written by Bonnie Chomica
Do you have a hard time putting out content on a consistent basis?
Try thinking like a magazine publisher.
Look at publications like Women’s Day, National Geographic, or Vogue, and consider how they produce an issue every month. With editorial calendars that include topics or themes determined for a year or more in advance, they know what their content is going to be about.
And they distribute the same time each month.
Essentially, they are committed to their process and a long-term vision.
That magazine’s vision is to be seen as the authority publication in their niche. They’ll do that by nurturing their readers with regularly published content for their target audience.
And so it goes with content marketing.
Why Publish Consistently?
One of your marketing goals should be to build a loyal audience. Any time you create content it should pique interest in the reader to want to view more of your content, to subscribe to your email list, or wherever your call to action takes them.
Publish and post regularly and you’ll be seen by more people, and seen more often by those that have come to trust you and like your content. Your loyal community will actually look forward to checking out your content. They’ll watch for it on the days you promised to post.
If you don’t produce content consistently, anything you do distribute has a good chance of not being seen. The social media and search engine algorithms won’t serve your material to the audience you want to reach.
How to Get Organized
To create and distribute content like a publisher, you need to commit to the process. It will take a content plan and a content calendar and a full understanding of your target audience.
As a servant leader, you put content out to the universe to support your audience, whether it’s educational, entertaining, or enlightening. Provide fabulous value. And do it consistently.
Platform: Determine which platforms are best for you to deliver content:
Video – live streaming
Video – pre-recorded
Audio – live
Audio – pre-recorded
Email – newsletter or conversational
Social Media – where your audience is
Articles – 3rd party platforms
I suggest not trying to do them all. Select something you’d like to try, or know that you’re good at, and commit to that.
Commit to being consistent. Deliver your messages on a regular schedule.
Topic Ideas: Think about your ideal avatar and what makes them tick. What do they want to know?
Audience pain – what do they want to move away from?
Audience desire – what do they want to move towards?
Themes – common ideas to focus on weekly or monthly
Testimonials, client showcase – clients are the story’s hero
Seasonal or holiday related – affect everybody
These are just a place to start. As you grow your content creating habit, new ideas and approaches will come to you.
Your Content Calendar
You need tools in your business to make you more efficient and effective. A content calendar can be your best friend when it comes to creating a new habit of consistent content publishing.
There are all kinds of tools out there. Ask me, I have a handy tool I personally developed and use all the time.
If you publish a blog post on the 1st of the month, you note that in your content calendar. You want to send an email to your list every week, put that day for every week in your calendar.
What about a product launch, a workshop, or speaking engagement? Put that info in your content calendar, and make note of when you need to promote those events.
Your content calendar will help you plan out your whole year for the main events and regular content commitments. You fill in the daily blanks along the way for your social and other activities.
Not ready to work on a whole year? Start with one week, and then move to one month until you get your rhythm.
Regardless of what you use, it helps you to keep on track, to stay committed, to develop a habit.
Final Words
Imagine being the publisher of Vanity Fair magazine. Map out a plan for your upcoming issues, tantalizing interviews, and supporting content. Now look at your own ‘publications’.
Publish content regularly and you will increase your brand awareness, and build your loyal following. That earned trust will lead to more sales.
It’s a long-term strategy. And that’s why you need to be consistent and patient.
When you are ready to commit, I’d be thrilled to support you on your content planning journey. Book a free call and we can discuss the best way for you to move forward.
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash