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My Latest Confession
I have another confession.
This confession reveals another fact about my past and who I am.
Not only that, this confession will reveal some important lessons about content creation and content marketing that many people don’t know.
I’m about to reveal what you can think of as some of the “real magic of content marketing”.
What is my confession?
I have always loved magic.
I’ve loved it since I was a kid. I used to buy magic trick books and practice those tricks over and over.
My favorite magician was Harry Houdini.
I wanted to be like him so much I’d have my sister, babysitter, my Mom – or any friend I could find – tie me up and I’d try to escape like he did. 🙂
What made Houdini such a great and memorable magician?
He was a showman.
He didn’t just do a trick or an escape. He did things that made it an experience you would never forget.
David Blaine reminds me a lot of Houdini in this way.
When most magicians do a magic trick people politely applaud.
When David Blaine does a magic trick people start freaking out.
Watch them freak out for yourself…
Content Marketing Lessons From David Blaine
I want you to think of magic tricks as content.
In that sense, much of the content a magician has to work with is common.
Take card tricks as an example.
There are only so many card tricks you can do.
And on a basic level they’re all the same.
But somehow, in some way, when David Blaine does a trick it doesn’t feel “the same” at all.
Now think about this.
As a content marketer or content creator you have the same challenges.
Much of the content you have at your disposal is common.
There are only so many things you can say about your topic.
On a basic level all the content in your niche is the same.
So what can you learn from David Blaine about making content that people freak out over instead of politely applaud?
There are four tricks that he uses that I want to reveal to you right now.
The 4 Tricks David Blaine Uses To Shock People
1. Anticipation
One of the most powerful things that David Blaine does has nothing to with his tricks at all.
It’s what he does before he does a trick.
What does he do? He creates anticipation.
It’s the press he gets before his shows.
It’s the fact that he’s known as the magician to the stars (he is seen performing for movie stars and athletes in his shows).
It is the fact that he is known as a shocking magician.
All of those things (and more) create anticipation and give his tricks a greater impact when he does them.
If an unknown magician did the same exact trick as David Blaine he would get much less of a response.
People might like the trick, but they wouldn’t freak out in amazement.
Why? There is no anticipation.
How does this apply to content creation and content marketing?
You need to do interviews and get any press you can in order to help spread the word about who you are.
You need to do everything you can to get your content validated by other respected people in your industry.
You need to get people who think highly of your content to share their opinion of you with others.
That will create anticipation for your content before someone ever consumes it.
Gary Vaynerchuk does these things.
He is interviewed frequently. He is mentioned and quoted in articles.
His content is validated by many respected people in many different industries.
People are constantly talking about how amazing he is and they’re always sharing his content.
That creates anticipation before you even consume his content.
It gives his content more impact. Do the same and you’ll increase the impact your content has on people.
2. Suspense
An amateur magician just does a trick.
A professional magician builds up to a trick.
And that makes all the difference in the impact of the trick.
David Blaine doesn’t just do a trick.
He gets your attention. He draws you in. He creates intrigue. He builds suspense.
By the time he does the trick the audience is bowled over.
How does this apply to content creation and content marketing?
If you watch how I tap into the “magic” of content marketing, you’ll see that I never just post an idea.
I always do my best to grab your attention first.
(I did that today by telling you about my love of magic.)
I always try to draw you in and create intrigue.
(I did that today by telling you about David Blaine.)
I always try to build suspense.
(I did that by telling you that there were lessons we could learn from him about content marketing.)
You need to do the same thing. Don’t ever just present your idea.
Grab attention. Create intrigue and build suspense, then present your idea.
3. Surprise
Have you ever wondered why a magician is never supposed to do the same trick twice?
It is because a key principle of effective magic is surprise.
When you first do a trick the audience doesn’t know what to expect.
If you do it again, right away, then they will know what to expect and what to look for.
The surprise-factor is gone.
And that will ruin the trick and probably reveal your secrets.
David Blaine is great at surprising an audience. You never know what he is going to do.
Watch this trick below. You’ll never guess what he is going to do…
How does this apply to content creation and content marketing?
In content creation and content marketing you want to keep your audience guessing. How?
Don’t always write about the same things.
Be willing to post contrary viewpoints that are opposed to the common opinions in your industry.
Help people to come to surprising conclusions from the content your provide them with.
And, even if you’re going to present a common idea or thought, present it in a surprising way!
4. Context
A great magician knows that it’s context that makes a trick truly great.
Instead of doing just a card trick, they tell a story with the cards as the characters of the story.
Instead of just performing tricks from the stage, David Blaine performs them on the street.
Not only that, he creates context with the things he says and does before he does the trick.
Powerful context creates powerful tricks.
How does this apply to content creation and content marketing?
Let me explain how you can apply this by revealing more of the “magic” behind this post.
I could have just told you these 4 points.
They would’ve been ok by themselves, but not that powerful.
Instead of doing that, I created a context for them.
The overall context was magic. I wanted you to think about content marketing the way a magician does about magic.
But beyond that, I created an even more powerful context by telling you about David Blaine and telling you how he uses these 4 tricks.
That context gave this post more impact.
You need to do the same thing.
Present context BEFORE you present your content.
The content might be common, but your context can make it feel completely uncommon.
Now Go And Create Some Of Your Own Content Magic
Now none of these things excuse you from presenting the most powerful content you can.
None of this excuses you to be lazy and just copy other content.
There is nothing like powerful content.
But using these 4 tricks can allow you to take that powerful content and make it explosive.
Watch this final video to see David do a powerful trick you’ve never seen any other magician do…
P.S. David Blaine’s latest TV special is on tonight on ABC. It’s called “Real or Magic”.
I’ll be watching it! If you like magic, then you won’t want to miss it.
If you would like to learn some more of the “tricks” that I personally use to create powerful content, then click the link below…
“21 Types of Content We Crave”
How you can watch my “21 Types of Content We Crave” webinar recording in just minutes from now…
I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
===> If you would like to see ways that we could work together, then please click here to learn more.
Great post! As a fan of analogies, I really like comparing content with magic. This is something I never thought about. Great title, great listing, great sharing and relating to articles. I never thought about a magician not doing the same trick twice but it definitely makes sense.