Editor's Notes

• Title – An Agile Approach to Content Planning
  
  Brief Introduction
  Jeff Julian
  Managing Partner of AJi
  Developer by Trade
  Business Owner by Chance
  Marketer by Choice
• The Changing World of Marketing
  
  We are moving out of the RELATIONSHIP ERA of marketing (think be my friend) to what some are calling the EXPERIENCE ERA of marketing
  
  In the past ten years we have seen a dramatic shift if the way we market to
  
  Over the past 3 years the shift continued as we embraced social and new forms of content.
  
  What we once called “New Media” is now just Media!
  
  Just having keyword saturation and blog (that no one ever updated) was no longer enough
  
• Content Marketing - EXPERIENCES
  
  The importance of providing more than just sales information and product sheets is greater now than ever.
  
  You have to provide VALUE and EXPERIENCE
  
  New Channels of reaching our customers should be examined
  
  You visitors are more educated and more informed than they have ever been before.
  
  Good bye campaign mentality, sustainable impact is the aim
  
• Difficulty Planning – GROUP PARTICIPATION NOW!!!!!
  
  How many pieces of content do you work on a week now? Who is involved? What types of Content do you produce?
  
  Our answer has been silos in the marketing team and each person mans a station. We have created an assembly line for content
  
  Who can keep this stuff straight with just emails, meetings, notes, and txt messages?
• As Marketers We Need Better Planning Strategies – DOES YOUR WORKLOAD HAVE THIS MUCH FLUXUATION
  
  Is a editorial calendar the answer?
  
  Why Reinvent the wheel?
  
  I believe the workload has grown beyond what we can typically fit without better planning
• My story with Content
  
  High school done at 17
  
  College done at 20
  
  Created Geekswithblogs.net at 22
  
  Microsoft MVP at 23
  Schedule of Content Required!
  
  Author at 27
• Geekswithblogs.net
  
  Founded in 2003
  
  3,000+ developer focused bloggers
  
  Driver was being a thought leader for most bloggers
  
  We started coaching on content planning and strategy to help build personal and corporate brands
  
  
• Content is King
  
  We quickly grew to 50+ new blog posts a day
  
  Total before the sale was over 80,000 blog posts
  
  We had to find unique ways to categories content and curate our own content to provides the best value for the fire hose readers as well as Google.
• Lets Learn The Basics
  
  Lean as Thought –
  Eliminate Waste,
  Amplify Learning,
  Deliver Fast as Possible,
  and Empower Teams
  
  Agile as Actions –
  Highest Priority is Customer Satisfaction,
  Change Happens,
  Frequent Deliveries,
  Sustainable Pace,
  Simplicity,
  and Regular Reflections and Adaptation
• Lean Movement
  
  Autos in the 80s
  Software in the 90s and 00s
  Business and Startups next
  Everyone else (UX, Marketing, Sales, etc)
  
  Maybe this thing has legs
• Personas – THE BRIDGE
  
  We know something about them! Who are we providing value for?
  
  We most likely will see what are providing the wrong people with value
  
  This is Our Bridge
  Developers can create features by these
  Experience Designers can design and tests with these
  CxOs can ensure business direction with these
  Marketers can reach these
  
• Content Mission Statement
  
  Providing an Outline for Our Content
  
  Inline with Corporate Mission, but not a copy
  
  Target Group
  
  What value we are trying to deliver
  
  How we will deliver the value
  
  How we will be different
• Roles of Team (Different for each Implementation)
  
  Content Developers?
  Writers
  Graphics Teams
  Videographers
  
  Content Owner – Who ever can make decisions about what is in the queue and what priority these items have
  
  ScrumMaster – The person responsible for ensuring planning occurs, roles are being played, teams are providing feedback, and impediments are being removed!
  
• The Backlog
  
  List of Prioritized Content Stories controlled by the Content Owner
  
  PUT all your content thoughts in a big pile (or spreadsheet)
• The Piece of Content
  
  The backlog is made up of planned pieces of content (LEGOS)
  
  LEGOS are individual pieces, but come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Each one has characteristics that are the same, but are very different as well
  
  Each one is designed to fit together and be part of a bigger story
  
  This content can take whatever shape need it to. Having a good understanding of what types of content you produce will be very important.
  
