We crank out a great deal of content in our firm. We write articles; produce videos; create new calculators, tools, and forms; and provide a steady stream of answers to questions posted on our website forum.
How do we make it happen? I wish I could tell you it was done with magic, but it’s not.
We simply never stop producing new material. We keep cranking it out, and we have a long backlog of ideas for what’s next.
We’ve built a content production machine. It only slows down when we’re forced to replace one team member with another and it takes a few weeks to get the newbie up to speed.
Our system is simple:
- We have a list of ideas for new content. We use Wunderlist to store the details and track progress.
- We assign the ideas to individuals (usually lawyers) who create the content.
- We specify a due date.
- We review the material when it’s finished and provide feedback.
- The creator edits the material and incorporates our changes.
There’s no magic. It’s not complicated. It’s simply a never-ending trudge forward. We create one thing at a time and move on to the next thing when the last thing wraps up. It’s the endless trudging that makes it work. It’s our commitment to continuing to move forward that keeps the new material showing up on our sites. There’s definitely zero magic.
Where We Find Our Inspiration
The questions we get most often from other lawyers are variations on the same theme: Where do you come up with ideas to keep adding to the list? Where do you get new questions? How do you know what you need to elaborate upon or extend? How do you know what needs rewriting, editing, or clarification?
It’s simple, really. We get the ideas from our clients and prospective clients.
Our clients ask questions in initial consultations, via e-mail, and on our website forum. Some call us up and ask our intake people questions. We write down the questions, we cull the list, and we add the good stuff to our ideas queue.
Again, no magic.
If your objective is to produce a website, video channel, blog, or whatever, then you’ll need fresh content ideas. The audience is the best source of those ideas. To harvest those ideas, all you need to do is to listen to the audience. They’ll tell you what they need to know. In fact, once they know you’re listening, they’ll bring you even more questions. The audience will keep your list long. There’s no magic.
