Build this and you create expert positioning
It is surprising to have to state, but most sales and marketing pros do not build a sense of positive anticipation or expectation within their marketplace. But even before this, they do not communicate nearly enough with the people who matter the most to them: these people here. The people like us who do things like this.
If you bring value and solve problems with each communication to your marketplace, you can’t say too much. You cannot send too many emails. You cannot create too many helpful blog posts. You cannot overtrain. While it may be possible to add too much value, you have a long, long way to go to get there. (And typically only micromanaging bosses are guilty of adding too much value.)
Let’s take a look at the podcast delivered weekly. Everybody loves podcasts. They’re free. They’re readily available. They’re easy to consume. And if the content developer is disciplined, they’re new each week. There is always something new coming out.
The #1 Rule in Podcasting
Podcasts are designed to make people feel good or to solve problems. They are also an excellent mechanism to stay in front of your marketplace with your ideas and the ideas of others. After you’ve been at it awhile and have built up a small audience, they begin to anticipate your work. In fact, they expect your work. The #1 rule in podcasting is thou shall be consistent. In other words, don’t stop. Keep going. Keep creating. Keep sharing. This is harder than you think. Consistent content creation is difficult work.
Note that this rule transcends podcasting in particular into content development in general: be consistent. Don’t stop. Keep creating. Keep sharing. Regular communications with your marketplace and you adding value to them and solving problems is what positions you as their expert. Like Steve Harvey, you are their Man or Woman (i.e. “I’m Steve Harvey. I’m your Man.” He could also say, “I’m your Expert,” only “I’m your Man” sounds better on TV.)
Be The Man or The Woman for your market
Your work ought to be positioning yourself to be The Man or The Woman for your market. When they have a problem you can solve, they need to think of you first. When you have a sales or marketing problem, my content is designed for you to think of me as a resource to solve it. This is largely the whole point and power of blogs. A good, well-written, and consistent blog gets good SEO juice, solves problems for people, and offers occasional inspiration. It really isn’t for the blog’s author to show off, though some people choose to use it that way. A good blog is written for a particular audience, for these people who do things like this. It is written for decorative concrete pros. It is written for tile setters. It is written for carpenters. It is specific. It is targeted. And thus, it is well received.
The blog author is rewarded though expert positioning and consistent exposure to a particular market. Through the consistent work of creating and sharing, the expert earns top-of-mind space when problems are encountered in the field. Just like Bob Vila for Home Improvement. It’s important to note that this mind space is earned — it cannot be bought. It is earned through well-produced, consistent content that solves problems.
Beware the harsh editorial calendar
What typically happens with people, though, is they get super excited with their new podcast, have a slew of ideas, get really eager and enthused to share. Maybe they develop and post 4 or 5 podcasts and are off to a small, but good start. And then they peter out. They lose their steam. They cannot keep up. They cannot consistently create and share on a disciplined editorial calendar. (Note: the editorial calendar is imperative to stick to. It is not optional if you wish to be taken seriously. Deadlines are deadlines.)
And so they quit. It’s too hard. Life got in the way. The cat had to be taken to the vet. They had to go and change the air in their tires. They pivoted. Etc. Nobody wants to be here, but most podcasters in particular and millions of bloggers everywhere end up here, with the lonely, neglected blog or podcast that has digital tumbleweeds blowing through it daily.
Building that sense of positive anticipation is hard because it requires consistent work. You are always creating and sharing, and you don’t stop. Ever. There is always more to create if you think there is. There are always more ways to add value and to solve problems if you think there are.
Marketplaces seem to have nonstop problems and consistent interests, don’t they? Who is best positioned to solve them? You or the competition? The girl or guy across town? Who wins the battle for top-of-mind share?
