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Three Ways to Generate Content When You're Stuck

Everyone gets stuck on occasion. I'm not talking stuck, like Winnie the Pooh in his tree or like a kid getting his head stuck in a stair banister. I'm talking creatively stuck, as in, "Oh no...I've got write four blog posts this month and I don't know what the heck to write about..."

Feeling stuck like that is no fun, especially when you're a business person with a pile of tasks waiting for you. It's easy to push aside content marketing and get back to things you feel like you can actually do right now, like pay the bills and check your Facebook account for the 100th time today (guilty as charged).

But if you keep avoiding the blank page, or in this case the blank screen, you'll be left without content and without the opportunity to share your expertise with the world. And what fun is that? None in my book!

I've pulled together three of my top tips for generating content when you feel absolutely stuck, like you're staring at a blank wall or that the creative well has completely dried up. Feel free to grab any of these tips and try them today if you're facing that situation.

1. Compile your own "top 10", "top 5" or whatever list. Go back and look over what you've already created. Chances are good you've got several posts you can group together into a 'best of' sequence of posts. Write a one paragraph summary and introduction (surely you can do THAT), and then use bullet points to link to the original posts you wrote. Voila. Instant blog post!
2. Create a meme, quotable quote, or Pinterest-worthy share. Use only your own original photos to ensure you're in the copyright clear. Find a quotable quote. Use a free service like Pixlr.com or PicMonkey.com, add the quote, and share.  Instant content!
3. Review a product, service or website in your industry or niche.  I like this one because you can talk about something or someone else without feeling pressured to sell, sell, sell. Plus, you're sharing the love, by helping someone else sell without any pay off on your own. It's a feel-good way to get yourself writing again. I'd stick with only positive reviews, but that's just me. Negative may get you more press, but positive gets you more karma points.

The next time you're feeling stuck, think of this:

So take action!

Written by Jeanne Grunert, Seven Oaks Consulting. Jeanne is an award-winning writer, blogger and marketing consultant helping companies acquire, retain and create loyal customers. She is available for freelance work.

by Jeanne Grunert

Content Marketing for Small Businesses

If your business doesn't have a robust content marketing strategy in place, you might be losing out on the biggest innovation to hit marketing since the internet. I read a statistic this morning that made me really sit up and take notice.  According to the article on Inbound Writer, 78% of chief marketing officers think custom content (articles, white papers, blogs, etc.) is the future of marketing.

Content Marketing Defined

What is content marketing? According to the Content Marketing Institute,

"Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action."

Why Content Marketing Matters

Traditional advertising's effectiveness is fading. The more people are bombarded with ads, the less effective the ads become. Consumers have grown wise to the tricks of the advertising trade, and eschew ads for information. And that's where content marketing comes in.

Content Marketing In Action: An Example

Most custom content produced as part of a content marketing strategy seeks to inform consumers, providing them with facts to help them make a purchasing decision. The other day, I was searching for background information to write a client's blog post, and found a treasure trove of woodworking project how-to sheets online. The major retailer producing this excellent content had uploaded a complete project library that anyone could access and download without having to jump through hoops. Each sheet had a simple format and clear drawings that showed the novice how to complete everything from a deck to a new pantry shelf system, with a shopping list of hardware, lumber, paint and supplies needed to complete the project. The idea, of course, was that once you found the project sheet, you'd download it and take it into the store as your shopping list.

Think about this content for a moment. Not only can it be printed and handed out in-store, but it acted as a search engine marketing tool, appearing on the first page of the search engine results when I typed in my search term. It was a potent marketing tool helping the company's website attract new site visitors, and by using clear, simple instructions, perhaps transforming the casual visitor into a buyer in the store.

Starting Your Content Marketing Strategy: The First Question to Ask

Any size business, from a sole proprietorship to a major corporation, can use content marketing to build their brand and acquire, retain and create loyal customers. The first step is to identify your content marketing strategy.

Why do you want to enact a content marketing strategy? Is it to boost your visibility on the search engines and attract website traffic? Is it to build your brand? Is it to increase sales for a specific product category or engage better with a specific group of customers?

Any and all of these are great reasons to begin your content marketing program. A good content marketing strategy begins by knowing the answers to these questions in detail. Take your time to develop your responses. Knowing WHY you want to begin a content marketing strategy is even more important than understanding the HOW of carrying it off.

