Strategic Content Professional [KNWLG] Become a strategic lynchpin

Is a content marketing specialist vital to the organization? Seth Godin's book explains why

Seth Godin's Linchpin is a great introduction to today's individual's strategic position. Godin tells the uninitiated (or inexperienced) worker of how in many companies there are a few "linchpin" contributors. He actually developed a unique original perspective on the idea of who is a vital "linchpin" worker. He suggests of a way to change how we work, making every worker irreplaceable by giving workers freedom to think and do creative work. This idea of giving each worker the ability to think for themselves and do the most they are able is not new. He suggests that our industrialization of white collar jobs made robots of workers. Essentially making most jobs routine, defined carefully to the point of simple tasks. He also suggests ways of looking at work and at management which are different from the traditional American corporate standard. I have seen this situation recently working as a freelancer on long projects (2 and 5 months) inside established companies. On the other hand, there are also great examples of companies which do not fit this mold. It seems more useful to today's content marketer to focus on where their work can be unique, productive and strategic.

All Work and No Play: After the Design and AdWords

When first evaluating content creation, especially as an outsourced service, the process seems like "real work" / you are "getting it" (sarcastically saying) / Jean-François Millet- TheGleaners

This month I started looking for new "serious" customers. "Serious" customers are ones which not only need my services, but also actually benefit immediately. This may mean getting business right away (i.e. at Tikal Networks), or getting attention or a unique advantage over competitors (i.e. SolidRun). The process is simple: I contact a CEO or marketing director, they tell me what they need, I pitch an idea and sometimes write a short proposal or sample. Then we are off to the races. If the CEO is not sure how unique content, targeted at his market will help, they will usually ask the "hard questions". Which means, answering about the same questions every time (after 7 years this is normal), and showing some examples. Either this works or it doesn't. If the initial screening process works, then comes the real shock: "oh this is real work! I tried this before and it has not really worked for me!" This may sound sarcastic, but believe me, it is not. 

Developing Blog Strategy: When and Where

TechCrunch Clearly controls "When and Where" strategically. Make sure you define a strategy.

It may seem like internet sites can be static, universal (i.e. global), and timeless. That would get us to think of content creation and publication also as static and globally uniform. But that is not always the case. Today product sites, especially blogs, are timely sources of information. They are also a good place to voice opinion and shape ideas. When assuming a static and global reach, it can be a bad assumption and can cause writers and publishers to fail (or at least lose content effectiveness.) This brings up the question of a “When” strategy. Essentially when is content going to be published, how often, and in response to what news or information. There are two key factors in timing publication of blog articles: publication frequency and timing. Blogs as information channels, either publish news or editorials on demand, when an event happens, or on a regular schedule (i.e. every morning or once a week). Blogs serving as aggregators or marketing-publishing channels usually publish on a regular basis on a daily or weekly schedule. Giving readers a steady and regular stream of articles is a sure way of establishing habits with regular readers. People with start reading your articles on a regular basis. Strategic decision on publication and promotion timing is not a simple matter of looking at Google statistics (as in search interest or advertising cost). If you have a unique blog with a new approach, you may have to test different timing techniques. “When” strategy development may take a test and adjust process. It also depends on other factors such as resources: how many original articles can you develop in a week on a steady basis? This means developing a starting strategy and adjusting as the work starts taking shape.    

Developing Blog Strategy: How (style, design, people, resources)

Typepad is a commercial, hosted, paid blogging platform. Popular with professionals

The second element I use in developing a blog strategy is “How” will the blog function. Essentially what are the elements which will make the blog: name and tag line, platform and hosting, writing, editing, graphic or photo resources (who will do the work, what is their experience, what is available and what is missing.) In both official and personal blogs, the “How” can be the most difficult or the most opportunistic element early in blog development. It is also the most useful strategy item for creators: writers, editors, promoters, designers, and business managers. In blogs where the message and content is not completely crystallized, or changes with time, how a blog looks and is written is extremely helpful (the “what” see: http://7thousandclicks.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/developing-blog-strategy-what-core.html). While some bloggers, focusing on interesting or useful topics, hoping to attract readers, style and design are just as crucial in a competitive world. Next in “how” are the resources: writers, artists, editors, publishers (possibly other blogs) and their availability, experience, and overall ability (quality of work, popularity, timely writing and commenting, social media leverage). Finally, useful information are tools, platforms (blogging frameworks), budgets, available resources which are not people (i.e. availability of content). Essentially, a “How” strategy components will describe the process of creating and maintaining the blog as an operation.  

Developing Blog Strategy: What (Core Subject or Message)

UAV use in the military is a side topic for GE Aviation, useful for blogging

The first item I define in a blog strategy is “What” the blog will cover. For official or formal blogs (see previous article about formal blogs http://7thousandclicks.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/formal-blogs-and-informal-blogs-or.html ), defining what to say is useful in many ways. First, blog content can be in-line or an extension to the main business or marketing strategy. In the case of more conservative companies (i.e. aviation and defense sector), blog and social media pages can be used for informal topics. In less conservative companies (i.e. music editing software applications, DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), topics from sound examples, case studies (people and techniques), and even special offers (sales and packages) can be useful and interesting. The topics are useful in communicating information to customers and other readers. These are also in a category which is not covered by other formats. Neither the company nor product web site, nor newsletters cover these topics. This is where blogs are interesting to readers, which makes them useful to product managers. They cover information and actually become discussion boards for daily topics we talk about every day. Yet these topics are not communicated by the company formally.

Developing A Blog Strategy: Your Message: What, How, When, and Why

Michael Porter, of Harvard Business School, advocates sound business strategy

Effective blogs for business are taking the place of many communication formats. A blog strategy is useful in planning, developing, and optimizing a blog's message. A strategy is also helpful in overall design, promotion, and management of resources. A blog strategy can be in line with the overall business strategy or with a marketing strategy. It can also have a strategy all it's own, improving communication with customers, improving a company's message, or simply explaining a product's use. A strategy in blog development is also useful to design content, focusing promotion efforts, and maintaining or changing a message as a community is built. When a blog is developed by many people a strategy helps focus their efforts. Developing, codifying (writing and publishing), testing, and finally using and optimizing a strategy gives a blog (and a communication operation in general) a high level of managing the message idea and actual development. Michael Porter, a proponent of developing business and marketing strategies, introduces strategy as:  

“Competitive strategy aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry competition.” – Competitive Advantage, Michael E. Porter, 1985

Using this description for a blog simply means making a blog as a publication, communication, or any other business tool, a “profitable and sustainable” product. This is a good starting point to understand and use strategy.