How would you finish this sentence?

“It Takes ______ To Make Money”

There are all kinds of possibilities, but in the business world you may have heard people say that “it takes money to make money.”

Is that true?

Maybe, maybe not. But too often people use that phrase as the reason why they aren’t getting the results in their business they really want to be getting.

In the online world many people would like to believe that you can build a multi-gazillion dollar business for free. You know, throw up a website, offer something to sell, and people will flock to your website while you lay on the beach.

While I know many online business owners who do have that beach lifestyle (or their own personal version of a beach), and are making very comfortable 6-figure and 7-figure incomes, not a single one of them have reached that point without making some sort of investment in that business.

So back to that first sentence. What does it take to build a business?

If you are looking at your barely-tied-at-the-ends financial statement and feeling a little discouraged by the well-worn belief that it takes money to make money…Stop.

Feeling discouraged will just muddle your thinking.

Instead, I invite you to view your online business as, well, a business. A real bona-fide enterprise that has the ability to provide a service, build a client base, and receive compensation for your efforts.

A business that, as a result of the value you bring to the world will in turn provide you with the means to enjoy a lifestyle that most people never acquire.

I’m not talking about an easy button. I’m not talking about overnight riches.

I’m talking about Success.

And success comes as the result of your investment of time, energy, and yes, money into the right things to grow your business.

So what’s the most important part of that sentence above?

Most would say money….and most would be wrong.

The most important part of the sentence is that you INVEST in the RIGHT things to grow your business.

So, What’s the Best Investment?

Well, that depends.

The answer will not be the same for each person because where you are in your business may be different than someone else. What your goals are may be different than someone else.

However, every business needs two things to grow: People walking in their door (traffic) and people purchasing their goods or services (conversions).

And while there are several strategies to make that happen online, the one constant is that you need content.

People need to see, hear, or read something in order to know you exist online. That’s content.

So going back to our initial “fill in the blank” sentence, perhaps we should amend it for the online world to say:

 It takes content to make money.

To get that lifestyle you desire and build your business in a way that you can deliver value to the people that want, need and desire your services, product or expertise you will need to make an investment of either time or money into preparing quality content, consistently, for your business.

So if you need it, and you are not able to create everything you need all on your own….is paying for content an expense?

Well, most people view an expense as money spent; if you pay for content, then it’s an expense. This is technically true. However, if you were spending money on something that would bring a return…would it be an expense worth making?

This is a question many businesses ask…even the big ones. They have wondered if content and content marketing is worth it. And, a few have even come up with an answer. Companies such as Kraft, Copyblogger, and OpenView have come to the conclusion that investing in content for their customers, such as newsletters and whitepapers, is worth it.

Why?

Because when you deliver valuable content to an audience so they know what you‘re about and give them the opportunity to learn about how you and your product can help them in some way, moving them from the point of education to a sale is much easier than any cold call. Don’t underestimate the power of leveraging the internet, and people’s desire to have all the facts up front, to make your sales process a lot easier.

A sale to an informed buyer has a better chance of sticking.

Content is not just an “expense” even though the numbers go in the expense column of your financial statement. It’s an investment. Great content is an asset because it has the ability to deliver value and returns for a very long time after it has been created, published and distributed. Especially when that content is of the “evergreen” nature. And especially when it’s something that matters to your customers.

Because content is an investment it’s important that you only add quality pieces to your portfolio…your digital assets…your digital library.

Gone are the days of $1 articles filled with bad grammar. The web is getting more sophisticated, search is getting more sophisticated, and your future customers are demanding more.

You can make the investment and deliver “more” with your content…think about it!

Until next time….

Dawn