This Express Content Planner work sheet addresses the hardest part of any content marketing project — overcoming inertia and getting started.

The faster you choose a topic and identify an approach, the sooner you can begin to write. The sooner you begin to write, the more time you’ll have available for editing and revision — where the real work takes place! Continue Reading

Content marketing success requires consistent individual and team productivity.

Content marketing productivity requires more than a knowledge of the latest best practices, tools, and techniques. On both individual and departmental levels, success involves acknowledging and accommodating the “human elements” that often undermine well-intentioned efforts by talented individuals.

If you are looking to become more productive, check out the seven books below. Each offers a different perspective on the overlap between the creative, writing, and project management competence needed for consistent high-level content marketing productivity.Continue Reading

As 2012’s halfway point approaches, I’d like to share a simple, seven-step checklist to help you evaluate your 2012 content marketing success.

Granted, many large firms, and those who serve them, already have content marketing monitoring and tracking systems in place. These, however, are often aimed at measuring response to specific articles, blog posts, and sign-up incentives.

My goal, however, is to encourage a wider spectrum of businesses and self-employed professionals to take a fresh look at their content marketing from a broader, long-term perspective.Continue Reading

Productivity is a universal challenge in content marketing, where success often depends on consistent performance, not isolated genius.

Under the right circumstances, many professionals are capable of preparing great content for blogs, books, and online sign-up incentives. But only a few can consistently produce quality marketing content on a daily basis.

Those who do usually have a system or process in place to help them meet the daily deadline challenge.Continue Reading