31 GROWING YOUR TROPICAL DEPRESSION
Remember, this storm is constantly spinning.
It has to, or it's going to peter out.
So there are two cycles going on here that both keep everything in motion:
The Instant Expert Formula:
The cycle of decision making, research, content creation and content distribution was covered in Section Two:
1. Initial decision making – figuring out which of the intersecting points from your Disparate Forces is going to be your topic(s) of choice to build your content around.
2. Finding a niche – fitting that topic(s) into a marketable niche with an established or identifiable target audience and (possibly) competition.
3. Narrowing the focus – positioning yourself within that niche in such a way that you can successfully market to a broad enough audience while handling the competition.
4. Deciding on the media – choosing the channels and formats most effective for the content you want to produce and audience you need to speak to.
5. Creating your content – The 10-step Checklist for Creating Killer Content!
6. Getting published – distributing that content effectively on your own or via one or more 3rd parties.
7. Re-evaluating – monitoring and analyzing the entire process with an eye for efficiency and efficacy; seeing what worked and repeating it, seeing what didn't work and eliminating it.
You're going to keep that cycle going by constantly monitoring the content you create and distribute, and making tiny but meaningful (kaizen) improvements to it with each progressive piece you create.
The 10-step Checklist for Creating Killer Content:
Then, contained in Step 5 of that formula is The 10-step Checklist for Creating Killer Content:
1. Think About Your Audience – Targeting your content to solve a problem for your audience.
2. Plan Ahead – Creating efficiencies and guaranteeing success.
3. Get Excited – Putting your personal best into every piece.
4. Write Like You Speak – Making your content conversational and engaging.
5. Limit or Eliminate Jargon – Avoid one of the biggest problems rookie content marketers make.
6. Trust Your First Draft – It came out this way for a reason, so trust that.
7. Proofread – Get the technical junk out of the way.
8. Read Aloud – Verify the content is conversational.
9. Trash Your First Draft – Get it right the second time.
10. Know When to Let it Go – Concentrate on excellence, not perfection.
With each piece of content you create, as you complete these 10 steps, you move back to Step 6 of the Instant Expert Formula and move through that cycle again as well.
By combining the synergistic power of these two cycles, your content marketing strategy will progress steadily from a conglomeration of Disparate Forces to a slowly churning Tropical Disturbance, then to a fast-moving Tropical Depression, and finally...