Try this Post Idea for Traffic, Engagement, & Goodwill

Have you ever noticed you never run out of ideas when you don’t need them, but then when you’re trying to come up with an idea for content (even when you’ve got a strategy and plan in place), you can sit and stare at the blinking cursor for who knows how long?

Jodi talked about “ideaphoria” in her recent issue of Fresh Squeezed (which, if you haven’t subscribed to yet you should). She talked about the power of stepping away from the work you’re trying to accomplish to get some clarity.

When I feel stuck with what to create or am not in the mood to create what I had planned on creating (remember, we’re all about strategy), sometimes I need to go with something that will feel good… in other words, have some fun.

But I still want results.

This is where this post idea comes into play.

You’ve all probably heard of the “listicle” post, which is simply a list-based format (stating the obvious, I know ????).

Well, this post idea is a specific type of listicle that is a value-add for other people, drives traffic and engagement, and can be fun to create.

This is a “featured” post where you highlight and feature other people (you can also do products, but depending on the products you may or may not get the engagement and sharing the way you can when you feature an individual).

As an example, in writing this email I thought of a great post to create for Content Creators Planner titled “50 Content Creators to Watch in 2021” (or maybe 10 haha… you get the point).

I’ll probably do a smaller list so it’s more manageable to produce and I can write a little more about each person. Start with making a list of the people you want to feature as opposed to how many you want to feature. The number will sort itself.

With each person I’ll include:

• Name
• Website
• What they do
• Photo
• Why they’re one to watch

I’ll link back to their website so they’ll probably get some sort of notification that they’ve been mentioned (depending on your relationship to the person you’re featuring, you can always reach out and ask them for a specific URL for the link. But I would avoid sending traffic to a sales page).

Once your post is written the real fun begins.

Create social sharing images of each person you featured. Then make sure to schedule an individual sharing post of that person only with your post link, their photo, and then tag them when you share it.

Make it extremely easy for them to share your post with their audience.

Bonus tips:
Schedule this post to go out on an evergreen campaign (make sure it doesn’t go beyond 2021 or whatever date you’ve used). Ensure you have an opt-in embedded in your post so you have every opportunity to capture any leads that come to your site.

I’d recommend doing more than one placement of your opt-in form. If it’s a long post and you only have one opt-in in the middle people may finish reading and forget to subscribe.

End the post with a question.

Ask your readers if they have any other recommendations of people to follow. Tell them to leave a comment or email you.

This type of post creates massive goodwill and positions you as a trusted expert who cares about other people.