s11s

I'm a fan too. Also like Ditto’s posts, simplifying things for the lay person. 

thanks <@U02V92UN0Q2>! <@U031K7316HW> I will reach out to you later this week to pick your brains :slightly_smiling_face:

It sure does make sense given most 30 min minute meeting have less than 3 minutes of actual value

I don’t know about the Ken, but I attended ‘The Art of Clear Writing’ course by Amit Varma (The Seen and The Unseen Podcast). It was quite fun, but its more focused towards writing as a hobby. So topics are more about finding your voice, sound of your writing etc. 

<@U02UMJJJALA> I was considering to take up that course but was afraid about the same thing. It will be about casual writing. Thanks for putting it out here.

The best part for me is that at the end of the workshop, Amit puts you in a WhatsApp/Discord group of members of all 23 previous cohorts. The community there is quiet fun. You get some wild fiction/non fiction recommendations. 

<@U031QKGPNRK> I remember PGK talking about this somewhere, let me see if I can it...

Thanks everyone. <@U038WP8PLUA> that would be great if possible. Thanks :+1:

Hey Tejaswi. We host storytelling and narrative workshops for corporates on a regular basis. Happy to elaborate on DM

Thanks <@U02UZQJMP8R> <@U030FECHTGB>. I will dm you Tanmay

Not sure if there is any course. But I've seen PGK sharing his thoughts and insights in the GrowthX demo day

<https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6966623243310886912?utm_source=linkedin_share&amp;utm_medium=ios_app|https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6966623243310886912?utm_source=linkedin_share&amp;utm_medium=ios_app>

What has personally worked for me is scheduling a 15-minute call or writing an email with a questionnaire to the SME. You can have a follow-up call or email, in case you need more clarity after the first discussion.

Thanks a lot <@U030E27CBB3>, this helps :slightly_smiling_face:

+1 to getting on a call and recording it. Pop the recording into Otter for a transcript and edit away. 

This has worked really well for me because of a few reasons:

1. What I've realised is that while these people are SMEs in their fields, they might not always be able to translate that expertise to a written format.
2. The unfortunate truth is that they look at filling a questionnaire / docs as a chore. But when they get into a conversation with you, they are more willing to share their knowledge.
3. Close ended questions restrict the SMEs to just the questions mentioned. When you get on a call, you get the opportunity to dig deeper into certain topics and have follow on questions if needed. 

Here's also a great resource by Dr.Fio on interviewing SMEs :  

<https://contentfolks.substack.com/p/expert-interviews|https://contentfolks.substack.com/p/expert-interviews>

Thanks for the detailed response, Akshaya. This is really helpful

<@U02PDC4883V> Can we have a deep dive session on B2B Content Writing by <@U02TTEFFU6B>? 

Kidhar ho bhai (Where art thou, oh my brother!) <@U02TTEFFU6B> 

Always here <@U02PDC4883V> 

Anything for s11s

He is an OG when it comes to content marketing :smile:

image.png

Loved the campaign. Very relatable as I am going through the pain of filling up forms, getting qualified, shown a demo, then asked for size/need and then quoted! Was genuinely interested in the solution to this problem and checked out one of the partners mentioned in the website and saw this :shrug: -

It ultimately boils down to people who run these campaigns to come up with a better way to sell their solution. Our obsession with collecting data never goes away.

Hi <@U03BRRG94LV>  - Why are there so many specific UTM Params in the link. If you really are looking at a distribution campaign - please <#C0318NH5G3C|> is the place 

utm_source=slacks11&amp;utm_medium=comm&amp;utm_campaign=content_dist

Hmmmmmm

And it's s11s not s11 - the utm_source is wrong

Apologies! Have taken the link down. I was just greedy/curious to see what kind of impressions you usually get within the group.

Also, as I've embarrassingly outed myself, I genuinely need this question answered. So any help on it will be appreciated!   <@U02PDC4883V>

Appreciate the honesty <@U03BRRG94LV> 

I haven't seen well-asked genuine queries go unnoticed here. Hope the community helps you out here as well.

