Coming up with a long-term plan, by creating a content strategy is an important step to take before you begin making information products. For example, you might want to write a series of 10 to 30 blog posts that can later be turned into an eBook with each post counting as a chapter of your eBook.
This type of planning will help you to stay consistent in creating information products. Plus, if you already know that you’re going to arrange the blog posts into an eBook you can outline each post better to ensure that you don’t have as much editing to do later. You can also base the content that you create on your other products or services that you promote so that they’re even more useful to your audience.
To plan the series, you’ll try to work three months in advance, at least. That way you’ll have plenty of time to get the posts written without feeling rushed, whether you’re hiring someone else or by doing it yourself.
Use a Calendar – If you use WordPress there are a few different editorial calendar plugins that can help you with creating your editorial calendar. But, you can also use a good “old-fashioned” spreadsheet to create it. The important thing is to write it down, schedule every aspect of what it takes to get it published and get it done.
Ask Yourself, What’s For Sale? – When brainstorming content ideas for your blog, consider what you plan to promote over the next 90 days. This could be your own products or services, or affiliate products that align with your audience’s interests. Think about how you can create valuable content that highlights these offerings. By focusing on what’s for sale, you can strategically plan content that supports your promotional goals and attracts potential buyers.
Capture Your Ideas – Inspiration can strike anytime, even when you’re away from your computer. Whether it’s an idea for a new blog series or a thought on how to increase your readership, cultivate the practice of jotting down your thoughts right away so that you don’t lose them. Include enough information so you can remember your original idea. Make sure you have a system for organizing your ideas so you can access them when you’re ready.
Understand Your Mission – The best way to approach content planning of any kind is to fully understand your mission. If it helps you, work on writing a mission statement. Fill in the blanks here: I help (who) do (what) by providing (how) with my (your products/services). This is a very simple mission statement that defines who your audience is and how you help them.
Know Your Audience – This is another key component to creating a content strategy. You probably studied your audience when you started your business. However, while demographics often remain the same sometimes a group changes their perspective and ideas over time. You can stay informed of changing preferences and trends by reading industry magazines, blogs, and news. You can also join groups and live events that are frequented by your target audience.
Know Your Niche’s Optimal Buying Times – Every audience has a preference about when they want to buy something and put it to use. An obvious example involves yearly holidays which most niches can easily adapt to. However, there might be other instances where certain niches don’t align with traditional patterns. Take, for instance, the niche of Home Schooling – it becomes essential to identify when this audience is more inclined to buy informational products or other items from you.
Focus on Problem Solving – Understanding your audience allows you to identify their challenges. This will help you organize and plan your content in advance. The good thing about planning is that you’ll know when you’re launching, and what you’re promoting, then you can plan your advertising and marketing efforts based on that. This will ensure that you have the right content to go with everything you’re trying to accomplish.
Creating a content strategy might seem like an overwhelming task. In an upcoming article, I’ll talk about ways you can develop the habit of seamlessly creating content for future product launches as part of your overall content marketing plans.
This article was taken my 38-page guide, “Unleash Your Content Creation Potential: Streamline Your Process, Save Time, and Maximize Results.” If you found it helpful, you may want to purchase it in its entirety at Unleash Your Content Creation Potential