Ever get those days you think you worked three times harder than others, but accomplished half? That was my yesterday. Got a client project done in the morning, but like bad Chinese food, it repeated on me twice. Minor stuff, but it made me realize that reminding clients to send all information ahead of time is something I should do automatically. I did manage to get half an article completed. Waiting for one more interview, which will be today, and I can wrap this one up and cash the check. Then on to the next.
I received another client kudos yesterday. It doesn’t happen often, but when they say “Great job!” or “Love this! Thanks!” it makes my day. And when they send you a detailed note on how and why they loved it, it makes my next marketing plan.
I’m into re-purposing these days, so why not apply that to the business? Here’s how you can work smarter:
Reuse. All that research you’re doing for that current article could come in handy if you decide to refocus the topic to fit another publication. For instance, that technical article with all those statistics – those statistics could form the query for your consumer article query.
Recycle. Remember that article you wrote a few years ago on that timely topic? Is it time to revisit it? I make mileage from ongoing topics, such as insurance reform, workers compensation legislation, or how the gadgets we couldn’t live without have or haven’t changed our lives.
Repeat. If clients are singing your praises, ask if you can use those words on your website or in emails (with or without attribution). Why tell new prospects how fabulous you are when you can show them what your current clients think?
How do you re-purpose?
6 responses to “Worthy Tip: Reuse, Recycle, Repeat”
The big thing with research is to remember to file it immediately, and by topic, not by article name or source name, so you can find it easily when you need it for something else.
Yeah, I learned that one the hard way!
"I know it's here somewhere, but what did I file it as?"–dangling participle and all.
The other day I was interviewing a fascinating guy whose memoir is being released next month. It was for a super-short (200 words or less) piece for one of my regular markets. Before our conversation ended, I said I might pitch a longer story on him to another magazine that dovetailed perfectly with something he told me was coming up after the first of the year. I wrote and sent the query before I'd transcribed the interview.
Oh, the transcript (even after abbreviating my questions)turned out to be 9 single-spaced pages. For a 200-word article. I'm going to have fun today trying to whittle it down so I can write that.
It took me a while to figure this one out. Duh-better late than never.
As you know, Lori, few things in the health care niche stay the same -especially health care reform. So, it is easy to take a previous article or post on a specific topic and update it for changes since it was first written.
You may remember me talking about my long-term client who I write wellness articles for in an industry magazine. For the 1st time, she changed my title and theme for an article.
We haven't discussed yet what she didn't like about it – she must be misguided :-). I only found out when it got published.
Well, I loved the theme, so I think I am going to market it in another industry magazine and rework the information.
Great ideas here!
"Ever get those days you think you worked three times harder than others, but accomplished half?"
Waitaminute — You mean to tell me that the rest of you occasionally have days that *aren't* like this?
And nobody thought to tell me this until now?
Looks like I picked the wrong week to be impressed with my work-to-results ratio …
Sigh …
Devon, I figured! I usually lose my research in piles of files. I need to keep a cheat sheet of ideas on my desktop.
Two hundred words? Can that be done, Paula? Cripe, that's like a picture caption! LOL
She must be misguided, Cathy. 🙂 And yes, I've revisited topics a few times because they usually warrant it.
Hugh, forgive my oversight. 🙂 If it helps, we're impressed that you measure your work-to-results ratios. I measure how much I got done versus how hard I hit the mattress that night.
My editor caved and gave me 50 more words, stressing that she can't pay me any more that she'd already promised.
Nine single-spaced pages of the transcript and I only used three direct quotes. I sure hope the other pitch I sent about this guy gets assigned!