The Story Engine: An entrepreneur’s guide to content strategy and brand storytelling without spending all day writing

330 Pages·2017·3.72 MB·English

by  Kyle Gray, Tom Morkes

Don’t forget to claim the templates
and downloads that go with this
book!
To help you put many of the ideas in the book into practice quickly, I
have created some easy-to-use templates. They’re free to download
and modify to fit your needs.
Grab them at
thestoryengine.co/resources
Copyright © Kyle Gray, 2016.
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1546424581
ISBN-10: 154642458X

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and
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Requests for permission for or further information on usage of this document should be addressed
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Legal Notice
The Purchaser or Reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials
and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal, state, and local, or any
other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the Purchaser or Reader.
The Author and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any
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Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.

Cover and Interior design by Vanessa Mendozzi
www.vanessamendozzidesign.com
Images on cover used under licence Shutterstock.com
CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY TOM MORKES
PART I - UN INTRODUCTION TO CONTENT MARKETING
CHAPTER 1 - BAPTISM BY FIRE
CHAPTER 2 - THE INVISIBLE VALUE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 3 - WHAT KINDS OF BUSINESSES SHOULD USE CONTENT MARKETING?
PART II - CONTENT MARKETING FOUNDATIONS
CHAPTER 4 - WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY?
CHAPTER 5 - HOW TO BUILD YOUR CONTENT AROUND YOUR READER’S CORE
PROBLEMS
CHAPTER 6 - HOW TO USE CONTENT MARKETING AS A TOOL TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
CHAPTER 7 - SIMPLE SEO FOR BUSY FOUNDERS
CHAPTER 8 - HOW TO CAPTURE YOUR VOICE IN A STYLE GUIDE
CHAPTER 9 - HOW TO DELEGATE, AUTOMATE, AND SCALE UP YOUR CONTENT
MARKETING
PART III - CONTENT CREATION
CHAPTER 10 - HOW TO PLAN AND STRATEGIZE CONTENT CREATION WITH AN
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
CHAPTER 11 - HOW TO BECOME A CONTENT IDEA MACHINE
CHAPTER 12 - KILLER CONTENT RESEARCH TACTICS
CHAPTER 13 - HOW TO SPICE UP YOUR CONTENT WITH VISUALS
CHAPTER 14 - TELLING YOUR BUSINESS’S STORY THROUGH TRANSPARENCY
CHAPTER 15 - HOW TO BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST WITH LEAD MAGNETS
CHAPTER 16 - BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO OLD CONTENT WITH REPURPOSING
PART VI - HOW TO SUPPORT AND SCALE YOUR CONTENT MARKETING
CHAPTER 17 - CONTENT MARKETING IS A TEAM SPORT
CHAPTER 18 - HOW TO SCALE YOUR MESSAGING WITH AN EMAIL AUTORESPONDER
CHAPTER 19 - ANALYTICS MADE EASY
CHAPTER 20 - SIMPLE STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR CONTENT WITH PAID TRAFFIC
CHAPTER 21 - HOW TO HIRE AND WORK WITH WRITERS
CHAPTER 22 - HOW TO HIRE A CONTENT MANAGER
CHAPTER 23 - THE END
FOREWORD BY TOM MORKES
Content marketing, a diamond in
the rough
Content marketing is the most underrated and underutilized tool in the
traditional online marketer’s toolkit.
That’s a shame because content marketing can be the most lucrative,
compoundable form of marketing you can do for your business.
I’ll explain why in a second, but first, I think it’s worth exploring why so
many people shy away from content marketing (at their own peril).
I’ve found there are two reasons why most
people don’t invest in content marketing:
#1. Creating captivating and compelling content that turns new traffic into
customers is hard. You can’t create great content that grows your
business in 5 minutes a day (and anyone who promises something
similar is lying). From strategy to execution, creating content that ranks in
major search engines, gets readers to share and sign up for your list, and
to eventually buy your products or services, takes time, money, and
energy.
#2. You typically won’t find a profitable return on investment in the first
month of deploying content. In most cases, it takes a great article or blog
post about 6 to 12 months to generate enough traffic to validate the cost
it will take to create it. This is a hard pill to swallow, especially when most
marketers would reference the immediate ROI you could hypothetically
get from paid advertising on platforms like Facebook or Google.
In other words: content marketing is for those who are playing the long
game.
Most people just don’t want to invest months or years into something that
may not turn a profit for many months or years down the road.
And that’s where you and I, if we’re willing to put in the work, can profit
greatly.
In my own experience, content marketing is the reason I was able to go
from $0 year to multiple 6-figures year in less than 3 years. And this
growth is looking to continue.
Why?
Because great content gets more valuable over time.
Of course, the question then becomes: how do I create great content?
Enter: “The Story Engine” by Kyle Gray
I met Kyle Gray on a remote island in Thailand when Kyle first started
working for Dan Norris. We were both doing the “digital nomad” thing
and, as luck would have it, we both started working for Dan around the
same time. My work was focused on positioning and marketing his first
book “The 7 Day Startup.”
As Kyle highlights in “The Story Engine,” that book, which started as a
series of blog posts on the WP Curve blog, went on to be a massively
successful bestseller that generated new interest in WP Curve, as well as
helped Dan spin off his own personal branded business.
This is one of many stories that Kyle shares in “The Story Engine” that
both prove the point that content marketing is powerful, even beyond
growing your business, and to demonstrate that there is a replicable
system - a science - behind great content creation. This book will show
you what that is, how it works, and how to implement it for your own
business (or personal ambitions).
Too long, didn’t read:
What I’m trying to say is this:
1. Everyone who is in business for the long haul should create
content regularly.
2. Those who plan to create content regularly should read and follow
this book.
“The Story Engine” will provide you the strategy, framework, and process
to turn content marketing from a sometimes confusing, difficult task into a
manageable process for growing business.
I highly recommend you buy a copy for yourself and everyone on your
team who is involved in content creation. You won’t be disappointed.