How would you like to get your product or service in front of a targeted audience of 40,000 people who are eager to hear what you have to say?
I’m talking about a detailed description of the problems that you solve, with your company positioned as the solution.
It’s something I do all the time at Profit Fox, and if you keep reading, you can easily do it too.
The Content Gift Technique
I call it the Content Gift technique, and it’s the step by step process I’ve used to get in front of huge audiences who are looking for exactly what I have to offer.
I’ll show you exactly how I did just that for my client AMZTracker.com, and how I presented them as the ideal solution for Amazon sellers.
You’ve probably heard of variations of this technique before. It goes by many names including guest posting and contributed content, but the content gift is done in a way to maximize impact.
I’m going to show you my specific take on it – how I make sure I get the result I want. A guest posting or contributed content won’t necessarily get you results if you don’t do it right.
In order to successfully pull off the Content Gift, you have to keep the end goal in mind, which is to expose your product or service to qualified, interested prospects in a compelling way, get those prospects back to your website, and get their contact info so you can follow-up with them and offer more information.
We’re going to do just that by discovering the problems of our prospects, providing them the solutions they’re looking for, and then tying in our product or service with those solutions.
If you’re ready to know how I do it, let’s take a look at the Content Gift technique.
Def: Content Gift – Talking about your customers problems, hopes, dreams, fears, and desires in front of large pre-existing audiences and tying the solutions to those problems into your offering.
The 3 fundamental rules of the Content Gift technique
Rule # 1. Take advantage of existing audiences rather than trying to build yours from scratch
One of the best ways to market yourself is to leverage a pre-existing audience of prospects who fit your customer profile.
The content gift technique hinges on forming partnerships with blog owners with existing audiences that are interested in what you have to sell, and then getting your content in front of that audience.
Now, if you have a long track record of producing amazing content, use that to your advantage. You’re going to be able to go after bigger blogs and media outlets, sometimes with millions of people.
If it’s your first go-around writing content, you’re going to get quicker results if you shoot for a smaller audience. Maybe instead of 40,000 people, your first post you shoot for an audience of 4,000 highly targeted readers.
Think about it. If you got your product in front of 4,000 people who have the problem that your product solves, do you think you would make some sales?
How do you actually go about partnering with these blogs?
And how do you present your product or service in a way that blog owners are receptive to?
Step 1: Search for what you help people do
The first step to finding an audience interested in what you have to sell, is to search google. You’ll want to type in what it is that you help people do.
You’ll want to type in what it is that you help people do.
If you’re a guitar teacher, you may want to search “how to play guitar”
If you help people find their ideal career, type “how to find a job I love”
If you are a travel agent, search “how to plan a great vacation”
You get the idea. Don’t overthink it.
In this example, AMZ Tracker helps people selling on Amazon.
All I’m going to do is type in “selling on Amazon” in Google.
Find the best fit for your message
You can see that the first three results are from Amazon.Com. We don’t want these because Amazon is not going to promote my business.
The fourth result is an article I wrote for Entrepreneur.Com, 5 Myths about selling on Amazon.
The fifth result is someone’s Blog. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Blogs are the media source most likely to promote your content to their audience. After all, they are in the business of content creation and curation. They are actively producing and seeking out great content, and there’s a good chance they’ll be interested in what you have to offer.
For this instance, I’ve decided to reach out to Skip McGrath, who is the fourth search result for “selling on Amazon.”
Here’s why I know it’s a good fit
1. He gets a lot of traffic (he’s on the first page of google for my search term)
2. He helps my target audience of Amazon sellers (I looked around his site)
3. His site is complimentary to my product or service, not a direct competitor
If the site matches these criteria, you’ve got a fit.
Action Steps: Search for partners in your industry. Find 5-10 blogs that fit the criteria above, and write down the URL, the contact info, and the name of the blog. We’ll come back to this in a second.
Rule #2. Content curators WANT your content, as long as it makes them look good
As I said before, blog owners are in the business of content production and creation, and they want great content for their blog. Great content means content that is going to provide value to their existing audience, solve problems, get views and clicks, or somehow increase the status of the blog.
Always consider your audience with any piece of content, especially cold outreach.
Many people will reach out and say “hey blog owner, I have an awesome product, can I tell your audience about it?”
This is the wrong way to do it. Instead, you want to reach out and say “hey blog owner, I think I can solve a major problem for your audience, and they’re going to love you for it. Are you interested?”
See how much more compelling that is?
Step 2: Email your list of blog owners with a compelling pitch
Here’s the exact message I used for our Amazon example.
Hey Skip,
My name is Christian, and work for a company called AMZ Tracker that helps Amazon sellers grow their sales through sales tracking, keyword optimization, review monitoring, a review network and more. You get the idea.
