Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Content

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© 95C - pixabay.com
© 95C – pixabay.com

Some of my older blog posts have been getting a new life lately. Thanks to Denise Wakeman and her online visibility challenge, I’m now building new content collections on Medium and Facebook, and I’m continuing to repurpose my blog posts on LinkedIn.

Repurposing or reusing blog posts is one way to be more efficient with your content marketing. Let’s look at how you can take all three Rs of environmental stewardship and apply them to your blogging strategy.

Reduce – While I’ve long recommended daily blogging (not in the way you might think) and weekly posting, when you include the other Rs (reuse and recycle) in your content marketing plan you can actually write less and get much more return on your investment of time and energy.

Reuse – When I reuse and repurpose my archived posts on other platforms, new people can discover, read and share my work even if I haven’t published at Content Mastery Guide. That’s comforting if I’ve had an accidental break from blogging. And as I wrote in this post about LinkedIn blogging, Denise reassures us that we don’t have to worry about duplicate content.

Recycle – Just like discarded bottles can be used to create new bottles or even new houses, your blog posts can turn into e-books, presentations, videos or countless other pieces of content, or more new blog posts.

In Why Multiple Tweets About Your Blog Post Are Not Bothering Anyone, I explained why it’s okay to repeat yourself on social media. I’m going to recycle some of those points here to explain why it’s also okay to repurpose your blog posts on other platforms.

  1. People may have missed the post on your blog. Even if you promoted it widely, your connections may not have seen or read the original post. Most people only see a small percentage of what their connections post on social media, because other updates come along to push your post down and eventually off the page.
  2. People scan for what’s interesting and important to them. Sometimes changing the blog post title a bit when reposting to a new platform is just enough to spark interest in someone who glossed over your original message.
  3. People forget things. Even if they read it once and found it useful, they’ve read many things since then. People in your target audience will appreciate the reminder and the renewed incentive to take action and apply your advice.
  4. People know other people who need you. Your connections may not be members of your target market, and may never click on a single link you share. However, by seeing your posts they begin to associate you with the key topics you’re blogging about. They’ll remember this when someone asks for a referral for what you do.
  5. People have their favourite hangouts. For example, someone who spends an hour a day on LinkedIn is more likely to see your post than someone who just pops in once a week to respond to invitations. Another key benefit to repurposing your posts on other platforms is that new people who hang out on those platforms can discover you when their connections like and share your work.

When deciding which posts to reuse, start by analyzing your website and social media traffic to highlight your most popular articles. If people are already responding to them, you know it’s worth giving them a wider audience.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might enjoy the Blogging Tips newsletter, delivered weekly to your inbox! Sign up here.

8 Blogging Prompts for Wellness Clinics

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woman with blog post ideas
© Jacob Lund – Fotolia.com

Are you stumped for topics for your next blog post, or having trouble choosing between so many ideas? I know either can be an issue for both seasoned and new wellness bloggers.

Use these blogging prompts to choose and write your next post, or write all eight and you’ll be set for weeks!

