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| Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-person-holding-a-diploma-and-a-graduation-hat-12752021/* |
by Ariella Brown
I got this question from someone on LinkedIn: "If I might ask a question, how do you feel your PhD has helped you in your content writing?"
I'm not a degree snob. In truth, you don't need a PhD to produce content. Some people manage quite well with no degree at all.
The reason I completed the degree back in my early youth is that I thought I'd make a career in academia. Several years of adjuncting disabused me of that notion.
Here's the gist of the answer:
It helps in ways most people don't appreciate because they think about content marketing as just applying SEO tricks (plug in the keywords, use the right tags, follow a template, and put in a clickbait headline).
You get boring, predictable, and disappointing content when that's all you've got. Even if the information is accurate -- and it frequently is not -- it is not going to be a pleasure to read.
Aiming for high quality content takes more than formulas. And that's where the skills related to earning a PhD are relevant:
🗃1. The ability to do research to find out what you need to know about the industry, product, and the customers who use it to present a clear and accurate account rather than fudging things.
🔍2. Obsession with tracing quotes to the original source
This is very important in an industry in which people tend to copy each other and lose the context and the year of the stat, presenting old information as if it's current.
🗺3. Vision combined with practical planning
Completing a PhD doesn't just take a big idea but organization, persistence and an understanding of how to break down a huge project that last years into smaller steps. You have to do the same when planning a content marketing strategy and content calendar.
📚4. The best models for content in your head
I have a lot of literature in my head that I can draw on to make interesting connections and offer memorable phrases that resonate.
*Yes, I used a stock photo to represent a graduation. I didn't attend any of my own since the 8th grade.
You can download and read my dissertatio here: CUNY Academic Works
Learn more about what I've done as a content marketing specialist, particularly for B2B tech, here: Experience and Testimonials To book a free phone consultation, use this Calendly link
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