Absolutely no problem. We just take it to another level when we notice something off :see_no_evil:

Distribution is still a grey topic (not because of knowledge but because of how much is generic and cannot be applied directly)

My opinion on distribution
1. Distribution is different for different parts of the funnel. Attract, Engage, Convert and Retain will have different channels of distribution and different metrics
2. Taking Attract as an example (and you will see why this is a generic advice and why distribution is still a challenge!). You would look at in terms of Organic and Paid. Organic - Social Channels, First Party Database Email, Senior Leadership individual social channels, Forums, Communities. Paid - Partnerships , Affiliate, Social
3. Now each channel will have a metric that you will want to pick up and showcase as your distribution impact metric. 


Thanks for the reply, guys :)

Also, an answer can only be as good as the question. My question also was rather generic. But you have kind of helped me validate the direction I was taking because I am working on 'Attract' as the part of the funnel.

Will be spending some time on fine-tuning my research around the same and will pick your brains for specific things (without a horribly done UTM link, of course!)

Have a great weekend! :D

Complicated, I know people who charge 200$ per hour and I also know people who charge 1 paisa per word..

1 paisa per word? Singlehandedly bringing down an entire industry. 

1 paisa per word... even China couldn't beat us to that.

• Mostly communities and friend referrals. 
• I’m in SaaS and I _only_ work with SEO writers that have published articles in their name and those articles are ranking for &gt;5 keywords in total and &gt;1 keyword on the 1st page. Plus, I do a paid article test before onboarding them. 
• Good writers in India charge &gt;Rs.5/word and salary for a 2+ years experience would be 7-10 Lacs/PA. Again, this is _purely_ from my experience. 

Other than the tried and tested skills to look for, here are some of my lessons from my experience of hiring and networking:

1. Writers who have had a journalistic background have a unique perspective
2. If someone has had a personal blog / journaling habit on social media (or personal site), have got comments/converse through threads or comments on reddit/other channels, I have had good experiences in building content that engages
3. If they are contrarian in discussions and can build narratives around their opinions, thats a good sign I think. 

Thank you so much <@U02VA7QD8UB> &amp; <@U031QKGPNRK> - great answers!

We generally start with freelance projects with writers, who we find through Linkedin/ Facebook groups and recommendations from our existing group of freelance writers.

Once we are confident with the skillset and niches writer can research and work on, we hire them full time.

Totally agree with <@U031QKGPNRK> on Journalistic background point, we are always on a hunt for such writers, and for others we push them to religiously follow The Ken.

Charges depends on a lot of factors, but a good freelancer for a 1000 word article can charge between Rs 3500 to Rs 7000. Depending on the research and technicality of the subject

Hey <@U033RUXVCAY>, I think you meant to tag <@U031QKGPNRK> :sweat_smile:

I have had good experience working with Journalists. They are usually content machines, have been terribly under paid in traditional journalism and if they have already covered columns in your niche, it is a definite plus. Structuring your blog like a newsroom will reap benefits in the long run.

Thanks <@U03MKL4JYHW>! What kind of journalists do you usually go after? Any profiles that a better fit for writing SaaS content?

We've found great writers on Slack communities and LinkedIn. But these have not worked out. Reason: No knowledge of the domain. 
You'll find decent writers. But the writing becomes stronger with the right nuances.
People with a journalism background tend to write better. Yes. 
Regarding charges - I'm surprised writers still charge so low (based on figures mentioned above). 
I've found good writers charging anywhere between $200-$500. (Yup, Indian writers included!)

Thanks <@U033ASE526S>! Appreciate the insights

You can try Scalenut’s talent network which is a marketplace for some of the best writers at some of the most reasonable costs. You do not have to worry about the content delivery. <https://www.scalenut.com/talent-network>

Since you are just starting, don't go for tools right away.

Let Twitter/YouTube algorithm work for you. Interact with the content of the field you are catering to so that both platforms throw to you similar stuff(which you want!). Manually source influencers and while evaluating ask yourself "if I were the potential customer would I interact with his/her content".

Important - Negotiate on digital rights for period of 1-2 years.

