I never thought that I would be telling people someday that one of the most valuable business lessons I have ever learned came from a tree… But here we are.
Life as an entrepreneur is a wild ride. When you are starting out (or even years in), it can be super hard to find your footing and get into a consistent, sustainable rhythm. It can feel like you’re riding a roller coaster– full of ups and downs. You feel like there is no in-between. you’re either thriving or surviving.
This was one of the most frustrating parts as I was getting established as a business owner. I was exhausted, and I was working all the time. Something had to change.
As I learned more about running a business in the online space, I kept hearing about evergreen content and how beneficial it was.
I finally dug in and learned about some of the benefits myself. That is where the life lessons from a tree come in.
Evergreen content (and the evergreen tree) made such a huge impact on my business and my perspective, that I decided to run an entire business based on it.
What is Evergreen Content?
Think about those evergreen trees that you see in forests. What makes them so different than the other trees they coexist with?
Evergreen trees are adaptable, durable, and sustainable. When you look at an evergreen tree in January, it really doesn’t look any different than it does in June. It thrives even in the harshest winter conditions.
That’s the whole purpose behind evergreen content in your business. It protects your business from harsh seasons and creates sustainability that you wouldn’t have otherwise–just like the needles of an evergreen tree.
Evergreen content is content that you put together that automatically goes out (usually in emails) that will nurture your audience, build your authority, and create sales– all the time.
Building an evergreen series usually involves coming up with a year’s worth of content that you can then send out to your subscribers… But it doesn’t just last a year. You can continue to use your evergreen content for as long as it applies to your business and strategy. This means you have revenue coming in for years after you build your evergreen content.
How Will Evergreen Content Keep Your Business Thriving?
As an entrepreneur, you are living your life one of two ways.
One way is to be living in a constant cycle of seasons (you know like those other kinds of trees in the forest). You work in the planning and preparation phase when you are ramping up for a launch. Then you launch. If all goes well, you are crazy busy during the launch. Your clients are happy. Your business is thriving.
It is what comes next that is challenging. Eventually, the launch season dies off. Your business slows, and you are left with the “now what?” question lurking. You have officially entered survival mode. You are scrambling to come up with ways to drum up some business. You decide that what you’ve done before worked well… So you start the whole cycle over again. You start planning the next big launch… And this goes on and on, over and over again.
Sounds exhausting?? Yeah, I completely agree.
That is where this whole idea of evergreen content comes in. When you have evergreen content that is on automation, you don’t have to live in seasons of launch cycles. Or releasing new products. Or building a new course.
Can you do those things? Sure! You should be! That is part of what keeps your business growing. But it shouldn’t be the only thing.
You also shouldn’t be living in a constant state of highs and lows.
By sending out evergreen content, you are getting in front of your audience on a regular basis. They are hearing from you. You are building relationships with them.
Plus, you are sending them sales offers throughout your rotation of emails. They have the opportunity to buy whatever you are selling on a consistent, regular basis. You don’t have to wait for “launch day” anymore. You can be making sales all the time– even when you are on vacation or sleeping!
Evergreen content gives you the opportunity to focus your time and energy on effectively growing your business. You no longer need to live in that constant “what am I going to do next to make money?” mode. You can break out of the “urgent” state of mind and move to more of an “important” mindset.
(If you don’t know about the Eisenhower Decision Principle, you need to! Click here to read all about why living in the “urgent” is necessary some of the time, but “important” is a much more desirable place to be regularly).
You can start making decisions based on what will get you closer to your goals. Your evergreen content will take care of the “urgent”. It will help you build those lasting relationships and get your products and services in front of your audience all the time. You no longer need to worry about that.
Where does Evergreen Content come from?
Building evergreen content does not mean you have to spend countless hours creating brand new information to send out to your audience.
Repurposing what you already have is a great way to get started. You are the expert in your field and you have been marketing your business for a while. You probably already have a good portion of what you need for a sequence.
So, you’ve found the content you can use. Now you need to organize it. Go through what you have and map it out. How often do you want to send emails out? How do things fit together? How can you rotate through so you are nurturing your audience, building your authority, and promoting your products and services?
You don’t want every email you send to be a slimy sales pitch. You need to build relationships with your audience while also giving them an opportunity to learn about what you offer (every once in a while).
You will have a lot of content that you can repurpose into emails, but you will also want to come up with some new content so that your audience is always learning new things about you and your brand.
Need a little help getting started with your Evergreen Sequence?
You are in the right place. I am here and happy to help you with all of your evergreen email needs!
I offer digital products and services that will help you build your own sequence. Or if you would like to try the done-for-you route, we can do that, too!
Schedule a call with me and we can figure out exactly which direction is the right one for you!