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Content Creation Foundations
I recently read a Case Study on Affiliate Marketing Commission by Adam Dukes, a digital content creator from Las Vegas. I follow him wholeheartedly and consider him one of my mentors, even though I’ve never hired him directly to help me. Below I’m sharing a section from his Case Study on how to create great content which hit me hard. When I brought these ideas into action I was immediately struck with lots of content ideas that I can create with just little closer introspection. I’m sharing this so that you can use the exact framework laid out to brainstorm and create amazing content that converts.
Content creation is the process of identifying a new topic you want to write about, deciding which form you want the content to take, formalizing your strategy (keyword or otherwise), and then actually producing it. Content creation is a skill many struggling entrepreneurs skip. If you want to be in the top 10%, this is a MUST-have skill.
You want to create three assets;
● Story Framework
● Mission Framework
● Brand Framework
These are ongoing documents that you’ll continue to add to.
These prompts will help get you started, but by all means, braindump as much as possible when answering these questions. You’ll likely uncover so much cool shit you’ve done over your life that you forgot about. Every single answer is a piece of content to share online.
Story Framework
Brain dump everything you can about your life. Start when you were a kid, growing up, becoming an adult, to where you’re at today, and where you’re heading. Share specific (good AND bad) details.
Your story builds relatability with your audience. Your story is how you differentiate yourself from the 8 BILLION other people on the planet.
Nothing is off-limits. Share as much as you’re comfortable sharing. In fact, I’d push the edge a bit and share the shit you’re scared to scare. Vulnerability = Power.
1. What was your childhood like growing up? Where did you grow up? Describe your family life, school, and extracurricular activities/sports you were involved in. Any family vacations/rituals/traditions?
2. What were your teenage years like? Did anything memorable from high school happen? First love? Sports? After-school activities? Does anything stand out in that time of your life?
3. What was your career path? Describe your first job and any lessons you learned. Any mentors/bosses/co-workers that helped you? How many jobs did you have? What job was your favorite? Why?
4. How much have you invested over the years? Financial? Time? Did you lose money? If so, what was the lesson from it? Do you regret it?
5. Who are you grateful for? Any mentors stand out who helped you along the way? What did you learn from them? How could that benefit your audience? Are you still learning from them? This could be paid mentors or people you learn from online (ex: I consider Gary Vee a mentor, even though I’ve never hired him directly to help me)
6. What is your current expertise? How long have you been doing it? Why are you doing it? Was it a problem you had and solved for yourself? How did you get started? Who did you learn from?
7. What advice would you give your younger self? What were the biggest roadblocks you faced before finding success? How did you overcome these roadblocks/challenges/obstacles? How long did it take you? Any funny/embarrassing stories you can share?
Mission Framework
This document is to share why you’re building the business you are, who you serve, why you chose that audience, etc.
1. Why are you building your business? Who are you serving/helping? Why? Is this a problem you once had and solved? Share stories on how you started (highs and the lows)
2. What are your business aspirations? Do you have aspirations on building a multi-million dollar brand? Why? Why not? Are you looking to build a simple, one-person operation? Why? Why not?
3. What is your audience’s Hell Island? What’s preventing them from getting the results they desire? What have they tried in the past that didn’t work? What are they fed up with? What feelings/emotions do they have about their current struggles/situation?
4. What limiting beliefs does your audience have that are holding them back? What do they believe about the world/their current situation that’s keeping them stuck? How can you shift their mindset? Use facts, stories, charts, celebrities, real-life experiences, etc.
5. What objections does your audience have? These typically revolve around time, money, reputation (how will they look to others), and/or identity (how they feel about themselves).
6. What is your audience’s Heaven Island? What are their dreams, goals, and desires? How will this impact their lives? What do their lives look like when they achieve the desired results?
7. What’s the FUTURE PAIN they will experience if they do not solve the problem RIGHT NOW? What will this cost them financially? Physically? Spiritually? Be as specific as possible
8. What is your PLAN to help your audience? Your audience has a painful, present problem (Hell Island) and they are looking to solve that problem/achieve a result (Heaven Island). What is your 3 – 7 step process to help them go from Hell Island and get to Heaven Island?
