Making money is hard, no question about that. And yet it is what everybody’s after, right?
You want to make money to pay for your house, your rent, your bills, etc.
And if you work on creating content online, the struggle is real.
I get it – it’s hard to come up with ideas, points of view, angles, and so on to create that piece of content that’ll make people click.
But there is a way you can produce content and, at the same time, make money out of it.
How?
Keep reading and find out.
Make your audience trust you
Let’s start with this simple, yet complex concept – trust.
Think about it yourself – Why do you buy from the places you do? Is it price? Or maybe quality?
Whatever the reason may be, one thing is common to all of them – you trust that brand. You spend money there because at some point it was clear to you that they had value to offer. And you believed that, you placed your trust there.
It later might have met or failed your expectations, but the first time they got you to buy from them, some sort of trust had been built.
That should be the starting point for any marketing and content strategy. You want your audience to come to you first but, for that to happen, you need to build trust.
Let’s see how that’s done.
How can you build trust?
Trust is built when you perceive someone or something as reliable. You rely on someone or something when they express exactly what you need from them, and then act accordingly.
Why act accordingly? It would have no sense at all if, for example, you see an amazing product offer that’s exactly what you were looking for only to find out that they’re going to charge some extra money they hadn’t specified earlier.
Immediate disappointment. Trust is lost right then and there.
- First thing then – keep any promise you make.
There are many situations in which customers feel deceived throughout their buying or discovery process. Avoid that and your customers will love you for it.
The next thing you need to focus on is knowledge.
Trust is also built on a foundation of knowledge. We rely on sources that have all the information and data because they show they are experts in their field and, therefore, trustworthy.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to become your own Wikipedia right away. It just means you should be the source your audience turns to any time they have a question or problem related to your field.
- Second step – be the most knowledgeable source in your field.
Show your audience you are the expert by providing information, examples, guides, or any form of content that helps your audience to clear any questions or doubts.
This can become the perfect opportunity for you to create different lines of monetization. Let’s see how you can do that.
Start monetizing your audience. Create sales opportunities
The process of becoming the knowledgeable source your audience needs is your opportunity to monetize your ideal customers’ interest.
You want to build reputation and trustworthiness in your field, how do you do that?
Content creation is the key
People need information, data, details, etc, to make a purchase decision. You would too, right?
You want to make sure you’re putting your money to good use.
Your ideal customer feels the same way, we all do. That’s why any monetization strategy has to start at the beginning – content.
Here’s how you can get started with content:
Say you are a real estate agency and want to attract potential home buyers, how can you do that?
Think about the questions or problems a home buyer might face and create content around that.
This could be information about mortgages, escrows, contracts, the law, financials, you name it. There’s a myriad of topics you could talk about.
You have now a great opportunity for your brand to show the world how you are the expert in the field and why customers should come to you instead of the competition.
Next on the list would be turning that valuable content into money.
Turn your content into cash
Providing valuable information to your audience is always a good idea, if not essential. It’s a great way to build a reputation and, like we said earlier, trust.
Many brands usually choose to do this for free because, in all honesty, asking for money is generally a lot as it is. But it shouldn’t be something to fear or, let alone, avoid.
While giving information and value for free is a very smart approach in the long run, asking for money is in some situations the best way to go.
What type of content can you monetize?
Some of the formats many brands and professionals use are:
- guides
- ebooks
- newsletters
- podcasts
The key in these formats is to create a highly-valuable, highly-targeted piece that meets the buyer’s needs at a specific moment.
Let’s take the real estate agency as an example again.
Say this agency wants to attract potential home sellers this time. This client profile usually finds themselves wanting to sell quickly and a great deal, right?
How could the agency leverage that?
They could create an ebook or a webinar on how to negotiate a sale or how to sell a house at the best possible price.
This type of content will likely speak directly to that customer’s needs at that specific time.
And if you show your target customer you are a reliable source and have a great record of success (via social proof, case studies, portfolio, etc), they will likely trust that this ebook or guide you’re selling is worth paying for.
The short of it
Follow these guidelines to create content that generates money:
- Build trust
- Be reliable
- Be knowledgeable
- Create highly valuable content
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Newsletters
- Podcasts
- Use your authority and trustworthiness and turn it into money
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