How to Create Content People Will Still Remember in 5 Years’ Time

Kevin J. Duncan 94 Comments Last Updated Apr 13, 2017

What the heck happened?

You had a brilliant idea for your blog.

You spent days (or even weeks!) bringing your idea to life — editing, tweaking, and perfecting every syllable.

You used every promotion strategy and technique in your arsenal to ensure the world would know about your blogging masterpiece.

So when you laid down to sleep that first night, you were certain you had a winner on your hands — the kind of content that could stand the test of time and be spoken of with reverence years later by adoring fans who named their firstborn after you.

But faster than you can say “Keyser Soze,” your content was — poof! — gone.

After its initial wave of popularity subsided, your masterpiece faded into the background as newer and newer content popped up.

Instead of standing the test of time, your content was forgotten.

And the only adoring fan willing to name their firstborn after you was your spouse.

Seriously…

What the heck happened?
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Content Marketing/ Writing

7 Ways You Can Repurpose Your Old Blog Posts to Get More Traffic

Robert van Tongeren 87 Comments Last Updated Mar 16, 2017

Note from Glen: I’m delighted to introduce Smart Blogger’s new Associate Editor, Robert van Tongeren. Robert’s been behind the scenes for a couple of years now, most recently as the lead instructor and editor for our Guest Blogging program. But this month he’s taking over editorial responsibilities on the blog – congratulations Robert! I’ll be focusing on running the business, freeing Jon up for more writing and of course plotting our path to world domination. 😉

As a blogger, you’re in the business of sharing ideas.

You have to consistently come up with new ideas and turn those ideas into blog posts that dazzle your readers. And you want to keep those readers happy and engaged, so you work your butt off to publish new posts on a regular basis.

But if you’ve been blogging for a while, you should have a treasure trove of ideas buried deep in your archives. The longer you’ve been blogging, the deeper your archives go, and the more gems are buried there.

Most bloggers are so focused on delivering new ideas that they neglect to help their readers discover the old ones, and many of those oldies are still relevant today. Many of them just haven’t been discovered by your newer followers yet.

So why not dust them off, and put them front and center again? Why not repurpose those old gems for a brand-new audience?

Below, you’ll find some ways to do just that.
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Content Marketing/ Standing out/ Writing

The Epic Content Cycle: 10 Steps to 10X Content [Infographic]

Sonia Thompson 139 Comments Last Updated Nov 10, 2016

It’s the holy grail of the blogosphere — highly sought after but rarely achieved.

We’re talking, of course, about “epic” content.

Creating it, though, feels like an impossible mission for many bloggers — beyond the reach of all but the most elite writers.

But in reality, you don’t need epic skills to create truly remarkable content, just a reliable process. One you can follow time and time again to create posts that cut through the noise and rescue your readers from pain and frustration.

The following exclusive infographic is your ultimate visual guide to the epic content cycle. It’s a proven blueprint for creating content that’s ten times better than the competition.

So here they are, the 10 steps you must follow to “10X” your next post:
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Content Marketing/ Writing

Warning: Are You Suffocating Your Blog by Needlessly Neglecting Newbies?

Pamela Wilson 42 Comments Last Updated Oct 27, 2016

Editor’s note: You’ll certainly have heard the following advice, commonly given to bloggers — “write for your ideal reader.” But the truth is, your most valuable readers won’t have identical needs. And if you ignore one important group, your blog growth could stall. Pamela Wilson’s new book is not just a must-read for content marketers; it’s invaluable for bloggers too. In this extract, taken from “Chapter 4: Matching Your Content to Your Customer’s Journey”, she explains how to pitch your content at different experience levels to attract a healthy mix of readers and avoid depriving your blog of the “oxygen” it needs to grow — new fans.

Prospects and customers go through a process of getting to know your business until they feel comfortable opening their wallets and doing business with you.

It’s called a “customer journey.” Although many have tried to map it out and identify key steps along the way, the reality is that the journey taken will look a little different for each person.

Customer journeys are as different as the people who take them.

Content marketing is designed to facilitate this journey — no matter what it looks like — by offering up the right information every step of the way.

I want to share a way of thinking about the customer journey that the Copyblogger editorial team has developed as we work together to produce the Copyblogger blog. We took a step back and looked at how we could best serve our entire audience: the ones who were just finding Copyblogger and the ones who’d been reading for years.

We developed a technique for classifying the content we create, and it has been enormously helpful in guiding our topic choices and developing an editorial calendar that meets the needs of the people who come to our site.

This classification system will ensure that you deliver the content your prospects need to understand your topic, develop trust in your business, and feel comfortable entering into a business relationship.

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Content Marketing/ Mistakes

For All the Entrepreneurs Confused about How Content Marketing Actually Works

Jon Morrow 105 Comments Last Updated Sep 30, 2016

Let’s start with a simple question…

How, exactly, does content marketing make money?

Because that’s the end goal, right?

You’re not hunched over your keyboard, racking your brain for attention-grabbing ideas because you enjoy it. You expect to get clients, sales, or some other tangible result for your business. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sometime in the future, all that work you’re putting into creating and publishing content had better pay off.

Except… what if it won’t?

What if your entire understanding of the way content marketing works is wrong?

What if all the time you’ve invested into creating content was, in fact, a senseless waste of time, never possessing even the slightest chance of turning a profit?

It would be a tragedy, and yet I believe that’s precisely what’s happening. Not just to you, but to millions of entrepreneurs around the globe.

Is it because content marketing is just a fad? Or worse, an elaborate hoax?

No. On the contrary, I believe the hype is totally justified. If you execute the right content marketing strategy in the right market, the results are breathtaking.

But that rarely happens. There are lots of reasons why, and I might eventually write a short book explaining them all, but by far the biggest reason why most entrepreneurs get crappy results is they completely misunderstand what content marketing is about.

Here’s what I mean…
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