  1. Introduce a member of your wellness practitioner team. Focus on why they are passionate about their area(s) of expertise, and when/why they joined your team. As a call to action, invite readers to follow the practitioner’s profile or page on social media, or book an appointment for a treatment.
  2. Recommend a product or tool. Describe something you and your team use to deliver your wellness services, or something you use personally for your own self-care. As a call to action, ask readers if they’ve tried the tool and to share what they like or don’t like – you can open up your blog for comments, but many bloggers have now moved their community conversations over to social media.
  3. Reveal new details about a familiar face. Does your clinic have an administrative support person or someone else who works in the background to help your wellness practitioners deliver their services? Interview them about why they are passionate about your clinic and its services, and how what they do makes your wellness work possible. As a call to action, invite readers to come in and say hello. You can even offer personalized conversation starters such as, “Ask Jean about her kitchen renovation,” or “Ask Mary about her favourite way to cook Brussels sprouts.”
  4. Offer season-specific wellness tips. Which health issues do you see the most at this time of year? What do you wish clients knew and did on their own before coming to see you? As a call to action, provide clear and concrete self-care tips people can do immediately on their own.
  5. Recognize good work in your community. Use your blog to give back by highlighting the work of a community group or event. Share photos and stories of any personal connection with your business, e.g., if someone on your team has been touched by the issue, and/or if you’re doing your own fundraising or awareness campaign. As a call to action, provide links for online donations or to learn more, or invite people to visit your clinic to drop-off donations.
  6. Equip your readers for healthy travelling. Business trips, family events, and vacations happen all year round, so this is a topic you can revisit. Interview members of your team for their most successful strategies and compile those into a blog post. As a call to action, ask readers to post travel photos, with bonus points if they show themselves using any of the strategies.
  7. Debunk a myth (e.g., The truth about ______) or reveal a secret (e.g., 10 things you didn’t know about….). This is also a great opportunity to refer to relevant research, to show that you’re backing up your claims and keeping up with advancements in your field. Just be sure to leave out any jargon so it’s easy for non-professionals to understand. As a call to action, ask readers what surprised them the most in your post, or what was the most meaningful insight they gained.
  8. Answer a frequently asked question (e.g., How to _____). The more specific, the better. If you find yourself branching off into related topics, let them go. You can always write more blog posts! As a call to action, encourage readers to try out your suggestions and ask them to let you know how things turn out.

Before you launch or re-launch your blog, make sure you have a solid blogging plan in place. Start here with my four-step wellness blogging plan workbook.

How to Manage a Multi-Author Wellness Blog

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calendar tools multi-author blog
© djvstock – Fotolia.com

You’ve worked hard to create a team of qualified wellness professionals who deliver a range of services to your clients. But does your clinic blog reflect the unique wisdom and experience they each bring to the table?

Giving your team of practitioners a voice on the clinic blog has five key benefits:

  1. It lightens your load as the clinic owner to produce all the content.
  2. It gives each practitioner the chance to develop and express his or her own individual identity (brand) as a wellness professional.
  3. It demonstrates the depth and variety of the services and approaches available at your clinic.
  4. It helps your practitioners, clients, supporters and friends promote your clinic by sharing links to practitioners’ posts on social media.
  5. It cultivates a sense of teamwork, belonging and pride amongst the blog contributors.

Starting a blog and posting consistently can be challenging, and having more bloggers can mean there are more ways for things to go astray. Let’s go through some concrete tips for how to manage a multi-author wellness blog for ultimate success.

Before you start a multi-author wellness blog at your clinic

Long before publishing your first post, create a clinic or team blogging plan so that everyone is on the same page (here are the five things to include in your clinic blogging plan).

How to keep your clinic blog going

Once you have your plan and you’re ready to start, here are some helpful tips to stay consistent:

  • Create a shared calendar for editorial topics and timelines. Make it easy for writers to plan ahead, and for you or your editor to follow up as needed. Try Google Calendar or blogging-specific WordPress plugins such as CoSchedule, Edit Flow, or Editorial Calendar.
  • Hold regular meetings for the blogging team, where you can brainstorm ideas, troubleshoot problems, and celebrate results. If you keep restating the blog’s purpose and goals, it will boost motivation and enthusiasm for the project.
  • Offer alternatives for reluctant writers. Some of your practitioners may not have the time, patience or skill for writing, but with a little creativity, everyone’s voice can be heard. For example, let them talk out their ideas as a video or audio recording. Then have an editor or ghostwriter turn those ideas into a written post or a bulleted list of highlights published along with the video or audio message.

Promoting your wellness clinic blog

Readers will not remember to visit your blog, so you have to invite them back to read every new post. Ask everyone on your team to share links to the latest blog post – on social media, in their email signature, or in response to a question related the post’s topic. You can even supply pre-written social media teasers that will get readers curious about the post.

Give readers an easy way to share your posts on social media by installing social sharing apps and plugins (ask your web developer for help and recommendations).

As well, show your appreciation to your blogging team by spotlighting your contributors in your clinic communications on social media, in emails and/or newsletters, and in flyers posted at the clinic.

