Ever since I first heard of content marketing, I understood it conceptually. Content marketing is providing interesting and useful information to our audience without trying to sell them anything. But I didn’t comprehend what it meant in practice. I was unable to connect theory with reality.
I think my confusion resulted because I was reading about content marketing from a marketer’s perspective. They made it hard, perhaps because they didn’t really get it either. But now, thanks to Rachelle Gardner’s recent post Use Content Marketing to Grow Your Following I understand. All her posts are good, but this one was brilliant—simply because she explained content marketing in a practical way for writers.
My two key takeaways from her great post are:
- Content marketing is writing. As writers, we write, so content marketing should be easy for us.
- Blogging is a great format for content marketing.
I write; I blog; therefore, I am a content marketer. I would have never guessed that if not for Rachelle.
Now for the embarrassing part. I have a couple of freelance clients I write blog posts for. I thought I was providing a blogging service, but now I know I am providing a content marketing service.
Do you know what else? Not only do I enjoy writing content marketing material, but I’m good at it, too. Ironically, I do a better job at content marketing for my clients than I do for myself.
My next step is to take what they pay me to do and apply it to my own work. Thank you, Rachelle.
Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.
Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.