How Do You Write Content That Your "Target Audience" WANTS To Consume???

8 years ago

Hey Mike, here are a few ways you will know without a shadow of a doubt which kind of content your audience will appreciate:

- Go to niche forums and take note of the most popular threads there. Any threads/questions/topics that get a lot of views and comments will give you a good indication of what things will make effective blog topics.

- Find other popular websites/blogs in that market and subscribe to their email lists and follow their posts. If these blogs are truly popular, there's a reason for that; the content they create resonates strongly with their readers.

- Go to Amazon.com and buy best-selling books on that market; this is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get high-quality content ideas to make value-packed blog posts. Again, these books are best-sellers for a reason.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Daniel

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reachintan

8 years ago

this is the exact way you should follow..this way you will not only find great topics but would also know what is really trending...

Chintan

Originally Posted by danieldesai

Hey Mike, here are a few ways you will know without a shadow of a doubt which kind of content your audience will appreciate:

- Go to niche forums and take note of the most popular threads there. Any threads/questions/topics that get a lot of views and comments will give you a good indication of what things will make effective blog topics.

- Find other popular websites/blogs in that market and subscribe to their email lists and follow their posts. If these blogs are truly popular, there's a reason for that; the content they create resonates strongly with their readers.

- Go to Amazon.com and buy best-selling books on that market; this is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get high-quality content ideas to make value-packed blog posts. Again, these books are best-sellers for a reason.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Daniel

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Chintan Mehta

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eklipz316

8 years ago

Visit popular sites in your niche and see what they're writing about. Check out their social pages like Facebook and Twitter and see which posts get the most likes, retweets, and shares. Also read and interact in the comments to see exactly what people like and dislike.

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Randall Magwood

8 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeVietri

I want to make sure that my work actually makes a difference in the life of my readers.

Do the best that you can. Write the best content as possible. Your info will only capture the hearts and minds of a few of your subscribers/readers (certain percentage). Just keep writing and marketing your content, and trust me.... the people who love you and your info will be the people whose lives you will change forever.

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Mark Singletary

8 years ago

Questions like these come for one main reason: people don't know their target audience.

This is where the passion versus profit niche selection argument falls apart in my opinion. People with a passion that really know their market and understand their language, needs, desires, problems, every day life, etc. will get much farther than someone that throws up something they have no clue about or they research for a couple days or a couple months just because the niche is supposed to be profitable.

The things I'm passionate about (not all of them are profitable and so those probably will never see the light of day except as a pure hobby) can easily have hundreds or thousands of articles, tips, questions, strategies, etc. because I know the market - I am the market and so I know what they want. I know the question after the question. I know the real meaning of a question or problem versus a surface understanding only. I know how bad it hurts or how happy it makes me when ____.

Is that the case here? If so, you may want to rethink your strategy since you haven't even started yet and seem to not be sure about what to write that will help people.

In my opinion there is no tool and no amount of research (outside living it and breathing it for a period of time) that will get you the answers you need.

As an example, you could use the suggestions Google throws out and come up with a cool sounding topic like "how to lose weight after many failures" and attempt to rake in the riches. In almost every case I've seen of passion/living it versus profit only, the profit only topics are shallow, don't scratch the itch, and eventually get abandoned for one reason or another.

While there may be exceptions, you hardly ever hear true, lasting success stories about people starting businesses (or blogs or selling infoproducts) that hate the topic or don't know a lot about it. In some cases the knowledge can come as the momentum and therefore interest in the topic builds but I think that is relatively rare.

Mark

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luketr

8 years ago

Mike,

You need to work backwards from your monetisation method; provided your product is actually useful to your chosen market.

I'm struggling to come up with a universal example that clearly explains. Let me know your niche/product & I'll give you a more detailed answer. Sorry, I'm more of an execution rather than theoretical guy.

Also, I think you may be trying to over supply on the content front. It's not always the case with every single market that you can put out 200-400 word articles every day/week and still provide quality. Again, all depends on your niche.

Thanks
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MikeVietri

8 years ago

The things I'm passionate about (not all of them are profitable and so those probably will never see the light of day except as a pure hobby) can easily have hundreds or thousands of articles, tips, questions, strategies, etc. because I know the market - I am the market and so I know what they want. I know the question after the question. I know the real meaning of a question or problem versus a surface understanding only. I know how bad it hurts or how happy it makes me when ____.

