Why Writers Should Look for “Easy” Content Wins

Did you grow up hearing, “If it’s easy, there must be something wrong with it”?

Yeah. Me too.

Instead of looking for the easy way out, we often look for the most challenging, brutal way to do things. We work harder. We work longer hours. If we’re not suffering, we aren’t trying.

It’s all about the hustle.

Granted, this mentality helps us to a certain extent. Busting out of our comfort zones is important. Sometimes, we have to go through some pain to see some gain (for instance, starting a new workout routine.)

But, what does this mean to our content marketing strategy? Should we always push the content marketing envelope?

My answer: Nope.

Here’s why…

Easy has a huge benefit.

A parallel I like to make is around exercise.

I love high-intensity exercise. It’s the only thing that makes my brain turn off.

But, it’s hard.

The only way I can do it is to build in rest days. I go to yoga. Or I take a walk. I’ve even thought about Zumba (don’t laugh.) If I push myself too much, I burn out, get sick and have zero energy.

Now, think of this in terms of your content marketing campaign.

Constantly writing (and researching, and promoting) detailed long-form posts is hard.

Publishing daily (or even weekly) for some companies may be the equivalent of engaging in high-intensity exercise without a break.

Balancing search and social without a sustainable plan can cause burnout — fast.

The result? The post quality goes down. The writers (you!) burn out. Sales go down.

You’re pushing so hard towards your goal, you don’t realize you don’t have to push so darn hard all the time.

So, what can you do instead?

Look for easy.

Here are some ideas:

• Repurpose old blog posts and turn them into an email series.
• Re-optimize old blog posts that have so-so positions.
• Send social traffic to old posts (hey, those old posts need love too.)
• Revise older posts and republish them as new.
• If a task has been challenging in the past (say, getting subject matter experts to blog,) work around it (for example, interview the experts instead and post the transcripts.)
• Slice your publication schedule (it’s OK. Really!)

If you’ve been hitting roadblocks, find the easy workarounds rather than beating your head against the wall.

You’ll be happier. Your content will be better for it.

And yes, you still want to stretch yourself and try new things. Challenging yourself to try something new is a good thing  (I’m challenging myself to hold more webinars this year.)

But, you still need those “rest days.” You still need the easy to balance out the hard.

(Need a place to start? I updated my post on how to conduct a content audit – please check it out and share it with your friends.)

What do YOU think?

Are you feeling like you’re on a never-ending content creation hamster wheel? Does it feel like “easy” isn’t good enough? What are you doing to simplify your SEO content creation efforts? Leave your feedback below — I’d love to hear from you!