Media is the New Marketing – In Just 7 Minutes with Joe Pulizzi

Resources/Links:

• Wanting to Find Out How to Create the Content that You Want While Building Businesses? Learn more on how you build an audience and a platform while gaining financial freedom online through media: Thetilt.com/research

Summary

Have you been struggling to build a loyal audience online that you can monetize quickly?

Do you want to know how you can use and maximize media as a marketing tool?

Are you ready to learn how to create content that will build your business and turn viewers into loyal high-paying clients?

Joe Pulizzi is the founder of multiple startups including content creator education site, The Tilt, and is the bestselling author of seven books including Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. His foundation, The Orange Effect, delivers speech therapy and technology services to over 200 children in 34 states.

In this episode, Joe talks about how you can turn to creating content online as an opportunity to build and grow your business. He also shares what you should be doing when wanting to become a successful content entrepreneur.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:33 – Joe’s ideal client: “An ideal client is content creators who actually want to be content entrepreneurs that actually want to build a business model from all the content they’re creating on whatever platforms they’re doing it on.”
• 01:54 – Problem Joe helps solve: “Well if you’re looking at just a content creation standpoint, they’re trying to build a business. They might be creating a lot of content, not building an audience. And it’s a problem, especially if you got to put food on the table.”
• 02:26 – Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Joe: “I mean, you hit the nail on the head. They’re not getting usually- it takes a long time to build a loyal audience that you can monetize.”
• 03:27 – Common mistakes that people make before they find Joe’s solution: “Yeah, so there are a couple of things. One is they don’t have what we call a “content tilt”. They don’t have an area of differentiation that can break through all the clutter and differentiate themselves and actually stand apart from the competition.”
• 05:07 – Joe’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): “I would recommend is if you’re a content creator or marketer, what we call a “content mission statement”. If you’re a media company, we call it the “editorial mission statement”. So, what we want to do is we want to list out on paper if you can, who is your target audience and make it as niche as possible?”
• 06:39 – Joe’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Joe’s Website: Thetilt.com/research
• 07:15 – Q: Why am I doing this? A: This is my business. I sold Content Marketing Institute. Now I’m starting The Tilt and basically 2019, I became a novelist. I was going to write mystery and thriller novels and decided to get back into this business because I love the idea of being an entrepreneur, being a content creator.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Focus on building a base on one or two places where you can be remarkable.” -Joe Pulizzi Share on X

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you, as always, from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Joe Pulizzi. Joe, good day. Sir, a very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out?

Joe Pulizzi 00:23
Thanks for having me, Tom. I’m in the lovely city of Cleveland, Ohio, right on Lake Erie.

Tom Poland 00:27
And Joe and I were discussing before the national treasure, such as the Sydney Opera House, where he’s been to Sydney a few times. And I was saying, “Yes, but you’ve got Drew Carey, so-”

Joe Pulizzi 00:35
Drew Carey, yeah, I know. That’s a tough one! Opera house to Drew Carey.

Tom Poland 00:38
Yeah. How do you beat Drew Carey, right? Alright, for those who don’t know Joe, he’s quite extraordinary, not just because of his business achievements, but because of all the work, he’s done with helping folks out, not for profit. He’s the founder of multiple startups, including the content creator education site, The Tilt, which is definitely worth a visit, folks! He’s the best-selling author of seven books, including Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. His foundation, The Orange Effect, delivered speech therapy and technology services to over 200 Children in 34. States. Kudos to you, Joe! Making the world a better place both in business and outside.

Joe Pulizzi 01:20
Great team! You got it. A lot of people helping out with that one.

Tom Poland 01:23
Our title today is, “Media is the New Marketing”. Joe’s going to share that over the next seven minutes. Joe, our seven minutes starts now. Question number one is who is your ideal client?

Joe Pulizzi 01:33
An ideal client is content creators who actually want to be content entrepreneurs that actually want to build a business model from all the content they’re creating on whatever platforms they’re doing it on.

Tom Poland 01:45
Yeah, people like you and me just can’t help but create more content. It’s kind of what we do, right?

Joe Pulizzi 01:49
Exactly!

Tom Poland 01:50
It just comes out, somehow. A lot of folks like that. So, tell us about the problem you solve?

Joe Pulizzi 01:54
Well, if you’re looking at just a content creation standpoint, they’re trying to build a business. They might be creating a lot of content, not building an audience. And it’s a problem, especially, if you got to put food on the table. So, there is a formula that we try to teach them.

Tom Poland 02:08
So, we’ve got these people when they got to go to work, they enjoy creating content. They have their “ideas machines”, and probably hear crickets when they publish it at the moment. So, let’s go to question three, we have six minutes left, what would you say are some of the typical symptoms of these folks that are putting content out there, apart from not getting any traction?

Joe Pulizzi 02:26
Sure thing. Yeah, Tom, I mean, you hit the nail on the head. They’re not getting usually- it takes a long time to build a loyal audience that you can monetize. And what we found is generally it takes between 15 and 18 months until you get to a minimum viable audience that you can actually create a sustainable living off of. So, they basically give up. You don’t have to go the distance. So, they’re not building that audience quickly enough to monetize. Or when they do build an audience, then they don’t know all the revenue levers that they need to pull in order to create a business that will succeed in one to five years.

