When you flit about the blogosphere in search of genius in this space (marketing, both on- and off-line), sometimes said genius jumps up and B-slaps you. I just gotta share my most recent sting across the cheek. You’re gonna love her, I promise:

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Ultimate Guides

One of the best ways to position yourself as an authority is to publish an Ultimate Guide.

Think about it… you have an interest in German Shepherds, just got yourself a pup from the rescue… and cruising the internet you come across a link promising  a free PDF: The ULTIMATE GUIDE to Raising German Shepherds.

Boy, howdy! Before you can say, “call to action” you’re already eagerly typing in your contact info. Rubbing your hands together after pressing send. Ripping open (well, virtually anyway)the confirmation email. Right-clicking, downloading, and devouring content as they said… instantly.

‘Course, the only thing keeping most folks from terrible disappointment… UN-subscribing in the blink of an eye… doing a military grade sweep of their spam box… and spreading lots of “badwill” about the so-called expert that’s really just an email-list-grubbing HACK is this:

Their “Ultimate Guide” actually turns out to be… well, ULTIMATE.

The Awesome Power of a Fulfilled Promise

When I  started selling my first information product, The Blueprint (the BP is about how to trade the stock and options markets without getting hurt), I began by offering a scaled down version called, The Sketch. This “Sketch” promised to solve the two biggest problems facing an options trader. And guess what?

It did. 

Still does.

I still build my list with this giveaway bribe. It’s kind of an Ultimate Guide.

But it’s not my product. I give away The Sketch because once people that happen to be looking for that particular solution to that particular problem… LOSING MONEY… and they find that solution in my “Ultimate Guide”… then they have a heart-connection to me. And to my work, and what it can do for them.

The Sketch actually shows and then SOLVES the two biggest problems faced by stock and options investors. It fulfills the promise that it makes. For that reason, it gains the trust as well as a great hunger for MORE of the same kind of content… from yours truly.

My seminal work, The Blueprint has now been sold in 38 countries and it, plus its associated subscriptions, have generated millions of dollars.

But it wouldn’t have sold more than a few copies… especially at the confiscatory price that I charge for it… unless I had first established trust with my readers by actually delivering a helpful solution to their problems with our first contact. Because my “Ultimate Guide” delivers exactly what it promises to deliver.

Enough Tootin’ Yer Own Horn, Frankenberg… How Does This Help ME?

Well, shucks. I’m just saying that you need to publish an Ultimate Guide. Maybe even more than one. Solve a problem or feed an addiction for your audience. Give ’em the ultimate reason to know, love, and trust you.

And make sure that your ultimate guide truly is exactly what they need.

Wish I could tell you the quickest, best way myself. Naw, this isn’t gonna be MY post. I’m not that “ultimate”… YET.

But until I’m much, MUCH smarter, I found someone that is.

Presenting Kristi Hines: The Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Guides

See what I did there? Used the same word, “guide”, twice in a sentence with two different meanings. “Guide” as in published work, and “guide” as in someone to help you navigate the rocky passages safely to your destination.

Lemme introduce you to one o’ MY favorite content sherpas:

Kristi Hines

Kristi Hines is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. Her blog Kikolani focuses on blog marketing for personal, professional, and business bloggers. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter, andFacebook.

Here’s her post that inspired me to write THIS one.

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/creating-ultimate-guides/

I WOULD try and write you all the steps for making an Ultimate Guide and using it to blow up your views, your email list, your sales, but why try? Kristi nailed it the first time with this one.

As always, the policy around here at Shoestring101 is to provide you the best content, or tell you where it is. If that means sending you away from this site, that’s what it means.

Kristi Hines is a voice that’s up and coming in the world of content marketing; if you haven’t heard of her yet you will soon.

Try her on:

www.kristihines.com www.kikolani.com

…and a plethora of sites that host her for guest blogging. I found her on blog.kissmetrics.com, which BTW is my new go-to resource for implementing  Shoestring Step Number FOUR: Measure Everything You Can.

My Reader’s Digest Version of Kristi’s “Creating Ultimate Guides” Post:

I highly recommend that you go read this bad boy on your own, but these crib notes highlight points of greatest importance to me:

Steps #1 and #2: Subscribe to and actually read blogs on your chosen topic. This is important even if you’ve got decades of experience in your field… because you want your finger on the pulse of exactly what people are talking about now.

Steps #3 and #4: Write down what is missing and combine the basics (what everyone should know) and the missing parts (what YOU know that most folks in this space don’t).

Steps #5 and #6: Include lots of screenshots and real-life examples. One picture is worth a thousand words and guess what? It looks a lot less daunting. Real-life examples are page-turners because people want to read what they relate to.

Steps #7: Give credit where it’s due. Oh, lookee what I’m doing here! I’m using these crib notes for myself and for folks reading my blog… but it’s another author that generated the content. GO CHECK OUT HER STUFF. If you liked the “Ultimate Guide” post as much as I did, you’ll find there’s more useful content where that came from.

Steps #8, #10, #11 These deal with different ways to format and deliver your Ultimate Guide. You’ll just have to check them out on our own to decide which approach would be best digestible by your audience and serve your particular purpose.

Steps #9: Promote your Ultimate Guide. Email, share on social networks, repurpose. This last one is MY favorite… repurposing… because it lends itself to a new technique I am using that I call “content webbing”. More about that later, but it involves spinning your content into a number of different platforms and linking ’em all together. Just one “webbed” post recently triggered a cascade of over 1,240 views of content on one of my blogs in 48 hours. Not shabby since that particular blog had been in decline.

Okay, Steppers! Sound off below. Love to hear your input. Check out www.kristihines.com and www.kikolani.com and let me know which is YOUR favorite post of hers. And maybe we’ll be able to tempt Kristi to post something here strictly for Shoestring101 followers. Til then…

Keep Stepping,

Kurt