The Market Most Entrepreneurs Miss Completely

Over the last five years, I’ve had numerous conversations and coaching calls with entrepreneurs who struggle to get traction on social media. And although everyone’s story is a bit different, there are some trends worth sharing.

And one of them is simple: Underestimating the number of beginners in your space.

A lot of entrepreneurs think they need to write about the most complicated information related to their space to position themselves as “experts”.

But I don’t think so. Because beginners make up an enormous portion of online consumers. I don’t have an exact number, but I’d guess it’s 95% or more.

So there’s a big opportunity to craft simple content that helps people get to first base in their journey. Low-hanging fruit that most entrepreneurs don’t even consider.

Once you realize this, you can grow faster, and the people who follow along will be excited to learn from you. And when you help beginners make real progress, they become fans.

But speaking to a beginner audience requires some nuance. You have to remember they know less than you, and that learning something new can be challenging and even frustrating.

So you want to make your content digestible, simple, and actionable.

With all of that in mind, here are three mistakes to avoid when creating content for the beginner consumer in your space.

Three Content Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Trying To Sound too Smart

Trying to sound smart with jargon and fancy words always backfires. People get confused and feel lost when they don’t understand. The human brain is wired to avoid confusion, so the most likely outcome is that they scroll away, moving on to something that’s easier to digest.

Just consider this example. Which of these would encourage you to keep reading?

Example 1 (confusing jargon):High-conversion landing pages are pivotal for optimizing the user journey and maximizing ROI.

By leveraging best practices in UX design and implementing persuasive microcopy, businesses can enhance their CRO efforts. A/B testing and multivariate analysis are essential for identifying the most effective landing page elements that drive conversions and reduce bounce rates.

Example 2 (clear and simple):High-conversion landing pages are crucial for turning website visitors into customers.

By creating a clear and compelling message, focusing on benefits, and making it easy for visitors to take action, businesses can increase their conversion rates. Testing different versions of the landing page can help determine what works best for the target audience.

Feel the difference?

They basically say the same thing, but the second example is simple enough for the majority of readers to understand it the first time they read it.

Remember, you never want to intimidate your audience. Feeling intimidated doesn’t feel good, and it’s less impressive than you imagine. I think back to a work colleague of mine who used big words and jargon constantly, impressing himself, while others ridiculed him behind his back. He sounded silly, not smart.

Remember that you want to inspire your audience. So make sure your content is empowering and easy to understand.

Mistake #2: Overwhelming Your Audience

When you throw a bunch of different ideas into one piece of content, readers have to work to understand it. And most people won’t make an effort to get through a piece of content. Especially on social media.

Beginners appreciate clear, simple guidance on fundamentals.

So when you overload them with information, they have a hard time taking action. When I look back at my most popular pieces of content, they’re all simple, single-idea pieces:

If you struggle to narrow down your content to one idea, this can be good news for you. Instead of making one newsletter (or social post) that teaches four things, make four pieces of content that teach one thing each.

Now you’ve simplified your four topics into four digestible bites for your audience, and you’ve created more pieces of content that you can share across several days.

Remember, people love nuggets of knowledge.

Mistake #3: No Clear Takeaways

Beginners are excited about learning, and they want to take action. So make your content easy to understand, and leave your audience with a clear understanding of how they can make progress in their journey. Tell them what to do next, and don’t be ambiguous or overly-ambitious about it.

Just tell them how to take their new nuggets of knowledge and put the information to work. And make it plain and simple.

I like to end my newsletters with simple calls to action. I want you to feel fired up, and I want you to have an action item you can start right away.

When your audience starts making progress (thanks to your content), they’ll be back for more information from you — their new trusted source. And this is how you build an audience of loyal followers.

A Beginner-Focused Content Checklist

To serve your audience, give them straightforward information. This helps them make progress and feel the joy of getting some traction. So consider teaching the basics.

Help people get started, and they’ll be loyal fans who appreciate you, and spread a good word about you.

Here’s how you can start doing this right now:

Use simple words and sentences. I write at a 6th grade reading level. Simple, concise sentences help readers follow along effortlessly. Consider using the Hemingway app to checkthe readability of your text.

One core idea per piece. Each tweet, article, or post I create explains one concept or strategy. Beginners tune out when content covers too much.

Good formatting.  I use lots of paragraph breaks and whitespace to make sure content is easy to scan. And I use headers to break up longer content. Look what I did in this email, for example.

Clear and concise. Don’t ramble. Make sure that when readers get to the end, they know exactly what they learned. And make it easy for them to take action.

This beginner-first approach will help you grow your online audience and business by showcasing your expertise, building trust, and establishing authority. And by teaching fundamentals clearly, you’ll move faster and make a bigger impact with your content.

If this particular idea resonates with you, consider checking out my short, 75-minute course, The Content Operating System. It’s a simple framework for creating excellent content that drives readers to take action. No more staring at a blank screen. No more wondering what to write. Just a framework you can use (and reuse) to create 6-12 pieces of highly targeted content. And it’s currently 50% off.

If you’re not ready for a video course, start by using this checklist for your next post or newsletter and see how it works.

That’s all for today.

See you next week.