Dries Cronje

Content marketing is key.

As the new year approaches, do you now — more than ever — wished you had more clarity on the way forward?

It can get really silly at times. You have to finish the course you bought last month. And you have to blog. And you’ve also been planning to email your list about your latest offering…

Thing is, your to-do list is getting too long. And you’re about as focused as a camera without a lens. You just don’t know which way forward.

Overwhelm is driving you nuts.

Think you need to sharpen your focus? Probably not.

Often the simplest solution lies in going straight past everything you think is important, right to that task that’s proven to bring the most progress.

The Secret of Successful Online Entrepreneurs

In recent conversations with some of the most successful online entrepreneurs, I heard the same thing over and over. An entrepreneur’s most productive task is marketing.

They claim that if you outsource everything else, and only work on marketing, your business will blossom. My buddy Jon Morrow says that his monthly income almost doubled when he started spending more of his personal time on marketing!

The Shocking Truth About Marketing

Some people might object to the claim that marketing is your most productive task.

They’ll say that online success is all about blogging and other forms of writing.

Others will focus on skills development. They’ll say that learning to become a better content producer is the key to making your work irresistible.

And you know what? They’re right. All of them.

Blogging and writing are super-important tasks. In fact, on the Internet these activities are marketing.

Copyblogger.com, one of my all-time favorite blogs, defines content marketing as “… creating and freely sharing informative content as a means of converting prospects into customers and customers into repeat buyers.”

And that’s what these successful entrepreneurs refer to when they say marketing is the entrepreneur’s most productive task. They’re speaking about content marketing.

Why Content Marketing is so Productive

If you aim to grow your business, would you agree that roughly translates to getting more fans who love your work, and selling them more of your products or services?

To grow your business almost always means you want to make more money.

Now, if content marketing is all about getting visitors to subscribe to your list and getting your subscribers to buy your offerings, don’t you think that hits the spot nicely?

Content marketing is all about reaching your business goals… fast!

How to Market While You Create Excellent Content

The next time you’re unsure what to work on and what to run away from, take your pick… The following list outlines some clever content marketing tasks that will also satisfy your desire to write, write, write:

• Write an informative blog post that solves some problem your target audience is experiencing. After you publish it, promote it to your network and other bloggers whose audience might benefit from it.
• Write a guest post for a blog with a large number of subscribers. Know what its topics of interest are, and study the readers’ comments. This will allow you to connect better with the audience of the target blog.
• Write an email to your list with some piece of informative content that causes them know, like and trust you more. Tell a story. Share a video. Do something that shows them you’re a human being just like them.
• Create a video that could go viral. It happens all the time, but it’s not as easy as it looks. If you can come up with a video that is well worth sharing, it’ll bring you loads of traffic and new subscribers.
• Create a free report or course that you can use as a subscribe incentive. Whenever someone subscribes through AWeber or MailChimp, they can download this report. This will boost your subscription conversion.
• Create an autoresponder email sequence that goes out to all your new (and existing) subscribers. This will introduce them to you, your philosophy and your reasons for blogging/writing.

While you do all this, remember that you’re not allowed to be boring. That’s the biggest sin you can commit online.

Be relevant. Add value. Make a difference.

This way your business will grow. It can’t help but to…

Are You Going to Allow Overwhelm to Steal Your Future?

It happens to countless would-be entrepreneurs every day.

First come the feelings of overwhelm. Then comes the rationalization.

“I’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“My energy levels are just low today. I need rest.”

“I need to do something less stressful right now.”

And right after this comes the procrastination. These entrepreneurs postpone an important task for one more day. And as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, their bright future vanishes into thin air.

All they have left is regret.

Don’t allow this to be your story.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed, turn your focus back to content marketing. Choose one of the activities listed above, and make solid progress. Get your content marketing tasks done!

It’ll feel like work. Some days the thought of it will want to make you puke. But guess what? It is work. And the rewards of honest content marketing work are huge.

Only hard work ever brings about a future that’s worth having. And it takes a brave and productive entrepreneur to stand up and claim his own share of bright future.

I’m in.

Are you?

(Photo credit: Key on Paper via Shutterstock)

Dries Cronje is the founder of Productive Entrepreneur, a blog that helps online entrepreneurs work clever and hard to build a solid online income. He’s the author of 10 Easy Steps to ‘Mission Accomplished!’ – Simple, Practical Advice for Completing Your Next Big Online Project.