Who is your ideal reader, client or audience? What do you want them to know? And how will you tell them the story? I'll give you an example from one of my own businesses: Afro Feminista Vegan.
For those that don't know, I run two small businesses. But I will talk about just one today: my blog, Afro Feminista Vegan. Afro Feminista Vegan is a vegan blog whose mission is to support vegan women of color to start and sustain a healthy vegan lifestyle through the use of representation, information, and coaching. Pretty simple, right? Yes but no. With a blog so specialized and niched, I had to really create content that would engage my ideal client. 2 years ago, I decided my ideal clients were black women interested in starting healthier lifestyles and eating habits. Once, I found my ideal client, I had to figure out what content my ideal clients wants to see. After perusing Instagram hashtags and adding literally every black vegan woman I could find, I discovered that black women interested in starting healthier lifestyles and eating habits want content that represents their identity as black women. This means, they want to see happy black women eating healthy foods. This inspires them by connecting with them on a deeper level. My content shows them who they could be if they chose that healthier lifestyle. It delivers a sense of hope, direction and positive reinforcement. Good content does that for people and that's why creating content that inspires will help you get visible on social media, connect you with your ideal client, and help sell your product.
Don't believe me? Check this out. 1.5 years after I created Afro Feminista Vegan, I decided I wanted to start making money off of my blog. What a thought! But honestly, I created Afro Feminista Vegan as a way for me to be inspired by other vegan women of color. I hadn't realized at the time how much other women wanted that same experience. After doing research online, I realized that black vegans are super proud. They want to show off their amazing vegan renditions of traditional soul food and impress at the next cookout. They want t-shirts that express their identity in a manner that's true for them while simultaneously getting the message across to others. After seeing this, I decided to find a 3rd party apparel company that can print and ship t-shirts that I designed for my customers. I found TeeSpring and boy was it a godsend. I love them because you can design your t-shirt, coffee mug, leggings, etc on their website, create a storefront, customers can order their designs from them and they handle the shipping while you get your cut of the pie. What a deal!
What this has done for my business is help me create apparel that makes my ideal client feel special, seen and heard. I created a shirt with the words "Black, Educated, Feminist and Vegan" written on it in bold letters. It's a bold message for a very specific client: my ideal client. This message identifies with my ideal client in ways that typical vegan t-shirts cannot. I knew what my client wanted and I provided the content.
On social media, I displayed the various tote bags, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc that I offered and even modeled them myself in various posts on Instagram and Facebook. This caught fire! People were commenting "I need this" and tagging their fellow vegan women of color. There was something unique about those four words that resonated with so many vegan women of color. My guess is that it is speaks to their specific ideals and it makes them feel seen and heard.
It's all about connecting with your ideal client in an intentional way. Create content that takes someone's breath away. You want your readers to ask you about your journey, how you're succeeding and what they can do to also succeed. Content that inspires your readers, tells a story of hope and gives them tangible ways to grow and succeed in their own lives will turn heads on your social media account.
With all of this in mind, my advice to you is that if you want to create content that turns heads and inspires the masses, you have to appeal to your ideal client, show them where they want to be, and create a story. Your audience wants to know who you are and why they should listen to you. Through the use of storytelling, engaging content and knowing your audience, you can reach just about anyone and get noticed in the sea of social media posts.
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