Is Your Content Not Converting? It May Be Missing This One Critical Piece

“Look, that’s me!” I pointed out a picture of me from my unbelievably awkward middle school years hanging on my grandma’s wall. 

“Is that you when you were… older?!” 

At that moment, as my child looked at unkempt hair, braces-wearing, and acne-covered middle school me, I wasn’t sure if I should feel:

When you grow up as an awkward middle schooler, you make a point of learning how to move through the world relying on amplifying your voice.

In middle and high school, I wrote letters to my friends at other schools whenever I’d sit alone at lunch. I traveled a lot, so I never really built close relationships with my classmates like with the other girls I traveled with. I learned how to shed that awkwardness by singing in fancy places around the world like Carnegie Hall, cathedrals in England, and a church the United States bombed in World War II (our concert was the first fundraiser to rebuild the location). 

When I eventually moved to Denmark, I was a fish out of water, but I had something going for me. I was different. Although Americans aren’t the most beloved group worldwide, I was a fresh face in a Baltic sea of herring-loving Scandinavians. 

It was sink or swim time. If I wanted to stay in that country longer than six months on the student visa that initially brought me there, I had to find a way in—and I did by relying on my ideas over my appearance.

That brings me to today’s quick content creation skill.

It’s all about building relationships because when you’re in a position where your business needs to sink or swim, you’ve gotta go deeper.

You’ve gotta build relationships using the story you have curated throughout your life.

What matters more than what you sell are the connections you form before, during, and after buzz-building tactics that will determine your success.

And because I’m a big fan of alliteration, I’ve divided five main areas to build those connections. Here are the five Es of leveraging your writing to create connections that will help you shed that awkward entrepreneurial phase and get the business owner life you want.

Transparency and consistency go a long way in building a memorable brand. That means you must execute in your business—not just for your customers and clients but also for new connections. 

Just like you wouldn’t hold the door open for people and expect a thank you from everyone who walks through, you shouldn’t create content and expect everyone to buy. 

You don’t know where your audience is on their journey with you. Some are just becoming aware of who you are, while others are becoming brand ambassadors, buying everything you offer. Executing consistently and transparently in your content allows you to form connections first. The customers will come naturally, creating more ease and flow in your sales process.

Attention is currency today, which means when you get a blip of attention, you have one main job: Educate and entertain.

Your readers are busy, so if you want them to stick with you, there are two elements you must infuse into everything you publish:

Relationships are always two-sided, and your content is the kickstart to a new relationship with your buyer. 

Keeping the door open for replies, inviting a response from your reader, or engaging with them by using their ideas in your copy will help you personalize everything you create. Soon, you won’t be someone shouting at the reader from a soapbox, but instead a trusted confidant. The latter is where you’ll shine.

You’re doing cool things, and you deserve to tell your readers about what you have to offer. More importantly, your readers deserve to know what you offer.

Establish your credibility and yourself as a business owner by sharing how people can work with you. 

Sales isn’t sleazy when it’s approached through the lens of generosity. If you’re hiding ways that you can continue to help your reader improve, you’re not doing your job as an entrepreneur. 

You have a lot of ideas, lived experiences, and shared perspectives hiding under the surface. Your content will let you excavate those areas to form deeper connections with your audience. When they receive an email from you or land on your post on your social media feeds, they’ll know they’re not alone in this. 

Use storytelling marketing to go deeper with your mission and values in every content piece. 

When you do, you’ll let your audience feel the fact that they don’t have to live in a silo or grow through a challenge on their own. They have you to help. 

Ready to get started personalizing and improving your connections with your audience?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked!

You can start by following the steps above. If you want some extra support, here are 3 next steps you can take.

Hit reply and let me know which of these five Es you’ll lean into this week. 

I’m rooting for you at every step!

~ Kimberly