My Secret to KILLER Content Creation

November 24th, 2009 | 24 comments

creating killer content Over the years I’ve written many different blog posts and articles in general that continue to be beneficial in one way or another. Long-term traffic, affiliate sales, reputation/brand building, list building and an expanding network are just some of the benefits I consistently receive from content I’ve created in the past.

When you put good info out there, good things come back to you!

But HOW do you consistently produce good, helpful content?

The answer to this question depends on your model. Just like I have my “Info-Product Success Formula” (the most valuable product I’ve ever released!) split into two different “paths” most people either work on authority sites or niche sites and the way in which you produce killer content will depend on which path you’re taking.

Authority site – This is where my little “secret” comes in, which I mentioned in the title of this post. Here it is: ALWAYS write content as if your ONLY audience are friends and family… people you deeply care about! I guarantee the content you produce from there on out will be 100%, 200% even 500% better than if you were writing what you think your audience wants to hear. Think of one person who you love enormously. Imagine if that person wanted to know everything about the niche you’re targeting. NOW, start writing for that person!

Niche site – The importance of “KILLER” content on your niche site is determined by your ultimate goal. If you are just creating sites for adsense income the quality doesn’t need to be “killer.” It just needs to be legible and somewhat helpful. But if you want to build a list with your niche site and/or establish a long-term relationship with your readers, you need to go back and take the same advice I gave for authority sites.

That’s it for today. Short and sweet, but very powerful if you actually do it!

image credit: striatic

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24 comments

Jason Clegg (1 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Great tips for content creation. Writing content is very similar to teaching — in fact, it is a form of teaching. So you’re absolutely right: we should always be writing as though the “students” (or readers) were hanging onto every single word.
Franck Silvestre (8 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 7:34 pm

I like that. It’s good to see that someone cares about good content. Many people try to convince noobs that you don’t need good content to make money.

Sure, a lot of money can be made with crappy content, but it’s not only about the money. It’s your life. What’s really important is: Do you feel good doing what you do right now?

If your offline friends asked you: show me what you are doing and see your sites and products online what would they say? Oh no!

I try to do exactly that. Writing for my friends. In fact, many of them ask me what I do for a living and I send them to my site and tell them to subscribe to my newsletter.

I stand behind my stuff. Quality is a must in my opinion.

Thank you.

Franck
Thomas Stevens (1 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 8:04 pm

“ALWAYS write content as if your ONLY audience are friends and family…”

That’s fantastic advice. The reader will always become more engaged in your content if they feel a personal connection.
Peggy Baron (11 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 8:07 pm

Writing, as if to a friends, is the only way to do it in my book. In fact, I’ve made lots of online friends that way, so it makes it even easier to write for them. Viewers like and relate to the personal style, and it’s much more fun for me to produce content when I know who I’m creating it for.

You are right on, Josh.

Thanks,
Peggy
Marilyn
24th November, 2009 at 8:14 pm

Very good advice, simple but inspirational and something to hold to when marketing. Thanks, Josh.
Scott (1 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Thanks Josh,

It is a fine idea to write to friends. It is a good mindset to consider your readers as friends, because it keeps the “jargon” and boosts the honesty level.

Scott
Roland Campos (1 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 8:39 pm

I’m on the authority site side. This advice is a breath of fresh air in an arena where so much of what is written is just sales hype. For me, another way of putting it is to write from the heart. That type of writing has a better chance of really reaching my readers.
Ric (2 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 8:41 pm

I totally agree, content makes the business. What I’ve come across recently is bad presentation.

This means the spacing is to tight or padding between words is to small. This really takes away from the content.

I feel the presentation is a big part of making it easy for your reader to read.
Regards..
Allen (4 comments.)
24th November, 2009 at 10:10 pm

Nice, simple and easy to apply… immediately! There’re the kinda tips I love : )

Thanks Josh
Nando (2 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 2:49 am

Hi Josh,

Nice post and definitely true. Writing like your writing to your family and friends also makes it a heckuva lot easier to write in general.

