How to Plan A Year's Worth of Blog Content in 1 Day
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How To Create A Content Strategy That Pays You Back In Hours And Dollars
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One of the biggest mistakes new bloggers make is thinking that they need to crank out post after post in order to get traffic to their site.
I've been there too.
Those moments when you'd rather do ANYTHING than write one more post.
Or when you hear of a new social media platform and all you can do is bang your head against the keyboard. Where is the time for all of this?! You wonder.
Let me give you the lowdown.
If you want to have a successful business, you need to make it sustainable in practice. Trying to create massive quantities of content every single day is a recipe for burnout and poor quality work.
Instead...
Let me tell you what the smart bloggers do.
Ready for it?
They use a content strategy to repurpose their work and promote more than they create.
In fact, smart entrepreneurs spend about 20% of their time creating content, and a whopping 80% actually promoting it. This ensures a much bigger return on their time and effort, and it's something you should be doing too.
You know what else I love about using a content strategy?
It can be outsourced! And I am ALLLL about outsourcing right now.
My traffic skyrocketed after I hired my first virtual assistant, and it's continuing to grow rapidly every single day. I still work super hard, but getting help has put hours back into my day that I can spend in better ways. I could go on and on.
If you're starting to feel overwhelmed and burned out, now is the time to invest in your business by bringing another person on board.
And with that, here's a breakdown of my personal content strategy.
1. I Create 2-3 Pinterest Pins For Each Blog Post
I'm putting this at number one on the list, because Pinterest is by far my biggest traffic referrer. I'm currently a contributor on several great Tailwind Tribes, which has made an enormous difference in my traffic.
For reference, Tailwind is the Pinterest scheduler I use and Tribes are their version of group boards where contributors share each other's pins.
In order to maximize my traffic, I create two to three pins for every blog post I publish. (Actually, I have my wonderful assistant create them, which frees up more of my time and creativity to create helpful posts like this!)
Once the pins are made, I upload one per day to all of my group boards as well as my own boards that are related to the blog topic.
If you decide to do this as well, be sure to space them out! You don't want to pin from the same blog post several days in a row. I like to post the pins a week or two apart to keep things fresh.
2. I Repost My Blog Posts On Medium
After a new blog post is published, I then go and publish it to Medium as well. Medium is a fantastic way to get your work out there and seen by new people.
Why? Because Medium curates content and sends it directly to people based on their interests.
So if you sign up for Medium, for example, and put blogging and online business as some of your interests, Medium will email you weekly with “stories” related to blogging and online business.
This is a great thing for content creators like you and me, because it means that our work can be directly sent to people who specifically stated that they are interested in reading about our topics.
3. I Add My Posts To My Flipboard Magazine
Flipboard was created in 2013, but only recently is it starting to become popular with bloggers and other content creators.
Flipboard is a visually appealing way to share the content you have written. When you upload one of your posts, Flipboard will arrange it as if it were a magazine spread to draw in readers.
It’s a powerful way to reach new audiences and establish credibility in your field.
Once you've created a publisher’s account, the next step is to set up your first magazine. Flipboard’s magazines are similar to Pinterest boards, in that they are where you will collect stories to “flip” for later. The idea here is that you will add other people's stories as well as your own to your magazines.
I recommend that you create a magazine for each of the smaller topics you cover. For example, I have magazines for blogging, online marketing, and financial independence, among others.
You can also start following other people in your industry, and vice versa. This makes Flipboard a great way for you to get new eyes on your work and have your posts shared.
4. I Notify Industry Leaders If I've Mentioned Them In My Post
Sometimes in my posts, I will use a quote or story from an industry leader or celebrity. And if I do that, you can bet that I'm going to let them know about it.
People love to be mentioned in a positive light because it gives them credibility and additional social proof. If you’ve mentioned somebody in your work, tweet them! Or send them an e-mail, or tag them on Facebook.
You never know, they may just share your post with their audience as well.
5. I Try To Include A Click-To-Tweet
I love adding click-to-tweets in my blog posts. I use Thrive Architect for my site which makes it super easy to drag and drop click-to-tweets anywhere in my blog post.
The reason I use them? Simple. They make it very easy for people to share my posts. All you need is a great quote from your blog post, and a shortened Bitly link to the post itself, and your tweet is ready to be shared with the Twittersphere!
6. I Post My New Post To Social Media
This one is pretty obvious, but posting to social media is an important part of getting your message out there.
Honestly, you can go with whichever social media platforms you are a part of. You definitely don't need a presence on all of them. In fact, I would recommend getting really good at just one social media platform before moving on to start another!
7. I Post In Facebook Groups Where Allowed
Facebook groups are all the rage lately, and for good reason. When Facebook changed their algorithm to increase ad revenues, many business owners saw their outreach diminish as their posts began to only reach a small fraction of their followers. Instead, you had to pay to advertise if you wanted your followers to see your posts.
The net result?
People began creating and joining Facebook groups like crazy. They are a great place to have conversations, post about your work, and help others succeed.
Of course, some Facebook groups do not allow any self-promotion of any kind, so make sure you read the rules and follow them. Some, however, will allow you to post lightly and tastefully about your work.
Whether it's your own Facebook group or one you have joined, posting a link to your latest blog post can help draw new eyes.
My biggest tip? Become a part of the community and help out as much as you can. Give more than you get, and you will find that people are excited to check out your site.
<< Want to join my free Entrepreneurs Who FIRE Facebook group?
We are a community of (mostly) millennial women who chat about business, blogging, personal finance, and financial independence.
8. I Offer Content Upgrades In Exchange For Social Media
One great way to get your content to spread fast is to offer a content upgrade in exchange for a social media share. I certainly don't do this on every post, but it's a great idea to implement, especially on your pillar posts.
Plugins like SmartBribe make it easy to encourage people to tweet your blog post in order to access the upgrade. (Isn't that genius??) Or you can simply give them the option to share the post on Facebook, or share your Pinterest pin, to access the content instead.
This is a strategy I definitely plan to implement more in the future.
9. I Reach Out To Bloggers Who Publish Roundups
Want to know another secret tool in my tool belt? Finding bloggers who have published roundups is a great way to take advantage of other people's audiences and bring them back to your site.
How do you do this? It's easy.
Go to Google and type in “your topic + roundups” and see who comes up. Take some time to get to know a couple of the writers you would like to collaborate with. Then, let them know that you would love to be a part of one of their roundups.
10. I Create Infographics For My New Posts
Infographics are extremely shareable, especially on places like Pinterest. If you can, creating an infographic for your best blog posts can go a long way in bringing heaps of traffic back to your blog.
While I’m currently creating the infographics myself (and I’m not particularly good at it!), I plan to hire a part time graphic designer in the future to handle this task for me.
For the time being, I use Picmonkey's free infographic templates.
11. Make A Video Summarizing Your Blog Post
Making video isn't currently a part of my content strategy, but I hope to implement it in the future! That being said, I had to include it because it is such a great idea.
When you create a video to accompany your blog post, there are so many things you can do with it. First, you can upload it to your YouTube channel. Then, you can take snippets of it and add them to Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram stories.
After that, you can easily scrape the audio from your video and repurpose it as a podcast episode for people to download.
Question: What content strategy tip has helped you the most so far, and which one are you most excited to implement? Let me know in the comments below!
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