No matter what kind of business you run online, there’s a good chance you have a blog. And if you have a blog, you need a lot of content.
But here’s the problem…
Creating content takes a lot of time, and if you outsource it, it will cost a lot of money. Either way, creating content is a significant investment.
Until now…
If you think you can’t create great content fast, think again. That’s because you’re about to discover ten types of blog posts you can make in 10 minutes or less. Take a look…
Create Blog Articles Out Of PLR
Sometimes, you purchase PLR (private label rights) articles that you can minimally tweak and post right to your blog. In other cases, you might take excerpts from PLR reports or ebooks and then post them on your blog. This creates something unique and saves you valuable time, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your blog.
Here are some other tips for using PLR to create content:
· Use the transcripts from a PLR video to create an article for your blog. The package may include these transcripts, or you can create your own.
TIP: This is particularly easy if the video includes slides; you can simply create your article from the slides’ content.
· Compile multiple pieces of PLR content to create something entirely new. For example, you might take excerpts from three or four PLR articles to create an entirely new article.
Take Excerpts From Your Products
Taking excerpts from your products is a super-quick way to create an article. However, this particular strategy also offers the bonus of quickly inserting a pitch at the end of the article to promote the entire product.
Now, there are two ways to use these excerpts:
1. One way is to pull the excerpt directly from the product, create an introduction and conclusion, and post it on your blog.
For example, suppose you have a report listing ten strategies for cutting calories. You can use three to five strategies to create your article. Then, at the end of the article, you can pitch the paid report as a place to learn more about these great strategies.
2. The second way is to cut some of the meat off the excerpt so that people will want to buy the product to get all the details.
Let’s take the example of the report with ten strategies again. You excerpted all ten strategies this time but edited some of the details. So readers will get an article that tells them what to do, but they don’t get the exact instructions. They’ll need to purchase the product to get those exact instructions.
Make Link Lists on Your Blog
A link list can come in a variety of formats, including:
· A gear list. These are tools you use that you’d recommend to others. It saves beginners time and money since they don’t have to do as much research.
For example, list all the plugins you use on your blog. Or, if you’re writing to bodybuilders, you might list all the “must-use” supplements.
· A list of free resources. You might link to blog posts, reports, videos, and other accessible content to help your readers achieve specific goals.
· A list of paid resources. In this case, you’d write a short review for each resource to let people know who can use it and its benefits.
· A mix of paid and free resources. For example, “The Top 10 Resources Every Aspiring Copywriter Ought to Read.”
Again, the point is to save your readers time by doing some of the legwork and research for them. It’s much easier to get recommendations and content all in one place from a trusted source rather than finding products and sources yourself and then separating the wheat from the chaff. With link lists, you can provide a comprehensive resource for your readers with minimal effort.
Recap Your Recent Posts
The idea is to create an “in case you missed it” list of your best posts in the last couple of weeks or months. Of course, you don’t need just to list blog posts. Instead, you can curate your content across platforms, including your social media accounts and newsletters. This strategy saves you time and ensures that your best content gets the attention it deserves.
Another way to do it is by curating your best (recent) content around a particular topic.
For example:
· Five Blog Posts That Will Change the Way You Think About Dieting
· The Three Posts Every Beginner Marketer Ought to Read
· The Five Keys to Improving Your Golf Score
All you have to do is write an intro to the post, list the resources along with a short explanation of why people should read each resource, and then wrap it up with a quick conclusion.
Interview Someone on Your Blog
Here’s a great way to create content fast: let someone else make the content for you. In this case, simply email a list of questions and let your interviewee’s answers become your article. This strategy saves you time, adds variety to your blog’s content, and provides a fresh perspective for your readers. In exchange, your interviewee gets a byline with a link to their site, which can help them increase their visibility and reach a new audience.
Here’s an example email to send to land these interviews…
Subject Line: I’d like to feature you on my blog, [name]
Hi [First Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I run the popular [type of] blog over at [domain]. I’m writing today because I’d like to interview you and feature this interview on the blog.
The interview consists of just [small number] questions, so it would only take about [tiny number of minutes] to complete. These questions should focus on the interviewee’s expertise and provide valuable insights for your readers. For example, you might ask about their career journey, their top tips for success in their industry, or their predictions for future trends.
