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How to Turn One Content Idea into a Fascinating Four-Part Series

"Shift from publishing content to building anticipation for your next installment." – Stefanie Flaxman

Sometimes it’s really helpful to prepare multiple pieces of content in advance.

You might be:

But how do you plan your content, create it, and meet your publishing deadlines without getting overwhelmed?

Let’s start with a simple, small task: selecting one content idea.

Then we’ll break down that one idea into a fascinating four-part series. The process I’m going to share is a straightforward way to communicate your expertise, in a format that is easy for your audience to consume and share.
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7 Classic Quotes to Inspire Your Writing

Editorial Roundtable

Writing is a glorious and rewarding experience, a noble craft, one of the most satisfying ways you can spend your time — at least, while your clothes are on.

Except for the days when it’s horrible.

Maybe that’s why writers love quotes about writing. They help remind us of those lofty aspects and give us courage to get through the crummy parts.

For your inspiration and encouragement, here are some favorite quotes on writing from our editorial team.
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Expand Your Content Marketing Toolkit

Expand Your Content Marketing Toolkit

On Monday, our friend Jon Nastor shared the top tips he’s learned from conducting more than 350 podcast interviews in two years. He has a lot of solid advice here on how to better prepare for your interviews — without making your content stiff or robotic.

On Tuesday, our editorial assistant Will DeWitt revealed how his experiences on a recent cruise shaped how he thinks about customer experience — and how you can structure your content to make your audience feel like treasured guests.

And on Wednesday, Stefanie Flaxman saved us from the humiliation of 12 different word choice errors. Because content marketing is just more fun when you’re not embarrassing yourself in public.
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Stop Making These 12 Word Choice Errors Once and for All

"Write the correct words the first time, and you’ll spend less time editing later." – Stefanie Flaxman

Bill is at a wine bar on Saturday night, enjoying a glass of Pinot Noir.

After striking up a playful conversation with Lisa (who prefers Syrah), he asks for her telephone number. Lisa agrees to Bill’s request, and he creates a new “contact” in his cell phone.

“No,” Lisa stops Bill. “You’ll have to memorize it. I don’t want you to write it down.”

Bill accepts the challenge and confidently repeats the 10-digit number a few times aloud. Lisa proceeds to talk about her cat Nibbles for an hour and then leaves the bar after she realizes how late in the evening it has become.

By the next day, Bill has forgotten Lisa’s phone number. He remembers how much Nibbles loves playing with yarn because he used to have a cat that loved yarn … and although he wants to send Lisa a text message, her digits weren’t meaningful to him.

The same thing happens when you memorize the definitions of two similar words instead of learning how to use them.
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The Balance of Creativity and Productivity

The Balance of Creativity and Productivity

If you read Copyblogger for any length of time, you’ll notice a theme that comes up again and again — the balance of creative “arty stuff” with pragmatic productivity.

Creativity makes our content worth reading. Strategic implementation gets us where we want to go. Each depends on the other.

On Monday, Stefanie Flaxman talked about cultivating a Pomeranian state of mind to expand your creativity. (Read the post to find out why you actually do want to do this.)

And on Tuesday, she outlined a plan to use that Pomeranian creativity to actually make something that other people want to read, watch, or listen to.

Finally, on Wednesday, our editorial team sent me their favorite writing books — a healthy mix of the arty, the crafty, and the strategic.
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Your Summer Reading List from the Copyblogger Editorial Team

Editorial Roundtable

I don’t believe in a “writing gene.”

Writing comes more easily to some folks, for sure. But those aren’t always the people who end up writing really well.

Writing is a skill that requires plenty of practice. But practice is always more effective when you’re working on the right things.

That’s when it’s time to seek out some good advice.

This week, we asked Copyblogger’s editorial team to share some of their favorite writing books. There’s a mix here — some books are about the art of writing, some about craft, and some about strategy.

Any of them will help you put your words together in more powerful ways.
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