Are you a business owner who has (reluctantly) concluded that creating an ongoing supply fresh content for your small business website and blog is a good strategy to increase website visitors? if so, my friend and expert at Marketing with a Book, author, speaker, Henry DeVries has some tips for you.
Here’s how Henry DeVries answered the $64 million question “how do I find the time to create great ongoing content?”
“One secret that worked for me was to contact authors through a service called profsnet.com. Authors hunger for book promotion and welcome attention from bloggers. Often I praise the book and summarize a few tips from the book. You can freely use promotional materials like book flaps and Amazon descriptions to round out your post about the book. I only mention books I like and see no need to waste energy on books I don’t like.
There are two kinds of thinking in this world: abundance mentality and scarcity mentality. Abundance thinkers will only talk about what they want, like and wish for others. For instance, according to the book The Secret, Mother Teresa would happily come to peace rallies but turn down invitations to anti-war rallies.
Monday: Washing and Pasta
Another trick for coming up with content is to buy out the time like our grandmothers bought out the time for tasks. Monday was wash day, Tuesday was mopping. Wednesday was changing the linens. And so on. Every week there was a day for doing something. At our house the menu is set for Monday through Friday: Monday is pasta, Tuesday is stir fry, Wednesday is chili, Thursday is soup, and Friday is fish (usually a wild Alaskan salmon, yum). With two working parents who share chores, having a plan makes sense. So for my business, Monday is marketing day. On Mondays I blog and write book content. Fridays are also my writing days, but for longer pieces. Failing to plan, as the old adage goes, is planning to fail. Plan to succeed by having a day dedicated to creating content.
Need Inspiration?
Ah, but where does inspiration come from? The answer is R & D: rob and duplicate. Rob and duplicate ideas from other publications. I keep files of ideas I pull from newspapers and magazines. For those online only people, I like websites for Business Week, Forbes and Inc. These give me the seeds of ideas that I can comment on or use to create my own spin.
Thanks Henry! You can read more of Henry’s ideas at his website, Marketing with a Book
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