In a world where content is truly king, why is so much of it mediocre?
For one, most people don’t know what remarkable content is, so let’s define it.
Remarkable content is a work of art that people can’t stop reading. It fascinates you and makes you want more. It solves a burning pain, resonates with you in a way you never thought possible, and leaves you a better person having read it.
When was the last time you came across something like this? It’s rare, but that’s because it’s not easy to create. It takes time, patience, and lots of effort.
The reward for creating truly remarkable content is a vast sea of readers begging you for more.
How do you create it? Here’s a quick 4-step guide to teach you.
Know Your Audience Better Than Yourself
If you’re ever going to create something epic, you need to understand what your target market wants. You could write the most compelling piece of work ever to hit the internet, but if it’s something no one cares about, it was doomed from the get-go.
What are your readers’ desires, hopes and dreams? What keeps them up at night? What are some problems they face on an everyday basis?
Create a very in-depth profile of your ideal reader. You should, at the bare minimum, know:
- An age range
- Their interests and hobbies
- Where they hang out (online and in the real world)
- Their biggest problems
Understanding who you’re writing for is critical to creating any piece of remarkable content.
Aim for Quality Over Quantity
This is something that’s been debated time and again. Your blog needs consistent content to generate more traffic, but it doesn’t do you or your audience any good if your material is utter garbage.
Tim Ferriss believes quality is the most critical factor to successful content marketing. That’s certainly good enough for me.
If you create something incredibly useful and relatable (i.e. of high quality), then people are going to want to read. They’re also going to want to share it with their friends.
Bite the bullet and take the time to do what most other bloggers aren’t willing to. This is how you stand out in the crowd.
Go Through Multiple Iterations until You Get It Right
The more time you invest in an article, the higher quality it will be. No one is going to debate that.
Contrary to popular belief, however, that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.
Writing a piece of content in a vacuum means potentially missing out on incredible feedback from friends and fans alike.
When you finish the first draft of your article, send it to at least 3 other people to critique. Make sure at least one of them is a part of your target audience.
Ask them questions like:
- Is there anything important that’s missing from this?
- What can I do to improve upon X (e.g. the readability, the length, more examples, etc.)?
- How well does it resonate with you?
When you do this, your content will start to take incredible shape. When it’s finally ready to be published, you will know that you created something truly remarkable that people will be dying to read.
Make Your Content Work for You
In the personal-finance realm, it’s no secret how the rich get richer – they make their money work for them.
Remarkable content operates the same way.
Once you’ve invested the time creating remarkable content, it only makes sense to have it work for you for years to come. Why not use your hard-spent time to reap the benefits again and again?
Learning and implementing some basic SEO strategies can dramatically boost the ROI for each piece of remarkable content you create. If you’re struggling with where to start, use an SEO tool to identify where to focus your efforts, then go from there.
Wrapping It All Up
Now that you know what remarkable content is, it’s on you to use this information and create it. To summarize what we’ve covered:
- Know your audience better than yourself
- Aim for quality over quantity
- Go through multiple iterations until you get it right
- Make your content work for you
Go forth and write something that will make the world a better place.
Susan Melony is a BusinessTown.com contributor.
