Almost everyone I know is either creating or consuming content. Lots of it! While there are more takers for consuming content, creating content seems like a different beast altogether. Many struggle with it.
Now, there are many forms of content, but I’m strictly referring to readable content — blogs, articles, white papers, reports, and newsletters. Because as much as people love the idea of watching a quick video detailing all the hacks out there, text-based content performs better (and still the preferred medium) for knowledge-dense topics.
However, creating content requires a massive time investment. Not everyone is able to accommodate it into their already packed schedules. I can tell that from experience.
But it’s tough out there. What’s ought to be done, got to be done. Particularly if you wish to stand out in an already cluttered sphere of content.
I’ve been doing some thinking and researching to figure out the most effective way to create content (articles only, though other forms can take inspiration from this tactic as well) and found the following strategy originally shared by Charles Bordet to be the most effective.
It’s simply this: One idea = One Topic X One Angle
Let’s say you want to blog about “Content Marketing for Nonprofits.” That’s your idea. If you dissect this idea further, you will realise that you can talk about several aspects of Content Marketing for Non-profits such as the ideal team, skillset required, audience persona, buyer’s journey etc. And each of these topics just may offer a different view point that you can dive deep into.
Here’s an example:
Key idea: Powerlifting for non-athletes
Ideas based on this topic:
- Why Powerlifting?
- Just three lifts? A brief history of Powerlifting.
- Is Powerlifting better than CrossFit?
- Why are Powerlifters stronger than BodyBuilders?
- Programming for amateur Powerlifters.
- Proper nutrition for recreational Powerlifters.
- Why Powerlifters hate to count beyond five?
- Three exercises amateurs should do to increase their bench.
- Combining Powerlifting with other sports.
- Transitioning from recreational Powerlifting to amateur Powerlifting
I think you know where I’m going with this…
And here’s the best part — each of these topics can have up to 10 (or even more!) angles of approach.
Consider the following angles you can take for each of the topics:
- How-to guides
- Link roundups
- Personal stories
- Listicles
- Products and apps review
- Books/resources
- Interview posts
- Expert round up posts
- Opinion/thought leadership pieces
- Data-driven study
If you do the math, that’s like 100 ideas for blog posts! It’s that simple. Now, as with all things — simple doesn’t mean easy. You really will have to work hard to create content that provides real value to the readers.
Some experts out there believe that readable content should be “epic” and somewhere between 1,000 and 2,500 words. I’m of the opinion that value doesn’t really have a number behind it; a 150-word blog post can inspire you to take action as much as a 2,500-word article. Keep it simple and focus on what you can do. The tactic above and focusing on creating value is a great start.
What doesn’t bring value, doesn’t get published.
Let me know if you think differently. I’m listening.