One of the biggest complaints I hear from my clients is that it’s hard to generate new content for their blogs and articles week after week, or develop their ideas into actionable content. To help, I’ve put together some strategies designed to help you write smarter.

In addition to giving your creative muse a break, these strategies will help you nurture potential customers by keeping your name top of mind when they need your products or services. The best thing is that, with these strategies, you won’t need to search for new topics every time you sit down to write. In fact, you may even have fun with your writing!

Let us begin.

Content Strategy #1: Layer Up

In Strategy #1, you’ll brainstorm a theme that can be layered throughout your marketing or networking vehicles.

On Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn

One idea is to ask your followers on Twitter or other social media platforms to tell you their stories. For example, if you’re a dating coach, find out the worst things that happened on your prospects’ dates. Career coaches can ask the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to their prospects at work. Financial coaches can ask people to share a financial crisis they experienced and perhaps learned some lessons from.

People love to talk about themselves and tell their funny stories, and it also gives them the therapeutic benefits of letting off steam about their challenging experiences.

on your blog

Next, choose a story to talk about in a blog post and offer personal reflections on the topic, including your own experience with the topic at hand (if applicable).

Ask your readers if they have ever been in a similar situation and what they did to solve it. Even if you haven’t found yourself in such a situation, you can still share possible solutions that come to mind.

At the end of the post, tell readers that you’ll be offering your suggestions in a few days, so they should be sure to check back (or, better yet, subscribe to your blog).

In your follow-up post a few days later, summarize the situation in one sentence, such as “The story we talked about on Tuesday was shared by Mary, who (insert a brief synopsis of the issue here)…” Then summarize the best suggestions or feedback received from other readers, followed by your own professional advice or tips as promised. Not sure what to write? Simply respond as if you were advising one of your own clients who had a similar situation and requested your help.

in an article

Your next step is to extract the story, reader comments, and your own suggestions into an article that can be submitted to Ezine Articles and posted on your website.

Just continue this process with the best stories you receive, and before you know it, you’ll have several months worth of blog posts and multiple articles that can help you position yourself as an expert in your field.

The articles can then be turned into free reports to be delivered on your website in exchange for your leads’ contact information. Eventually, you can combine these articles and reports into an ebook that will further establish your credibility as an expert (more on that in strategy #2).

Content strategy #2: Spin off

In content strategy #2, you’ll build your flagship product and expand on it.

Consider the core message you want to convey to your client coaching and the core products you already have in place to deliver that message, such as your curriculum, success plan, articles, emails, etc.

For example, as a health coach, you might have a 3-month plan to help clients start an exercise routine. In a series of articles, she briefly discusses the steps she typically takes her clients through. Provide enough information to whet your potential customers’ appetites and get them interested in learning more.

From there, you can branch out and offer e-books, teleclasses, oral presentations, live events, or other spin-offs – the possibilities are endless. Just keep developing your main message more and more as you gradually lead your prospects down the road to eventually buying your coaching services. The best part of this strategy is that people can test your services in a low-risk, low-cost way by reading your free articles or buying a cheap e-book. If they like what they see, they can delve into one of your teleclasses, oral presentations, or other product until they have developed enough confidence in your expertise to hire you as their coach.

Content Strategy #3: Plan Ahead

In content strategy #3, you’ll use an editorial calendar to set up discussion topics for the year.

Start with a blank calendar: Use a standard printed calendar, create one on your computer, or sign up for an online calendar service (many are free). Then sit down and set your themes for the year, using the holidays and seasons as your guide. In February, for example, you could talk about relationships (family or business).

You also don’t have to stick to traditional parties. Search the Internet for lists of unique and strange holidays that you can talk about. For example, did you know that January 13 is Dream Come True Day? You can easily adapt this topic to your area of ​​expertise and advise your readers to take a step in the direction of their goals and dreams. You might even have a special offer that could be your first step.

Another online resource for topic ideas is the Quote Garden, where you can easily find quotes to share with your readers. Be sure to include your own thoughts on dating and offer insights on how your prospects can solve their problems.

In addition to specific topics, you can also create an editorial schedule for the types of blog posts you want to write. Having this type of structure takes away some of the anxiety of sitting in front of a blank screen or page.

Here is an example of a weekly blog schedule:

• Week 1: Share your thoughts on a meaningful date or interesting vacation.
• Week 2: Ask readers to share a story (see strategy #1).
• Week 3: Follow up on the story by sharing comments from other readers and your own suggestions.
• Week 4: Provide an update on what’s going on with you to give readers a personal insight into your life. Readers are more likely to work with and refer people they know, like and trust, so help them get to know you.

In the following month, during weeks 2 and 3, you could comment on another story that you received in your first month. In fact, if you get several quality stories, you could easily have several months worth of blogs. Once you run out, just ask for more stories. Chances are you’ll catch a few people who didn’t see your application the first time, and you’ll have a whole new batch of new material.

Do you want to type smarter? If you use these three simple strategies, you’ll find that there are endless topics waiting to be covered by you, and your struggles to find new content will be gone forever.