  Blogs
  Press Releases
  Videos
  Magazines
  Advertisements
  Infographics
  
  
• Content Item
  
   Borrowing the term from User Stories, a Content Story contains the following information:
  
  Story - As a Persona, a need a(n) Content Type about Content Topic so that I can Content Value Statement. This statement should be the Mission Statement of the Content.
  
  Proposed Title - The official title of the content
  
  Estimate Effort of Copy Production, Content Management Prep, and Deployment
  
  How to Demonstrate Value - Statement showing how after this article is consumed to the target persona, what will they be able to demonstrate to show that they received value from using this content
  
  Call to Action - How will the persona be moved to next steps with the organization
  
  Priority - How important is this article to the organization
  
  State of Content - Is this a new piece of content, rewrite, or update to existing
  
• Task
  
  Tasks are the work that goes into the creation of a Content Item
  
  We will talk about tasks later when we getting into more planning tools
• Priority is Key – TELL STORIES
  
  Understanding what the importance is of a piece of content is something only the Content Owner can change.
  
  No items have the same importance so give each item a unique value
  
  Reassess the priority on a regular basis, it will change based on measured value, changes in business, and many different factors
  
  Tell the story of the backlog for the book and the workshop brain writing session
• The Art of Estimating
  
  Walk through the estimation process.
  
  What is a story point?
  Estimate based on a perceived magic place where you get to work on a task all day with no interuptions
  
  These Numbers or Your Own
  Nothing is 0
  Bigger than 20, think about breaking it up
  ? = Not enough detail
  Infinite means too big to estimate
  
• The Timebox
  
  Create a window of time (1, 2, 3, 4 weeks) that you can produce a few items in based on current load
  
  No one is 100% available, this fact can be measured for the whole team or by individual
  
  
  
  
• The Timebox
  
  Discuss Items With Dedicated Resources (only one member can do it)
  
  Efficiency Factor Review – Start with 70% if team is new to estimating
  
  
  
  
• Daily Stand Up, Coffee & Friends
  
  The purpose of the standup is to give your daily feedback.
  
  It brings the whole team together and each active members states the following:
  
  What they did the day before
  
  What they plan to do today
  
  Name any issues (impediments) they have
• Daily Stand Up, Coffee & Friends
  
  Tasks and Content Cards move as they are considered done
  
  All Items must meet the criteria of done defined by the team
• Retrospective
  
  What was good
  
  What was bad
  
  What can we remove
  
  What can we add
• Planning & Review of Backlog
  
  Every Single Sprint (or Iteration) You must review the backlog!
  
  New Priority?
  
  Still Necessary?
  
  New Estimates? (Are we better or worse than we thought?)
  
  New Members Need to be aquatinted to the process
  
• Important Points of Failure
  
  
• Measuring Workload – TELL STORIES IF TIME
  
  Do not over commit at first
  
  ** Story of Two Week Willy **
  
  Start having your team measure the work they do on a daily basis in hours. Try not to guess here
  
  Remember, no one is 100%
• 2) We need a leader to remove disruptions – TELL STORIES IF TIME
  
  External
  Are outside departments or customers pulling you from your responsibilities?
  Isolate yourselves
  
  ** Story of the Hidden Cubical **
  
  Internal
  Are you easily distracted? (squirrel)
  Are you not as efficient as you want to be?
  Do you interact with your phone too much during the day?
• 3) Move in Small Steps – TALK ABOUT PERSONAL AND BASIC TEAM TASKS
  
  Start by making yourself more Agile
  
  Look at your Tasks Daily
  
  Plan a content item before starting on your next piece of work
  
  Brainstorm with the Team, Brain Writing, Mind Mapping
• 3) Definition of Done – TELL STORIES IF TIME
  
  Is a video done when it comes back from the editor?
  
  Is a article complete when it is published?
  
  Do we have a person control each social voice?
  
  Come up with a checklist of everything that has to be met for a Content Item to be considered done!
• Questions and Contact