THIS is how content creation can totally transform your service-based business
I get it. The last thing you need is to add yet another ‘to-do’ to your plate as a business owner! Especially something as time-consuming and ‘thinking-intensive’ as content creation…
But there’s a reason you keep hearing this advice to ‘get busy creating content!’
And that’s because it works! (It works so well that I wrote an entire post on why the top people in any industry tend to be the ones with the most valuable free content!)
So if you’re going to be busy, it might as well be doing something that actually moves the needle, right? And maybe take a break from juggling all those other things that don’t seem to be getting you to where you want to go?
If you’ve been on the fence about whether content creation is worth it for you, read on!
I’m sharing the top 3 ways that I’ve seen consistent valuable content completely transform service-based businesses across pretty much every industry.
(I’ll also throw in a few resources for getting started if you’re feeling stuck. So don’t worry! You won’t be left to figure it out on your own!)
How can consistent content creation help me grow my service-based business?
Transformation #1
Valuable content instantly gives your brand a higher-end vibe (read: you can charge more)
Have you ever found yourself doing any of the following as a service-based business owner? 🤚
Acting super-secretive and ‘hush-hush’ about your prices because you don’t want to scare clients away by talking money before you have a chance to communicate value…
Sweating over what to write on your services page, and piling on a bunch of extra deliverables to hopefully help justify your rates…
Stressing about what you’ll say on a consult call to prove to this person you do actually know what you’re talking about…
If you answered yes to any of these rather unpleasant-feeling scenarios, then I promise you consistent content creation is your new best friend!
Here’s why:
When that potential client shows up on your website, they are asking themselves one thing:
“Can this person really help me?”
Your copy (A.K.A the words you write on your website) can def go a long way in convincing someone that you are the perfect woman for the job…
But your competition is promising the same results in their copy! So like any smart internet user, your potential client is not going to be letting go of their healthy level of skepticism until they see some actual proof!
So how do you prove you’re the real deal? By showing. (Not telling.)
Genuinely help someone with your free content, and you instantly become the go-to person in their mind for that thing…even if you are less experienced or knowledgeable than ‘Suzy Service-Provider’ two virtual doors down who provides the exact same service.
When you help someone experience transformation before you’re ever hired, suddenly the pressure is off to try to convince someone of the value you can bring.
Instead of wondering ‘can this person really help me?’ they’ll be wondering ‘when can I get on their books!?’
You’re no longer just someone they are outsourcing a task to, or being compensated based on the amount of time it takes to provide a service. Now, clients are hiring you specifically for your expertise, regardless of how long the thing takes!
So if you want to build a premium brand where you can charge premium prices, then premium free content is a great place to start!
Wondering where to start with creating premium content? Grab my free content creation outlines! 👇
Transformation #2
Consistent content will have your ideal clients coming to YOU!
Tired of personally having to go out and hunt-down…*ahem* I mean hand-search…for a new paying client every time a project wraps up and you need to find a way to bring in more moola?
Content creation could be your chance to hop off the client-finding hamster wheel for good!
So to show you how this works, let’s use my all-time fav service-based business—web designers—as an example!
From The client’s perspective
Imagine you are a super dreamy web design client, with gorgeous brand photography, professionally-crafted site copy, and a seriously sexy budget…
Now, I want you to picture yourself in this client’s shoes:
You (the client) saved up long and hard for this investment and you are not going to go giving away your money without doing your homework first! And you’ve noticed that every time you Google a question, research an important decision about your website, or ask for recommendations in your Facebook groups, this one designer’s name keeps popping up!
Pretty soon you find yourself lost in their website, devouring all this free content that literally feels like it was created just for you.
You might have had a few other designers in mind who you liked their style, but thanks to their hard-to-ignore content, you just keep coming back to this one designer’s name.
They clearly ‘get’ you, and after binging their entire Blog/Channel/Podcast/Whatever you feel like you already know and trust this person, so at this point choosing them is a no-brainer!
From the service provider’s perspective
No matter what strategy you choose, finding enough clients to pay the bills takes time.
Period.
There’s no loophole or magic hack. You really do have to put in the work somewhere.
So would you rather spend your time hitting refresh on a freelance marketplace site, waiting for the right project to come along, and crossing your fingers that out of the 357 designers messaging that client that day, your profile will somehow stand out?
Or DM’ing and commenting your days away, hoping just one person will say ‘yes’ to working with you?
Or would you rather spend time creating genuinely useful content that is going to make your website feel like Disney World to your ideal client, and that will continue to work for you on auto-pilot for years and years to come!?
*Disclaimer: I’m def not knocking anyone’s strategy here, and there’s no ‘one right way’ to fill your books! I’ve seen many people do an absolutely beautiful job of the more 1:1 focused marketing strategies! I’m just hoping to offer a peek at something I’ve personally found to be more scalable, and that tends to have a much higher, long-term return on time invested!
So when it comes to finding clients, content creation really is about attracting clients to find you first, v.s. you trying to go out and find them.
Even if you are killing it with engagement by commenting in Facebook groups or building genuine relationships with them over on Insta, you still need a way to get all those lovely warm leads over to where the actual magic/booking happens: your website!
So helpful content that speaks directly to your ideal audience can be the perfect way to bridge that gap between platforms, and invite them over to your own (distraction-free) online home and keep them coming back again and again until they are ready to pull the trigger!
Suggested reading:
I blogged consistently for 1 year, here's what happened to my traffic
How I exploded my business using organic SEO (without spending a cent on ad campaigns)
Content creation: the secret to mastering audience engagement
If I teach what I do for free on my blog, why would anyone hire me?
Transformation #3
Genuinely helpful content cuts down on how much time you spend in your inbox & DMs
Imagine if you could increase the number of legit client inquiries you receive while decreasing the amount of time you spend responding to emails and DMs! 🙌
Yes, creating content takes a solid chunk of time, but once it’s created, you now have a super solid resource that you own to point people to that both shows off your personality AND answers their question in depth!
No more brusk, off-brand, unhelpful responses because you don’t have time to answer the same long-winded question for the 57th time that week…
You’ll be able to remain genuinely helpful to potential clients who are on the fence about hiring you, and keep your brand-voice standard super high, without sitting down to type out the A-Z guide to that thing in an email or DM which will only end up helping one person.