I think go for a boutique agency. They'll charge 8-10% of the budget (even lesser in some cases) and manage the entire sourcing, execution, and reporting of the campaign. I’ve done experiments on very tiny budgets so don't be afraid to put this idea on the table. Happy to get into details over DM

<@U030E27CBB3> Appreciate for the insights

Check out <https://youtube.com/c/AvalonMetaLive|https://youtube.com/c/AvalonMetaLive>

<https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/how-to-write-a-blog-post/>

Has a framework to write SEO focussed content.

For plans, you can refer to the second link:

<https://ahrefs.com/blog/topic-clusters/>

You can look at keywords in the “problem aware” stage where people are still higher up in their buyer journey but yet relevant. Then you can also go for persona specific keywords. For example, if you’re targeting marketing persona, you can target keywords which your persona cares about but have nothing to do with your software. The right audience once in your funnel can be directed to explore your offering even if they were not looking for you in the first place.

I haven't heard great things about CMS. People who have attended in the past mentioned that it is a waste of time.

Are you looking for a freelancer or to hire someone?

Did you get anyone <@U03UH4N8A0Y>? I am looking for someone as well.

For some reason I thought this said Vietnamese food recommendations and got super excited. (Love me some pho, and apologies for derailing this) 

<@U02V8PH46PM> we all see what we want to see. (I thought the same too! :grin:). Somehow the word translation services got lost 

<@U02PDC4883V> yeah, I might be going through a craving. :yum:

Oh, I noticed this as well today. I thought it might be a tweak in settings or some such. 

I've gone through a few profiles and it seems inconsistent. I can see activity for some, and for most, it's not visible. 

I don't think so. I called a friend to check my profile. He had the same experience. I didn't even touch the settings tab.

Asking for an article; Have you come across/ created some great customer success surveys? I would love to chat with you! Please DM or drop a msg here, and I'll reach out. Thank you :blush:

I worked on a similar report for ecommerce industry. DM me and will try to help :+1::skin-tone-3:

i think you will find this insightful:  <https://concurate.com/5-b2b-brands-that-are-acing-linkedin-strategy/>

On any platform you want to target, just add 20-50 people from your core TG and observe your newsfeed everyday. See what content is trending, being liked and promoted by your TG. Once you know that, then it is simply a matter of emulating the same for yourself.

There are 2 aspects of succeeding with Social,
Listening + Brand Story.

Building the Brand Story is not the work of social, neither it is going to get done by searching on Google(You'll have to interview Target Buyers and collect insights through Marketing Activities)

When you talk about Listening, it's just an excercise where you go to communities, influencers, newsletters, podcasts and every channel regarding your industry and build a tool that tells you what people are talking about and what they care about.

These 2 components fuel any Content Strategy, not only social...Hope this helps

P.S- If you want I can share my Listening template for you to use

Hi folks.. I want to create a master class series around the D2C space. Want to essentially include webinars and educational videos. Would love to discuss some ideas and strategies.

For ToFu content you can look for writers on Linkedin.

For more complex topics, you will either have to hire an agency with previous experience in legal tech or hire full time writers and train them.

Hi Umashankar, I would like to know more about your content requirements if you are still looking to hire for content.

<@U03MGGYBENP> this is for a contract lifecycle management (CLM) company. Need writers with experience in legal tech.

You shud connect with her <https://www.linkedin.com/in/silkyagarwal|https://www.linkedin.com/in/silkyagarwal>

The issue with this approach is highlighted by what <@U033RUXVCAY> said. When you go out about Creating Content without having any clarity about what Marketing/Demand Gen Strategy looks like(not doing the necessary Marketing Research for it) you will eventually need to hire people who have prior experience in this.

Content Creation becomes the most expensive thing when you do it without a Demand Gen Strategy

hey <@U03Q7P5TCLE> - sharing details with you on DM

Thanks <@U02VAPDACUQ> 

<@U03CQ5MN61H> sent you DM 

Thanks <@U03D3N0BBEX>! Hi <@U03CQ5MN61H>, let's connect over DM to discuss the same.

If you want someone to specifically over ABM or Social for your Demand Gen Campaigns, would love to talk

Such tools are known as "Media Monitoring Tool". Check this out -

• <https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-monitoring-tools/>
• <https://www.mediatoolkit.com/blog/5-media-monitoring-tools-you-dont-want-to-miss-out/>
I have used <https://brand24.com/|Brands24> in past. It worked well for me.

