Generating content is hard work. No doubt about it.
I think we all understand that in order to get leads and clients from your web efforts, you have to attract traffic to your site. As I’ve said before, the best converting websites on the planet are useless without traffic. No traffic = no conversion. In my mind, content creation is one of three primary ways to bring traffic to your site.
Until I started working at Zillow in 2005, writing a bunch of content on Zillow Blog (my archive), and watching a brilliant writer like Diane Tuman at work, I didn’t really think about how much work goes into great content. All those essays I wrote going through school — I kind of forgot the hours spent laboring in front of the computer refining words and phrases one by one.
It’s hard work. With no true shortcut.
When I wrote about the content problem, I mentioned two options for those who don’t want to create their own content. The fact that Kris Berg (yes Kris, that’s another link pointing to you), who I’ve known a long time and knows me fairly well, misread my opinion (per our #retechchat discussion last week) made me realize I wanted to clarify my prior post a bit.
I’m not recommending everyone outsource their content. Far from it. Personally, I’m more of a purist than most when it comes to content creation any my online voice. I’ll never (dare I say that “never” word – it may come back to bite me in a decade) let someone else write content in my name. Coming from a strong branding environment at Zillow, I’m pretty particular when it comes to my personal brand. My brand and voice is ME; no one else. And I intend to keep it that way.
But I’m not everyone. I enjoy writing and have a wealth of experience in that area. That is a different scenario than many agents and brokers. Content ideas come naturally to me; not so much with the majority of agents I speak with.
To clarify:
- IF I chose to hire a freelance writer, I would have them create content in their own name on my site. But I can tell you that many people don’t mind “ghost” writing, and it does work for some people (we have multiple clients taking that approach). It’s just not the approach I’d take personally take. I’d spend the time to generate my own content instead.
- And IF I decided to use a service such as Bring the Blog, I would make all the content come from “IssyREBuzz Beat” (if my blog name was IssyREBuzz) rather than put it in my own name.
However, that’s just me.
What is your approach to tackling the content problem? We’re discussing that exact topic on Monday for #retechchat, so feel free to tune in to get some more ideas.
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