It’s a marketing deep dive as we welcome Chris Williams onto today’s episode. We chatted with Chris about all things content creation or selling, which you should focus on, and HOW to create content that connects, and HOW to sell in a way that’s genuine and authentic.

Chris has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, for-profit leadership, and socially responsible market engagement. He has helped creative agencies build wealth and agency owners develop innovative winning strategies. His expertise includes lead generation,

creative team building, and allowing owners to focus on what they do best. Apart from leading his agency, Chris hosts a private mastermind for creative agency owners looking to scale and optimize their businesses, as well as another mastermind on launching a successful mastermind group in eight weeks or less.

Chris was such a delight to talk with, and after today’s conversation, you’re going to walk away feeling SO inspired, ready to tackle your marketing strategy with fresh eyes, and having the knowledge to know what to do when and how to do it.

 

Chris’s Story 

Chris is a dad of five kids between the ages of thirteen and twenty. That is the biggest anchor point of his story because they are who revolve around him. He is an entrepreneur but the kids and Jill (his wife) want to experience life with their kids. Travel with them and have fun with them. They are building something to create a life and at the same time something that wouldn’t gobble up their lives in the process. 

 

KnContent Creation vs. Selling/Prospecting 

Let’s call content creation everything from building your first website or landing page, creating your logo, getting your copy, SEO, social media pages, podcast, vlogs, whatever you do. This right here is content creation, right? That is the huge category of content creation. 

The other side of this is the prospecting and selling side, which’s active, directing our reach that is going to initiate a relationship that allows someone to take advantage of what you are offering. 

Content creation is so freaking fun! Most of us get into whatever journey we are on entrepreneurially because we love to create, we love to build, love to see something come to life. It’s fun and captivating and is more fun than being rejected or being told no. 

Here’s the formula: give like you can’t give enough away. You can’t out-give the universe. That’s the content-giving side, that’s how we function. Then we prospect like it’s the only thing we have to do. Prospect and get people into a situation where they can see what you have to offer is what they need. 

Then you create real, actionable content. Step by step, actionable stuff that people who are paying you can consume to transform their life. 

Give like there is no problem because it always comes back in spades. Then prospect and sell because that is how you make connections and makes you sustainable. Once you sell, that’s when you start creating the actionable content. Building the real meat of what you deliver. 

You won’t get to where other people are today by just standing by and wishing, you get there with practice. Start to do some content production, as rough as it is, show who you are and that you want to be helpful. That is where you start. Translate back to the people that you want to relate to. Tell them where you are, be honest, and help them grow. Your audience needs to know the way you feel and how you are interacting with the world. Just be real. 

 

The order you should do stuff in

Create and sell simultaneously from the beginning. Let’s say you are going to do a podcast and you get some audience members enjoying your podcast, you get a website landing page and maybe you have a Facebook group or Instagram following to go along with it. Well you throw out your first two episodes and they are the best you can do and you are so proud of them. Then in ten weeks, you are going to be ashamed of them but keep going! People are going to then jump in and follow you on Instagram, you’ll get your Facebook group going, some visitors to your website, and maybe some email list subscribers. As soon as you are creating content and giving, start reaching out to the people who are engaging and nurture those relationships. 

Take a bar for instance that you go to, to meet friends. There’s a percentage of people in the room who want to be your friend right away. There’s a percentage of the room who are really good people who want to hang out and talk and will become your friend over an hour or two. Some people will hang out there every weekend for the next month and won’t talk to you but they want to be your friend too they just take a little longer to warm up. 

It is the same in any organization, bar, party, and family. Same with your audience. Get out there and be your awesome self and share what you got now. Start nurturing everyone who comes across your path because some of them are going to want to go down a path with you and potentially buy from you quickly. Some people will take a year, but you don’t know who is which and you got to open the door and just be awesome. Welcome people into your world and see where each one goes and learn through that process. 

 

Why it is important not to be selling all the time 

It’s creepy right? Let’s go back to the bar. There is always a guy in the bar who’s the creeper, even if he doesn’t mean to be, he still is because he’s always trying to say hi to every female that walks in. That is selling all the time. 

It’s important for us content creators who are trying to make a living to get out there, create awesome stuff, and engage relationships. It is not about closing the deal. It’s about engaging the relationship. 

