Creating valuable, consistent, and free content for your audience is a must.
Top 7 tools and resources for content creation
However, managing your content schedule can be time consuming, frustrating, and leave you wondering at the end of the year whether you were able to move the needle.
The tools and resources I use for content creation help me not only ensure I’m creating the right type of content for my audience (the type I know they want and need), but also that I’m being efficient and strategic based on feedback and raw data.
Here are my favorite tools and resources I use to help with content creation.
Feedly for content ideas
How I use Feedly
Feedly helps me organize and keep up with the blogs, podcasts, and online magazines that I follow – for free! This is important for my content creation because a lot of the ideas I get and inspiration for my own content comes from those I follow.
Why I love Feedly
It’s my go-to resource for content ideas and inspiration!
Feedly takes a while to set up (you have to enter the blogs, podcasts, and online magazines you want to follow), but once you have it set up, you’ve given yourself a single online resource where all of the content you want to consume can live.
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I did some research on tools and resources similar to Feedly, but every time, Feedly came up as #1 (it’s what replaced Google Reader, so it has quite a bit of authority and credibility behind it). But of course, there are other options out there you can use for free, one of them being Digg Reader.
Workflowy to keep track of ideas
How I use Workflowy
Workflowy is like my content repository – it’s where I keep quick notes on ideas for content that I’ve gotten either from my own listeners, or from reading other great blog posts, books, and listening to podcasts.
Keeping a running list of ideas not only helps guarantee that I’ll never run out of content, but it also guarantees I’ll know exactly where to go when I need ideas or inspiration.
Why I love Workflowy
It’s bare bones and I can access it across multiple devices, so it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing – I know I can access and add to my Workflowy any time.
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I did a full review of Workflowy this season in Episode 2, so be sure to check that out for the full rundown!
Google Spreadsheets to measure results
How I use Google Spreadsheets
When I started recording data from the blog to measure progress and track what types of posts were performing best, I used a Google Spreadsheet to do it.
Why I love Google Spreadsheets
The reason I chose a Google Spreadsheet is because I was having both Jess and JM help me with this task, and so the fact I could share this sheet with both of them, and have everyone working in it simultaneously with the most up-to-date info, made it perfect – this is the reason why I love using Google Drive.
Being able to refer back to a single document for all the feedback and data I needed to measure the content that received the greatest amount of feedback (I based this on social shares and comments) helped me shape the content you see on the blog today.
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I did a full review of Google Spreadsheets this season in Episode 2, so be sure to check that out for the full rundown!
Google Calendar for my content calendar
How I use Google Calendar
Google Calendar helps me visualize my content, and for me, being able to see visually when something is being posted not only helps me better prepare for it schedule-wise, but it also helps me see what other pieces of content we have going live around that.
Why I love Google Calendar
I love using Google Calendar for our content calendar and schedule because:
- I’m already using Google Calendar for my every day schedule, so it’s convenient;
- It helps us make strategic and smart decisions around publishing like-content around the same time frame;
- I can track repurposing opportunities at the same time.
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I did a full review of Google Calendar this season in Episode 2, so be sure to check that out for the full rundown!
Google Docs for drafts
How I use Google Docs
When I’m getting ready to write a new post for the blog, or any other piece of content for EOFire (optin offer, email campaign, etc) I open up a Word doc to help me get started with my draft.
Why I love Google Docs
It’s what I’ve used for as long as I can remember! I love Word because I’m super familiar with the in’s and out’s – plus, it auto-saves my documents and I can use it offline. So regardless of whether my Internet goes out mid-post, or I’m 10,000 feet in the air, I can use Word to create content with the peace of mind it won’t be lost (which has happened to me multiple times when drafting content in WordPress).
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Scrivener: Some of the greatest writers out there use this software to help draft and compose their content. The only reason I haven’t checked out Scrivener yet is because I’ve been focused on other things.
I will carve out a time and space to check it out at some point, but how I draft my content now works great, and so I’m not in a rush to change my process (and you shouldn’t be either if what you’re currently doing is working for you!)
Evernote: I’ve heard from a lot of people that they use Evernote to draft their content. As I explained back in episode 2 of this season, Evernote didn’t stick with me when I tried it because it seemed too complex and complicated.
WordPress Post for editing, formatting, scheduling & publishing
How I use WordPress posts
Once I’ve drafted a post in Microsoft Word, I’ll bring it into WordPress in a draft post in order to edit, format, schedule, and eventually publish it.
Why I love WordPress posts
Believe it or not, there are platforms available for publishing your posts – and your website for that matter – outside of WordPress ;) I love WordPress because it’s what I’ve always known, and I think it’s incredibly user-friendly.
It being the leading website publishing platform around helps, too.
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SquareSpace: SquareSpace is a sponsor of EOFire and a great alternative to WordPress if you’re looking to create a beautiful website on a drag and drop platform.
Wix: Another great alternative to WordPress that will help you create your own website in minutes!
Yoast SEO for SEO
How I use Yoast SEO
To ensure the content I’m creating will be searchable and has great SEO for Google.
Why I love Yoast SEO
I’ve never been super “smart” when it comes to SEO. I mean, I get it, but I’m not a pro. I love Yoast SEO because it literally gives me the green light when I’m good to go. All you have to do is type in the keywords you want your content to come up for, and Yoast SEO will give you a red light, a yellow light, or a green light based on how good your content is given the keywords you chose.
There is a free version of this tool, or you can upgrade to premium for advanced features and better insights.
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Moz Pro: I haven’t experienced Moz Pro, but just by looking at the site, it appears to have great reviews and a ton of capabilities. Only downside I can see is that it’s quite expensive: $99 / month.
Other tools and resources of note
Xtensio: Create, manage, share, and present professional business collateral in minutes!
Need to create a well-branded document, presentation, proposal, or report? Xtensio allows you to create it using templates (or from scratch) and share it in real time.
Drag and drop, resize, change backgrounds, and specify colors and fonts to match your brand, then share the public link (or the PDF) with colleagues and clients so everyone is always up-to-date!
Co-Schedule: “Plan, Publish, Promote, and Execute Your Marketing on One Master Calendar”
The first time I heard about Co-Schedule was from Michael Hyatt, and if Michael Hyatt uses and recommends this tool, then you know it’s good!
Co-Schedule helps you manage everything having to do with your content and it’s built right into your WordPress blog. But it’s not cheap. You can try it for free, but then it starts at $60 / month for the subscription.
Curata: Similar to Co-Schedule, Curata helps you organize and analyze your content marketing in one place. It also helps you curate content from other sources you can post and share on your own site. Their site doesn’t list pricing, but I’m willing to bet it’s at least the same price as Co-Schedule, if not more.
Up next in Season 3 on tools and resources
Looking for great tools and resources when it comes to systems and project management? Then you’re going to LOVE our next post and episode!
