Infographic: Create more powerful content in 12 steps

E.B. White once said, “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”

There are rarely ideal conditions under which to write. You’ll always have other work to do, meetings to attend and fires to put out. Even when the stars do align to create ideal conditions, corporate communicators can’t wait for them.

Thankfully, an infographic from Visually and Ann Handley makes content creation a little easier. It breaks the process into 12 steps so you can keep your content focused, organized and useful.

Here’s a peek at the first few steps:

1. Set a goal: What business goal are you trying to achieve? Everything you write, no matter how short, must connect to one of your organization’s top objectives.

2. Reframe your idea. Once you’ve identified your goal, add your reader to the equation. Why should your reader care about what you’re saying? Boil the reason down to one sentence, and put it at the top of the document so you stay focused as you write.

3. Gather data. Collect hard information and sources to back up your ideas.

4. Organize. Determine your content’s format. What will help you tell your story best? An opinionated blog post? A straightforward how-to article? A video? Once again, consider what your readers will like most.

See the rest of the steps in the infographic below:

(View a larger image.)

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