The following is part of my 2006-2007 blog to book project that ultimately became Making Mediation Your Day Job.
Mediators are smart, creative and savvy, so you’ll have little difficulty generating content for your blog (or podcast or vlog) once you get your feet under you. The key question is less “What should go on a blog” than, “Will my target audience find this useful and compelling?”
If you’ve already created material that’s been successful for other uses, then you’ll like the idea of “re-purposing” (yes, it’s a word now), or putting content to use in new ways. For instance, you can re-purpose articles or audio originally created for these uses:
- Articles you wrote for your print newsletter or e-zine.
- Columns you’ve produced as a columnist for your local newspaper (check with the editor regarding copyright).
- Articles you’ve published elsewhere (check with the publisher regarding copyright).
- Recorded interviews for radio or television shows.
- Handouts you’ve created for trainings, mediations or other services you deliver (modified if needed).
- Material from print brochures, re-worked into a series of posts.
You’ll also want pages (as opposed to posts, which are articles). Pages are similar to the pages in a static website in that they’re not associated with a specific date, don’t end up in article archive lists, and are usually updated only on occasion. Typical pages include “about me,” “contact me,” “services” and the like…you’ll know what kind of pages to produce when you know the kind of information your target market wants to find easily any time they visit.
[...] important marketing take-aways from Nancy’s words and ideas: It’s just plain smart to re-purpose mediation marketing material you’ve already created. It’s important to have clarity about who you’re targeting before you create materials. [...]