Hey Baby, What’s Your Content?

We’ve all heard that old pick-up line: “Hey Baby, what’s your sign?”

And we all know that typically, besides a drink in the face, asking that question usually gets you nowhere.

Far better to ask genuine questions of whomever you are interested in getting to know better, and in return, providing interesting, genuine answers to whatever questions they may have of you.

This same general principle of dating is true for Internet entrepreneurs. It all rests in one of the most overlooked pieces of the e-business puzzle.

These days, anyone and everyone who is out to get more traffic, more leads, more customers and clients, and ultimately more money for their online businesses MUST ask a far more important question.

And not of others, either.

That comes later.

This question is far more important to ask of the person looking back at you in the mirror each morning.

The question is: “What’s your content?”

If you get a blank, deer-in-the-headlights stare back at you, you have got some work to do. Big work.

Because content online — just like in the real world — is king. People go to the Internet for one reason and one reason only: to find information related to whatever it is they want to know. They could have a problem they want to solve, or a specific item they want to purchase. Even when “just surfing,” people are looking for interesting content, something that tickles their fancy or helps them learn something they did not already know. If you have no content that matches what they are looking for, you will have no business and no income. And worse, Internet searchers will probably never find you.

Oh, you might have a lovely website that glitters and shines with fancy whistles and bells, but without content, your business will be like someone who sits at the bar all dressed up but never engages in any conversation with anyone. Just sits there like a frozen statue. Looks good on the outside, but has nothing going on underneath the hood. Who wants to go on a date, let alone develop a relationship, with someone like that?

This is why it is so important for online entrepreneurs to spend a good portion of our precious time developing stellar content, stuff people actually want to read and see. Content that comes from a place of heart and passion, not regurgitated stuff we picked up at some seminar somewhere. After all, we are in this for the LTR. We want people coming back to our sites again and again because they value what we offer. Too many businesses, I’m afraid, just like singles on the dating scene, cut corners in the mad dash to get “out there” without thinking through what exactly they are putting out there. Then they wonder why nothing happens, or why the phone does not ring the next day.

It’s because they skipped over the most important step of all:

Creating great content.

If you can answer the question, “What’s your content?” thoroughly — and with confidence — you will see your traffic increase. Taking the time to reflect upon what you know and love well will only add to the value of the content you create. And if you can provide your visitors with what they want, the sales are sure to follow, with no drinks thrown back in your face ever again.