Delete Your Content
No, really. That’s how you’re going to make your great content stand out.
Hi, I’m Daniel Beck and I’m a technical writer and consultant. 👋 Like you, I’ve been responsible for a ton of content: blog posts, documentation, knowledge base articles, white papers, screencasts, you name it. And like you, I’m familiar with the creeping feeling that there’s bad content lurking, which will undermine your next big project, like supporting a product launch, reorganizing your website, or getting through yet another rebranding.
Sometimes that feeling hits you on the first day of a new gig and other times it takes months to get there, but when you’re managing a lot of content, it always seems to happen eventually: you have lost track of your best content.
But what should you do about it?
You’ve probably already thought that you should “review” all your content. But it looks like a monumental effort. Where would you even begin? You can’t just sit down and read every word you’ve published. It would take ages. You’re busy. You’ve got “real” work to do.
On the other hand, it feels like you can’t not do it. You’ve got so many questions about your own content. How are you going to:
- understand the legacy content you’ve inherited?
- move your existing content into that big reorganization?
- “fill in the gaps” when you don’t even know where the gaps are?
I’m here to tell you that you need to do something: delete your content. Well, not all of it. I’m not suggesting that you take a wrecking ball to your work. You have to take stock and figure out where your best (and worst) work is. In other words, you need a plan. And that’s where I come in.
Delete Your Content is a guide to inventorying your content
With Delete Your Content, I’ll guide you through:
- Figuring out what you need to know about your content — tailoring the process to your needs
- Creating a complete, systematic inventory of your content — without reading every word
- Deleting your suboptimal content — safely and confidently
This is a process I’ve been through many times and it helped me in a wide range of scenarios:
- Rescuing a site that had gotten completely out of control, building confidence with teammates and customers
- Getting up to speed with a new team, getting quick wins for quality and maintainability (plus developing business and product knowledge along the way)
- Migrating existing content from one content management system to another, saving time
- Demonstrating bona fides for an even bigger client project, securing high-value business
But the first time I did this, it was a slow, taxing process. Each time I went through this process, I learned more acutely how people talk about the benefits of content inventories and audits, but don’t talk about the nuts and bolts of doing the work.
Delete Your Content was born out of those experiences. I wanted to turn my frustrations and epiphanies into an understandable process that any writer or editor can adapt to their own content problems.
What you get
When you buy the single-user1 Delete Your Content for $29 (plus tax, if applicable in your region) you get:
- A DRM-free PDF guide to planning a content inventory and deleting the poorest content (it’s short — it’s not a book, I promise — I know you don’t have time to read a book)
- A set of templates for Airtable, Google Sheets, and Microsoft Excel that will help you jump start your inventory, so you don’t have to face down a blank spreadsheet on your own
- A printable and customizable checklist to keep your process quick and focused
- Free access to future updates to the guide, templates, and checklist
Ready to get control of your content?
Questions?
Email me! I’m happy to answer questions or help you with your purchase.