Raising the Content Bar Through Research with Eugenio Castro
04/17/24 • 33 min
About the Episode:
Eugenio Castro has worked with numerous creators and entrepreneurs, including Sam Parr, David Perell, Colin and Samir, Nik Sharma, Ramon Berrios, Blaine Bolus, and Justin Mares.
In this episode of “Uploading...,” he distills his wealth of experience down to a potent strategy, emphasizing efficiency, credibility, and the transformative power of research, which you can leverage to elevate your own content to new heights.
Today, we'll cover:
- Eugenio Castro's perspectives on the necessity of credibility and trust in the field of research
- The pivotal role of research in developing content and making informed decisions
- How research content can be repurposed to reach a wider audience and increase impact
- How research can streamline workflow and increase efficiency in the creative process
- Ways to monetize research content in the digital age
What You'll Learn
1. The Impact of Research on Content Strategy
2. Repurposing Research Content
3. Effective Research Practices
4. Traits of Successful Content Creators
5. The Value of Research in Content Creation
6. Research Methodologies and Client Work
7. Practical and Theoretical Research
8. Monetizing Research
9. Research in Dialogue and Interviews
10. Research’s Role in Efficiency and Scale
Timestamps
03:37 How research supports content creation
06:35 Building trust and increasing reach as a researcher
08:59 Eugenio Castro’s research process
10:28 Condensing research notes based on the client's objectives
14:48 Three ways to use research to monetize content
18:15 How research informs content strategy
21:34 Repurposing research to create more content
25:11 The difference between good and bad research
30:09 The importance of research for impactful content creation
The Role of Research in Content Creation: "And I think any person or company that has a media machine, the moment that that media machine starts generating content about something that is not just about the company or the person, like their stories and their value props, but they want to talk about something external to them. That's when research comes in, because research helps capture what that is factually, precisely." — Eugenio Castro [00:02:22 → 00:02:45]
The Power of a Personal Brand on Social Media: "I used to have, like, an artwork as an image, and he said I should put my face on it. And, yeah, so I'm sample arts researcher, and from there, from sending that name on my bio. I mean, I get like weekly DM's people wanting to work with me." — Eugenio Castro [00:05:21 → 00:05:36]
Researching Digital Personalities: "You put them on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple podcasts, and then you gather all the relevant interviews, all the relevant links from those platforms, put them on a Google Doc, and then you enter that subject's name on a tool like Perplexity or Google." — Eugenio Castro [00:09:43 → 00:10:00]
Crafting Content with Purpose: "Because again, if you just stop at that or do something very generic, it's got to be of no value. So you need to repurpose it to something very, very specific." — Eugenio Castro [00:10:40 → 00:10:48]
Effective Communication in Research: "You want a very high signal and very low, like serial noise. And counterintuitively, my clients pay me for what I leave out of the document, not so much for what I put in, because again, they didn't go to Perplexity, they didn't go to Google, but they have to sift through the noise, so they just want to get the signal." — Eugenio Castro [00:11:44 → 00:12:04]
Trends in Monetizing Research: "How you monetize research is by putting it behind a paywall and saying, this is what you get with what you pay, and then having that on the other side." — Eugenio Castro [00:15:45 → 00:15:55]
Content Creation Strategy: "What research, like a good research assistant or a good Jamie ensures that you'll sort of talk about the best things possible and you don't repeat things that have already been asked or talked about." — Eugenio Castro [00:19:21 → 00:19:36]
Show notes powered by Castmagic
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About the Episode:
Eugenio Castro has worked with numerous creators and entrepreneurs, including Sam Parr, David Perell, Colin and Samir, Nik Sharma, Ramon Berrios, Blaine Bolus, and Justin Mares.
In this episode of “Uploading...,” he distills his wealth of experience down to a potent strategy, emphasizing efficiency, credibility, and the transformative power of research, which you can leverage to elevate your own content to new heights.
