Before you decide to be a content marketer, first and foremost, you must respect the value of content. You must revere it. You don’t necessarily need to know the subtle differences between good and great content (you hire great writers, editors, designers, etc. to guide you) , but you must believe that there is a difference and that the difference is critical to whether your content marketing strategy will thrive or go belly up.

If you don’t believe, believe, believe that content is king, then stick to the traditional marketing methods that work for you. And if you don’t believe that you get what you pay for when it comes to content, then you’re not ready for content marketing.

One premise of content marketing is that you can…no, should throw away your advertising budget and become your own publisher, videographer, radio station, etc. It’s the idea that you can be a direct source of information and content for customers and prospects, that you don’t need a third-party intermediary to carry your messages.

This premise sounds so good, why do magazine and newspaper publishers still exist? Why aren’t all television programs online and produced by individual corporations? Why doesn’t every company have its own online radio show?

Because it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Sure, if you have the money, you can afford the technology and the staff to produce your own publications and shows. But bear in mind that you’re still in competition with traditional content producers, and they have one very huge and important advantage over you: They believe in the sanctity of content. It’s part of their business cultures.

Traditional media outlets build business models around the value of their content. It’s what attracts that audience that your company covets so much. If you’re going to be a content marketer, your strategy also must be built around the value of your content. Specifically, this means thinking of the content you produce as a product or program and not as simply as a means to selling your other goods and services. The content you produce should strive to be so valuable that your customers would consider paying for it.

If you sell pools, for instance, you might start publishing articles on your website about the advantages and disadvantages of different types of pools. Or you might publish and article on games you can play in a pool (Marco? Polo!). The topics you could address are nearly limitless, but if they are poorly written, offer no new or valuable information, and can’t live up to the standard of publications that already serve your audience, then you’ve just wasted a bunch of time and money.