It’s a darn lot of work to churn out original content all the time. Luckily, we’re in the age of sharing and it’s easier than ever to craft an entire online persona on the work of others.

There’s two main ways to get me to buy your stuff without outright telling me to. The first is to craft content of interest to your target demographic with the hopes that they’ll enjoy it and share it with others. The second is to share content tangential to the interests of your target audience. 

Sharing. Messy, but fun.

Sharing tangential content

I’m not talking about stealing. I’m talking about sharing images, videos, and links that others created but that you think will be of interest to the same people you want to purchase your stuff with credit back to the creator. It’s about regularly sharing properly credited content that your ideal customers might enjoy because, while they’ll come for the stuff you’re sharing, they’ll notice what you’ve got for sale while they’re there. It’s about becoming a curator for stuff that your customer is interested in to draw them to what you have to sell. While you’ll need to dig through the internet for the right stuff to share, it’s still less time consuming than creating your own content.

What could this look like?

• A webstore that sells ski equipment shares articles about skiing, beautiful pictures of snow capped mountains, and videos tips from the pros none of which they created themselves but all of which are of interest to their target demographic who may come for the content and stay to buy some equipment.
• A life coach that regularly shares inspirational quotes, music videos for songs with a positive message, and links to posts on happiness from other blogs all of which attract the kind of reader that might make the ideal client.
• An author who promotes their science fiction books by sharing articles about interesting scientific advances, artwork that inspires their stories, and screencaps from their favorite sci fi films.

Finding the right content is easier than you’d think. Chances are, you’re already interested in the type of things you’re selling especially if it’s something you created like a book, craft or other work of art, so you’ll start to naturally come across things that would be ideal to share on your normal daily travels around the internet. When in doubt, share what you like or find interesting. Your ideal customer may agree.