Welcome! The Organic Freelancer Newsletter is for those looking to raise the "content bar" and grow their brand online. If that's you and you're not on the list, don't miss the next newsletter and join today.
Content That Truly Speaks to Your Audience
At the root of any content that performs well is great research.
The kind that does take you some time to do, but it doesn't have to be complicated. (Not how Penny's feeling from Big Bang Theory, lol)
You want to consider as many sources as possible.
And you've got what I call your...
- A-List Audience Resources
- B-List Resources
Both can help your content resonate better and rank higher from a SEO perspective.
But if you have to prioritize where to look first, the A-List resources are where I like to focus.
A-List Audience Resources
The A-List audience resources are directly from your audience's mouth. These are comments not interpreted by other people or provided by a tool.
📋Customer surveys & interviews
This is truly one of my favorite research references. The problem is that smaller organizations don't always have this information due to budget or resources.
However, there are free online survey tools you can use to create and deploy a survey to collect this feedback.
The questions I tend to like the most are open-ended ones where the customer has to tell me in their own words about their experience. This is where you stumble upon insights that spark new content ideas or give you golden nuggets you can add to existing content sources (blog posts, website pages, etc.)
🗨️Social media comments on posts
If you have a social media channel, you should be making it a point to review the comments section regularly. (And this isn't a huge ask because you're already engaging, right?)
Maybe you've invested in social listening tools like Hootsuite, Sprout, and others to provide you with this type of data.
But you don't need a paid tool to get to this good stuff. It's just a more manual process.
Look at what your followers like, how they expand on your post, and what pain points they bring up that are still being unmet.
Pro Tip: Look at your competitors' social media comments as well. This can also give you added insights into what your target audience is thinking and experiencing with similar products/services. It may even spark a new innovation or content idea on your end🙌
⭐Ratings & Reviews
The star rating isn't enough to learn much about your consumers. But the review can be telling.
This is where you get the context around WHAT they liked or something they wish was covered or included.
My suggestion is to pay more attention to the reviews outside your own branded site. Sure, if you have a reviews plug-in on your site, you should absolutely read and respond to what comes in.
But reviews on Amazon or Yelp have a less "big brother" feel. When you see a mix of positive and negative reviews - you can bet you'll get a more inclusive read on what your audience really thinks about your brand or offering.
Use these review details to feed into content creation.
🐇Reddit & Quora
Both are places you can get lost going down rabbit holes!
Just type in a topic you're interested in in the search box at the top. Then, open up thread after thread, reading through people's opinions and experiences.
Here's where I love to identify certain key phrases being used over and over in the comments to plug into my content.
It's easy to get stuck thinking we know how to label something based on our own understanding, but at times, this doesn't match with how consumers are talking about it in the real world.
Tap into their lingo.
Finding online forums and communities is a great way to understand how a topic is being referenced in conversation.
B-List Resources
Where A-List audience resources are directly from your audience's mouth, B-list resources are from second-hand sources or tools.
🙋Feedback from client service or sales teams
If you have a client service or sales team to tap into, you should. This is always a great resource for understanding more about your target audience.
With a client I work with now, I regularly contact the CR lead to ask about any new issues that have popped up or what she's hearing most about with consumers through phone calls or email communication.
This week, I'm revamping the FAQs page to better reflect what our audience is searching in Google. I also want to include more of the details that keep coming into CR (warranty policy, international shipping, etc.).
This helps your audience and your brand build trust, as you show that you're hearing them and trying to make the information easy to find and understand.
📊ALL the Google Tools
Google Search Console
Looking at queries under "performance" in GSC can be an interesting indicator of how well your site's search content matches the needs of users searching on specific long-tail keywords.
Looking at the last 6 months of my own site, I get the most impressions around "seo portfolio" and the phrase "impress your clients."
I could use that as an opportunity to develop more of my pillar content related to SEO and client service topics. (Which I'm all about!)
Google Analytics
GA can give you some base-level info regarding demographics, pages visited, etc. It's always interesting to see how my organic content drives traffic, looking at the number of visitors coming in from Google searches and social platforms.
Google Trends
Google Trends can also help you understand search demand around a topic. It can fuel ideas around specific topics your audience may be searching for.
It's a tool I don't use enough, but it's also one to consider, and one I plan on diving into further.
🎯Takeaway
- Quality content stems from quality research
- There are many resources to use (and free ones)!
- Put the necessary time into this step - your target audience will thank you and grow to trust you👍
Fill Your Cup Moment☕
At the end of the last week, I was in a car accident.
Praise God, everyone involved was ok.
But it was a reminder of why the right mindset and how you choose to react in a given moment is in your control and matters.
In a very scary and stressful situation, the other guy involved was nothing but kind.
His words, "If this was the worst thing that happened today, it's not a bad day."
Bless him.
Seriously.
We need more humans like this, and I couldn't help but truly give thanks for his attitude. Even over a week later, his comment still sticks with me.
I was turning left, so I was to blame, and the reality is he could have gone ballistic. But instead, he was the complete opposite and compassionate.
The thing is, everyone involved in this incident has been helpful...
Brittany at the auto body shop.
Kevin with my insurance.
My husband.
It's a testament and reminder to me that even in moments that temporarily throw us off course...we have control over how we react.
And it matters to those around us. Maybe even more than we realize.
My Resource Recommendations
(None of these are affiliated links - Just purely things I like, use, or learned.)
Looking for lessons from someone who has earned half a million from writing online? Check out this article by Sinem Gunel. A few here aren't new to me, but I like her point about how if you hate change, don't even start writing online. With the revolution of AI in content this last year...how true! I've found that being flexible and open to learning new things is a huge advantage in creating content, and building a business.
Looking to improve your copywriting skills? Jim Hamilton's post caught my attention. I especially liked point #10, which revolves around selling outcomes rather than benefits. It's a reminder to take your content to the next level by focusing not just on the immediate positive benefit for your audience but on a longer-term transformation.
Want to hear from another woman making $20,000/month in her freelance business? Then check out this episode with Jenni Gritters on Deliberate Freelancer. It was interesting to hear about the different seasons she's gone through, and I especially liked the part about how to be more proactive vs. reactive in your business.
Well gang that's a wrap! Thanks again for being here:)
Talk soon,
Allison
👋P.S. Just ONE MORE thing...and I would appreciate it a lot.
How am I doing?
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