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Building value and transitioning from free information to paid education

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Content Marketing and Value Building Go Hand in Hand

Content marketing success comes by strategically building and delivering valuable information to help solve people’s problems. The magic of this dynamic comes from the fact that people are already searching for the answers to their questions and your role is to be at the right place at the right time with the answers. Your goal should be to provide your target audience with information that can help to solve their problems relatively easily and quickly.

First, people need to learn to like and trust you

On the first layer of the process people are learning to like and trust you. When your audience sees the value in your content, some will be satisfied with your free solution, do it themselves and just stop. Most people will do nothing at all. And yet another group will be impressed with your knowledge and will be inspired to further explore what other problems you can solve for them. These are the people you need to focus on, nurture and aim to build relationships with.

Next you need an easily deliverable digital product

The next level of your funnel should be some kind of paid educational piece that is automated and easily deliverable without you! This can be in the form of a marketing email serious, webinars, videos, audios, any other kind of online material that makes them feel like you have personally delivered your promise on their expectation. This solution should solve a more complex problem and give them actionable steps they can take to see considerable results quickly. A lot of people’s curiosity will stop at this level, but the real avid fans will be looking to see what else you have to offer.

Getting close and personal

The next layer can include a one-on-one consultation, an offer to an event, or some other deliverable that involves getting in touch with you personally. At this point, people are willing to pay a much higher price because they believe in what you have to offer and they have already seem the amazing value that you have provided for them in the past.

Building a community and social proof

Offering an option to join a mastermind, a monthly meeting or some other form of membership website could be your next goal. Having loyal followers that can all congregate in one place delivers amazing value and also helps you build social proof. Since this is usually an ongoing monthly commitment, it is a great way to build relationships with loyal followers and create a community around your message or cause. Selling through teaching and building relationships This is a process from free information to paid education. It is built on content creation, engagement, and relationship building, with no shortcuts allowed. Each step is necessary and if you build out a platform without a product to offer, multiple ways to follow up, or other upgrades, you will be limited by the amount of people you can help on a one-on-one basis.

Continuously committing to deliver valuable content on a timely manner can help build your personal brand and establish you as an authority in your field. Also sharing your expertise and growing your business in this way can result in creating multiple streams of passive income and having a rewarding online career. Progress from being their leader to being their friend  Through this process you can transition you from being a leader, and walking in front of others to point them in the right direction, to being their friend, walking next to them, listening to them, and making them feel included. When people see that you authentically care about them, and that you have their best interest in mind, it makes all the difference in the world.

The Emotional State of a Google Search . . .

“But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…”

This famous line from the famous U2 song is an emotional confession that paints the emotional state of searching for something on Google. Leaving all technical topics aside (This isn’t an SEO post, sorry!) search is actually a very vulnerable and emotional “confession” and admittance that there is a void and there is something missing . . .

Is Google your biggest confidant?

The second that you start searching for something on Google telling them some or all of the following: 1.) I’m incomplete, I need this solution to help me be happy.

2.) I believe that it’s out there and I’m willing to search to find the answer ( and willing to pay! )

3.) This is worth my time, I am taking time out of my busy day to search for this because it’s important to me.

4.) I have tried other solutions and shortcuts and nothing has worked for me so far, please help.

5.) I’m open to new possibilities or opportunities on how to solve my problem.

6.) Something is missing from my life, or something is wrong!

emotional-state-of-search

Think about it, would you search for something that you have an abundance of in your life?No! This is a confession to Google or any other search engine that you use that says … “Hey I’m LACKING this in my life…” or I’m incomplete, but I hope that if I invest my time and energy I can find the solution here.

Tell them that they are not alone

This if POWERFUL! When we search we are vulnerable, yet we feel empowered when we find others who have experienced the same pain. Somehow it comforts us to know that we are not alone, and other’s understand us.This is why it is crucial not to just look at your site visitors and view them as possible dollar signs, you need to make them feel welcomed, understood, and like they belong there. In short humanize their experience.

Here’s 2 real life examples :

The emotional level when “searching” may be higher or lower in different situations. Searching for a book: (Oh Yes I did! Hey I wanna get smart like him! ) Searching for a book on ” How to think like Da Vinci” – What I’m really saying here is “Hey I hope that this book will make me a smarter and a better thinker. Plus it was recommended by a friend and I really look up to them. I want to be more like them. Hope this helps.” Searching for a product: ( My sister really did this recently and searched through 3,000 results on Ebay to find “just the right one”) What she’s really saying is this : ” I hope that this license plate cover adds uniqueness to my new car, I want it to look girly and right now it looks so plain. I really want a pink one because that’s been my favorite color since I was little.”

Know their purpose and speak to it!

You see both of these searches had an emotion reason behind them and we were both searching with a PURPOSE to solve something that we felt was missing in our lives. Notice all the things we don’t really tell Google when we look for “pink license plate” or “How to think like Da Vinci Book”. This is where your part as a marketer comes in, and why you should really know your audience and their motives for their search and find out what they are really saying.