Building a Content Marketing Agency
Case studies demonstrate that content marketing is one of the most effective, powerful, and fruitful approaches to reach your business goals through bringing in new leads and clients, building relationships with customers, and enhancing brand reputation.
If you’re curious to know how professionals do it, you need to create a solid content marketing strategy. in this article, we take a look at the inspiring story of Lyndsay Philips.
Lyndsay Phillips’ Road to Success
Lyndsay Phillips is a successful content marketing expert who knows exactly how to create a content marketing strategy. She is the CEO and captain of Smooth Sailing Business Growth, a content marketing strategist, a serial entrepreneur, and the head of the Smooth Business Growth podcast. She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs raise their brand awareness and lead generation, build their authority and increase visibility through the power of podcasting with her full-service podcasting and content marketing efforts.
She describes the path of life as a crazy road: “Like it or not, our life story can be a strange road and weird. What you plan to do and the reality doesn’t necessarily add up. What you began with and where you eventually end up are sometimes totally different.”
She went to university, studied fine art history, and then ended up running her own business. In the beginning, she just worked for other people and used to have a couple of part-time jobs for 14 dollars an hour. She always believed in herself and thought she could do and earn so much more. And so she got into the world of online content marketing, loved it, and stepped in full force. She started her own business and made more money in less time. Lyndsay and her team niched down to content marketing. It was a great success; they grew significantly.
At the moment, she has a group of 11 experts. She focuses on podcasts to help real estate investors and entrepreneurs with their content marketing plan.
Lyndsay’s Mindset When She Started Her Content Marketing Agency
Her initial steps were hard. She had two part-time jobs and one toddler. She described her condition during that time as “burning the candle at both ends.” But she knew there were opportunities, so she quit one of her part-time jobs when she only had one client. She started to make connections and got a referral to another job.
She depicts herself as an optimistic person. She always believes in her abilities and thinks, “when you’re only looking forward, that’s the only place you can go.” She says, ”I asked myself, am I all in, or am I out? You have to make a decision. Right? And I don’t know; I’m always the type that I’m an internal optimist.”
How Did Lyndsay Grow Her Business?
When her daughter went to school, she had extra time and finally decided to go for it. She made her business full-time, and it was just her for quite a while. She was able to create her schedule and loved what she did. Her business was in the comfort of her home, and she was making way more money than before. “And so it just totally made sense,” she describes it.
The paths your life leads you down can be so strange. At one point, Lyndsay was working on a client’s project with Aaron, another marketer who happened to be a real estate investor and copywriter. They became good friends. “We’ve known each other for six years now, I think,” she recounts.
A chain reaction happened as Aaron referred a couple of people to her who were real estate investors and were growing their coaching business; they were delighted with what she was doing and introduced her to two other friends, and so on. Her business grew exponentially. “And so I just started to attract these people in the real estate investing industry.”
Why Did Lyndsay Niche Down to Content Marketing and Then Get into the Real Estate Investing World?
Lyndsay realized her clients were very stuck with content marketing and needed it. She wasn’t an investor herself but found it extremely interesting and realized a good opportunity.
She points out that “I love that: syndication, wholesaling, notes, coaching, and education. It was just fascinating.” So, Lyndsay decided to form a third business with Aaron because she had a lot of free time.
She insists on the importance of having a precise strategy: “To have that niche or for niching down as a business, a strategy is always fundamental, and I just thought it would serve that industry well and so decided to go for it.”
What Are Some of the Myths About Content Marketing?
There are some fundamentals and probably very similar principles across different industries, and simultaneously there are myths. Successful content marketing is no exception. Lyndsay believes that many people think content marketing is just nice to have (versus a necessity).
Another myth is that consistency is not essential when it comes to creating a content marketing strategy to grow your business; many people may think content marketing is simple and always works, even with inconsistency. In other words, it’s still okay if you only spend your free/extra time on it. However, the more time and effort you put into your content marketing strategy, the more you’re likely to get back from it.
What Is the Power of Content Marketing?
Content marketing serves so many functions, such as driving traffic to your site to get more eyeballs on it. Another goal of a good content marketing strategy is lead generation.
Lyndsay says, “Recently, someone asked me about my podcasting services, and I asked, ‘how did you find me?’ And he said, ‘I just used the Google search engine.’ The overwhelming online world – it’s a way for people to search and to find you so that you get more clients.”
