Today I’d like to share an easy time-saving tip that can help you be more productive AND better serve your audience. It’s something I’ve been doing for years and it really does make a HUGE difference in terms my productivity and bottom line.
Let’s take a closer look…
Whenever a reader submits a question via your website or reaches out to you on social media, be sure to save that question AND your response to repurpose later.
TIP: I have a separate folder set up on my desktop so I can find this material quickly when I need it.
Why would you want to do this?!
If one member of your audience has a question or a concern, there is a REALLY good chance that others do, as well. More often than not, they won’t reach out to you about it, though. So repurpose those questions and your responses and use them for blog content, in your newsletter or as tips on social media channels. (Ideally, all of the above!)
Also, if someone else has the same or a similar question later, you won’t have to write your answer out all over again. You’ll be able to respond to them faster – creating a better experience for them – and a more streamlined customer service process for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When I do this, I always keep my public response anonymous out of respect to the person who originally asked the question.
Here is a real life example…
I am often asked if I have any ready-to-publish material on certain topics. One request that comes up A LOT is vegetarian-themed content. (Which makes sense because it is a HUGE niche with hundreds of thousands of Internet searches every single month).
It so happens that I do have some great content on this topic – but I also know of at least one other AWESOME package that I received rave reviews about when I recommended it previously.
Rather than looking up this information every time it comes up, I put together a new post on KitchenBloggers answering this one question. Now all I need to do is share that one link instead of tracking down individual links and writing out all the details all over again.
As I find new quality packs on that theme, I’ll simply update the page. I now have a great resource for my customers looking for that material (and will be adding more pages on other topics soon) AND I was able to do the work one time instead of over and over again.
You can check out the page here
Now, here’s a quick way to leverage this concept on your food blog:
If someone asks about a kitchen appliance, your beautiful place settings, unique recipe ingredients or even a cool cooking utensil you use – answer them in detail, then save the whole exchange to your special folder. Then, repurpose that material into a quick review with a story about how you first came across that item and why you love it – and include your affiliate links, of course. 🙂
Same goes if someone asks HOW you do something – write out all the details once and be sure to include what tools or resources you use in the process. The goal isn’t to try to hard sell anyone anything. Instead you are simply sharing what works for you and why. You’re simply providing the kind of information your audience WANTS which is really the whole point of why we do what we do, right?!
That’s it. Pretty simple – but very, very effective. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Til Next Time,
Trish
PS My brand new culinary herb pack is called Culinary Herbs: Easy Tips & Ideas for Growing, Using & Storing 15 Popular Kitchen Herbs. If you’d like to receive updates on new releases and other tips to grow your food blog, click the button below!
