The Introverted Influencer

Bomb A$$ Benefits of Creating Free Content For Your Business

May 06, 2022 Erica Van Slyke Season 1 Episode 14
The Introverted Influencer
Bomb A$$ Benefits of Creating Free Content For Your Business
Show Notes Transcript

I know it can be hard to find motivation to invest time into something you aren't explicitly getting paid for, but creating free content is a must in today's oversaturated market- regardless of your industry. 

In this episode I am discussing the many benefits of generating free content for your business, and some of the perks may just surprise you (not to mention light a fire under your unmotivated a$$). 

Whether you want to be an influencer or brain surgeon , you can totally benefit from listening to this episode.  

**All my fellow mamas out there: I am a potty-mouth,  so you may want to listen with headphones on!**

If you found this episode helpful it would mean the world to me if you could share it with a friend or screenshot this episode on your phone, upload it to Instagram stories and tag me (@designingvibes).  This podcast is not monetized, so spreading the word is the best way to "pay me back" for my time and wisdom- so to speak.

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Website:
designingvibes.com

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https://www.pinterest.com/designingvibes/

Email:
info@designingvibes.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the introverted influencer podcast. I'm your host Erica van. Like my soul's mission on this planet is to help fellow introverts grow their online influence and estate, a feminine flow and ease while battling the lows of depression, anxiety, and even mom guilt. I've somehow managed to build a six figure blog without the use of social media and without sacrificing my mental health, if I can do it, you can too. Hello and welcome back to the introverted influencer podcast. My friend, I am so thankful you are joining me today. So before I get into the meet of this week's episode, I wanted to quickly announce that I have started a YouTube channel for the podcast, and I don't have the technical capabilities yet the equipment to video the podcast, because like I said, I'm using my phone and that's the only way I would video it at this point.<laugh> but I do have all of the audio for every podcast now up on my YouTube channel and the YouTube channel is my name, Erica E R I C a van like it's V as in Victor, a N S L Y K E. So that's the name of the channel. And if you prefer to listen to your podcast on YouTube, I'm there. Now I have a few people, that's the way they like to do it. And so that's kind of inspired me and eventually I would love to add some videos and maybe even some meditations and maybe even some, um, of my Kini yoga videos. We'll see. And even if you don't like to get the podcast via YouTube, it would really mean the world to me. If you could just show some love and go and subscribe to the channel and thank you so much in advance for that. Okay. Moving on to this week's message. So I feel like lately I've been in woo woo land for the past few episodes, discussing some pretty esoteric concepts related to the art of slow and mindset. So I feel like I need to ground us all back into earth today and share some practical business wisdom with you. And I think that sometimes it can be hard to keep the motivation in your business when you're not making money from it yet, or when it hasn't all panned out. So I think today by sharing some Bombas benefits to just providing free content, I wanna, I wanna list some, hopefully this will get you motivated back again to hang in there. Now. Obviously I've been very successful in monetizing the free content on my blog by means of total passive income through advertising revenue and affiliate income. And if you wanna hear all the dates on how I've built a business that is about 85% passive income, be sure to go back and listen to episode two, where I break all of that down. But in terms of labels, when people ask me what I do, I would say personally, the term I relate to more than influencer or blogger, or even entrepreneur is content creator content by means of DIY tutorials, Pinterest pins through my interior design photography, email newsletters, tutorial, videos, blog posts, and even this podcast and the occasional social media post. And while it all started out as a creative outlet and hobby hindsight, I now see how generating free content has had a plethora of benefits to my professional brand. And I truly believe that even if you don't aspire to be a blogger or an influencer, there are so many benefits to sharing free content on your platform or platforms of choice. So I want to touch on some of these benefits now, benefit number one, free exposure. Most all of my major magazine features like better homes and gardens and HGTV. And even the today show came from my free content, which I just promoted organically on Pinterest, because that is my favorite platform. But what's so beautiful about this organic way of putting helpful educational or inspiring content out onto your website and your social platforms is that this is an entirely free to gain exposure and awareness to your business or your cause. And while you may have to initially invest an hour or so into the actual production of your free content, think about the