Mark Thompson

I've been a content creator for 17 years and 189 days. (6,398 days!!!)

During that time, I have created and sold several blogs, and books. I've also created over 100 courses both for myself and as a ghostwriter.

But do you want to know a secret?

Whether it's a tweet, a blog post or a $2000 course I use the same process every time.

Step #1: The Groundwork

Get the basics in place

• Write down the desired outcome of the content (Even if it's a Tweet)

• If it doesn't have an defined outcome, ditch the idea until it has.

• When you've defined the outcome, pencil in the steps to get there.

This step helps to focus on the desired result and create the right call to action.

Step #2: Creation

Let's create the content

• Choose where you'll write the first draft, I use Notion as it stores all my content even the ones that are never published.

• Start by writing the outcome/call to action, yes start at the end

• Now create the body, you know where the content has to end up so it's easier to focus on the already written outcome.

• Finish by proofreading and ensuring the content flows.

Step 4 #3: Publish

Start small and then tweak and grow

• Start by taking your content idea and writing a Tweet

• If it was a flop, try a different angle If it was successful expand it to a short-form article (Like this!)

• Again, tweak and adjust it and consider if it's worth writing a long-form article or email

Each content idea has the potential to be many pieces of content from Tweets, to 5000-word articles and even courses.

Content is the cornerstone of most Online Businesses. Therefore you have to be able to create content day after day, which is fine if you love writing and have experience in writing content.

But what if you aren't a natural writer?

What if your spelling sucks and you never have any ideas for content... just like me!

Then you need systems and processes to make the writing process simple and quick.

Step 1. Collect ideas for content

Keep a notebook or a phone close by and jot down any content ideas you have, there is nothing wrong with being inspired by others.

Every few days I transfer my ideas to a Notion Spreadsheet and when I need to create content I'll grab something from that.

Step 2. Start with Bullet Points

Almost all my content starts with a series of bullet points, this gives me a structure I can follow.

Those bullet points then become sentences and paragraphs and the content quickly forms.

Step 3. Short-form content is your friend

Start by writing Tweets or short posts. If these get interest or traction consider expanding them to longer-form content, blog posts or emails.

By testing content, you'll rarely waste time with content that doesn't resonate.

Step 4 Use tools to smooth your progress

If you can't spell and your grammar sucks, don't let that stop you, install Grammarly or a similar tool and let that take the strain.

With a simple system in place, you can produce content every day with very little effort.

Start now!

Do you want to generate $10k per year or $100K per year?

There is no right answer. The choice is yours, the results will depend on how you approach your marketing.

For some a quick $1000 or so a month might be all you need if so choose the $10K path it's quicker but short-term.

If you want to build up an investment, a retirement fund, or improve your lifestyle then go for the long-term solution by aiming for a minimum of $100K.

As I said before the choice is yours.

The $10k Path

The $10k path is simple, straightforward but short-term.

Find 2 or 3 complementary products you can sell as an affiliate. You will then prepare your tweets as normal but at least once a day you should show your results and the products that helped you get them.

Add a follow-up tweet to any tweet that gets traction with a link to the affiliate product.

Also, ensure you DM people who start to follow you and engage with them, start conversations, and when you get the opportunity drop an affiliate link.

The $100k Path

The $100k path is a long-term solution. Here you can still sell affiliate products but your own products are also an option.

Instead of tweeting about Affiliate products & results, you are going to tweet about how we are generating income & results. You are going to focus on becoming an authority.

You then deliver more information in Free reports or case studies, we use these to build an email list.

We then use the email list to build a relationship with our new subscribers.

Build a Relationship NOT sell, sell, sell!

Once we have built a relationship you can start to educate your subscribers on how to achieve their goals at this point You can promote affiliate products or your own products.

Because you now have a large engaged list you will be able to sell much more over a longer period of time.

The ability to write engaging content is the only skill you need.

If you had nothing but a phone and a writing app you would still be able to create an online business.

Tweets, Blog posts, Facebook posts, emails, and sales letters, just need the ability to write.

How long do you spend each day honing that skill? The most powerful skill in your arsenal.

Just by writing you can communicate directly with your audience, you can build empathy, you can cajole, you can annoy, you can stir emotions.

You can take them to where ever you want them to be.

When was the last time you wrote and deliberately used “word pictures” to transport your reader?

Word pictures are one of the most powerful things you can use. You want to sell a bag of your premium blend coffee beans… take the reader to a coffee shop.

“There is nothing nicer early on a wet and cold winters day than to walk into a warm coffee shop and smell the freshly roasted beans, hear the gentle hubbub of conversation, and know that the first and the best coffee of the day will soon be heading your way”

After that, your chances of selling coffee beans just improved!

Writing doesn't require expensive tools. With daily practice, you’ll improve.

Your content can be formed in your head at any time then filed away until you get a chance to commit it to "paper".

Personally, I form a lot of my content while walking, I then write it down on my morning writing session.

Set aside 20 minutes to write every day, just write anything you want, write for the joy of creating. You never know where it will take you!

What will you write today?

Don't let people fool you, online marketing is easy if you stick to a few simple rules.

The simplest is that you only need to focus on two things and when you do that all the confusion and complications go away.

Your Audience & Your Offer

Your Audience

Your audience can come from anywhere you want, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Reddit, Pinterest, etc.. but the secret is to Pick ONE Audience.

I've chosen you as my audience, (Hi nice to meet you, I'm Mark) in the past I've used Facebook and Instagram to build huge audiences but to be honest there are just too many distractions there.

Sometimes Facebook is like shouting to a friend in Row Z of a stadium when you are in row A.

Once you have settled on an audience publish relevant content every day.

Today may not be the day I hit a hot button for you but by providing content daily it will happen at some point. When that happens you may want to check out some of my free guides or reports.

