Reading Will Fuel Your Writing for Ad Agency New Business

Google Reader will save time and allow you to consistently share and create appealing content that will be of primary interest to your target audience.

Social media is a great tool for ad agency new business, but it is the creation and curation of content that will provide success. Creating content is difficult. If you are going to write effectively, you must read and your reading will fuel your writing.

Constantly using search engines to find your resources is not only a huge waste of time, but you can easily get distracted. How often have you started a search for something in particular and 1 1/2 hours later, you can’t even recall what you were looking for? 

The key to creating good content is to have a simple system that brings an organized approach to your online reading.

One of the most effective time management tools for an online reading program is an RSS Feed.  There are a number of RSS Readers to choose from. My personal preference is Google Reader.

Once you have clearly identified your audience, Google Reader can help to organize your resources around their interests. You can be sure you are on the same page as your audience, reading what they are reading, discover their trade publications, information and research from their associations, etc. You can also glean important information from sources that are not specifically relevant to your audience.

Here’s a sampling of what Google Reader will help you do:

  • Stay up to date with the very latest materials.
  • Comb quickly through online resources from hundreds of source sites in a single place.
  • Easily share your reading to your followers in Google +, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest.
  • Keep materials organized by creating folders and tags. Just like with email, folders help you easily find what you are looking for. It is far better than managing your email inbox.
  • Quickly spot trends.
  • Monitor your competitors or your client’s competitors. Know what they are writing and sharing.
  • Create a consistent system that allows you to stay updated by reading the latest information from target audience’s industry publications, associations, even their competitors.
  • Use it for Google Alerts. You will want to have a lot more alerts being created for specific type material than you would have coming into your email Inbox.
  • When online resource sites don’t pan out, easily drop them from your feed.
  • Use the share settings to share your favorite blog posts and articles directly to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter , Google + and other social media channels.

I have established the mornings as my daily reading time. Google Reader is set as the Home Page for my browser. It is the first thing I open each day. My readings are gathered from resources all over the internet and organized into a central location. It becomes my own personalized Continuing Education program.

If you read feeds on the iPhone or iPad, I recommend using Reeder, a nice app that can be used for that purpose. You will be able to view your feeds in “stacks” based on the folders that you have assigned to them.

Reeder for iPhone: iTunes $2.99

Reeder for iPad: iTunes $4.99

Additional articles that may be of interest:

photo credit: indiekid via photopin cc

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,
About Michael Gass

Michael is an international new business consultant to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies. Since 2007, he has led in the use of social media and content marketing strategies to make agency new business EASIER.