When you try to make your content perfect it’s a lot harder to get going.

When it’s just you and a friend it’s easier to get the conversation going.

Cheers,
Nando
Jack Welsen (1 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 2:58 am

Good Quality post It is really attract readers. But Unfortunately, great ideas don’t appear out of thin air. The good news is that they’re easier to generate than one might think.

Especially the main difference b/w Authority site and Niche site its nice implementing to make perfect to ourselves..

Thanks for useful blog keep up your good work forever..
David @ Computer sales and support (7 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 4:57 am

Very sound advice.

How do you account for different levels of knowledge among those who are close to you?

Do you aim for the bottom or top or write a couples of levels according to the variation?
Phil Jaques (1 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 6:58 am

Its an absolute fact that when we put good info we get back the good info and also thank you for giving tips on content writing its very helpfull and needfull to all the content writers
Simon (10 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 10:12 am

It’s so true, if you write like you’re writing to a close friend people will instantly notice this and feel welcomed by your content.
Gary (11 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Thanks Josh, this confirms what I’ve learned elsewhere – that certain types of sites, keywords and content go together.
If you are building an authority type site you will want to go for more general, popular keywords and you’ll need ‘killer’ content to presell your offers.
If you are making a niche site you will probably want to go for more specific ‘buying’ keywords, and because your readers will already know what they want, the quality of your content will be far less important. In fact, your readers may hardly even look at it! As long as they see the right keyword on your page and a strong call to action they’ll need very little persuading.
Joe (8 comments.)
25th November, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Brilliant Josh!
Thats a great way to look at creating content in a very natural conversational way.

Its very true too… every time I write an article that comes from my heart, and written like I’m speaking to my best friends, it comes out great and gets the most views.

Thanks for shining a light on that, its definitely the way to think while writing.

Joe
Michelle Adams (20 comments.)
26th November, 2009 at 11:52 am

Great advice Josh, thinking about writing for friends and family sure can make a big difference to what gets published and it’s always for the better.

BTW, I agree with you that Info Product Success Formula is the most valuable product you’ve released. Easy to implement yet so powerful.
Joe F (1 comments.)
26th November, 2009 at 1:20 pm

I am going to start writing as if its for someone I care about. I also think its important to write on a 5th grade level. I see so many people that to write above their audience. Make it super easy to read!
Jay | Niche Volumes (1 comments.)
27th November, 2009 at 1:25 am

Love this article. I’ve always told people who complained that they can’t write articles to use my “Dear Grandma” formula. Just imagine your grandma asked you about something and you wanted to let her know what you thought about it.

I use this formula myself and writing became a whole lot easier for me.
Moe (2 comments.)
28th November, 2009 at 9:45 pm

I think this is a very good point about providing quality content as you are providing info to your family and just faceless audience where sometimes you lose track and not becoming as encouraged as you should.

Moe
samo (1 comments.)
3rd December, 2009 at 10:00 am

Great advice, I sometimes get stuck with content and think that it needs to be good as I don’t want to put anything out there that people get bored reading so having good content is really important to me. I often find myself being overly harsh on myself and rewriting parts its like being back at school.
Neil (6 comments.)
4th December, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Great advice as always.

It contrasts with a lot of the dadvice that you get in this business. Many people only emphasise the importance of the quantity of information (articles, blogs etc.) that you put out there rather than the quality.

On the subject of the Info Product Success Formula I would agree that it is your most powerful product to date. If it’s the way that you make a large part of your money then that’s good enough for me.

Neil
Dante
23rd December, 2009 at 3:13 am

Wow, that just opened up some doors. That was very nicely put. It can be tough creating great content when you are trying to throw in some related keywords so your site ranks well in the search engines. At least that is what I do for my affiliate strategy.
Joy (2 comments.)
12th January, 2010 at 9:18 pm

That’s a great tip.

I guess, without even knowing it, I’ve been trying to do that. I asked my sister to join my list to review what I write, and I always write as if to her.

It’s been slow going, but I’m starting to see the efforts bearing fruit.

Joy