Never Run Out of Content Again
You may have heard the phrase “Content is king” – which means content is where it is at if you want to grow and promote your business.
Which sounds awesome and its easy to remember, right?
But the challenge business owners have is this:
When are you supposed to have time to create the content to attract clients who will fall in love with what you?
My goal with this blog post (and the accompanying podcast) is to take some of the stress and overwhelm out of the content creation process by showing you how much you probably already have and how to reuse and repurpose it to save yourself time.
The first step is to pause and think about all the content you've already created.
You might be muttering “Gwen, I don't make content because I don’t have time.”
Here’s the thing – I think you probably have more than you think you do!
Here are some examples of content you’ve probably already written:
You’ve answered a question via email (especially a question that comes up over and over again).
You’ve written a blog post.
You’ve written a thoughtful response or post on Facebook (in a group, your own page, your business page, or via direct message) or Instagram (either as a post, a comment, or a response to a direct message).
You’ve ever been a guest on a podcast.
You’ve ever written a book or a guide for yourself or someone else (or started one).
You’ve ever created a video or been a guest on someone else’s video.
You’ve written a FAQ (frequently asked questions) for your business.
You’ve ever created a freebie or opt-in for your business (partially completed projects count, too!)
Any and all content on your website (even if the pages are hidden).
You’ve ever created (or appeared as part of) an infographic.
Once you start making your content list, you’ll probably discover you have much more than you thought! You may have even just remembered some things you’ve created and put aside. We’re so busy working on our businesses, serving clients, and juggling everything that it can be easy to forget what we’ve already done.
The next step is to divide your content pieces into different areas so you can keep track of where it is and how you’d like to use it.
I suggest you create a list of written content, audio content, and visual content. Using this method also helps you see how you can reuse the content you already have.
Now that you know what you’ve already created, let’s look at the types of content your audience wants. No, its not magic or mind reading – it is just paying attention to what they are already asking for and being aware of where they are struggling.
Look at the common themes that come up over and over again. If you are answering the same questions via email or messenger or in groups or wherever you're spending your time then that is content that your audience wants – so create something you can share easily.
You can also use your FAQ to lead your audience. Sometimes an FAQ will have an odd or unexpected question. That is usually written because the business owner (or copywriter) wants you know that specific bit of information. What kinds of questions do you wish your audience would ask? What information do they need know that they don’t know yet?
Once you start making your content list, you’ll probably discover you have much more than you thought! You may have even just remembered some things you’ve created and put aside. We’re so busy working on our businesses, serving clients, and juggling everything that it can be easy to forget what we’ve already done.
The next step is to divide your content pieces into different areas so you can keep track of where it is and how you’d like to use it.
I suggest you create a list of written content, audio content, and visual content. Using this method also helps you see how you can reuse the content you already have.
Now that you know what you’ve already created, let’s look at the types of content your audience wants. No, its not magic or mind reading – it is just paying attention to what they are already asking for and being aware of where they are struggling.
Look at the common themes that come up over and over again. If you are answering the same questions via email or messenger or in groups or wherever you're spending your time then that is content that your audience wants – so create something you can share easily.
You can also use your FAQ to lead your audience. Sometimes an FAQ will have an odd or unexpected question. That is usually written because the business owner (or copywriter) wants you know that specific bit of information. What kinds of questions do you wish your audience would ask? What information do they need know that they don’t know yet?
Whatever piece of content you have, you can probably repurpose it five different ways (at least!)
When you approach your content this way, you’ll find that you always have something you can use, and instead of starting from scratch every time, you’re building on work you’ve already done.
How to Promote Your Content
Of course, just creating content isn’t enough. The next step is promotion. If you aren’t promoting what you do/create, nobody will see it.
In addition to your list of content you’ve created and how you can repurpose the different pieces, I’d also like you to create a list of ways you can promote what you create.
This can mean creating ads around it, but it is so much more than that!
How will you share what you’ve written or recorded in what way is will you make your audience aware that you've created this really cool thing?
Ways you can promote your content:
Send an email to your list.
Share it on your business page.
Share it in a group you are a part of (please follow the rules of any group you are a part of).
Share it on your personal page.
Share it if it will help someone.
Put a link to it in your FAQ (if appropriate).
Submit it for publication.
Offer it as a guest post.
Use it to give a talk.
Finally, there is one more step to this content audit.
You need to create a plan to share what you’ve created again. And again. And again.
The content you share won’t always land the first time. Maybe the timing was off, the algorithm gods were having a bad day, or what you created didn’t resonate with the right person at the right time.
That’s why making a plan to reshare is so important.
There is so much information and content flying around that if you only share it once, you’re not doing yourself any favors. However, if you share something three or four times over the course of a month, you’ll start to see people understanding what you are sharing and responding to it.
Which brings up another benefit of knowing what content you’ve creating and making a plan to share it – You give yourself LESS work!
By creating several pieces of content and sharing them on a regular basis you won’t need to create as much since you’ll be filling your content calendar with reshares and repurposed content.
For example, creating 15 fresh Facebook or Instagram posts a month for 12 months means you need to create 180 new posts per year. That’s a lot.
However, if one third of what you share is brand new, one third if reshared content, and one third is repurposed content then you have far less work and stress.
You’ll also have several buckets of information to pull from to create content that looks new and feels new but is actually something that you've already done most of the work!
Want to go deeper? Grab my Content That Converts Mini Course!
