Finding your school’s content focus is critical, especially in this saturated storytelling world. It’s too easy for even great content to get lost in the clutter if it’s not targeting a specific audience’s specific needs.

Generic content doesn’t break through, and it doesn’t build communities.

Focused content, however, speaks directly to an audience. It knows what that audience wants, what it needs, and how to help. It provides insights that allow someone to take action, to get better, to make a change.

By writing with focus, you prove you know your audience and that you are someone they can trust. The right people — your dream families — will seek out your expertise. Will others pass you by? Probably. But those people aren’t the people you want or need in your community.

Ok, so it’s time to get focused. Where do you begin?

With a target.

(No, not the store. You unfortunately can’t purchase focus, or I’d be all over that. I’m talking about an actual target.) The target symbol is what helps me keep my eye on the writing prize. Here’s how it works:

1) Start with the bullseye.

We usually call this your “sweet spot”. This is the place where you can claim your greatest authority — where no one else can do what you do as good as you do it.

Your sweet spot is not only about you, however. You find your sweet spot where your expertise, your passion, and your audience’s needs overlap. In other words, you need to be good at something + excited about something, and your audience needs to need that something, for it to be considered your sweet spot.

2) Define your current position.

This would be the outer ring of the target. How far away from the bullseye is your current content from your sweet spot? Examine the current content you are producing, and determine what modifications you would have to make to start closing in on that bullseye. You will probably find that some of your current content falls completely outside of the target, and may need to be retired.

3) Start narrowing in.

Once you know the position of your current content, think about the new stories you have to tell that can move you from broad to narrow.

An important note: You don’t have to jump from general content to hyper-focused in one day. Start by thinking about the adjustments you’ll need to make to slowly narrow in on that ideal storytelling spot. And don’t feel bad if you have a hard, slow time moving inward. It’s ok; movement is progress.

By keeping your sweet spot at the core of your content strategy, and narrowing in your content to hit that target, you’ll create content that’s focused and appealing to your dream families — and cut down on your content misses.

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