Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Cornerstone Content

Why You Should Write Your Cornerstone Content First

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by Cara Lumen

Like laying any good foundation is important in any business endeavor. You identify your target audience, define your products and services, and make a myriad of decisions about what you are going to offer.

Cornerstone Content serves your blog in the same way. Writing a series of foundational posts will help you clarify what you are going to write about in your blog, what you need the people you serve to understand first. Just as you would do when teaching a course, you orient your readers to the focus of your blog. You set your ideas out in a form you can refer back to in future posts.

What is my Cornerstone Content?

What is the core information you need your clients or customers to know about your product or services? What do they need to know in order to make an informed decision? Write a series – yes, a series – of posts that elaborate on each core point. For instance, my cornerstone series for Passionately On Purpose  is about Build an Online Business. It starts with Should Your Start Your Own Internet Business and moves on into how to develop one in Build your Online Business on What You Already Know . I have even added a page titled Business Building Ideas  and I have put links to articles in several categories including creative and personal development.

For the Magnetic Blog Builders  I’m working on a different set: To Blog or not to Blog, that is the Question, How a Thesis Theme for WordPress can set you free,
Scribe is a Built In SEO Optimizer that Effortlessly Uplevels Your Game!

I learned this concept of Cornerstone Content (sometimes called Pillar Content) from Brian Clark  His cornerstone content begins with a Copywriting 101 series.  In fact, he has a whole series of cornerstone topics including Content Marketing 101 Start thinking in terms of a series that covers detailed aspects of a larger picture. What ideas are you getting for your cornerstone content?

Glen, very successful a 20-year old who built a $1,000,000 web site in 12 months has a page on his www.viperchill.com blog that is simply called “Base” that lists his cornerstone content

How Do I Use My Cornerstone Content?

You link back to your cornerstone content in future posts. It becomes the way for you to make a point in a post and link back to a another post that goes into greater detail on the topic or puts it in a greater perspective if the reader wants to explore that point further. Internal links help your SEO ranking but better still, they keep your reader reading. From now on, when I mention the concept of Cornerstone Posts I will link back to this article. Internal links add to your SEO. What better way than to link back to the core concepts in your Cornerstone Content.

Cornerstone Content Clarifies

Writing your cornerstone content anchors your blog. It clarifies your purpose, and will give you ideas for many more posts as you explore and expand on each topic. Think beginner’s mind here. What do you want them to know and in what order? Put that in your cornerstone content.

In my cornerstone content I first addressed the question whether the reader even wanted to have an online business./ I can write more posts about the entrepreneurial spirit and our characteristics  and refer back to that post. I can write about decision making, and building your business from the inside out and being flexible in your business.  But deciding whether you want and are suited for starting your own online business is the first step. Therefore, it is the first post in my cornerstone content. See how this works?

It’s Never Too Late to Write Your Cornerstone Content

I wrote my cornerstone content after my blog was up. I had written all sorts of post and of course they are in categories on my blog. But when I wrote my Cornerstone Content (and I’m still adding to it) I created the separate Business Building Ideas page to hold it and added links to some of my other guidance-giving posts. I may create a series of cornerstone posts off of my original posts. For instance, I will write one major one on how information products add to your income and expert status. And then I will write separate posts on ebooks, radio shows, telecourses and what they do for your business and link back to that cornerstone piece.

Cornerstone copy anchors your reader to your topic. It helps clarify your vision and keep your reader reading. Start blogging with your cornerstone content.

 

© 2010 Cara Lumen

 

The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Blog Today

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by Cara Lumen

Where ever you are in the development of your blog – stop!  And start here.  The very first content you want to put into your blog is Core Concept Cornerstone Content.  It is a series of articles that explain the core of what you do and that you will refer back to over and over through internal links in later copy.  You may also want to place this content on its own page since it will deftly explain what you teach or sell or think. It contains core information you want your readers to have immediately. And when you start brainstorming these cornerstone concepts you will find yourself filled with ideas for products and services.

What do your services do for others?

Every time I need to explain something in detail to a client I write it up as a handout and put it in my Coaching Library to be used again for the next person. I can’t tell you the hours I’ve saved by having these handouts ready.  This Core Concept Cornerstone Content is like that.  It is a series of articles that explain what you want people to know about what you offer.   Begin with the concerns of your clients and start brainstorming the types of things you have to help them with when you first begin working with them.  For instance, I have to be certain my clients know their target audience and have defined their niche and I want them to think big so I have Is Your Ideal Client Big Enough for Your Vision?  in my pillar content.

Everyone goes into business to support themselves financially.  Write about how you help them do that. 10 Ways for You to Start Earning More Income

I’m a business coach so some of my pillar content is How to Choose Your Strongest Marketing Strategy and How to Create a Magnetic Sales Cycle

I am a content developer so of course I’ll include How Hiring a Web Content Strategist can Save you Money

And I help people create signature products so 12 Tips for Better Time Management When the Ideas Keep Coming In  and How to Write Content so it Organizes Itself  would be valid concepts to include.

You get the picture. Look over the benefits you give your clients and write articles that show that you know their concerns and needs and how you help them achieve their goals.  Then you have some strong positional material to refer back to through external links in future posts.

What products do you offer?

I have a series of home study courses so I could write about the advantages of home study. For instance, How to Learn More When You’re Full Up or How to Keep Learning Even if You Think You’re Too Old   I could have “How a good template can save you hours and keep you on target” ready to go with my Idea Generator book that is filled with templates.  Write about the use of your product. How it will solve problems.  How it has changed lives.

What affiliate products do you offer?

Of course you only promote affiliate products and services that you use yourself.  As a web content developer I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used What’s in your Shopping Cart   It was one of the early pieces in my Coaching Library. I send it to new clients who are setting up their web sites.  It is an affiliate and I use affiliate links.  Write about the products and services you recommend in a useful way that helps the reader learn how to use the product to their best advantage. My resource page is filled with useful tools I use and recommend and many of them are affiliate links.

What philosophy do you expound?

This may not be appropriate for every situation but I find I’m writing a mix of philosophical personal development posts and practical application posts.  So articles like The Starting Over Syndrome  and How to Learn More When you’re Full Up  and Believe You Can!

Start wherever you are and do this now!

When you start thinking in terms of writing a Cornerstone Series you’ll be amazed at how the ideas come rolling in.  Create a separate page to list your series like my Business Building Ideas page  and use the Organize Series plug in to keep a list of the full series in each post so the reader can keep on reading   I’ve created a brainstorming tool to help think up ideas which will be included in my Idea Generator Workbook and of course I am developing it as I make the end result happen for myself.  Just start thinking “series.”

This concept is worth stopping what you’re doing and to make certain this is in place before you proceed further with your blog.  And you know what.  Writing this core content, these basic, foundational principles of what you do will help you clarify your niche.  I bet you come up with some great new marketing phrases too.  And of course, all of these ideas can be leveraged into other products and services.

Go for it – today!  Write that core concept cornerstone content and start back linking to them.

© 2010 Cara Lumen