3 Keys to Easy Content Creation

There you are staring at your phone again. You know you’re supposed to be consistent with your social media posting. You WANT to be consistent with your social media posting, but…

IT’S SO HARD!

It’s not the remembering to post. It’s not even the time it takes to post. It’s the content. WHAT do you post?!?

Especially when you’re first growing your online presence, the tendency is just to show up and post whatever comes to mind. While that might work for a little while, it’s not very sustainable. You’ll eventually find yourself staring at your screen with nothing coming to mind while hyper aware of the minutes ticking by--those minutes that could be spent on all the other things you have going on that day. And then that’s where your mind goes...to all the things you aren’t doing while you stare blankly at the rectangle in your hand. Frustration starts to creep in and you do one of two things: skip out on posting or post something inauthentic that you’re not really proud of.

So, what does it take to create content consistently and easily? Here are three keys to help you do just that.

1. Dedicated Time

Creating content for your audience isn’t something you do in between your other tasks and obligations. It’s not what you do with your “extra time.” Just as you dedicate time in your schedule to meeting with clients and business partners, you need dedicated time for content creation. 

As a small business--and more than likely a solopreneur--you wear a lot of hats in your business: CEO, Practitioner, Administrator, and Promoter. So, part of setting yourself up for success means allowing time in your week dedicated to each of these roles.

2. Content Plan

You have your content creation time block ready to go. Now what? You go in with a plan.

• Be clear on your audience and content scope.

  If you want to create content that is going to resonate with the people that you want to work with and/or to buy your products, you should be clear on who your audience is. What do they struggle with? What are their pain points? What problem can you solve for them? Understand your own specific content scope. Know with what topic you will show up as the expert and how you will relate to your audience.

• Keep an ongoing list of content ideas.

  You can’t always expect to sit down at your computer at the start of your content block and have the ideas flow on demand. I find that my best topic ideas come from conversations with clients, potential clients, and my audience. I gather inspiration from books, podcasts, and articles within my area of expertise. I think of things I want to share in the quiet of a morning walk or in the shower. Because of this, I suggest keeping an ongoing list of ideas.

  It could be a physical list like in a small notebook you carry with you. It could also be a digital list in the notes app on your phone, through Evernote, or Google Docs. I personally use Trello for both my ideas list and to track my content creation process (click here for more on how to use Trello). Just make sure that the tool you choose is easy to use and available when you need it.

  This way, when you’re ready to sit down and create your content, you won’t waste time trying to find a topic.

• Start with your main piece of content.

  Do you blog? Podcast? Host a YouTube channel? Send a newsletter to your list? What’s your main way of communicating the bulk of your information to your audience? This is where you begin.

  Your main piece of content will be what you pull from for all of your other content for the week, so this is your primary focus for your content block. It’s okay if it takes up 75% of your content creation time. Once you have this set, all the other content pieces become a much simpler (and quicker) task.

3. Repurpose & Reuse

We’re all about being effective with our time, right? This includes being smart with our content creation. As I mentioned before, you can use your main piece of content (blog, video, podcast, etc.), as the source for all of your other content. Repurpose.

For example, I write this weekly blog. I then use the topic to create an email to my list and link to my blog. I create a Pinterest pin and link that to my blog. After that, I pull quotes, key points, and phrases from the blog for my daily Instagram posts that are then automatically posted on my Facebook business page. One piece of content for a week’s worth (or more) of audience engagement.

The wonderful thing about your content is that it’s not done after one run. Statistically, someone needs to see a piece of your content about seven to 10 times before they engage. So, showing the same content multiple times actually helps you connect with your audience.

As you continue to put your content in front of your audience, make note of your top performers. Which posts have the most comments and shares? Which emails have people emailing you back? Then, fill in any social media content gaps with your top performers. On a holiday week when you aren’t creating new content, reshare your best stuff. You may find that your top-performing content actually out-performs itself the second or third go-round.