Pure honesty: It’s really disappointing to me that in order to add value to people’s lives, I have to trade value away from mine. Value-based content my beautiful, larger-than-necessary ass. By the time I’ve finished scheduling out my Instagram feed, I’ve used up a day I needed to serve my clients or take care of myself/my family. And I’m told that I need to be doing this one or two days a week. Wtf?

You, right now: “Oh, wow, wrong room so sorry my bad. Can you tell me which room the content creation education is in?”

No, you’re in the right room. Let me explain.

SEO, algorithms, scheduling, hashtags, geotags, keywords, relevancy, the list goes on… What you share must go through an extensive list of checks and balances, just for it to be seen. There are many apps & services just to help you post one caption on Instagram or post a blog. And in some cases, you have to pay to play or no one will see you at all.

You again: “Yeah, that’s why I’m here. What are the hacks? The perfect times to post? The best apps? The calculations to track my audience?”

Fine, I’ll get to that point. The secret is….get ready….

…none of those things.

You read me. There is something even more important than algorithms and keywords, and it’s you. Reshaping yourself to a template will only water down your passion and message! Instead of finding all of the ways to become something that already exists, share the things that people can only get from you.

If you feel like you’re doing all the “right” things and it’s not getting your business anywhere, let me show you what the secret is behind converting views into clients, followers, and even friends with the word value. If you understand this word and what it means for your content, it won’t matter if you post at 2 o’clock or a prime time, if your pixel embed is working or not–people will seek you out.

The Meaning of Value

I’m sure you’ve already heard the term value-based content, but let’s remind ourselves what that really means:

_{Value as a verb}

_{to consider with respect to worth, excellence, usefulness, or importance.}

I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds like another way to say “a solution to a problem.” If you have something to say that can solve someone’s problem, that is excellent, useful, and incredibly important. The kind of value that people will not just readily accept, but will share and save.

What you have is valuable

I’m going to call back to my secret sauce that you are the key behind the hashtags and the algorithms. You can only solve someone’s problem by sharing solutions you personally know.

Furthermore, say it in a voice that is uniquely yours, in a way that your audience cannot get from anyone else. Most likely, people have landed on your page or have found your advertisement because they are looking for someone that can specifically speak to their problems. If what you’re sharing is simply interesting but not captivating, beautiful to look at but not useful, they are going to jump from your page to someone else who uses their voice to speak to their problem.

An Example of Value

My primary business is wedding photography, and brides come to me looking for photos. But that’s not really the problem they want to solve, is it? They want to feel beautiful in their photos. They’re looking for someone who is experienced, professional, seasoned, and artful. This is what value looks like to a bride:

• Problem: Wanting photos that make them look good
  • Solution: BTS of posing my couples in ways that flatter them
• Problem: They want engagement photos too, and they want those to look *bomb*
  • Solution #1: Telling them what are the best outfits/colors for their engagement session
  • Solution #2: A gallery of the best locations in DFW for sessions
• Problem: They are also hiring other vendors, so they need recommendations
  • Solution: Sharing my recs for the top 10 best videographers in DFW

If they come to my page and all I talk about is so-and-so’s wedding and how pretty it was, or I just have one funny video after another, is it useful or important? Then it’s not valuable, and it’s not my authentic voice. They’ve come to my page and found nothing that can help them, so it’s no surprise that they won’t send me a message. They can find beautiful galleries of photos anywhere… So what makes coming to your feed or website any different?

I Want to Help You Find Your Value

If you are feeling overwhelmed and burned out by social media and marketing, I’m here to tell you yeah no f*cking duh, it’s hard and that’s okay.

Over the next few days, I’m going to continue sharing things that I’ve learned along the way about expressing your authentic voice, adding value to what you have to offer, and doing it in a way that renews your energy and gives back to your passion rather than taking it away.

I am certainly not a marketing guru, and I’ve been through the highs and lows of it. I have not always done a good job, either… and yet I always get the clients that I want, and I make a considerably larger profit every year. And I know why, and I want to share it with you.

Let’s go through it together, and create space for ourselves and our businesses that captivate other people and make the world a little bit better along the way. ✨💛

-Hannah