The 6 Ps Needed For Awesome Content Creation

Content is king but alas, poor content creation can hamper that kingdom leading to poor engagement, low interaction and no lead generation or clicks.

We scroll up, down, side-to-side and switch web pages at will without realising that everything we read on the internet is made up of content. Everything on the internet is content - blog posts, social media posts, newsletters, ads, articles, videos (did I miss anything out?)

That is why creating great content is key to ensuring all aspects of your online communication resonate with the intended target audience and gets you the right traction. 

As a guide for great content creation, I came up with the following Ps:

1. Passion

2. Platforms

3. Personality

4. Purpose

5. Position

6. Publish

THE 6 Ps FOR GREAT CONTENT CREATION

• Passion: this isn't fake emotion. It is almost impossible to fake. You need to create in a niche you are truly passionate about. If you are not passionate about what you are creating, this will shine through and your audience will feel the lack of passion in your content. Passion is fuel and when your content is fueled by passion, it shows.

• Platforms: not every creator should create on every platform. Know the platform best suited to your content and create there. Remember, FOCUS. Don't be a jack of all trade and master of known. In fact, did you know that the real definition of multi-tasking is the ability to manage multiple responsibilities at once by focusing on one task and keeping track of the others? Not, the ability to work at different tasks at the same time? Keep that at the back of your mind when you are tempted to focus on all platforms at once.

• Personality: in the world, we live in, it is easy to fake a personality when you face the world and another when you are by yourself or with those close to you. This is simply exhausting (trust me, I know). Be yourself at all times! Feel free to be witty, funny, solemn, sarcastic, serious, whatever. As long as it is your personality and your audience love it and understand it, hone it, grow it, own it and be it.

• Purpose: never thought knowing the reason why you were doing something was important? Well, it definitely is. Your 'Why' is what will make you wake up in the morning and keep going at night when all else fails.

• Position: the only one of the Ps related to marketing, it is critical to a content creator's success. You need to know and understand the position you occupy in the mind of your audience - are you the go-to person for quick fixes, the shoulder they come to for inspiration or motivation, the person they want to be like or they trust anything and everything you recommend because in their opinion you never lie. You need to know what position you want to occupy in the lives of your audience. Call it a 'positioning statement' if you like.

• Publish: don't just create, hit that button that publishes it, post it, let it go live. If it never does, then it never was.

How To Start A Blog | The 5 Questions Every Beginner Blogger Needs To Ask (Lesson 1)

Starting a blog begins with a decision but after that decision comes a whole series of actions that require patience, guidance and strategy. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is actually the easiest phase of the whole journey but if not passed right, can ultimately become the hardest part of it all because it will keep drawing you back and keeping you behind. 

You need to ask yourself the following questions: 

• Why do I want to start a blog 

• What will it be about 

• What will be the purpose

• Who will it cater to 

• How will it function 

These are literally the building blocks to your blogging success so take time out, have a notepad and pen, go to a place to think about it and then write out the answers. 

The 5 Questions Beginner Bloggers Need To Ask & Answer

1. Why do I want to start a blog 

I'm going to be using myself as an example most of the time.  

So when I started my blog, I knew I wanted to teach regular women how to apply makeup and I knew the type of makeup I had in mind. At that time I didn't know anything about makeup and to teach people about it, I had to know about it myself so I started watching YouTube videos. You'll be surprised to know that when I learned more about makeup I knew my mission had to change and that's when the purpose of my blog changed again. 

 

If I had taken time out to properly think about the purpose of my blog then I would have known that my first purpose was a boatload of crap. Hazardous, full of potholes and bound to fail because 

1. I didn’t know anything about makeup 
2. I'd have known better than to promote cheap makeup that literally has no source 
3. I'd have been promoting a mix of affordable Nigerian brands and other foreign drugstore brands which were available in the market but no one knew about. 

= I'd have moved several steps at a time instead of one step at a time. Image having these 3 steps squashed together into a 6 months period as opposed to having to use about 3 years to learn them all. 

The good thing is that I always wanted to teach so even when I finally came round to the true reason, it wasn't too hard to do a turnaround.

 

The same goes for you - ask yourself the truth about why you want to start a blog. Is it for fame? Free event invites? Free products? Exactly what?

2. What will it be about 

For me, it was makeup. So what? The whole world is talking about makeup. 

But what about me? What EXACTLY will the blog be about? Will it be general topics like Makeup reviews, looks, stores, High-end products, drugstore products, tips? And remember, a makeup blog is different from a beauty blog.  

You have to decide which one you are.  

