From Shannon: 5 Tips for Developing a Content Process
The Loyal team had the pleasure of meeting Ginni and Janet from iDoneThis last week for tacos, sangria, and catch up time. It's always nice talking to fellow community/startup people. I especially enjoyed the conversation because it was very focused on content, specifically the challenges and opportunities content presents for a growing brand.Â
What's particularly interesting is that most people I've met who either manage content or have attempted to do so have run across the same or similar challenges -- no matter how different the types of content, context, and audience -- such as:Â
Making content a priority and allocating the time necessary to execute (this is a biggie)
Prioritizing the content to be publishedÂ
Measuring what is (and is not) working, and making adjustments
Building readership or audience
Educating teammates and/or clients on the time commitment of a quality content strategy
Finding the balance between original and curated content
This seems like a lot, and it is. Fortunately, processes can help make all of this manageable. Developing a process for content has in itself, been a major learning process for me over the years. Although I definitely have not perfected it, I have made strides in the right direction. Here are my tips for developing an effective -- and more importantly, productive -- content process:
1. Find your flow. Recognizing when you're most productive and creative is crucial for writers. Are you a morning person? Take advantage of it and get an early start on cranking out content. In all likelihood, email can wait a few hours.Â
2. Recognize that quality content takes time. A lot of it. Have realistic expectations around the time it takes to produce one single piece of content, then add some time to that. Not everyone realizes how long even a simple piece can take to get right. Try explaining it to your colleagues. Maybe even assign them a contributor piece so they can understand the effort that goes into production moving forward.Â
3. Make it a commitment. Block off specific time in your calendar for producing content when you're most productive. Obviously certain things are going to be a priority over this at times, and that's ok. By making it a real commitment, you're keeping it top of mind, and are bound to get back to it sooner than later.Â
4. Create an editorial schedule, but keep it flexible. Being flexible in any area of this field is a must, especially when combining original and curated content. However, outlining weekly themes and/or general topic ideas for posts can help you stay organized and inspired. This also comes in handy when assigning guest posts to co-workers or external people. At Loyal, we use a Google Spreadsheet, our Google Calendars, and Trello, and it has proven to be pretty effective.Â
5. Develop a content library. Even the best of us run short of ideas from time to time. I've found it very helpful to identify a handful or so of sites or resources that have proven valuable for research, inspiration, or content to curate. Mine are below, but I'm always looking for more and would love to hear yours! Tweet them to me.Â
When all else fails, Twitter lists are there to save the day. Here are just a couple of my go-tos for inspiration: CX and Content is King.Â
My process is well...a work in progress. But with every iteration comes an improvement. I will be sure to share my final, super-awesome process once I've perfected it. :-)Â