The Outcomes of Content.

By Eric ChowOctober 9, 20265 min readPersonal Branding

Written by Eric Chow and revised by Isaac Mashman, first as a resource for clients of Mashman Ventures. The four outcomes it describes became part of the Identity Positioning™ doctrine: all content educates, entertains, inspires, or connects. Lightly edited for this site.

When creating content for an audience, the goal is to always provide some sort of value to them. Whether they are reading, listening to, or watching something you’ve created, you want them to get something out of consuming a piece of content from you. The value they receive is why they follow you, continue to engage with you, and support you.

Understanding the kind of value you generally provide your audience can help you further pinpoint what your personal brand is online, as in what your followers know you for, and decide what kind of content you want to create.

There are four Outcomes of Content, or four forms of value. Any piece of good content will do at least one, and potentially several, if not all four. A solid piece of content entertains, inspires, educates, and connects.

Entertainment

Perhaps the most popular value any content creator or public figure brings to an audience. People live complex lives, and entertainment provides an escape through imagination. This kind of content historically began with forms of acting, music, art, and storytelling. It’s very much the same today.

If you are an entertainer, focus on fun, imagination, and intrigue. The best entertainment draws people in and allows them to leave their life’s problems behind. If you’re entertaining them, you may go for an emotional response, such as:

• Frighten them (think horror movies, haunted houses, and abandoned buildings)
• Excite them (think traveling, a new baby, or marriage proposals)
• Laughter (think comedy, a best man speech at a wedding, or sharing funny stories)
• Cute (think a new puppy, a couple in love, a veteran returning home)
• Appreciation (think art, cinematography, modeling)

You are certainly not limited to these, as they are simply examples of the different emotions entertainment can bring out. Look at your life and your ideas to think of ways to entertain, and think about the emotions you want to create.

Inspiration

To motivate and inspire, try following these two steps: elicit awe, then build confidence. Awe, wonder, amazement, or admiration, at its simplest form, creates a sense of “wow” in people. We experience this when standing in the middle of a huge forest or looking up at a cathedral or temple, but really it’s a sense of beauty and victory that creates this feeling. So show people something special.

Perhaps you’re creating, building, or working on something significant. Maybe you are overcoming a challenge, have a tremendous work ethic, or were able to do something kind for someone else. You can even invite people on a journey of imagination by getting them envisioning and feeling some sort of dream come true. Showing them the journey you are on and the vision you are working towards also gives them a sense of community: something that is larger than themselves.

Afterwards, build their confidence. Get them believing that they too can create or build what they want to create or build. Get them believing they too can be kind to people and give something special to the people they love. Help them envision a better life or a better world. Belief and confidence inspire action, and ultimately, that’s the goal of inspiration.

Education

What can you teach or educate people on? You may be an expert in a subject due to extensive background, study, or experience. Perhaps you’re an enthusiast who really enjoys a certain subject. Maybe you’re starting to learn something, and you’ve found a few neat tricks that have helped you.

“Knowledge is not power. Applied knowledge is power.” If you are not applying what you know and sharing what you know for the benefit of others, you are missing out on potential impact and success with your personal brand.

What you educate people on may be in the realm of your professional career or business. It can also be for fun. For example, Isaac Mashman can educate people on topics like getting into the media and personal branding, which are part of his business. But as an avid coffee drinker, he can also educate people on the many ways of making coffee. Do both. These are all aspects of his brand. Remember that without the person in personal branding, you are simply another forgettable and replaceable professional.

Connection

I hope that you’ve started to identify where you stand with each kind of content. Personally, while I think it’d be fun to be an entertainer, I’m much better at inspiration and education. Of course, I’m going to bring entertainment into the content I create, as all content should be entertaining to keep people engaged, but that’s not where I am. You may be different, and you may find certain aspects more difficult than others. Regardless, everyone needs content that connects with people.

This kind of content has a simple purpose: helping your audience get to know you, and more importantly, getting them to see themselves in you, or an aspect of who they want to be. The more people relate with you, the more they will be excited about following, engaging, and supporting you. The best definition of relatability that I’ve heard is this: “How is it that we have grown up so differently, in different environments and with different experiences, and yet are so similar?”

Your audience will be even more entertained, inspired, or better able to absorb what you’re teaching them, because you’re just like them. Communication is how you present the idea, but connection defines how well it is received.

Now It’s Time to Create

Before you move on, take some time to create. Take a photo or find one in your camera roll. Record a one-minute video on your phone. Open a notebook or a document and start writing. Open a voice recorder, hit record, and talk for a few minutes. Make some content right now and post it.

Here are a few ideas to help you start:

1. Take a photo of you studying this material and share one insight.
2. Record a short video about how you want to entertain, inspire, or educate others, and why.
3. Write a post about the last conversation you had with someone you don’t live with.

The four outcomes appear in Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, which Eric edited and wrote the foreword for.