Outline
Introduction
What’s Changed — Share what you know, Give away content, Build trust, B2C, Build A Brand, Transparency. Focus/Identify/Gather/Build/Share. Why do I care: Inexpensive, Direct, Builds trust, Builds community, Builds brand
FOCUS
Your Goals Have Got To Be Narrow
Identifying Your Perfect Customer
Why Imaginary Customers Can Help You Sell To Real People (Personas)
Success At The End Starts With Planning Measurements Now
They Don’t Care Why You Want Them To Buy
IDENTIFY
Stop! Don’t Start Writing Anything Yet!
Ask People Who Are Buying Now Why They Did — Focus Groups
What’s In Your FAQ? On The Wall By The Phone? Your Most Clicked Links?
Work It Backwards — Ask Support What The Worst Product Features Are
Now Ask Customers What They Want Fixed Or Upgraded
GATHER
Nope — Don’t Start Writing Yet!
Looking For Common Threads To Guide Your Design
Identify (And Document) Customer Pain Points
Interview Core Customers To Validate Your Theories
Develop Case Histories To Use In Design, To Keep Everyone Honest
Look At Your Competitors — But Don’t Copy
BUILD
OK — You Can Start Writing — Sort Of…
Design A Hierarchy Of Information
Agree On A Taxonomy and Keywords
Decide On A Voice — Who Are You?
Build A Foundation That Will Support Your Castle
Creating Your Content As “Form Factor Agnostic” As Possible
Beta Tests — Only Those Who Fit Your Personas Are Allowed
SHARE
Form Agnostic Content Is Easy To Re-Use
Think About How You’ll Measure Success
Do You Need To Test, And Revise? Yup. And Yup.
Are You “Launching”? Or Is It War?
Do You Like Videos? (Trick Question)
What’s Next?
Books
Examples
Links
People
Quotes
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