Why content marketing is a great choice for lDS moms

Today, we’re going to be focusing on why content marketing is such a good business for Latter-day Saint women. I believe there is something unique about this type of business that fits us really, really well as Latter-day Saint women.  

What IS content marketing anyway?

What is it about content marketing that is so uniquely beneficial to us as Latter-day Saint women? Well, before I can really dive into that question, we have to define content marketing. 

Let’s start with the word content. What type of content am I talking about in this context? Well, I’m talking about blog posts. I’m talking about an Instagram story. I’m talking about a YouTube video. I’m talking about this podcast episode. I’m talking about the caption you created for your latest Instagram post. All of these are types of online content. 

So when I say content in content marketing, I want you to replace that with blog marketing, or marketing through blogging, or marketing through podcasting, or marketing through an Instagram channel. You are using your content to market something that you sell – whether that is a physical product or a digital product you’ve created, or an affiliate product. That’s what content marketing is. 

LDS women covenant to become like the Savior

So why do I think this type of business is such a good match for us, as Latter-day Saint women? Well, we love to serve. We’ve been taught to serve. Honestly, we take it a little too far and we feel guilty if we aren’t serving enough. This is part of our culture.

It’s also part of our doctrine that we believe that we are here to learn, to become like the Savior. His entire life was serving others. We are striving to become women who are more like Him, women who serve and give and help and uplift and mourn with and comfort others. These are the things we’ve actually covenanted to do as Latter-day Saint women.

We also want to grow. We want to become better. We want to repent and change and be better tomorrow and next year than we were today, or last year. We believe in this opportunity to progress eternally. That is incredible and very unique to our religion, beliefs, and culture.

Why is content marketing a good fit for LDS women?

So there are two reasons why I believe content marketing fills those two needs:

1. Our desire and need to serve
2. Our desire and need to grow and improve

First is that we can help others for free and earn money through content marketing. 

Second, we can improve the world and ourselves through content marketing.

Do you see how content marketing does both of those? Content marketing allows us to help people for free, so we get the service in, but it also can be a business that allows us to earn money. It’s a business that allows us to serve. It allows us to improve the world and ourselves at the very same time. That’s really cool.

Serve others and make money

stay with me for a math analogy

So let’s jump into that first one. We can help others for free and earn money. Let’s talk a little bit about what it looks like to learn calculus. When I was in junior high and in high school, I was a math nerd. I’ve always loved math. I still love math. I have taken a couple of levels of Calculus.

Could I do it today? No, I couldn’t.  But was it interesting to me? Yes. My dad is a rocket scientist. For real. He’s highly intelligent and that both intimidated me and inspired me as a child, especially as a preteen and teenager. I wanted to be like him. It was this challenge to learn these hard, difficult concepts.

But could I just jump in right away and start learning Calculus? Uh, no. I had to start way back in kindergarten and first grade with addition and subtraction, and then go on to multiplication and division and then work my way into pre-algebra and algebra and geometry and trigonometry. Eventually, I was able to learn Calculus.

you have to teach from the beginning

Well, whatever you teach your people works the same way. There are things they need to learn. Beginner things they need to learn before they can jump to the more advanced topics, the more advanced skills within the topic that you teach. So, this is how you can help people for free and by charging them. They get the addition and the subtraction (maybe the multiplication and division) you get all that for free.

Maybe they even get the algebra for free, but when they start to jump into the levels of geometry and calculus or trigonometry, you start charging them. So what this creates are customers who are very prepared to take advantage of what you have to teach them. You are not having to prepare them for the calculus level concepts that you want to teach them because they have learned all that for free. 

Also, most of the people that you will meet, they don’t know that they need to learn trigonometry and calculus. Their problems, right now, feel like not knowing how to learn addition and subtraction and multiplication. So you solve those simpler problems for them. They are grateful, and you can do that for the masses for free – through your free content, through your blog posts, through your podcast, episodes, through your Instagram feed, through your YouTube videos.

You can teach the beginner and maybe even intermediate level concepts to those you are trying to serve and you get to serve them for free. It’s not until they are really ready for the trigonometry and calculus levels that you charge them. And then they’re ready to pay you. They trust you. They know you, they like you, they’ve learned from you. You have earned the right to charge them for additional help.

Pretty cool. Right? You can help people for free while still earning an income. I love that about content marketing.

