Nathan Weller, Marketing Manager at Elegant Themes, joins the show today to talk about content marketing, ghost writing, and Divi 3.
This is a small departure from our normal show, where we discuss WordPress headlines and demonstrate plugins from the authors themselves. Instead, I’m taking a page out of my own Matt Report WordPress business podcast book, and diving into the business of content creation. Nathan and I discuss the intricacies of deploying a content marketing strategy, the management of a team and the tools he uses to measure the success of such an endeavor.
Interview with Nathan B Weller of Elegant Themes
The audio
[powerpress]
Content marketing, blogging, and becoming an expert
Starting a blog as a soloprenuer comes with it’s own set of particular challenges: how do you carve out the time to create content, how do you go about promoting each piece, and how do you prioritize it over the rest of the work you do?
Lots to think about and execute on, but if you’re managing a team of writers, all of these challenges become amplified even more. The biggest lesson I learned chatting with Nathan is the importance of setting expectations with your team and managing the expectations of both the staff and the content being produced.
- Are they hitting the marks of the article?
- Is the audience learning something?
- Are we seeing a return of investment?
I look at content marketing (and podcasting) as an art form.
There’s no easy way to become “great” at it, in my eyes. Writing is like exercising — sometimes you feel it, most times you don’t. When it’s cold and rainy outside, you probably don’t feel motivated to pound out a few miles. When you’re tired and hungry, you probably don’t feel like sitting down and banging out 1,000 words — but you do.
If you’re into reading a book or two, Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, is published on the premise that an expert is born through 10,000-hours of practice. Debatable, sure, but think of the habits that are formed by showing up everyday. That’s nearly half the battle when it comes to becoming disciplined to write, and publish when you’re feeling wet and soggy.
Beyond Divi 3
We’ll dive into the release of Divi 3 and the future of the product, and which product refreshes Elegant Themes has on the horizon. It was a wonderful conversation, and I hope you enjoy today’s episode.
The links