Two-Week Turnaround for Writing Content that Counts

Here are some specific action steps you can take over the next two weeks to create compelling content for your e-newsletters, podcasts, white papers, webinars, your web site and more.

Today:

1. Spend 15-20 minutes brainstorming (in a group if possible) about topics of interest. Practice true brainstorming - that is, capture all ideas on paper or whiteboard as they emerge, without judging their value. Assign a scribe to keep a running list of all ideas, which you’ll come back to at the next meeting.
2. Critical Step: If after 15 minutes ideas keep coming, keep going with this brainstorming exercise! Seize the opportunity to capture what could be some real gems.

Tomorrow:

1. Reconvene with the group to quickly review the list of ideas. Cut the list down until you have a short list of 10 to 20 solid topics to work with. Many of these topics should make suitable article for your e-newsletter or podcast. (Others may be suitable for developing further, perhaps into a white paper or a webinar.)
2. Beside each idea, record the names of one or two people inside your organization who are easily accessible and who you consider to be subject matter experts (SMEs) on the respective topics. You should be confident that the SME has a firm grasp of what is currently relevant with regard to the topic.
3. Also record the names of one or two people outside your organization (perhaps a customer or partner) who meet the same SME criteria.
4. Looking at your list of 10 to 20 topics, pick just three. Call or email the SMEs for each topic, asking for a 30 to 45 minute meeting to discuss the topic.
5. Engage a professional copywriter from within or outside your organization to write a e-newsletter article for each of the three topics over the coming weeks.

Next Week:

1. Meet with your SMEs to discuss content details. Just spend 30 minutes outlining what the article should talk about. To help make sure that your time with this SME is fruitful, it’s a good idea to come to the meeting with some ideas of your own, and ask the SME to help develop and/or add substance to them. Be sure to come away from this meeting with a clear understanding on the article, so that you can properly direct the writing of this piece.
2. It may be beneficial for the copywriter to attend this meeting.

Two Weeks from Today:

1. Plan to be available to the writer to answer questions as he or she goes through the writing process. At some point this week, you might even see draft versions of the article. Aim to have all three articles completed over the next week or so.
2. Critical Step: Continue to build content by simply repeating steps 7 to 11. Consider taking some topics further, to develop a white paper, webinar or other useful information premium that can be used for lead generation efforts.