In my opinion most people have a totally wrong viewpoint of content marketing in merchant services. Some of you may be thinking, “My content is going to come up first on Google.” That may happen but not until you’ve spent three or four hours a day for about twenty-four months working on it! Accept the reality that you’re not going to be able to compete online right now. In this episode I’ll give you the success guaranteed strategy to best leverage a content marketing system.
If I was doing merchant services sales full time right now again, this is exactly what I’d do. First, create a show about local, small business owners. I live in Altoona, PA. So, I would create “Altoona, Pennsylvania Small Business Show” or “Blair County Small Business Show.” Choose a creative title for your show including the name of your local area. Then every single week interview local business owners. This could be done as a podcast or video. A video would be better. Get an inexpensive stand from Walmart to hold your phone – a phone clip on a tripod. Show this to a merchant and ask what time he/she closes. If the merchant closes at 7:00 ask, “What if I stopped in here at 7:00; could you take about ten minutes and interview for the Blair County Small Business Show?” People will eat that up!
Give the merchant a list of interview questions ahead of time. You both will want to be prepared. For the interview, set up your phone tripod. Stand behind the counter with the merchant and record the interview.
Now create a Facebook page for your show. By spending about $50 a week, you can promote that show to other local, small business owners on Facebook. Find people within ten miles of you who have an interest in small business. Then promote, promote, promote!
There are two very beneficial results of this strategy of content marketing.
#1. You will sell almost everybody you interview. If your goal was to have three interviews every week for a three-segment show, you could probably sell three people a week. Don’t say anything about your business initially. Your opening introduction to a merchant could be, “My name is _______. I’m the host of the Blair County Small Business Show. We would just like to interview your small business. This is a project our business has lately begun. If you don’t mind, is there a time I can stop by and take five or ten minutes of your time? I’ll send you the interview questions a week in advance. Then I’d like to interview you. We’d talk a bit about your business and how you came to the area.” Business owners will love that idea.
As soon as the camera is off, the merchant will want to know more about your business. That’s your perfect opportunity to talk about merchant services. You already have an amazing rapport that you’d never get otherwise.
#2. You’ll benefit long term. Perhaps a year from now people are going to watch your show. You could have a script saying, “This interview comes to you from the Blair County Small Business Show brought to you by XYZ processing company. Process payment for less.” Thus, you’ll get long term benefit from these shows, also.
This strategy may be extremely difficult for many of you. However, if you can pull it off, I promise you’ll get short term and long-term benefit. I hope you can use this success guaranteed strategy and get the best leverage from content marketing. And please don’t forget to share this great idea with your associates and contacts. As always, please comment below with your own great ideas and experiences.
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