Imagine you want to write about vintage clothes, your blog could focus on vintage clothes for professionals which can then branch to casual vintage clothes for the off-work period. If you want to write about interior design, why not focus on kitchen interior for large families and you can still do recipes or interior design for the pantry or even the dining room or the rest of the house. You have to pick a niche and won't box you in but still give you room to wiggle. It might help to consider something you love + a skill you have = your niche. 

You just have to know what your site will be about. Write it down and make it plain. 

I started off as a makeup blogger but when I became a makeup artist and began working on shoots, people would ask me about skin and fashion. I always replied with "makeup guys, makeup", but somehow people expected it so I went into other aspects of beauty and the my personal fashion style. I knew how I wanted to approach fashion and though I had a few faulty starts, I've been able to do it the way I want and I'm happy with it so far but my mainstay remains beauty. 

3. What will be the blog's purpose?

I know you've already established what your blog will be about but to what end? What purpose will it serve? Will it just be there to flow with any whims that come upon you at any time? NO, that won't work you know.

You have to define the exact purpose. For me, the initial purpose of my beauty blog was to teach, when the direction changed, the purpose became to be a source of information, then it finally evolved to become a source of inspiration, information and education more than anything else. 

So you have to find the purpose of your blog - teach like Neil Patel or Adam Enfroy, entertain like Buzzfeed, just be a go-to source of information like Beauty in Lagos for Lagos beauty businesses, or inspire.

 4. Who will your blog cater to?

Who will you be writing for? Teenagers, the Working class, the general public, mums, mums with teenage kids, or mature mums. They are called your target audience. 

You have to properly define your audience. Your audience might be fellow bloggers or some kind of professionals like amateur makeup artists or professional makeup artists whose Clients are regular women and they want to know what products these women like to buy so they can sell them too or working single men & women who want to learn quick 5-minute meals they can whip up in a sec.

One thing I've learned is that your direct primary audience who are your main focus are people who are just like you. 

In my case, these will be females between the ages of 25 and 35, they either have jobs or work for themselves, they always like to look good but at the same time don't mind having off days, they want to be themselves while going with the trend, they love to hang out on social media, they like to meet others who are just like them, they are not afraid to ask questions but sometimes prefer to find out the answers for themselves. That's just a snippet of who my direct primary target is. 

There is also a secondary audience who are fallouts of the primary and you also have to consider them sometimes because they may be entering the sphere of your primary audience or they may just be growing out of it.

5. How will it function

Do you have a demanding 9-5 that leaves you almost no time for yourself on weekdays? Or maybe you work remotely and can juggle one and off all day every day. Better still, you work better with a tight schedule so weekdays are for work and you prefer to devote the weekends to all your personal projects. 

You get my drift though. How is your blog going to function? Will you work on it at night only or on weekends? Will you create a schedule for posting or you'll be random? Will you get other people to become active parts of it or will you work on it alone? These are important questions you need to answer.

 

Recap

The 4 questions that need clear cut, precise answers before starting your blog are 

1. Why do I want to start a blog - just an offhand decision or a genuine passion. Will it serve a worthy purpose?
2. What will it be about - is it a topic I'm knowledgeable about or one I'm passionate about? Can I tear my clothes in support of it in an argument? (ok, that's extreme but to what length will you go for it?)
3. Who will my blog cater to - my friends, my family, my colleagues, my little sister and her friends?
4. How will it function - maybe I'll just hire someone to write about this topic cos I don't have the time for it but I'd like to have this little space on the internet anyways.

8 Reasons Why Brands Should Work With Bloggers.

Do you remember the several times Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, even Twitter and other platforms have been down because of one issue or the other? 

Just imagine you were a brand with a time-bound campaign and several social media influencers had been contracted to achieve a target. What could they have done then? NOTHING. That is money wasted.

Do you know why? Because their platform of choice is not controlled by them. You can avoid such situations by using Blogger influencers instead.

Brands should work with Bloggers more than social media influencers because they have control over their platforms and are very prepared for any eventualities. In the long run, they are a more profitable fit for brands or businesses looking for online influence.

The 8 Reasons Brands Should Work with Bloggers

1. Evergreen content

The products and services rendered by organisations are evergreen, that's why they last for years and years. How better to showcase these products and services than via long-form content formats which are best on blogs? This means your brand will always be relevant within the context of SERPs and the searches people make - regardless of their ages, locations and professions.

2. Actual people with real experiences

Blogs are usually started from a desire to share personal experiences or purchases - from travel to fashion to events to makeup and so on. This varies from social media where accounts with no backstory to the owner or with instant celeb status tries to tell people about a product or service. It is easy to see that bloggers are normal people with normal and their evolution is visible across their posts over time. It is easier to listen to them and believe what they say.

