Creating content for your business can feel like a full time job. while content creation is one of the hottest marketing tools around (and probably isn’t going away anytime soon), it’s extremely time consuming.
To me, the benefits outweigh the workload, as it is the key to driving value to your existing and potential customers without actually having to market to them and advertise to them. Today I’m sharing three ways you can get out of a content creation rut, come up with new content ideas, and better manage the amount of content you’re creating in your business.
Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative, a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. Learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com, plus you’ll also find resources, show notes, and more for the Clocking In Podcast.
Review the Show Notes
Content Creation as a Marketing Strategy (1:10)
Content I Produce on a Weekly Basis (1:55)
– a weekly podcast episode,
– a weekly blog post about podcasting
– a weekly newsletter
– two Instagram accounts
– one Facebook page
– one Facebook group
How to Get Out of a Content Creation Rut (3:15)
Focus on the Things You Love to Create (3:20)
If you’re not enjoying the content you’re creating, you’re not putting forth your best effort, which leads to less valuable content.
Look to Your Clients and Audience for Ideas (5:31)
What questions are potential clients asking you?
What resources are potential clients looking for?
Content Planning Exercise (6:36)
Think of one question you’re often asked, now think through 5 additional topics related to that question that you could make a resource from.
Haylee’s Content Planning Example:
The Question: What should I consider before I launch a podcast?
The Solution Content: Episode 006: What to Consider Before You Launch a Podcast
Supporting Episode: Episode 007: How Much Does It Cost to Make a Podcast?
Supporting Downloadable: Podcast Budget Worksheet
Supporting Blog Post 1: Podcast Equipment for Beginners
Supporting Blog Post 2: Where You Can License Royalty Free Music
Supporting Blog Post 3: Three Reasons You Need to Transcribe Your Podcast
Outsource Your Content (9:18)
Content I Manage:
– Podcast Episodes
– Social Media Posting on @hayleegaffin
– Weekly Newsletter
Content I Outsource:
– Podcast Blog Content – gaffincreative.com/podcast-production
– Social Media Posting on @gaffincreativestudio
– Pinterest Planning & Scheduling for Blog Content – pinterest.com/gaffincreative
Recap (11:52)
Women I’m cheering for This Week (12:41)
Victoria
Amanda Warfield – amandawarfield.com/content
Other Episodes Mentioned in this Episode:
006: Episode 006: What to Consider Before You Launch a Podcast
007: Episode 007: How Much Does It Cost to Make a Podcast?
Blog Posts Mentioned in this Episode:
Podcast Equipment for Beginners
Where You Can License Royalty Free Music
Three Reasons You Need to Transcribe Your Podcast
Links
gaffincreative.com/podcast-production
instagram.com/hayleegaffin
Review the Transcript:
If you’re a business owner or online service provider, you’re likely creating content in a way that you’ve never created it before. Because content creation is currently (and probably forever will be) the hottest marketing tool, as it is the key to driving value to your existing and potential customers without actually having to market to them and advertise to them.
Creating too much content can lead to burnout or even into a content creation rut—which is something I quickly found myself in a few weeks into creating content this year. In this episode, I’ll be sharing three ways I get out of a content creation rut so that I can continue to serve my audience with valuable content.
Hey y’all welcome to the clocking in podcast the podcast for entrepreneurs and professionals making their way in the working world i’m your host Haylee Gaffin this podcast is produced and brought to you by Gaffin Creative a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com plus you’ll also find resources show notes and more for the clocking in podcast so let’s clock in and get to work.
Content creation today includes a variety of things, but for the context of this episode, I’m going to focus on the content creation that comes with marketing a business online, like blog content, podcast episodes, newsletters, youtube videos, and social media (which really looks like so much more than just two simple words).
The creators in my space are usually influencers on Instagram, podcast producers, service providers, etc. But content creation can be a little bit overwhelming.
In my business, I decided to use content marketing as a way to provide value and education to potential customers, along with the opportunity to improve the SEO on my website.
Who knew that content creation could feel like a full time job if you take on too much of it.