Is that the case here? If so, you may want to rethink your strategy since you haven't even started yet and seem to not be sure about what to write that will help people.

I am definitely passionate about my work.

I has been trying to "make it" for many months now, and I have gotten over the "make money online" mentality

by now I want to develop authority and become a thought leader in my niche

So I'm not starting my internet marketing blog just because the "niche is profitable"

I am starting it because I can relate to it, like you said I have been apart of it,

because I feel as if I can actually make a difference in the market place, maybe not right away but as my knowledge and experience evolves.

and I just love being involved with it.

But as a new comer it is not easy to explode on to the scenes (so to speak)

It takes time to acquire the knowledge and experience to be able to write thousands of articles on demand.

I have the passion to get there, not because doing that will make me lots of money..

but because my curiosity will not allow me to move in any other direction.

In my opinion there is no tool and no amount of research (outside living it and breathing it for a period of time) that will get you the answers you need.

I can see this,

I can see that as my blog grows it will become easier to serve or to meet the needs of my readers, through my involvement in the market place and with them.

but the question is how can I begin this process in the most effective way?

Thank you for your thought provoking reply, it was great.

I'm struggling to come up with a universal example that clearly explains. Let me know your niche/product & I'll give you a more detailed answer. Sorry, I'm more of an execution rather than theoretical guy.

Hi! Thanks for your kind interest

My blog is about Internet marketing, and I want to appeal to newcomers who want build an online business around purpose, and passion,

By showing them how to use leverage to develop their own online business in a powerful and effective way.

and I'm promoting a product called "Internet Profit" which is an internet marketing platform, where you can make up to $2,500+ commissions and get top of the line training.

I truly believe in the power of this product and as of now it is the only thing I promote.

So my target audience is "Newbies" who are dead serious about making their online business work.

that would be my ideal reader.

Thanks
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discrat 8 years ago

Hey Mike,
Definitely mix it up with your own personal experience and stories with examples how you overcame obstacles and how it can apply to your audience

I know you cannot continually " just write about my (your ) feelings" everyday but you can really make it a focal point of your blog. And you will get a subset of people who really find in interesting, helpful, and inspiring.

And those are the people you want to keep writing for

- Robert Andrew
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- kilgore 8 years ago
  
  The way you learn what your customers want is simple: you observe and listen.
  
  As Mike Singletary so eloquently said, you absolutely do need to know your target audience. And he's also right that being part of your target audience is a tremendous advantage in being able to know your target audience. But it's also true that you're just one of many people who may be interested in what you're doing and that not all people are exactly like you. So you always need to be listening to and observing your customers to make sure you're hitting the mark.
  
  The thing is, when you launch a new business, you'll always be off the mark in some pretty major ways. That's just par for the course. Steve Blank defines a startup as, "an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model." (Source: What's A Startup? First Principles. | Steve Blank). In other words, when you start a business, what you're really creating is a hypothesis -- a hypothesis about what your customers need, how you might attract them, how you might serve them and how you might monetize what you're doing.
  
  But all of those hypotheses are subject to verification and revision once your business is launched and in front of the customer. So if you're trying to decide what to write, the first thing you do is put yourself in the place of your target audience. What kind of information are they looking for? Then you deliver that as best you can.
  
  But then you observe. And you listen. Did your audience respond? What are they clicking on? How long are they staying on your pages? Are they liking and sharing your posts on social media? What sort of comments are you getting on your site, on social media or in your email? And what do they say that they like about what you wrote? And what do they say that they don't like? What sort of ideas are they bringing to you about what you might do?
  
  After that, you use what you learned through observation and listening to try to give your customers more of what they want and less of what they don't.
  
  But on a side note, I'm a little confused by your business model:
  
  How can you say you believe in a product, when either you (1) aren't using it yourself or (2) are using it but are still struggling? Perhaps you really do believe in this product, but it doesn't really seem like you have any evidence to support your belief other than wishful thinking.
  