And because they are real people, it is easy to relate with them thereby enabling them to build a community of loyal readers/visitors.

3. They are thought-leaders who have authority

You become a thought-leader by saying the same thing, over and over again in different ways. That's my definition anyways, here is another definition I like. But it is actually true and long-form content helps you to build that authority over time. A blogpost on a certain topic will always be at the top of searches and will always be the reference for others to follow or believe. Once you are identified as a thought-leader, your opinion and ideas are invaluable. Social media content is transient and unable to deliver the kind of lasting relevance a blog does.

4. Long-form content to share all the brand benefits

Tell me one social media platform with no character limit for the caption? None. That's the reason why on social media is most-important to communicate a singular message/idea/thought at a time. It is also advisable to repost/repurpose/reuse overtime because the algorithm moves fast and pushes past content to the bottom of the feed where it is left forlorn and forgotten - content even as recent as 2 months ago. 

With a blog, you can utilise long-form to breakdown a variety of products and services with details of each and links to drive adoption. 

5. Are present on multiple platforms

There is no blogger who ONLY is present on their blog site. At the minimum, they have a Facebook page and an Instagram page. A lot of them go as far as having YouTube channels, Twitter handles alongside a presence on Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat and a host of other platforms. 

This automatically means that they can promote your product or service on social media platforms in addition to their blog site thereby reaching out to a larger audience in the long run.

 

6. Content can be updated

Captions can be edited or updated on social media but the algorithm looks at it the same way - past content. Blog articles are never outdated because they can be updated e.g. an article about the Best Travel Destinations in 2018 can be updated to Top 10 Travel Destinations from 2018 to 2021.

Products can be added, dates can be extended, more benefits can be included and the price can be changed. All these do not affect the authority or ranking the article has on search engines as it will always be relevant to the search query of the relevant audience.

7. They are affordable

And dare I say, provide more value as well. 

With bloggers, it is easier to negotiate a package deal than with social media influencers some of which are only fueled by the 'success' of their counterparts who have reached celebrity status. 

They can provide a package deal which can include the blog, social media and even their email marketing lists. 

8. They are more accountable

How many times have you wondered just how many sales or leads that influencer campaign you did last week generated for your business? That's right, almost impossible especially with the limited link placements on platforms like Instagram and invisibility of dark sites like WhatsApp. 

Brands should work with Bloggers because with a blog, you can track every single sale, know how many people read about your product, where they came from, where they left to and even more granular analytics your brand will benefit from. 

Extra tip: people believe people over ads. Bloggers are regular people your audience believe because they look like them, know the same people they know, live in the same neighbourhood e.t.c. That's an extra reason to choose a blogger over an ad - in any shape or form - in 2022.

Looking to either build your brand blog or find a blogger influencer you would like to work with on an upcoming campaign? Shoot us an email to bloggersnbrands@gmail.com 

How To Blog in 2022. A 7-Part Series.

Early this year, I read a lot of articles and posts on 'How To Blog in 2021'. I always knew the importance of having a blog (or a website) and I've talked about it in a previous post here.

Knowing how to blog is an important skill that brands and individuals will need for the future. It is an easier way to build a community of loyal followers than social media. Also more stable and reliable too. 

Just in case you didn't know, Blogging is staging a major comeback in 2022. Are you prepared?

That's one of the main reasons why I created this 7 part blogging series - to teach newbie bloggers the fundamentals of blogging.

This series has been in the works for a couple of years now and is in 2 parts - The Beginner Blogger Series & The Advanced Blogger series. This 7-part series is the 'Beginner Series' and will provide the foundations of starting a blog in 2022

'How To Blog in 2022'

Here are the 7 parts of learning how to blog for a beginner

1. The 5 Important Questions To Ask Before Starting A Blog
2. The 6 Simple Elements You Need
3. The Best Blog Hosting Platforms (Free & Paid)
4. Unlocking Social Media
5. Looking Your Blog Best
6. You Need Content
7. Spread The Word In 3 Ways

Are you excited? Don't miss a single post in the series, click here 

3 Lessons From Davido's N100m Birthday Challenge

There is no single person who hasn't heard of how Davido a.k.a. OBO; raised over N100m from friends and family on his birthday yesterday in less than 24 hours (It's actually still on as at the writing of this post, over 150m has been raised and the goal is now N200m)

If you say you haven't heard, then you live under a rock. Period. 

Anyway, I'll just do a quick storytime before I share my 3 learnings from the challenge which I hope people will take to heart and really think about. 

