Thereâs this rumor that says content is king. In a way, this is true. BUT it also misses a really important point that has the potential to cost you both time and money!
Until you get clear on this VERY important aspect (there are actually two aspects of this aspect), youâll likely find your content falls shortâwhether itâs video content, audio, blogs, social media, whatever!
Itâs something me and my teams over the years have learned the hard way.
And until you learn this lesson, youâll waste a lot of time, money, and energy.
So before you create a new content plan or subscribe to the latest method, make sure you read this short article in full, make notes, and then read it again.
By taking this seriously, youâll make future you a lot of money đ
This is what weâll explore today:
- How To Create The Perfect Content That Captures Attention & Builds Loyalty
- The Levels of Consciousness and The Content You Craft
- 1: Reactive
- 2: Willful
- 3: Intellectual
- 4: Intuitive
- Conclusions & Next Steps
How To Create The Perfect Content That Captures Attention & Builds Loyalty
Over the years, Iâve created a lot of content. Blog posts. Guides. Webinars. Challenges. Videos. Podcasts. Emails followed by emails. And more social media messages than I care to count.
Hereâs a screenshot of just some of the content I published in less than two weeks a few years agoâŠ
If youâve followed my journey, you know how much I advocate content creation. Iâve created several popular and effective methodologies that have content at their core:
- In 2015, I created the SSF Method
- In 2017/18, I built The R.O.I. Method
- In 2020, I published The Nuclear Effect
Each one centers around content creation. And they all worked and made me and a lot of those I mentor a lot of money. Yet I also felt like they all missed a few important ingredients.
It turned out my intuition was correct, which I learned after reading the Levels of Energy, by Frederick Dodson. I wonât go into it all here because I dive much deeper in https://scottoldford.com/2023/02/15/the-4-hidden-levels-of-consciousness-for-marketing-your-online-business/
As youâll see, it centers around four levels of consciousness:
- Reactive: This is the level we see most in the online space, full of heavy-hitting tactics that focus on scarcity, FOMO, and quick fixes.
- Willful: This is the level where someone opens their eyes, pushing fear to one side and feeling highly motivated toward a vision or goal (most associated with hustle culture).
- Intellectual: At this level, someone moves away from tactics and focuses on strategy, not wanting to work hard, but rather work smart so they can be more efficient in their pursuit.
- Intuitive: This final level is when someone lives in the present, feeling whether they should or should not do something.
I encourage you to study these four levels in greater depth before you move onâcheck out: https://scottoldford.com/2023/02/15/the-4-hidden-levels-of-consciousness-for-marketing-your-online-business/
In this article, weâll look at how these four levels impact the type of content you createâŠ
The Levels of Consciousness and The Content You Craft
When it comes to crafting relevant content that connects with the right people at the right time, you have to think about two types of individual
- You and the level of consciousness youâre currently in
- Your ideal customer and the level of consciousness they spend most of their time inside
Yes, you have to create specific content for the person youâre targeting, and yes someone at the reactive level requires different content than someone at the intellectual level.
Yet none of this matters if you donât take YOU into consideration.
So, as we move on, weâll dive into both the type of content you need to create for your audience and how to approach this depending on your current level of consciousness.
Reactive:
When someone resides at the reactive level of consciousness, they focus on the pain they feel.
They are at the mercy of their emotions, simply wishing to escape their current situation.
They may not know what the problem is. But they know they donât want it anymore. As such, theyâre constantly looking for answers (even though they may not ask any questions).
At this level, you need to appreciate your audience follows A LOT of other influencers. They love to consume content because it distracts them from their reality. So they scroll through their newsfeed. They watch lots of YouTube videos. They listen to one podcast after another.
And they love to read short and sweet articles (and lots of inspirational memes).
To create content for this individual, you need to focus on:
- Quantity: mass frequency so you get in front of them often
- Pain: trigger their pain as much as you can
Whether you publish a blog post or a TikTok video, your goal is to trigger their pain and inspire them to do something. What that something is doesn’t matter. So long as you provide a better way forward, youâll capture their interest.
I imagine certain types of content spring to mind right now.
All that inspirational meme jazz that fills your Instagram feed is designed for those at this level.
It makes people feel, even though there arenât any ânext stepsâ per se.
If youâre at the reactive level, creating a content plan wonât help. In fact, youâll likely watch a video from someone you admire, feel inspired, and say to yourself⊠Iâm going to start a YouTube channel.
There and then, you set it up and record your first video.
Youâre committed, too, in that moment. But that commitment quickly fades. Before long, youâve moved on to the next thingâleaving your YouTube channel with one lonely video for the next three years.
Willful:
At the willful level of consciousness, someone moves away from the pain they feel and begins to fixate on âtheâ solution. They may not fully understand what the solution is, but they know what they donât want and theyâre willing to put in the hard work.
This is the level of consciousness most associated with hustle culture.
