“Success is never owned. Success is only rented, and the rent is due every day.”
That quote from Rory Vaden’s book Take the Stairs always struck me as a little off. It reminds me of that tired old axiom: “No pain, no gain.”
Both sayings suggest that success will always be a struggle. And if you’re not feeling the struggle, you should question whether you’re doing enough.
That’s a very unpleasant way of looking at life.
But once I read Vaden’s book, I took a different meaning from it. The phrase is part of what Vaden calls the “rent axiom.” Your success — whether in improving your health, creating a thriving business, or achieving financial security — isn’t a single destination. It’s a spectrum.
“No matter where you are on the spectrum of discipline,” Vaden writes, “you can improve and grow. Likewise, you also have some parts [already] figured out.”
In other words, he’s not saying permanent success isn’t achievable or that you have to struggle every day to attempt to get there. He’s saying that the rent due every day is the discipline to try to improve your situation — no matter where you are.
I like that worldview much better.
Renting success in marketing (again)
In a previous article, I explained why the shifting sands of modern content and marketing have some industry experts suggesting a “beyond the website” approach to content strategy.
I argued that the real driver of owned media content is to create differentiated ideas that make people believe.
That belief might persuade them to subscribe, purchase, donate, engage more deeply, or volunteer. But to earn those actions, you have to connect your owned media experiences (your newsletter, websites, blogs, etc.) to create an ecosystem of content that people will want to “live in,” not just visit when they have a product or service need.
Increasingly, however, methods for attracting those people to that ecosystem are changing. For years, marketers have used content to garner enough attention to earn a click from social or search back to an owned property.
But today, people who find your content on rented channels may not be offered anything to click on. You have to deliver value at that precise moment to be noticed and remembered.
Delivering valuable content experiences beyond your website is now imperative – and that’s putting increased pressure on marketers to revamp their “rented land” properties.
Let’s dig into this new model.
Optimizing for value impressions
Several smart people have helped refine my thinking about the overarching trends.
A recent post from Amanda Natividad at SparkToro compares the world’s largest traffic referrers (where marketers get traffic from) with the places where people consume content. Amanda makes the point that “modern content marketing means being present in the places where your audience pays attention, consumes content, and learns about the problems you solve.”
Put simply – it’s about learning where your audience spends time and delivering value to build trust there.
Now, layer that with Andy Crestodina’s recent LinkedIn post. This point stands out: “Write for any site where your audience may be spending time (even if the Domain Authority is low). It’s possible that most of your content should be on other websites.”
Finally, I return to my observations about how social media content consumption and usage have fundamentally changed. Social media use continues to grow, but “for you” algorithms mean that your follower (audience) size matters much less. Every post now has to compete — because you simply can’t depend on your “followers” to see your content like you used to.
So – what do all these trends indicate? The main implications include:
1. Offer value immediately
Offer content that quickly delivers value and optimize it for the platform to give it the best chance of organic reach. For most platforms, this means publishing within the walled garden and not linking to an external site. Look how Amanda Natividad wrote this product announcement on LinkedIn.
2. Broaden content distribution
Get your content (and, more specifically, the valuable ideas it expresses) into as many places as your audience consumes content. Now, achieving reach on third-party platforms has been a mandate since the earliest days of marketing.
But this isn’t a 30-second TV spot, a shoutout from social media, or a paid banner. Think long-form content on influencers’ platforms, with non-competitive partners, on social media, and even on retail media networks. For example, this Red Hat Linux educational video content has a significant presence on Amazon Web Services’ website. Pet food company Jinx is promoting a content marketing video campaign through paid search promotion on Walmart.com.
3. Go big with specific owned media assets
One approach commonly used in the content marketing of yesterday was to develop and package a “tentpole” piece (e.g., a research report, an e-book, or a white paper). Then, you’d design a promotional campaign around that asset and try to draw people in by using it as a lead magnet.
Now, you need a different approach. You’ll still create that big story. But you’ll also develop multiple platform-specific versions of it designed to deliver self-contained value. So, that extensive research report is now also shaped into various LinkedIn post-sized summaries. The e-book gets paired with an explainer video or webinar. The white paper gets a companion mini-course delivered through a partner’s website.
Make owned media the best next thing
Leaning heavily into rented land may feel uncomfortable. But that’s where the market — and the opportunity to get better — lies.
Still, I stand by this mantra: “Don’t build your home on rented land.”
Your owned media — where you control the display and targeting and ultimately build a direct relationship with your audience — should still be your program’s primary focus.
But it’s no longer the place to answer questions you pose on external platforms. Instead, it’s the place to provide the best next (and scarce) answer after you’ve addressed the original question on the external platform.
What do I mean by a “scarce” answer? Think of it this way: Previously, many marketers put frequently asked questions on their websites to try to rank in search. However, the new model is to give FAQ answers on external media and then link to what I call the rarely given answers on your website.
The rented success discipline remains the same: Engage your audiences and inspire them to want to spend time interacting directly with you. You may need to spruce up and redesign your rented land. But don’t forget the ultimate objective: Building an audience that values, trusts, and wants to hear from you consistently.
In content marketing now, the rent that’s due every day is to offer value that’s a tad deeper, a bit more differentiated, and – in the case of external media – a lot more distributed than before.
And when it comes to your owned media, your focus should always be to try to improve the best next experience that only you can deliver to a customer — no matter where you (or they) are on the success spectrum.
It’s your story. Tell it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute