What Content Do I Share?

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Wow! Thanks for all your recent comments and questions about social selling! Many of you are ready to up your social engagement and start rocking your sales. Along with this enthusiasm, I am hearing one resounding question: “what content do I share?”

This is an excellent question, and one I cannot answer, but can help you answer. First, sharing content is not about selling; it’s about building a relationship by sharing your smarts. The content you share needs to speak to the needs, concerns, and worries of your connections. In other words, what do they care about?

Second, remember the digital noise is vast, so you need to take this opportunity to provide real tangible help. The more you help, the more trust you gain, and the more likely you will out-sell the competition.

So, now you’re thinking, great, Sheri, but this sounds like a lot of work! Not really, once you understand there are two types of content: stuff you create, and gems you curate and share. Both are important and you probably want to do a little of both.

Curating content is all about sifting through good resources to find worthwhile information for your connections. In addition to any news feeds you already receive, consider creating specific searches through Google Alerts, Newsle, Feedly, and Mention. As part of the sharing process, be sure to add a sentence or two about why the topic is important; you don’t want to just send along a link without some type of commentary.

Creating your own content can consist of sharing blogs, updates, tweets, special reports, white papers, etc. Admittedly, creating blogs can seem overwhelming! There is nothing quite like a blank Word document or update screen to stop all creativity. However, the creative process can actually help you focus on the needs of your connections (and sometimes we lose sight of that emphasis).

One trick that helps me is the old fashioned approach; I get out some paper and pens and do a little mind mapping to take a kernel of an idea and flush it out into one or more articles. For instance, if I want to share some LinkedIn ideas, I can start with “LinkedIn profiles” at the center of the page and then add all the key profile components around the core phrase. I might draw pictures, numbers, or use words—it doesn’t matter; whatever gets my brain engaged and thinking creatively.

Sharing content is a key component to social selling because it helps solidify your thought leadership with your connections. It doesn’t have to be a grind; in fact, the process can help keep you current with trends and news, and help you regularly address your tribe’s issues and cares.

It’s okay to start slowly until you get the hang of sharing content. Maybe try for a couple curating shares per week and one or two blogs per month. Just get going and then be consistent!