In return, you’d get a byline, a link to your site, and exposure to my [number] of readers and visitors. I’ll also send out the link to my [number] of newsletter subscribers and [number] social media followers.
If you agree this sounds like a great way to showcase your business to a targeted audience, reply immediately, and I’ll send over the questions.
I look forward to hearing from you!
[sign off]
——-
Remember this: the easier it is for someone to comply with your request, the more likely they’ll say yes. So, don’t make your interviewee spend hours answering questions. Instead, shoot some quick questions so they can respond in just minutes. Then, if you want more info, send a couple of follow-up questions. This approach respects the interviewee’s time and makes the process more manageable, increasing their chances of agreeing to the interview and providing thoughtful responses.
Here’s why…
Once a person has answered your initial questions, they’ll feel invested and committed to your project. So, if you ask ten more minutes to answer a couple of additional questions, they will likely say yes.
Tweak A Previous Blog Post
The next idea is to combine your existing content, find popular articles, tweak them, and republish the new version.
For example:
· If you previously published a list of ten tips, then excerpt five, expand on them, and republish the new article.
· Update an old article with new information, such as the latest research on the scene since you originally published it.
· Have you changed your mind about a product, idea or other topic? Update an older article with your revised opinion.
Those are just three ways to turn your existing content into something new. Be creative; you can create dozens of new articles from your old content.
Turn Existing Content Into an Infographic
Another good way to quickly create content is to transform existing content into a different format. One way to do this is to turn an article into an infographic.
Here are examples of articles that would make good infographics:
· An article discussing multiple ways to boost conversion rates on a website.
· An article explaining how metabolism works.
· An article about different garden pests and how to get rid of them using organic pest control methods.
Be sure your infographic includes social media buttons next to it, as this is the kind of content people like to share.
Ask For Blog Content From a Vendor
Are you an affiliate for a product or service? One great way to quickly access free content is to ask the product vendor to supply it.
Your first stop is to check the affiliate center to see if one is available. The vendor has likely supplied affiliates with content, including blog posts.
However, you want unique content, right? So don’t go straight to the blog post category, as all the other affiliates are likely copying and pasting those articles to their blogs. Instead, look at different content such as reports, emails and similar. Find something suitable, and then ask the vendor if you can modify it for your blog, such as taking an excerpt from a report.
If you’re not finding what you like within the affiliate center, write to the vendor and request an article. The vendor is more likely to give you incredibly exclusive content if you’ve already proven yourself to be a good affiliate.
TIP: Here’s a powerhouse combo you can use to promote affiliate products while getting unique content for free: ask the vendor for an interview. Most vendors will be happy to get the exposure and extra sales. You can post a text interview, or you might even consider doing a short webinar or podcast.
Do Multimedia Posts
So far, we’ve been talking about how to create text articles quickly. However, you don’t need to write a single word if you don’t want to.
Instead, pick up a camera to do a quick video on the topic of your choice.
TIP: You can also turn on a microphone for a quick podcast. You don’t even need expensive tools, as a simple tool like Audacity will let you capture and edit audio for free. You can get this tool at http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/files/.
For example:
· Turn the camera on and discuss your top five weight loss tips for five minutes.
· Film yourself trying out and reviewing a new product.
· Give a demo on camera, such as how to teach a dog to sit.
· If you’d like to demo something on your screen, such as how to set up a blog, then use screen-recording software such as Camtasia.
Then, you have to upload the video to YouTube.com (for greater exposure) and then post the embedded video on your blog.
Copy And Paste Your Emails
One excellent source for articles and other content is your emails. Here, I’m talking about two things:
1. If you broadcast an announcement, article or other content to your mailing list, then put this content on your blog.
TIP: Let your newsletter readers know you’re posting the content on your blog, and then encourage them to click through and discuss the topic.
2. Use it if you reply to a customer’s question and realize it would make a good post. Naturally, you won’t use any of the customer’s identifying information. Instead, you might say something like this at the beginning of the post…
“Just about every week, the same question tends to pop up in my email from people like you. Look and see if you’ve wondered about this topic too…”
Final Thoughts on Blogs
As you just discovered, you don’t need to spend much time creating great content. All you need is ten minutes or less, and you can have a blog post ready to go out the door. I bet you can immediately create and update one of these posts on your blog. Go ahead and see how quick and easy creating content using these tactics.
