Unless this is your first day on the Internet, then you'll know that there is billions upon billions of 'stuff' out there - so how do you make sure you stand out and that what you produce stands the test of time?
We all know that Content is Queen - but, there's a difference between producing content for content's sake - and producing content which leverages your message and continues to serve your business weeks, months and even years after it was initially created.
That's what we call EVERGREEN CONTENT - much like those green trees, evergreen content is your content which just keeps on going long after you initially created it.
Lots of people fall into the trap of producing a shit-ton of content and scattering it all over Social Media - but, being active on Social Media is NOT the same as actually running and building a business - and should never be confused!
Whilst you do undoubtedly need a presence on Social Media, it should absolutely NOT be your Content Strategy if you're in this for the long-haul.
Evergreen content is stuff which is going to be indexed by search engines - and found over and over again by people looking for 'stuff' you're talking about.
I like blogging. I find it easy to write and it brings me pleasure - and, because I blog on my OWN site on which I have 100% rights to - that content is never going to be taken away from me (beware if your website platform is NOT self-hosted! - WordPress is undoubtedly the best and I'd say at this moment, Squarespace a close contender - but... you're never actually 100% in control of your shit when you're "digital sharecropping").
By blogging I get to make use of keywords and build a 'silo' of phrases across my site which lends weight to the entire structure within the search engines.
I make sure my blogs are regularly crawled by Google and Bing so that the search engines are aware that:
1) there's a shit ton of content and
2) my website is regularly updated - this is something which helps your SEO - so if you're only updating your website once every 6 months when you launch a new course, it's not seen favourably in Google's eyes. I know, I know, it's a pita sometimes and we're never given full access to what those clever machines are doing over there at Google - but we DO know that they like content CREATORS and reward them in their listings.
Posting videos to YouTube is another great evergreen content marketing strategy. Not only do your videos on YouTube "never die" - unlike more transient Social video channels, but YT is owned by Google and... well yeh, you guessed it! You play nice with YouTube? Google plays nice with you.
You can also write books, publish podcasts or anything else which is going to STICK AROUND.
But if you want your content to be EVERGREEN, then you need to stop sending your 'best shit' out there on quickly forgotten (and scrolled past) Social Media channels and actually build something which is going to stick around.
Where I live it's hard to work the land and it can be hard to grow stuff. I'm currently looking at planting Pinus Nigra which is an evergreen pine which thrives in terrible conditions. I'm unlikely to see the benefit of this growth in my lifetime... but we do this stuff for the future - my children and their children will see these towering trees.
Evergreen content is a bit like that - sure it's hard(er) work, but it's FUTURE-PROOFING your business and ensuring that you will get ORGANIC GROWTH.
A lot of people are scared of organic growth because it takes time - inorganic means basically paying for growth through advertising, which means when done effectively it's fast - and don't we all like a little instant gratification?
But... because we're all grown-ups around here and not 2 year olds demanding a sugary lolly - we know that the BEST things come to those who plan their shit out, execute it well and wait patiently.
Ya gotta go EVERGREEN gal!