As before, this person follows A LOT of influencers. They watch videos and listen to interviews, and love to scroll through their social media feeds. The difference here is that theyâre ready to take action.
As such, you canât only inspire this person with a memorable quote. Instead, you need to give them some kind of template, framework, or blueprint.
This is why listicles, 5-step videos, templates, workbooks, and through-provoking stories that walk them through the progress youâve made work. They want a quick turnaround, too, via some 90-day plan!
Quantity and frequency continue to matter here, but you also need to provide quality.
You need to capture their attention and then provide a clear, step-by-step plan of what comes next!
If youâre at this level of consciousness, your focus turns to consistency. Back in 2013, I found myself here. My mentor said, âScott, I want you to sit down and write 2,000 words every single day. It doesn’t matter what you write, just write it.â
So I did. And I continued to do so until 2017.
Itâs how I built so much momentum because I willed my way to success. Every day, I wrote. It didnât matter if I wanted to or had anything worthwhile to write. I created content, become consistent, and pushed one message out after another.
This is the best way to approach content at the willful level of consciousness.
Itâs all about consistency and building a large body of work.
Intellectual:
Once someone moves to the intellectual level of consciousness, theyâre no longer fixated on their pain.
They have likely built some success and no longer worry about paying their bills.
They donât want to work hard for the sake of it, eitherâinstead valuing productivity and efficiency.
Because of this, they strip their newsfeed, unsubscribe from newsletters, delete podcasts, and become very specific about who they follow.
They want quality content because they appreciate consuming content requires time and energy.
If you want to capture this personâs attention, you need to back up your claims. They desire case studies. They lean toward proof. They donât want quick 90-day fixes because value consistent progress.
Because of this, you need to create consistent content that remains on brand. They donât want to see you pivot from one idea to another. They want you to show up, and they want to see you do so often with weekly episodes, regular FB Lives, detailed articles/guides, and content that takes them on a journey.
At the reactive and wilful levels, you can see immediate success with your content.
But at this level, you need to show patience over weeks and months (possibly even years).
If youâre at this level of consciousness, you need to commit to a strategy. Turning up and writing 2,000 words each day wonât cut it. You need a content calendar that specifies what you will publish and when.
Youâll also want to repurpose this content, turning a single 30-minute video into several trailers, half a dozen social media posts, and a couple of detailed articles.
That is what I went through between 2017-and 2020, building a team that specifically managed my content. I would record videos and they would organize them, come up with plans, and make sure I consistently showed up in front of the people I served every single day.
Itâs all very strategic where you plan everything in advance.
You track and monitor what does and does not work, too. It becomes a machine, which can yield great results. Yet itâs also one I struggled to comprehend, especially as I continued on my own journey.
Intuitive:
All this leads to the intuitive level of consciousness, which isnât all that different from the reactive level.
Itâs similar because someone at this level also lives in the moment and moves from one thing to the next. But whereas someone at the reactive level is outward-facing (always listening and following other people), the person at the intuitive level only focuses within.
Theyâre no longer at the mercy of their emotions but rather aligned and in tune with them.
As such, they consume content when the time feels right. They donât have a plan, and they donât have specific people they follow. Most of the time, they keep a small circle of friends, and they explore subjects that interest them. This means you canât get strategic with this sort of person.
Instead, you need to create content that speaks to them and makes them feel something.
Often, youâll base this around meditative practices or craft content that gets them into flow. Theyâre attracted, not to your content or the products you produce, but rather to WHO you are.
If they feel drawn to you, theyâll dive deep into your rabbit hole. If not, they wonât.
If youâre at this level of consciousness, you need to create content when you want to create it. No plan or content calendar can guide you. If you feel inspired, pick up your phone and record.
⊠or open your laptop and write, whether itâs 100 words or 10,000.
⊠or create a dozen audio notes and publish them all on your podcast at the same time.
At this level of consciousness, you may publish a dozen pieces of content in two days and then create nothing for three months. And this is fine because those you target appreciate this; they feel aligned with who you are, not with what you create.
This is where I spend much of my time these daysâŠ
I create content when I feel inspired to create it. I have a team to take care of the rest, allowing me to write when I want to write⊠record when I want to record⊠and build when I want to build.
I literally work from a place of intuition, allowing my feelings to guide me.
Conclusions & Next Steps
Right now, itâs important you change your perspective on content and the role it plays.
In many ways, content is king. But this is only true if youâre crafting the right content for the right people.
This is why a template or downloadable strategy doesn’t give you what you need. It can help guide you, sure, but the real magic happens when you hone in on:
- Your Level of Consciousness
- Your Ideal Customerâs Level of Consciousness
The good news is, you donât have to choose just one. You can serve different people with different content, and build a team to help you do so without having to step out of your zone of genius.
To take action on this, your next step is to download the guide that accompanies this articleânot only does it cover content creation, but other marketing tactics like paid ads, funnels, and launches.
To get instant access to this guide, complete this form nowâŠ
