“In any two days, human beings create as much information online as it took our species to create in the 30,000 years between the dawn of cave painting and the year 2003. In another 10 years, that same amount of information will be generated in less than one hour.”Reuters.com
Content = Marketing
When I started sending a monthly e-newsletter in January of 2000 I never gave thought to the fact that I would still be sending it 12 years later. The fact is, there are more newsletters, memos, blog posts, audios and videos than anyone can imagine. It’s for one reason; there’s a need and a demand for it.
Marketing in the 2010-decade is, more than ever, centered on content. This content is also your intellectual property (IP). IP has always been the way for people to demonstrate their expertise, smarts, creativity and competence. Up until 12-15 years ago it was tough to easily get your IP to a lot of people. Unless you were lucky enough to have access to radio or television programming you shared your content via print. It was a hard copy newsletter, articles, columns or letters to the editor in a magazine or newspaper and by authoring a book (all of which are still very effective).
The Internet changed this. Electronic communication platforms and social media are really just delivery mechanisms. Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, your blog, podcasts, website or something else, it is really just a way to get your smarts out to the world
How much is enough?
Is there too much information? Sometimes is the best answer. What might be a better question is, “Is there too much incorrect information?” and the answer is yes. It is just too easy for anybody to put his or her opinion out to the masses. This means we often have to sift through a lot of junk to find value.
We have to, as users, know how to get and use the right information. To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, when you find information trust it after you’ve verified it. Of course, most people self-validate. One of my clients once told me that he really liked my blog. He was in agreement with what I wrote on subjects he had knowledge of and therefore figured I was also “correct” on the subjects on which he wasn’t experienced or knowledgeable.
This massive amount of content and the easy access to it means we all have more educated buyers (and we are more educated buyers). All buyers expect to easily find information and value. Just think about how frustrated you get when you Google something and get suggestions on a slightly different subject.
Conclusion: Join in and contribute
As business people, we need to get as much content as possible out to the world and to use as many vehicles as possible to share our expertise. When we’re specific it allows us to target. Or, should I say reverse target, because by having a large amount of content available, the right people will find us.
It doesn’t matter if you are an attorney, manufacturer, financial expert or delivery firm, or in any other industry. To get noticed you must contribute to the content explosion. To use an old line from the world of sales, share the “what” (the problem is) not the “how” (to solve the problem). Let your competence lead your reader, listener or viewer to want to work with you to fill their need.
