Why learn from your mistakes when you can learn from other people’s (it’s quicker and less messy, right)? So if you’re just starting out and planning your content, here’s a bunch of errors entrepreneurs often make – but you can swerve.
The mistake of producing too much content
You don’t need to cover every channel right away, just because your competitors are. When you start out, it’s better to concentrate on one or two channels. Find out where your audience spends time and where they’ll be most receptive to your message. Focus your attention here and learn from your audience’s response.
The mistake of an imbalanced emphasis
Don’t focus too much on your product – or too much on your mission story. Find the sweet spot in between. Marry authentic storytelling with the inspiration behind your brand to build an emotional connection and help to give your product its value.
The mistake of making it all about you
Although you’re the hero of your entrepreneurial story, your customer mainly wants to know ‘what’s in it for me, me, me?’ (not so much you, you, you). Making the founder the hero of the story limits your growth potential as it relies too much on people only wanting to work with you. Your content needs to convey that this is a brand for a community, for a society.
The mistake of discounting email marketing
It’s easy to get caught up in the social media whirl. But many people overlook the power of the newsletter. The click-to-sale rate is significantly higher with emails than social – few people will click off Instagram to see a product. With a newsletter, you own the mailing list so you can grow it, segment it, and target your communications and your stories accordingly.
This article was inspired by one of our live Zoom Dives with journalist and content creator, Kim Willis. Zoom Dives are deep-delving discussions between our founder, Carolyn Dailey and handpicked business experts from the creative world. You can listen to Carolyn’s and Kim’s full discussion here.
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