In case you haven’t noticed: The web is full of content. And you need to produce it. It starts with your website that needs text that is understood by search engines and, well, real people (like your (future) clients). Your social media sites need content to describe what they are all about – and more importantly: they need a constant flow of content in order to keep fans and followers engaged, informed and entertained. And your communication channels such as your blog, your newsletter and your intranet are only as good as the quality of the content you produce and spread through them.

And here is the news: you are competing with millions of others who upload content to the web. You better deliver well if you want to be among the top of the pops.

Yes, it is a lot of work to keep the content coming. And sometimes even brainstorming does not work. However, if you want to be part of the whole thing, you need to invest some time. Don’t worry: There are some short-cuts I have found that make your life easier.

Here are my 10 tips to create thrilling content without spending hours of writing.

 1.    Subscribe to the best

Instead of thinking about new content for hours and hours, subscribe to a handful of newsletters that cover your main interests. Best is to pick newsletters that collect and deliver news in an (online) newspaper format, i.e. they send out daily, weekly or monthly updates and have filtered the news for you. When the newsletter arrives in your inbox or reader, take the time to at least scan the head-lines to find articles of interest for you. Share or save the relevant ones. Btw, my trend letter “Trends for Friends” is such a source. It covers the good, cool and trendy in the world of communications. Subscribe here to receive a monthly wrap-up.

2.     Follow gurus, evangelists, experts, rock stars, (insert name for someone who knows and cares)

Whether you follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn doesn’t matter. As long as they provide you with valuable insights and share with you articles, videos, photos or tips that you yourself would never find it is cool! Share, re-post, re-tweet or re-write what you find. (My twitter handle where I share great resources is @kommboutique.)

3.    Read books and magazines

Yes, sometimes you need to read stuff in order to create stuff. The more interested you are in what’s going on, the easier it will be for you to find interesting content. Write about a book or an article or copy parts of it. Always mention the author and the source.

4.    Ask your fan base

Post a question on your Facebook page or run a poll. By simply sharing the results online along with some comments, you have a complete new post with original and unique content.

5.    Use online and offline comments from your clients, fans or readers

If you have a guest book or if people review your business online, use their comments and post them (anonymously). If people comment on your blog posts you can write a new post around that comment. That happened to me once when Alexander Kjerulf picked up my comment on one of his posts and wrote a new article mentioning my story. Boy, I was really surprised!

6.    Recycle

Don’t invent the wheel over and over again. Update older posts, re-write them, translate them from other languages or write a follow-up or a series.

7.    Don’t plan too much, collect instead

Be flexible and react to current needs. It does not make too much sense to have a full-year plan for Facebook or for your blog (unless you are a large, un-personal corporation). Web 2.0 lives from authenticity and spontaneity. Do, however, collect ideas and find a system to save them. You can simply write a list or a mind map, favourite tweets, bookmark web links and use tags, use bookmarking services such as stumbleupon.com or curate content with scoop.it. Go through your collection whenever you need inspiration. And don’t worry: not every idea needs to be realised (now).

8.    Get guest writers

Invite others to add value to your publications and let them write a guest post for your blog and newsletter. The author needs to be given publicity, fame and lots of thanks! It helps both sides as you usually get new readers when the author promotes the post in his/her network.

9.    Give credit

Never ever forget to mention the author of a piece and do link to the original post if you only refer to it. This is an unwritten rule in the web. If you want to make the author aware of it, mention him/her in a tweet, send them a message or leave a comment on their original post. Be sure that people will reply to you and you might find another fan!

10.  Ask a professional

Writing is something many people know. Yet writing well and with style is a talent that few people have. Find someone who understands your personality, your company’s culture and your style and ask them to give your content an upgrade – and pay for it.

 

If you still feel overwhelmed and have no idea how and when to find and write the content for your pages, do at least one thing to get the ball rolling: Send me an e-mail on atelier(at)kommboutique.com. Tell me what your issues are and let me help you finding a smart solution.

 

Over to you: How do you source and create the content for your online platforms and your communication channels? Share your secrets in the comments, if you like. Thank you!

 

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