If you'd like to begin work on your company's content marketing strategy, I'd be delighted to help you. I've created great content strategies for many industries and products, and for companies ranging from small start ups to major established firms.  Contact me through Seven Oaks Consulting, and let's talk about how we can harness the power of content marketing to boost your website visibility and sales.

About the Author

By Jeanne Grunert, President and Founder of Seven Oaks Consulting. Jeanne is an award-winning writer, blogger and marketing manager with over 20 years of experience. She personally works with every client at Seven Oaks Consulting and creates expert content marketing strategies and written materials to build brands, attract site traffic, and acquire new customers.  Contact Jeanne.

by Jeanne Grunert

What Is Quality Content?

What is quality content, and why is it important for your digital marketing efforts? Quality content is the key to attracting positive attention from search engines, and, more importantly, for attracting PEOPLE to your website. The people coming to your website are actual flesh and blood customers, people with a distinct set of wants, needs and desires. By producing quality content that speaks to the heart of their problems, and offers real, compelling solutions, you'll build attention, trust, and engagement with your audience.

But the first step is to bring them to your virtual doorstep, and that's where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

Google's Hummingbird Update and the Search for Quality Content

Google is the mighty king when it comes to search engine marketing. I think the last statistic I read on the topic indicated that Google maintains something like 80% of the search market, with Bing and Yahoo! coming up a distant second and third, and a handful of other search engines behind them. As Google goes, so goes the other search engines, so when I write or speak about search engine optimization, know that I am basing much of what I'm sharing on Google's trends.

Google's search engine algorithm was updated last year to focus more on "quality" content. What is quality?  Quality means:

• Original content, not regurgitated or reproduced text from another source
• An original expression, idea or twist on a topic
• Content written by an expert
• Content shared on an authoritative platform

Search engines reward quality content by placing the URLs of these pages higher in the search engine results pages. We know that people tend to click on links higher in the results, and especially near the top of the first page.  That's why companies strive for those coveted positions in the search engine results. The higher your page appears, the more potential site visitors you can attract, and the more people you attract, the more money you can make.

That's why people focus on SEO. Get it?

Originality or an Original Spin on a Topic?

I don't know if there really is anything original online anymore. I suppose there are pockets of information out there that still need to be shared, but if you want to know how to change the battery on a 2001 Buick LeSabre, knit Dr. Who's trademark scarf or clean the windows in your house with an organic cleanser, there's a blog, website, video or picture to show you how to do it.

Originality, then, must be something more. The search engine companies certainly know that there's a ton of content out there on the same or similar topics!  I read somewhere that 2 million blog posts are published every 24-hours on the internet. Out of those 2 million posts, how many do you think are about Google's Hummingbird update and quality content? How many are about making the perfect chocolate cake, or planting snapdragon seeds, or any of the other myriad topics that have already been covered to death? Plenty. So then what is originality?

It is being yourself online. It is having a unique voice, style and method of presentation. No two people are alike, and no two expressions of the same thought are alike.

Authority and Credibility

Are you an authority on your topic?

Are you a credible voice on it?

I am authority on marketing. I have an advanced Masters degree, various certifications, and 20+ years of experience in the trenches, on both the agency and client side of the marketing desk.  My writing tends to be credible on the subject because I write what I know.

I would be neither an authority nor a credible voice when writing about, say, astronomy. It's not that I don't like astronomy; I do. Every night when I walk my dog, I look up at the velvety night sky and try to identify constellations. I know Orion and Taurus, Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper and the Dragon, and that's about it.

If I tried to write about astronomy, it would quickly become evident that I do not know a lot about it. I could write credibly as a seeker of knowledge, as someone trying to learn astronomy. But I probably couldn't pull off ghost blogging for Carl Sagan or the Hayden Planetarium.

Niches Can Build Credibility 

Content produced consistently about a particular niche area tends to build credibility. Why? Because it proves that you are serious about the topic. Finding and sticking to a niche can help you build credibility in a particular content area.

Are you locked into a niche once you build it? No, you can branch out, but be careful how you branch out.  Branching out from a central niche must make sense to your readers. If it's too far out, you'll  lose credibility.

Exploring the World of Quality Content

Quality continues to become more and more important to all who produce online content, whether that content is written, audio or video.  To learn more about producing quality content, see:

• Blog Talk Radio - Podcast on Quality Content by Seven Oaks Consulting
• Google-Friendly Sites, Webmaster Tools
• Hubspot: Quality Content

by Jeanne Grunert