271: Content strategy framework pt 1: Connect

Imagine deciding to backpack through Europe. You’re inspired, excited, you’ve got your gear packed and your passport ready. But here’s the catch - you didn’t plan the route. 

You’ve got no map, no guidebook, no clue which cities you’ll visit or how you’ll get there. You’re just hoping for the best (which might be fun, but also can be a disaster if you have only a short time there).

That’s what running your content without connection looks like. Without connecting to your vision, audience, goals and the platform (channels) to use.

Let’s talk about it and get your started on this epic trip! 

If you LOVED this episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah.

⁠LEARN THE DETAILS OF A CONTENT STRATEGY WITH MY FREE AUDIO GUIDE⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨ The 3 C’s in CONNECT 

✨ How to connect with your content strategy 

✨ Why you need a content strategy 

✨ ONE key piece of advice for any business owner 

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

This is episode 271, and I'm talking about part one to your own content strategy, which is to connect. Welcome to the Content Queen podcast. I'm your host Mariah, entrepreneur storyteller, digital nomad, creator of Content Bootcamp, and founder of Content Queen. I'm here to teach you how to share your unique story, create content, and market your business with strategy through the channels that work for you each week.

Old. Deliver story to help you connect to a powerful strategy around marketing. Business and content creation. I will also be joined by amazing souls of entrepreneurs who are here to share their own journey, along with actual steps to help you take your business to a whole new level through amazing storytelling, powerful and marketing and content strategy.

Let's steelhead. Hello gang. Alright. Last week we, I summarized the three Cs to content strategy. This week I'm taking you through the first one, which is the connect. Now if you wanna do deeper work on this, there's two options. The first option is you can download my free audio guide, which is going through these in each detail, each episode on each part of my content strategy, giving you prompts and a bit more guidance.

Or if you're like. I need more accountability. I need to do the work Content Bootcamp is for you, and we have a live round kicking off the week of May five, so join us if you really want a content strategy so that you can. Save energy and time thinking about what to post, when to post, why, to post get results, so you're actually getting traffic to your website.

You're generating momentum in your business, and also so that it doesn't completely drain you and your time. Because this is a time consuming process. I'm not gonna sit here and say content creation. You can batch it in 12 months and do it very easy with this, this, and this. It does take time, but with a strategy.

It can take you less time and be more intentional. I create content for 13 other businesses, 14, including my own. The strategy gets me through it, and it's not just me batching content and just posting for the sake. It is very intentional. We get results and I'm here to teach you how to do the same thing, so I'm gonna make it fun.

We are going to be in Europe. So imagine you've decided to backpack through Europe. I did this in 2019 with some friends and it was very fun, right? I was excited. You're excited, you're going to Europe. You've packed, you've got your passport, or maybe you haven't packed, you're probably packing your last minute.

Because that's what happens when we don't have a plan or a strategy. But here's the thing, you don't have a route. You have no map, no guidebook, no clue on actually where you're even going or how you actually get there. You're literally hoping for the best. And this if you think don't, ridiculous. That wouldn't happen.

It does heard of it. Example, Mitch's sister was going to Paris this year or last year, maybe. There was, she didn't even know if she was getting there. She ended up booking the wrong flight. She forgot her passport, then she had to get a bus. It was a mess. So basically that's what it's like running a business or putting content on social media without a strategy.

It's literally the same thing. It's like getting in your car and having zero idea how you getting there. It's going to Europe with a passport, or maybe not. You've probably left it at home. And like, isn't that the worst feeling? I actually, when I've traveled a lot, I've had dreams that I'm in a city and I've got no itinerary or plan, and I feel like I'm like missing out on the whole thing.

So the first thing you need to do is connect. Connect with yourself, right? Connect with the vision. So this is before any trip. You have to decide on your destination. Are you gonna go to Paris? Are you gonna go to San Sebastian? Mayorca, Lisbon. Santorini, Austria was cool. I do recommend Austria. We really liked Austria.

Gonna go to Octoberfest. I did that one time drunk, one time sober. Still fun. So in your business, this is your vision, your overall destination. Why are you doing your business? And it's something that you are working towards, right? It, it's your North star. It could even be your life's purpose, right? If you don't first connect to your vision, the start of any marketing you're gonna do, you will literally end up hopping from idea to idea, city to city, exhausted, unfulfilled, and feel like you've got fomo because you don't know if you've seen what that city has to offer.

But when you have that clear vision, every step makes sense. You're not just wandering, although wandering is fun, but wandering with intention, you would have a much better adventure in Europe if you knew where you were going to a degree, right? You can, even knowing the first city is a good plan, and we're gonna come back to vision.

