Repurposing Blog Posts Reaps Dividends

Posted January 20, 2011 | Laura Christianson

I have Google Alerts set up for my name and my business name (you should, too, if you don’t already). Whenever something is published online that includes the words, “Laura Christianson” or “Blogging Bistro,” I receive an e-mail with a link to the article.

I received an alert that a monthly column I wrote for the Snohomish County Business Journal (SCBJ) had been reprinted in the Everett Herald (that’s the newspaper that owns the SCBJ). Or perhaps I should say, pre-printed. That’s because my column is not due to be printed in the SCBJ until February 1.

I’m a conscientious, deadline-meeting freelance writer, so I dutifully turned in my story by the January 10 deadline. But The Herald must have been having a slow news day, because they printed my column two days after I sent it. Not only that, but The Herald reprinted my January SCBJ column a few days before that. The opening blurb for the new column reads:

Last week, Business Insider contributor Laura Christianson addressed the need to develop an editorial blogging calendar for business owners. This week, she talks about how to effectively manage your social media time.

It’s like a quadruple whammy! My columns for January and February are each being printed in two separate publications, netting me a much wider readership that I would received by being published in only one of the publications.

…And there’s more!

I’m a firm believer in getting as much mileage as possible out of the material I write. Both columns started out as posts on my BloggingBistro.com blog. My editorial calendar column is an adaptation of three separate blog articles, and my time management column is adapted from my post, “A Two-Step Method for Managing Social Networking Time.”

(A quick aside: If you plan to repurpose content in this manner, be sure to check with you editor ahead of time regarding any potential copyright issues.)

If you subscribe to my e-newsletter, Bright Ideas Blogzine, you received an expanded version of the editorial calendar column in January, and you’re going to receive an expanded version of the time management column in February. My newspaper columns are limited to 600 words, but I have no such restrictions in my e-newsletter, so I provide bonus material for my subscribers.

And guess what? If you attend a writers’ conference or other event at which I’m teaching, you’re going to hear some of this same content from me, in person.

Why recycle content?

You may be thinking, “But Laura, that’s cheating! You’re recycling your content over and over.”

I don’t consider it cheating, and here’s why:

People need to hear the same information repeated eight-to-ten times before it lodges in their long-term memory.

People need to hear the same information repeated eight-to-ten times before it lodges in their long-term memory.

People need to hear the same information repeated eight-to-ten times before it lodges in their long-term memory.

Are you remembering that statement yet? I hope so, because I really don’t feel like repeating it eight times!

Plus, I have a business to run. My first priority is my clients, and when things get crazy (which they often are), I run out of time to blog and write e-newsletter articles. I realize that there is some overlap among people who religiously read my blog, my e-newsletter, and my newpaper columns, but a significant portion of my readership does not overlap. So I’m hitting as diverse an audience as possible from several different forms of media.

And finally, recycling is the environmentally-friendly thing to do, even if it’s virtual recycling of ideas.

Do you recycle articles? If so, please share what works best for you.

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