As we celebrate America Recycles Day, it seems appropriate to talk about recycling in your business. In this case, we’re talking about recycling your content.
When I first came up with the idea to write an article on how to recycle your content, I outlined several methods. But then, my good friend Jim Edwards came out with a video that lists 15 ways to recycle your content. And I decided that instead of creating an article from scratch, I would share (aka recycle) his video!
We all get to that point where we are stuck for ideas. When I first started publishing information products online, I thought that certain people had a crystal ball they gazed into to find their next great idea. Or some top-secret contact who was providing them with inside information.
Over time, I realized that it wasn’t magic that allowed these people to come up with red-hot ideas on demand. It was simply that they knew where to look.
I soon discovered many places where ideas seemed to always be found. I call these places “idea hangouts”. Here are three of my favorites where you can find ideas for your next article, blog post, or book anytime you want. Almost like a genie granting you three wishes…
1. GOOGLE.COM
Google is the ultimate “idea hangout”. There are so many ways to mine the gold in Google’s amazing search database that it would take another article to graze the surface of this enormous iceberg.
However, here are three quick ways to find ideas by searching Google.
– Watch While You Search
Google provides a “suggestion tool” that is ideal for finding the right keywords and the phrases commonly used. Just start typing your search phrase into the box and you’ll start seeing the most popular ideas right there!
You can take these very listings and create an article that answers the question, using the search phrase as the title. You can also incorporate these into a book as chapter titles or keywords in the book listing.
– Identify Listings.
Search for a broad topic related to your area of interest or expertise. (I.E. “Tennis”, “Weight loss”, “Homeschooling”.) Look at all of the web sites listed in the index of returned results. You’ll likely find some ideas for information products right there in the first couple of pages.
– Identify Advertisers.
You’ll probably notice small ads either at the top of the page or to the right of the page (or both!). These advertisers represent your competition. They also represent your thermometer for taking the temperature of your market and gauging interest in specific topics. Chances are, what they’re selling you should be selling.
In both of these examples, you can click through to the web pages of the sites listed and study their respective sales pages. Look specifically at the “bullet points”. Each of these represents a potential idea for your next content piece.
These are also ripe for affiliate marketing. If it’s something that appeals to you, it will appeal to your audience as well. So keep a running list of these sites as potential products to recommend.
[tbpspa]2. AMAZON.COM.
From the world’s largest search engine we move to the world’s largest bookstore. At Amazon.com you’ll really get your creative juices fired up.
Again, you’ll want to search the listings by entering a keyword or keyphrase into the search box on the main page at Amazon.com.
You’ll get a returned listing of numerous books, courses and other periodicals. Search these listed items for ideas for your own ebook.
— Example —
If you were to search for “Homeschooling”, you’d find a variety of ideas just waiting in the listing of books available, including: homeschooling for special needs children, getting starting in homeschooling, choosing curriculum, homeschooling field trips, homeschooling support groups, homeschooling for various ages (I.E. Pre-K, Elementary, Junior High, High School, etc.), homeschooling for Christians, etc.
Any of these listings (and the dozens of others listed) would be great ideas for the topic of your next book or product.
Pay particular attention to the first page of the listing. Amazon ranks their listings based on popularity of actual sales volume. In other words, #1 is a better seller than #50. This is a ready-made indicator of demand!
3. MAGAZINES.COM
After visiting the world’s largest search engine and the world’s largest bookstore, it’s time to take a quick stop at the world’s largest periodical store, Magazines.com.
You’ll find every imaginable magazine listed at this site. The interesting part (and useful to you as a research tool) is this: you’ll also find the COVER of a recent copy of each magazine.
For example, you can search for “Parenting” and the engine will return a listing of magazines related to that topic. You can then click on the image of the magazine cover and you’ll be shown a larger copy of that cover where you can read the contents. (I.E. “How To Raise A Stubborn Child”, “27 Ways Discipline In Public” and “The Real Key To Your Child Getting Better Grades”.)
Each of these “cover stories” represents an idea for your next article or book.
The best part about it is this: the publishers of these magazines have done the research for you! It’s like using the custom dissertation writing service for a student. They’ve measured the level of interest for these ideas and found it high enough to warrant not only writing content about them, but referencing that content on the cover of the magazine!
That’s your hint. People want this information.
So, there you have it, 3 “idea hangouts” where you can find ready-made, in-demand, red-hot topics for your next content creation. Regardless of what you are trying to create you’ll find good ideas on three websites.
Editor’s Note: I’ve known Jeff Herring for years, but had not heard this story. I can certainly identify with the pain of rejection!
My high school English teacher told me I was not a good writer – and I believed her! For years I told myself I couldn’t write. That is, until I started writing curriculum for a living! Not only did I find I could write, but I actually loved it. I had let someone else rob me of years of enjoyment.
Don’t let this happen to you! Read Jeff’s story and join us on the upcoming webinar.
Content Marketing is a great way to build your online business. The problem is that most people who teach it stop at the point of creating content. While creating profitable content is essential, there is so much more you can do with your content. That’s why I expand Content Marketing into the 5 things you need to be successful online in any niche: content creation, online visibility, traffic generation, list building and product creation.
A funny thing happened along the way
As some of you know, I never finished my Ph.D. in Marriage & Family Therapy back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Have you ever been told you could not do something? If you’re anything like me, that just makes me want to do it all the more, if for no other reason than to prove them wrong.
Except this time when some of my dissertation committee told me I couldn’t write well at all, somehow that got in, and I took them at their word.
So if you believe you can’t write, you don’t finish your dissertation and you don’t get your Ph.D.
