Get Endless Content Ideas Using This Simple Framework with John Bonini

One of the most frustrating parts of creating content can be coming up with the ideas. Well, using this simple framework, you'll never again run out of content ideas for your blog, social, or video channels again. John Bonini joins Stewart Hillhouse to talk all things content.

Who's The Guest?

👤 Name: John Bonini

💪 What They Do: John is the Director of Marketing at Databox and the founder of Some Good Content.

🌐 John on the web: LinkedIn | Twitter

🧠 Best Advice: People look on Google for three things: to be inspired, to be educated, or how to do something. Make content from those three angles around a primary keyword and be sure to link them all together for maximum results.

Episode Takeaways

A short summary of the most actionable takeaways and best advice of the episode.

The Importance of a Repeatable Content Process

John coordinates the publication of over 40 pieces of blog content a month (that doesn't include social media, podcasts, videos, or webinars).

Imagine if he needed to keep track of all those moving parts!

Instead, he's built a well-oiled machine that allows him to outsource the writing to a team of freelancers without fuss.

💥 Top Of Mind Takeaway: My favourite quote from author James Clear is perfect for this takeaway: "You don't rise to the level of your intentions, you sink to the level of your systems." In other words, systematize everything.

Try Writing Content Like A Journalist

Collect insights from relevant people and combine it into a report on your industry. You'll get referenced more, be seen as the expert of that field, and can never be blamed for being wrong.

💥 Top Of Mind Takeaway: Every marketer and their dog writes single point-of-view content. Go the other direction and collect quotes and ideas from the most respected people and compile it.

The 3 Things People Search on Google

People use Google for three things:

• Inspiration
• Education
• Execution

The Framework For Endless Content Ideas

Level 1: This will be your "pillar post", the big mama that you spend a ton of time on to go after a high intent keyword. Most people stop there. But you're not like most people – carry on to Level 2.

Level 2: This is where you start answering questions using the three types of searches above (Inspiration, Education, Execution). Find angles people might be have questions that are closely related to your target keyword. But it doesn't stop there.

Level 3: This is where you take each of your Level 2 posts and go deeper (and more specific) on each. Say your product integrates with another piece of software (Zapier, etc.). Perfect! Start writing content about "How to Set Up [Your Product] on Zapier". This is your opportunity to name drop specifics and get as granular as possible.

Pro Tip: Be sure to link all your posts to each other AND to the pillar post. This will ensure Google picks up what you're laying down.

After going through this exercise, you should easily be able to come up with 100+ individual posts around a single keyword. Rinse and repeat for keywords you'd love to rank highly for in 18 months (and maybe you'll surprise yourself).

Get One New Marketing Idea Each Week

If you found this useful, consider joining Top Of Mind Weekly – a short email I send on Thursdays. You'll get one new marketing idea each week, plus a breakdown of how to make it work for you.