Everyone loves to get something free. And everyone loves to make money. One of my resolutions for the New Year is to increase my social media efforts so I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to learn better strategies. Last night, I was surfing online while watching Survivor with my kids and found some great free resources that I wanted to share with you. No, you aren’t going to magically make more money when you read each of these resources. But I think the information in each one will give you new skills that you can use to make more money as a content marketing writer.

Here are three things to check out over the weekend:

1. 100 Content Marketing Examples by Content Marketing Institute. All writers know that the best way to improve our craft is to read books and articles by great writers. Well, the same applies to content marketing. I’ve found one of the best ways to improve the quality of the deliverables I create for my clients as well as increase my ability to come up with creative content ideas is to look at examples of other companies who are hitting their content marketing out of the park. CMI (one of my favorite resources for content marketing information) has compiled 100 different examples of great content marketing and explains way each one is effective. I especially loved the NC on Campus app that gives up-to-date information about happenings on campus based on a user’s location and the Navy for Moms website. Both provide information when the user needs and is very authentic. I also hadn’t realized that the Lego magazine that clutters my mailbox arrives in my mailbox each month is actually a great example of content marketing as well.

2. Content Marketing for Dummies. Yes, the publisher is offering this $16.99 book for a free download for a limited time. If you are new to content marketing writing or feel like you don’t understand the content marketing strategy aspect of the craft, I highly recommend taking a minute to download the PDF. The book contains so many good nuggets of information and pieces of practical advice, that I will wager that even veteran content marketing writers will find it worth a quick perusal. I found the chapter about metrics and measurements (something I want to learn more about so I can show my value in concrete terms to clients) and the 10 Free Tools at the back to be especially interesting.

3. Laura Roeder’s The Dash Newsletter. OK, so I lied. This one isn’t a book. But Laura Roeder’s weekly free newsletter contains as much useful information on social media as many books that I have read. Her latest email explained how creating an email newsletter can be more effective than social media post, and linked to a free motivational video series on her website. Her blog also contains some great tips that you can use as soon as you finish reading to help improve your social media reach. I like how her information is very practical and focuses on giving you concrete ideas that you can use.  And her site and her efforts are also a great example of very effective content marketing for her paid offerings, such as her books and courses.

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Do you have any free resources that you would like to share? Any tips you found useful from these resources? Or any tips you learned this week in general related to content marketing writing that you want to share?