Web Content that Truly Matters: Be Inspirational

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In my recent posts about publishing web content that appeals to your target market, a key point I make is that writing company-centric articles about your products and services won’t work. Your key focus should be the needs and desires of your ideal clients. How can your web content inspire them to trust you, like you, and do business with you?

Many small businesses have great products and services. What’s inspirational about yours?

Knowing why you’re here, and who you want to be, isn’t a part-time job. The challenge is to live out what you stand for, intentionally, in every moment. ~ Tony Schwartz, author

Far from being touchy-feely concepts touted by motivational speakers, purpose and values have been identified as key drivers of high-performing organizations.

High-Performance Is Driven by Values

  • In Built to Last, James Collins and Jerry Porras reveal that purpose- and values-driven organizations outperformed the general market and comparison companies by 15:1 and 6:1, respectively.
  • In Corporate Culture and Performance, Harvard professors John Kotter and James Heskett found that firms with shared-values–based cultures enjoyed 400% higher revenues, 700% greater job growth, 1,200% higher stock prices and significantly faster profit performance, as compared to companies in similar industries.
  • In Firms of Endearment, marketing professor Rajendra Sisodia and his coauthors explain how companies that put employees’ and customers’ needs ahead of shareholders’ desires outperform conventional competitors in stock-market performance by 8:1.

Leaders who have a clearly articulated purpose and are driven to make a difference can inspire people to overcome insurmountable odds, writes Roy M. Spence Jr. in It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For.

“Life is short, so live it out doing something that you care about,” he writes. “Try to make a difference the best way you can. There’s an enormous satisfaction in seeing the cultural transformation that happens when an organization is turned on to purpose.”

Web Content That’s Inspirational

When you publish web content that gets to the heart of matters (as in how your products or services truly make a difference in the lives of your customers), readers are intrigued. Stories help readers relate to what your company does, on a deeper level than simply saving them time or money.

In the work I do with people in organizations, so often I find that there’s confusion over what’s really important about the work they do and the products they sell to people.

While a well-designed strategy and its effective implementation are required for business success, neither inspires followers to maintain engagement during troubled times. Purpose must tap into people’s hearts and help them give their best when the chips are down.

Don’t ever take a job— join a crusade! Find a cause that you can believe in and give yourself to it completely. ~   Colleen Barrett, president emerita of Southwest Airlines

It’s up to leaders to find that spark that can light up the hearts and minds of employees (and customers) at all levels. And, it’s also up to each of us to find that inner purpose that’s the guiding light for our energy. Talking with a professional business growth strategist at Ariad Partners can help find it if you haven’t already identified and articulated it for yourself.

(Image: Freedigitalphotos.net)