Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

June 29, 2009

How Many Ways Do You Offer Your Content?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 9:15 am

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Repurposing Content Is a Service

relationships button

If you watch cable television carefully, you will see an interview clip from one program replayed again in another program. Perhaps you’ve had the feeling you’ve seen a show before, but then again . . . maybe not? Packaging and repackaging bits of content makes it worth more and last longer. Five uses for the same content stretches the corporate dollar.

It seems backwards doesn’t it . . . to reuse content in a time when there is so much of it? But it makes sense. If I know my content is accurate and high quality, I should share it with as large an audience as I can — particularly in this time of attention economy.

So Much Content . . . Why?

The amount of content and information available is more than anyone can read, yet we are all being asked to know more, and more, and more. If there’s so much content already, it seems miserly to repackage what is already published?

Not necessarily.

There are valid reasons to repackage content in this age of attention economy. Repackaging and repurposing content allows a publisher

Granted, those three points actually say the same thing in different ways. That’s exactly what repackaging is — tailoring content to suit the needs of the audience.

Just as some conversations are meant for an email, some for a meeting, and some are meant to be shared in person … content can be designed to fit the needs of the situation.

Giving the readers what they want instead of what we think they need — that’s a concept worth exploring. Much of existing content probably suits existing needs, if only we would structure it in way that our readers found it relevant and offer it so that they could use it as they want to rather than as we think they should.

How many ways do you offer your content? Just one? Is that enough?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.





Filed under Marketing, Outside the Box, Successful Blog, The Big Idea |




C'mon. Let's talk!

11 Comments to “How Many Ways Do You Offer Your Content?”

  1. June 29th, 2009 at 9:33 am
    Alasdair Munn said

    Today I woke up asking the question “why are so many companies using social media to push a brand rather than using their brand attributes to bring all their conversations together?”

    What you have written here adds a voice to that and puts it in an accessible format.

    We are moving away from a website focus towards a content focus. Content needs to travel and to be seen within context. Repurposing content does just that.

    The way in for a brand is to recognise the real-time need within its audience and respond to that verses the demand creation model of yesteryear.

    Content creation cannot be static or revisited once a year. Overarching brand attributes need to direct contextual conversations and messaging.

    Yes to repurposing.

  2. June 29th, 2009 at 10:40 am
    Karin H said

    Hi Liz

    I’ve been thinking about re-using content a lot lately. On our retail FAQ site (blog) we’ve posted around 250 post already on various subjects. All in fact answering questions from prospects. Some we can turn into guides, leaflets or special web pages.

    But then you have to copy/paste all the content all over again, combine some parts and leave other parts out. Cumbersome task I think many recognise.

    Found the simple answer in ScreenSteps Pro - a software program I perhaps love even more than AWeber nowadays. On my one blog I’ve written various reviews about it or just visit the great guys (Greg and Trevor) on the Blue Mango Learning system website. You are also guaranteed of great service from these guys.

    It has made the ‘mantra’: create content once, publish it over and over again - in various combinations - come true.

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  3. June 29th, 2009 at 11:32 am
    Tony Lawrence said

    Well, I’ve always been on the side of “more is better”. With that in mind, I have multiple landing pages (one with a magazine format, one traditional blog format, another that’s a mix of both) for new content. I also index all content in different ways and have different paths that will lead you to the same content.

    Of course I offer RSS feeds, but again, in keeping with the spirit of giving readers “what they want instead of what we think they need”, I offer both full feed and summary text feeds for all articles and for specific sections.

    I’m not adverse to having multiple articles on the same subject, especially if by different authors. The way I explain something might hit one person perfectly, the way someone else puts it may resonate better with someone else.

    The downside of all this is that some people get overwhelmed by choice and complain that it’s all too confusing - there’s too much to begin with and too many ways to get at it.

    I tend to think too much is better than too little in this case, but…

  4. June 29th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
    Web Media Daily – Monday June 29, 2009 | Reinventing Yourself... said

    [...] How Many Ways Do You Offer Your Content? …Liz Strauss [...]

  5. June 29th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
    Tim Bursch said

    This has got me thinking. Have you seen Rajesh Setty’s Th!nkTweek book? Good example of repackaging valuable content.
    You think big Liz.

  6. June 29th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Alasdair,
    That’s such a valuable question and it’s more synchronous than you might expect. I’m working on a project that has that idea at the core. I particularly like these statements.

    We are moving away from a website focus towards a content focus. Content needs to travel and to be seen within context. Repurposing content does just that.

    What you say about attending to the audience and their needs is the key to any marketing effort. Good companies have always done that with their products … now they’re finding that content is one of their products as never before.

  7. June 29th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Thank Karin,
    Your help has once again made everyone see an easier way to do things. Though I might change the mantra to …

    create content once — refine it and publish it over and over again

  8. June 29th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tony!
    I’m not sure that I would put all versions of the same content in the same place. Different audiences need access in different forms — blog, ebook, audio, video, pdf, guest posts … heh heh

  9. June 29th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tim!
    Raj and I have talked about his project, but I’ve not seen it yet. He’s a master at understanding the value of content purposing to match the way the audience uses it.

  10. June 30th, 2009 at 7:55 am
    Amy Locurto said

    This is great. People should utilize other formats to different audiences more often. ebooks, audio, guest posts are perfect ideas. You can edit the old content to seem fresh and new.

  11. June 30th, 2009 at 11:12 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    So with you on that!! We need to reach audiences where they think.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

C'mon Let's Talk!