  How did you come to pick a product to sell and focus on exclusively before you really even seem to understand your audience and understand what you're going to give them? MMO is huge and you could write about just about anything. You might, for instance, write a post on how to set up a simple Wordpress site. But the chances of anyone reading that being interested in your internet marketing platform (whatever that means). The offer must, must, must be targeted to the content or your audience won't be targeted to your offer. In the Wordpress example, it would be better to pitch them an offer for a Wordpress plugin or recommend them a web host. I suppose you could write a bunch of topic that's all somehow related to the product you're promoting -- but I really think this is putting the cart before the horse. Instead of starting with your desire is to sell a product, I think you'd be far better off trying to provide value to your customers -- and a big part of the value you'd provide would be understanding which products would truly benefit them rather than trying to get them to buy products that benefit you.
  
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  << This is not a sales pitch >>
  
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Mark Singletary 8 years ago

Mike,

While a start is a big part of success it is only the start. If we start down the wrong path then that typically doesn't lead to success. You've made a start and that is good but I'm not sure it's on the right path. I'm not trying to be negative here - trying to help.

It sounds like you have the passion but not the experience. You are targeting newbies but have just made your first commission within the last couple months.

Some of your posts here, while designed to be helpful I'm sure, are of the type that I talked about. There are several examples that clearly show you don't have the knowledge or experience to be really helpful except in a cheerleader mode.

In addition, you are selling a system to make $1000 commissions but it seems you haven't done it yourself yet. How do you know it works?

Yes I know you are honest in explaining that you are new on your site but I'm talking about in the actual content you've written - experienced people (and even newbies that pay attention) can see through the smoke and mirrors.

Maybe you should try making some money in a field not related to MMO until you can actually make some consistent money online yourself. You don't necessarily have to abandon the MMO blog but just focus on truly living and understanding how the business works. See if the theories you are promoting work in another niche.

Again I'm not trying to be negative but the fact is that these streets are littered with the souls of those who have tried to follow the exact same path you have followed the exact same you are following it. Some of them have even been promoting the same gurus you are on their discovery blog. Most of them aren't here now - they've lost their share of money, went back to a job, labeled the entire market and forum as scammers because nothing ever worked for them (even though they were selling the same stuff), etc. These are the cries for help we see all the time - hundreds or thousands of posts over the years.

Not trying to dissuade you - I'm trying to encourage you that if you continue in the MMO arena, at least get some experience doing it (making money) in another area first.

Mark
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Rory Singh

8 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeVietri

and I know that I can not just write about my feelings...

Well yes and no.

You can't captivate everyone in your audience. Only some of those visitors / readers will actually continuously follow you.

And the one's that usually do are the one's who 'relate' to you, your thoughts and your experience.

Don't make the mistake of trying to please everyone because as Randall said above...Only a percentage of your visitors will really follow, like, trust and share your stuff.

All the best Mike!

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Yokolo

8 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeVietri

Hi Guys!

I'm just now starting my blogging journey

and I know that I can not just write about my feelings...

I know it is my job to solve the problems and or meet the needs of my target audience with the content that I produce on my blog.

But the question is

how do I know on a consistent basis what problems my target audience is facing?

What tools, or methods can I use to come up with content that is laser targeted for the type of people I want to help and serve?

I do not want to just "wing it" or go in to it blindly..

I want to make sure that my work actually makes a difference in the life of my readers.

So how do you make sure your content creation efforts are not wasted?

You can ask them via a survey at the bottom of your post. You see them on blogs sometimes they usually say "Was this post helpful" followed up with a thumbs up or thumbs down. It is actually pretty helpful if you use it consistently, it is a tool that will help decide what content you should be writing about.

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TheGMa 8 years ago

Hi Mike!

Do you have an opt-in? Besides the fact that it's vital to your business, it's also a feedback tool.

I recently received an email from one of my favorite IM'ers after I signed up for a new, helpful offer of his. The email asked me to click on the link that best represents my current level.

This served 2 purposes: (1) It led me to a landing page specifically geared toward IM'ers like me; and (2) It allowed him to separate his followers into email streams.

He probably has his emailed tagged with a program that not only tells him which emails are being opened but automatically sorts them into separate lists dependent on specific variables.

What does this mean to you? INFORMATION. You can use your email to determine the interests of your viewers and do searches based on their response to find a wealth of knowledge.

SAME WITH COMMENTS. Tell your readers that you will build future posts based on their comments and will give credit to the commentator with the best nugget for that future post. People love acknowledgment and word gets around, especially if you tell your Facebook Fan Page the same thing.