Content creation is an avenue for you to build your authority platform, set yourself apart, and show your knowledge and expertise. Not only does it create more leads, but also you’re able to charge more for your services because you are seen as the go-to person and the authority in your niche.
How Does Content Marketing Grow Your Authority and Leads?
Lyndsay suggests that with all online activity you do in content marketing, such as creating video clips and podcasts, writing blog posts and articles, giving social media tips, and emailing, you’re sharing your knowledge with the online world.
Thus, you’re serving and helping others; it’s going to build your authority. People are going to trust you. They decide to refer to you because they are sure you have the answers. If you have webinars or opt-ins, from a technical standpoint, you will push a lot of people to your online pages. This way, you’re going to generate more leads and more prospects in your funnel to convert more people to paying customers or clients.
Where Do You Start When It Comes to Content Marketing?
Lyndsay explains, “There are so many options, and they seem to keep growing.” At first, you may think to yourself, “I don’t want to screw it up; I don’t have time or the money to do it all. I don’t know how to create a content marketing strategy.” With these doubts, many people fail to take the first step and end up not doing anything at all.
Step 1 is to think about your avatar: your ideal client or your perfect joint venture partner. It will help if you consider the customer’s journey. In other words, know your audience. Who’s the target audience for your content? By knowing your target audience, you can produce more relevant and valuable content.
Those who practice a good content marketing strategy consider the content production details precisely before beginning the content creation process. They present new content that intrigues them.
Think about five people that you’ve worked with or done deals with, people who would make up the specific audiences for whom you want to create content. What are their characteristics? How did they find you? What was their biggest problem that they needed solving right then? What benefits did you give them? What sites do they frequent? What content do they love to read? Who do they follow on social media platforms? Answer these questions seriously; take a piece of pen and paper and write out all those things. Take a look at your list. It’ll give you clarity.
Step 2: Once you have access to that information, you can create new content. Make sure that you have considered the main points of what customers want because that will drive what you’re going to discuss and the types of content you’re going to create. Always do a content audit to ensure this.
When you just explain your products all the time, the audience’s problems will remain unsolved, which means you’re not speaking to your avatar.
You should be giving answers to their questions, not just fulfilling your business goals. In other words, if you’re talking about A, but B is what is on their mind the most, and they bang their head against a wall about something, and you fail to see that, then you’re not going to attract them because you won’t help them.
Step 3 of making a good content marketing strategy involves thinking about where your audience would hang out often. What is their favorite social media platform? If your audience doesn’t even know what a particular social media platform (e.g., Snapchat) is, they will never try to go there. So why waste your time and money on that particular social media?
Is your potential client or customer hanging out on LinkedIn? Or on Instagram? Facebook? Twitter? You should detect critical places where they’re hanging out and where you can connect with them. That is your initiation point and key to success in the digital marketing sphere; you can build your base and create content from there.
After that, consider what types of content you’re going to create. Should you do videos? Should you write a blog post every day? Should you host a podcast? Should you guest on podcasts?
That kind of data will help you figure out where you need to be and what type of content to create. You definitely want to have a series of great content on your blog, and you need to know your audience well to make that happen.
What Are Some of the Mistakes That People Make When They Create Content for Marketing Their Business?
The most important thing from Lyndsay’s point of view is to make sure you’re consistent in creating a content marketing strategy. Map out your editorial calendar. If you haven’t posted in weeks, doubts will go through the clients’ minds, and they will start to ask themselves a series of questions, such as: Are they even legit? Are they successful? Are they going to be around when there’s a problem or an issue, and are they going to be able to give customer support?
The content types and blog posts that you share is also crucial. Lyndsay uses this as an easy example: “If I’m looking for a plumber because my furnace is breaking or I need someone reliable and I go to their Facebook, and everything is just sales – come get this maintenance package, if you want this, buy this – I will conclude that they don’t care about me. They’re not trying to help me. They’re not trying to inform me or educate me.”
The posts should be relevant; if they are only fluffy stuff and jokes, the client will think: Are they really experts? Are they serious about what they do? Are they knowledgeable? Can I trust them? Those things can make or break you; they will either decide to connect with you, or they will click the X and go away to find somebody else.
What Are Some Tips to Get Started, Put Yourself Out There, and Market Your Business (Is Writing a Book a Good Idea)?
