Why Your Content Isn't Converting | Ep. 352

Speaker A: Most people think they have a content problem. They think they need to post more, be more consistent, and figure out the algorithm. But that's not why your content isn't working. Because there are people posting less than you with worse editing who are getting more clients, more opportunities and more attention. So what's the difference? It's not content, it's authority. The real problem is that when people see your content, they don't immediately understand why you matter. And if that's unclear, they nothing else works. So today we're going to dive into that topic of authority and why your content isn't converting. Check it out. Hey, hey, hey, what's up? Welcome to Brands on Brands, I'm Brandon Burkmayer, and today we are talking about authority and content and how these things work together. You know, this came to me because right now I'm in the middle of editing a bunch of different videos. I'm looking back at coaching videos and pulling little snippets from my coaching sessions to share them in my content. And I'm pulling pieces from me being on stage and editing those down to just clips that people can watch in my content. I'm also editing them to put in my speaker reel and to put on my website and on my YouTube channel. And they all have different requirements. Right. In my posts on LinkedIn, for example, the video's gotta be like 30 seconds, 60 seconds, just a little snippet. But if it's on YouTube, I'm, um, looking for something that's maybe three minutes of me giving a full piece of information, like from stage, so that if an event planner sees it, they understand what the experience is like with me when they hire me. So the point is, in everything that I've been doing, I realized that there are these qualities that I think make up a minimum viable product. So, for example, when I was writing my book, I said, okay, there's a few things that I will not skimp on, if you will. The first was the book has to have a good coverage. So I designed 100 different covers, didn't hire a designer, but did show that cover to a, uh, professional editor and asked them feedback. And one of the things they said was, well, Brandon, take your face off of it. Ouch. Right? And make it yellow instead of blue. And this was because I was writing a leadership book. And in that space, a lot of the colors associated with those types of books were yellow. And I said, that's fine. I didn't really care about the color and take your face off of it because not Everyone resonates with particularly your face or a certain type of person's face. It is easier to have just the words there and let the concept and idea shine through. And I thought that made sense. So that was an easy edit. So I looked at the COVID made sure that the COVID worked, and I looked at 10 of my favorite books and said, okay, how did they structure where they put things in the book, the flow of the book? What were the things that they used for references or recommendations? How do they organize their outlines? Where do they put their, like, notes to their family? How did they organize the end of each chapter? All the little things in the flow? And then I went through and said, okay, well, what kind of quotes do I need on the back of the book from what types of people to make this look respectable? So each step of the way I was figuring out how do I build credibility, that this book is worth reading. And obviously I gave the book to an editor to make sure that all the concepts and the readability made sense. But why did I do this? Well, I did this because I think that there are triggers for everything that you do. Signals that say, this is good and worth your time, or not good and not worth your time and everything. Every project you take on has little signals like that. So in, in the book, there's those kind of things, right? Is the COVID good? Does it have a catchy title? Is it about a topic that I care about? What are those things? And they typically answer three questions if you do these things right. And the first question is, what are you known for? Right? What's the clarity of topic? What are you known for? Second is, why should I trust you? The third is, how do you actually help me now? All these little nuanced things that we do when we're building something, show the care you put into it and the focus. And right now that I'm building out my speaking business, I'm looking for what topics am I creating for people and what am I known for? I'm, um, looking at the names of all my topics and saying, do they really help people understand what I speak about? And then the question, why should I trust you? I'm, um, highly editing these videos to not just give them a snippet, but to give them the actual few minutes back to back of me speaking so they can see, oh yeah, this is real. This isn't just the best of a speech. This is a long four minute. So I have a three minute version, I have a six minute version, and I have the place where you can watch the whole thing depending on where you're looking. And then I have the snippet that just gets you excited for me in a bunch of different environments. Because maybe they want to see me not just on a stage, but in a big room of people or in a workshop so that they know the why should I trust you? Well, they've seen me deliver it in a lot of different formats. And then how do you actually help me? Is am I showing them a moment where they, they see that I can be exciting on stage, that can be entertaining, that I'm, um, answering a question in a way that the audience hasn't thought about? And I'm creating a lot of content that I put online as well on my LinkedIn page through posts that show me consistently helping and answering those questions. Because the peop the event planners want to know, am I a leader in this space? Do I have opinions? Can I help? And a lot of the people have been finding me because when they type in personal brand new keynote speaker, my name pops up. Why does it pop up? Well, because I've created enough content in this space associated with that topic that it tends to put me at the top of those searches. So I've created some bit of trust that I'm the right person for this category of information, and then they can dive deeper to get to know me. So the time I'm spending editing these videos right now is the critical pieces I think of what separates me from being successful and not successful. And when I'm talking to other speakers in the industry, I go to the people who are successful, I ask them advice, and they're the ones that told me, hey, Brandon, write a book. And then I look at their websites. I don't just listen to what they say. I look at what they're doing. I say, oh, on their website, here's what seemed really interesting. They had this type of video in this type of format. They're really clear about their positioning. So I do the research there. And for you guys listening, when you're thinking about their content that you're putting out into the world, there's a couple of things that I do right when I'm helping people one on one. A lot of the time I'm helping them figure out for the first time how to get really clear on what their message is, not just their category. Like, for me, it's personal branding, but what their message is in that category. How are you coming up with a perspective that you can share in different formats? Sure. Maybe in a podcast where you have different ideas every week. But what's then the most distilled version of that that you can put into a keynote speech or into a framework, figuring out how to take those ideas, make them super ownable, and turn them into different types of, of ip, if you will, brand type structures like a book, a keynote, a platform. So working through ideas with people, uh, is a key way that I help. And then a second is that sometimes we're working through these content systems, not just how do I share something every week, but also how do I share things that are actually gonna help people know that I'm the right choice for them. So that's what I've been working on for myself. That's what I help other people with. And right now, one of the things that I built recently, if you're interested, if you're wondering if your content is the problem or something else with your personal brand, I built out a personal brand clarity scorecard, and you can just go to brandsonbrands.comscorecard to check that out. And if you do the quick quiz, it's like 10 questions. It'll give you areas you could be working on, and it'll give you an opportunity to sign up for a free call with me where we can talk through that together to answer some of those questions. Uh, and again, get back to the idea of what are you known for? Why should I trust you? How do you actually help? And hopefully those questions and some of that work, if you want to talk to me, will help you along the way, and we can work through building your authority content, what your system is for creating content that actually helps people get to know you better, trust you, and maybe want to work with you in the future. So that's what I've been working on. That's what I got for you guys today. Hope that was helpful. Little look behind the scenes what I've been working on, and we'll, uh, catch you next time. Brands on brand.