What is your business famous for?

What do you do?

If your business is new, you might have trouble answering this question. Even established businesses have a hard time naming what makes them unique. 

But what happens if I change the question and ask: 

What do you want to be famous for? 

Elevating your narrative begins by taking control of it. Ever heard the saying: “If you’re not telling your story, someone else is.” 

Taking control of your narrative begins with starting a conversation when visitors encounter your website. This starts with a strategic homepage but extends to the pages on your site. 

The problem is a lot of businesses aren’t sure what information they should share, so they end up offering pages of everything, which causes your prospects to research, scroll, and compare rather than moving them in the direction of buying or working with you. 

You can change this perception by addressing the problems you want to be famous for solving. And this happens when you identify your cornerstone content.

It’s helpful to think of this content in categories. For example, one of my clients builds custom homes and remodels, offers home maintenance, and builds commercial projects. Their cornerstone content breaks down under their services: custom homes, remodels, home maintenance, and commercial construction. When it comes to 'cornerstone content,' their job is to create content around how they solve this problem in a unique way. In other words, their content revolves around what they want to be known for. In this way, cornerstone content is more than a marketing strategy it's a magnet that attracts the clients that are the best fit for them. 

Ideally, your website will contain cornerstone content pages. But these categories extend far beyond your web presence. They can also help you create a focused social media calendar, something Rachel Hollis, bestselling author and motivational speaker, talks about on the StoryBrand podcast with Donald Miller. Below are some great ways to make the most of your cornerstone content and help you get found and famous for what you do best.

5 Ways to Use Your Cornerstone Content 

1. Create individual pages on your website for each category. This process makes it simple for cold traffic to see your expertise, and it also increases SEO. 
2. Focus all of your content creation on these areas. This narrowing is powerful—now instead of creating all sorts of content [or worse, none at all], you can give yourself writing assignments. 
3. Start writing or hire a writer to start creating content you want to be known for. 
4. Share your cornerstone content through your email list to nurture your audience. 
5. Use your cornerstone content to target new audiences who’ve not been drawn to your business because you’d yet to articulate how you serve them. 

Becoming famous for what you do best is the dream of most business owners, and it’s often work they love to do. But you don’t have to dream. Use a content marketing strategy to demonstrate your expertise and grow your business by attracting not just any customers but the ones who are already looking for you.