Requirement gathering. This is my first discussion with the client after the signup. This is the time to get your checklist and sound recorder out. I'm going to go through the questions by creating a mind map again, this time using a software called free mind, which is for Windows, I'll share more tools later. Keep in mind that the mindmap need not be in any particular sequence because you're just downloading the thoughts in your head. Here goes the center as before must hold a very specific topic.

So not this requirement gathering that's too weak, but requirement gathering checklist. The first thing I like to understand is why this topic is worth talking about. Why would people want to read about it or listen to a talk about this? Is that a common problem a social issue and environmental danger or a disruptive approach to an old problem? Second, is the coverage shallow an overview kind of level or deep? Will you need to pull out research delve into the topic Also if there is a particular aspect within that topic that needs covering, for example, a mattress company may want to talk about the damage done by smartphones to people's lives.

But from the perspective of disrupting sleep patterns. What's the goal of this copy? What is the takeaway for readers? Are we educating them or trying to get them to engage with our brand, or sign up for something? Or maybe we're just promoting a product or service. This will indicate the calls to action you need to use and it will guide your introduction, your conclusion, and your whole approach through the content development.

Who is this content for? Who is the targeted audience? This is an extremely important question to cover. And I'll go into this in length in the next module. If this is going to be an ongoing project, say you've been hired as the blog writer asked about the sorts of topics will the client provide the topics or do you need to come up with them yourself? This will help you assess the time you need to a lot for this task.

I have worked in both situations. When you get familiar with the industry and the clients business, you can become good at suggesting the most trending topics and checking out the competition and the industry regularly. This way you become an important resource for the marketing manager. The client may also have an idea of the content format she wants to use. Of course with experience, you can also give suggestions. For example, video is the most engaging content format today, it's a good idea to know the length constraints before you start the work.

This will help you check the amount of time you spend in the research phase and can avoid any sprawl of the copy. Document design. Businesses may have guidelines on how certain content must be used. The names of brand assets taxonomies designations, language and spellings UK English versus US English. If a company doesn't have one, you can build a style guide for them or you can record To the standard style guides out there, such as the APA or MLA style documentation, or the Oxford style guide, if you're working with UK English, will you need to sign an NDA a nondisclosure agreement? This must happen before you start work.

Even if you don't sign an NDA, you should treat the clients information as private. And finally, the deadline. Once you clear about the work involved, you can easily assess if the work is doable in the provided timeframe. You can shift items on your task list request to shuffle in priorities and targets if you're part of a team, or even say no to a request. When you talk to a client with such clarity and confidence, they start trusting your opinion. My clients are very appreciative of this process because the questions force them to be clear on their own content strategy.

They are often willing to wait the needed time for quality copy once they understand the intricacies involved. Now gone through the points on my checklist and my recording is ready. Later. I'll make notes from the recording and fill out The project requirement document, I send it to the client to sign off and start work only after receiving the written approval, not verbal written. This is a common rookie mistake. All approvals must be in writing email or printed form.

Believe me this will save you a lot of pain. Now you can't get onto the project requirement document just yet. We will cover the audience analysis in the next video and then you can get going