'cause this is business vision. I want you to know what is my business vision? Why am I doing this business? Because we're gonna come back to. Our content things, right? So then the next step, okay, you've chosen the destination, you've gotta connect with your audience, learn a bit about the locals, what's the next best thing learning if they're, you know, Ola commerce stars, uh.

I don't know any other languages. Han. Thank you German. Learning a little bit, understanding the culture, doing some research, you know, going on, TikTok, understanding to connect with the country, the locals, the place that you are gonna show up on, like or you are gonna show up to. So that's your audience.

They're the people who are gonna make your journey. Rewarding, exciting, fun. It's all the people that you meet, and if you only speak your language or not even just like, not knowing all the language, but just the, the, the culture and what's good and what's not. And of course there's gonna be things that you learn along the way, but if you're not open to learning, then the, you're gonna miss out on meaningful experiences.

You're gonna miss out on that connection. Now there's, that's the same thing with connecting with your audience like. Okay. If I'm going to choose to go to Spain, it's because I love the language. It's because I love the idea of the dancing and the food and everything like that. So I wanna learn a little bit more about that country.

Now there's only so much you can learn until you get into it, but it's the same as marketing to a specific audience. You can learn as much as you can before you put yourself out there, and then you continue to learn as you go. But if you are not going to understand anything about that country before you go.

A lot can go wrong, trust me, a lot. For example, when I was at university, we were going to Malaysia and they prepped us on things that were appropriate to wear, et cetera, et cetera. So when we got there, we felt like we could connect with the locals. We weren't, you know, getting it, it felt like we were ensuring that we.

Not just fit in, but we're respectful. Now, of course, we want to be ourselves as well, and that's the balance between showing up online and creating content for you and for your audience. The same as when you go to a country, you know, obviously respecting culture, but then, you know, bringing in your own beliefs so you don't have to, you know, conform to everyone's beliefs.

But being open, open-minded, no different to marketing your business, knowing what is important to you and where you stand. And understanding the people that you are who are gonna buy your products and services, right? So connecting with your audience. And then within this, we go back to, okay, we now know where we're going.

We now understand more about the country, the culture, and the people. Now we need to connect that to. What are my goals for when I'm in this country? What do I want to achieve? Where do I wanna go? What do I wanna see? How do I wanna feel? What makes sense to showing up in this place? Now that is your content and marketing goals.

So we've connected to our vision, which is the where, what we wanna do, where we wanna go, and why. But now we are connecting and that's the business. Now we're connecting to the marketing and the content goals. So what do you want to do when you are there? Not just where do I want to go? So it's important for you to understand, okay, with my business vision is to, um, within my business goals, I want to be a.

A keynote speaker, I wanna run workshops, uh, I wanna do more educational stuff, then that will tell you what content and marketing goals. Okay. I need to network. I need to potentially share my voice more so people can hear me. I need to share stories. I need to get good at storytelling. I need to create content.

This specific content on these channels, it's also the same as, oh, well I want to. Be a co, a course creator, and I want to impact hundreds and thousands of people, so I know I need to build my audience so it would make sense for me to go on a channel where I can reach as many people as possible. So then you can go, okay, that's a content goal and a marketing goal.

And then the third part is, yeah, connecting to your channels, choosing the right transport. So it's getting around in these places. Trains, ferries, bikes, Ubers, buses. And the thing is, when you travel, you do go on a lot. I remember there was times where like within the space of three days, we've been on a ferry, then we went on a little speed boat, then it took, took uh, and then we flew.

You know, like you go on so many different transportations, but it's understanding the transport system so you don't waste time, energy, and you don't miss out on anything on your travels and your content channels are the same. Instagram might be a tuk quick and fun, or your podcast might be that scenic train slower, but creates more depth and you feel like you've seen a lot, even if it is a longer journey.

Each channel has a purpose, and when you connect to the right ones, your message arrives to the person that is needed and what is needed to be. You might decide on multiple channels, and of course we encourage that. So multiple modes of transport while you travel, because different modes of transport are gonna serve a purpose.

For example, when we were in the Philippines, you could get a ferry to one of the islands in Paan, um, and that was a overnight ferry. You could fly there or you could fly to the bottom of the island, get a bus, and then a ferry. So we had to decide what was gonna work best for us and what route. So we were deciding if we were in business, what channels and when, because some channels might make more sense to hone in on.

Now, and then you might slowly bring in more later. So for us, we decided we would get the ferry because the ferry was more cost effective and we don't mind a ferry. And then when we got to that island, we then got the ferry, another ferry to the other island, and then the bus down for the plane. So either way, we would've had to have done that sequence without flying again, and it being quite cost effective.

