The New 3 R's: Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle

The Internet has turned into a huge information reservoir  So much so, many people are no longer using encyclopedias, phone books or other reference materials. Instead they use the computer as their 'go to' information resource.  Bad news for traditional encyclopedias and newspapers, but an advantage to you. The change in information searching gives you a great opportunity to be "THE" information provider in your speciality.   In addition the Internet offers so many different ways to get your message out and online.

Now, before you start thinking you don't have enough hours in the day, step back and realize you may already have content you can use right on your hard drive.  In previous columns we've  talked about writing articles and posting them online. But did you know you make an article work in many different ways? 

You've heard of multitasking?  Well  online promotion the key is focus on the 3 R's.  Now I'm not talking about the old school idea of Reading, 'Riting and 'Rthmetic.    I'm talking about the Internet Information Age 3 R's of:  repurpose, reuse, and recycle.

Repurposing content is taking existing materials such as articles and transforming them into new uses of the content. You can repurpose an article into:

• A recording of  the article and place it as an audio on your website or blog.
• Or record several bits  of an article and turn them into a podcast.
• A post for your blog.  Turn an article into several  pieces and it becomes multiple posts
• A video. Sit down and record the information . Post it on your website.  Don't worry about an Oscar winning performance.  People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. Video helps build trust.  People like seeing the person(s) behind and in the business.
• Several related articles together and sell it as an ebook.  Or give it away as a lead generation tool
• Host a teleseminar and use the articles as the base of your information sharing.

The next R belongs to reuse.

• Use the article as a lead  for a printed newsletter
• Take the information and put it in bullet form.  Use it as a fact sheet you hand to prospective clients or mail to them
• A news release highlighting the information you've shared
• Use pieces of your article on some social networking sites to give you an extra link into your site
• Add the article or parts of it to your My Space site

The final R goes to recycle.

Take a look at your older articles. 

• Is there a way you can redo them? Are there some issues that have changed in the industry so you need to update and redo?
• Look at turning an article into a case study or story.  Bring the  people factor into a story and change the focus.
• Use bits and pieces in your company brochure or newsletter

Content is definitely king online.  Continuously thinking of new ideas can be challenging but with some planning you can find yourself stretching your content.  It makes the thought of sitting down and writing articles a lot less tiring.

Just remember the 3 R's of online content creation:  Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle and you'll have lots of content to share with your targeted prospect.

It’s all about using Word of Mouse to promote your message,

Alysan