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Yes, itās Wednesday. But fret not. Tomorrow you can coast. Then, Friday, do whatever people do who have the stamina to work five days a week (keeping you in my prayers).
Todayās feature gives you 5 content creation concepts that make you more productive while easing your workload – whether youāre in charge of a newsletter, blog, sales emails, videos, etc. After that comes:
- The Knowledge Base (includes Gen X spending report)
SelfHelp (how to sow)- Facts & Stats
- Get HackingĀ Ā
Now letās hit those content creation tips to make your life easier (or get your life back).
#1 Content Creation and Time
I write a ton of content (think I broke Grammarlyās scoreboard last month) so I knowā¦
We can only create so much content in a day. If you have five hours of creativity in you, great – thatās what Iāve got in me.
Most folks have about four good hours, I suspect (bosses out there, remember that if youāre in charge of a content creator).
That doesnāt mean we can work half a day, though! I use my low-energy afternoons to edit and do admin stuff that doesnāt require creativity. Editing is best done when creativity is on empty anyway.
So, figure out when you feel most creative and use that part of the day to write – if possible. When not possible, ābutt-in-chair methodā will have to do.
- Use a journal to note when your energy is highest – donāt guess
- Avoid as many meetings as possible or reschedule them (example)
This book may help with productivity and work-life balance. No maybes about the next conceptā¦
#2 Remove the Sucky Parts of Content Creation
If you wanna just write and do no line editing, make that happen. Having someone else organize your brilliant but disorganized first drafts would be awesome, IMHO.
Same goes for proofreading. Convince the boss to make someone else do that. Or if youāre the boss, hire a proofreader. And no, Grammarly is not a proofreader. Itās decent, but a mere machine. Going along with every Grammarly suggestion will make your content look no different than a million other Grammarly users.
The next tip is the best one for retaining your sanity (and improves the content).
#3 Get Ahead on Content Creation
Unless you get ahead on your writing, you wonāt be able to utilize the tips above.
Canāt write at your ideal times when youāre pressed for time. And you canāt use an editor on last-minute work. Soā¦
- Write evergreen articles to keep in the can for when you have too much on your plate
- Write multiple pieces of content on one topic at a time (avoids brain slowdown from task switching)
- Pre-schedule content for your vacation dates (take vacationsš“)
Donāt forget to write for fun. Else, your muse becomes a burned-out mule. Those fun writings should also be twisted into business content or at least seeds of ideas for content creation.Ā
What about research?
#4 Learn, Then Write (Recliner Content Creation)
Itās hard to get ahead on writing when your time is gobbled up by research. You can only read so much in a day, especially when youāre reading your own content, too. That explains my 11,127 unread emails and a million saved articles Iāll never get to.
Luckily, a couple of months ago, I found a solution. I now do a lot of research in my Lazy Boy in the evenings, watching YouTube (podcasts also) and taking notes – more on notes in a sec.
This way, Iām not dizzied reading more text, and Iām not stuck at my desk (home desk). I can even sit on the floor with the dogs while doing this relaxed research – I wish K9s could take notes.
Since they canātā¦
#5 Better Note-taking for Content Creation
I still use Trello for about 40% of my notes on things Iām gonna write about. But Iāve recently found index cards to be super helpful – we remember better after using pen and paper, FYI.
I also began using a physical Kanban board to track my writing workflow. Four columns.
#1 LearnĀ #2 Write #3 Edit #4 Done
The problem with digital productivity tools? You canāt fill them up. Theyāre bottomless. My 11 x 9-inch Kanban board next to my desk will hold only so many tasks. That has two benefits.
- It doesnāt overwhelm me
- Keeps me on the right task – in order
My other Kanban board is larger, with more details for a monthly view of content creation I need to do.
Iāll toss out one extra writing concept below.
#6 Curated Content Creation
Nope. This one isnāt about curating content (though I like that option).
I mean curate which content you create. Be picky.
Donāt write about something just because it seems like a hot topic. Maybe itās only hot because Noah Kagan wrote about it. He could write about the WNBA or the NHL, and people would get excitedš .
Thatās all the concepts Iāve got time for, so letās dip our craniums in The Knowledge Baseā¦ after a word from our sponsor, a monster retargeting tool…
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The Knowledge Base
Knowledge is power, so is a humble big-man
šµNew Gen X spending habits report
Gain more space on search engine results page
šAbstract vs. concrete language (both useful)
Tired of Linktree? (8 alternatives)
ā¤“ļøChrome changes coming thatāll drive up ad costs?
Webinars arenāt just for winning new clients (can rebuild trust)
š¤A creativeās take on his Sora test drive (video)
Google update scares Forbes into cleaning up web pages
The rubber meets the road below with the man in the arena.
Self Help
Goodyear is the biggest tire company in the world. The dude the company is named after had a rough time, though. After a lifetime of struggle, he finally has a breakthrough rubber invention only to have it stolen from him. Charles Goodyear died broke.
But not broken. He eventually got recognition and was respected for his determination. Had no quit in him. No hard feelings either. He said, āIām not disposed to complain that I have planted and others have gathered the fruits.ā Thatās a good thing to write down so you can create and not worry about the outcome. You (and I) will get more done with that mindset.
Inbox Hackers Shout-out:
āFray at PE GI Solutions (medical)
āJon at Gaia (conscious living)
Facts and Stats
- Mobile drives email opt-outs and 42.37% of all opt-outs come via iOS compared to 21.39% for Android (Optizmo)
- Back-to-school promotions on social media work best on Gen X ā 62% seek promotions there (Stacked Marketer)
- Yahoo Mail overtakes Gmail in most opt-out activity (Media Post)
Bonus: ______ is now Googleās #1 ranking criteria for search results. Answer: Quality contentĀ
Get Hacking
Your sign-up page may be a little dusty. The people viewing it are more than a little busy. So give them that one extra reason to convince them to sign up for your email list. Spend 30 minutes to an hour looking at a wide range of sign-up pages to get fresh ideas. Then, implement them (in case that part was unclearš).
(ALT hack: When was the last time you took a stab at a ridiculous guerrilla marketing tactic? It probably wonāt shake up the world or even get noticed, but why let that stop you?)
Please share Inbox Hacking with your marketing peeps – it might save their marketing lives or rekindle their marriage, who knows.
Other Inbox Hackers Liked:
Yahoo is giving email marketers best practices to hit the inbox
9 examples of demand generation (FlexSeal is a cool one)
Framing in marketing (clever visual)
Talk soon,
Shane McLendon, Copy Kingpin – Inbox Hacking
