Content Marketing As a Strategy

Content Marketing is the Process of Creating Content to Grow Your Business

Are you using content marketing as a strategy to build and grow your business? Whether you’re online or have a physical location for your business, content marketing will mean the difference between being easily found and having to constantly pay for advertising. You’re a creator, and it’s time you step into the power this gives you for your business.

Why You’re Experiencing Creators Block and How to Solve It

Being a small business owner means you know that creativity is key to success. After all, it’s what drives innovation and growth. But what do you do when you feel like you’ve lost your creative edge? When the ideas just don’t seem to flow anymore?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer. Creativity is a complex phenomenon, and there can be many reasons why you might be experiencing a block. However, you can take many decisive actions to get your creative juices flowing again.

First, let’s learn about the most common reasons for creator’s block and what you can do about it:

You’re Too Focused on the End Goal
When trying to be creative, it’s crucial to maintain a balance between thinking about the result and staying in the present moment. If you’re too focused on the outcome of your creative endeavor, it can be difficult to generate new ideas. So instead, try to focus on the process and enjoy the journey.

You’re Stuck in a Rut
If you do the same things repeatedly, you’ve likely fallen into a creative rut. You’ll need to mix things up and try something new to get out of this funk. Challenge yourself to approach problems from a different perspective or experiment with new methods or techniques.

You’re Afraid of Failure
Everyone wants to be successful. But the fear of failure can be a significant roadblock to creativity. If you’re too worried about making mistakes, you’ll be less likely to take risks and try new things. So instead, embrace your inner child and allow yourself to play and experiment.

You’re Trying to Force It
Creativity is often described as a flow state, meaning it happens naturally when we’re in the right headspace. So if you struggle to come up with ideas, it might be because you’re trying too hard. So instead of forcing it, take a step back and let the ideas come to you.

You’re Not in the Right Environment
The environment dramatically impacts your creativity. For example, if distractions surround you or you don’t have the right tools, it can be challenging to focus and be productive. So instead, create a space conducive to creativity and ensure you have everything you need to get the job done.

If you’re experiencing creator’s block, don’t despair. Remember that even the most successful people go through periods of low productivity. The important thing is to identify why you might be struggling and take action to get back on track. With a little effort, you’ll be delighted by how quickly the ideas start flowing again.

Six Dos and Don’ts to Never Running Out of Content Ideas

It should not be shocking that content is critical for online marketing. To attract and retain customers, you must regularly produce high-quality, original content that provides value to your target audience. However, idea generation for content can be challenging, especially if you’re running a business and don’t have a dedicated marketing team.

Here are the six dos and don’ts to never running out of content ideas:

Do: Keep a running list of content ideas
As a business owner, you are constantly generating new ideas. These may be great ideas for blog posts, articles, or even books. Keep a running list of these ideas so that when you’re ready to sit down and write, you have a wealth of possibilities to choose from.

Do: Brainstorm with others
If you’re feeling stuck, reach out to a colleague, friend, or family member and brainstorm ideas together. Working with others is always better. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how your conversations with others take you in unique directions.

Do: Take inspiration from other sources
If you’re stuck and can’t seem to produce new ideas on your own, look to other sources for inspiration. This could be anything from reading articles in your industry to watching TED Talks. By exposing yourself to new ideas, you’ll start generating content ideas of your own.

Do: Get out and about
In order to write about something, you need to have experience with it. If you’re striving to come up with ideas, get out and about. Get out of your rut. Do new things. Talk to new people, visit new places, do new stuff. Expanding your horizons gives you plenty of material to write about.

Don’t: Be afraid to experiment
Experimentation with new formats, angles, and directions is an effective way to overcome any blocks you have. For example, try writing in a new structure or tackling a topic you’ve never written about before. Of course, it might not work out. But if it does, you’ll have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. If it doesn’t, you’ll have stats that will take you in the right direction.

Don’t: Get caught up in perfectionism
It’s easy to get caught up in need for perfection when you’re writing. But the reality is that there’s no such thing as perfection. So don’t let the pursuit of perfectionism keep you from putting your ideas out there.

Don’t: Be afraid to share your ideas
If you’re anxious about someone stealing your ideas, don’t be. The truth is, most people are too busy to steal your ideas. The truth is, they will not likely do anything with them. So go ahead and share your ideas freely. The more you share information, the better your chances of coming up with a winner.

Don’t: Ignore your gut
If you have a thought in your gut about a piece of content but are unsure if it’s worth pursuing, trust your gut. If you feel strongly about an idea, it’s probably worth pursuing.

The bottom line is that coming up with content ideas doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll always have many ideas to choose from with these dos and don’ts.

What to Do When You’re Struggling to Generate New Content Ideas

It’s common to feel like you’ve run out of content ideas. After all, you can only say so much about your product or service. However, you don’t need to worry. Thankfully, there are many ways to develop new ideas and produce more content for your needs.

Here are eight content-generating ideas to get you started:

Take a Look at Your Analytics
What topics have been most popular with your audience? Write about those topics again, or take a different angle on them. For instance, if you see that a lot of people are interested in a particular type of product, write a blog post about that product. If you notice that people are searching for specific information, write a post about that topic too.

Ask Your Target Audience
Ask them if you’re unsure what your target audience wants to read about. You can use social media, surveys, or even just conversations to accomplish this. For example, you could ask your followers on Twitter what kind of content they would like to see from you, or you could send out a survey to your email list and ask people what topics they’re interested in.

Look at What’s Trending
Check out what’s trending on social media and in the news. Then, see if there’s any way to tie those trends into your business or product. Use tools to find out what’s trending, such as Google Trends. Just enter a topic, and you’ll see how popular it is over time.

Host a Contest or Giveaway
This is a great way to create content and engage with your audience simultaneously. Some terrific contests and giveaways include asking people to submit photos, videos, or ideas.

Write an Industry Roundup
Every week or so, search for news stories related to your industry. Then, write a post that rounds up those stories and offers your own commentary. For example, if you sell software, you could write a post that rounds up the latest news in the tech industry.

Show Behind-the-Scenes Content
People love seeing the behind-the-scenes of businesses. Your audience wants to know what you’re doing behind the scenes. Show them what goes into making your product or service, or give them a peek into your company culture.

Create a Resource List
This is a great way to show your expertise on a topic and provide value to your audience. A resource list can be anything from a list of blog post topics to a roundup of the best tools for a certain task.

Do a Live Q&A Session or Webinar
This is another great way to engage with your audience and give them valuable information. You can also use this opportunity to promote your product or service.

Generating new content ideas doesn’t have to be complicated. You can quickly develop plenty of new ideas with a bit of creativity. Focus on your audience and create valuable, engaging, and actionable content for them using the content marketing strategies I’m sharing with you here.

I’m bestselling Wall Street Journal and USA Today author, marketing strategist, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and I would love to connect further with you to help you to achieve your goals. If you are interested in learning how to optimize the syndication of your content, please take a look at my popular Syndication Optimization training course and consider coming aboard to increase your visibility, credibility, and profitability.