thousands of dollars you are saving on your advertising budget. This is essentially free PR baby, you are being your own publicist benefit. Number two, you are building no like and trust. So by generating free blog posts, free tutorials, videos, reals to your target market get market allows your potential client or fan to get to know you and preview what you're all about before ever even having to get into that transactional phase of your business. And that way you're never forced into that awkward cold calling stage of a business transaction, because you're putting it out there. They know your vibe, they know what you're about, and it's their it's, it's, it's really not your responsibility to change yourself so that they like you. It's everything's out the open. And if you're super intentional about going above and beyond to provide really helpful information to your target audience, you are gonna stand out beyond the rest and your free work will speak for itself. Okay? Benefit number three, you are leveraging yourself as an authority or celebrity, even in your niche. So not only do people get to preview you or what your business is all about and your vibe, but you' helpful tips or your beautiful inspirational photos are inadvertently doing your PR and positioning you to be perceived as a legitimate expert or authority in whatever your passion is. And so with this approach, you are being pro proactive about the way you are perceived by others. And if you stick with it long enough, you won't even have to go out and pursue clients or sponsorships or partnerships in that old school, forceful, unnatural type of way that we introverts the test because your content will attract all of those things to you. And by being consistent and providing like true, truly helpful content, you, it, your, your platform where you share your content will most likely develop into a powerful entity in and of itself. It may have taken a few years of crickets and no one understanding who I was or what I was doing with my DIY blog, but eventually my consistency paid off. And I can't tell you how many thousands and thousands of dollars of free products and services I have received because of the clout that my free content created. My mom even told me one day, she was like, Erica, do you not realize you're like a local celebrity? And I think that's hilarious because I'm such an introvert. I avoid people like the plague. I never go to networking events or actively pursue publicity. But over the years, my free content became a powerful entity in and of itself. Benefit number four, this is the best one.<laugh> there are no customer service implications. So before my blog really started making the big bucks, so many people in my life just didn't understand why I was devoting more time to my actual website and the digital content versus the interior design division of my business. And now seven years later, they see how I get to live my life and run my business. And many of those closest to me are finally seeing me for the genius that I am<laugh> because my content is free and my blog doesn't sell a physical product or service. So I don't have to answer to anyone. And because I have learned how to monetize my free content, my business is almost entirely passive, which means I create it once and I get to make money on it forever. And I don't have to deal with Karen's. Yeah, sure. I do get the occasional troll, but I block'em and I bless them, baby. I have no tolerance for with others. So I get to shut it down. I don't have to put up with it because I'm not selling anything. So hopefully some of these points have motivated you more to just share your gifts with the world, even though you don't know how it's all going to convert into profit just yet. Ultimately I believe in karma and I know what I put out into this world will eventually come back to me. So even if I don't exactly know the, how or the, when I trust that, as long as I'm helping others and putting my gifts to use on a public skill, God and the universe will have my back. And I'll somehow be compensated like, even with this podcast right now, it is 100% free of charge. And I make no money whatsoever from it right now. And actually it's costing me money because I have to host it. And I pay a friend to add the little intro and out music. So this podcast is actually costing me, but because I've already been through all this with my blog, I've been, you know, where it's crickets, I'm not making any money. Yeah. I feel a little bit crazy that I devote so much time to it, but I love it. And I, I feel called to do it well, that panned out. So I know that this is all just a part of the process. And if I remain consistent and serve others, something will eventually come from it. Even if I don't know what that is from my current vantage point, my job is to simply serve others and remain receptive to divine guidance and intuition. So thank you so much for stopping by this week. Hang in there, express your gifts with the world. And it'll somehow all work out. I promise you just stick with it. As I said, I make no money from this podcast. So the best way to pay it forward is by leaving this podcast, a five star review subscribing to my YouTube channel. That's Erica van, like, or by uploading a screenshot of this episode to your INTA story and tagging me in it at designing, sending you mull.