Today, we'll cover:
- Eugenio Castro's perspectives on the necessity of credibility and trust in the field of research
- The pivotal role of research in developing content and making informed decisions
- How research content can be repurposed to reach a wider audience and increase impact
- How research can streamline workflow and increase efficiency in the creative process
- Ways to monetize research content in the digital age
What You'll Learn
1. The Impact of Research on Content Strategy
2. Repurposing Research Content
3. Effective Research Practices
4. Traits of Successful Content Creators
5. The Value of Research in Content Creation
6. Research Methodologies and Client Work
7. Practical and Theoretical Research
8. Monetizing Research
9. Research in Dialogue and Interviews
10. Research’s Role in Efficiency and Scale
Timestamps
03:37 How research supports content creation
06:35 Building trust and increasing reach as a researcher
08:59 Eugenio Castro’s research process
10:28 Condensing research notes based on the client's objectives
14:48 Three ways to use research to monetize content
18:15 How research informs content strategy
21:34 Repurposing research to create more content
25:11 The difference between good and bad research
30:09 The importance of research for impactful content creation
The Role of Research in Content Creation: "And I think any person or company that has a media machine, the moment that that media machine starts generating content about something that is not just about the company or the person, like their stories and their value props, but they want to talk about something external to them. That's when research comes in, because research helps capture what that is factually, precisely." — Eugenio Castro [00:02:22 → 00:02:45]
The Power of a Personal Brand on Social Media: "I used to have, like, an artwork as an image, and he said I should put my face on it. And, yeah, so I'm sample arts researcher, and from there, from sending that name on my bio. I mean, I get like weekly DM's people wanting to work with me." — Eugenio Castro [00:05:21 → 00:05:36]
Researching Digital Personalities: "You put them on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple podcasts, and then you gather all the relevant interviews, all the relevant links from those platforms, put them on a Google Doc, and then you enter that subject's name on a tool like Perplexity or Google." — Eugenio Castro [00:09:43 → 00:10:00]
Crafting Content with Purpose: "Because again, if you just stop at that or do something very generic, it's got to be of no value. So you need to repurpose it to something very, very specific." — Eugenio Castro [00:10:40 → 00:10:48]
Effective Communication in Research: "You want a very high signal and very low, like serial noise. And counterintuitively, my clients pay me for what I leave out of the document, not so much for what I put in, because again, they didn't go to Perplexity, they didn't go to Google, but they have to sift through the noise, so they just want to get the signal." — Eugenio Castro [00:11:44 → 00:12:04]
Trends in Monetizing Research: "How you monetize research is by putting it behind a paywall and saying, this is what you get with what you pay, and then having that on the other side." — Eugenio Castro [00:15:45 → 00:15:55]
Content Creation Strategy: "What research, like a good research assistant or a good Jamie ensures that you'll sort of talk about the best things possible and you don't repeat things that have already been asked or talked about." — Eugenio Castro [00:19:21 → 00:19:36]
Show notes powered by Castmagic
---
Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?
Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.
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Check out our newsletter here.
Follow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!
Previous Episode
Systemizing Success: Sara Loretta on Tech Optimization & Workflow Mastery
About the Episode:
Join us as we explore the vibrant realm of tech stacks and workflow optimization with our expert guest, Sara Loretta.
In our conversation, we peel back the layers of interacting with tech tools and optimizing operations for content creators and companies alike.
Today, we'll cover:
- How Sara conducts full tech audits to streamline a company's tech stack and optimize remote team dynamics
- Sara's approach to internal training and the pivotal role it plays before considering outsourcing talent
- Sara's personal journey with content creation, her battle with consistency, and the challenges of scaling returns
- How to strike the right balance between automation and hiring and decide where to invest energy and resources effectively
- Strategies for evaluating roles within your business, the importance of long-term virtual assistant planning, and the benefits of a team audit
What You'll Learn
1. Tech Audit and Optimization
2. Cultural Development for Teams
3. Training and Role Comprehension
4. Content Operations Management
5. Tech Consultancy and Platform Expertise
6. Content Workflow Optimization
7. Utilization of Virtual Assistants (VAs)
8. Self-Reflection and Business Therapy
9. Team Productivity and Dynamics
Timestamps
00:00 Transitioning from employee to freelancer
04:37 Becoming the 10th Certified Notion Consultant in the United States
09:01 Conducting thorough tech audits and optimizing processes
11:14 The pitfalls of outsourcing content
15:50 YouTube success and the challenges of expanding content niche
20:12 Simplifying platform switching and customization
22:58 Developing an innovative workflow to increase content production
24:49 Business automation and virtual assistants
28:17 Reflecting on project outcomes, consulting with a business therapist
33:08 Using personality tests to improve productivity
Successful Business Turnaround: "By the time I left, we had just everything automated and systemized, and we went from owing the city almost 100 grand a year because reporting was wrong to being one of the top-performing organizations in the city because of the work that I did." — Sara Loretta [00:02:45 → 00:03:01]
The Myth of Indispensability in Business: "Everyone's replaceable, and it just is what it is when we are building businesses or building products. Yes, we are emotionally attached to that. But at the end of the day, if you want to take a sabbatical, if you up and decide one day, hey, I'm done, I don't want to work here anymore, the company's still going to move forward and we have to build businesses with that in mind. A lot of people just don't do that." — Sara Loretta [00:04:14 → 00:04:37]
Pioneering Notion for Business: "I was kind of the first person to talk about having a design business and using Notion for it. That video popped off. Notion came to me a couple of months later, and I then became the 10th Certified Notion Consultant in the US." — Sara Loretta [00:04:49 → 00:05:01]
Corporate Miscommunication and Culture Issues: "And this is where a lot of the culture comes in, is because you have this massive disconnect between the CEO and the low-level assistant coming in to support projects and there's no true line of succession, there's no communication plans." — Sara Loretta [00:08:12 → 00:08:32]
Optimizing Business Processes with Technology: "We find where the overlaps are that an entire team can utilize a tool. Then we go into the culture piece. So what is the internal expectations of working with a remote async team versus what is the external expectations?" — Sara Loretta [00:09:21 → 00:09:37]
Navigating Productivity Tools: "And so I actually started building out a little cheat sheet of each tool and what's possible on each. So that way I don't have to go into ChatGPT and be like, ‘How do I do this? How do I write this formula?’ And I can just easily, when I'm on a sales call or a strategy call verbatim, just drop and say, this platform is going to work for you, or this one isn't." — Sara Loretta [00:20:37 → 00:20:58]
Innovative Workflow Improvements: "And so we built this really cool workflow that auto triggers the next person in that flow when something's marked as complete." — Sara Loretta [00:22:58 → 00:23:05]
Efficient Business Automation: "I don't touch onboarding. It's one click to send an email to a client after a sales call, and the entire thing is completely automated." — Sara Loretta [00:24:57 → 00:25:05]
Client Reviews and Self-Reflection: "So after the end of every project, I sit down and I look at what skills did I learn? What red flags were there in the client? Did I charge what I said I was going to? What skills did I learn? What do I want to keep explo...
