Wisdom Teeth Dummy

When I was a dumb kid, I feared my IQ would drop if I had my wisdom teeth pulled.

I was over that by the time I was 19 and dating Kathy.

She had her wisdom teeth pulled the summer we dated. She couldn’t stand the pain.

I suggested she rinse with warm salt water. I had a tooth pulled, and warm salt water helped.

Her reply: “We don’t have any salt water around the house.”

Hmmmmmm.

“Do you have any SALT around the house?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“How about WATER?” I asked.

Long pause. And then she said, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yeaaaaah. Thanks. I’ll make some salt water.”

Maybe she once knew you don’t have to buy salt water at the Salt Water Store — but she forgot when her dentist yanked that wisdom from her.

Maybe she never knew…

We often have the ingredients. The recipe is easy. But we don’t realize how simple it is to put it all together.

So it goes with marketing and content creation.

I hear it all the time:

“I understand the benefits of email marketing, blogging and other content strategies. But I don’t have any content around the house. And it’s such a pain to create it.”

I used to think the same…

…Until I found the ingredients in my Gmail “Sent” folder.

Before I ever launched a blog or sent an email newsletter, I covered key topics — in individual emails to prospects and clients.

Here’s an example…

Over the years, multiple clients have asked me whether it’s OK to purchase an email list for their marketing. That’s a great topic for a blog post or an email newsletter.

If I search my “Sent” folder for “purchased list,” I find multiple emails in which I answered the question.

Cut the answer from my “Sent” folder. Paste it in a word processor. And I have a rough draft for a post or newsletter.

Sure, it needs some tweaking. But that’s a lot easier than starting from scratch.

What’s in your “Sent” folder? You may have the ingredients to make some great content.

That’s just one simple recipe for overcoming the pain of content creation. If you want some other recipes or generally need some tips or help with content creation, click here and see the “p.s.” below.