What Even Is "Good" Content?
(If you don't want to read, I'll read it to you!)
A question as old as the online business internet -what makes good content, good content?
To help answer that question, let me take you back to 2019 (and then a little further) when I first launched my freelance writing business.
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In order to make my little bitty business work I needed clients. And in order to find clients I needed to market my services. And where is the first place we go to market ourselves in the 21st century? Correct, the internet.
And what is our best tool for all the promoting & marketing?Content.
Now as a true child of my generation, I am no stranger to the internet, and more specifically, to social media, where a lot of our content creation takes place these days.
I was there at the birth of the world wide web and we’ve grown up together - witnessing each other’s ups, downs, triumphs, & catastrophes.
I’ve been posting & content-ing online since my very first Facebook account created on the family PC in 2006. Back then the “content” we shared was painfully dull and, in retrospect, quite precious.
It was all about one liner brain dumps & quirky “gifts” given to a (fingers crossed) growing list of Facebook friends. It was about actually connecting with people. (It was the most social that social media ever was, in my opinion)
A few years later, I started my first online journal - a sort of early blog - onXanga. (This, thankfully, has been lost to the bowels of the internet) And I wrote a few times a week about the goings-on in the life of an early 20-something.
There were a few other blogs throughout the years and then the addition of Instagram when it first launched in the mid-2000s.
But in 2019, when Katie Kastner Freelance Services first launched, I had to use the internet in a whole new way - as a business billboard.
And I was no longer posting randomly about my life, I was creating purposeful content.
Content Creation As A Business Necessity
With the internet business boom of the mid-2000s came a new way to do business and a new way to promote that business.
Online marketing (digital marketing but without the MLM-type courses & ick) actually saw it’s origin in the mid-90’s but didn’t become the mainstream practice it is now until the 2000s and the introduction of social media marketing.
And the term ‘content creation’ entered the chat.
What is content?
Content isany kind of curated, strategic information produced in written, audio, video or visual form.
And why is good content so important?
It’s a noisy internet world and good content helps you stand out & reach the people you want to reach. It helps you grow an audience. It helps you build your business or brand.
So, What Is Good Content?
Ah yes…a question without a straight answer, but a clear definition…
Good Content is…
✨ Clear & Relevant To The Specific Audience You’re Wanting To Reach
Good content is easy to understand and consume and speaks directly to the people you want to reach. It answers their questions, solves their problems, or allows them to see themselves in it. It’s easily recognizable as information they need, want, or desire.
✨ Super Authentic & Doesn’t Sound Like Someone Else
It feels human, like sitting down with you for lunch and a chat. Good content also sounds like you (or your brand) because it’s not trying to emulate someone else. This kind of realness is what builds trust and credibility.
✨ Creates A Connection & Resonates
It makes your reader/viewer/listener feel seen, heard, or understood. It creates a moment of “Oh, that’s me!” or “I needed this.” It builds community through shared experience.
✨ Has A Clear Purpose
Good content has a job to do — it could be selling a service, starting conversation, growing your community, etc. But it has an end goal for your business or brand.
A Few Examples Of Good Content…
Here’s a quick round-up of good content that I’ve come across recently & why I would put it in the “good” category.
👌🏻Why Worries Get Louder at Night (and What to Do About It)- a blog post byHeather Vickery- Coach & Human Design Guide
This post is not only super specific & relevant to Heather’s audience, but it creates a deep connection by speaking to shared experiences, feelings & frustrations. Then it gives really simple but truly helpful steps toward a desired end.
Clear Purpose ✔️ Resonance ✔️ Connection ✔️ = Good Content
👌🏻 Short Form Good Content fromDre Beltramion Substack
It was love at first Note for me with Dre. When I say to use your authentic voice, create like you connect, & allow your audience to truly get to know you, I mean “Be Like Dre”.
And this deep realness can be seen in her long form content, her Lives, & now in her new podcast -Gloriously Unqualified.
Authentic Voice ✔️ Connection ✔️ Relatability ✔️ = Good Content
👌🏻 Short Form Video That Feels Cozy & Real -Hannah, @alliterative.h on TikTok
Finding smaller content creators who I adore is my favorite thing :) Hannah is one of them & I can’t wait for her to blow up.
All of Hannah’s TikToks feel like a FaceTime check-in with a good friend.
They’re intimate without feeling awkward and cozy without being overly cutesy or cloying. She speaks to her audience in a way that we can relate to and talks about things we’ve all experienced as women & mothers in a particular season of life.
Connection ✔️ Authenticity ✔️ Relatability ✔️ = Good Content
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So whether you’re creating content for a business - to make money & grow - or as part of a personal brand - to increase visibility & maybe monetize - focusing of the quality and purpose of what you’re creating should be a priority.
The content you put out there doesn’t have to be the loudest, most flashy, sexiest - it has to be focused on your audience, your mission, & sharing YOU in the realest way possible.
“Content” has gone from a Facebook check-in about what you made for dinner to audience-focused, thoughtful, necessary pieces of digital product.
If you’re using the internet to do business, content creation is like the sandwich boards you put out on the digital streets so the people who are interested can find you.
So pay attention to your sandwich boards & use them well.
And planning all that good content gets easier when you have a framework that helps you know exactly who you’re talking to.
The 333 Method— simple, repeatable content planning rooted in Feminine Authority & truly good content. $13. [Get it here.]