You can even run contests using PLR's as prizes, and guess what?! You can increase interaction by offering PLR's on different topics, doesn't have to be IM. Give them a choice of a cookbook, travel book, or any other topic that will get their "I want to make money to do that" juices flowing.

- Annie
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- ElGuapo 8 years ago
  
  OP: I can only broadly echo what Mark said above.
  
  These kinda questions pop up regularly, and I want to scream "don't go down this path!" Writing is a tough, tough gig at the best of times. But when you're struggling to write for a niche you don't care about, well, I think it's a symptom of imminent failure. Some will think of me as a Negative Nancy for saying that, but it's meant with the best intentions: to help newcomers avoid the mistakes others have made.
  
  If you're going to write content you need to check one of two boxes:
  
  1. You can produce consistent and quality writing (an indicator of a pro writer and/or somebody who loves their subject of choice.)
  
  2. You hire a ghostwriter to produce all your content.
  
  If you don't check either box, I'd bail out and look for a different business venture.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Steve B 8 years ago
  
  Mike,
  
  There have been some great suggestions here, but a lot of powerful ideas haven't been mentioned yet.
  
  Passion for the subject is good; in fact, I think you ought to write and publish everything on your blog that shows you have passion for the niche. Develop a persona and express it with passion!
  
  But there is a lot more to write about than just your feelings. Your audience wants guidance, expertise, engagement, recommendations, news, events, thoughts from niche leaders, and acknowledgement. Where do you get ideas to give your audience all these things? You watch the niche closely and keep tabs on the news and events within the niche.
  
  Subscribe to newsletters and magazines in the niche and read them faithfully looking for thought-provoking ideas
  
  Set up "alerts" at Google and elsewhere so you are notified of news-related happenings in the niche
  
  Visit the top-rated sites and the most popular sites (daily or weekly) in the niche to find out (and participate in) the discussions they are having
  
  Having a subscriber list will be critical for you - make it easy and non-threatening for people rabid about the niche to sign on
  
  Nurture you list and interact with them. Ask them what is important to them personally - do surveys with them - engage them so they will open up to you and give you feedback
  
  Interview thought leaders in the niche - give them a platform - accept guest bloggers that have authority
  
  Be sure to "guide" niche participants - give them a reason to follow you - show your expertise in the niche, not just your passion. If you don't have expertise - learn it or experience what you need to know
  
  Create a detailed outline of your niche. Google will be your friend. List every aspect, activity, subject, or technique in the niche. Get as detailed and specific as possible. You should have over 100 detailed line items in your outline. Make it dynamic and keep adding to it every time you think of something else about the niche. Now for each item you have ask these questions:
  What is it and what does it mean for the niche participant?
  
  Why is it important and why is it a useful part of the niche?
  
  How is it done? How can I guide someone to use it?
  
  Where is it most effective/useful/efficient?
  
  Who discovered it, promoted it, and who is it best suited for?
  
  When is it best used/experienced/learned?
  
  Now write a blog post about each of these six questions specifically answering the question for every one of the 100 line items (or more). That's 600 blog posts relevant to the niche with the subject already defined.
  
  If you want to be seen as the authority in the niche, you can't just expect to gain that title on passion alone. You have to step up and be a leader. It doesn't matter whether there are already other more well-known leaders in the niche. Put yourself out there - treat your audience (subscribers) like gold and the human beings they are - and lead them. A certain number will follow you and look up to you because they want to know and experience what you have in the niche.
  
  This should at least get you started. I could write a whole lot more about this (and already have).
  
  The very best to you,
  
  Steve
  
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  Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
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  TheGMa 8 years ago
  
  Yo Steve! Thanks for the Google Alerts reminder. I completely forgot about that neat tool.
  
  Yes Mike, Google Alerts is a most important tool. It's easy to sign up. Go here https://www.google.com/alerts
  
  - Annie
  
  Thanks
  
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Anthony J Namata

8 years ago

Very nice question. Great advice on here too. Let me tell you what I do with my music-related blog. First, I am a tutor. And so I would draw inspiration for articles from my very own student base. The challenges that they're up against, and the solutions that work to resolve their issues. THAT is where I get my content from. And then of course, there is the question of keywords thrown into the mix that have everything to do with the topic.

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How Do You Write Content That Your "Target Audience" WANTS To Consume???

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