The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 139. Your Content Tilt

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Hey there! It’s Jennifer and I’m doing a solo. In our membership, we hosted a book club event and we chose the book “Content Inc.” by Joe Pulizzi. Amy and I have both decided to share our key takeaways from the book in the next few episodes. I’m sharing about “finding your content tilt", meaning the importance of identifying a unique niche in blogging. I'm sharing that with you on today's episode. I hope this episode inspires you to create meaningful, impactful content that resonates with your audience and helps grow your blog!Thanks for listening! Let us know your thoughts on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsSign up for our newsletter at www.theultimateblogpodcast.com/niche and get access to our exclusive resource!Check out the show notes (link below) for more information including links and resources mentioned in today's episode!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode139

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinke and Jennifer Draper. We are on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you are just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we are excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging and work from home life,

all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Well, hey there, and welcome back to another episode of the Ultimate Blog podcast. Today, I've got a solo episode for you. It's Jennifer here. And Amy and I decided to each do a solo episode because we wanted to try something a little bit different than we've done before. And recently in our membership, the Ultimate Blog membership, a book club was requested as an event that we could do. So we chose the book, Content, Inc. by Joe Pulizzi.

And so everyone that wanted to join, that's in the membership and wanted to join in our book club, we all read this book and we both felt like we took away so much good information from this book. We also had a call about it within our membership and so many of our students absolutely loved the book. They requested to be able to talk about it even more because there are so many good nuggets of information. I listened to the audio book and then I went back and purchased the book and I have gone back and

referred to it multiple times and I don't always do that when it comes to books but this one was definitely a favorite. So if you have not read it yet I would absolutely love for you to take a look at this book, Content, Inc. by Joe Pulizzi. And we will definitely put a link to that in our show notes as well so you can find it easily. So what I want to talk about today is just one of my big takeaways. And so that's what Amy and I each decided to do.

We're going to say, okay, here's one thing that we just found so interesting. We're going to kind of give you what that is and a little bit of our take on it, just to give you a little tidbit of something that you can practice and take a look at and think about and maybe even put into practice. So the overall theme of this book is essentially that you want to turn the idea of marketing around and take a different approach. You don't want to do the same old thing, the same old formula.

So a lot of people will have a great idea. They'll build a product or service, et cetera, and then they go find an audience for it. But Joe has flipped the script on this and said, let's build our audience first and then figure out what product or service they need. Genius, right? So I know it's not anything completely mind blowing, but it makes so much sense. And he's done this in the book.

He gives so many examples. And so you can read through all of these different cases that he has gone through and see how this has really worked and helped people in this content space become even more successful. And these same principles apply to blogging. It's all about content. And so, you know, in this day and age, we talk about how your blog is just a piece of your online business. So it's also very, very relevant to what we're doing, building a blog and creating a business. Essentially as bloggers,

that's often what we're doing is creating content first. And so, I just wanted to give you this quick listen and talk about my most impactful takeaway. And maybe you'll be inspired, maybe you'll have one actionable thing you can do and you can read the book too and see what inspires you. Hey there listeners, are you ready to take your blogging game to the next level?

Well, we have a special treat just for you. Introducing our free newsletter where you'll get tips, tricks and the hottest insights into the blogging world right in your inbox. Want to know the best part? When you sign up today you'll receive our exclusive and free resource called Blogging Essentials Creating Your Niche and Categories. Are you scratching your head wondering what a niche is or maybe you're overwhelmed by the idea of categorizing your content? Fear not, we're here to help and our freebie is packed with everything you need to identify your unique voice and set up your blog for success.

It's like having a blogging buddy right by your side. So whether you're a seasoned blogger or just starting, our newsletter and free guide is going to help you shine brighter than a supernova. Don't miss out on this chance to enhance your blogging journey. Head to theultimateblogpodcast.com backslash niche and sign up for the newsletter to get your freebie as well today. Your blogging adventure awaits. And remember, it's free, it's fun, and it's full of fantastic insights. See you on the inside. So in the book, seven steps are laid out in order to create a content business. But the one that stood out to me is called finding your content tilt.

And you know, this isn't shocking because Amy and I talk to you guys all the time. If you've been around here for a while, you know we talk about niche in so many different ways. It's really important to figure out your niche as a blogger. It's really important to learn and understand your audience. And so we want to take this a step further and we want to talk about the way that he talks about your content tilt. So let's take a step back here for a moment.

We often get questions about, the belonging world too saturated? There's already somebody talking about pretty much any topic out there that possibly exists. And to some extent, that's true. But really what it comes down to is you're not going to recreate the wheel. You're not going to create something entirely new. But what you can do, and by the way, we believe there is space for you, what you can do is you can come up with your own spin, your own tilt on creating content and putting out information and content for your readers so that you can create that space for

yourself. It's really truly about solving something in a way that nobody is solving it now. It's not so much about just simply entertainment, it's about really getting to know the people in your audience, the people that you want to talk to, and solving a small or a big problem for them in a way that nobody else is doing. And yes, we believe that you can do this.

