There's no Money in Content Creation

The money continues to be on the promotion and now engagement phases of customer acquisition. White papers are a dime a dozen, so are loads of articles and posts patiently written with the audience in mind.

Tell me the truth, you've been guilty of wanting to hire someone who can write crisp copy that sells, which is not the same as just writing copy, without wanting to pay them a premium for doing so.

You are not alone.

Until you figure out that there is value in creating great content, you will have a hard time getting the results you hope to achieve with just-content-to-put-out-there-thinking.

Valuable content builds context 

Back in the days when I was doing a lot of interpreting and written translation work, I was getting paid pennies per word and dollars per page. The fact that meaning had to come across as well was never a consideration.

Dictionaries don't do well with cultural references. They sure provide lots of information, facts, and examples for each word. It's the editorial choice that carries the meaning to its intended consequence. A diplomatic agreement, a new contract, a cure for a disease.

Your content's purpose is to orient your readers. What is your intent? Do you want to educate, entertain, engage? To then what?

A match made in heaven

Education, entertainment, and engagement lead to purchase. Only if they bring the reader along. Whether you're working with a complex B2B offering, or in a B2C environment, it's not enough just to educate, entertain, or engage. You need to have a clear path to what's next mapped out.

Automation and promotion can help get the word out and track what happens, they still need content to make that happen. Yet, a great deal of time and effort goes into putting the tools in place while content that maps to the buyer's cycle is still very much an afterthought.

You need to marry the two to direct your readers. What's next in the progression that informs them, helps them deal with their challenges, and seek more of your advice?

Lots of the right content

If you don't like to write, or don't have people who are willing and able to write as part of a context-building marketing strategy, don't start a blog. Outsource the white paper writing and be willing to provide lots of guidance and information to the writers.

Remember that great writers appropriate for your industry and culture are as rare as great professionals of any kind. Select for attitude and approach, and be willing to collaborate with them to get them up to speed on tone/style, and technical aspects, if any.

And be mindful that you don't just want truckloads of content. You want lots of the right content to inspire action.

Action is not the last bullet on the page

Yes, calls to action are very important and you should map them carefully. However, the whole piece should be designed and written to lead you there. So much so that if you cut the last sentence, you'd still want to take the next step.

For the literal readers, this doesn't mean you repeat the same phrase in a couple of places. It means your intent comes across crisply throughout the piece via persuasion. The story is told to demonstrate one thing and one thing only.

They said of Winston Churchill that he could marshal words into battle. That kind of action writing.

Readers can tell the difference

Back in my translation days I noticed that people thought that anyone who could speak a couple of languages could be a translator. Technically, yes. Practically, not so much. There's a third step in there, that of the actual contextual translation. That requires skill and experience.

We live in the age of information overload and there is going to be an increased emphasis - and value - placed upon great content. Great content cuts through the clutter, helps you think through your challenges and provides you with insights as to what you need to do next.

When it comes to content, more is better when aligned with your purpose and useful to your readers. They can tell the difference - and so will you with results.

***

Content is not an end in itself, it's a beginning. When you start a relationship with your customers through content, you'll be able to glean information about what resonates and what doesn't, what you need more of, what you can cut out.

With all the goodness content creation brings to the business, how come businesses still think there's nothing to it? Why isn't the same level of attention and resources allocated to content as it is to tools?

© 2006-2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Randy Murray]

An important topic.

I have to admit it took me some head scratching to tease out what you meant by your article. I don't know if you were trying to get a rise out of your readers, but "There's no Money in Content Creation" I read as "you can't make money writing for business", not your intended "Businesses aren't spending money on professional content, but they should."

[Valeria Maltoni]

I'm scratching my head right now, too. Isn't one dependent on the other? Or maybe you were trying to get a rise out of the writer?

[John McTigue]

Some really important points here. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Too many people think that by blogging several times a week, they will become rock stars. Like anything else, the 80/20 rule (or is it 90/10?) applies. 80% garbage, 20% gold. You can't just sit down and crank out something really good every day, unless that's your entire focus (like a journalist or professional blogger). Aligning your content with your customers interests and needs - now that's something most people haven't learned how to do. Thanks for a thoughtful post.

[bencurnett]

The numbers in this report on the junta42 blog yesterday show spending for content is increasing in 2010.

It could be that a lot of that money will be spent on crap content with no strategy. But it could also be that the idea of pointed, purposeful content is reaching businesses as your post suggests.

The point you make is pretty useful territory for anyone out there who's planning and writing for the web. I struggle over this point w prospective clients regularly. Overcoming the misconception that "anyone can do this" is especially satisfying when I see the lightbulb go on.

