Having time to create content always seems to be an issue, no matter how big your marketing staff. It gets especially difficult during the holidays when your subject matter experts and blog writers are out on vacation. And if you're in a writing funk during that time, producing any content seems impossible.
Lucky for you, I've got 5 easy ways to help you create content during the holiday seasons (and beyond).
1. Record Videos
Take a cue from Moz and their Whiteboard Fridays. Instead of spending 2 hours writing a blog article, spend 5 minutes recording a video and you're done.
Ok, I know, easier said than done. This will require some thought and planning ahead of time but once you have your "recording studio" set up, it should be fast and easy to keep doing over time. Wistia actually shows you exactly how you can make your own recording studio for cheap. Maybe you'll see our very own video series in the new year.
2. Use Interview Transcriptions
This method is especially helpful when your company's service or product is very technical or complex. Schedule an interview with a subject matter expert, like a faculty member, sales representative, or a project manager. Prepare interview questions ahead of time and give them to your subject matter expert.
When it's time for your interview, make sure to record it. You can then send that recording to a transcription service like speechpad, and you're just about done. Add an introduction and a closing (if you didn't give one in your interview), some internal links, an image, and your call-to-action. Voila! You've got yourself a blog article.
3. Make Lists
Do you see how I'm using my own tip here? Using lists can really cut down on the time it takes to write a blog post. This blog article will probably take me a quarter of the time as usual because it has a very clear-cut outline.
Pick a topic, pick your list items, and hash out your post. You can even make a list of inspirational quotes and you've cut down on time even more!
4. Create a Digest
You can do a digest multiple ways. If you create a lot of content each week (we're talking multiple a day), you can do a digest of your own blog content. If you aren't quite as prolific, a digest of industry blog and news articles is great too. Check out one of our Friday Five's as an example of a weekly digital marketing digest.
Pick somewhere between 3-10 articles you'd like to share and your article is complete.
5. Share Pictures or GIFs
One of my all-time favorite blog posts I've made has been "6 Signs You're Not an Inbound Marketer." I did get a little carried away with picking GIFs, but it didn't require much writing.
Come up with a list of ideas, find some images to go with it, make sure to include approprate alt text and you've got yourself a hilarious blog post.
There you go. 5 tips to use this holiday season to keep your blogging on-going and consistent. Do you have any other tips for making the writing process faster or easier?
Photo Credit: Max F. Williams via Compfight cc
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