1563: Kevin Smith's Advice On Content Contradicts Everything You've Ever Read by Margo Aaron of That Seems Important

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily. Kevin Smiths Advice On Content Contradicts Everything Youve Ever Read by Margo Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com

[00:00:10] Usually when you have a celebrity at a niche conference, it's the event organizers' way of apologizing for the lack of good content.

[00:00:16] Don't come for the marketing stuff, come see Mandy Moore! Hashtag FacePalm.

[00:00:21] That's how I felt about Kevin Smith, who was the keynote at Converted this week. Turns out, I was wrong.

[00:00:27] At 4.45pm, he steps on stage for a Q&A with Leadpages founder Clay Collins, dressed as if he was in character.

[00:00:35] Clay asks one question, and what happened next changed the entire conference. Smith didn't answer the question.

[00:00:42] Instead, he launches into the world's greatest 45-minute diatribe on content creation.

[00:00:47] Quote,

[00:00:48] Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you the patron king of failure. I've been failing upwards my entire career.

[00:00:54] Don't be afraid of it. Failure is success training. I know it sounds like a f***ing cat poster, but it's true. It leads you to the next thing.

[00:01:03] End quote.

[00:01:04] We're off to a good start. Whether you agree or not, you're entertained. We have no idea where he's going with this.

[00:01:10] The question was about monetization. He goes on.

[00:01:14] Quote,

[00:01:15] You create because you want to, not because someone will write you a check.

[00:01:18] End quote.

[00:01:19] Uh, hold the phone.

[00:01:21] For most of us, creating is quite literally for a check.

[00:01:24] Content is a euphemism for sales vehicle.

[00:01:27] The only reason it has to add value is because it doesn't convert to sales if it's not valuable to your prospects.

[00:01:34] Email content equals direct sales.

[00:01:36] Video content equals goes to sales page.

[00:01:39] Web blog content equals improves SEO, allows you to do content upgrades, place to put your affiliate links.

[00:01:46] Social media content equals jab, jab, jab, right hook.

[00:01:51] The content marketing mantra is, it's all about the customer.

[00:01:55] Know your customer.

[00:01:57] Figure out what they want.

[00:01:58] Use their language.

[00:02:00] Reverse engineer your content strategy based on what the customer needs.

[00:02:03] Pick up the phone and talk to your customers.

[00:02:06] It's our Bible.

[00:02:07] Kevin Smith got on stage and said, do it for yourself first and foremost.

[00:02:13] Mic drop.

[00:02:13] The battle between content as self-expression and content as a sales tool is as old as the internet itself.

[00:02:20] Smith told the audience, quote, anyone who's tried to outwit the general public and game the system with, no, no, no, my data says this, knows it doesn't work.

[00:02:29] You can't guarantee success.

[00:02:31] Creation is master.

[00:02:32] Think about pleasing yourself first.

[00:02:35] In the end, if no one connects with your content the way you connect with it, you haven't wasted your time.

[00:02:40] The audience of one was satisfied.

[00:02:43] End quote.

[00:02:44] My first reaction to this was that this is a terrible way to think about content that converts and a brilliant way to think about art.

[00:02:51] Knowing where one ends and the other begins is where most of us get stuck.

[00:02:55] And what I can't stop thinking about while I'm stuck here at the Minneapolis airport.

[00:02:59] In the Hollywood world Smith comes from, there's a clear separation between church and state.

[00:03:04] Artists create.

[00:03:05] Marketers sell.

[00:03:07] Unfortunately for us, content blurs the line between the two and most of us are confused as to which camp we fall in.

[00:03:13] I'm no exception.

[00:03:14] The best performing pieces of content I've ever created came from the same selfish place Kevin Smith was talking about.

[00:03:21] I did them for me.

[00:03:22] They were topics I cared about or rants I wanted to go off on for no justifiable reason other than I felt like it needed to be said.

[00:03:29] It's not a strategy I would advise to clients, especially since it's also responsible for my worst performing pieces.

[00:03:35] It's hard to put something out there if you're an artist trying to self-express.

[00:03:39] It's also why it's so freaking hard to write your own about page.

[00:03:43] Sales copy is not where you reveal your soul and write the piece that wins you the Pulitzer.

[00:03:48] You may very well reveal parts of your story, vulnerability, in your sales copy, but that's not self-expression.

[00:03:54] If you're struggling with shipping your content, it's probably because of this.

[00:03:58] You're confusing content as self-expression with content as sales, and it's killing everything that makes your content good.

[00:04:05] What marketers mean when we say, it's not about you, it's about your customers, is, don't be so self-involved.

[00:04:12] That's very different from following your insatiable need to create something in the world.

[00:04:16] Self-involved means blasting a newsletter to your list about upcoming events and never considering what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Facebook ad.

[00:04:25] Selfishly creating something you believe needs to exist is not actually selfish, it's a gift, like a song or a movie.

[00:04:32] It's actually perfect for content because it spreads.

[00:04:35] Clay asked Smith how he could be so confident.

[00:04:38] If you exist in the online business content churning world, you know how hard it is to keep your head on straight.

[00:04:44] Without missing a beat, Smith clarified.

[00:04:47] Quote,

[00:04:48] It's not confidence, it's fear.

[00:04:50] The fear of, if I don't try this, will I be able to live with myself?

[00:04:54] Do you think you could live being the guy who didn't build the thing?

[00:04:57] End quote.

[00:04:58] We certainly couldn't.

[00:05:03] You just listened to the post titled, Kevin Smith's Advice on Content Contradicts Everything You've Ever Read, by Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com.

[00:05:13] And thanks to Margot for letting us share this post today.

[00:05:16] In her quest to answer the question, how do you get people to care, and not finding the answers in her job,

[00:05:22] Margot set about learning all that she could about persuasion, influence, direct response, copywriting, branding, and other buzzwords,

[00:05:30] and eventually started her own business.

[00:05:32] And while she was making money, she still wasn't getting people to actually care,

[00:05:36] so she started writing about her experiences.

[00:05:39] And she gained quite a following in the process.

[00:05:41] Today, Margot is the co-host of the popular internet talk show,

[00:05:44] Hillary and Margot Yell at Websites.

[00:05:46] And her own website, That Seems Important, was named one of the top 100 websites for writers.

[00:05:52] So come check it out at ThatSeemsImportant.com.

[00:05:55] And I have that linked for you in this episode's description.

[00:05:58] And that's going to do it for today.

[00:06:00] Thank you so much for being here on this Friday edition of the show.

[00:06:03] Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'm going to see you back here over the weekend,

[00:06:06] where your optimal life awaits.