Building the Base
Once you have identified your sweet spot and content tilt, you will need to choose a primary platform, or “base,” for the valuable content that you will create.
Building the base involves selecting one preferred content type (e.g., audio, video, textual, etc.) to work with, and deciding on a platform (e.g., a blog, a podcast, YouTube, etc.) on which you will deliver that content consistently, over a significant period of time (usually over 12 months in length).
To establish credibility and build up your authority, focus on these four tenets as you build your base:
- One content type: Text, audio, video — what type of content can you excel at creating and deliver on a regular basis?
- One main platform: A website/blog, iTunes apps, YouTube — what will be your home base for the content you publish?
- Consistent delivery: Can you produce and publish this content on the same day, at the same time, each week?
- Over a period of time: It can take 12 months or more to start seeing results from your content efforts. Are you prepared to keep up your content efforts for as long as it takes to gain traction?
Example of building the base
OpenView Venture Partners invests in growth-oriented technology companies. Back in 2009, OpenView launched a content platform called OpenView Labs as a way to increase its authority and influence in the venture capital industry. OpenView built its content platform on the goal of delivering high-quality articles that would attract subscribers to its e-newsletter offering — which now boasts over 36,000 subscribers.
Next steps
Once you’ve started publishing content on your base platform, you will want to turn your attention to maximizing its impact by harvesting the audience.
Need additional guidance?
Find out which four content types form the basis of the majority of the Content Inc. success stories we’ve encountered. Download our e-book, Six Steps to Building a Content Inc. Empire.
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