What are the most reliable content development tools and software available?

I combine Chat gpt with Canva . I use the right prompts. Sometimes I create the rough sketch that shares my tone of voice ,and then tell it to craft it with my own style and words.

Chat GPT/Bard AI combined with Canva no doubt because they're all free & I've made 500+ GBPs in 3 months combining them. That is a fortune in South Africa. Here is my secret hack: 1. Open Chat GPT/Google Bard 2. Sign up for Canva, its free but I STRONGLY advise buying pro version it's relatively cheap but SUPER useful 3. Prompt AI, EG: "Create 100 facts about gaming". Save results as CSV doc NB: This is why I prefer Bard because the spreadsheet can be transferred to Google Sheets. 4. Open an IG post template on Canva with text. 5. Upload the CSV to Canva using bulk create. Select the template text, right-click, connect data, pair it with data fields. 6. Select continue, you will have 100 posts with unique info you can schedule. EASY MONEY!

Content research, just like any form of simple desktop research needs to capture interesting details of your subject matter. I’ve found it hugely helpful to read and understand everything I can on a topic, say quantum computing in the Middle East - within a reasonable range - and then distill down my thoughts based on the narrative I wish to spin out. Search engines are great, AI in the form of ChatGPT can assist with outlines, but nothing beats solid reports and industry statistics that embellish your arguments. Fact is conclusive proof - whether you are solving a mystery or drafting a compelling story. I also try to keep search engine trawling to a minimum by narrowing my prompts, you don’t want to veer too far off course.

While the tools are good, it's important to be an avid reader and be on top of the latest news and current affairs. That will help in providing depth as well to the content.

Here’s a gist of content development tools to help you: Grammarly: Used for grammar, writing assistance. Offers grammar check, style suggestions. Scrivener: Helps in longer-form content. Provides distraction-free writing mode. Google Docs: Cloud-based word processing tool offering real-time collaboration & easy sharing. Yoast SEO: Designed for content optimization for search engines. It offers SEO analysis & suggests improvements for better search engine ranking. Trello: Useful for content planning and organization. Its provides boards, lists, and cards for project management. Readable: Focuses on improving the overall readability of content. Evaluates readability scores, identifies areas for improvement, and suggests changes.

I use a combination of Google Docs, WordPress and Notion for my drafts. Enter the AI revolution and I have added Notion AI and Writesonic to whip up some more ideas to refine my existing ideas. Just be careful with AI. You have to come in with your own original content and great prompts. Otherwise, you will be publishing a regurgitation of content that looks exactly the same as every other AI-generated content out here today. If you have been observant, you will notice a lot of posts nowadays have too many emojis and almost always start with "Exciting news" and many other similar phrases. Use AI to help, but don't use it to do all your work.

I’ve found AI-power tools have enabled me to write faster and clearer than ever. Grammarly is a life saver and quickly flags improvements beyond just spelling and basic grammar - it can also review tone which is a great gut check depending on the goal or audience. Beyond this I use copy.ai and ChatGPT to assist with shortening passages (hello word count), tweak tone, give me ideas of other ways in and help answer questions about the topic. It’s become a partner in creating content writing and definitely one to lean into!

Some of the best (free!) content writing tools are your own senses. Read your own writing out loud to "listen" for stilted phrases or the ever-obvious "AI speak" that's creeping into content strategy. Remember to stay authentic to your voice, whether it's your personal voice or brand voice.

For blogging, my go-to platforms are WordPress and Medium. Their user-friendly interfaces and customization options are really useful. To ensure my writing is top-notch, I rely on Grammarly. It's like having a personal editor, catching grammar slips and refining my style. When I want to add a visual punch, Canva is my creative haven. It lets me design striking graphics without breaking a sweat. For more complex writing projects, Scrivener is a game-changer, which helps me stay organized and streamlines the composition process. Another one is Hemingway Editor – a tool that fine-tunes readability, making sure my content is crystal clear. These tools, aligned with my preferences, amplify my content creation game.

Pen, paper, and your head. The best tools ever. Writing is communicating your thoughts and your understanding of a subject. And if you know high-school grammar, that's more than enough to write good English.

When it comes to current content creation software, Canva's “Magic" AI tool is one of the best features I've seen. You can upload a photo or image (or choose one from their extensive library of templates, icons, fonts, images, animations), then type in prompts for anything you can imagine. Your words become actions. The image changes. It's like the new AI background morphing feature in Photoshop Beta. There's also magic resize and several other quick actions. You can do many of these things yourself using Photoshop or Inkscape (and sometimes that is still best) ... Also, if you plan to print, or need a higher resolution, you will need to download from Canva, then upscale elsewhere. But for many things, Canva's Magic tool is faster.

Across the non-for-profit and international public sectors, Canva has no competition when it comes to content formatting, especially the static content but it has increasingly developed for other formats as well. For social video - Animoto (or its pricier version, Lumen5) and CapCut.

The various export options provided by Canva is also worth mentioning. Users can download their designs in different formats such as PNG, PowerPoint or even MP4 motion dynamics - making it easy to share across different platforms.

Content formatting requires an eye for detail and a clear understanding of the purpose & intent behind a piece of content. For example, if you're writing a content piece for a PR exercise, the purpose is to talk about your firm's latest achievement or a new report of statistics that you created to help fellow peers in the industry. In this scenario, you need to format the content by highlighting the cream of the cake right at the top and then get into nitty gritty details as your proceed further. That will keep the audience engaged. What's the point in creating a content piece if you can't keep your audience engaged?

Perfect your content presentation with these tools: 1. **Markdown:** Streamline text formatting for web content with simple syntax. 2. **Canva:** Design visually appealing graphics and layouts effortlessly. 3. **HTML Cleaner:** Ensure clean and well-structured HTML code for web content. 4. **Grammarly:** Polish writing style and maintain consistent formatting. 5. **Google Docs:** Collaborative platform with easy formatting options for documents. Combine these tools to enhance the formatting and visual appeal of your content.

Repurposing your content is the best way to publish. This is not something new and it's been done forever. Create a large piece of content, take bits and pieces of it, and repurpose it for social, email, and more. A common mistake that people make is to publish the same piece of content on blog, medium, substack, and other places. That will not drive any value and it may not do good in search as well. Instead, make tweaks to one piece of content and publish it in different platforms in a way that's consumed on those platforms.

It's not the tool that matters, it's the tool master. I've worked with writers who don't use even a single tool and they can churn out high-quality content pieces in hours. However, what if you have a high demand and you need to speed up the production? In that case, you may need a few tools. For example, GPT4 is really good when it comes to generating content exactly as per the prompt you provide. You may use the free version of ChatGPT as well and you need to provide really precise inputs to get the best output. There are many other LLMs that you can use to achieve higher production levels. Nonetheless, the tool is only as good as it's master. You can have the most advanced tools in your hand, but if you don't know how to use it??

In addition to using specific tools, there are several important considerations for effective content development. I'd like to highlight the importance of consistent branding here - which goes beyond just visual elements and encompasses the overall experience that your audience has with your brand. Make sure you adhere to brand guidelines when producing and curating content - regardless of the tool used.

While there are many tools that can help you write good content, there is no substitution for great storytelling and strong editing. Use the tools, but don't forget the human angle, and get fresh eyes to review your content for grammar and spelling!

There are so many great tools out there, but it's important not to overrely on the technology. Creating engaging content is all about putting a consistent personal touch on everything you do. Everyone is spitting out the same-same-but-slightly-different AI-generated platitudes. The best way to stand out? Butt in chair, hands on keys in a plain text editor. Ideate, polish, and go from there.