Ep 158: Going Beyond Content Pillars. 3 Questions to Turn Followers Into Clients.

While I love content pillars there are 3 other things to consider to help you dig deeper when creating content.

Your content should be aiming to convert your followers into clients by answering these questions:

Can they learn about you? 
Can they learn from you? 
Can they learn with you?

In this episode, we'll talk more about these questions and how you can effectively create content that hits all the marks.

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Transcript

[chelsea]: 0:24

Welcome back to the show. We're talking about content today and a little bit of a different perspective on content buckets, content pillars. That has been something that has been a staple since anyone has started talking about content, which I totally understand and appreciate because I am one of those brains that really enjoys having a starting point or a guide, which is why I think chat GPT or any kind of AI system has been really helpful for a lot of us because it gives us a starting point. And so today I wanted to talk about three different ways that I am thinking of content versus, or outside of, I should say, maybe the quote unquote typical content pillar types of content, where many times you'll hear it should be educational, it can be a personal story, it can be sales focused. So, This is really just something that I've been thinking about for my content just to simplify it, because let's be honest, content can be really overwhelming. So I'm gonna call this three questions that your content needs to answer to turn a follower into a client, or essentially, if I am somebody who doesn't know you yet, if I am a stranger and I come across your content, can I learn these three things about you? Does your content library... give me the opportunity to answer these questions that I honestly probably don't even know that I'm asking. These are probably something that is going to be very subconscious or unconscious to the actual person who's consuming that content. So I want you to think about what it would be like if every time you met a new potential client, they said, I feel like I already know you. That's such an incredible feeling when somebody has already decided that at some level they like, know and trust you. I have to credit my content, of course, my stories and video content with doing just that for me. That's a really amazing experience to meet somebody, a stranger essentially, and have them say, wow, I've consumed your content. I feel like I know you. When you feel like you know someone, you definitely are more likely to want to work with them and refer them. So I started thinking about what was in my content or what are the three elements that I could see happening throughout the content. And this doesn't necessarily mean a specific type of format. So I'm not saying that my stories have this type of content, my feed posts have this type of content. I'm just generally thinking about these three categories. And what you might wanna do is if you have the ability to take notes. Maybe you want to just write these three columns down on a piece of paper just so that you can have a visual. I personally like to have visuals and I really am focusing on content that can help my audience do three things. Number one, can they learn about you? Number two, can they learn from you? And number three, can they learn with you? Learn about you. learn from you and learn with you. Let's dive into the learn about you. Now this is probably fairly obvious, but this is your relevant content. This is the relatability of who you are. This is that human to human connection that ultimately will lead to higher conversions. That's the like no trust. That's the content that isn't only about educational content. It's your face, your voice, your personality, perspective, your lived experiences, your hot takes, your opinions. When you disagree with something, when you have a specific feeling about something, and when you share that, whether it's in the caption of your post or it's in your Instagram stories, you will likely get DMs or... at least people thinking about sending you a DM. Maybe they don't even send you a DM, but they're on the other side of that, you know, computer or phone consuming that content and they're thinking, oh my gosh, that's so funny. I was literally just thinking about this the other day. Or I know that we've never met before, but I feel like if we did, we'd be friends in real life. Or gosh, thank you so much for sharing your story. It really resonated with me. It hit home and I just wanted to say thank you. One of the hugest compliments that I ever receive is when someone sends me a DM and they're like, I just sent your account to my best friend or my colleague or my coworker. And I told them you are a must follow. And I think that people are really compelled to share your content when they feel like they know you. And so a lot of, of. content creators, I think, and I know this because I did struggled, I used to only do educational content. And let me be very clear, you can build a powerful personal brand in a thriving business with educational content alone. I'm a big believer that if you want to exponentially grow, if you want to accelerate that trust, if you want to have people show up saying they feel like they already know you, then the relatability part that humanity is going to be the tipping point of that content. And I actually stop and listen and consume people's content that I've never met. in the physical world because I like them, because I've consumed their stories and their behind the scene content and I will then watch their educational or business related content because I like