What can go wrong with a multi-author wellness blog

Here are some of the most common issues that may arise for multi-author blogs, and my suggestions for how to overcome them:

  • Maintaining quality – When writers are feeling pressured to finish a post on time, or just unsure of how to write an effective blog post, quality can vary. Share examples of the types of posts you’re looking for, as well as a style guide or simple checklist for writers.
  • Running out of steam – Things start out well, but then begin to fade. Eventually, posts get less and less frequent and in some cases they stop completely. Sometimes it’s because contributors aren’t seeing clear results so they have no motivation to put in the effort. Hold regular meetings to discuss concerns and celebrate results. Work as a group to brainstorm topics and reignite enthusiasm for the project.
  • Losing contributors – If one of your prominent bloggers or even the blog manager leaves the clinic, gets an influx of clients, or has a personal situation, the blog can flounder. Head back to the drawing board and make sure all five elements of your blogging plan are in place and still relevant, including someone to take ownership of the blog.
  • Competing priorities – There are many moving pieces in the day-to-day life of your clinic, and sometimes blogging might need to take a back seat. Do what you have to do, whether that’s stretching out the frequency of posts or taking a break. Get back on track as soon as you can. Always start with a fresh blogging plan so everyone has clear guidelines and the same goals in mind.

A clinic blog can give your practitioners more visibility and credibility to potential clients, current clients, referral partners and other supporters. Use these strategies to ensure your blogging team’s success.

P.S. How healthy is your wellness clinic blog? Join me for a personalized review and free advice.

12 Blogging Pitfalls to Expect in Your First Three Months

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© Milkos - Fotolia.com
© Milkos – Fotolia.com

You’ve convinced yourself that blogging is a good idea for your wellness practice. If you work in a clinic setting, you’ve gotten the rest of the team on board. All you have to do now is turn your subject matter expertise into captivating online content.

Before you start, be aware of these 12 predictable pitfalls you will face in your first three months of blogging, and plan for how to survive them:

1. Copycat confusion

You try to model your blog after others in the industry, but you don’t get the same results. What you’re missing is the solid foundation underneath any successful business blog. Survival tactic: Study other blogs for what you like and don’t like, then apply those things to your own unique blogging strategy.

2. Lack of buy-in

You were gung-ho from the start, but now you’re experiencing skepticism and resistance – either internally or amongst your clinic team. There’s confusion about what you’re doing and why. Blogging may feel like an onerous extra step that dilutes your existing marketing efforts. Survival tactic: In your blogging strategy, show exactly how blogging will fulfill your marketing goals.

3. Too many ideas / Too few ideas

You may be flooded with new ideas for blog posts, to the point of overwhelm. Or, you may feel unsure about which subjects would make a good post. Survival tactic: Create an editorial calendar and pre-populate it with key topics that meet your customers’ needs and your goals for the blog.

4. Branding confusion

If your blog has a different look and feel than your website, visitors aren’t getting a unified experience of your brand. Survival tactic: Work with your web developer to integrate the blog into your main website, with the same colors, layout and navigation options.

5. Every post is a dead end

Some people say they’ve seen and liked your blog, but most tell you they weren’t aware of it, or they didn’t realize anything new had been added. Survival tactic: Offer an email subscription for your latest blog posts. As well, link to other related posts from each post. Lastly, suggest one action readers can take after they read, e.g., read other posts, leave a comment, connect with you on social media, or learn more about one of your related products or services.

6. Comment obsession

You check the blog several times a day and despair there are no comments. Why do other blogs have comments and yours has none? Survival tactic: Have patience. It takes time to build an audience. Also, with some topics people may not feel comfortable leaving a public comment. This doesn’t mean that the blog isn’t working.

7. Inconsistency of quality and frequency

One week there are two new posts, then nothing for two months. Most posts are well written and researched, but if you’re honest, some lower-quality posts were published just to have new content. Survival tactic: Have a clear process for managing the calendar, editing submissions, and adhering to the basics of blogging.

8. Category clutter

Each contributor makes their own list of categories for every new post. Soon, there are several versions of the same category, creating confusion for readers and writers alike. Survival tactic: Lay out five to seven key categories in your initial blogging strategy and insist all posts fit with that list.

