Ever feel like you could attract even MORE clients if only your content wasn’t such a headache?
Like, you know you need to put stuff out there, but it feels like trying to herd cats?
Yeah, I feel ya. Well, not anymore (mostly).
Over the past 15 years, I’ve built automated content systems used by all sorts of businesses, from solo founders running a few posts per week to big boys like The Associated Press and Yahoo! pumping out hundreds of posts per month.
And let me tell you, I’ve tripped over my fair share of content creation banana peels.
But hey, that means you don’t have to.
Because I’m sharing my 7 critical but super simple lessons, I’ve picked up along the way.
These are the things that’ll help you build an automated content system that actually works and brings in those dream clients.
Let’s dive in…
1. Your Brand’s Secret Decoder Ring: The Style Guide
Imagine trying to explain your favorite inside joke to someone who doesn’t speak your language.
Frustrating, right?
That’s what your brand is like without a Brand Style Guide.
It’s like the rulebook for how your brand talks, what kind of words it uses, and even how your stuff should look.
Think of it as your brand’s personal translator, making sure everyone (even those fancy AI robots) knows exactly how to sound like you.
Back in the day, when I was running Presto Media and dealing with super picky editorial staff, I learned REAL fast how important this was.
Style Guides help give boundaries to your content and maintain brand consistency. So, whether its you, a ghostwriter, or AI writing your content, it’s always on-brand and publish-ready.
Pro Tip: Don’t go overboard and make your style guide a million pages long. Keep it simple and focus on the most important stuff. Otherwise, it’ll be so confusing, even you won’t want to read it.
2. Someone’s Gotta Be the Grown-Up: The Need for Editorial Oversight (at first)
Even if you’re a content-creating ninja, you need someone (even if it’s future-you) to give everything a once-over.
Think of them as the “does this make sense?” person. They make sure your content sounds like you, doesn’t have any “oops!” moments (like saying or spelling something completely wrong), and is actually good to publish.
When you’re just starting out, this might be you wearing a different hat.
But trust me, having that editorial eye is key. At least at first.
Continue to provide feedback to your human or AI content writer until they are so well trained that first drafts come in ready to publish.
3. Let the Robots Do the Robot Stuff: Embrace Automation
It’s 2025, people! We have self-driving cars and virtual reality.
So why are you still manually moving content from one step to another?
There are tons of great tools out there that can automate steps that don’t require a human to perform.
At Zenpost, automation is our secret weapon.
It keeps things moving smoothly without us having to micromanage every little thing. It’s like having a bunch of little helpers working for you 24/7.
Pro Tip: My rule of thumb is if you could train a child to do it, you shouldn’t be paying an adult to do it. There’s plenty of automation tools out there that can help you automate that step instead. Check out my Solopreneur’s Toolbox to get a list of my recommended ones.
4. Ding Ding! Stay in the Know with Notifications
So, the robots are doing their thing, but how do you know what’s going on?
Notifications.
Think of them as little digital nudges. They tell you when a piece of content is ready for your eyeballs or when a deadline is coming up.
When I was building content systems for those bigger companies, notifications were lifesavers.
They made sure everyone knew when it was their turn to jump in and do their part. It’s like having a personal assistant for your content – minus the awkward small talk.
5. Tame the Content Jungle: Get Organized!
When you start making lots of content, it can feel like your brain exploded and all the pieces landed in a giant pile.
That’s where a content management system comes in. It’s like a digital filing cabinet for all your content ideas, works-in-progress, and finished masterpieces.
Being organized helps you see the big picture, know what needs to be done, and spot any logjams in your process.
It’s like having a map for your content journey so you don’t get lost in the weeds.
6. The Quality of Your Inputs = The Quality of Your Outputs
Ever try baking a cake with rotten eggs? Yeah, not gonna be good.
Same goes for your content.
If you feed your system bad info – a confusing style guide, wrong facts, or just a vague idea – the final result won’t be what you want.
We learned this the hard way at Presto Media.
Sometimes clients would give us instructions that were, well, let’s just say they weren’t crystal clear.
The writers would try their best, but the results were often… surprising.
That’s why clear instructions and examples are like the secret ingredient to good content.
And guess what? This also applies to working with AI.
Pro Tip: Train AI the same way you would train a human employee. If you want it to produce quality content that sounds like you, you have to provide it with context around your business, your Style Guide (see Lesson #1), and details about your thoughts and opinions on the topic.
7. An Intuitive System is a Productive System
Your content system should make sense to you and anyone else who uses it.
If you log in and it looks like a spaceship control panel, that’s a problem. You should be able to easily find what you need and know what to do.
Back in my early days, I tried to build this super fancy system that I thought was genius.
But guess what?
Nobody else did!
It caused all sorts of slowdowns because people were confused.
The lesson?
Keep it simple.
Your content system should be your helpful sidekick, not a puzzle you need a PhD to solve.
Those are the 7 lessons that I had to learn the hard way about how to build a productive content system.
Keep all 7 in mind as you build out your content system to avoid all the bottles of Aspirin I had to go through while learning these lessons the hard way.
See you in the next Post.