You Give Up Too Soon Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a long game. You can’t post 3 articles on your blog then whine about how nobody is reading your stuff… or commenting or sharing. The most successful content marketers Tips for Starting an E-commerce Business have been going at it for years – putting out high-quality content that’s relevant and valuable to a targeted audience frequently and consistently for several years – before they became that “overnight success.” Once your momentum picks up, so will your ROI (return on investment.) Winning Strategy: Get focused. Invest time and energy to produce quality content that’s valuable and relevant to a specific audience – show up frequently and consistently. If you don’t show up for your peeps, how can you expect them to show up for you? Identify one or two formats and channels that cater to your ideal audience, highlight your strengths and work well for your subject of expertise… then get really good at it. Don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to do everything just because everyone else is doing it. Then be relentless – make it a non-negotiable part of your marketing plan to produce and promote your content. 2. If You Build It They Won’t Come Having a website with a blog doesn’t mean your ideal audience knows about it. 2.7 million blog posts are published everyday. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. You get the idea. The most successful content marketers spend 20% of their time in content production, and 80% in content promotion. If you don’t put in the consistent effort to get your content in front of the right people, it’s not going to do anything for you. None of us are entitled to an audience. Work to earn their trust and respect. Winning Strategy: You probably don’t have a load of time to spend on promoting your content everywhere… nor do you have a team dedicated to that effort. That’s why it’s critical that you not only know where your audience hangs out but also be able to write headlines and descriptions that speak to them and make them want to read/listen/watch your stuff (i.e. to click through.) Identify a few places you can focus your promotional effort and resources, then test and track your results so you can make adjustments to your tactics.