The Storyteller And Content Generation Ideas Thumbnail

Hello Friends!

I’ve been thinking of various ways to come up with the right Member and Challenger contribution content for Yakezie.com and perhaps I’ve come up with a solution, which needs your input.  The goal is to make content interesting, thematic, easy, and collaborative.

All of us enjoyed reading the Yakezie Member Posts from the Alpha Class that went up the months of September, October, and November.  It was a chance to learn more about each other and share stories that go beyond just personal finance.  We got to learn about the why, the when, and the how which is always so fascinating.  Come February 1, 2011, Beta Challengers will also get to share their Member Posts as well, so get excited!

STORY TELLING IS KEY

I’ve found that great stories are what keep me coming back for more on a particular network site.  When I can’t get enough of the story, I am propelled to then click on the author’s own site to read some more.  In fact, after reading a great story, I am ALWAYS clicking on the author’s respective site to read more and help share their content around the blogosphere.  What I’d like is for Yakezie.com to have content that tells great stories around a certain set of topics once a month. What topics should we discuss?  Enter the Yakezie Scholarship essay questions!

The Yakezie Writing Contest is one of the key initiatives of the Yakezie Network.  Our entire premise is to selflessly help others with their blogs and in real life.  With the deadline for the first contest is coming up Mon, December 6th at 11:59pm, I’ve come up with an idea for us to lead by example with the Yakezie Writing Contest initiative and provide themed content throughout the month as well.

If you want to contribute content to Yakezie.com and are struggling to come up with ideas, Members and Challengers can write articles that addresses one of the contest questions on Yakezie.com that will go up the 2 or 3 weeks before the applicants essays go up.  In other words, the first half of every month will be filled with content from the Yakezie Network of Members and Challengers, and the second half of the month will have content from contest applicants.  Guest posts are welcome from people outside of the Network as well if there is space.  I’m sure that some applicants don’t know exactly where to start and what we are looking for.  With our own articles, they’ll have plenty of examples to get going!

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

The writing contest questions are there to help the applicant think about important issues and share lessons they’ve learned to become better people.  Questions can be diverse to include topics on world affairs, educational travel, debt, entrepreneurship, risk-taking, triumph, failure and more to encapsulate our Y-pronged theme of: Personal Finance, Lifestyle, and Scholarship so that students and the network alike can share, think, and learn about pertinent topics every single month.  With a more focused approach to personal finance and life, we can make a bigger impact!

The only challenge we have is coming up with a list of three or so questions once a month for us all to rally around.  This is frankly no challenge at all since there are so many avenues we can discuss.  Once a list of questions are launched, it makes the content theme for the rest of month straightforward.  Every time I write one of my own articles on Financial Samurai, I broaden my own perspectives because I discover new ways of thinking and doing.  The key is to just get going and make an attempt.

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF NETWORK

We can differentiate ourselves by being the best blogging network with the best stories on Yakezie.com that weave in topics around personal finance, lifestyle, and giving back.  Stories are what compel readers for more and propel them to go to your respective sites and learn more about you.  The more the reader and your fellow Member know about you, the more they will promote your work as well!  The best movies all tell the most unique stories, regardless of their production budget.

We can have as little or as much content on here you want here on Yakezie.com.  It’s whatever we make of it and there’s no pressure to do anything at all.  I’ll write my own Yakezie Writing Contest post this week to help blaze the trail.  As Members and Challengers, we are not eligible to win the main Contest, but by sharing our stories, we can provide advice and inspiration to others through our writing.  What we can do if the majority agrees is to carve out a smaller prize of say $100 from the donation pool to the winning Yakezie Member/Challenger articles based on the number of votes for the month.  Please share your thoughts and consider doing the same!

Essay Questions from December’s HowtoSaveMoney.Com Yakezie Writing Contest:

1) Who is your hero and why?  What are the attributes your hero possesses that makes you admire him or her so much?  Compare these attributes to your own and tell us your similarities and where you can improve.  What steps will you take to become more like your hero?

2) Discuss a time when you failed or did not live up to your full potential.  Assess the things that prevented you from achieving what you were aiming for and analyze what you would do differently if you had another chance.  Do you let failure motivate you or keep you down?

3) What kind of skills do you learn through sports that can help you succeed in life?  Tell us a time where a particular aspect you learned from sports helped you get through a difficult time.  How do you plan to pass on your knowledge?

Regards,

Sam