Time to Quit Your Job: Leveraging the Internet for Content Distribution (3 of 3)

In the last two installments of “Time to Quit Your Job” you’ve gained The Motivation and you’ve Fought for Flight, now it’s time to Spread Your Wings.

The internet is the ultimate equalizer for small businesses. Gary Vaynurchuk said it best, “The Gatekeepers are gone.” Content distribution was previously guarded by major networks. To gain access, one needed to be aligned in the business or have deep pockets. Now anyone can distribute anything to anyone. This means, that those who have a certain expertise, and know how to distribute that expertise in a creative and smart way, can draw in the masses.\

CAPITALIZE ON YOUR PASSION\

Become An Expert**\ **

Capitalize on your passion by becoming an expert and then showcasing that expertise to project value.

I used to love to compose digital music with computer synthesizers. I never really gave it a shot and my glorified hobby eventually fell by the wayside. Looking back 10 years, there was plenty of advice, expertise, and value that I had to offer. I could have made tutorials about certain effects I came up with, shared certain presets for digital instruments, listed all of the plug-ins I used, reviewed the equipment I had, showed people how to create songs they heard on the radio, etc. I wasn’t even an “expert” but I could have been if I would have sharpened up my piano skills and music theory. I was dumb at the time - I didn’t know how to leverage the internet. So if you’re passionate about something that you want to do for a living, then become an expert. Without expertise, you can’t offer any value to your audience.

Be Creative

Knowing your stuff comes first. Next you need to know how to put it out there in a creative way.

Once you have knowledge of your passion down, inside and out, you need to start creating content. But not just run-of-the-mill generic content that anyone can already get from the library. You need to come up with something that will integrate into people’s lives, something that will help them.

If you’re passionate about glow-in-the-dark stickers, put up a crazy youtube video where you cover your entire bedroom in a realistic star map and roll footage as you stroll through the constellations. Pitch the idea as a great way for students to learn astronomy, kids to have a nightlight, or for a fun date for a cloudy night. You just gave your audience three great ideas and you have a great sticker product. Who do you think they’re going to buy from?

For another project, create a colorful sticker overlay and then shine a light through to display the psychedelic effects. Take pictures and post them up on Flickr so people perusing for trippy photos can stumble upon yours and follow them back to your blog, where they can purchase your stickers. \

The point is that when you’re truly passionate about something, you will have a million different ways to show others it’s utility because you’ve enveloped your life with it.\

DISTRIBUTE, DISTRIBUTE, DISTRIBUTE

Your goal is to distribute your creative content over the internet through a variety of channels. I’ve already mentioned Youtube and Flickr above. Other channels of distribution and communication are twitter, facebook, and forums specific to your expertise.

Lets say you’re passionate about traveling, and more specifically, going on Caribbean cruises. You love to plan them, talk about them, and actually go on them. Do you know how much of a killing you could make if you set up affiliate deals?

Let’s say you’ve been on eight cruises and each time you record your excursions and post them on youtube, your blog, and the pics on flickr. Then you blog and twitter about your cruise experiences. You also visit cruise forums to help others pick the right cruises and excursions according to their wants. On your blog, you have affiliate links for your favorite cruise line, your favorite excursions, and you even have a small “cruise essentials” product package that you sell. Hell, you’ll even plan custom cruises for people for a nominal fee.\

Now, you’ve distributed your content across the web and are actively engaged with your audience in a two way conversation using twitter, facebook, and forums. You’re helping them find you so you can help them experience the best cruise possible. To be more specific, you’re helping them find your blog. Your blog is the epicenter of your content, services, and products. Your goal is to get people here so they are always integrated with your expertise and brand.\

BOTTOM LINE:

If you’re doing something of value with your passion, then odds are that what you’re doing (even if it’s just the process), could help someone else. The trick is creating content that your audience can use and distributing it in a way that leads back to your blog.

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-Brian Lambelet

PS. If this post seems like just the beginning of what someone would have to do to be successful and quit their job, it is. Half way through this, I realized that the entire premise of the 3-part quit your job series is way to ambitious for just three parts. In fact, when I look back, I’m sad to admit that it’s more gimmicky than anything. I apologize for this as I was trying to rile up readers into seriously contemplating their futures. Although, I do believe in everything I’ve written, I feel that it’s only half the story. I never covered brick-and-mortar businesses nor businesses with high initial overhead. Start up logistics and value propositions were also neglected. I want to help whatever the case may be so if you do have a business in mind, whether it’s high or low overhead, just post up on techneur and I will do my best.

If you made it this far, you should follow me on Twitter. Follow @jprichardson

-JP