This aspect of a content marketing strategy is a little different, but it’s very important. Lyndsay thinks writing a book can become a hindrance just as much as it could help; she is still writing hers, and she has changed it three times. Therefore, this question is a hard one. “I think you have to get out of your headspace.”
At first, she dealt with imposter syndrome. She felt that her content creation (books, podcasts, video clips) should be perfect. Otherwise, no one would want to read, watch, or listen to the message she needed to relay.
Instead of worrying about perfection, focus on your overall goals. Think about the expertise, knowledge, and experience you have and how it can help someone else. Think about how, if you had known all that you know now before you started, what could have been a game-changer? What would your former self need or want to know? Then, create a piece of content to share that information with somebody else to help them.
Overall, the way the get started in launching your content marketing strategy is to just… create content.
There are so many different high-quality approaches in creating content; for example, you can speak into an app, and it turns speech into text or translation, or you can put out a framework and get a ghostwriter to help you out. You can write a bazillion blog posts on different topics and then compile them into a book.
Each piece of content has to serve and help some people in your audience. It’s a way of showing your expertise and building your authority platform, and it often opens up new doors to get invited to guest on others’ podcasts. Whether it’s filming videos, making podcasts, or writing a book, the important thing is to create great pieces of content.
This element of your content marketing strategy is a great stepping stone to get on stages, virtual or real. It makes people stand out. Lyndsay comments, “if you are a podcast host, or if you have a book or if you do speak on stage, people naturally think they must be somebody, they must know their stuff. They automatically assume that way. And you’re automatically elevated in their eyes. Then they understand your value and what you do and have the desire to let you help them.”
How Can You Get Booked on Podcasts to Grow Your Authority?
Podcasting is growing every day, much faster than ten years ago. Lyndsay details tips about positioning yourself to be a guest on a show and to build the authority, branding, and recognition you always wanted.
There are guest booking services that you can sign up for. Figure out your one sheet and what your topics are and all that good stuff. And then they will pitch for you to be on certain shows based on your expertise.
She mentions, “I do find, like, once you’ve been podcasting for a while and guesting – I know this happened to me and I also had people on my show – I just got inundated by other guests booking companies, that they just came to me. I didn’t even need to pay for them, which was awesome.” Lyndsay added that, as she got approached by many different hosts or those podcasts booking services, she made connections with these people, helping her business and her authority grow.
You can do the same and become recognized for your expertise and experiences. She says, “If you’re a connector and you’re giving back and helping other people, it always comes back to you. But don’t be afraid to like, you know, pitch yourself, get your feet wet. It may take a little bit to get into the groove.”
If you are pitching to be on a show, keep the email short. Explain who you are, what your expertise is, and suggest potential topics and questions that they can use when you’re on. This way, you make it possible for them to imagine what the show would be like. Make sure you are paying attention to the host you’re approaching; you should provide information that would serve their audience.
Lyndsay believes that you can create any future for yourself. “If you want to work for someone, to be a doctor, or be whatever, that’s fine, but you can create your own life. You can create your level of income and make all the decisions for yourself.”
She has pieces of advice for other entrepreneurs, too: “even if you’re feeling stuck, if you’re always taking action, you can always make it better for yourself. Whether it’s with content marketing strategies or anything, I love helping other entrepreneurs. My clients are like friends. Some of them feel like family.”
She added, “The one thing I always say is that even if you’re scared, do it anyway because you can never fail. It’s just taking action and doing it anyway. So that’s what I’ve been driven by. Even though you’re scared to death.”
Conclusion
Your content marketing strategy plays a pivotal role in the success and elevation of your business. If you need help to create a practical content marketing strategy, look at the life story of Lyndsay Phillips, a successful content marketer, and the details she shares in her podcasts. If you want to start, there are several steps to take.
The first steps of your content marketing strategies should involve identifying your target audience, their needs, and their favorite type of content and social media post. The next steps are maintaining consistency in content creation and building constant and long-term interaction with your customers. You should also bold your presence in other media, like podcasts and blog posts.
Coming up with a splendid, original, brand-centered content marketing strategy might seem like a 1000-mile-journey. With so many parameters to consider and goals to maintain an eye on, this path can sometimes feel a bit tricky. Don’t let it discourage you; quality always takes time.
If you need further resources, please contact us, and get started on meeting your content marketing goals!
