The million-dollar content question

What content do we need to make that produces a steady flow of people who have the budget to work with us, want to work with us, and are ready to buy the very specific things that we offer?

That’s the million dollar content question, right?

Forget followers, likes, shares, email opens, clicks, DMs, etc. It’s all noise when held up to the crux of that question.

What then is the answer?

To make a beautiful watch, a watch maker must know what makes a beautiful watch.

The same is true for any trade and craft.

I’ve always found it easier to understand how a thing works by completely de-constructing it, then attempting to put it back together again.

“The word “content” is a workhorse of the digital era, referring to any form of culture or media pumped through the distribution tubes of the Internet, regardless of its medium.” Kyle Chayka

How do you de-construct a catch-all concept?

Let’s start wide then go narrow.

EPSN, BBC, The Premier League, National Geographic, Penguin Publishing House, Warner Brothers, Audible, The New Yorker, Netflix, Spotify, TED, Disney, WWE, The Economist, Pixar, WSJ, NFL, …

These are content organisations in the broad sense

Their business model consists of developing, producing, publishing, and selling content.

Here are some observations:

• They’re in the business of holding attention. There’s no business if nobody’s watching. These organisations need to capture attention, but capture is not enough–they need to hold it. Every subscription service requires that maximum viewers stay subscribed, and that only happens if viewers consume the content frequently. Similar with the sponsorship model and sports franchises. Great content keeps us coming back for more.
• Attention is finite. We each have 24 hours in a day, which means that whilst Netflix is competing with Disney+, they’re also competing with Audible, The Economist, eating at the dinner table, sleeping, and many activities that don't involve content consumption. Netflix’s goal isn’t to provide better content that Disney+, it’s to provide the best option of how you spend your time at 8pm on Thursday.
• Narrative is not a prerequisite, but it is rocket fuel. Regardless of format and purpose, entertaining content beats non-entertaining content, and entertainment is the outcome of good narrative. The best content organisations are the best storytellers. That’s obvious for the likes of Pixar and The New Yorker, but it’s just as true with sport, documentaries, news and music. Boxing promotion starts months in advance of a fight to build narrative. That involves journeys, struggles, stakes, good vs evil, and conclusions. If they didn’t need a storyline, they’d cut all the time and expense associated with promotion and get straight to the fight.
• Format expectations DO matter. A person opens an Economist newsletter with a different set of expectations than when they walk into a movie theatre. The Economist has ten minutes (max) to tell each story, but when I walk into the theatre, I enter with the expectation you’ll give me two hours of entertainment, so make the movie accordingly. The reader won't give the Economist two hours to tell a story, and they’ll be fuming if the movie is over after 15 minutes.
• Cadence expectations matter too. Whilst Christopher Nolan doesn’t need to produce a new movie each month, Warner Brothers do if they want to keep the engine running. Similar with Netflix, the NBA, and Spotify. Consumers want regular, fresh content, and depending on the format, they have expectations around how much and how often. But, what’s also true is that…
• Attention evaporates, but it doesn’t disappear. The last episode of Friends was made in 2004, and yet, 20 years on, it’s regularly in the top ten most streamed shows on Netflix. The trend is universal for successful content, even when the show is dated. Attention is heightened upon release, then evaporates, but it doesn’t disappear. It’s why Home Alone is still shown at the movie theatre every year nearly 25 years after its first release. It’s why Sony Music paid $500m+ for Bruce Springstein’s music catalogue. It’s why James Clear’s Atomic Habits is still the best selling business book in the New York Times. It pays to make something great and with longevity in mind.
• Content reflects and shapes the consumer’s identity. More so than ever before, we define our selves by the content we consume. That’s true for the sport we follow, the team we support, the newspaper we read, the shows we adore, the influencers we engage with. Content shapes culture and culture shapes content.
• Content is Intellectual Property (IP), and IP is brand equity. Netflix is valued upwards of $250bn. It’s not a stretch to suggest that valuation is primarily based on four things:
  1. Their back catalogue of content (Stranger Things, The Crown, Bridgerton, Wednesday, Squid Game, etc.)
  2. Their talent, systems, and track record for producing future hit content
  3. Their subscriber base of hundreds of millions (which flows from 1 & 2)
  4. Their data and consumer insights (which flows from 1 & 2)
• Content always evolves to become an immersive experience. Content consumption itself is an experience. When a consumer goes from ‘like to love’, they want that experience to become even more immersive and exclusive:
  • Read This is Marketing on Kindle → Attend a Q&A with Seth Godin
  • Listen to Evolve on Spotify → Go see Imagine Dragons play in Las Vegas
  • Watch NFL on ESPN → Travel to Kansas City to watch the Chiefs live.

