Blog Posts - easily developing content - Part I

In writing blog posts, or developing ANY kind of content, I recycle. If it's good, I reuse it in different formats and places.

Emails – many posts start out as email, for example this post started out as an email to a friend (months ago), answering "how do you write so much?" I find emails and pitches to clients and journalists to be especially good.

Speaking of clients, client reports – the non-proprietary, non-company specific parts – that material too get reused as appropriate. Internal reports are exactly the same.

Articles and newsletters get sliced and diced into blog posts.

My occasional press releases get recycled.

Since I'm writing books now, and there is always material left over that didn't fit into the book, I recycle that as well. Or perhaps "cycle," as it didn't get used the first time :)

Speeches – both formal and just simple "talks" – great material for blog posts. Simple conversations and telephone calls as well.

Teleseminars. ditto

Training classes and seminars. If you write them, are a goldmine. Imagine how much material is in a typical three-day class? Student comments and opinions are an added plus, as they often get my mind, and my keyboard, cranking.

I'm writing a video script on podcasting for WatchIT now, and the material will be transformed into a series of articles, blog posts, etc.

Information from interviews for my 2nd book (on blogging and podcast) are getting posted here.

It goes the other way too of course. Sometimes a popular blog post will get expanded into an article or newsletter.

My first BizBlog+ newsletter will come out before long – it just may be a much longer and detailed version of my most popular blog post to date. The basics will be done, although a lot of research and writing will probably be required (upper left hand corner to subscribe).

Besides blogging, you probably write a lot. What can you reuse? You probably talk a lot. What can you reuse?

Write once – use many times. Or perhaps better, think once – use many times!

Part II here

Comments

[Easton Ellsworth]

Great ideas, Ted. Repetition is important and so is repeating yourself from time :).

Whatever's relevant to the audience you're addressing - that's what you should say, even if you just said the same thing to the same or another audience the day before.

I've realized that blogging - and adding to conversations at other blogs - is really just an electronic extension of talking. So if I can talk, I ought to talk with others about what interests me and them! So I've made it a point to try to add something to each blog post I visit, either by leaving a comment, posting about it or even contacting the blogmaster (word?) personally.

[Ted Demopoulos]

Easton,

Repetition is good, but it's more than just that! Some people prefer to read blogs, others articles, others learn more effectively from audio, etc.

Also, materials from my keynotes and seminars won't be seem by 99% of everyone who reads this blog, so I reuse it. Not exactly the same of course, but very similar.

Different formats also have different strengths. In my BizBlog+ newsletter I'll go much more in depth than I ever do in blog posts.

Material does evolve and grow with time also - as our experiences do and the world moves on.

Also, repetition IS good! I just listened to the same teleseminar for the third time, and got some new ideas from it!

[Easton Ellsworth]

Thanks again, Ted, for explaining this principle of content repackaging.