Work Better, Not Harder

A wrap-up article is a logical and unique grouping of pieces of content where the grouping provides value to the reader beyond the individual pieces on their own. You might think of it like a themed gift basket. There are several reasons we need to be creating these wrap-up articles. They... serve as a great resource - valuable information grouped together use commonly searched keywords and phrases (good SEO) encourage deeper reading are often faster to create provide a process to repurpose past content remind us of what we've written and provide inspiration to write more Wrap-up articles serve us better than just about any other content we might create. Of course, we have to be creating content on a  regular basis  to be able to wrap it up. There are lots of different ways to group pieces of content : by topic - e.g. content idea generation, writing tips by use - e.g. how-to, conceptual, tips by thing - e.g. infographics, videos by user - e.g. for begi...

This is our fourth installment of content creation wrap-up posts - a library of links to all of our articles about creating interesting and useful content from January 2014 through April 2015. Planning is an important process because it forces you to think, to research, to consider, to brainstorm - to be creative. Our Yearly Content Planning Worksheet will help get you organized. I'm a big fan of repurposing content and infographics will appeal to a different audience than text. Read  Repurpose Articles into Infographics to get tips on how to do this. Your content strategy wouldn't be complete without having a look at what others are doing. Read Research to Develop your Content Strategy  for activities you can engage in regularly, perhaps quarterly, to keep current. We all get stuck for ideas now and then. I've found some tools to help me get past that. You can get links to them in Idea Challenged? Here's 3 Tools . When looking for images to go with my ...

Our first content creation wrap-up contains articles prior to May 2012. If you are looking for writing ideas, how to manage your content, or just a bit of inspiration, you just may find what you are looking for in this list of links . Our second wrap-up included articles from June 2012 through May 2013. If you're stuck for content, these links will give you inspiration and ideas with a smattering of thought provoking strategies to consider. This is our third installment of content creation wrap-up posts and is a library of links to all of our articles about content creation from June through December 2013: Thinking content strategy? Want to know why you need to keep it updated? This Deserves your Attention. You can take vacation without putting your email marketing on hiatus too. Here are 4 Tips for Summer Newsletter Success . Now that you are back from vacation... ready to supercharge your marketing efforts with these 5 New Strategies ? Don't forget those wint...

Keeping your readers engaged requires content that is interesting and useful... and fresh. This article is a follow up to our previous Content Creation (Wrap-up) , capturing our newer articles about content creation from June 2012 to May 2013. If you're stuck for content, you've found the right post to give you inspiration and ideas. You'll also find some thought provoking strategies to consider. Keeping to a consistent content creation routine has big benefits. Just because you can't think of something great to write about when facing a deadline, doesn't mean you can't Plan to Give Your Best next time. Introducing Your Very First Issue can be a little stressful. Here are some things you might want to include, as well as some examples to get you started. Take some time to search for images that are not overused on the internet. This article provides links to a few Graphic Solutions to help get you started. Finding an idea that inspires you can some...

If you are looking for writing ideas, how to manage your content, or just a bit of inspiration, you've found the right post. Here is a library of links to all of our articles about content creation (up to May 2012). You may not think of testimonials as part of your content strategy, but they certainly are. Ask anyone who's had to rush to gather a bunch in a hurry to put on a new website. Requesting a Testimonial gives you suggestions about how to manage that. What to Write About has lots of general tips and suggestions to help you get started plus some info specific to enewsletters. Don't Forget Your Fans gives you ways to get your 3 F’s - friends, family and fans - to help extend the reach of your messages. If you're wondering about newsletter content strategies, How Much is Too Much? gives you some ideas to answer that question for yourself. If one of your goals is to build your reputation, then Content that Builds Trust is an essential r...