Since different platforms require different ways of thinking—Facebook posts are longer than those for Twitter, which have a different voice than LinkedIn status updates —there’s no real cut and paste. We have, however, put together this toolkit to help you create better content, faster. Bookmark this Online Marketing Toolkit for templates, tips and tools that you can use over and over again to enrich your social media accounts, your business blog and even your company website.

Building an Editorial Calendar

Where are you in your business blogging journey? Whether you’ve just started or have been blogging for years, it’s helpful to create and refer to a well-thought out editorial calendar. However, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel – check out the Blog Content Planning Guides and Editorial Calendar Templates by B2BInbound to get you started.

Creating the Title for Your Blog

Need help filling that calendar with ideas? While the content is up to you, there are many scientifically proven ways in which to effectively present your ideas. Are you going to be doing a case study this week or just covering the basics? This list, brought to you by Freelance Writing Solutions gives you great templates for possible blog titles that will catch a reader’s eye. No muss, no fuss.

Writing a Blog Post

As important as your business blog is, the more time you can save while still creating quality content, the better. B2Binbound suggests using their blog template that takes you through a checklist for creating valuable but concise articles, consistently. Creating your own template can be a great way to maintain your voice when inviting informed colleagues or guest bloggers to write a piece.

Downloading Images Quickly and Legally

We’ve talked in the past about the importance of images in breaking up wordy text and visually representing ideas. There are tons of places online such as Free Images and Google Image Search that allow you to search a single keyword and receive great quality images for free. Google Image Search now has the option to search images by usage rights and is a leading site to find free stock photos for your blog.

Resizing Images Without Photoshop

In order to maximize space, it’s important to be familiar with the image sizing guidelines pertaining to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and other platforms. Socially Stacked’s The Ultimate Social Media Template Guide offers interesting tips and tricks and lays out the recommended dimensions for a wide range of social networks.

Now that you know the right sizes, upload your image into iPiccy and either resize or crop the photo. You can also apply beautiful photo effects and filters, all within seconds and completely free.

Sending Your Content to Different Channels

Now that your blog post is done, marketing it through your different channels will be a breeze with these helpful social media templates that offer effective options for building your statuses faster.

The Next Web’s templates will help grow your Facebook Page, while HubSpot is ever helpful on Twitter and all other social media sites.

Recycling Old Content

You don’t need a skilled graphic designer to recycle existing content into something exciting and new. When the time comes, Simple Booklet lets you turn your existing marketing collateral into web-based booklets that you can then post across social networks, email and embed on your website.

Checking for Spelling and Grammar

Even the work of the best copywriters and content creators requires a second look. Save time by slipping your content—whether it be a lengthy blog post or a short Facebook status—into Online-Spellcheck.com to ensure it is polished and typo-free.

Voilà!

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, visit these resources for help creating an editorial calendar outline, writing blog and social media posts, downloading and resizing images, breathing new life into old content and proofreading. Save time and enrich your content with this Professional Online Marketing Toolkit and send it to your friends!

What are your favourite tools to use? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.

Do…

Assume that everything on the Internet is copyrighted

Copyright protects the intellectual property of content creators and gives them exclusive rights whether it be a piece of writing, music, photography, graphics, video, design or any other creative work. It gives the author complete control over where, when and how their work is distributed and used. In most countries, copyright is automatic upon publication, so it is best to treat every photo, video or quote as a protected piece of property.

Create original images, content, graphics, music and designs to avoid copyright infringement

Since we’re assuming everything is copyrighted, it is best to create your own works in order to avoid any potential infringement. Write down your own ideas and take your own photos to demonstrate. If you must use an excerpt of another person’s words, use quotation marks and a clear citation back to the source. For images, be sure to use those that are in the public domain, royalty-free or have a Creative Commons License (see next point).

Understand the Creative Commons and its different licenses

Creative Commons was created to help with the difficulties of traditional and digital media and its ever-growing sharing capabilities. It’s a standardized way for individuals or large institutions to give permission to use, copy, distribute, edit and build upon their work. The different licenses take into account the different levels of permissions. Some licensors allow full distribution with a simple attribution and link back to the license (click here for an example), while others are more restrictive.

