I’m a Scott Wintrip fan. I have been for a long time. Scott’s one of the best teachers in the staffing industry. He’s smart. Insightful. He knows how to make the art of selling and recruiting easy to understand. And he holds people accountable in powerful and effective ways. Besides, he’s a really nice guy.
I’m also a fan because Scott is a VERY good marketer.
I recently interviewed Scott to ask him about the secret of his marketing success. I wanted to discover what works for him…and the marketing lessons he would suggest for staffing firms. So let’s get started with a quick review of what Scott does and why he does it.
The Scott Wintrip Marketing Playbook
1) Blog
Scott has been blogging for about four years. I asked him why he started, and he told me “I had things to say, and blogging provided an easy forum to do it.”
Blogging allowed Scott to reach a bigger audience, and according to Scott “If you look at the best marketers, they are prodigious creators of content.”
2) Content rules
As Scott knows, search engines LOVE content. And so do humans. The more good ideas you produce, the more people will find you…and buy from you.
Blogging isn’t the only content Scott produces. Today, Scott has a very disciplined approach to content development that includes:
- Blog and social media posting at least once per day
- One or two videos per week
- Podcast every Friday
3) Plan and work ahead
Most content marketing fails because people don’t have enough time (or make enough time) to consistently produce the content. Scott’s secret? Plan ahead!
Scott told me that he had to make a “conscious choice” to become a content producer. He had to reset his daily routine to include time for writing, researching and planning content. He had to create personal routines centered around content development.
Today, Scott is a one man content army. He shoots 100 videos in two days. He creates 12 podcasts in an hour and a half (plus editing time). He makes time every day to write.
To help organize his content development efforts, Scott created a daily content plan with different topics for each day of the week. he has become a keen observer of life, finding content inspiration in everything around him. And he also asks his audience for requests.
But the key to Scott’s success is planning and working ahead. Scott produces all his content well in advance of when it will be delivered. And he gets professional help where it’s needed (mostly with the video editing and content distribution).
4) Share. Every day. Everywhere.
If you’re in the staffing industry, you’ve seen Scott’s content. It’s all over LinkedIn. It’s on Facebook. It’s tweeted. It’s on the websites of other vendors to the industry. It’s shared from ASA. It’s shared from Staffing Industry Analysts.
Scott has mastered the art of content delivery, not only sharing his own ideas, but encouraging others to share his content. As Scott put it “when someone else shares your content, you’ve become a thought leader.”
Is it worth the effort?
You bet! According to Scott, “Content marketing has introduced many people to me and my services. It’s allowed me to stand out and stay top-of-mind (David, I’ve always loved Haley Marketing’s tagline). People think I’m everywhere. And I’m constantly stopped at conferences by people I don’t know who love what I post online.”
Content marketing has been a catalyst for the success of Wintrip Consulting Group. It’s generated speaking opportunities, brought in new clients, and positioned Scott as one of the true thought leaders in the staffing industry.
And best of all, Scott says that content marketing is something anyone can do. “I’m surprised that I can do this. But it’s like exercise. I’ve built my content muscle, and now it’s very strong.”
Lessons for your staffing firm
If you are in staffing, and you are not already a content marketer, get started. Use content to stand out from your competition. Use it to show people new and better ways to use staffing. Use it to open sales conversations. Use it as part of you follow-ups. Use it to sell higher margin solutions.
Be like Scott. Develop your content plan. Build your content muscles. Blog. Create video. And get in the habit of regularly creating and sharing ideas. The more content your share, the more people will be attracted to your firm. And that will give you far more opportunities to sell staffing.
Resources
Wintrip Consulting Group
Get advice from Scott himself
Haley Marketing
Content marketing is what we do for a living…
or more accurately, what we do for staffing firms!
