startup marketing: blog before you launch the product

STARTUP MARKETING:

HOW TO BLOG EASILY BEFORE PRODUCT LAUNCH

A 6-STEP WORKFLOW

by Lisa LaMagna @lisalamagna

Why blog before you launch?

Connect with customers Get product feedback Create thought leadership Work through your ideas Build website traffic

Step 1:

Step 1: Create a team

Your time is too precious to do it all yourself Hire a freelance writer or journalist Hire a freelance WordPress site manager Hire locally or through UpWork

Step 2:Commit

Step 2: Commit

1 year to build traffic to the blog + 1 year to build thought leadership Blog can elevate a neglected niche Package your blogs into a bonus e-book for

your customers Continue blogging through and after the

launch

Step 3: Stay within WordPress

Step 3: Stay within WordPress

Draft, edit and revise in WordPress (or Drupal or Hubspot)

Don’t shift back-and-forth from Microsoft Word or Pages to WordPress

Posts read differently from platform to platform Even “non-technical” people will “get” WordPress

after a live or webinar demo

Step 4:

Step 4: Map your workflow

Workflow answers “who, what, when”

Who: Everyone on your team has a role

What: The actions each person takes

When: The sequence of different scenario

Step 4: Sample Workflow

1st — Founder assigns topics to writer. When writer is finished, s/he will notify Founder.

2nd — Founder reviews and makes minor edits. Then Founder notifies blog manager (WordPress Pro).

3rd — WPP adds images, formatting and SEO, then publishes the post to the blog.

If any person has a question, they route the blog post backwards to the previous person, as in the red arrows.

Step 5: Automate

Step 5: Automate

No need for an “air traffic controller”

Each person knows their next-step

Fewer emails for everybody

Everyone on team only receives an email EXACTLY when their input is needed

Step 5: Automate

In WordPress, use free or pro Oasis Workflow (link)

In Drupal, use free workflow module

In Hubspot, use calendar function

Step 6: Founder focus

Step 6: Founder focus

No need to “keep checking in” with blogging team

Conserve time and energy

Free up time to innovate, create and lead

Summary:

Assemble a good team

Create a repeatable workflow process

From Oasis Workflow:

Try the free version of Oasis Workflow for WordPress

Large teams, try Pro