Right now, I am producing more content in my business than I ever have, like ever.
My content includes:
- a weekly podcast episode,
- a weekly blog post about podcasting
- a weekly newsletter
- social media content for two Instagram accounts
- one Facebook page
- and a Facebook group
Then we look at all the different types of content that I’m posting to each of those social media platforms and it gets a little outrageous (we’re talking reels, static posts, carousals, videos, stories, etc).
In addition to that, I’m considering adding more content to my studio brand to help local photographers learn more about photographing in my studio. We’re on hold for that right now.
This content doesn’t take just a little bit of effort, it takes planning, a workflow, and lately I’ve been learning the concept of batching from my friend Amanda Warfield, which I’ll talk about shortly.
Content creation is becoming a huge part of my business, so I’ve started to treat myself as my own client in this case in order to stay on top of it and not let it fall off my radar.
Let’s dive into how you can get out of a content creation rut.
The first thing I do is I focus on the things I love to create. If I’m creating content that I’m not enjoying creating, I stop working on content that I’m not having fun with, because then it becomes invaluable to my audience.
And the reason I say that is because when you’re not enjoying what you’re creating, you’re not putting forth your best effort.
So let me share a quick example. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m in the process of learning how to really batch my content planning and creation from my friend, Amanda Warfield in her Content Batching Bootcamp. So I went through the steps of her process, but I doubled her recommendation, (because overachiever) hahaha. I tried batching two months of content in the amount of time she gave us for one month of content. I realized that I overscheduled too much of the content that I was creating for the podcast and I wasn’t really producing quality content because I was burning out.
So I decided to put that content on hold for a day and I got myself all dressed up, went to my studio, and batched my Instagram Reels instead.
Basically, I shifted my batching plan to focus on something I would love doing in that time. With reels I can create valuable content, but also entertain my audience (and myself). So that’s what I did I batched 15 reels in less than two hours (because I write down ideas while I’m scrolling Instagram and save reels I love or trending inside the app so I can reference them later.
Now, I didn’t get all of the content created that I had originally planned for, but I learned a lesson on how much my mind can create, and I was able to learn something about my own self, which was that I have to be able to pivot during my content creation phase.
So the next way that I combat a content creation rut when I’m out of ideas, is that I look to my clients, or my audience, for ideas. My audience is going to be asking me questions related to my services, or related to my business. So why am I not using that as content?
For example, if you head over to the podcast production section of my website, you will see tons of content that was created for potential customers of mine. It’s all about podcast creation and production.
Additionally, things that I often get asked in my consultation or onboarding calls with clients, specifically from my launch clients who really have no idea how to start a podcast, I use those questions to create the content that many of my other potential clients will have.
Consider the questions you’re asked most often—which you’re likely told this all the time when it comes to content creation—But think deeper. When you think through the questions that are asked, expand those questions and make them more valuable to the end audience.
This is actually how I build out content plans for my podcast clients.
Take one question that you’re often asked about your business or services and it’s likely that you can build off of that question with 5 or more topics.
So let me give you an example:
I get asked all the time, what should I consider before I launch my podcast, which is why I created episode 006 a couple of weeks ago.
But then I took that and I also created episode 007 as a follow up to it all about budgeting.
Then I took it a step further and created a guided free budgeting worksheet downloadable that allowed listeners to download and plan for themselves.
Additionally, prior to releasing the episode, I created three blog posts that I could easily reference about budgeting. Podcast Equipment for Beginners, Where You Can License Royalty Free Music, and Three Reasons You Need to Transcribe Your Podcast. Each of these topics were referenced in the show, but I offered a resource to check out so that those interested in a deeper dive could go to those additional resources without taking the focus off of budgeting.
So from one question, I created 7 pieces of content for my website. Now I haven’t even gotten into the social media aspect.
For each blog post, I have 5 graphics created for social media, specifically pinterest and instagram stories.
For each podcast episode, I typically create 8 graphics or wave files for social media.
Then I also created 5 graphics for my free worksheet.