Anubhav, this is exactly what we do for our Clients when we build a Demand Gen Strategy,

We hand over a Newsletter at the end of but weekly but...it gets way more exciting than keyword alerts which just provides you with low quality insights,

We also provide you with the summary of Industry Trends, Community Discussions, Newsletter etc.

Can send you a template and a short description of how we do it(Wrote a recent piece regarding this)

I've used <https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/how-to-monitor-brand-mentions|Talkwalker alerts> and by far the best and most accurate tool I've used. Works well for web and social mentions.

Question for the class: What's a new content marketing practice you've adopted this year?
AND/OR What's a content marketing practice you've ditched after implementing it in the past?

I'm going through HubSpot's content strategy course, and was intrigued by the idea of inviting domain experts/influencers to collaborate on content while you're creating it, _instead of_ pinging them to share said content that you've already created and published independently.

DMed you a trick I use to hire quality writers.

<@U02VA7QD8UB> would like to know this trick as well.

Hi Devashree! 

This is something I have tried in the past and worked! 

You can try giving the writer a 200-300 words max article and short form content like social media creative copy or Twitter snippet.
It’s easier to write long articles, but short ones are tricky. Bank on them if they ace it! :)

Hope it helps! All the best. 

Thanks a bunch, Aiswarya :slightly_smiling_face:

<@U03V03CE75K> is it something that you can take up?

<@U033RUXVCAY> Yep Divyank. Thank's for the mention

1) Take SEMrush/ Ahrefs subscription 
2) Checkout competitor backlinks
3) Put them on a spreadsheet and sort by domain authority 
4) Hire an outreach guy
5) Divide into free vs paid backlinks
6) Create a monthly plan to publish 
7) See and enjoy the results :) 

The slack channel is undoubtedly the best channel I have ever been in.

But yes a good chunk of it is product oriented so that would be on caution.

I think <@U032MN1BESJ> is a sub and a remember as well.

<@U02UGB8DERY> boy o boy, your reply came in fast. within 3 seconds of me posting :smile:

Haha yea saw your post and couldn't resist

Please note that 3 seconds is not <@U02UGB8DERY>’s usual TAT :grin:

I have it since a couple of years. Best investment. Worth $150 if you are a product manager

Non PM/fully dispassionate opinion:

I would not miss it if I didn't have it from a content perspective.
If there is a reason to have it - it is a high quality network - which paying $150/year to access is peanuts (and also see if you can get work to pay for it/write it off as a biz expense).

Having said that: You only get out of any community what you put into it.
If you're going to sit and take without giving, you'll find very little value in that network and sit on a lot of content that you may or may not use at some point.

So take stock of your current network (including this one) and resources to understand what's missing for you.

Use that to generate a hypothesis (or many hypotheses) for how you might benefit from that network or not (clearly you know people in it who can provide more context)  rather than fomo-ing about it.
If you see a good reason then, go for it.

loved the way you broke down the decision making aspects <@U032MN1BESJ>. much appreciated

<@U032MN1BESJ> I just noticed, you are featured by Lenny :slightly_smiling_face:  <https://twitter.com/lennysan/status/1565775644184588291/photo/1>

<@U032MN1BESJ> is a star in the community. One of the most helpful folks.

such a nice concept to thank the community as well. Warm

<@U031QKGPNRK> Good eye!
Ya it's pretty cool what they do over there.
And I suppose this was partly what was informing my "you get what you put in" comment.

<@U02UGB8DERY> Cheers big man. I feel like I'm getting more than I put in tbh. Either way karma has a way of coming around for sure.

Apart from the obvious - challenges, solutions and benefits, make your customer the hero and how your solution helped to make the hero's life better. Back up with data (before and after), what was the steps followed to implement the solution, and a customer testimonial. Also I would call it a customer success story rather than a case study.

we had a thread previously. hope it helps <https://s11s.slack.com/archives/C02VCEU9V0Q/p1660201435502459>

Thank you <@U0389S5NBH7>, <@U031QKGPNRK> :raised_hands::skin-tone-3: