It’s nice to be back blogging, in part, because I enjoy sharing ideas but also because it means I have some breathing room in my schedule. Which leads me to what I want to share here: do you give yourself enough time to write?

Just about everyone underestimates the amount of time needed to write well.

Sure, Stephen King or John Irving can bang out novel after novel after novel. But they are the exception, not the rule.

I believe that writing even a thoughtful email should take a certain amount of time. And certainly writing web copy requires more than a day or a week.

One of the projects I’ve been working on are some fast turnaround presentations for a major health care company. We typically have a week to distill the message, craft the story, create visuals and produce what is essentially a mini movie. It’s a very compressed timeframe. And while we’ve done a really good job, it could have been less painful for all involved if we had extended our project timeline just a bit.

Sometimes a project dictates a short timeframe. But most times, we self-impose time limits. Perhaps we do this because we don’t want to disappoint the client, the boss, the coworker. Perhaps we do this because we (or others) don’t value our contribution. Or perhaps we do this because we simply don’t know how much time something will take. (Trust me, it will invariably take longer than you think.)

Honestly? I’m a fast writer. Quite fast, in fact. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need a fair amount of prep time, which could include doing research, conducting interviews, brainstorming, noodling, whatever I need to in order to get as much information in me as possible. In fact, I believe I’m a fast writer because I do so much upfront work. It makes the writing process so much easier when I’m well prepared.

Let me encourage you to allow adequate lead time for all your writing.

I recommend keeping track of how long various writing projects take you. It’s a necessity for me to log my exact hours since I juggle multiple clients and projects at any given time. But the other important reason I do it is because it helps me more accurately estimate needed hours for similar, future projects.

It’s also good to build in at least part of a day so you can set your writing aside and come back fresh in the morning for one last round of revising and proofing.

And, lastly, I find it challenging to write for hours and hours on end. I prefer to chunk my writing time with breaks in between, which means I need to allow perhaps two days instead of one for a small project, or fours hours instead of two.

Do you agree that it takes time to write well? Do you allow yourself the time? Do you feel resistance when you do ask for extra time?

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The all-time favorite question of kids everywhere is, “But, why?”

Every mom, dad, aunt, uncle, babysitter or neighbor who’s been inundated with “But, why?” will invariably answer (usually out of sheer frustration), “Because.”

But when it comes to branding, marketing and strategic communications, asking “But, why?” is not only important, it’s essential.

Talk to any of my clients, and you’ll quickly find that I like to ask questions. A lot of questions. (I consider it a badge of honor that in my former life as a corporate communicator, I got kicked off a strategic planning team for being “too enthusiastic” and “generating too many ideas” with my questions!)

For me, asking questions is absolutely necessary for me to do my job. I typically ask more questions than a lot of my clients expect, and certainly more than they have answers for.

I don’t expect them to know the answer to every question I ask. That’s part of what we work through together. It’s the thinking part of strategic communications.

We ask questions, explore various answers, and then come up with the best solution to the problem.

When it comes to marketing and communicating your business or product, become a bit childish by continually ask “But, why?” – and do so without settling for the pat answer, “Because.”

“Because” may get you a pretty brochure or a new web site, but, I promise it will never get you more sales leads, new customers or top-of-mind name awareness.

For that, dear readers, you must ask, “But, why?” until you can ask it no more.

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After a short spring break, I’m back today to continue my series on relevant content.

Let’s take a closer look at the second of my four characteristics of relevant content: timely.

There are plenty among us who subscribe to the belief that, when it comes to content, “once done, always done.” By this I mean they seem to think that creating content and posting it for all eternity is a good idea. I suspect that’s because they think of content as a one-time investment.

Wrong. I’m here to debunk that myth.

In order for content to be relevant (remember that relevant means meaningful, memorable and useful), it also must be fluid. It must change and grow and expand and shrink and live and breathe and … well, you get the idea. As I’ve said, people change and so should the content that’s geared toward those very same people.

Even content that’s relatively “static” — meaning the facts don’t really change – should still get a refresh now and then. Trust me, there’s more than one way to tell your “About Us” story.  A good writer can write it 15 or 100 different ways.

So, for the sake of argument, let’s just say that there is no need to keep content timely. What might that look like to a site visitor?

Well, a first-time visitor will likely not notice anything. But a repeat visitor, well, that’s a different animal altogether. They will notice same-old, same-old content. And because they look to you to be the expert in whatever field, industry or service you provide, you’ll look like a yam-head if you don’t. (And nobody wants that!)

By not refreshing your content, you’re essentially telling your site visitors that you know all there is to know and that there’s absolutely nothing new to know — or to share. That kind of thinking, I believe, is dangerous. It leads to your customers and potential customers thinking you’re out of touch or worse, not credible.

Blogs and social media are so popular, in part, because they provide fresh and TIMELY information. Not only do people want the latest and greatest news, product information, opinions and more, they EXPECT and DEMAND it.

Now it’s up to you to give it to them.

How, then, do you keep your content timely? Here’s my 3-step plan:

1. Dedicate resources. Everyone in the company ought to be charged with keeping up with trends and writing about them. Have an in-house or freelance writer/editor use their findings to create web copy, sales literature, marcom, etc.

2. Create a content strategy. Decide who does what, when, and why. How will you manage content, archive it and how often and when will you update it? All of this should be part of your content strategy.

3. Although this is an extension of my point above, I want to call it out special just in case you skip step #2. Conduct a yearly audit and refresh (minimum). Schedule time for your dedicated resource(s) to review content and revise it. Create a timeline and stick to it.

Remember, timely content is relevant content and it’s part of what will keep you relevant to your customers, readers, clients, whomever. It’s an opportunity to differentiate, to serve and to lead.

P.S. Here’s a link to a related post on making a commitment to your copy: http://www.janodaniel.com/blog/2009/01/old-new/.

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As promised, I’m continuing my discussion of relevant content and what it means. Just for fun, I’m taking a cue from one of my favorite shows, Alton Brown’s Good Eats, and from my all-time favorite episode, “Casserole Over.” For the uninitiated, that means I’ll be launching into the third person. Here’s to fun reading; but, more importantly, here’s to better understanding.

While looking to see what others had to say on the topic of relevant content, the writer had the pleasure of finding web content strategist Kristina Halvorson of BrainTraffic.com. Kristina perfectly summed up the writer’s thoughts on what makes content relevant when she said: “Web content must work for me.”

That’s why the writer spends what some might call an inordinate amount of time talking to clients and others about who their audience is. The writer believes that finding out and knowing exactly who the “me” is for that company, brand or entrepreneur is, indeed, mission critical. How, she wonders, can web content work for “me” if you don’t know who “me” is?
 
Since one of the best parts of the writer’s job is asking other people questions and listening intently to their answers, the writer invariably asks the question, “Who is your audience?” and sits back and waits patiently for the answer.

The writer notices that often she is taken on a very circuitous path toward, well, a “non-answer.” Other times, she’s regaled with demographic and psychographic profiles, such as “married couples ages 25-45 who stand on one foot every other Wednesday.” But perhaps the all-time, most-frequently given answer is this: “Everyone.”

Egad.

Everyone?

Everyone, believes the writer, cannot and must not be your target audience. The writer urges everyone (pun intended) to remember that relevant is relative; meaning that what’s relevant to you may not be relevant to the next person. The writer insists that defining and understanding audience must come first and foremost.

So for the sake of today, the writer would like to move on from the discussion of audience and begin her look at what makes content relevant. Relevant content, the writer says, is content that is of value.

To be relevant and, therefore, valuable, the writer believes content must be:
 
Accessible – The writer says content has to be found to be useful. Optimizing for search, yes, she says, but also using it logically on the site itself. Her advice? Think judicious use of links, adding related content and unburying important information (like those guilty parties who, for example, hide their phone number or mailing address).

Timely – The writer thinks relevant content, like cake, is delectable; but can otherwise get stale if left untouched for long periods of time. The writer would like to gently remind the reader that the very definition of relevant content is that it pertain to a person or persons in a particular state. If such state changes, so, too, should the content. (In other words, keep up with trends, changes in behavior, buying habits, priorities, etc. People change. So should content.)

Useable – The writer subscribes to the belief that people go online to complete a task, whether that task is to find information, make a purchase, play, interact with others, or the like. Content, she says, should help guide and support them in the completion of their task.

Engaging – The writer espouses that relevant content must be interesting, fun and/or compelling to read. And, in her own circuitous fashion, she points back to the need to know the target audience to accomplish this.

Alas, the writer believes enough has been said for today. And so she is off to continue her quest to define relevant content until all in the land know and believe its objective and importance, as well as how to get it. She shall return soon with more ideas.

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