NCC has been an official business for a little over a year- woohoo! Over the course of that inaugural year, we’ve learned quite a few things. I won’t dive into all of them in this post, but I will discuss the one thing that’s most inspiring a change of focus for us. You can title the lesson anyway you want, but I’ll go with this phrasing: Don’t lose sight of your (early) goals.
I include the word “early” because the goals you often set during the foundation of your business can easily be the first ones you lose sight of. At least they were for me.
When New Content Collective was started, the mission was to give as many businesses as possible access to good marketing. Part of that would be working directly with clients. The other part would be providing resources, affordable solutions, and training for businesses that were more interested in DIY. We failed on the latter part.
That’s OK though because we intend on fixing that in 2016.
Going forward, everything we put out publicly (minus direct client work) will be aimed at helping businesses that are doing their own digital marketing. This includes blog posts, online training, in-person training, e-books, and group classes. Some of these resources will be free. Some will be premium, but priced affordably.
Here’s an example of the type of switch in focus we’re aiming for:
- Old blog post: These 21 Tools Are Awesome For Twitter
- New blog post: Here’s How To Use Sendible To Maximize Twitter
Rather than spew off a bunch of tools for you to randomly choose from, we’ll give you actionable steps on how to use the best one. We use the term “best” loosely since every business has it’s unique needs. For simplicity’s sake, however, we’ll stick to what works best for the majority. Getting back to the posts: The first example is aimed at marketers looking for new tools to use for clients. The second is aimed at DIY businesses that value quality over quantity– and want to know more specifically what to use and how to use it.
Here are two more examples:
- Old blog post: Does My Business Need Email Marketing? (a real blog post we wrote)
- New blog post: Use This Format For Your Monthly Email Newsletters
The first example MIGHT help a DIY business. Maybe they didn’t know that they should be collecting emails and actually emailing their customers. If that post convinces them to utilize email marketing, great! Then what? Chances are, days/weeks/months pass and nothing gets done. Why? There weren’t any actionable steps. The second example gives you an email template to use, a schedule for when to send them, and a few tips of what to include.
- Old focus: Google Update: It’s All About Navigation
- New focus: Here’s A Checklist To Make Sure You’re Ready for the New Google Update
The first example is just industry news. Most likely, a DIYer won’t even click. If they do, they won’t have a clear plan on how to make sure their site is ready. The second example provides an easy checklist to reference. They look at the checklist and know what they need to fix (or at least know what to tell their designer).
You get it.
We want to take this hand-holding approach with all our future content, events, and courses. It’s the only way to help more businesses achieve the “great content” that they deserve.
PS: This won’t be the only focus for NCC. We also have plans for fine-tuning some of our custom services into more accessible, highly effective solutions. We want to incorporate a charitable component to the business. We want to provide resources to people interested in jumping into the world of digital marketing. Stay tuned for all of these.
Looking forward to getting your feedback over the next few months as we re-focus. Don’t be afraid to comment on any of our blog posts (including this one).