them. So can they learn about you? So go through your content and this doesn't have to be something that you do as like a full audit. Just go glance at your Instagram. If you're looking at those nine posts, are you in the majority of them? Do you have your face there? Have you told a personal story in any of those nine posts? If you haven't, this is your called action that you need to do that. Can they learn about you? Who you are, what you're interested in, your why, all of that kind of content, your personalities and perspectives. The next one is, can they learn from you? And this is really where I think a lot of us focus on. And I know I did for a long time, and I really truly thought that I had to win with content. And what I realize now is that you need to win with context, which is that relatability part, that perspective, that uniqueness, because content is copy and pasteable and you can give all the educational content in the world. You could say, I have the most experience, the most knowledge, the most professional marketing, and it's still going to potentially be missing the you, which is what's going to accelerate that trust. So while, um, this is truly about. Can they learn from you? Are you sharing value-driven content, educational content? Are you answering commonly asked questions? Are you answering questions that your clients don't even know that they should be asking? And so those are definitely one of my favorite areas to focus on content as well. I'd say about me and from me are really, really neck and neck for my content. But for a long, long while, It was only can they learn from me? And when I started infusing more of me in there, that's when things really changed for me. So these are the kind of comments that you would get if people are truly learning from your content. It could say something like, wow, I didn't even know I should be asking that question until I watched this video. It could be something like, huh, nobody's ever made it that easy for me to understand before. or here's what you actually need to be focusing on, this, not that. Also, think about how you're explaining things or summarizing. It could be a comment like, wow, thank you so much for not making me feel clueless, or this is so freaking helpful, I'm saving this one. Those are the kinds of comments. that people will be thinking and sharing with you when you can provide value-driven content that educates them and they have that aha moment that they hadn't thought about something before, or they feel now empowered because you were able to explain it in a way that they really hit home for them. So learn from you, that's a staple, and I feel like that's where many of us kind of. sit in that area and we don't really get into the learning about you or the learning with you. Now the learning with you is the last one that I'm going to talk about here. And this one you might be thinking like learning with us. I don't get that. And what I mean by this is with you, alongside of you, are you inviting people onto the journey with you? And that probably will mean that you are not an expert. at all the things yet. And I know that that's scary for some people to share that I'm going to learn something new and I'm going to take you on this journey with me because wait, aren't I supposed to know everything? And that's where a lot of newer agents also really struggle because they feel like, well, I'm new, who's going to want to work with me? I shouldn't tell people that I'm new. When in reality, I think you should absolutely make that the core of what's happening in your world. You are new and because you are new, you are researching this, you are going here, you are connecting with these people and being able to show people your journey of growth from A to Z. That's why I also don't remove any of my old content, even though I don't wanna go back and watch it, because I'm sure it would make me cringe, but I have absolutely grown and evolved. So when you can invite other people into your journey and show your evolution, people wanna cheer for you. They get excited about, oh my gosh, I remember when. Just think about people that you followed for a long time. If you have somebody that you followed for three years, five years, 10 years, and you're like, wow, I remember when I first started following you and look at you now. It could be the journey to becoming a parent. It could be the journey to getting your real estate license. but sharing the behind the scenes of your day to day, how your processes are made, how you work. It could also be asking your audience for feedback and insights and input for their help and advice. And it also means that you're not focused on being perfect. You're continuously learning and very transparent about it. And I personally think that Instagram stories and your captions are the most amazing places to... have that learn with you content. Stories specifically because they're real-ish time. It's a 24 hour cycle. People can actually not only just watch, they can comment and talk to you in the amount of time that it kind of really happened and you can actually reply back. So it's kind of like that reality TV show, but instead of just leaving a comment after the show is aired, you actually get to talk to the people that are in the show while the episode is airing. So I think that connective content where people can feel like they're on that journey with you. In summary, friends, this is how I've been looking at my content lately. Three different questions that your content should be answering for me to connect with you and build that trust is, can I learn about you? Can I learn from you? And can I learn with you? Until next time, friends, we'll see you then. Have a good one.