Having a solid strategy is the most effective path to success. Anyone in the content marketing industry will tell you that without one, you’re going to lose the chess game against your competitors (they probably have a strategy, after all).

How to create an effective content strategy, and more, in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Strategize or Bust

RT @bussolati: 9 easy steps to an assn #contentstrategy. No more flying blind in your content creation. #smassn http://t.co/izwxJU5Q

— Meredith Bower Holt (@meredithholt) January 15, 2013

How is your content strategy faring among your peers? If your answer is “What strategy?,” it might be time you developed one. This blog post from Bussolati offers nine steps for creating an association content strategy and reminds readers of the value of strategic planning behind content creation. “With all of the channels that are greedy for content and resources being as thin as they are, you must get the most from your content,” Bussolati writes. “The only way to accomplish this is to have a solid content strategy. You can leverage your content to achieve key business goals, but you have to start with a strategy.” (ht @meredithholt)

What Makes A Great Event Professional?

https://twitter.com/ShawnCEvent/status/291254768049983488

Take a step back and look at yourself as a professional. What qualities do you see in yourself that make you so good at what you do? MPIWeb highlights some of the best qualities of event professionals in their blog. The post offers some great tips, such as making all information available and readable to event and meeting attendees, thanking your peers for their collaboration (since you probably didn’t plan the event alone), being attentive to social media, and showing passion in everything you do. As an event professional, what resonates with you from this list? (ht @ShawnCEvent)

What cool stuff have you read online today? Let us know in the comments.

(ThinkStock/Comstock)