Evergreen vs. Viral Content Both are Important to Your Business

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If you’re a content creator you’re constantly making content. It could be that you’re making content addressing questions that you’ve been asked over and over again. Or, you may be creating content about something that is top of mind or in the moment now. Basically, you’re either addressing a current issue or long-standing concern with the content that you create. Deciding when to do what is important for a couple of reasons. Keep reading to gain some insight on the Evergreen vs. Viral content conversation and why both are so important to your business.

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Qube Money

When I first started my business, my finances were a mess. I was paying off debt and just trying to hustle until my business grew. I tried everything to keep my finances in order ranging from using online money management platforms, spreadsheets and the envelope system. This year I discovered Qube Money which is a digital envelope system paired with a debit card. You deposit your money into an FDIC insured account and then can spend based on dedicated Qubes that you’ve created within the app. If you’re paying for tools such as Flodesk for your emails, Thinkific to host your courses and coaching programs, or Deskpass for your coworking access, Qube keeps you organized and can be one of your dedicated business accounts. I’m a proud affiliate of Qube Money, check out the link that I share in the show notes.

Evergreen Content

If you’re wondering what on earth evergreen content is, it’s basically content that addresses questions that constantly come up over time. I’ll share some examples in different niches. You may have different answers based on your experiences, beliefs and the time that you’re living in-but the core of the question is always the same.

Online Content Creation Evergreen Questions

This is interesting to think about because online content creation is still very much in its infancy. That said, there are some questions that I’ve noticed becoming evergreen questions overtime.

Should I start a blog? The quick answer is “yes” but I need to write a post about the rationale.

Should I start a podcast?

Is a YouTube channel something I should do?

These are questions that are being asked over and over again. Depending on the content creators that you follow, the answers will change.

Personal Finance Evergreen Questions:

How to Budget

How to Save

Should you buy a house?

How to afford to buy a house?

What is inflation?

How to earn more?

These are evergreen questions because you could go back to 1700 and find the same questions. Different amounts and percentages for the answers but they are the same dang questions.

Travel Evergreen Questions:

How much should I spend on my trip?

Where should I travel to?

How long should my next vacation be?

What mode of travel should I take to get to my destination?

How to prepare for my trip.

Again, these are questions that someone in the 1800’s would have asked themselves. The answers, of course, would be different because of the times that we’re living in but these questions are almost always part of the vacation preparation process.

Online Content Creation Viral Questions

Should I start a TikTok Channel? This could still be considered potentially viral because the platform is still so new in 2021.

Should I buy (this, that, or the other) product? This is a potentially viral question if it’s a digital product in the process of being launched or being offered for a short period of time. This is an extremely target piece of content with a niche audience btw.

Creating any content related to any digital content creation specific to the moment in time that you’re in. For example, a response to a national situation. Such as my podcast episode “A Conversation about Race” which was specifically about the George Floyd murder and Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020. I released that content within 2 weeks of his murder. It was a very difficult piece of content to do but was (painfully) a viral piece of content because of what happened.

Personal Finance Viral Questions

I should make one thing clear, in referencing “viral” content it has to be of the moment that we’re currently in and have the POTENTIAL to go viral. Or, be related to other content that is currently going viral due to the times that we’re

Should minimum wage be raised to $15? This is potentially “viral” content because it elicits very intense reactions during the current moment that we’re in.

Should I buy bitcoin? (this does have the potential to become Evergreen though) but based on the time that we’re currently in and the news cycle-it’s potentially viral content.

How does COVID affect my finances? In 2020, variations of this topic were constantly viral.

Basically, this is content that is specific to a specific moment in time.

Travel Viral (No pun intended) Questions:

Where Can I Travel During COVID?

Will I need a COVID passport to travel? This one is funny to me because I can tell that people haven’t traveled to places that require vaccines. I have a yellow vaccination book for that reason.

Where should I travel to for my first trip after COVID?

Basically, these questions are specific to a moment in time. We’re currently in the COVID time period but sooner or later we will transition out of COVID and those questions will become less relevant over time.

Making Money with Content

What’s important to consider when creating content is the intent behind it. Are you trying to inform your community about an issue, product, or tool? Are you looking to share an opinion about an issue? Or, are you trying to make money?

If you’re making money via your content there are a few aspects to the process that you need to consider.

Viral content drops off and any monetization may be experienced as short-term gain.

Evergreen content is always referenced over time making it easier to build up passive income over time.

You can plan out your evergreen content strategy. It’s difficult to do this with viral content because you have no idea what’s going to be a trend, issue, or unique one time conversation that crops up.

Final Thoughts

Always have a content strategy for your platform. Then evaluate the content you’re sharing. Currently on my personal finance website the content has HEAVILY tilted to viral content and current issues. While I love the content and conversations that I’m facilitating, this is an issue for me because I would like to grow my passive income. It’s challenging to monetize with viral content and I’m working on evergreen content for my website right now.

Your goals directly impact the type of content that you’re sharing. Be intentional about this across your platforms and good luck!

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