Our customers have been super pumped on the product so far, and we’ve seen a lot of great results.
Since you help people build e-commerce businesses, I thought you might be interested in hooking up your students and readers.
Would you be interested a contribution for your newsletter?
I think it would be a win-win-win for you, AMZ Tracker, and your customers and students.
Let me know.
Thanks!
Christian
Your content should be a gift to the blog owner and their audience, which is why it’s called the Content Gift technique. If you’re doing your job right, the blog owner should be thanking you for “pitching” your product to their audience.
Valuable content takes hours and hours to create, and one blog can’t possibly cover everything themselves. If you provide content that is valuable, you’re providing a gift to the blog owner.
You’re helping him or her do their job better, and making their life easier.
Action steps: Email your list of blog owners with your pitch.
Be sure to include the following
1. Who you are and what problem you help solve
2. Why you think your content is a fit for the blog
3. What’s in it for the blog and their audience?
Rule #3. Create content that your audience wants to read, not content about your product
After you’ve emailed some blog owners, and they’ve replied with interest in your content, it’s time to actually plan out what you’re going to produce.
Notice that the technique involves talking about your customers’ problems, hopes, dreams, fears and desires in front of a large pre-existing audience, NOT talking about your product in front of a large pre-existing audience.
To sound like a broken record, the best way to give a gift to the blog owner is to provide value to their audience.
So how do you actually do this?
I usually start by asking what the audience is most struggling with at the moment, and then I try to solve that problem.
Again, don’t overthink it.
Step 3: Solicit feedback on what content will provide the most value to the blog owner and their audience.
Here’s the second email I sent to Skip.
Hey Skip,
Can you tell me a little more about your readers?
Are they typically selling items they already own on Amazon? Do you have readers who engage in retail arbitrage, or private labeling? What are their biggest challenges, and how do you think Amz Tracker could help them most?
Once I get a better handle on your readers, I’ll write up the newsletter text and send it over before Tuesday morning.
Thanks,
Christian
Skip emailed me back and told me exactly what would provide the most value to him and his readers.
Now I knew what would make Skip happy, and what his readers would be most likely to respond to.
This is important.
If you’re not producing content that your audience is interested in, no one is going to be interested in what you have to sell.
Step 4: Produce great content discussing the problems, hopes, dreams, fears and desires of your prospect, with your company positioned as the solution.
We came to an agreement, and my piece titled “the difference between an amateur and a pro” was published on Skip’s website (which gets massive traffic from Google) and sent out to his list of 40,000 readers.
See the full article here >>> The difference between an amateur and a pro
My article discusses the hopes and dreams of my prospect (becoming a successful Amazon seller). I positioned AMZ Tracker as the solution my prospect needs to achieve their dreams. (It is, it’s a great product)
Note that I first talked about the prospect and their problems and dreams, instead of leading with my product.
Create a compelling reason for the prospect to check out your product
1. Find the right audience
2.Present your product or service in a helpful manner to the blog owner
3. Produce content that’s a gift to the blog owner and their audience
Action steps:
After you’ve reached out to your list of 5-10 blogs, talk with the blog owner about what will produce the most value for their readers. Write something amazing, and send it over for feedback!
If you do this successfully, you too can get in front of targeted audiences who are actively seeking what your business has to offer.
In this case, I positioned AMZ Tracker as a solution in front of 40,000+ readers, but you can grow your business by getting in front of 400, 4,000 or 4,000,000 people. It all depends on who you partner with.
Just remember, in order to succeed, your content should be a gift to everyone who receives it.
That’s why I call it the Content Gift technique.
Tips and Tricks for getting results:
You HAVE to use a call to action at the end of your post where you link back to your blog.
Ex. Learn more about how to skyrocket your Amazon sales at AMZTracker.Com
If you want to use an advanced tactic, you can offer a content upgrade “exclusive” to that blog. Point the readers back to your site, and give them a download that’s complimentary to your article in exchange for their email address, and don’t forget to follow up with additional emails!
BONUS: Generate sales with the Content Gift technique in a fraction of the time
Enter your email below to get the following:
- The exact spreadsheet I use to consistently reach out to and land content in front of large audiences
- A step-by-step checklist to pulling off a successful Content Gift, so you don’t miss a step
- The single tool I use to cut the time spent on outreach by 80%
Need help pulling off the Content Gift?
Don’t have the time, attention or writing ability to pull off the Content Gift technique?
Profit Fox offers a done-for-you service to get you in front of your ideal target customer.
Enter your info below if you’d like to get your business in front of a massive audience interested in what you have to offer, and we’ll schedule a follow-up call to discuss if a Content Gift is right for you.
Have questions?
You can reach me directly on the contact page.
Let me know what you thought of this piece. Honest feedback is one of the most valuable gifts you can give.
To your success,
Christian