9. When did it all make sense to you? When did you have the “ah ha” moment with what you’re doing right now? Describe the feelings you had before/after. Do you remember where you were? Did you share these insights with anyone? If so, who? How long did it take you? Share the highs AND lows
Brand Framework
Jeff Bezos famously once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room”.
Elon Musk, Kanye West, and Andrew Tate are polarizing figures. They garner attention. They have the respect of millions. To earn respect, you need to stand for something. You need to have conviction in your values, beliefs, and ideas.
You want your audience to “pick a side”, and either side is fine. What you do NOT want is people “in the middle”. It’s hard to convert “Lukewarm” followers.
Most entrepreneurs are scared to share their “unfiltered” opinions with the world for fear of judgement and ridicule from trolls/haters.
These prompts WILL bring out the haters. This content will also lead to you stuffing more of the green stuff in your piggybanks.
1. What do you LOVE about your market/industry? Why do you do what you do? Why does this light a fire in your belly? Why do you like helping your audience? What are people doing right? How so?
2. What FRUSTRATES you about your market/industry? What about your market/industry makes your blood boil? Why? What pisses you off about your industry? What are people doing wrong? How so?
3. What are popular myths in your industry? Why are these myths? Can you prove these myths wrong? Using facts, stories, charts, celebrities, real-life experiences, etc.
4. What are your “against the grain” opinions about your industry? Is there someone or something you disagree with? Why? What are they doing that you don’t agree with? Is your way better or faster? Is your way more effective/efficient/fun/easy? Share why this is the case with facts, stories, charts, celebrities, real-life experiences, etc.
5. What are your core values? Gratitude? Sustainability? Simplicity? Integrity? Generosity? Authenticity? Compassion? Empathetic? Loyalty? Respect? Status? Trustworthiness? Which are important to you? Why do you value these? Do you have stories to share about why these are your values?
Content That Converts
There are about a dozen different forms of content we use on social media. Here are high-level categories; Leadership and Educational.
Leadership Content
This type of content positions you as a leader. You’re openly sharing your thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and values.
A. Shift Beliefs – Get your audience to think a bit differently. You want to use your content to convince your audience that your way of [ACHIEVING DESIRED RESULT] is better, faster, easier, or more fun, efficient, effective, etc than what others are doing/teaching.
B. Perspective – Share your perspective on life, business, marriage, parenting, dating, politics, religion, money, and any other topic you have a passionate opinion about. This is going to polarize your audience, and that is a GOOD thing.
C. Social Proof – The more proof you can show, the more credibility and trust you build with your audience. Do not be shy or bashful about showing social proof. No one is going to do it for you, so this is your job to scream from the mountaintops about the results you’re generating for your clients. This includes media mentions, interviews, etc.
D. Lessons Learned – Everything is content. Take everyday circumstances and turn that into lessons for your audience. Any lessons you learned along the way. Mistakes made, wisdom gained, what you wish you did/didn’t do. What you would do differently knowing what you know now?
E. Handle Objections – What is the best time to handle objections? On a sales call? Or in your content BEFORE your sales conversations? Use your content to handle your audience’s objections, and drastically reduce the time spent on sales calls/conversations. This is a big reason why I’m able to close coaching clients over email/chat WITHOUT the need for sales calls.
F. Transparency – Share your current/past struggles/weaknesses. This is where self-awareness can massively benefit you. Leave your pride/ego at the door.
Educational Content
A. Problems – Your audience will never get bored if you’re talking about their problems. Take it up a notch and talk about their SPECIFIC symptoms. (Hint: If you cannot draw a picture of their problem/symptom, it’s not specific enough)
B. Share Your Plan – How are you going to help your audience get from hell Island to Heaven Island? Get clear on it, outline the 3 – 7 steps, and share your plan often. You should never sell anyone, anything, if they are not sold on your plan first.
C. Authority – What can you teach your audience? Show them how to achieve something.
The aim of this structured brainstorming is to develop three assets that include a Story Framework, Mission Framework, and Brand Framework. These documents will be continuously updated. While the given questions here can assist you in initiating the process, it is recommended to jot down all your ideas and memories related to the questions. This approach may reveal some incredible accomplishments from your past that you may have overlooked. Moreover, each response can be transformed into valuable online content.
Hope this helps.
Please leave a comment about how you approach content creation and what has worked for you.
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Content Creation Foundations
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