Aaron Hoos

I’ve been thinking about the purpose of content lately, believing that businesses that understand the purpose of their content can make sure they are reaching all potential audiences with the right content in the right places.

The matrix below is an early-stage idea (read: it’s still evolving and you’re welcome to leave comments with your recommendations) to define where different content channels can be “mapped” on a purpose landscape.

Below, you’ll notice that I started wtih a simple X/Y matrix…

The horizontal axis measures the “humanness” of the content: The left side is all about relationship; the right side is all about information. You might say that Chris Brogan is on the left and Anderson Cooper is on the right.

The vertical axis has to do with the directness of the content in relationship to the transaction. At the very top of the chart is positioning — the general credibility you try to achieve by producing content of value for your audience. At the bottom of the chart is very direct and compelling sales copy. So, Harvard Business School is at the top of the chart and the ShamWOW/Slap Chop guy is at the bottom of the chart.

With the matrix labeled, we can start plotting content channels…

Obviously, these are going to be fuzzy definitions. And, without a doubt, people don’t always use these channels in the way they were intended. Twitter is a content channel you can use for connecting with people and for positioning. Press releases and articles tend to be more informational and positional. Websites are often a good channel for a more obvious sales pitch, and they don’t always have the connecting mechanisms that other channels offer.

(There are many other content channels than just these but I needed to start somewhere, so I started here.)

After observing this matrix and thinking about it a bit more, a couple of other thoughts became clearer, especially about business models…

This is very much a “web 2.0″ business model. Social networks, social marketing, social sites… this social business model is all about connecting and positioning.

I don’t think there are a lot of content channels for this connecting/selling space (perhaps LinkedIn… to a degree) but the business model is very much a multi-level marketing business model. Start a business, contact friends and family, add them to your downstream.

Lastly, I think the right-hand side of the matrix reflects a pre-21st century business model: Connecting was saved for conferences and networking events but content tended to reside on the informational side of the matrix, up and down the positioning/selling axis.

What this means for businesses

• Content choices become clearer: People will (hopefully) use each channel more appropriately knowing the role that each one plays.
• Opportunities become apparent for businesses to launch sites that allow for gaps to be filled.
• Target markets can be appropriately addressed and content strategy can be more effectively developed with a fuller understanding of the purpose landscape.

Agree? Disagree? I tend to use my blog as a laboratory of ideas and this is definitely an idea in progress. I’d love to hear what you think.

Insurance is a tough sell. (I know, I used to sell it). Insurance salespeople have two major issues working against them:

• People usually underestimate their need for it until it’s too late
• There is little perceived differentiation between insurance offerings

Since people don’t feel they need the product, and since the common person can’t tell you the difference between one insurance product and another, insurance companies need to rely on their marketing more than ever. An innovative product won’t get the attention or consideration it may deserve.

Geico uses a number of really fresh, memorable commercials. Progressive uses their famous online (ans seemingly “unbiased”) quote system. Allstate relies on the trustworthy confidence of Dennis Haysbert. All this is marketing because the product itself is not noticeably different (to the common consumer).

There are some broader business ideas that might help:

• Do something to set apart your insurance company or brokerage: Stay open late, make house calls, dress up in clown costumes, give out free massages to the massage parlor next door, specialize in motorcycle insurance and make sure everyone in the office looks like a biker.
• Forget the standard lines like “we offer great customer service” or “we give the personal touch” because chances are, you don’t really do anything different from anyone else. Set yourself apart.

There are some content-related ideas to help you sell:

1. People only know how important insurance is when they realize how valuable it is when tied specifically to something in their lives. No one wants to go to a seminar about insurance, but you probably will get people to go do a seminar related to helping people with something in their lives: If you sell life insurance, put on a seminar about getting along with your teenage kids or managing the stresses of a busy life. These are the things people care about. (If you sell home insurance, put on a seminar related to home ownership, home buying and selling, and real estate investing. If you sell car insurance, put on a seminar about extending your vehicle investment or getting better mileage).
2. Offer a “sponsored message” about insurance in the middle of the seminar. Collect names of people who are interested in signing up for insurance there. Invite people to refer others.
3. Follow-up a week later with a report mailed to your seminar attendee’s home.
4. Put them on your direct mail list but make sure you send short, valuable content regularly.

Insurance is a huge business online so you’ll also need to make sure that your insurance business is pursuing online marketing options:

• Articles
• Blogs
• Whitepaper reports
• Case studies

These content strategies, combined with a unique and memorable approach, can help to increase your offline and online insurance sales.

