Fresh off my attendance at the prestigious Local U Advanced conference in Dallas, I’m reminded of a marketing fundamental that I have employed for years and works like a charm, but most small business owners overlook. It is also tremendously beneficial for content marketing ideas. Along with many other quick and easy content ideas for your website that can help you rank better, the simplest of them all is to simply tell people how you do it.

Don’t Be Afraid to Give Away Information

What you do is valuable and your expertise is important.  Often business owners are afraid to give away how it is done, but in actuality, something I learned long ago is that the people that want to do it on their own, wouldn’t have hired you anyway.  Telling or showing people how difficult it might be and how important it is that you do it right can be the best way to push them to the point of hiring you rather than do it themselves.  Plus, it builds content on your site to show Google you have expertise and authority in your topic area. So essentially explaining your process and how you do your job is all positive. That doesn’t mean you have to give the recipe for your secret sauce to your competitors, but you shouldn’t be afraid to outline what your service entails and the process involved. It helps remove buying hurdles and provide clarity to your potential customers.  It also shows them that they need you and doing it themselves is likely well beyond their capabilities if they want it done right.  Those that can do it themselves would have anyway, so holding back to avoid losing those people is costing you others.

Inform, Don’t Sell

The world has changed. People are turned off by constant selling. There is information everywhere at our fingertips.  If you think a searcher can’t find that information elsewhere, you are mistaken. Why not outline it the right way and show your potential customers you know what you are talking about? Don’t give them a reason to leave. Be the trusted resource and even if they do decide to do it themselves, if and when they run into problems, they can come back to you to get things corrected. Don’t just list your services. Explain what they are, why they are needed, and how the process works to solve their problem. Information brings people in. Selling scares them away.