Don’t Underestimate Your Content & Online Activity

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “My blog posts and videos aren’t getting any comments,” or “I never get any replies to my email newsletters and campaigns.” It can sometimes feel like you’re wasting your time and that no one is listening, reading, or paying attention, especially if you don’t have a huge list of thousands of people, which can lead to you feeling frustrated.

Do you know what? I’ve often felt and thought the same things from time to time. But there are many reasons why people may not reach out and respond in some way.

One of the biggest reasons is people are busy. Yeah. Go figure!

Another reason may be that they’re just not ready, for whatever reason. Again, it could be that they’re too busy. They may have distractions in their personal life. They may be working on something else right now or have different priorities. Or they may not be bold enough to reach out until the need or desire is strong enough.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not paying attention and that they’re not noticing what you’re doing.

Here’s why I say that. In the last few months, I’ve had a couple of occasions where someone has responded to an old email/newsletter that I’ve sent out. They replied to that old email to ask a question or to ask to set up a phone call, and one other made a purchase that I only offered through one of those old emails.

I’ve also had occasions where someone has inquired about my services via email in the past or we’ve talked via a Discovery Session, but they never committed to anything further. A couple of years pass and, out of the blue, they reply to one of my email newsletters or videos that caught their attention or addressed something they were struggling with.

You can’t force someone to open your emails, reply to your emails, watch your videos, comment, etc. They’re going to do what they want to do in their own time, if and when they feel like it, and most importantly, when they have the need to.

However you can increase your chances of response with the following:

• A good, compelling subject line or title that creates curiosity or hits a pain point. Before anything else, you’ve got to get people to open your email or click play on your video.

• Quality content. If you’re not providing quality and value with whatever content you’re providing, people are not going to continue to open your emails, read your articles, or watch your videos. It’s that simple. Teach people what you know and give them information that they want and need, whether it’s through direct education or through storytelling, whichever style works better for you.
   
  If you want to write blog posts or articles and you’re good at coming up with the ideas or the story, but you’re not good at putting it together structurally and grammar-wise, you may consider having somebody copy-edit it and touch it up for you. You’re talented and you know your stuff, but if people can’t follow your train of thought in an article or email, or the grammar and punctuation disrupts the flow and makes it hard to read, you’re not relaying your message because, even though the ideas may be great, people can’t easily follow it and process it. Let someone help you with that.

• Short and frequent. Don’t think you have to write a book or do 30-60 minute Facebook Live. Length doesn’t make it valuable – it’s the quality that matters. It’s better to do shorter blog posts and videos and do them more frequently.

Keep in mind that people are busy. People don’t have time to read never-ending blog posts and newsletters or watch hour-long videos and Facebook Lives. I know I don’t. I want you to get to your point in as little time as possible so I can learn something quickly and get on with my business or life.

It could be a 500-900 word blog post, a two-to-three paragraph email, a three-to-ten minute video. Cut out the fluff and give people a solid taste of what you know. Tell them something interesting or give them one helpful tip that they can take away and implement.

• Consistency. I know, I’m not the best with consistency myself. I’m working on it and I have good intentions, just like you. But you and I both know that consistency makes all the difference in your success and in creating that “Know, Like, and Trust Factor” with your audience.
   
  That’s where the “shorter and frequent” comes in handy. The more they get to know you, the more they learn about you, the more they learn from you, the more they trust you, the more they remember you, the more they want to work with you when they’re ready, and the more they’ll refer you to someone else when they know someone needs your help.

Be there, top of mind, when they’re ready for you, and don’t assume they’re not paying attention along the journey. It will pay off in the long run.