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WebiMax Blog

Digital marketing tips and advice.

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Making New Recipes with Old (but Delicious) Content

Sara Klemowitz, November 13, 2013

I'll admit, I'm getting a little hungry thinking about the impending Thanksgiving holiday, but that's not the [entire] reason I'm writing this blog post.

Think about this: a turkey takes all day to cook. I mean, you wake up at 8 AM to put that bad boy in the oven, and then you have to torture yourself for hours smelling the unfinished product. When it's finally done, the last thing you're about to do is throw away the leftovers. Who wants their hard work to go down the garbage disposal? So, for the next two weeks, it's gobblers and turkey soup aplenty.

And no one really complains about gobblers or turkey soup because, come on, they're delicious.

I promise I’m going somewhere with this.

When you write a really good piece of content, it's kind of like a Thanksgiving turkey. You put a good amount of effort into it, and you're going to make the most out of it – right? Because if you aren't, you should. There's no guarantee that when you write a really well-researched, informative, and/or interesting blog post, you're going to get as many pageviews as you'd want on it. There's no reason you should call it a loss, especially if it's something you think your target audience would want to know.

I was writing a blog post about the essential ways to winterize your home for a client who does HVAC installations and repairs. It's getting cold out there, and their prospective clients probably want to know how to winterize their homes to save energy and keep the house at a comfortable temperature. If they missed the blog post, they shouldn't miss out on the info! So, here are a few ways to make leftovers out of perfectly good content (without, of course, plagiarizing yourself).

  • Revisit old posts on social media. A few days, weeks, or even months (if it's still relevant) after you write a good blog post, don't be afraid to tweet about it again for anyone who might have missed it! A simple tweet or Facebook post reading, "It's cold today! Don't forget to check out our blog post on winterizing your home" works perfectly. I've seen a lot of companies do this, and I think it's a great idea.
  • Link to old blog posts in new ones. If you mention something in a blog post that's relevant to something you wrote before, then link to it!
  • Make an infographic. Perhaps your followers skimmed over your post because it was too lengthy. Infographics are fairly easy to make (see what I did there?), they're eye-catching, and they help to organize content in a fashion that's easy for readers to absorb.
  • Make a slideshow. Similar to making an infographic, slideshows are great because they organize the content and make it easy for a reader to find what they're looking for. Slideshare is a great tool for this because people can search for your slideshow and you can even put tags on it.
  • Make a video. I could have easily made that blog post on winterizing your home into an informative video to spread it across more social channels and appeal to an audience who prefers a different type of media.
  • Make an e-book, PDF, or whitepaper. Even if your readers don't want the information now, they can save it to their computers or tablets for reference at a time when it might be more useful.

Do you repurpose your content? What methods do you use?

Need an Expert Contributor?

Ken Wisnefski is a seasoned web entrepreneur and a frequent contributor to news outlets and business publications. Ken’s vast knowledge of how to make online businesses succeed has made him a sought after consultant from businesses wishing to improve their online initiatives. Contact pr@webimax.com to collaborate!

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