7 Steps to Easy Content Creation

Rick Henkin

Do you find it hard writing articles and content for your website? It doesn't have to be. All you need is a method like the one Roger C. Parker has devised and your content will practically write itself.

I met Roger last year at a workshop. Soon afterwards, he interviewed Karl and me for a segment on Guerrilla Marketing Radio. Roger has written over 38 books including several of the popular "For Dummies" books and is also a well known coach and consultant. However, it's the tips he gives in Content Catalys t that I have continuously used for my articles and blog posts. It gives me structure so that I can plan my articles well in advance of writing them.

Tip #1- Choose a number

Good headlines often use numbers followed by one of the following nouns:

Top 10...

9 Tips that....

8 Steps to make...

7 Questions you must...

6 Answers to...

The 5 biggest trends...

7 Mistakes you...

8 Paths to...

Also elements, traps, warning signs, considerations, ways, consequences, etc. The more items, the less you need to write about each. The fewer items, the more you need to write about each. Typically you want to keep your number of items at 7 or less. Studies have shown that it's an easier amount of things for people to remember. Any more, and it becomes difficult to recall.

The benefit is that once you list the number of items, you can just start filling in the blanks. It's very hard to just begin from scratch without any limitations and hope it all works out.

The beginning of the article is where most of us get stuck and by deciding on a number of tips or steps or questions, you've made your work so much easier. Even if you decide to drop the number from your headline later, you've stimulated your own thinking about the article.

Tip #2- Choose a verb and modifier

Add a verb and a modifier to your headline to give it a little life. Instead of "7 Ways to Grow Tomatoes", make it "7 Ways to Grow the Biggest, Juiciest Tomatoes You've Ever Seen." Modifiers can be adjectives, adverbs or phrases. They provide descriptions in sentences that draw the reader's interest. Essentially they add more information to another element already in the sentence.

Tip #3- Create a content plan

Rather than just choosing one topic at a time and writing one article at a time, you can create a content plan. In the plan, you decide in advance what your article topics will be and specify deadlines for the upcoming articles, blog posts or newsletters. This will end a lot of last minute anxiety about what to write and by keeping these topics in mind, you can continually jot down ideas in advance about each one as they come to you.

Another benefit of creating a content plan is that it helps in creating spinoff articles. Suppose you had an article about the "7 Current Trends in Tomato Growing ," you can create an article based on actual case studies or an article of glossary terms relating to tomato growing. You can even update the article as trends change.

You can use the Table feature in Microsoft Word to help create your content plan or use mind mapping software, which we'll discuss below. Either tool allows you to prioritize the topics in order of importance. This way you'll know which articles need your attention first.

Tip #4- Add points to topics

By viewing the list in front of you, it becomes much easier to think of the points you want to include in each topic. This goes back to Tip #1, choosing a number. Once you've chosen your number, all you have to do is fill in the blanks. You should begin to do this for all of the topics, not just the topic at the top of the list. Once you've decided on the points, write notes regarding your introduction and conclusion.

Tip #5- Write the article

The next step is to start putting your article, blog post or newsletter together. Remember that on the Internet people scan, rather than read, so write with that concept in mind. Follow these steps:

Insert your headline- even if you decide to change it later

Write your introduction- make sure it relates to your headline and let's the reader know what's in it for him/her

Put in your subheadings

Add content to each subheading- you don't have to write the content for each subheading in order. If point 5 is easier to write about than point 3, start with point 5. The important thing is to just get started writing. Get the momentum going

Write the conclusion- summarize the points you've made above

Tip #6- Repurpose the content

Repurposing means taking your content and using it in a different way. One way to do this is to elaborate on the points in your articles and create entirely new articles based on them. If your current article has 5 points, go into more depth and create 5 new articles based on each point.

Perhaps you can create an audio version of your article, a video or a slide presentation. You might take a series of articles and turn them into an eCourse or an eBook. You might combine it with other products and create a new product for sale. It might be possible to modify the content so it's relevant to an entirely new audience. You can turn it into the basis of a podcast, a teleconference or webinar. The list is really endless.

Tip #7 Create a mind map

According to Wikipedia, a mind map "is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea." It's a tremendous tool that allows you to visualize and organize (add, remove, reposition) your ideas. I created the mind map below using MindMeister, which has both a free and paid software version. There several different mind mapping websites that you can choose from.

I created the mind map below to help me in putting my thoughts together for this article:

Mind map created for writing this article

ARTICLE DATE: 2009-05-12
REVISED DATE:

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