Ever wondered how the “big hitters” on Steem generate thousands of dollars? It isn’t by posting alone. Even if you’ve perfected the perfect blog, created a one-of-a-kind service to improve the quality of Steem, or are dedicated to your member base, how have they motivated the Steem world to sit up and pay attention?
They market themselves like crazy! Only you can create awareness of your ideas, products or services with clever marketing materials, unique ways to distribute them and techniques to open doors to members that will have them saying, “We just have to read Christine’s content!”
Why a Steem Marketing Kit?
Webster defines marketing as “the ability to attract a buyer if offered for sale.” The word “attract” is important here, because most people are visual. Time and time again in sales and marketing, we realize a powerful influence: The visual overwhelms the verbal. That’s why, when expressing this to Members and prospective Followers, we often use phrases such as, “People think with their eyes” and “People hear what they see.”
We choose visual clues presented to us by other Members that make us appear competent. Visual clues work. We can listen to stories of your success or remarks from a happy Follower, but if we can see what you have to offer, we’re more likely to make an upvote.
The first step towards creating the visual is to put together a “knock your socks off” Steem Marketing Kit. Why? Because long after you’ve left the building, Members and prospective Followers can feel, touch, smell, shake and share a well put-together Marketing Kit. Marketing Kits have legs.
What’s in a Steem Marketing Kit?
Most people are selling the wrong thing. They are selling features, benefits and God forbid, the price. What should they be selling? Their story. Stories are the way the human animal learns. We saw stories all the way back to biblical times—to Jesus, Moses and Muhammad. One of our former US Presidents, Ronald Reagan was called “The Great Communicator” because of the stories he told. We grew up listening to fairy tales and Harry Potter.
Why are stories valuable? Because they touch our emotions, capture our hearts and spur us to take action. So the first thing in your Steem Marketing Kit should be your story: why did you get started; what amazing things have happened to you as a result of your joining Steem; who will I meet or be allowed to interact with if I become a Member or start communicating with someone I follow? Learn to tell your story, and tell it well.
How Can I Tell My Story?
First create three things to bring visual stimulation to your profile: a profile picture; a cover image; and a banner that accompanies every blog you post. Who are you? Why did you start blogging about a certain topic? How long have you been a Member of Steem? What makes you unique? What are existing Members saying about you? How can we contact you if we want to make a deeper connection?
Your profile picture, cover image and banner should be brilliant in color and photography. They should capture action, results, and strong testimonials. They can be as simple as a photo of you and something you love—or as fancy as you can be creative.
You can continue to tell your story by including the Biography of yourself. Biographies should be more than just the facts: they should be an opportunity to spin a tale about how you have come to where you are.
The final piece in crafting your story is from the eyes of happy Members. Choose your testimonials wisely, and if you don’t have any, go after them. Contact past Members who have posted on your blog and if necessary, volunteer to craft the testimonial yourself and submit it to them for approval, editing and correction. You’ll be surprised how many Members will take what you’ve drafted and change it completely, providing you with an even better and stronger endorsement than you came up with yourself.
What Else?
You are competing with thousands, maybe more, of other Members and individuals who do exactly what you do or something similar. When your Steem Marketing Kit lands on the computer of a prospective Follower, you want him or her to stop what they’re doing, open your blog and say, “Wow. This is amazing.”
Finally, in addition to having a coordinated Steem Marketing Kit with a “knock your socks off” look and feel to it, provide links to other mediums for which Members can learn more about you or your topic/passion. Provide a website link or list your Twitter account. Make it easy for people to get to know you.
Am I Done Yet?
Marketing Kits are a great way to have your image say, “I’ve invested in you. Now you come invest with me.”
So the next time you are writing a blog post, take a good hard look at what you’ve been sending the Steem community. If it doesn’t “knock their socks off,” it’s time to dial it up and change your image. I’ll see you at the bank.
Christine K. Clifford, CSP is the author of eight books including YOU, Inc., The Art of Selling Yourself and Let’s Close a Deal: Turn Contacts into Paying Customers for Your Company, Product, Service or Cause. She is the CEO/President of Christine Clifford Enterprises. She helps companies and individuals craft their story and designs “knock your socks off” Media Kits for companies, individuals and entertainers.
Visit www.christineclifford.com or email her at Christine@ChristineClifford.com.
Don’t forget to ask! ™
