TalkBiz News
Issue for July 23, 2012
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Hi, folks...
Today, I've got a treat for you if you have ever gotten stuck
coming up with ideas for blog posts, articles, reports, videos,
or any other kind of content.
Nothing fancy here. Just a handful of easy techniques you can
read once and use now.
....
Most of us who create anything run into the wall occasionally.
We sit down to work and... blank. Nothing.
This is especially common when we've already created a product
or a lot of content on a specific topic. We may feel like we've
said all we have to say on it. That's rarely the truth, but it
sure can feel like it.
Let's get started fixing that for good.
....
One of the easiest ways to get new ideas is to look through
your existing content. Scan for:
Key ideas: Summarize each in a single sentence, and think about
how you could restate them or expand on them to make your point
more clearly, or to explain things you hadn't in the original
piece.
This is most useful for re-purposing content.
Cleverly phrased comments: We all come up with cool ways to say
things from time to time. Those comic twists and pithy
aphorisms can often be the basis for themed content that adds
more value for you and your reader/listener/viewer.
For example, in the last issue, I said, "The 'target' is not
the person. It's the desire for your product."
That could be the basis for a whole series of articles on any
number of aspects of high-performance marketing.
General concepts: Summarize them. Then pick a new angle and go
for a more in-depth treatment.
Another example from the last issue: "The more your potential
customers already want what you have to offer, the easier it is
to give it to them."
Specific techniques: If you mention a technique without giving
any real specifics, that's an easy source for add-on material.
If you got into specifics in the original, you can often create
really valuable products or articles by going into the
exceptions, unusually successful approaches, or narrowly
tailored instructions for people with varying levels of
experience.
Case studies rock.
Controversial issues: This can be dynamite. As in either "very
popular and effective" or "blow up in your face." Or both.
My favorite example for a long time was the use of pop-ups.
Some people love them and some hate them. Interestingly, almost
no-one who sold tools or tutorials on using pop-ups ever wanted
to discuss this any more than to say what I just said.
Cowards.
One of the most popular entries on my old blog was one that
posited that using ad blockers is tantamount to stealing
content.
The post made a fair bit of distinction between ethical and
unethical types of ads and blockers, pop-ups vs banners, etc.
It wasn't as black and white as the previous paragraph made it
sound, but the comments from readers were heavily polarized.
And there were, for that blog, quite a lot of comments,
including many from people who had never heard of me before
that post and saw mentions of it in various places.
Tackling a subject no-one else is willing to touch, and doing
it in a balanced way, can generate controversy without creating
enemies.
Of course, if you want "the other side" to hate you, you can
always leave out the balance. It doesn't give the same image,
but it does tend to make the people who agree with you a bit
more fanatical in their support.
Sometimes using controversy effectively can be as simple as
asking a question about a controversial subject and letting
other people supply the dynamite.
Changing situations: If market conditions, resource
availability, regulations, or any other aspect of something
you've written about has changed significantly, that can be
fertile ground for more content. It helps keep your audience
better informed, and adds to your reputation as an authority in
your field.
This one probably doesn't need any examples.
"Throwaway" comments: In any reasonably sized piece of
content, you'll often find comments that are tossed in as a
sort of "by the way" remark. Things said in passing that bear
expansion. Maybe they're things you think are obvious, but
might not be to everyone. Or that may not be obvious at all,
but might be important in certain circumstances.
A very common source of these are the one-line caveats that are
commonly used in products. "Just don't use cheap oil," "Be
careful not to spam people in the process," "Make sure you're
not being too obsequious," etc.
They're usually included either as a "cover your butt"
statement or with the assumption they'll be properly
understood by anyone with common sense. The people saying them
often forget that common sense is the result of experience.
If you want to endear yourself to people who are new to your
subject, explaining those "common sense" things can be a good
way to do it.
Note: Each of the last two sentences could be considered
"throwaways" in the sense they could both be turned into
useful articles on their own.
You can use these approaches to generate ideas from other
people's content, too. Just don't copy their work. Get the idea
and create the content in your own voice.
....
Read sales letters for products in your niche.
If you just want a lot of ideas, fast, look for the lists of
bullet points. In a well-crafted sales letter, every bullet
conveys both a benefit and the feature that delivers it. Even
in mediocre sales copy, the bullets list the points the seller
feels are most important to potential customers.
If you want more in-depth ideas, look at the copy itself, and
see what things are included, and what are left out.
Hint for affiliates: If you know of a problem a product solves
that isn't mentioned in the copy, that's a great topic to cover
in your pre-selling pieces.
....
Want to create pre-selling content for your own products? Look
at your sales materials and list the problems the product or
service solves. You can create at least two different kinds of
content from that.
The first is "useful, but incomplete." You give suggestions
that will make a measurable difference for the reader, and then
offer the more complete solution(s) found in the product. Done
properly, this will increase your conversion rates on the
product, and leave the folks who didn't buy with a more
positive view of your offers in the future.
By the way... In that sentence, "done properly" is an example
of something that could be expanded on. ;)
The second, which is quite a bit more "salesy," is to talk
about the problem itself. This is more effective in situations
where the reader may not be aware of the consequences of not
having a solution ready, or using preventative approaches to
keep it at bay.
....
One of the easiest ways to get ideas for content, assuming you
have an existing readership, is to ask folks what they want to
know about. Then just pick the ones you can answer, starting
with the most commonly mentioned or the most interesting, and
give them what they asked for.
Don't have subscribers or talkative visitors? Check out forums
or blogs in your market. Look at the comments made by visitors
there. For extra zing, pick the topics and questions that
involve the most pain.
That last part might sound manipulative to some folks. Get over
it. You're looking to provide a solution for the pain, which
most customers consider a Good Thing.
....
Here is probably the most overlooked source of ideas among
people with useful experience: Your working routine.
The most easily sold experience is often the stuff you do
without thinking about it. Those are the basic building blocks
of a lot of your success at whatever you do.
As an example, I have a complete system for filtering email,
most of which I set up years ago and just tweak occasionally.
It allows me to stay sane in the face of the hundreds of emails
I get every day. I could easily turn that into a full- blown
course.
The same with my system for creating outlines for products and
reports. I take it for granted, but it's developed gradually
over the years. It's simple enough, yet it seems like magic to
people who try it.
I look at videos from folks who've learned how to use
Photoshop and that stuff is gold to me. To them, it's just what
they do.
The things you've learned a little at a time are the easiest to
dismiss as being unimportant. They can be the lessons that help
someone else cover the ground in a week that took you years to
traverse.
People pay - and often pay well - for that kind of thing.
....
There you go. A simple system for coming up with all the
content ideas you could ever need. No fluff or concept stuff.
Just "Do this, get ideas."
If you want a ton of pointers on getting better results from
all this new content, grab a copy of my course, "Creating
Killer Content." (It comes with a "100 times the value"
guarantee.)
http://talkbiz.com/killercontent/?e=1
Put the two together, and you're good to go.
Enjoy!
Paul
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Copyright 2012 TalkBiz Digital, LLC
"100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
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