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Here is the transcript of the podcast in blog post form :D (If you don’t want to hear the podcast, you can read this :D ).

Hey Guys, This is Jeevan Jacob John from Blognetworking101.com

Today we are going to talk about why we should or shouldn’t over deliver content to our audience.

First off, I want to thank Brian for hosting this contest. It is great to participate in another one – the excitement and fun that we get cannot be replaced by anything else. Of course, there is something called prize money that we all hope to win ;) Anyways, let’s start talking about over delivering content.

I want to start with a question: Do you “Over-deliver” to your audience?

As with any topic, this topic also has two sides to it.

One side says that you should over deliver content.

Lot of others tell you to wait for some time and do everything a bit slowly.

Do you know why that is?

Well, that’s exactly what we are going to discuss in this blog post. We will also talk about what we should do (whether we should over deliver or not?).

Let’s start with the advantages of over delivering content, alright?

Over delivering Content: Why you should do so?

To be honest with you, I don’t even know whether we should use the word “over deliver” – I hate that word because a lot of bloggers who don’t deserve to use it – because they don’t provide any value – use it a lot and try to teach others about over delivering your audience.

I also want to tell you that I am against “over delivering content” because you can’t over deliver. You can only give something beyond their expectations – which fortunately you can achieve by just being useful.

Psst: Not related to this, but I feel that I should include this here: Apple (the company) is a a good and bad example of over delivering content.

They invented and reinvented products for better functionality and user experience.

And then they decide to take use of their earlier efforts and do shit work and make profits.

Right now, Apple is seriously “low” on innovation, they are focusing too much on reinventing and making profits (just look at iPad 1 & 2 or iPhone 4 etc). These days, there aren’t much features added to it, but since it is Apple, they are still able to sell and make profits (thanks to their serious work with establishing their brand).

But, if they don’t get back with innovation, their company is certainly going to “go down” in a few years.

Now, the reason why I told you all that is because I want you to understand the importance of going beyond consumer expectations – Apple was able to go beyond consumer expectations with their earlier products (and people still expect great products out of Apple, so the perceived value of Apple the company is really high among people – which is why lot of people still spend lots of money on buying Apple products).

Moral: Once you go beyond consumer expectations a few times, you can take advantage of that and stay high for a time frame (but you still need to get back with innovative stuff after some time, or else some other guy is going to take your “position”).

Going beyond consumer expectations, your advantages:

  • Strong consumer trust and loyalty.
  • Builds your brand.
  • You can take advantage and make more profits.

Now, let’s talk about why you shouldn’t go beyond consumer expectations (or as one would say, why you shouldn’t over deliver?)

Why You Shouldn’t Over Deliver?

The primary reason lies within the first portion of this article (why you should over deliver).

If you go beyond consumer expectations, then you certainly need to do that in the future to maintain your brand’s position.

People still expect more from you, because you went beyond their expectations. So, you really need to be careful when working with your audience.

Over delivering:

  • Takes time and effort.
  • If you give it all away right now, what are you going to do for the future?
  • Your audience grows over time, you will either need to recycle the article (reinvent the products like Apple did with iPhone) or keep some of your tips for the future – but remember: techniques do get less effective over time, so the earlier you give, the better it is (But, when you have a small audience, for instance: You just started a new blog, should you spend lot of time on writing content, you should focus on promoting your blog and reaching a larger audience, right? Right and wrong. You need to write enough content to keep your existing readers happy and at the same time, you need to keep some for tomorrow – when you have a bigger audience.

So, what’s the big deal? What’s the solution?

Now that you have seen the advantages and disadvantages of over delivering (or going beyond consumer expectations), let’s take a look at the solution:

Stay in the middle.

  • Write “awe-inspiring” posts every 1-2 months (take time writing these posts, provide the maximum value). Put the most efforts into these posts. 1 awe inspiring post per month is definitely good. Note: Awe-inspiring means something beyond the consumer expectations.
  • Let all other posts be simply valuable and actionable (don’t even try to be awe inspiring!) because too much of everything is bad! (refer back to the disadvantages to know why you shouldn’t let all your posts/products be awe-inspiring).
  • Shamelessly promote your content (along with others’s content that you find interesting and valuable), engage with others via Twitter, FB fan page (use Facebook as your fb page admin while engaging with other bloggers), Linkedin groups and G+. 

When it comes to promoting others’ stuff, I recommend that you share only stuff that you find really valuable (it builds your own value among your followers and friends). I used to use dlvr.it automated service automatically retweet stuff from my fellow bloggers  - which indeed is a great idea, but you see, many fellow bloggers can also write content that neither me or my followers are interested in. Another reason why you shouldn’t use automated services with tweeting (except for buffer app) is because that people tend to care less when they know it is automated (you don’t receive any thanks and over time this will seriously affect the relationship between you and the blogger). Over time, the blogger may feel that you don’t care that much about spending direct time reading the article and sharing it.

Staying in the middle is something that everyone likes (even our body likes the idea of sticking with the middle , 37 degree Celsius is a medium temperature in which our body works “perfectly”).

Now, I want your thoughts with this?

What do you think?

Over delivering content? Is it something that we should do (at all, consistently or once in a while)?

What’s your take? Let me know of your valuable thoughts because you know that your thoughts will certainly help me to gain the money ;)

About Jeevan Jacob John

Hey, my name is Jeevan Jacob John and I am just a blogger who believes in simplicity at its best. I write at Blog Networking 101 and at Blog Preneurs

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