There I was on my laptop, trying to publish the first episode of my podcast (shameless plug. Check it out here) and I realised that my work whatsapp group was buzzing with something around Davido. After a couple of minutes, I decided to go on IG to check it out for myself and I started following through myself. 

While everyone was looking at the amount raised and wondering 'GOD when?', I was thinking about what life lessons can be taken away from the whole activity. I came up with 3

• Be good to people. This is in essence the basic tenet of this challenge. Davido is known to be a generous celebrity and giver to those around him i.e. friends, family, employees and even fans online. This attitude made it easy for him to ask and receive in like manner from people - some of whom are even strangers to him. Lesson: be good and you will receive good in return.
• Ask. A lot of people are bypassed all the time because they are either too shy, or too proud or too timid to ask. If a celebrity like Davido can call people out and ask for a gift of N1,000,000, then pray tell, who are you not to be able to ask for assistance or better still, something that you have either worked for or deserve? Lesson: ask and you will receive.

JESUS CHRIST was on to something when HE said in Matt. 7:7 - Ask and you will receive.

• Show gratitude. People like to be appreciated. That is common knowledge. Davido didn't just receive the money and say thank you in private, he showed public gratitude which makes a person smile and feel just a little larger than life in that short moment. He gave each and every person their own '5 seconds of fame' which they all appreciate - whether they are humble enough to admit it or not. Lesson: no matter how big or small, always show gratitude to people who have reached out with good thoughts and/or deeds towards you.

There are more lessons to be learned for sure - especially for influencers and the brands that look to hire them for campaigns. I'll be addressing those directly in a subsequent blogpost.

Before You Publish A Blogpost, Ask These 5 Questions.

With the rise of personal websites, blogging is staging a huge comeback in 2022 and it pays to be prepared for when you hit publish on that blogpost. 

While it may be ok to write down your thoughts and share pictures or a story on that little corner of the internet that is all yours, it pays to ask the right questions to ensure your blog post doesn't become another article relegated to the 1,000th page on Google. 

There are important questions before you hit 'publish'

The 5 Questions To Ask Before Publishing A Blogpost

1. Is this specific to my niche? Why bother focusing on a particular niche or topic if you are going to post content that isn't within the context of the niche? There are certain times you can go outside of it definitely, but it has to be contextually related to you or what you typically write about. Explain it before you jump in with your blog post.
2. Can my audience relate? it might be within your niche but not relatable to your audience maybe because they are 25 - 40-year-old upwardly mobile professionals in the finance sector who do not understand why 15-year-olds do the things they do. 
3. Is this content worth sharing? be honest with yourself - is it really that interesting? is it unique? do people really want to know about it or is it just you being sentimental? It is ok to sometimes post selfishly, after all, it is your blog but always ensure there are no long-term repercussions. 
4. Will people engage with it? not clickbait but will they actually respond to it? You may or may not know how they respond to it, especially with the rise of dark social but knowing that your audience engages is enough. It doesn't matter if it's just a huff and puff or a full-on response with a comment and share, the important thing is that they engage with it which indirectly means they have formed an attachment to it.
5. Is it catchy enough for people to come back? if they are attached to it they will come back, right? Ensure your post makes a subliminal promise that way, the audience can have something to look forward to.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

4 Simple Content Ideas for a Beauty brand

I once worked as a social media manager for a beauty brand. One of the recommended strategies was to work with beauty bloggers so I reached out to the top ones. 

I knew all of them so it was easy to introduce myself and congratulate them on the work they do. Moving on to the brand, they were then told the products the brand would like to gift them and to share ideas of how they would work with the products.

All the bloggers replied to the email with the question 'what do you mean by sharing ideas?' 

I was shocked!

I was already a brand exec then so knew about positioning, brand strategy, promotion and the like so I was sad they didn't know anything about it. 

Wondering what I was expecting them to share? Well, here are 4 ideas any of them could have easily latched onto

• I would work around a casual theme looking at how the products can be incorporated into a simple outing look
• I focus on products so incorporating the products into a shelf shot of everyday beauty products with a blog post or caption around the different products is what I intend to do
• I have an event I'll be attending this weekend. It will be a great opportunity to feature this product and show how it can easily be used for high fashion/red-carpet looks
• I'm a makeup artist so figuring out multiple ways to use these products is what I'll do

The idea of being a blogger is being able to be yourself in each and every instance each time infusing whichever brand on your rooster as part of your life. Effortlessly doing this, is what will make you a professional and sought after by brands as that seamless fusion is what they look out for. 

Photo by Angela Roma from Pexels