Thanks for the post.

[bencurnett]

junta 42 report link http://snip.li/f7233c

[Muhammad Saleem]

Hi Valeria,

You're right as far as the scope of this article is concerned but I would encourage you to think about writing linkbait (i.e. viral content for linkbuilding purposes). There is money there both in creation as well as marketing of the content.

[Elizabeth Sosnow]

Hi Valeria:

I think the reason that corporations/clients focus on the tools is that they are tangible and therefore (supposedly) manageable.

Content creation is an intimidating mystery to many. I think the key is to help folks understand that great content can be created - it just takes some "block and tackling."

Then the question becomes, are they willing to roll up their sleeves? Editorial calendars, audience metrics, etc. take time. And it feels so much easier to just use the itchy, easy "tweet" button on something that's just ok...

[Rich Becker]

Hi Valeria,

You are right. I was having a conversation about this topic earlier today. Companies in some markets are more willing to invest pennies for no return or little return as opposed to nickels for a sustained return.

For me, the solution has been to only work with those who know better and pass on the ones who don't.

Time will tell. It isn't much different from the ebb and flow of previous content creation. The various forms of writing (advertising, production, direct mail) all have their peaks and valleys in terms of how much it is valued.

I suspect over the course of the next two years more companies will come to understand it. The difference between fans and customers is probably found within the content.

Best,
Rich

[Valeria Maltoni]

@John - when I tracked it, it's been consistently at 90/10, if that helps. Sayings are such because we get used to, well, say them. It's really hard to crank out hard hitting content day in, day out. That's correct. And your definition of hard hitting may be a flop when out there. Planning and integration are key. And yes, this resembles the publishing process. It is.

@bencurrent - skepticism is our friend when researching a trend. Yes, the numbers are increasing, not proportional to the growth sought in most lead nurturing/generation/community growth projections. Mostly because with the social Web and public relations, in house marketers need to do more heavy lifting and be more involved. Many don't have the resources they'd like/need. Thank you for the Junta42 link. Very helpful.

@Muhammad - it takes skill to write that as well, and time :) I know you've got what it takes from your experience. Alas, the part you talk about is what businesses tend to gravitate towards - lots of calories, little nutrition for customers.

@Elizabeth - and, with content, you need to keep upping the ante. We get used to being pampered and catered to rather quickly, wouldn't you say? Muhammand put it well, link baiting gets attention. It's less rolling up your sleeves. There is something to be said for fast and not as polished, that's how many blogs got started. Look around today, and you see an increasing number of polished work, both for presentation and content. Readers mature and communities evolve.

@Rich - do you hear a lot of "we have no choice" conversations? Your work reflects on you, so yes, integrity matters. Good food for thought there at the end. Sparked an idea for a future post. Thank you.

[Ari Herzog]

On a side note, Valeria, can you elaborate the difference between B2B and B2C, as you reference both above?

I'm not ingrained with business 101 concepts, so to me the two models are more alike than different. Thanks.

[Steven Woods]

Valeria,
great post. I'd be interested in your thoughts on how much measurement comes into play in perceived value. We intuitively know the difference between good and mediocre content, but it has historically been very hard to measure that objectively.

Now, as it becomes more possible to measure how content is shared, by whom, and to what audience, we are beginning to see the start of an objective measurement of "good, engaging content" vs "just to put it out there" content. Will this affect the value we're willing to pay a good writer? Thoughts?

[Jon Buscall]

You're very right here. It amazes me how many major organizations approach me and ask me to turn out copy with less than a day's notice. Just yesterday I was asked to translate a very important text for one of the biggest tourist attractions in Stockholm. I turned it down because they wanted me to do the work in less than a day after spending weeks passing the copy between different project managers. Bashing out quality work isn't something you just do on the fly. It takes time to understand and nail the brief, no matter how experienced you are.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Ari - that distinction deserves its own post. Thank you for pointing out that the differences may be subtle to assume they'd be known. An idea for a post!

@Steven - some days I love measurement. Other days I loathe it. Why? Because we've become measurement junkies at the detriment of critical thinking, belief in something enough to let it influence over time (esp. when new, you need to do that), and worship the Holy Grail of best practices. We forget that someone stuck his neck out to create from nothing before it became what everyone else copied. Another idea for a post. Lucky me today. Thank you.

@Jon - there's a saying "your lack of preparation does not constitute an emergency on my part". Planning tends to not take into consideration the needs of others too often.

[Mark Neace]

Good points, and I believe they can be applied to visual content as well. Most companies, especially small businesses, should look for a professional director/producer that will work within their budget and with a long term strategy for producing content that will help develop and increase their brand awareness.