Pea Soup
I don’t know about you, but I am not a big fan of pea soup. Some people love it, but I just don’t. What I do know is that good pea soup starts with last week’s (or yesterday’s) ham bone. Now, most of us cut the ham off the bone and throw the bone away, but good cooks know that the bone is a main ingredient for great pea soup.
So you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with content creation. Good content (the ham), begets ingredients (the bone) to create more great content (pea soup).
Content As Ingredients
Sometimes we throw away stuff that can actually become awesome ingredients for future marketing, products, or additional content that can help propel your brand, blogs, or content forward. Sometimes, we post and move on without really realizing the value of the gems we have just dusted the internet with. It may be coal to some and diamonds to others, so you just never know!
I wrote a blog every day for 1 year (365 days straight). It was not Google SEO compliant (only 50-75 words – Google wants 300+ to index). It had only one job, which was to become the tips book, “It’s Not About You, It’s About Bacon Bits! 101 Relationship Marketing Tips!” That book is sold on Amazon for $14.95, as an eBook for $2.99, and is still used to draw people in and as giveaways that will help new people connect with my brand in the future!
5 Steps To Building A Content System That Works
While building a group coaching program, I learned how to start with a plan that helps take the concepts of repurposing content with a major purpose and to build on all the content creation efforts expended using parts and pieces to eventually help promote future sales with content already generated in the process. Here are five thoughts on how you can do the same…
- Build A Plan – You have to start with plan for what you want to build, whether it is a book, a course or a series. Keep in mind that whatever it is, it can be repurposed into other products or options. Next you have to plan and outline the content from start to finish. Include any workbooks, homework, or additional activities that can help expand the reach and usefulness.
- Build The Core Content – Now is the time to get busy. Start building the content from start to finish. It’s best to work through it part by part in order, that way you can build the content into a complete system that has a clear beginning, middle and end. Don’t be afraid to go back to the beginning and edit after you finish. You may find some parts to enhance or cut.
- Repurpose Parts – Now that you have the main content, think of ways to repurpose. If you are writing a book, you could repurpose chapters into blogs. Maybe you can turn them into slides and share on SlideShare.net. You could read them into audios and share as podcasts. You could merge the slides and audio into videos. The possibilities are endless.
- Share The Parts – Take those parts that you created and share them via social media. You could compile freemiums to use as lead magnets to add people to your email lists. Make sure that whatever you share has links back to the main products, book website, or course you are creating (or have created).
- Compile A New Product – If you are creating a book, consider making a course out of it. If you are creating a course, consider creating a book out of it. All of the content created and the additional content you can create will help you produce a marketing machine for you to add to what you have already built, and expand your reach to new prospective users and buyers!
Final Thoughts
Don’t be afraid to give away your best stuff for FREE! It may feel a little counter-intuitive, but you are not giving away the entire product or book for free. Or maybe you might even want to do that. I constantly give away content, books and more to help promote classes, courses, coaching and other services where I have higher income potential. It’s all about building trust and relationships.
Having a plan when you start will help you create better content and a give you a way to market your core products or services.
Read more: The Purpose of Content is Not What You Think