Does any of this apply to content marketing?

Every observation above applies to successful content marketing, and Undisputed Authorities become number one in their field as a result of their content marketing. Map James Clear, Seth Godin, Debbie Millman, or Nancy Duarte to the bullets above and (hopefully) you’ll see that it tracks.

But there is one core additional purpose for content marketing…

A consultant’s content takes a reader from A to B

People consume your content when three things are true:

1. They're stuck at point A and they don't want to be.
2. They want to reach point B, but they’re not there yet. They believe your content, to some extent, helps folk get to point B, and;
3. You clearly understand and reference the path from their point A (not C, D, or E were others are at) and therefore can help them navigate from where they are to where they want to go.

Your reader is the expert on points A and B, more so than you. What they don’t know is how to get from one to the other.

They’re looking for a guide to help them.

They won’t trust or listen to what you have to say unless you obviously know what points A and B look like (otherwise, how would you help them get form one to the other?).

That’s a core part of copywriting. Poking at the pain (of being at point A), painting a picture of the dreamland (at point B), and acknowledging why they want to make the journey. The more vivid and relatable the picture, the more you and your ideas appeal.

That’s why getting very specific about who you serve is so important. We each have different As and Bs. You can’t create a vivid and relatable picture if you don’t pick the person who’s A and B you’re going to map.

Content marketing is the map

You detail the journey from A to B, not in one piece of content, but over a series of content spanning weeks, months, and years.

If you get literal with the map, you’re:

• Giving them a 1000 ft view
• Describing every single monster and obstacle (that you’ve faced) and they’ll encounter on the way
• Going through each section of the route in detail from a 10ft above
• Teaching them how to read a map
• Showing them where they’ll find resources and food along the way
• Telling them what they’ll need to bring on the journey
• Showing them what berries not to eat
• Teaching them how to row a boat

What I’m getting at is, sometimes you get granular, sometimes you go more abstract. Drip by drip, you’re painting the journey from every angle. The map never changes. Points A and B never change. What changes with each piece is the angle you come from or the points of focus.

And the reader isn’t necessarily ready to take the journey on day one, but they know they want to get to point B some time.

Along the way, some of them will buy resources from you

Tools and more detailed guides on how to make the journey. Some of them won’t have the time to learn. It’s enough for them to know that you know the way and they just want to pay you to guide them 1:1.

But remember those broad observations on content at the start of this article? They still apply.

None if this works if you don’t hold their attention, and you can only hold their attention if you entertain at the right cadence and in the right manner (depending on the format and the person you’re trying to reach).

Other consultants are creating their own maps, trying to capture and hold the same attention you’re after. Like Netflix, you’re not just competing with direct competitors, you’re competing with every other activity your target could be doing, at any given moment.

If your reader genuinely wants to get from A to B, is struggling to do so, and the struggle is keeping them up at night, they’ll spend some of their time consuming content on the topic. The Undisputed Authority is the consultant who can consistently deliver valuable, engaging stories around making that journey in a format that their market wants to receive those stories.

And of course, this counts for nothing if they never discover your content in the first place.

From there, that A to B journey feeds into all your content assets

Your newsletter, case studies, podcast guesting, sales pages, methodology, book, templates, frameworks, webinars, speaking engagements, etc.

The only thing that changes is the format and intent. Format does matter. The same reader will have different expectations on what a LinkedIn post looks like versus a YouTube video. But your message and every other content observation listed previously remains the same.

So, back to that million-dollar question:

What content do we make that produces a steady flow of people who have the budget to work with us, want to work with us, and are ready to buy the very specific things that we offer?

There’s nuance to the answer, and there’s plenty more to unpack outside a 2,000 word article, but essentially it’s about creating content that speaks directly to your audience’s immediate struggles at point A, looking for a trusted guide to get them to point B.

It’s a constant drip of frames, experiences, and stories that relate to that journey.

It’s taking that map and delivering it the same way a content production studio would. Not to the same scale, but with the same intent. Building narratives that capture and hold attention, doing so in a cadence which is frequent enough to build relationships, but infrequent enough so as to maintain perceived value and actual quality.

And every time you share that content, you give the reader or viewer the opportunity, on their terms, to pay for greater access to the tools and resources you provide in helping them get from A to B faster.

That all comes together to form your IP, and IP is the difference between a six-figure consultant and a 7-figure authority.