Everyone who sees your article, video, podcast, report, or other piece of content asks themselves 3 questions to determine if that content is worth their time consuming:

1. What is the subject?
2. What will I get out of reading it?
3. How long will it take me to read this?

First, they read your headline or title, to learn the subject of your article. They can’t read everything and will choose subjects that are relevant, important or interesting.

Second, they ask what they (might) get out of reading the article. They consider the subject and what they know about you. Have they gotten value out of your previous content? Do they see you as an authority on the subject? Do they like reading what you write?  

Third, they decide how long it will take for them to read your article, based on the length and complexity of the information. This helps them decide to read it immediately or save it for later when they have more time. 

And they make those decisions quickly. 

Therefore, do your best to 

• Know your audience. What do they need and want to know? What problems do they want to solve? What information do they want you to provide?
• Focus on crafting a title or headline that conveys the benefits of reading the article  
• Make your content easy to read (short sentences and paragraphs, simple language (mostly)
• Consider where your readers see your content, i.e., on your blog, social media, Medium, or in their email
• Consider a mix of brief articles that can be skimmed, and longer, comprehensive articles

Finally, writing often is more important than writing brilliantly. Your job is to keep your name in front of your audience and remind them what you do and how you can help them. Do that regularly and when they need your help, or know someone who does, they’ll see you as the best choice. 

You post content on your blog or newsletter or on social. But you don’t have enough of it. 

I’ve previously talked about re-writing your old content—updating the law, explaining what’s happened since you last wrote about the subject, adding a new example, “changing your mind” about the subject, and otherwise updating or refreshing what you wrote before. 

It’s an easy way to get new content to write about.

But there are times when the well is dry and you need new material. New information, examples, or stories.

No problem. Someone else has what you need.

I’m not suggesting you reach out and find some guest posts, although that is an excellent way to get some fresh material (and some traffic from the guest-poster’s followers when he or she mentions it). 

I’m suggesting something simpler. Find something someone else wrote and re-write or re-tell it.

If you read a story about a lawyer who won an important case, for example, you can write about that. It’s their case, their story, but even if you weren’t involved, you can write about it.

You can tell the same story in your own words. Describe what they did and what you think about it. Do you agree with their strategy? Think they could have done better? Have a thought about what that case means for your practice or your clients’ industry?

Agree, disagree, offer another example—anything will do. Because you’re merely using their story to tell your own. 

You don’t have to spend extra time searching for stories or posts to re-tell. Keep reading what you usually read (or listen to) and use that.

Try that now. Open a bar journal and read something that interests you. Write a few bullet points about the article and use this to tell your readers what happened and what you think about it.  

The odds are your story will take very little time to write.

And, as long as other lawyers (professionals, business owners, consultants, etc.) continue writing articles and blog posts about things that are valuable for or interesting to the people in your target market, you’ll never run out of things to write about. 

Your readers will be impressed by your ability to continually share interesting new content. They’ll wonder how you do it.

Your secret is safe with me.