Don’t…

Misunderstand the idea of fair use

The argument of fair use (or fair dealing in Canada) basically allows for copyrighted material to be used without acquiring permission from the rights holder. In instances such as news reporting, for educational or research purposes and parody, copyrighted material can be used and will be assessed by factors that are different according to different country legislature. For example, in the US, fair use is assessed by four factors: the nature, purpose, amount of material used, and the effect it had on the market. In Canada, the factors are a bit stricter. It’s important to understand the rules set by the country of your registered IP address before using any material under this law.

Think that your duplicated content will be hard to find

Although the Internet seems vast, Google Image Search has made finding images easier for content creators. So you may say to yourself that no one will find your blog in the midst of all of the others, but with the click of a button, the depths can become very shallow and you may have to deal with the consequences that are not easily remedied by simply taking the content down. In these cases, the creators still have an argument. To avoid this, always use material that is 100 % your own.

Simply give attribution credit back to the author

It may sound polite to do this but a common misconception is that a simple attribution or credit link will legally satisfy the rights of a content creator — it won’t. Permission directly from the author is required and if you cannot get in touch with the original maker, it’s best to use a different image altogether. Chances are, there are many other images that will convey the same message in your post.

While reflecting on the rules of copyright, it’s best to assume that all content is protected and to go forward with this thought in mind. Creating your own material, understanding Creative Commons, not mistaking the idea of fair use and realizing that you are never too small to be found on the Internet are all great ways to ensure that your blog is legal and free from copyright infringement. Enjoy the freedom of the blogosphere, but do it legally!

For more on where to find royalty-free images, check out our blog post “4 Types of Images to Enhance Your Content – A Breakdown”.

With the goal of being seen and shared on the world’s social networking sites it’s good to build your posts knowing that images get 94% more views and are digested 60,0000 times faster than those without. Not to mention, the alt tag (or image description) acts as a second layer of SEO. Below is a breakdown of 4 different types of images that can enhance your content.

Personal Photos

A most effective tactic is to completely personalize your material. You can do this by infusing your writing with your own photos. As a content creator, every one of your experiences has potential to teach the world.

For example, in your post on Mexican woven textiles, including snaps of your trip to the factory can evoke an emotional attachment by giving readers the feeling that they are actually with you.

Charts, Graphs and Infographics

Instead of making your reader scan and re-scan your words, try making that dense post much simpler by putting the data where it should be – in visually appealing graphs. Charts and graphs give you the opportunity to use colour to help separate themes and thick visible lines and numbers to easily compare outcomes. If your post is all data, an infographic is the perfect way to tell your story. What would normally be consumed in 15 minutes, can now be swallowed, digested and retained in a matter of 3″

Stock Images

Stock imagery includes photographs and illustrations that can be bought on a royalty-free basis. In many instances they can serve as an inexpensive alternative to hiring a photographer. To make sure you stay on the right side of intellectual property laws, opt to purchase or license imagery, or find images under Creative Commons licensing at sites such as Flickr or www.500px.com. The quickest option is to look for photos that require attribution only which calls for a simple credit to the photographer and a link back to their page.

Imagery acts as a break from text where an engaging, relevant and carefully placed visual is not only great for setting the pace of your story but it helps assure the reader that your post will be short, digestible and useful, thus increasing your website’s average session duration.

Funnies

Comics can act as a wonderful outlet for your sense of humour. When relevant, it works to make heavy content lighter while still being effective at getting your point across. Comics are an acceptable way to poke fun at the ridiculousness of your industry or a life experience that might be shared by your readers in general. Most stock libraries will offer comic illustration options. Be sure to follow the copyright instructions to continue to protect and enrich your brand.

Personal photos, charts & graphs, stock images and funnies are all great images that are sure to enhance your content. A picture is worth a thousand words is a very old saying that is relevant now more than it’s ever been.

Photo credits:

Mexican Textile Factory: Angela Sevin, Flickr; Comic Strip: Duncan c, Flickr