Hi all!
Before I spiral into hours of work and no product-market fit I just thought to write here to get some thoughts. I know I should probably already build a landing page of some sort so I get better feedback, but I guess posting this can be version 0.1.
Background: I am a generalist B2B digital marketer who has worked primarily for startups, and I'm specialised in organic and paid search campaigns.
I've been getting enquiries lately from a few companies who already have an in-house content writer but want me to help them get more out of their content writers to achieve more leads & craft a proper content strategy for them.
This means companies are hiring writers BEFORE they know what's their content lead generation strategy. Interesting.
I spoke to a few long-time and professional content writers and they told me its a thing and there's a demand for people who know how to write, SEO and develop a strategy, but theres never all in one person, so there can be a separate content strategist on the team.
This led to me to thinking if I should productize a content strategy monthly service specifically for startups or content marketers at a low cost. My target market would be makers or micro-businesses who are looking for research and strategy - so their content writers can just write.
There are plenty of great writers out there, so Im not going to compete in that space. What I want is to arm companies with a clear direction on HOW to get leads with content and writing. The monthly fee can be tracking and understanding results from the published content, so the strategy can learn and feed on its successes.
Similarly, I can also arm content writers with research that can complement their skillset to make them more appealing to companies.
I tried googling this and there isn't much competition out there for it yet.
Any thoughts on the above, is it worth a try or too far fetched?
I don't think this is far fetched. However, I will caution you on a couple of points you've made here. First, you stated, "at a low cost." I would not go into this venture with the mentality that you need to be a low cost option. Instead, I would consider the value of the service and test the pricing based on that with the goal to obviously be the highest price you can get for your service.
The majority of your statement references a model that supports the company. Then, in the end, you say that you want to arm the writers with research. If handled as simply a service to writers that could be viewed as an issue to potential clients on the other end. Consider the fact that models that "charge the talent" are more likely to fail. So if you're providing this information to the writers I would not make that a monetization piece. Instead, I would consider a model that benefits the writers in a way that clearly benefits the companies that are clients. You could arm writers with research if they are a part of your network, and that network is also open to your paid clients to select from. You could offer certification or ongoing training to the writers, and still do the same with the network.
As a side note, all this puts a different idea in my head. Have you considered building a full content creation service around this model where you source the writers, arm them with the research they need, ensure they use it to the best of their ability, and have the companies pay you for the overall service while you keep a bit for yourself and pay the writers a fair wage for their part? In that case, you're essentially providing a contract service that "replaces" in house teams that may not be able to replicate everything you're doing, and definitely won't be able to replicate for the same cost. In my experience, products and services that replace something are often easier to sell than those that create something new.
Hi! Thanks so much for your reply. Very valid points above. About low cost, this is due to some research I have and based on some past experience where I quoted the "market price" to a few companies and they all thought I was too expensive. I realized startups and small businesses would not be able to afford strategy services at this level, so I thought to break it down into a recurring monthly fee that would be more cash friendly.
Also valid on how I'm pitching it to writers AND companies. Do you think I should stick to one or the other? I'm leaning towards pitching to companies instead of supplementing an individual writer.
About full content creation - yes this actually have been done and it was also featured on Indiehackers :) and IMHO it doesn't seem to be a strategy suited for me as the business model requires having to chase BOTH the writers and the companies in order to grow.
On the pricing thing, I would try to adjust the strategy a bit. Don't take "your price is too high" as an answer. Prove value. To prove it, you may need to offer a discount on the first interaction. Once you've proven the value, however, take time to sit with them and discuss the savings they feel they have received, as well as offering your own thoughts on where else they saved time and money. It's possible you end up above market price if the service is above-market quality.
In the beginning, narrowing your focus is almost always a benefit. If you have to pick one, for now, pick the company angle and see what happens organically with the writers. Remember, you don't have to end up owning all this. You may be able to grow to a point where you can pay others to focus on the pieces you don't want to handle yourself.
Agreed! I think I should just give it a go and see what happens, and I think you make alot of sense :) Thank you again
I'm not in your industry so can't comment. But the prevailing wisdom seems to be to go ultra niche (in the beginning)... makers and micro-businesses might still be too broad. Perhaps you can consider tapping on your existing networks within a very specific customer group within an industry and start from there?
White label content strategy for agencies? Unlimited SEO tasks for media agencies at $XX/m?
I follow a rough formula for my productized services:
"Done-for-you" / "Unlimited" / "24/7"
= your productized service
Hope this helps Rachel
You're right I might not be specific enough. Love the formula, it helps with clarity. Thanks so much Jason!
Hi Rachel --
I've done a lot of b2c and b2b sales where I had to test ideas without an actual product, I have a few ideas on how you get feedback quickly without creating a MVP
if you're interested on touching base over a short call my Discord is: do#3695