The more you give the more opportunities you get to start relationships and get a chance to engage people. Who you are as a creator and as someone who wants to serve your community, it’s about you being your authentic self and doing your best to transform lives in front of you. If you do that you can’t help but be successful. 

 

How do you sell in a genuine authentic way? 

Let people know that you are about to sell them something. Tell them you hear where they are at and that you can hang out for another ten minutes and give them as much value as possible but you know what they need and can offer that solution. If it’s you would like to take a few minutes to explain it to them in a non-pressure way so they can make an informed decision. 

Rip the curtain back from the Wizard of the Oz so to speak. This is it, this is the machine that can help them. How can you help them use that machine in a way that benefits them? 

 

What to say in content creation 

Three principles to live by every day: 

1. Be real, be you. The format of your content: if you are a writer-write, if you are a video person then jump on the camera, if you’re an audio person do that, and if you like lives, do that! Do what you are comfortable with, don’t do what you think you should be doing to beat the algorithm, or be like the other influencers that you follow. If you do YOU. You will continue doing it and it is the continuation of content creation that begins to be powerful and not that one perfect post. Post last 10 seconds. It’s being there day in and day out for the long haul. 
2. Make it simple and then make it even more simple. The content we all want to create is stuff that we know about. The truth of it is, even if you are creating one post to break down one thing, you are talking to people who have never started. Bring it down to a kindergarten level of answering questions and solving problems that you had forgotten you had at the beginning. Think hard about what it was like when you started and how confused you were. If you want to have a podcast, for instance, first you need to get on iTunes. But once somebody gets past that they are going to have the question of “Oh is the audio on my Macbook not good enough? Now on a rabbit hole of what mic to choose”. That is the basic stuff. Isolate as many of the small beginner steps as you can because that is what people are going to grab onto the easiest. 
3. Never go past three points. If you are writing something out in long-form or talking it out. Keep it to one, two, or three points of actionable forward momentum because once you get to the fourth point you have lost them. It gives them something to hang onto, maybe write on a sticky note and do something about it. It has to be actionable, which means it must be concise. 

 

Content: Personal versus Business

It depends on the brand and offer that you are making. If you have a personal brand such as physical fitness training or mindset training. That kind of interpersonal products or services, then you want to be a little more on the personal side. If you are doing physical training, your audience wants to see you doing the yoga thing in real-life situations. They don’t just want constant links to your page to buy your services. 

If you are on the business side of it, you do marketing and done-for-you services, then yes they want to know who you are but more like a third to twenty-five percent of your content should be you and the dog hanging out at the water park and the other seventy-five percent should be business tips or marketing tips. Things that are more relevant to what they want to get from you. 

It depends on your brand, if you are more business then stay weighted like seventy-five percent to the business side posts. If you are more personal than you want seventy-five percent or so on the personal side with the occasional side of your business. 

 

Real-life analogy 

A lot of us do done-for-you services. We are creative and we are good at what we do and other people want to hire us to do that for them. Graphic design, build a website, run social media, podcast posting, etc. There are also those of us who like to teach and consult and prefer that side of it. Show you, teach you and consult so that you can then do that on your own. Then there are those of us who do both. 

The bottom line is going back to earlier in this conversation, you have to put yourself out there in a way that is you. That’s real and authentic, and that you will keep doing because you like it. Get out there and show your expertise, help people with the real stuff. The real nuts and bolts. Take it down to the basic level. Show them what to do because they will start listening. Get out there and teach people on whatever platform. Teach what you are good at, help people with stuff and address a comment or question that you hear a lot. Go back and remember when you first started five years ago what you were struggling with. 

Boom now you are done, you have content created and prospected! 

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business?

To have hope. Being an entrepreneur since Chris was eleven years old is a lot like being a person. We have to navigate a lot of ups and downs in our lives and business lives. If you are hopeful in a rainbow unicorn sparkle fix that may or may not be real, they can sometimes let you down. But learning how to lean in on experts, such as a good therapist in your personal life or a business coach. Lean in on that and acquire real tangible tips and steps so that you can hope for this future and freaking do something about it. 

Actionable hope. 

 

 

Episode Links

 

For all resources for the creative entrepreneur: www.theheartuniversity.com/shop

 

Content Photo Minor: www.theheartuniversity.com/content-minor

 

If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Heart and Hustle community join our Facebook group here.

 

 

Follow along:

www.instagram.com/chriswilliamshq

www.instagram.com/mrslindseyroman

www.instagram.com/evierupp

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