In the online world, content is king. If you want to attract traffic to your business website, you need engaging content. The content business isn't just about articles on your company's blog anymore, either. You need to create content for social media, email marketing campaigns, and official communications within your business or to the press. Some of the business content that you should consider for your business includes:
- Articles for your website/blog: Most business owners think of blog and website content when they think of online business content. These articles keep your website fresh, and allow you to build a body of work that is more visible to search engines.
- Social media: You can't rely entirely on Google and other search engines for your traffic. Social media content can drive traffic to your website and help you position yourself as a leader in your field.
- Thought pieces and guest articles: If you want to raise your visibility or improve your credibility, you can create thought pieces and guest articles to share on other websites. Websites like Entrepreneur, Forbes, Huffington Post and AllBusiness are always looking for high-quality and knowledgeable contributors. You can reach more people when you provide articles to other outlets.
- Press releases: Getting the news out about new developments and initiatives for your business is important. A well-written press release can not only provide information to others, but there are websites that, to satisfy the need for content, will use press releases as a whole.
- Email marketing: Don't believe the rumors about the death of email marketing. Doubters have been predicting the end of email marketing since the rise of Twitter. Yet, year after year, email marketing remains relevant. A good email marketing campaign, as well as a well-managed sales funnel, can result in a better conversion rate than casual traffic to your website.
- Other business communications: You might also have need of other business content. Memos, presentations, internal emails, and other business communications are a part of the lifeblood of a business in the modern age.
This is a lot of content; who's going to write it? Here are 5 ways to get your business content written, depending on your company's size, scalability, and other needs:
Image: StartupStockPhotos
1. Write it Yourself
When you are starting out, chances are that you write your content yourself. After all, nobody knows your business better than you.
Mary Green, the Community Manager at Inbound.org, points out that there are some topics that lend themselves better to your specific knowledge. "If you are pulling the numbers and dissecting data to make actionable tasks, you should write the post about why and how you are making these changes," she says. "Generally, the CEO is great at producing these posts because they are knowledgeable enough to decide on changes, and articulate enough to produce an enjoyable read."
However, if you try to write everything yourself, you quickly run out of time and energy for more important tasks. Spreading yourself too thin is a recipe for disaster when it comes to a successful business. Content creation, especially if you have a hard time writing, is something that can easily be outsourced to someone else.
2. Hire Staff
"A good entrepreneur knows how to focus on the most important and productive tasks," says John Rampton, a serial entrepreneur and business consultant. "Your time is precious and should be spent on the tasks most essential to growing your business. Spend your effort on tasks that only you can do. Hire others to take care of the mundane tasks that almost anyone else can do."
If you have enough work for staff to do, this can be a good solution, since it ensures that your content creators know your business and its needs. However, the fixed costs can be high, since you will need to pay salaries and benefits, and overhead associated with space.
When you have a small staff of people who can fulfill multiple responsibilities, it can work to have someone already on your team produce your business content. However, at some point, your business might grow to a stage that requires you to choose between keeping in-house content creation and outsourcing.
3. Outsource to Freelancers on a Per-Project Basis
Outsourcing content creation can be a great way to free up time to focus on "big picture" items. I, of course, favor the idea of outsourcing content creation because I am a freelancer. Freelancers can be a good choice because the .
If you only want content created on occasion, outsourcing to freelancers can be a smart move, especially if you find a go-to freelancer that you can trust. "I generally recommend outsourcing anything that distracts from key business objectives," says Mike Leigh, a business consultant at Strategic Management LLC. "If your budget is tight, you have fewer choices, but ideally you use a consistent source. You want the freelancer to have a vested interest in the success of your company."
You can usually find freelancers at sites like Odesk, Elance, Guru.com, and Freelancer.com. However, even though these sites offer cheap prices, the quality of the work is sometimes questionable. Often, you get what you pay for.
4. Outsource to an Agency
For a business owner with varied yet consistent business content needs, an agency can be a good choice. A content agency has its own stable of specialists, ranging from writers with different specialties to SEO specialists and press release writers.
Outsourcing to an agency can allow you to put your content needs on automatic (at least from your standpoint) in a way that allows you to keep focus on growing your business. "When our writers blog for you, we can take it from idea through writing, formatting, and adding images," says David Leonhardt, the owner of THGM Writers, a content agency.
I often work with David, providing content for his financial client campaigns, and it is a way for businesses to get consistent content. Many agencies will also promote your content, and set up a regular schedule for social media engagement. "The work is done A to Z and on time," David continues. "There are no worries about it falling between the cracks or getting delayed by more pressing business matters."
5. Curate Content
Rather than creating original content, you can curate content for your business blog and social media channels. This general has a low cost, and the time commitment can be relatively low as well. "One of the reasons I set up MyBlogU is because it allows bloggers to run their own blog without the burden of content creation," says MyBlogU founder Ann Smarty. "Many hands make the work lighter, but the blog owner is still in control and there is no costly outsourcing."
With content curation, you need to make sure you understand licensing, and be careful that you have the proper permissions to use the content on your website. Content curation is something that is usually relatively easy to assign to one of your own staff, or to hire out inexpensively to a freelancer or an agency.
Combining Business Content Strategies
Of course, you can combine any of these business content strategies to do what works for you. I have many clients who outsource most of their social media and blog content, but produce their email marketing materials in-house. I also have clients who request ghostwriting services for their thought leader pieces. In these cases, it is often a collaboration to create business content. The business owner provides the idea and outline, and perhaps a couple of quotes, and I create the piece.
As you consider your time availability, and your ability create content effectively, you might come to the conclusion that it makes sense to get someone else to manage most of the content creation. This is one of those tasks that others can probably do just as well (or perhaps better) than you. Free up your time as an entrepreneur to focus on what will really matter to your business, and consider leaving the business content creation to someone else.