Uh, quite expensive for us. And that wasn't. Something that we wanted to do, plus there were things that we wanted to see along the way on that adventure. Whereas some people get the sailing boat or they just fly and they fly out. Like everyone's journey is different. And you have to remember that when connecting to your channels.

Just because someone shows up and says, well, I got the plane. And even though it costs more, um, it, it's the best. You have to go. You have to do the plane, and if you don't do the plane, your experience is not gonna be very good. That is just their experience. For example, Facebook's dead, um, don't show up on this channel if you are X, Y, Z 'cause it won't work.

Everyone is different. And there's also a little of energy that you bring into it. So even when I was giving advice to some people that are going to the Philippines, I explained our minibus situation from Aldo to Porter Princess, and I said. We didn't have the best experience and I explained a couple of different options.

I said, you decide like, you know, your experience might be very different to ours, but this was just what happened for me. And then it's up to them to make the decision based on the knowledge that they have about their trip, their experience, their needs, and also the needs of those traveling with them as well.

So choosing transport while you're traveling and taking advice from people is the exact same as. Marketing your business online. Everyone's gonna have a different opinion. Everyone is going to enjoy things differently to you. It's up to you to understand all those factors. So that's why connecting is so important to the vision, to the audience, to the goals that align the content marketing and marketing goals to your business vision, and what channels are gonna make sense for you.

You might get it wrong to begin with. And that's okay as well. But understanding where are you gonna start and how you're gonna learn is so important when traveling, when marketing your business with anything. So you don't have to be a lost tourist in your business. You can be a conscious traveler. You can connect with your vision, know where you're going, connect with your audience, speak their language, and connect with your channels.

To become a smarter traveler, you're gonna learn as you go. You are not gonna know all the answers to begin with, and that's how you can turn this chaotic trip into the experience that is growing a business and content serves a purpose in your overall business journey. And to do it intentionally and align to you is the most important.

So this is connecting. I'm going to continue your journey throughout Europe in the next two episodes, so make sure you subscribe and listen. But if you really like this style of learning about content strategy, download my free audio guide. I have a similar analogy of travel. We've got prompts for you. We go a lot deeper, but if you're like, as I said before, I need that accountability, come and do bootcamp with me.

I would love to be your travel guide right when we travel. And this is what can be very interesting. When Mitch and I were traveling, we would, sometimes we would go on tours and sometimes we wouldn't. But in most cities, we would try and do some kind of tour so we could learn or country about the experience.

We could learn from a local, and we could see things that we wouldn't see on our own. That's the exact same thing that happens when you decide to invest in a guide that's gonna help you in your business. And if it is content marketing that you really struggle with or you are curious about, which you would be listening to this podcast.

If you are, I would love to be your travel guide. I would love to show you content marketing from a new light, and we can dive into it and see what's gonna work for you because it is a tailored experience. When we did tours, you know, obviously every tour can be different because. The guide tailors it to the people on the trip, and that's what I love doing.

So that's why bootcamp would be perfect. I do have a WhatsApp ask me anything group as well, which has opened up recently, and I've just absolutely loved giving my thoughts and opinions and feedback to the people in it. So I'll leave all those three links below for you to check out. The first one is free, which is the audio guide.

You can have a listen. If you wanna get just more of a deeper taste to this work, then the Ask Me WhatsApp, ask me anything is $30 for 14 business days. So it's $2 a day Australian, and we chit-chat on WhatsApp. And Content Bootcamp is a program that starts on May 5th, the week of May 5th. It's a live round.

I'll be redoing the content. So everything that's in the portal now will be refilled, which I'm super excited. I'm currently doing it at the moment. It's gonna be epic and you can now purchase that for 300 Australian dollars. I'm gonna be changing the price, so stay tuned for that. That will be in the next week.

So if you haven't purchased it by a week from this podcast coming out, the price may have changed. So if you want to get it for 300, check it out. I wanna be your guide. I wanna support you, but I can't do that from this podcast. So I would love to connect with you. So even chat with me, message me on Instagram so that I can see how I can support your journey more.

But stay tuned for the next two episodes. We're, we're still gonna be in Europe. We're gonna take you on this journey, but be a content queen or king, and remember that developing your strategy and story develops your business. Thank you so much for joining me today, and please don't forget to share this with all your business friends.

Anyone that is struggling with the content marketing process, content creation, give it a share. And if you do love this podcast, I would love for you to leave a rate and review. It helps me to get amazing guests on, continue to show up and create this content. And I would love to know what topics you want to talk, you want me to talk about in the future because I'm doing this little series.

But then obviously after that we'll have different content. So follow us on Instagram or TikTok and let me know questions, anything I would love to hear from you. And I will talk to you next week. Bye.

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment