SPEAKER_00
Ready to break free from algorithms, vanity PR, and money-sucking ads? My name's Larissa Worstiek and I've learned in seven years of jewelry marketing that content is the crown jewel. My agency Joy Joya takes a holistic approach, leading with laser-focused storytelling, impactful content creation, and strategic content distribution. This method has worked for the solopreneur, as well as the multi-million dollar company, and now I'm sharing the same systems and tactics with you.

Here's to standing out in the sea of sparkle. Welcome to episode 288. In today's episode, I want to dive deeper into how you can transcend mere surface-level content, which is crucial in a world increasingly dominated by AI and content creation and marketing.

While AI is a fantastic tool for brainstorming and drafting, it's not meant to replace your unique voice or the distinctive persona of your brand. Simply using AI-generated content won't resonate with your audience or showcase you in the best light. Even adopting a generic idea from AI or from the internet without infusing it with your unique flair will lack excitement and shareability.

Often when we're brainstorming for clients, particularly for blog posts, we definitely start with basic jewelry topics like, say, how to lay your necklaces. And sometimes there's resistance because, yeah, the topic feels overdone. I get it.

But let's face it, everything has been done. The internet is full of things that have been done a million times. It's nearly impossible to be wholly original these days, but the aim here isn't to invent something that hasn't been done before, something unprecedented.

But to tell a story, to talk about a topic in a way that resonates widely but could only be told in your way, by you, in your unique original style. Sure, a thousand people might have tips on layering necklaces. If you scroll jewelry Instagram, you'll see them all.

But none of them are you, and none of them run your business. And so the real challenge is, how do you fully and authentically express yourself and talk about a topic that's been done a million times, but talk about it in a way no one else can talk about it except you? And so in this episode, I'll explore how you can truly be yourself in your content, unapologetically, even when discussing topics that have been covered time and again. But before we get to the solid gold, I'd like to take a moment to remind you that this podcast has both audio and video, so you can either listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on YouTube by searching JoyJoya.

You can support the podcast for free by taking the time not only to subscribe, but also to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also, if you didn't know, I co-host another podcast called Success with Jewelry with my friend, Liz Cantner, who's also a jewelry marketer and the founder of the Stakehold Collective. We have a free version of the podcast available everywhere you listen to podcasts and on YouTube, as well as a membership community with extended episodes and additional resources.

I invite you to check it out if you're hungry for more content. Okay, let's get into today's episode of my sparklers. This topic is truly close to my heart as we're always encouraging our clients to infuse their unique voice into everything they do.

Don't just follow what others are doing. Share your own distinct perspective and point of view. And I know you as people in the jewelry industry, a very creative industry, as designers, I know you have your own take.

So why aren't you owning it and sharing it? So as I said when we're creating blog content for our clients, especially on topics like all about earring backs, we're not just comfortable with the subject. We can also delve into extensive research online. But just because we know about a topic and can write like an essay about it, doesn't automatically result in content that feels authentic, genuine, and interesting.

And that's why we love sending our clients a short questionnaire. And their responses help us either shape the entire blog post or add personal touches later on that we can sprinkle into the more informative stuff. And it's really incredible when we get those answers in the client's own voice, even if they're just writing fragments or bullet points, it's incredible how this approach can transform a well-written but somewhat generic blog post into something that's truly engaging and rich with depth, featuring insights that we and even the clients themselves may not have considered important or thought to include.

Sounds simple, right? So although questionnaires are a great tool and we happen to know just the right questions to ask, our clients often find them incredibly valuable for sparking new ideas and realizing the importance of certain details they hadn't previously considered. But if you don't have someone like us to send you a questionnaire, what should you do? That brings me to my first tip. Tip number one, interview yourself.

So if you're on your own without a team to send you a questionnaire, here are a few strategies you can use to add that personal touch to your content. One is a self-interview technique. So pretend you're being interviewed about the topic, like say there's a journalist coming to your house, and write down several questions you think a curious reader or a fellow professional might ask about that topic, and then answer these questions in writing as if you were speaking to a live audience.

I think this can really help you think critically about the topic and bring out personal anecdotes or unique insights. And I believed a few episodes back, I even shared a tip about how you can use chat GPT. Ask chat GPT to come up with questions, like have chat GPT pretend to be a journalist or an interviewer, asking a jewelry designer about XYZ topic, what five questions would you ask? So if you have trouble coming up with questions, this is actually a great place where AI can help you and be that question asker for you.

You can also try using voice memos. So sometimes speaking freely about a subject can really uncover thoughts and ideas that don't come to mind when you're typing at a computer. Record yourself talking about the topic, then transcribe your recordings.

And I think I shared this tip a few episodes back. Also, AI transcription is really good for that. And then AI can even pull out like more, like, whatever cohesive thoughts from your transcription, especially if you feel like you're rambling a lot or not making sense.

But you'll often find that your spoken words are much more personal and engaging than you sit down and try to write on a blank page. There's also mind mapping. So that's when you start with the main topic in the center, and then branch out from there with related subtopics, questions and facts.

And if you're a visual brainstormer, this method can really help you identify unique angles and personal insights that you may not have considered. Also, make sure you're engaging with your community. So ask your social media followers, your customers, your email subscribers, what do they want to know about the topic? You're catering to them anyway, so try to figure out what they want to know.

I think it's hard sometimes being in it, being in the jewelry industry, doing your job. We take for granted the things that other people may want to know or be confused about, and then use their questions and comments as a springboard for deeper exploration in your blog post. Also, make sure to reflect on personal experiences.

So if you have any personal stories or experiences related to the topic, those things really bring an element of authenticity, of depth to your storytelling. And it helps readers connect with the material on a much more emotional level. Okay, tip number two, set a word count target.

So here's a fun exercise. Maybe you'll think it's fun, maybe not, but try it anyway. Set yourself a word count target, just like your teachers did in school.

Remember how you used to tweak the spacing, margins, and font size to hit that target? Well, no room for those tricks here because the only person you'll be cheating is yourself. Setting a word count goal, like 750, a thousand words, 1500 words, I know that seems like a lot, but it's going to push you to write beyond your comfort zone. And that is often where the magic happens.

I'm not suggesting you fill in the space with, I don't know what to say, I don't have anything to write, I don't know what to say, but rather to really push yourself to explore and articulate your thoughts more deeply. This really came to light recently for me with a client that we were writing a blog post about stud earrings for. And for SEO best practices, you want to try to write longer form content.

And so far, clients, we are shooting for 750, a thousand words or more. The topic was stud earrings. We sent the client the draft and the response we got was they liked it.

But they were really surprised by how much there was to say on the topic of stud earrings and that they even kind of learned a lot that they hadn't thought of before. And the reason we get to that place is because we have a word count to meet. And that challenges you to dig deeper, move past the superficial, especially if you give it time and patience and it brings up things you probably wouldn't have bothered to say if you were rushing or you just wrote like a short paragraph about it.

So push yourself to reach those word counts. Tip number three, ask why five times. So this technique of asking why repeatedly, usually five times after an initial statement of a problem or situation, helps you drill down into deeper layers of understanding.

And then each answer to the why forms the basis of the next question. So when you're applying this technique and content creation, the goal is to just move beyond the superficial aspects of a topic so that you can uncover more profound truths and insights. So here's an example of how you might use it if you were talking about watches, let's say.

And the decline, let's see the topic is the decline of traditional watch usage with the rise of like Apple watches and other smart watches. So the first why question you might ask is why are traditional watches declining in popularity? Answer, I mean, you could come up with your own answer, but let's just say because more people are using smartphones to tell time. You could stop there, but let's push further.

So why are smartphones replacing traditional watches for telling time? The answer because smartphones offer more functionalities beyond just telling time such as calendars, alarms and weather updates. Then you ask again, okay, well, why do consumers prefer devices with multiple functionalities? And you keep pushing it until you get insights that can kind of open up new depths of what to write about. And you kind of are just like pushing the topic further and maybe even learning things or uncovering insights you wouldn't have considered to talk about otherwise.

And then my last tip, tip number four is to always utilize multimedia. So again, all of this stuff I'm talking about, it doesn't have to be for a blog post, it could be for email copy, it could be for social media caption, it could be for a product description. I really want you to think about using these tips for any kind of content.

And if you struggle to hit those more authentic personal notes to get to depth, just with text alone, just with writing, I want you to tell that story with multimedia, relevant videos, links to other resources, infographics, photos, whatever you think it needs to provide additional depth or alternate approaches to your text content. Because sometimes, you know, even the medium doesn't call for text being the best way to tell the story. People get overwhelmed by text text is hard to see on a screen to like digest on a screen.

And if you have other elements, those can offer a more comprehensive understanding and appeal to different learning styles and to different storytelling styles as well. So what do you think? Do you feel empowered to dig deeper into your storytelling? Let me know in a comment on YouTube or DM me on Instagram. I'd love to chat about it.

Okay, let's get into the goldmine. This segment of the podcast is where I get personal and share insights on things like entrepreneurship, mindset, success, growth and all things business. And in this week's goldmine, I want to talk about the concept of having 1000 true fans, which is an idea that was originally proposed by Kevin Kelly.

He's the former editor of Wired magazine. And he talked about this idea first back in 2008. This idea when he presented it, it was originally geared toward creators.

So people who make content for a living like podcasters, YouTube content creators, influencers, writers, but it can totally be applied to anyone like you who creates content to promote your jewelry business as well. And by content, when I say that, I mean social media content, video content, email content, website content, any way that you are telling stories about your business and using those stories as a promotional support for selling your products and services. So his idea is this, to achieve success as a creator, you don't need millions of dollars and you don't need millions of followers.

What you need is a dedicated base of about 1000 true fans. And that means individuals who passionately engage with and purchase every product you create. These true fans can be enough to sustain a living, even if you can make just $100 profit from each annually through direct transactions.

So for anyone out there who is constantly chasing more followers, more email subscribers, I think this is a good reminder that while yes, it is important to keep filling your bucket with new people interested in your brand, because there will be people always on their way out, you only need a portion of those people to be super actively engaged with you. And that's why engagement is so important and not to lose sight of that in a pursuit for more, more, more. According to Kelly for your true fans, the thing that's the most crucial is a direct relationship aspect, because that allows you to retain the full amount of support from each fan.

And with all the technical advances that we have, creators can now so easily connect with and sell directly to fans all over the world, enhancing the ability to reach and maintain a critical fanbase. And I just want to add to that and say, you can now also automate so much of this connection while still making it feel super personal, especially with email marketing. And so while managing relationships with your true fans is demanding and can be another thing to put on a plate for a business owner that's handling all the things, I think the ones who engage directly with their fans often find a more fulfilling and sustainable path compared to trying to pursue the more, more, more route of success.

And for an actual content creator, that work of the direct engagement likely that would mean like replying to comments, maybe offering some extra perks to top fans, taking audience suggestions into consideration. But all that work is worth it if those 1000 true fans were actually paying your bills and allowing you the opportunity to make a living doing what you love. So I want you to just think about this concept.

What would it mean for you to have a true fan? What would that look like? How would you know someone is a true fan? How much money would they have to spend on your products for it to make it worth it to you? To go out of your way to make that person feel really extra special and happy? How can you keep them a true fan? And what would you be willing to do to go the extra mile? Some examples might be handwritten thank you cards, giving fans just the fans like more behind the scenes content of you designing and manufacturing, maybe a loyalty rewards program, maybe some more personalized curated experiences either online or in person, maybe allowing fans to have input on upcoming design, maybe having meetups with fans and definitely acknowledging purchase anniversaries of fans. So celebrating the anniversary of a fan's first purchase with some kind of special offer or even like a personal acknowledgement. And I want to ask if you could estimate how many die hard true fans you have now, what would you say? And be honest, are you really focused on making them happy? Let me know in an Instagram DM or YouTube comment.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Did you have questions about today's episode? You can always email me Larissa that's L-A-R-Y-S-S-A at JoyJoy.com. If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend who'd appreciate it. And don't forget to subscribe as well as leave a review on Apple podcasts.

If you're completely new to digital marketing, then you'll want to purchase and read a copy of my book Jewelry Marketing Joy. Visit joyjoya.com slash book for more information.