Content Marketing for Those Who Don't Have Time for Marketing

Content marketing requires enormous effort, and the pressure to do everything and be everywhere can lead to a paralysis in which nothing gets done. But have no fear — you don’t have to do everything! All you have to do is these four things.

Keep up with LinkedIn

Your LinkedIn profile is your digital resume, and it doesn’t take much time to keep it updated. Complete your LinkedIn profile by adding an image, job history, etc., and then take time every month or so to log on, update your info, add connections, and see what people are talking about.

And if you feel adventurous after a few months, the power of participating in LinkedIn groups cannot be denied.

Have a clean, simple website

You don’t need to have a gigantic, unnecessarily complicated website — but you do need to make sure that any site you have is:

• SEO-friendly - Your potential customers are going to search for you online, so you need to make sure you show up in search engines.
• Easy to edit by yourself - If you don’t understand HTML, CSS, etc., you’ll need to build your site on a content management system that makes it easy for you to make changes.
• Customer-focused - Clearly explain your products and services, and keep your contact information prominent.

This last point leads to the third requirement…

Blog routinely

Most research indicates more is better when it comes to blogging, but let’s be honest: it can be a huge time-sink. It’s not something you get great at overnight, and the pressure to produce helpful content every day, or even every couple of days, can be overwhelming — especially to smaller businesses where there just aren’t as many people who can contribute.

So forget about every day — start by posting just once per month. And don’t worry about writing the next Great American Work: just focus on writing something that your prospects and customers will find valuable.

Strapped for ideas? This should get you started.

Send out newsletters

This can be as simple as a quick email to your customers that contains links to your recent blog posts, or as complex as a professionally-designed and printed document mailed via post — as long as the content is valuable to your customer base and comes to them routinely (say 2 - 4 times per year). This keeps you top-of-mind with your audience.

You can do it!

Content marketing is powerful, but you shouldn’t let the fear of not being able to do it all keep you from doing something. Think strategically, start small, and don’t worry that it won’t be perfect. Dip a toe in and see what content marketing can do for you.

Related links

• Why Dropping Your Blog for Facebook is a Bad Idea
• How to Do Business Online Without a Website
• Personal Branding Basics

[Image: Dave Stokes]