So you have a brand, you’ve created some kick-ass content, and you want to get it ‘out there’. But you don’t know where to start or how to even make the best use of your time, and expertise. We’d love to help!
What many people fail to think about when they create their content is where they are going to share it; throwing it out into the universe to see what sticks simply won’t do the trick. It’s important to put the focus on reaching the right people, at the right time.
One of the secrets to our success is in creating integrated, timely, informative content that can be used again and again (i.e. repurposed) in many different ways, for different people, at different times. And once it’s out there, we encourage our clients to continue promoting it through social media and various other avenues they have available to them (e-newsletters, associations, etc), so that it doesn’t get lost in the abyss, never to be seen or heard of again.
We came across this article written by content strategy consultant, Jodie Harris called, “Road Map to Success: Content Distribution Essentials That win Eyeballs.” We were so impressed with it, we had to share – talk about great content!
You can read the entire article here (and you really should).
Ok, now you’ve read the article. What’s next? Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Don’t be! Creating content is actually pretty simple. You’re not writing a novel or a dissertation, you’re simply sharing your best ideas, learnings and tips. Ask yourself these two questions:
- What do you want to talk about?
- What do people need to know? What unique information or insider secrets do you have that you can share with the rest of the world that may help someone in their life or business?
Most people are terrified of writing or get ‘writer’s block’ so we often suggest that you start voicing your basic tips or content in a ‘notes’ app on your phone or computer, email it to yourself and then fill in the rest as your blog.
What’s our secret?
Think like a producer.
When we worked as television producers if we wanted to produce new content for a news segment or longer-format story we had to think of how we could repurpose our efforts so that whatever we were working on could be shared across multiple platforms – TV, radio, website, social media, sales, etc.
While it sounds like a lot of work (and truthfully, it will take some sweat and maybe a few tears), it’s not as difficult as you think. All you need is a good idea that will lead to some great content.
The best way to demonstrate your expertise is to share some of your insider secrets. You don’t have to ‘give away the farm’’, but some ‘did-you-knows’ and ‘how-tos’ can go a long way, and get people interested in what you do, and create awareness of your thought leadership.
Here’s the recipe to our ‘secret sauce’, our content development plan:
- Create an editorial calendar that outlines what topics you can talk about on a monthly basis. To help get you started, download our free template by filling out the form below (see, we really do care).
- As you develop that monthly calendar, create content that is timely and relevant eg. back-to-school, earth day, thanksgiving, Superbowl, etc. What awareness days, seasonal subjects or current affairs can you provide tips or commentary on? Media are always looking for interesting angles or new information to share.
- Know that there may be opportunities to jump on breaking news or trending topics, so create google alerts on your niche – select keywords specific to your niche.
- Write a blog or thought piece that is tip heavy. 500-750 words works well.
- Turn that content into a press release that summarizes your ideas so that you can pitch to media. Make sure you check your spelling and grammar!
- Consider doing a short facebook live or video that summarizes one or two of those points, and share on your social media or YouTube channel.
- Within each piece, you should be able to find 5-7 tips that you can use as ‘tweetables’ or content for graphics for social posts.
- Pitch to media. But, know who you are pitching to, and how to pitch different mediums. This is going to be the most time-consuming part if you are going to do it yourself, so make sure you create a media list for yourself and keep updating. We are constantly updating our list so don’t be discouraged if you find your contacts are outdated every three months, it’s the new normal of the industry. Once you do find good contacts, respect their space, time and ‘No’s’. Two to three follow-ups are good, but if they say no, move on.
- Post to your website once you have finished pitching publications (most want first dibs on your content for SEO purposes).
- Share a snippet in your e-newsletter if you have one. Link to the article to get traffic to your site.
- Share with any professional, trade, networking or business associations for their e-newsletters
- Post to your own social media channels – don’t discount Pinterest and LinkedIn
Share, reshare and repeat…with new content next month.
Remember, you don’t have to reach everybody – you just have to speak to your niche audience.
Fill out the form below to get your free download of our customizable editorial calendar template. If you need more help or want some guidance, feel free to reach out!
Request your FREE customizable editorial calendar template.