9. Good content can’t get through

In a larger clinic or organization, you may need to have your company’s legal, human resources, or communications department review and approve posts. Sometimes they’ll ask for revisions, and this can feel frustrating when you’re trying to keep your blog fresh and current. In other cases, it’s just one person who’s the bottleneck (it might be you). Survival tactic: Consult any content reviewers when writing your initial blogging strategy, and then meet regularly to discuss their issues and concerns. If you’re on your own, keep an honest eye on any delays and get the help you need.

10. Losing enthusiasm and fizzling out

After plowing forward for awhile, you start to question whether this is worth the time, effort and stress. You post less and less, and blogging moves down the list of daily tasks until it’s relegated to a few stolen moments in between more pressing priorities. Survival tactic: Follow your editorial calendar and keep posting. Read articles about successful blogging techniques and the benefits of blogging.

11. The pull to quit

As you post less, momentum stalls and you lose touch with your initial enthusiasm for blogging. You wonder whether it’s going to produce the promised results, and when. Survival tactic: Set clear and realistic goals for your blog, with both qualitative and quantitative measurements. Schedule specific times to objectively review these measurements. Remember that blogging is a long-term strategy that builds on itself and creates a collection of marketing collateral you can draw on for years to come.

12. Success!

If you plan ahead for these pitfalls and apply these wellness blogging survival tactics, you will see a return for your blogging efforts, such as increased awareness in the marketplace, more leads, or the “social proof” of people liking and sharing your pages and content. Some savvy marketers even turn their blog posts into other valuable assets such as white papers, presentations, books, case studies, videos or checklists.

Your first three months of blogging don’t need to be a battle through one pitfall after another. Learn how I can help you master the art of blogging for clients.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might enjoy the Blogging Tips newsletter, delivered weekly to your inbox! Sign up here.

12 Most Tenacious Ways to Keep Blogging on the Front Burner

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© Chepko Danil - Fotolia.com
© Chepko Danil – Fotolia.com

Have you ever started gung-ho on a new venture and then pushed it to the back burner when another more pressing thing came along? Many people tell me this is what happens when they start blogging.

They post here or there, but when faced with the decision to keep up with the blogging or toss it aside, the poor blog got the toss.

Here are 12 ways to keep blogging on the front burner often enough to see some results.

1. Start with a plan

Create a blogging plan so you know exactly what you’re trying to achieve and how.

2. Draft a content calendar

Come up with topics, titles, and ideally outlines for each blog post you plan to write over the next month, quarter or even year.

3. Read other blogs that inspire you

Look for people that seem to have fun with their blog, and are blogging at least once a month. These blogs may or may not be related to your business; sometimes the best inspiration comes from an outside perspective.

4. Convene with other bloggers

Join a Twitter chat, online forum, or social network group for bloggers with similar interests, e.g., business owners, foodies, crafters, dog lovers, or another community. Review some of the recent discussions, respond where you can, and post your own questions.

5. Buddy up

Find someone to set accountability goals with (a coach is a great tool for this!) and keep in touch regularly about how you’re doing.

6. Keep blogging in your sights

Set up visual blogging cues around your workspace, like a printout of your content calendar or to do list. Then set appointments to work on your blog, with reminder timers that will get your attention.

7. Take care of your physical needs

You’ll have better access to your creativity and brainpower if you’re rested, hydrated and well-fed.

8. Give blogging the best part of your day

Maybe not every day, but set regular stints in your calendar where you use your peak creative and focused times for blogging.

9. Divide up your blogging tasks

Don’t try to start, finish, post and promote a blog post in one sitting, because that just sets you up to fail. Schedule separate blocks for each part of the process and then feel great about getting that done.

10. Close unnecessary windows

If this is the time you dedicated to brainstorming, drafting or outlining your post, you really don’t need the Internet. Just add a note in your document that there is a link or reference you want to add, and fill it in later. Make it easier on yourself to stay focused.

11. Scrap a lifeless post

If the energy isn’t flowing with a particular post or topic, move on. If blogging feels like slogging, it will be even more tempting to push to the side. Find another topic from your blogging plan that lights you up right now.

12. Just do it

Like other tasks that are good for you, you may not always feel like blogging, or want to give it any of your precious time. Do it anyway and reap the satisfaction of following through, and the rewards of adding to your growing library of valuable content.