Now that you’ve created your content marketing plan and you have an editorial calendar set up, it’s time to look past the next few months and into the more distant future. You need to plan to scale and grow, and to keep consistently producing content to meet the changing needs of your business.

There is a good chance your content needs will change in the future, or you’ll have other needs to attend to and you’ll need to make your content creation as efficient as possible. In this module, you’ll learn how to plan for future growth.

Your Long-Term Business Plan

Start by considering your long-term business plan. Where do you see your business in five or ten years, and how will your content needs be different then?

For example, you might decide that you’d like to be an expert in a very narrow niche. To do this, what content do you need? For example, you might plan to put out several self-published books and be running a successful membership site within five years. This includes the book content as well as an archive of articles and resources to offer as exclusive content to members of your site. You’ll also need blog posts, videos, and articles to build initial awareness, and a lead magnet to entice people to sign up on your site. 

Time Management for Content Creation

If you manage your time well, you’ll be able to easily find time to create content, even when your need for content grows. Decide exactly when you will work on content creation each week. Your editorial calendar has a publishing schedule. For each piece on that calendar, decide on a time when you’ll work on it. Work your way backward from its deadline step-by-step and choose the timeframe and date for each. 

To ensure content is always ready, create a priority list for projects determined by importance and due dates. Each time you work on content, start with the highest priority project and work your way down the list.

Plan your content as far ahead of time as possible. If you have a series of email messages for your subscriber list, for example, you might take a weekend to write all of the messages. Then, once the series starts, you don’t need to worry about creating everything.

You should also create a schedule for content-related tasks such as brainstorming or searching for ideas. You could set aside a few hours each week for idea generation or brainstorming sessions. Use this time just to generate new topics and titles to put onto your editorial calendar.

Just like any habit, creating a regular schedule gets you into a rhythm that’s easy to follow. It may take some time to get used to it, but once you do, you’ll sit down and start creating content effortlessly.

Content Idea Generation

Since you’ll need a constant flow of new ideas for your content (and you’ll sometimes feel like you’ve already written everything under the sun!), it’s good to create a system for content idea generation. You can think of it as a sort of pipeline for ideas from initial inspiration to a spot on your editorial calendar.

The most difficult part is finding ideas in the first place. For this reason, you should find some good sources for ideas that you can turn to when you need inspiration.

We already mentioned keeping an idea file and watching the competitors. Another method is to subscribe to newsletters or follow other content creators in your industry. For example, if you have a blog about tech issues and internet security, you might follow tech content creators, industry news, popular websites with tips, influencers on Twitter, and so on.

When you need ideas, you have to actively go out and find them – but if you can make this process more focused and passive, it will cut out a great deal of work.

For example:

• Create an email address solely for the purpose of getting ideas and subscribe to as many niche-related email newsletters as possible. When you need ideas, just check your inbox.
• Sign up for Google Alerts for keywords related to your niche. Each day, it will bring relevant results straight to your inbox.
• Create a Twitter account solely for following people in your niche or relevant hashtags.

Another idea is to create a swipe file on your computer where you save eBooks and other information products in your niche that you can refer to when you need ideas.

One more great idea is to check Q&A sites. The best content answers your audience’s questions, so go out and find the questions they’re asking. Check Q&A sites, forums, and social media groups or pages where people are asking questions.

Finally, keep the channels of communication open with your audience. Get into a regular routine of eliciting feedback from them and listen closely for when they ask questions, tell you about problems they’re facing, or what they’d like to see you write about.

Managing Time and Resources

As your needs scale, you’re going to need to cut down on the resources and work it takes to meet these needs. So far, we’ve discussed ways you can cut corners and increase your efficiency as you go about planning and writing content. But sometimes, you just need to ask someone else to do it for you.

One way to save time on content creation is to delegate it to someone else in your team. Find someone who has a knack for writing or creating content and ask them if they’d take over some of the workload. As your business grows, you can start building a team of content creators who work together.

The other option is to outsource or hire someone from outside your company to create content for you. There are many content creators offering their services online. One advantage is that a professional content creator does this full-time and may even be able to help you plan your content. Some businesses outsource all their content creation.

Whether you delegate or outsource, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• It’s best if you create your own content first and then delegate or outsource. This way, you know how much work goes into it and what’s involved. You can better manage your content creators.
• Create editorial standards and examples that show how to write for your business. Each business has its own brand image and tone. Lay this out for your content creators to follow.
• You should be the final editor for all content so you can make sure it conforms to your brand image and editorial standards.