It’s the day before your newsletter is scheduled to go out, but instead of your latest blog or podcast or video, you’re staring at a blank screen.
Sound familiar?
Creating content is a huge part of my marketing strategy, but showing up consistently for nearly 10 years means having a solid content strategy in place.
If you’ve ever struggled to know what to talk about, read on!
My Content Strategy Journey:
Today, my content creation strategy helps me plan out 6 months of content in just a few hours.
But for many years, I had a love/hate relationship with creating content.
A little background – I started my first blog around age 19 or 20 as a naive college student looking for an outlet to document my life and share what I was currently into.
This was before Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube became the huge platforms they are today.
Which means in world of content creators, I’m pre-Facebook ancient!
That first blog eventually evolved into a more grown-up version, where I was still sharing personal stories and insights about my life as a mom and entrepreneur.
When I decided to launch my first business, The Yogipreneur in 2008, I realized blogging for business is WAY different than blogging just for fun!
Blogging for business hasn’t always come easily.
There were times when I was so overwhelmed with OTHER business to-dos (or having little babies) that I didn’t update my blog for months.
But something amazing happened – even when I wasn’t blogging on a regular basis during those periods, my content was STILL working for my business, getting found online and driving new visitors to my website!
There were also times content was pouring out of me – literally, I’d sit down and end up with 3-5 posts written at a go! Thankfully those times allowed me to take a break when I was on maternity leave.
When it comes down to getting results (aka readers turning into dream clients) from your content, consistency is essential.
But how do you find your own rhythm so you can show up for your audience each and every week?
Here’s my content creation strategy behind the scenes (feel free to steal it and make it your own for 6 months of awesome blogs!):
#1 – Start With Promotion Calendar aka Predictable Profit Plan
It’s all about looking at your year ahead, and plotting out your marketing and promotions month by month.
This is your big picture content strategy. You have 12 months to fill. So, when are you promoting your signature offering? When will smaller offerings make sense? When might 1×1 offerings, free webinars, or challenges serve you?
Remember as you plan your year, that the goal for our content – blog, podcast, videos – should be guiding people through that Customer Journey. Nurturing them until you are ready to take the next step of inviting them to work with you.
#2 – ASK!
We tend to assume that we know what our audience wants from us, when simply by asking, we can know for sure.
One of my favorite ways to make sure I’m in tune with my audience is to send out a survey. A few open-ended questions can give me a lot of insight into what content truly meets my people where they are.
Another way to get quick insights on your audience is to post a Q on social media. Go to your groups, your page, and across platforms, and simply ask, “Hey, I’m getting ready to create xyz, what topics do you want me to cover?”
A really BIG way to collect a lot of great insight into what your dream clients want is to do a 100 Conversation Challenge. This will let you know exactly what your current and past clients came looking for.
#3 – Brainstorm Topics Leading to Each Promo
This is where I pull out ALL the post-it notes, and put 1 topic idea per note, always thinking of topics that lead into each promotion for my year.
So I ask myself:
- What is this offer that I have? This product, program, or service?
- What is the big opportunity for results people can get from this offer?
- What do they need to believe about what’s possible in this area?
- What are the biggest myths and mistakes people face related to this topic?
Answering these questions for myself about my offering helps me find all the topics and perspectives I can take to create my promotional content strategy.
Sprinkling case studies in to celebrate the big successes people have found in my offer help round out the content. And celebrating with small wins, like succeeding in a daily productivity challenge, will help nurture and excite your community.
#4 – Put It In The Calendar
Now I’m ready to take all my ideas, all my post-its, and put them in place in my big desk calendar. I’ve planned my big focus for the month, brainstormed content topics around it, and now lay them out week by week.
Once a month’s schedule is finalized, I can add to Asana (our project management tool) with a checklist for each blog post, podcast, or life show.
#5 – Batch Create Content
The final piece that makes sure I can consistently show up for my audience is creating content in batches.
With my whole month planned out, weekly content and all, I take 1 day to sit down and create all the videos for the month!
I can take care of any research, outlines, scripts… everything so that on each day a new podcast/video goes out, all I have to do is my hair and makeup and show up ready to go!
This saves me so. much. time! If I’m ever traveling, or nursing a sick kid, or even if I have to take a day off, it’s no problem; I’ve got content ready to go.
PLUS, it takes so few days to create all my content for the month, I have all the rest of the month to engage with my community and connect with my clients.
So there you have it, friends!
Creating content on a weekly basis quickly becomes overwhelming and stressful when you 1) don’t have a strategy or 2) overcomplicate things.
When I started mapping out my content 3-6 months at a time (and lined it up with offerings I’d be promoting), suddenly it became so much easier.
Now I keep a running list of potential topic ideas – I’ll get ideas from listener questions, I’ll get ideas from my clients, and I’ll get ideas from content I’m listening to. Because I always have a running list of ideas, I never run out of things to talk about!
Final thought for today’s show: Just start.
I remember how I would agonize over every newsletter or blog post – spending hours trying to make everything perfect.
It’s never going to be perfect.
But if you start pressing PUBLISH on a regular basis – you’ll have started to create a marketing asset that will grow your business for years to come.
I’ve probably written hundreds of blog posts, recorded hundreds of podcasts and videos – and every day, they send new potential clients to my website.
Steal this strategy and start attracting those new potential clients for yourself!
Listener Shout Out of the Week
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Show Links
Do You Have a LEAK In Your Predictable Profit Strategy? (The Customer Journey)
Episode 36: How 100 Conversations Can Transform Your Business with Tami Hackbarth