The Question:

I am a real estate investor and I’m going to a local event shortly where I will be networking with other real estate investors and looking for money to fund my deals. I’ve got an introductory card that I give out but it isn’t pulling in as much response as I’d like. What do you recommend?

[For privacy, card is not included in post]

Aaron’s Answer:

The content on your card is good and just needs to be tightened up a bit. However, I think you should consider something to compel people to talk to you. After all, there are MANY real estate investors all networking hard to get a limited amount of funding dollars. An introduction of yourself is good, but you should consider enticing them to talk to you. I would write up a 2-3 page report about “The State of Real Estate In [your local city]” and indicate on your introductory card that you’ll give them a free copy if they talk to you.

The Question:

I was asked a great question through the private message boards on Guru.com. After briefly outlining his 3 new businesses, an entrepreneur asked: “I have never done much online but am interested in the effectiveness of blogging, press releases, etc.. If i am just beginning each of these businesses, what would you recommend for my ‘plan” to success?”

Aaron’s Answer:
At a very basic level, you’ll want a 3 step approach for each of your businesses; and you’ll find that it’s not that different than a really simple sales process:

1. Get the attention of cold contacts. You can do this through search engine optimization, articles, Twitter, and elsewhere (depending on the specifics of your target market). You might consider investing a little in Google AdWords or some other form of marketing, but that depends on your budget. The point of this step is to draw them into your “sphere” and turn them into warm contacts…

2. Build a relationship with warm contacts. Now that you have all these people listening to you, you need to give them something valuable. Again, it depends on the specifics of your target niche, but typically I’ll create some combination of the following for clients: blogs, whitepapers/reports, and ezines. The goal is to ultimately turn these warm contacts into customers…

3. Sell to your customers. There are a number things you can do — some of which I can help you with. This might include presentation material, “inner” website content (that doesn’t appear in search engines), and more. You might even consider broadening your offerings to include ebooks, webinars, and other products that you can either sell or you can use as positioning material to help you sell your services.

It’s hard for me to give you much more specifics than that with the little bit of information I have. I would say that the specifics depend on:
* Your target market
* Your business area (i.e., where do you do business?)
* Your budget
* … and a few other things.

[Visit my Guru profile]

Whitepapers and reports are a great way to demonstrate authoritativeness in your prospects’ minds. They help to position you as an expert and they also let you talk about yourself (within reason, of course) in a way that articles and other forms of marketing do not.

Not sure what to write your next whitepaper or report about? Here are my suggestions:

1. Describe a common problem that your customers face and then describe the solution (which is your offering, of course). This problem/solution format is one of the most frequently used whitepaper formats because it works. And, since your customers often have more than one problem that needs solving, it’s a great way to create several different whitepapers.

2. Outline the steps someone has to take to do something better. Unlike the format mentioned above, this is less about “what the solution is” but rather “how to move forward”. You could focus on how to use your products in different ways or you can talk about a number of steps in which your products are one step. The format is simple: introduction and then the steps to take, followed up by a call to action/wrap-up/conclusion.

3. Give people a basic overview of the information or situation. If you have a complex industry, this is perfect. I’ve written several whitepapers on real estate investing for exactly this reason: Because many of my client’s prospects found the concepts on his website far too advance and he needed something to introduce them to his industry. You might also write reports that may not introduce complex ideas but introduce ideas that are unique to your business. For example, I might write about the Business Diamond Framework using this kind of report.

4. Create a detailed case study of one client. Identify a client you have who is using your product successfully. This is a simple 5-part format: (1) Start by taking about their problems before they started working with you, (2) talk about their reasons for choosing you over your competition, (3) talk about the implementation of your products, (4) talk about their successes after using your products, and then (5) talk about how they plan to grow their business using your products in the future.

5. Create a big-picture view of a business. This one is unusual but it’s one of my favorites. I used this format when I wrote a whitepaper for SAP BusinessObjects about a year ago. Write a report in which you peer into different departments in a larger organization to see how they are impacted by your product. For example, (if applicable) spend a couple of paragraphs looking at the CEO’s office and describing how things changed for them thanks to you; spend a couple of paragraphs looking at the Finance department and describing how things changed for them thanks to you; and work your way down through whatever departments are applicable: middle management, administrative, warehouse, sales, etc. This works well if you use a “fictionalized” approach (in which you create an fake company based on the collected results of real clients).