Additionally, I created an instagram reel to promote the worksheet and it was basically just the worksheet broken out into a video format.
Then I promoted all of the content living on my website within my weekly newsletter.
So technically, from that one question I was asked, I created at least 27 pieces of content (and many were used in multiple places).
A bonus tip in this section is that you can repurpose so much of your content, and cross promote it in order to get more eyes on it.
For example, I just reused all of the content I just mentioned in this episode, so I’ll make sure to link all of those that i referenced in the show notes at gaffincreative.com/009. You’ll also find a ton resources over on gaffincreative.com if you’re interested in learning more about starting your own podcast!
Speaking of all the content I’m creating for my business right now, I need to let you in on a little secret—I’m not creating it all. And that’s my third way to get out of a content creation rut.
So I’m managing all of my podcast creation and production, because I thrive in this area—like that’s actually what I do for a living.
But for the things that are not driving my business or I don’t necessarily have time for but i know there is value in it, or I just don’t thrive in it, I outsource it.
So almost all of the blog content on my website was outsourced. Did you know that? You probably couldn’t tell? That’s because I have an amazing intern who I cannot praise enough. She jump right in after I launched the blog and she pumped out so much content based on outlines or prompts that I gave her.
So you’re likely wondering if she is a podcast producer too—the answer is no… at least not yet. So what I do to ensure that the content is accurate and valuable is that I tell her the topic, they points I want her to include, and she fills in the rest.
Not only that, but she created the graphics, loads it all into wordpress, schedules it, and even schedules my posts on Pinterest for the blog posts.
Before it publishes, I usually go in and review the content to make sure it’s accurate and matches what I wanted, and 99% I don’t make any changes.
There is a ton of trust in this process though and I’ve also learned that things don’t have to be exactly the way I would have done them in order for them to be published—because no one else would know that I wanted it done a different way. The content is accurate, relevant, and it serves my audience.
Not only is she handling the podcast blog content, but I’ve also handed off the social media for the studio’s instagram to her. This eliminates 5 posts a week for me to create. I simply load images into our social media scheduler, allow her to pull from those and plan out the weekly content. At this point, I don’t even check it before it goes up, because she’s learned what I like to see in my posts!
Doing this allows me to focus on just a few components of the content creation in my business: podcast episodes, my own social media account, and my newsletter.
So if you’ve been overwhelmed or in a content creation rut, consider what outsourcing certain things in your business could look like!
To recap, three ways to get out of a content creation rut are:
- Focus on the things you love to create.
- Look to your clients or audience for your next idea.
- Outsource what you don’t enjoy or what’s overwhelming you.
So try one of these tips the next time you’re stuck in a content creation rut!
This has been another episode of The clocking in podcast. You can find the show notes for this episode and more at Gaffincreative.com. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. If you love this episode, I’d be so honored if you leave me a review in Apple podcast app. Until next time, I’m your host Haylee Gaffin, clocking out.
It’s time to cheer for other women! Since this episode was all about content creation, I wanted to make this a little extra special and cheer for the two women who are helping me so much with my content creation, both were mentioned in this episode!
And Ironically, I’ve already cheered for them in other episodes, but I think that’s the beautiful thing about cheering for others, is you can never cheer for them too much!
The first is Victoria, my amazing intern! She joined my team in January and I literally never want her internship to end. She is amazing at everything I ask her to do and she’s helped me produce so much content, and some of that content has even led to inquiries AND booked clients. How amazing is that! While we may have planned a little strategy, that content is all thanks to her!
The second person I’d love to cheer for.. and I owe so much of what I’ve been learning in how to produce valuable and consistent content.. Is Amanda Warfield. I just completed her content batching bootcamp and, friends I know she’s working on some really awesome changes in her business, but if you’re creating content in your business and want to stay consistent without overwhelming yourself or struggling to create it week to week, you NEED to join her content batching bootcamp! It has been a game changer for me in my business. You can head over to amandawarfield.com/content and I’ll make sure to link it in the show notes.
I hope you have an amazing week and are cheering for other women!
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