So I asked the kind and smart people on LinkedIn to share their ideas on content creation. I’m going to start with this response, because it deals with a priority issue, which I call “psyching yourself out before you even begin”. Many people let their fear of failure, or fear of being less than perfect, paralyze them into not doing anything.

TIP #5

“If you think you can’t, you’re right. If you think you can, you’re right.” Pithy, but so true. Your negativity can kill your projects before you even begin. Here’s what Sid Smith shares:

“I’ve found that the problem isn’t that there isn’t enough content, but that they think THEY can’t continuously write killer content. In other words, they don’t want to be embarrassed by what they write.

It’s a very similar experience as stage fright or fear of public speaking. The fear is that their blog posts, articles, podcasts, videos, or whatever

• won’t be read;
• will receive negative comments;
• will make them look stupid or illiterate;
• will be taken the wrong way; or
• any one of a hundred different fears.

The key to success is this: simplicity. The best approach is to simply brainstorm a long list of topics related to their niche market. The easiest way to do this is

• to do a search and find other blogs in that niche.
• Make a note of all the CATEGORIES.
• Then, for each category, note 5 to 10 questions people are asking related to that category.
• For example, take the category “Homemade Dog Treats” for a dog or pet owner niche. What are recipes you can cite or questions people are asking?
• Then, and here comes the hard part, just make ONE major point or statement that summarizes what you want to say to answer the question.
• Make it simple. Example: Homemade dog treats are less expensive than store-bought treats.
• Next, just write about 400-600 words expanding on that one statement.
• Forget about grammar and spelling (use Word). Write like you’re having a conversation with the person. Don’t worry about how it sounds. You’re not writing a novel. Just write. Writers know that the first draft will be garbage. That’s OK.
• Do a second pass at it, then post. Get it done.

The ONLY way to get past the fear is to dive into the fear. You and I know that once they get past the fear of putting themselves out there – virtually naked for all the world to see – and that they don’t die or get hung by their thumbs, the writing will come much easier. So, address the fear of public exposure first. The rest of it is easy.”

– Sid Smith Web Copywriting, B2B and B2C internet marketing, social media and SEO strategist

So start with a positive, can-do attitude. Once you remove that obstacle, you will be surprised how much you can think of. Stay tuned to the next tips in this series for even more ideas on how to create a continual stream of content for your blog, podcast, magazine or ebook series.

Penny Haynes, http://www.RSSzine.com

RSSzine.com will take any RSS feed and convert it to a PDF, complete with live links, including podcasts enclosures. It can include images from your blog or podcast posts (like tutorial images), and will even let you add a graphic cover and create an About Author page.

Choose from 1 or 2 Columns, multiple font types and sizes, with or without the date of each post, and more.

RSSzine also offers a PDF to Turning Page Magazine service as well. Send in your newly created RSS to PDF ebook (or any PDF ebook you have created) and receive in return a Turning Page Magazine from it.

It comes in 2 formats -

• online HTML for hosting on your web site (you simply upload a folder of files), or
• as a program that can be downloaded and burned to CD or DVD (you upload a zipped file for download, or burn a folder of files to CD/DVD).

You can see examples of the products on the site, and even test out the RSS to PDF yourself. Just reply to this post via email (or comment on the podcast page), and I’ll tell you how and where to play with it.

For more information, contact Penny Haynes at http://www.RSSzine.com/contact-us/.