Leslie Lyon

Sometimes it just feels like all I do is research…then write…research…and then write some more, and so on and so on…business manuals, reports, power points, webinars, programs, articles, blogs, whitepapers, eBooks, eNews, emails, press releases, tweets…what have I missed?  All in the name of content, right?  Because I know that content really is king, and it needs to be well managed if I want to see a pay cheque.  But I’m eco-conscious, isn’t there a way to recycle, reuse, and re-purpose the mass amounts of information I generate each month?  How do I do that, exactly?  I need details.

Don’t get me wrong by the way, I LOVE to write.  In fact it might be my most favourite thing to do in business, but clearly I need to drop some of my perfectionism quirks, because there is simply no longer time to be perfect, is there.  So if there are a few typos in this post, pleese know that it’s better for my sanity if we just let them slide.

And as I race to keep up with all that’s new on my desk, I wonder…how the *%#@ will I ever find the time to cook another nice meal…take a leisurely walk…watch American Idol?   I really do need to get the contents of my life under control….and soon, because I’m also a control freak …I need total control of my desk (and other things) or I get this little pulse in the corner of my right eye that will speak to me all day.  You would be able to see it right now if you skyped me. 

So I start researching some more, to find out ways to control my content management dilemma.  I think I want auto-responders for my precious clients so they know I’m not dead or dying; and I’m pretty sure I need a social media dinger bell thingy, that tells me when it’s time to tweet; and because I still have sand in my hair and under my figure nails from summer, I also figure it might be a great idea to get a facial, manicure and hair cut before you see me in my next video sequence, or on that skype call.  Heaven help me…all in the name of content management.

And then I came upon this wonderful blog.  I swear I heard a choir sing…………do you hear it?

Also being a bit of a spreadsheet junkie, I’m sure my eyes bulged and pulsed too, when I saw the most beautiful site…a Content Calendar on an Excel Spreadsheet!  Everything I’d been fretting about and so much more, was right there in front of me: 

How to track content ideas, such as planning your writings around takeaways from an event: http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/08/content-marketing-editorial-calendar/

How to re-purpose content and stay consistent http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/08/how-to-repurpose-content-to-stay-consistent/;

Finding the right keywords for content marketing http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/08/content-creation-and-promotion-is-more-effective-with-seo/ 

And even how to speed up your buying cycle with content mapping http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2011/04/content-mapping-b2b-marketing/

I’m feeling more in control already.  Wait…I think I just researched and wrote again.