It is going to take time. It is going to take thought. It's going to take practice. It's going to take putting things out there that aren't quite the right thing. But at the end of the day, we believe that you can fill a space that isn't already filled. So if you're trying to figure out what this means,

what you wanna start with is think about, okay, I've thought about my niche, I kinda know whom I'm talking to, I have that down pretty well. Let's get even more granular with that, let's get even more specific with that, and take a couple problems that exist out in the world, combine them, and come up with a way to solve the issues.

So ask yourself, what are you creating? Are you creating a solution that's so amazing? Are you creating entertainment that's so fantastic that if it was taken away from the internet tomorrow, would people miss it? And so I think that's what you should strive for when you're creating content. And I understand how hard that is as a blogger and you're

creating content all the time. But this goes back to creating a smaller amount of really good content is going to take you a lot further than just pumping out just massive amounts of content. So really, really, really think through and continue as you go to refine your niche. And I think what I'm saying here is, you know, you don't have to have

this all figured out day one. You go through the steps. You figure out what general area am I gonna blog about? Okay, more specifically what I'm gonna blog about. Okay, now who am I gonna blog to? Okay, a little bit more specific with them as well. Now I'm gonna start putting out content. Now I'm going to ask for feedback. Now I'm going to look at the results and I'm going to figure out, you know, am I doing this good enough? Is this the best that it can possibly be?

Am I doing this in a unique way that fills a space out there that isn't already filled? And this is going to take you some time, but this is what I think we should strive for because I think this is a good way that fills a space out there that isn't already filled. And this is gonna take you some time, but this is what I think we should strive for because I think this takes us more towards that greatness in the sense that people are really going to gravitate towards us because we are creating that must-have helpful content.

If you're still struggling with ways to figure out what are people needing, who is my audience, there's different ways you can do it. You need to start getting in the mindset, okay, if I'm gonna put out a press release and say, introducing my website, what would it say? What would be so compelling that somebody would be like, oh yeah, I wanna read that?

Looking at the trends for what people are searching for on Google, doing keyword research, even looking for questions that Google really isn't answering. And then one of the ones that I think is the hardest for us and the most uncomfortable but is just to actually start to talk to people, whether you're sending out an email asking them for some feedback, whether you're getting on the phone to people, whether you're sending out an email asking them for some feedback, whether you're getting on the phone with people, whether you're talking to people in person, really get to know your ideal readers and the people that are reading

what you're putting out, your content, and just get to know them at a deeper level and find out what is really the issue and how they could use help with that issue that they're just not satisfied with what they're getting currently. And then you're gonna just keep putting out the content. You're gonna put out the best content you have. You're gonna come back and check it.

You're gonna see if it resonates. You're gonna get feedback on it. And then the next piece, you're gonna adjust it again. It's just gonna be a continuous life cycle learning process to create your content with a tilt that is different than what other people are doing. So ask yourself, like, can you get specific enough with your audience? Maybe it's not just like, pet owners, but pet owners who live in apartments. And so you're you're helping them,

you're getting even more specific. So really getting to the nitty gritty of who has a problem and how you can help them. And then also, can you maybe bring the content to somebody in a different way? So maybe currently the solutions that are out there are people who are posting reels on Instagram with information, but you know that this content can be better served long form. So you create a way to help them. who are posting reels on Instagram with information, but you know that this content

can be better served long form. So you create content and blog posts on your website that they can come to on a regular basis to get more information that they need to solve their problem. And then like we talked about, can you combine things in a unique way? So can you solve two problems?

Can you solve apartment living and people with pets in a unique way. So can you solve two problems? Can you solve apartment living and people with pets in a unique way? And really the ideal here is just get really clear on the purpose that your content serves. And this is just, again, going to take time and gonna take refinement and take practice, but I was just really excited by the idea that you can really create the space out there for yourself to offer additional

paid products, services, solutions for people by creating that audience for yourself first that has to have the content that you're creating. And yes, it can feel scary and yes, it can feel overwhelming. But I think at the end of the day, what it should really feel is empowering.

You have an opportunity and you have an idea. And if you can stick with it, and if you can keep working to find a way to solve this problem for someone that no one's really done just yet, you give it your own unique perspective, you bring your own unique experiences. So I truly believe that everyone has this unique content tilt to offer. It's really just a matter of practice and getting it out there and seeing what resonates

with people. And so if we can keep doing this as bloggers, not only are we going to be able to grow our sites, we're going to be able to reach more people and we're going to truly be able to have an impact in the world, which I think is why most of us started this in the first place. So I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions, always reach out to us as you know. And if you think you have a great content tilt and you're ready to go, we would love for you to reach out to us and we could work with you in one of our programs. So hope you enjoyed another episode of the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in today.

If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog,

join the wait list for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.