I had a conversation about luck recently with a mentor, and one point he said stuck with me. He said he didn't believe in luck. At first, I thought this was a little strange. I mean, everyone gets lucky at some point. Maybe you found a $20 bill on the sidewalk? Or you won the lottery. Wouldn't that be awesome?
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That got me thinking about how so many founders and small marketing teams subscribe to the lotto version of content marketing, where you view content marketing and SEO as one in the same (News Flash: They are not!) and create tons of content in the hopes that it will lead to more traffic and conversions.
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In my experience, the lotto version of content marketing typically leads to a ton of mediocre copycat content written for SEO robots (i.e. writing for a keyword) instead of writing for your audience. This is particularly true for small marketing teams since you only have so much creative energy and time. So, the vast majority of content collects dust. If you are "lucky enough" to see a couple of pieces get any traction, it is usually short-lived since you are throwing spaghetti at the wall and have no moat whatsoever. This means you need to crank out more and more content to keep pace with the faster diminishing returns.
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That's not a content strategy. You are trying to win increasingly against AI bots and relying solely on luck.
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​Luck is a terrible content strategy.

If you want to stop relying on the lotto version of content marketing, you need to start creating a smaller number of exceptional content pieces that build a MOAT that compounds over time. You are building a content machine that works harder for you. Best part - as a small team, you are also leveling the playing field for yourself since you don't have to compete on content volume.
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​This starts by writing for your audience / ICP first instead of for keywords.

• What are your customers' goals?
• What are their pain points?
• What do they struggle with?
• What's the "job" they are trying to complete that your product or service can uniquely solve?
• What do they need to know that they may not even know they need to know?

The list of questions goes on and on.

Once you have your initial list of topics, now it is time to think about content positioning, a unique POV, and yes a specific keyword (if SEO is a key distribution channel). At this point, you may need to tweak your initial post idea a bit to satisfy search intent, but it shouldn't be a complete overhaul.
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The end result of using an audience-first content strategy is building a content moat for your company that compounds exponentially over time.

***

🚀 Five interesting things I read or listened to

Five top articles or podcast episodes I came across this month

• Do you ever feel like you are busy, but don't have much to show for it? It turns out you are probably engaged in a lot of meta work.
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• Hiring is HARD. Most content about hiring leaves a lot to be desired. This hiring playbook is actually useful.
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• I learned a new term - Gastrodiplomacy. This is a fascinating story about a $40 million bet to open more Korean restaurants abroad and turn South Korea into a culinary destination.
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• Have you ever seen one of those "We buy ugly houses"signs? It is clearly a scam, but I didn't realize just how predatory the company behind it was until I read this article.
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• Just your regular reminder that GPT-4 hallucinates (i.e. makes stuff up) a lot. This lawyer found that out the hard way. Make sure you fact check any AI-generated content.

🤣 Just for fun

• I'm not sure how I stumbled into the great chicken war, but this might be the best thing on TikTok. 🐓
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• ​To the floor meets lava: golf edition ⛳️
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• ​And, the real estate agent who has to sell this home is definitely going to earn their commission. 🦌

✨ Enjoy The Newsletter?

Looking to learn more or need a little help? Here a few more things you might enjoy.

• ​The Remote Work Tribe Podcast: Learn how best-in-class remote-first and hybrid founder and marketers lead their teams. New episodes go live twice a month.
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• ​Free 30 Minute Coaching Call with Jessica: Whether you are looking for strategic guidance about leading a remote-first marketing team, a content marketing strategy consultation, actionable advice for how to hire, vet, and manage writers, or just want to dive deeper about AI, I'm here to help.
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• ​Content Strategy & Copywriting: Are you looking for help building a content moat or scaling your content marketing strategy? Our founder, Jessica, has close to a decade of experience working mainly with early and mid-stage software companies building tools for eCommerce businesses and remote teams.

As always, if you have any feedback or any reading recs, hit reply and let me know. The only thing I love more than reading is getting thoughtful recommendations for what I should read next.

Cheers,
- Jessica and The Remote Work Tribe team

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