You can improve the world with your content

All right, so let’s move on to number two, about how we can improve the world and ourselves. For this, I need to bring in Elder Uchtdorf because he has a lot to say about this topic. I love Elder Uchtdorf, I have learned so much from him. One of my very favorite talks was given in the October 2008 Women’s Session of General Conference. 

This was his very first opportunity to speak to the women of the world as an Apostle. I want to share some of what he said with you today. He says this:

“To what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fullness of joy. One of the ways we find this is by creating things. Creating brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment.” 

Do you know what a content marketer is called? They’re called a content creator. Elder Uchtdorf is teaching us here that as we create content, as we act in that role as a content creator, we are going to find deep satisfaction and fulfillment. He goes on to talk about how we involve the Lord in this. He says:

“The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create.” He goes on to say, “That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come.”

Ladies, did you hear that? Your destiny is to become an eternal creator. To continue to create for all of eternity. That is your destiny.

Back to Elder Uchtdorf:

“Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit as you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness.”

Here’s Misty, again, like maybe a blog post or a podcast episode? Back to Elder Uchtdorf again:

“As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.”

So think about that. We improve the world and we improve ourselves as we create. Our eternal destiny is to be creators. You can do that by becoming a content creator right here and now. That will allow you to improve the world and your own internal world, the world within you as Elder Uchtdorf puts that.

Is it okay to be a content creator & make money?

When I heard Elder Uchtdorf give this talk I was in the middle of a semi-personal, maybe you could call it a midlife type crisis.  I was a few years into building my last website, Simple Family Preparedness. It was called Your Own Home Store at that point, and I was really struggling with balance and with guilt.

I found a lot of joy in the creation process. I really enjoyed it, just like Elder Uchtdorf says, as we create we’re going to find joy and I found that to be true. But I also felt pulled in lots of different directions. And I struggled to know if doing this, creating this business, was the right thing for me.

When I heard this talk, it was one of those moments where the Spirit spoke to me very directly. And I knew I was on the right path. And that it was okay for me to take some of my time away from my family to create this thing, this business, these blog posts, this helpful content for other people.

I want to continue to read more from this talk for you, because I know (because you’ve told me) that many of you struggle with the same thing. With feeling like “Is it okay? Is this okay for me to be a content creator? For me to be a business owner? Is this okay?”

So I want to read a few paragraphs to you from what he said that really stuck out to me that night. He says this:

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance and beauty. You might say, ‘but I’m not the creative type.’ If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are a spirit daughter of the most creative being in the universe.

What you create does not have to be perfect. Don’t let fear or failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you. Whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.”

I agree completely with Elder Uchtdorf. There is something inside of you that the world needs you to create. Sometimes we are our own worst critics but this business, that you are creating, can do so much good. Remember, it allows you to help others for free and get paid. It also allows you to improve the world AND yourself at the same time.

Find out if a content marketing business is right for you

The challenge I would like to leave with you today is to read Elder Uchtdorf’s talk. It’s called “Happiness, Your Heritage,” and it’s from the October 2008 General Conference. I want you to read this talk and do what Elder Uchtdorf says: seek the spirit and to find out if you are where you are supposed to be. If you are supposed to be starting and creating a content marketing business – because you need that confidence.

It’s not going to be easy. It is going to be worth it, but you have to know that you are in the right place to be able to push through the roadblocks that are going to come.

So that is my challenge for you today. Seek that answer from the Lord in prayer, after reading this talk from Elder Uchtdorf.

A Gift from me to help you create content

This season of The Goodness Squad podcast is all about how to monetize your content marketing business. So how does this episode fit into that? Well, you can’t monetize something you don’t believe you’re supposed to be doing. I need you to take that step before we move on to more of the technical details, how-tos, that come with monetizing your business.

Thank you so much for taking the time to be with me here today. As always, I appreciate your support. I appreciate your listens and I deeply appreciate it when you share this with other people. If you know of a Latter-day Saint woman who could benefit from what I am teaching here today, please tell them about The Goodness Squad podcast. Invite them to join this community and let them know about the current gift that I have for you. It’s at:

TheGoodnessSquad.com/productideagenerator.

This is a list of 159 ideas for a product you could sell as a content marketer. I want you to download it now so that you can be brainstorming with me as we go through the rest of this season.

coming up 

In the next episode, we are going to be talking about why it is essential that you treat your business like a business. It’s very likely that you are using a hobby, that you have an interest in or that you have a gift that you have, to create a business. Sometimes this makes that line between hobby and business very fuzzy. And if you are going to be successful in charging for things and actually turning this into a business that makes you money, you must treat it like a business.