Then we can deepen the relationship (not creepy at all!)

Your Offer

Don't treat your audience like a cheap date! By that I mean don't try to sell to them straight away.

Prove your value to them, then and only then show them what you have to offer.

If your offer aligns with their goals you will have a customer for life, and why wouldn't it if you've been putting your best content out there?

Your audience knows the value you bring, they'll know what to expect from your offer,

TLDR: Put your best content in front of your audience day after day, create true fan's and show them what you have to offer once they know your value.

This is the difference between 1 sale and 20 sales,

It is estimated that 85% of transactions take place after 90 days.

Most people throw all those transactions away because they don't build a relationship with their future customers.

I am sure you've all seen the multitude of tweets that say:

"My first month on Twitter I made $250.
Buy this course it helped me"

But did it really help you?

Or did that approach just cost you thousands of dollars?

Do you think that I could have generated $9000+ from 80 people o a list IF I had put selling to them before building a relationship with them?

I'll tell you now the answer is a big fat no! I would have probably made one sale at the most.

I am not blameless in this, I've gotten lazy in the past and gone for the quick sale, I've ignored my head and my heart and gone for the sale, it was a huge mistake and I should have known better.

The Path

Take 5 minutes today and think about what many more sales would mean to you.

How would a lot more sales down the line affect your business, your family, and your lifestyle?

Then if you decide that you want to build up your sales in the long term that start to build relationships.

• Don't try to sell to people you don't know
• Do offer help and advice

• Don't build a list and Pitch to them immediately
• Do build an onboarding sequence that engages and doesn't sell

• Don't Sell Sell Sell
• Do Educate, Entertain and Inform

• Don't Just be a Salesman
• Do become an Authority

• Don't Hard Sell
• Do soft sell

A soft sell can be a P.S. at the end of an email that highlights what you have to offer.

Do this and when the time is right you'll make a lot more sales...

A LOT

We all have this little nagging worm inside our brains. The worm gets stirred into life when we read something interesting.

That worms name is Curiosity.

The more you feed the worm the more curious you get.

The more curious you get the easier it is to achieve your goals and dreams.

Yet as with your body if you feed it junk it's going to suffer.

Stop feeding the worm junk, cut out content that adds nothing to your knowledge of the world.

Stop reading uneducated views presented as fact.

Fill your daily diet with inspiring stories and content that wow's you.

Follow people who push the boundaries with their writing. Follow people who walk the walk and don't just talk the talk.

• Be curious

• Try new things

• Read more
• Walk and think
• Take time to sit and ponder
• Set aside thinking time

All these activities will feed the worm. The more curious you get the easier you will find it to create better content.

I read a short thread this morning that popped into my timeline overnight. It talked about affiliate marketing.

One of the tweets in the thread referred to how to structure your offer.

That sparked the worm into life and within a few minutes, I was improving a landing page I had created. That landing page wasn't for an affiliate offer. However the idea translated into something I could use to improve my offer.

If I'd started the day by reading junk I'd never have had the opportunity to make that improvement to my business.

Feed the Worm!

On the face of it, affiliate Marketing is Simple.

• Get a link
• Show Link To Strangers
• Make Money

What could be easier!

Well if you want to make a long-term income from affiliate marketing then you need to approach things from a different angle.

There are 2 Types of Affiliate Marketer the Long Term Affiliate Marketer and the Short Term Affiliate Marketer.

Short Term Affiliate Marketing

Each day the short-term affiliate marketer will create tweets or posts promoting products. Often these are competing products.

If they are lucky they will generate a few hundred dollars a month.

The trouble with this type of marketing is that every day is a fresh start

They must start over with the promotions day after day.

The only result short-term marketers want is a quick sale and money in the bank.

Long Term Affiliate Marketing

Long Term Affiliate Marketers take a different approach. They don't seek the short-term buzz of a quick sale they put long-term assets in place.

Instead of promotional Tweets & posts, they'll create educational ones. They'll also take time to create valuable reports, guides and mini-courses.

These assets will educate, build email lists and educate the subscribers about the benefits of the products they promote.

The assets they put in place can generate income for years to come.

It takes more work and effort and the rewards are slower but instead of $100 here and there $5k - $10k months can be the norm.

Which type of affiliate marketer are you?

I'd recommend taking the long-term approach, I generated $6K while in hospital unable to work earlier this year.

Marketing is only complicated by Guru's who need to sell expensive products.

For the rest of us simplicity should be our watchword.

• One Audience

• One Offer

• One delivery mechanism

Audience

For me in 2022 Twitter is the audience and in particular Money Twitter.

For the past 5 years, I've been running my business on Facebook, It's expensive, not particularly profitable, customer service sucks and reach is appalling.

After spending 1000's of dollars building my audience, Facebook doesn't show my content to them without me paying again.

It's also a very toxic place, with no way of avoiding the Toxicity.

I am out of there!

In my first 6 weeks on Twitter, I've been surrounded by positivity, which has, in turn, improved my mental health and restored my love of Online Marketing.

Offer

For too long I've been creating too many products. At one time I had 50 courses live on Thinkific or my own member's area.

As much as I love creating courses and sharing knowledge this has to stop.

From now on I will sell one product at a time and each product will have a life span of 3-4 months where it will be promoted to the exclusion of all else.

The only exception is my Inner circle which I'll promote to all buyers.

Delivery

The last part of the jigsaw is the delivery of the offer. This will be done via Gumroad.

Despite owning several tools and carts that will accept payments and deliver products, I am going to let someone else take the strain. Gumroad is perfect for this.

It handles all payments, provides me with a simple affiliate program where once again it handles all the payments. Most importantly it is familiar to my audience.

Conclusion

Keep your marketing simple.

You will make more sales and can spot & fix issues quickly.