Then in 1994 I started writing a weekly column about relationships for the local paper that filled my private practice to overflowing. I must confess that I did get a kick out of having a full practice while others with a Ph.D. were struggling.
Not too long ago someone from the dissertation committee signed up for one of my Content Creation Workshops. That’s a day we still celebrate.
As author Richard Bach says “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.” I like to say, and sometimes accidentally change Bach’s quote into “argue for your limitations and you get to keep them.” Same message that is worth taking with you.
Bottom Line: Be careful, be very careful, about the limitations others, and especially you, try to put on you… and which ones you believe.
So what’s to be learned from all this? Here are a few learning points about writing and creating content:
1) As stated above, don’t accept, ever, the limitations others put on you. In fact don’t accept the limitations you put on yourself. They are oftentimes just beliefs – a feeling of certainty about something. It can be quite fun to challenge those limitations and prove them wrong.
2) I probably still couldn’t write academically if you held a gun to my head. And, fortunately, I don’t want or need to do so. The great news is I don’t have to and neither do you. All you need to do is write conversationally. In other words, simply write like you talk.
3) Number 2 works because prospects are attracted to your voice. Not the audio sound of your voice, but the way you approach and solve problems. That is your voice, and no one else can deliver it like you.
4) If you can write a 5 item grocery list, you can create profitable content based on your own expertise. You can then turn that content into a powerful presence on the web and be found all over your niche, generate lots of traffic visiting your profitable sites, build a highly qualified and responsive list community, and create profits by creating, marketing and offering information products based on your content.
The truth is I’ve been creating content to building my businesses, both offline (a thriving therapy practice from 1986 – 2006) and online (helping entrepreneurs build their online business with Content Marketing 2006 – NOW), since 1994.
And I want to bring those 18 years experience creating profitable content to you with this “How to Create Prospect & Profit Pulling Content in 20 Minutes or Less with Jeff Herring” Hosted by Dr. Jeanette Cates on Thursday July 11th at 8 pm EDT – Join us here => http://JeffHerring.com/jeanette
Content creation is a great way to bring in more prospects and profits. And you do want more prospects and profits, right?
The struggle for many content marketers, both new and experienced, is consistently coming up with ideas for creating content. I’ve noticed that many go through a few stages in their struggle to come up with content ideas.
Let’s take a closer look at those three stages and more importantly, what to do about each one.
Stage 1 – Ideas are not flowing – When you sit down to create content you have to repeatedly stop and think about what to write about. The flow has not stopped, it’s just not as easy as it normally is for you.
What to Do – Step back and brainstorm. Make a list of content ideas. Don’t edit – just brainstorm. This is something you need to be doing anyway, so you always have a list of content ideas from which to pull.
Stage 2 – Ideas are a struggle – Even when you look at a list of your ideas, nothing pops out for you. It feels like you are seeing the ideas on a list, but they are not making sense in your head, and not making the trip from your head to your fingers.
What to Do – Take a trip to your supermarket and check out the titles on the covers of the magazines in the checkout line. Thousands of dollars have been spent deciding how to title these articles. Find titles that you can use in your niche and get busy creating great content.
Stage 3 – You are beginning to believe in writer’s block, even though it does not exist. Ideas are not only not flowing, ideas are just plain stuck. Your frustration level is high, and you’re honestly getting a little bit frightened by your lack of ideas.
What to Do – Go to your topic in EzineArticles and look at some of the top articles in your niche. See which ones are getting lots of traffic. Choose an idea that you know will appeal to your community and simply do a better job with it.This is not plagiarism. This is research because you are simply looking for ideas. You are not copying what someone else has said, you are just going to do a better treatment of it because of your skills.
The Next Step – Your next success step is to grab your spot in our upcoming webinar “How to Create Prospect & Profit Pulling Content in 20 Minutes or Less with Jeff Herring” Hosted by Jeanette Cates on Thursday July 11th at 8 pm EDT – Join us here => Click Now To Reserve Your Seat
One of the joys of visiting a museum is knowing that the “curator” of the museum has chosen a theme, then put together the best possible collection of objects to follow that theme. The curator’s job is to shift through the thousands of pieces available – and choose the best.
Not only does it give the exhibit more meaning to you, but it also saves you time. After all, the curator has spent years building her expertise in order to get to the point where she is qualified to choose the items. So you save time in both building that expertise – and in looking through all of the information out there.
The same thing happens with “content curation”.
To understand more about Content Curation here are some of the leading resources on the topic:
Beth’s Content Creation Primer
Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme. The work involves sifting, sorting, arranging, and publishing information. Content curation is not about collecting links or being an information pack rat, it is more about putting them into a context with organization, annotation, and presentation.
12 Attributes of a Successful Content Curation Strategy
Here are twelve attributes your content curation strategy should have to insure success. Since content curation is editorial at its heart, you’ll see that many of these elements are similar to any other form of content publication.
14 Sources for Content Curation Inspiration
In a recent survey, 95 percent of marketers report that they are curating content in some shape or form. That totally makes sense, since 64 percent of B2B marketers reported that producing enough content was a challenge. Here are 14 third-party sources to consider if you are planning to curate content.
ContentSoft Curation Software Demo
To better understand the mechanics of curating content, here is a demo video from Jack Humphrey, founder of CurationSoft. I’ve known Jack for 8+ years and always respect his work. He is best known for his solid information and years of content curation. Watch as Jack explains what content curation is – and how CurationSoft can help you do it faster and easier than ever!
Share YOUR thoughts on content curation below.
Look Who's Talking