Writing from scratch requires a lot of time and energy. You outline some posts, but then you feel like it’s just not right, and you decide to delete it. Some days generating ideas doesn’t come easy. On those days, re-generating does.
Sometimes, the things we want are already around us, we just don’t see it because we’re too focused on some other things. You don’t always need to come up with something new. How about taking something old, and making it new again? You can spare some thinking for yourself, recreate old content, have fun around it, and come up with something much better.
Time is a valuable resource, especially when it comes to the internet. You can breathe new life into old content and continue to gain value from your previous posts. Repurposing old content (aka making new articles out of old content) has its benefits:
- Making articles out of old content, you already have a head start on the creation process.
- As Salma Jafri briefly defined it, “Create less, promote more”
- Save time, save old content
Every time you create something, whether it’s for a client, a project bid, a new marketing endeavor, or even just for fun… you’re planting the seeds for hundreds of web articles. Just imagine all of the articles that can spring forth from things like:
- writing drafts that weren’t used-old websites or blogs that you ended up scrapping
- eBooks that you once published which are now out of date (at least some of the info has to be relevant still!)
- samples you created for job bids that didn’t pan out
- old creative projects that you never finished
- other articles
Just make sure that in reworking old content, you aren’t violating any Nondisclosure Agreements you may have established with other people, and that you aren’t plagiarizing already published content. By doing so, you can save some time, and freshen up your content!
Note: this post was previously written and, well, you guessed it… it was updated and recycled!
I like recycling. Never applied it to ideas or posts. What a great idea. I am getting tired. So thanks for suggesting it.
Hang in there, Lily, things will get easier with practice.
Great recommendation!
Thanks.
I do this occasionally when I have information that I want to bring back again. Great idea!
Martha – how often do you do this?
I don’t have any certain times I do this Paul, but mostly when I have a post that I’ve got good response on, I’ll bring it back with a few changes.
Test it out and see what works, Martha!
I should probably go back through my old stuff. Thank you for these ideas.
You may be surprised that you have, Lillian!
Reusing old content is always a great idea. I have used ebooks that are still current and created tons of new content with them. I’ve also used posts to create audios, videos and webinars – and vice versa. There have also been several times that I have been in the flow with a client, got off the phone, and written a great post based on that conversation.
Those are some excellent ways, Cindy!
I use old posts as a means to compare what’s happened since their publication.
Old posts = Historical Archive! I love it1
I have republished my articles a couple of times after updating them, especially the ones written in the beginning of the blog that had no views. Very good idea.
Even if they had comments, you can still update the blog post if the material was timely. There is nothing wrong with updating the content and making it more relevant.
This is a great tip, Paul! Same goes for old pictures, memes. They can be used on Insta, Tweet, put in videos, FB fan page, in groups etc.
Definitely! These are perfect for making the rounds on social media.
If it weren’t for refresh and recycle, I wouldn’t have a blog ;-).
🙂
great ideas for reusing posts. Like Kemkem, I plan to get started with republishing older/low-view posts that need a bit of refreshing maybe.. And then there are those drafts…
Ahhhh those drafts!
and i had a comment on your earlier posting of this repost too 🙂 my comment for the oct 2018 posting – that is what i plan to after i finish UBC to completion, at day 28 now
🙂
Great tips. I should have thought of this monday.
There is always another Monday coming next week!
Brilliant!! I just got two fantastic ideas for a post I need to write that I don’t really feel like getting to yet. These ideas will help me so much.
🙂
My reuse and recycle efforts have been limited to water resources…
Nothing wrong with that, Roy!
I have a habit of jotting things down on sticky notes and putting them “somewhere”. When I find the notes sometimes months later, I’ll have new blog topics! I also have found that when I write a blog about a certain topic, if I add previous blogs I’ve written with the same interest, I get a lot more exposure and views.
Yes!