I was the keynote speaker at Perry Drake’s UMSL digital marketing event last week. The room was a mix of agency people, business owners, and students. With that in mind, I asked them if they wanted to see what I speak about with businesses who are asking about how to use media and community to earn more customers. They said that would be okay (I mean, I was the keynote. If that wasn’t okay, would they have asked, “What else have you got?”) I thought I’d share WHY I picked what I did as my keynote speech.
Make Media That Serves
The premise of the speech was “Winning in the Choose Your Own Adventure Economy.” If I boiled the whole speech down to one slide, it would be this one:
“If we can buy from anyone, why should we buy from you?”
The whole purpose of my presentation was: “hey, people who are here – here are some ways to think about how YOU do what you do with your business, framed around some seemingly simple questions that will take some work for you to solve.”
That’s what we need to be doing with our blogs, our podcasts, with everything. Or at least that’s my big strong feeling as of late.
Inform and Entertain
Isn’t that our duty? When we create our media, shouldn’t we want to be at once entertaining and informative?
You don’t need a magic checklist for this. You don’t need a seven part sequence. Just ask one really simple litmus test question: Will this help someone? (Most importantly) And can you make it entertaining? (This isn’t entirely entertaining, but I’ll give you a slide deck to make up for it, if you want.)
Making Media Isn’t a Burden – It’s an Opportunity
Our role, yours and mine, is to help people succeed in some way. It’s to grow their capabilities and connections. If you’re a doctor trying to get people to eat better, or if you’re a lady running an auto parts store in Mexico City, if you’re hoping to create media to earn more customers or nurture your community, this is a great opportunity. This is your radio, your voice to guide everyone.
Want to See my UMSL Slides?
If you’re willing to sign up to my newsletter, I’ll gladly provide the slides immediately as a free gift. They’ll show up on the thank you page after filling this in. And if not, no worries. Just wanted to show you how I’m thinking these days.