10 Secrets To Creating Better Content...Faster!

So we allllll know that creating consistent content is KEY if you want to build your credibility, establish your expertise, and grow your audience. Whether that’s blog posts, YouTube videos, Instagram posts, Pinterest pins, email newsletters, or all of the above.

But we also all know that it’s kind of a freaking pain to create consistent content.

And boy do I get it (side eye at MYSELF because the last blog post I published was 5 months ago).

But as someone who creates content professionally for many different clients, I’ve picked up a trick or two over the years to help make things easier and FASTER. Because I am all about efficiency over here, ya know what I’m sayin?

1. POLL YOUR AUDIENCE

The biggest complaint I hear when it comes to content creation is, “I don’t know what the heck to talk about!” Well, good news for you my friend, JUST ASK.

Put up a poll in your Instagram stories, pose the question in a social media post, phone a friend. However you want to do it, asking your audience what they want from you is not only going to give you great content ideas, it’s going to provide enormous value to your audience and really help solidify that know/like/trust factor!

And what I mean by that is that your audience needs to obviously know who you are, but they also need to like you and trust you before they will ever consider giving you a penny. That know/like/trust factor is a sales and marketing foundation if you ever want to monetize!

2. ORGANIZE YOURSELF

There will come a day where you sit staring at a blinking cursor with your brain feeling as blank as the screen in front of you. And if you plan on putting out consistent content, we don’t have time for this.

This is why it is CRITICAL to create a content bank full of ideas that you can pick and choose from during moments like this. I personally use Trello, but you can use Google Docs, the notes on your phone, good ol’ pen and paper - whatever floats your boat.

The reason I prefer Trello is because it allows me to organize my content into different categories, or buckets as I usually call them. Your content bucket will be a broader category that can encompass many more specific topics. For example one of my content buckets is entrepreneurship. And under this category I might talk about things like mindset, marketing, social media, outsourcing, taxes, etc. Tons of options!

Now here’s the fun part.

Once you narrow in on your specific topics that fall under each category, you can begin saving actual content ideas that correspond to each! So in my entrepreneurship category in my mindset topic, I might have a content idea for combatting imposter syndrome, or not being afraid to set boundaries.

It’s basically like when you talk to a toddler and they keep asking, “Why?” after every single thing you say. It’s a fully documented deep-dive that will give you a never-ending supply of things to talk about!

PRO TIP:

I recommend blocking off time in your calendar to do a content brainstorm deep-dive for one hour every month.

3. KEEP IT READABLE

So you know when you go to read an Instagram caption but it’s just a massive block of text that keeps going and going and going….and you look at it and think, “Yeah no, I’m out” and just continue on with your life?

Yeah let’s try to avoid that. Lol

Moral of the story is here is break things down into bite-sized chunks.

If you’re posting an IG caption, try to not have more than 2-3 sentences in a paragraph. And PRO TIP: Wondering how to get IG to retain your caption formatting? CLICK HERE and thank me later. 😘

If you’re writing a blog post or email, try to break down your main points into a numbered list (like this one) or bulleted points. This will make it easier to skim and more appealing to the eye, aka more likely to be read.

4. REPURPOSE YOUR CONTENT

Creating a single piece of content, especially a bigger piece like a blog post or video, can be pretty time-consuming. So why not repurpose all that hard work for more than just a single-use?

If you record a video for your YouTube channel and you cover 5 main points, you can splice out a small snippet of each of those 5 points to turn into a social media post. Then you can splice out a supporting tidbit of each of those points for another 5 social posts.

Another thing to keep in mind here is that not every single person in your audience is going to view every single piece of content you put out. So you can then take each of those main points and turn it into a social caption, as well.

You could also transcribe the video to use as a blog post!

Repurposing one larger piece of content into many smaller pieces will make your life wayyyy easier in the long run.

5. BATCH IT

Honestly if you’re not batching things how are you even living your life?

Batching is a work method backed by tons of research that will help you be much more efficient and productive. Basically you set aside a specific amount of time (or an entire day) to doing only ONE thing. So like, setting aside the first of every month to write all your blog posts for that month. Or setting aside 5 hours every Sunday evening to write all of your Instagram captions for the week. You get the idea.

6. PUT IT ON YOUR SCHEDULE

See above on batching. The most important part to staying consistent with this is to actually block out that time on your schedule. Because if you’re anything like me, if it’s not in my calendar, it’s not happening.

7. SET A TIMER

You’re likely familiar with this technique from practicing, but it is just as effective when translated to other areas of your life. When you know you only have a set time to complete something, your brain has a way of naturally shifting into a better state of focus. This is key because you’re working more efficiently aka getting more done in less time. And I am all about it.

8. WRITE NOW, EDIT LATER

If you are following all the steps above, this one is critical for speed once you get in that state of flow. Don’t get hung up going back and re-reading and agonizing over commas and whether it should be “and” or “but.”

Get in the groove, write like the wing, go back and (batch) edit later. 😉

9. PROMOTE IT

So you’ve just spent a lot of time and energy creating this awesome piece of content, now what?

The answer is definitely not hit “post,” sit back, and wait for the likes, comments, and clients to roll in.

If you want people to see it, you’ve gotta promote it, my friend.

If it’s an Instagram post, share it in your stories! Re-share it on your Facebook page! Include a call-to-action that asks others to share, or tag a friend, or leave a comment.

And if it’s a larger piece of content like a blog post or video, do a BLITZ.

Promote it via an Instagram post, and Instagram story, a Facebook post, Pinterest pins, and an email newsletter. Whatever channels you have available to you, share it.

10. PROMOTE IT AGAIN

Yep, you heard me right. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, every single person in your audience is not going to see every single piece of content you create. Especially if you create something like a freebie to grow your email list, do a monthly blitz to share it!

#Entrepreneurship #SocialMedia