I have a few e-books that I’ve been selling for years. That’s because they’re on topics that are “evergreen.” Here are some of the titles:
- “Slide Design for Non-Designers”
- “12 Steps to Become a Charismatic Speaker”
- “How to Write and Sell an E-book”
On the other hand, my e-book, “101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know,” needs to be updated every couple of years.
Obviously, it’s more work for me to have to update an e-book regularly. Yet “Slide Design for Non-Designers” is my best-selling e-book.
What is evergreen content?
Evergreen content stays fresh for a long time. It’s about principles rather than the latest tools or tactics. Of course, everything changes eventually, but you can certainly lengthen the shelf life of what you write.
If you want your freebie or product to work for a long time, it should be evergreen content.
How do you create evergreen content?
Try to imagine how your content will be received a year from now. Even further out.
Here are some guidelines:
- Avoid sharing anything that can date the content, such as a reference to a current event or an actual date
- Avoid references to months, seasons, or holidays
- Emphasize principles and strategies over tactics and tools
If you want to include material that will go out of date soon, separate it out into a separate module or chapter. Then you can easily update just that section. So, your content can cover long-term strategy in one chapter and short-term processes in another.
Why create evergreen content?
Having evergreen products opens up lots of opportunities for you. For example, you can:
- Put it in your autoresponders
- Embed it in other people’s products
- Add it as bonuses
These are locations that you don’t review often and it’s easy to forget about them. If your content isn’t evergreen, it will become out of date and you might not realize it.
But mostly, it’s less work for you. Less updating, less editing, etc.
Plus, content about principles and strategies will highlight you as a thought leader, showcase your expertise.
What type of content should be evergreen?
E-books, courses, reports, and guides can often be evergreen or at least have a long shelf life.
These days, anything that’s good for a couple of years is considered evergreen. That’s because things change so quickly. Technology is fast-moving, so that’s why content that’s about technology is harder to make evergreen.
When is evergreen content not a good idea?
Not all of your content should be evergreen. Content that is about current events and situations is highly interesting to people. Blog posts, which are dated, should contain dated material sometimes.
Social media posts should be about what’s happening now. On social media, people don’t expect to find for something useful even a few weeks later!
Nevertheless, some of your blog posts should be evergreen, so people searching for the topic years later will still find it useful.
If you write about software that is updated often, you’ll find creating evergreen content harder. I wrote computer books for years and they were updated regularly.
But then I wrote my own self-published e-books and started writing about principles. Those became evergreen products that have brought me thousands of dollars with very little updating.
Is your content evergreen?
If you’re spending a lot of time updating your content, try writing something that is more evergreen. You might be interested in publishing an e-book and selling it on your website, as I do. My e-book, Write and Sell an E-Book, will get you started.
Please leave a comment and share your experiences with creating evergreen content! And you can share this post using the social media share buttons below.
8 replies to "How to create evergreen content that brings in income for years"
This is really very insightful! I think I have a couple of evergreen content on my blog, but I think I need to write more.
You’re right! The posts I have that seem dated don’t get visited as often as the evergreen ones.
Great tips on repurposing evergreen content. I will apply this to my own autoresponders and emails. Thanks!
Bill, autoresponders especially should be evergreen because they’re sent out automatically when someone subscribes or buys and that could be any time. But broadcast emails should be more time-based and relevant to the day they’re sent. Also check on your blog posts and products — that’s where evergreen content is so very important.
Philip,
Yes, and I think there are 2 reasons:
1) evergreen posts get visited over many years so they rack up more visits
2) evergreen posts are seen as more authoritative because they’re about principles rather than specific tactics
Vee,
Glad you liked it! Yes, more evergreen posts will bring you more visits over time.
Hmmm… I need to check my posts if there are enough number of evergreen content there. Coz if it’s mostly related to current events, if I don’t post any more, then no one would come visit anymore. Thanks.
Because of this post, I am more mindful now of the content I produce for my clients and myself. It’s true that they do bring in more income and opportunities. Thank you.