Welcome to the Blog Log, an inside peek into how amazing businesses are using content marketing to conquer their little corner of the digital world.

Today, I am chatting with Candice Baker, from The Marketing Baker, superstar marketing strategist who helps small businesses create the perfect marketing recipe to attract their ideal clients and make bank!. She’s one of my amazing clients and she’s here to have a chat about how content works in her business.

You can watch the video interview here, or scroll down to read the text version.

 

Blog Log 2: How Candice Baker Uses Content!

 

Candice, tell us about your business

You’ve described it pretty well, actually! I help business owners discover who their ideal client is. And that helps them to make their business irresistible.

It means they can stop wasting money on marketing that doesn’t work. We put together a marketing strategy and action plan so that they can get the results that they want from the activity.

I love your really unique way of helping people discover who their ideal client is. And that is your Anti-Ideal client worksheet. Often, it can be hard to pinpoint what you do want in a client, but you certainly know what you DON’T want! So, looking at it from the other perspective makes things easier! (Grab Candice’s anti-ideal client worksheet here.) 

Yeah, you can always identify that person you may have had in your business already, that isn’t ideal for your business.

And once you get to that point, it’s quite easy to reverse it and find all the people who actually make your heart sing. The people that make you say, that’s why I’m in business; the people you want to work with and help. 

Looking at it like that takes away the marketing mumbo jumbo and shows you what you are doing actually has a purpose.

 

What kind of written content are you publishing in your business right now?

I’ve got my blog, which we’ve been doing together for a long time. Since 2017, I think! From there, we’ll put together a newsletter, which goes out to my database, and then also social posts on Facebook and LinkedIn.

New content comes in from you monthly, which is a highly useful blog and newsletter. Then we do the educational kind of call to action posts weekly on social media. 

I also share from my back catalogue, the abundance of blogs that I’ve got now. I put them out weekly because it’s always valuable to repurpose and remind people of the content. And I also share those blogs and things into online networking groups.

 

Why have you chosen blogging, newsletter and social content?

For me, personally, one of my driving forces is that I want to be of value to people. I don’t just want to be salesy. Content is more about the long term relationships. It’s about education and inspiring people and just showing the value that you can bring. 

Having your own mailing list is really powerful. It means you are not building your empire on rented land, you actually own your database. Building that relationship is key to creating loyal clients and new leads. It also allows you to show up consistently, having something that’s of value to say. 

Some people that I work with are hesitant when it comes to email marketing. They don’t want to be another email that gets deleted. But if you actually have something valuable to say, then it’s not just going to be deleted. People actually look forward to receiving your newsletters. 

So for me, written content is about the long term relationship, showing up and being of value. Publishing consistently also has the side benefit of appeasing the Google gods. So when you are publishing new content on your website, filled with keyword rich information, you are keeping the Google Gods happy. 

I’m always interested to see in my Google stats, to see which of the blogs are performing well each month. And they are always different! It’s interesting to see.

 

What kind of interactions does your content get from your audience?

It varies quite a lot. I regularly get a response from an email saying that was really valuable or insightful. And often, it will trigger someone to reach out who’s been on the list for a little while and just hasn’t been quite ready until they see a message that resonates with them. 

Doing the nurture thing, being of value and showing up builds the relationship until people are ready to act. Regularly providing calls to action gives them the opportunity to connect when it’s time for them to do something about it. 

For me, it’s the consistency and being present. Even if someone’s not immediately commenting, engaging or buying straightaway, they are reading it. They are opening the emails, you can see in your email software. By staying active, I stay top of mind. So when they are ready, they’ll be thinking of me.

That’s it, it’s so easy to be forgotten in this busy world that we live in, faced with all those messages every day. So staying top of mind with this really interesting, relevant stuff is, is really great. Checking your email open rate also helps you see if your content is hitting the mark.

 

So what kind of results have you seen? 

Obviously, you’ve been using content in your business as a long term strategy. Do you see any difference when you might not publish something in a month?

I can definitely tell if I let my consistency slip. The regular content lets me show up in online communities and it starts discussions on social media. It’s really the relationship builder. So if I’ve been quiet for a little while, I can definitely tell in terms of my pipeline, and all of those other things. 

Sometimes it feels like new clients just drop out of the sky. But it turns out, they’ve been on the list for a while and then suddenly they’re ready. It’s actually because you’ve shown up, something’s resonated with them and they’re ready to take action. 

Those clients don’t drop into my business if I’ve let something slip.

 

How do you find the process of outsourcing your content and having it delivered to you on a regular basis?

The process is super easy. It’s probably the easiest part of my business and that’s why I’ve been outsourcing to you for so long. I give you the rough overview of what I want, then like magic, it’s all pulled together and delivered in my inbox. It’s always there consistently. It’s amazing.

And, it’s good to have that long standing relationship as well. Because then I understand what you’re achieving in your business and the amazing results that you can deliver for your clients. It makes it easier to craft the pieces that are going to be of value to your audience. 

 

If people were considering upping their content marketing game, and putting some more written pieces out to the world, what would be a piece of advice that you’d give them?

I’d say don’t hesitate in doing it, do it now. Yesterday would be better. But today’s good! 

Be of value to your audience and focus on content that’s useful and relevant. Don’t just put out any old content because you haven’t put up a Facebook post for three weeks and you just need to post something. 

When you engage someone that’s an expert, and you’ve thought about your content, it makes everything just so much easier. 

Also, repurpose your content and make it work for its living. Use it everywhere. And let your ideal clients hear you in surround sound. Use it in your email, use it on your blog, use it on your socials, make it into a video – just make that content work for you. 

There’s no point in putting all the effort into creating a blog post if you don’t then use it. Move it across all the other channels, people don’t know it’s there if you don’t tell them.

And people might see it in one place and not in the other. You just never know where people’s attention is at the time. So if you’re just everywhere they are bound to see you somewhere!

 

Thank you so much for coming on the blog log today, Candice. It was really interesting to hear how content works in your business and thanks for those amazing tips perfect for people who are wanting to either up their content marketing game or step into it. 

As I said, Candice is a marketing strategist, definitely hit her up if you need help with your marketing strategy. You can find her at The Marketing Baker. 

 

And, if you need help staying consistent with your content, check out my regular content packages or jump on a discovery call with me today.