Good content is king is often a cliche we hear in the internet world. Some other terms we throw around are pillar content, flagship post and quality content. All in all describing kinds of content people will love to read, enjoy and then share. Coming from a background in education, I can tell you that this not 100% true. While I can spend time looking at great content, if it is not something I can apply to my life or myself, it’s useless. We live in a busy world and pillar content need to be about what’s useful and beneficial to me. Since I am tuned into “what’s in it for me” our pillar content has to serve a purpose and engage our readers to:
1. Change Lives:
The landscape of the media industry has changed. I know this first hand. Having produced a weekly talk show and magazine, I can tell you the landscape has changed dramatically. The power is in the hands of the people. Blogs are now more credible than most advertising houses, media empires and C-level executive suites. How do I know this? Well, we all Google everything to get an opinion on the produce before we spend a penny. Right? Google is now an English word, and Googling is now a verb. This did not existed ten years ago; and those reviews most are by everyday people who enjoyed the product and can share their opinions. Your blog must be so impacting that it changes lives for the better. It educate people of things, processes, events and resources that makes their live better. Change lives for the better with great tools, great and simple how to get them focus and show them how to do it better than anyone else.
2. Create Value:
When I go to the supermarket, I am there with an objective, a list and a desire to get out very quickly. Our blogs must be able to do the same. When our readers come, they are there to checkout something new, get a better understanding of what was said, learn something, be challenged and leave wanting to return. This is the objective of great content. With over 300,000 blogs on the web today, we have to think how to rise above the noise. How to impact better in the homes, hearts and heads of our readers and by giving them value, our content would be welcome when we make a new post, add a new category or release a product. The lives touched, are a clear indication of our commitment to making a difference, impacting our world and certainly – creating value. Creating value however, is more than just that, it goes into the quality of our post and the time we spend developing it. We often see a quick rush to get a post up, apply new keywords and peddle the next big affiliate product. This is not adding value to lives, this is hawking. Creating value is about making a difference, leading change and showing others value.
3. Inspire People
There’s an old quote by Hilary Cooper that says, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” When we deliver pillar content, we take their breath away. We deliver an experience that leaves them hungry for more. We invest time, talent and dedication into our post that they can see from the outside. People get engage with us, we become an attraction magnet and our work, our blogs and our products are easily grabbed up by the audience. Our waiting lines then become the place where people lurk, seeking new inspiration. When our content gets to this level, then we fully know, we are doing it out of a desire to inspire, to change and to create value. This is what it takes to go beyond the good. When we set aside our egos and agenda and focus on creating quality pillar content that truly makes a difference in our world, then we would go pass the good and reach for the great. Happy blogging.
