Content creation strategies

Image via WikipediaCreating unique content probably sounds daunting, especially if you are running a small business and you are already head cook and bottle washer. To ease some of the burden of creating content you should first come up with a strategic plan for all your inbound marketing initiatives including content. Here are a few thoughts on building a content strategy. If you have other good strategies please share them.
What makes good content?: As described in the previous post, content needs to be high quality, relevant and non-pitchy. 
Forms of content: The items you produce do not need to be a War and Peace sized endeavor. People are already inundated with loads of content so it makes sense to make your materials easily digestible and simple to understand. As such, think of delivering quick snippets from research you have done or read, trends you are seeing in the market and why they are important and what they mean to your customers, and, possibly most importantly, links to other content providers that you consider valuable (see here for a post from Hubspot on the importance of link building). You should also consider developing some white papers and cases studies on how you solved a customers pain.
Shareable: All of the blogging platforms have widgets that allow readers to share your content with others. Make sure you have enabled them.
Tracking: Tracking how readers are reacting to the content is extremely important as it will allow you to spot what your followers are most interested in and not interested as in reading and sharing. There a number of different tools available to track your content (good overview here). At the very least you should use a service like bit.ly for simple tracking purposes. 

These are just a few simple thoughts on how to develop a content strategy. Please share your own.

Good example of a nice initial approach

I recently received the below email and I thought it was a very good way to approach someone who may have a need for your service. No hard sell, just an introduction and a request. Well done. Here it is. I left out the senders name but check out the firm.

Hi Barrett-

I was recently doing some marketing research and came across your blog. You offer some great insights in to the world of marketing, particularly online marketing. Your post about "Death of a Salesman" had some great points. The more the consumer can be directly involved with the process, the more it becomes being what they are looking for, and less about selling to them.

I work for an online marketing start-up, Kutenda (Kutenda.com). We have created a toolset with PPC management, email marketing, website management, SEO and more- all in one place. Our goal is to help small businesses increase their visibility online and grow their business. To this point, online marketing is often seen as overwhelming and complicated, especially for small to mid-size businesses. That's where we come in. Our suite of tools is simple to use, with expert knowledge built in. In addition, we also provide training too, to walk people through the process, start to finish. We are working on getting our name out there and having people experience all we offer. I know how busy life gets- particularly after a holiday!- but if you have a moment, it would be great if you could check us out. Kutenda.com- we offer a great free trial program and a demo to learn more.

If you feel we would be a good resource for your readers, a link would be much appreciated. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for your time and happy new year!

Sincerely,