Tom Poland 03:00
Right. But I mean, I love the concept of content creation and marketing, because to me, it’s what I call “karma marketing”. You’re giving stuff. You know, it’s good karma. So, let’s talk about, question four which is common mistakes. So, what I’m after here, five minutes left, we’ve got these people who are probably solopreneurs, or entrepreneurs, they’re creating content. They’re aware that it’s not getting traction right now. Apart from giving up too soon, what are some of the other common mistakes that you see people make in this area?

Joe Pulizzi 03:27
Yeah, so there are a couple of things. One is they don’t have what we call a “content tilt”. They don’t have an area of differentiation that can break through all the clutter and differentiate themselves and actually stand apart from the competition. Basically, a lot of content creators create content like a lot of other creators, so they’re not building an audience. So that’s probably the number one way. The second way is, most content creators, whether they’re marketers or content entrepreneurs, diversify too quickly. They say, “Oh, okay, we need to do all the things. We need to be everywhere where our audiences are online. We need to be on Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Facebook, and on blogs and podcasts, and webinars and events and everything else.” And that’s actually wrong. It rarely works that way! What you want to do is focus on building a base on one place, one or two places, where you can be remarkable. So that lack of differentiation, and then that diversification and, basically, being all over the place and not being great at one or two things really inhibits them from building a business.

Tom Poland 04:22
Very interesting! So instead of kind of sticking to their core focus and delivering something as unique on a consistent basis, they think, “Well, let’s get it on whole different platforms.”

Joe Pulizzi 04:32
And look at it- and you know, Tom! Look at the average creator. They’re just always got to be on 14, 16 different places. That strategy is about saying no! So, let’s say no to some things and say yes to a couple of things and be amazing.

Tom Poland 04:44
I have to tell you, that would be a mistake. I definitely fall into that trap because it’s so easy now with all these platforms. You can click LinkedIn, click Twitter, click Facebook, click this, “Well, oh, cool!” We got to sprinkle around the internet like confetti when winning. Let’s move on then to something else that’s going to help folks. Question five is one valuable free action that someone listening to this could- it’s like a step in the right direction. It’s not going to solve the whole thing, but it might help them start in the right area.

Joe Pulizzi 05:07
Yeah, guess what I would recommend is if you’re a content creator or marketer, what we call a “content mission statement”. If you’re a media company, we call it the “editorial mission statement”. So, what we want to do is we want to list out on paper, if you can, who is your target audience and make it as niche as possible? What are you going to deliver for that audience? What? Are you going to deliver podcasts? Are you going to deliver videos on YouTube? What are you going to do? And then number three, most important, what is the outcome for the audience? This is where everybody makes a mistake. Because we say, “Oh, we want to create content because we want to sell more widgets.” No, this is all about the audience. What are we going to deliver to that audience? And how are we going to help them live a better life or get a better job? And you put that into a document called your “content mission statement”. And every time you create a piece of content, you review that. You say, “Am I on target? Am I delivering to those pain points? Am I differentiating? Can I be the leading informational expert in that niche.” And it’s our guiding light, it’s our North Star. And if you do that, and then you carry that along with you, you’ll be very, very successful.

Tom Poland 06:06
This is in stark contrast to what I’ve done and many others, as I’m sure, which is, what you’re talking about staying focused on. Stay true to your mission. Stay true to your differentiation. Stay true to your market, etc. Love that idea! Except for the thing you’ve talked about putting it on paper. What is this paper you speak of?

Joe Pulizzi 06:22
What is the paper? Yeah, when I set goals, I write them down. I think it’s more- I don’t like to put it on the phone.

Tom Poland 60:29
It’s more physical, isn’t it? Yeah.

Joe Pulizzi 06:30
Exactly.

Tom Poland 06:30
There’s probably something more visceral about it. Thank you for that. Question six, one minute, 40 left, is a valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to that’s going to find out more, that’s going to help them even more?

Joe Pulizzi 06:39
Great. So, here’s a free ungated resource, you can go to thetilt.com/research. We researched 1400 content creators and what makes them successful, what they did, how they built their business. We put it into a 20-page, 25-page free report. Basically, if you want to be a successful content creator, we tell you exactly what the best content entrepreneurs are doing.

Tom Poland 07:00
Fantastic! So that’s Thetilt, T-I-L-T, .com/research. Go get it! Thetilt.com/research.

Joe Pulizzi 07:07
Ungated! Share it around.

Tom Poland 07:09
Thanks for that! Fantastic. A minute left. Last question, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t?

Joe Pulizzi 07:15
Probably, why am I doing this? This is my business. I sold Content Marketing Institute. Now I’m starting The Tilt and basically 2019, I became a novelist. I was going to write mystery and thriller novels and decided to get back into this business because I love the idea of being an entrepreneur, being a content creator. And there’s nothing out there telling them, “Here’s a business model.” I’ve been through it. I have friends that do it. So, here’s the answer I’m trying to teach! I’m a teacher now. What I’m trying to teach them is the business model, and there’s a way that you be successful and live the life you’ve always wanted to live.

Tom Poland 07:47
Yeah, and do the stuff you love to do. Joe, thank you so much for sharing your insights and your experience, and what’s clearly a bucketload of wisdom! Cheers.

Joe Pulizzi 07:56
Thank you, Tom. I appreciate it!

Tom Poland 07:58
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.