Next Episode
Write to Connect: Ashley Grant from RSS & GoDaddy on Engaging Audiences with Content
About the Episode:
Ashley Grant shares her journey from accidentally adopting the nickname "famous Ashley Grant" to becoming a successful freelance writer. With experience dating back to 2007, she narrates the evolution of her career, from writing for newspapers to crafting online content for businesses.
Ashley discusses why it's essential to prioritize readers when creating content and offers insights on balancing user value with SEO. As AI continues to shape the digital content landscape, Ashley advises writers to focus on authenticity, relatability, and addressing user needs.
Today, we'll cover:
- The power of storytelling in personal branding
- Key tips for creating engaging and valuable written content
- Strategies for balancing SEO and reader value
- The evolving blogosphere and the impact of AI on content creation
- Leveraging AI to repurpose authentic content
What You'll Learn
1. Characteristics of Great Content
2. Optimizing for Search Engines and Readers
3. The Impact of AI on Writing
4. Repurposing Content with AI
5. Authenticity in Content Writing
6. Evolving Writing Strategies
Timestamps
02:34 Becoming a full-time freelance writer
05:36 Characteristics of great content
07:40 Balancing SEO and value in content writing
10:22 How to drive reader engagement through storytelling
13:20 The role of storytelling in building a personal brand
17:04 The importance of prioritizing customer needs
19:16 Leveraging AI tools for repurposing content
23:45 Authentic, relatable content and why they matter
Content Writing Philosophy: "Unless it's your story that you're writing about, you cannot make it about you. You have to speak to your audience. Because if you're talking about, oh, I, me, that's all about me, every single time you're writing a piece of content, you need to be thinking, what is in it for them? What is in it for your reader? Because if you're writing about yourself, then it's very clear that you don't care about what they want." — Ashley Grant [00:05:40 → 00:06:04]
The Future of Content Creation: "I think that what we're going to see a lot more is people trying to connect more with their audiences. They're not going to write these generic pieces that just answer the question. They want more than that. Though they do want the question answered." — Ashley Grant [00:10:28 → 00:10:41]
The Power of Personal Story in Branding: "I think that with personal branding, it needs to be, again, not just about you, but also your story, because that's one thing that nobody can replicate. Not any AI, not any person." — Ashley Grant [00:13:20 → 00:13:32]
Content Marketing Insights: "Of the clients I work with, the ones that are doing the best and hitting it out of the park with their content are the ones that aren't trying to make the sale. And I know that sounds counterintuitive because most of the time. All you're thinking about in business is, well, how do I move the needle? How do I make more money? But if you're caring more about the transaction than the person who's buying it, you've already lost them." — Ashley Grant [00:17:08 → 00:17:29]
Efficient Content Creation: "Take the amazing piece of long-form content you created, whether it be a YouTube video or a Facebook live, or heck, even a meeting you had internally with your own people, put it into a program, and then spit out some awesome content that you can then turn into other pieces of digestible content." — Ashley Grant [00:20:52 → 00:21:08]
Using AI to Produce Authentic Content: "Absolutely. The biggest reason is it's your content, it's your words, it's your voice. And so if you go to a ChatGPT or a Claude or a WordHero or whatever your favorite AI tool is, if you're just asking it to spit out something random, it's going to spit out something generic." — Ashley Grant [00:21:31 → 00:21:49]
Show notes powered by Castmagic
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