In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how to create quality content regularly, through planning, structure and process with the key being consistency.
For those of you who have been following Purple Yak for a while now, you know that we are huge believers in content marketing. I would even go so far as to say that if you’re not creating online content, your business doesn’t exist. Online content, whether it’s ads, videos, or organic content, is how you get your message out there. It’s how people find you. It’s invaluable. It’s how we’ve been able to build our audience and attract members to our flagship programs.
However, I do acknowledge that creating high-quality content consistently can be challenging.
We’ve been publishing videos, blogs, and podcasts for about five or six years now, and it wasn’t until the last year that I finally discovered a process that allows me to create content without spending hours each week on it, while still maintaining a high level of quality.
So, if you’re looking to create more content and do it much faster than I did, keep reading to learn the exact process I use to produce up to 25 pieces of original content every week.
Step 1: Content Planning
Planning your content is actually a two-step process.
Firstly, you need to develop your overall strategy.
To do this, take some time to think about the problems your customers are facing, what they’re searching for on Google, and the questions they frequently ask you. Consider their interests and what they want to learn more about. Also, take a look at what your competitors are posting on their social channels and what’s working for them. The answers to these questions (as well as the questions themselves!) will form the foundation of your content strategy.
Once you have a good idea of the type of content you’ll be posting, you need to create a content ideas bank. I highly recommend using Apple Notes for this purpose. When I’m on the go, I can simply type any content ideas I have into my phone.
So, whether you use an app or a notepad and pen, ensure you always have a way to note down any ideas or potential topics that strike you while you’re running, commuting, or scrolling through your social media feeds.
Step 2: Schedule your content creation
Time is the biggest obstacle to creating more content.
I understand that we’re all busy, and if your audience is still small, it’s even harder to find the motivation to create content when you’re barely getting any views. It can feel like a lot of time and effort for little reward.
The only way through this stage is to be extremely disciplined with yourself and schedule content creation time into your diary. Whether you find the time this week, next week, or even next month, just do it. Set aside half a day, block it out, and ensure you dedicate it to creating content.
For me, it’s a couple of hours every Thursday and Friday mornings every fortnight. I set aside time to sit down in front of the camera and a microphone and record my videos. And it’s sacred time. I’ve set up a calendar block so no one can schedule an appointment with me during that time, and it means I don’t have to think about content creation at any other time during the week, so I can focus on other tasks.
You don’t have to record videos even though we highly recommend it, you could just record audio but it is important to at least record audio. The reason for this is that you can seed this into snippets, reels, blogs through audio transcription, social posts, etc all from one piece of recording. Allowing you multiple the amount of content pieces you can create from a single piece. You can make between 5-11 pieces of content for you to post from a single recording that’s just 5 minutes long.
Step 3: Advance planning
Now, the reason my Thursday and Friday morning filming goes so smoothly is because I’ve planned my videos in advance.
There’s nothing worse than reaching your weekly content creation time and then stalling because you have no idea what to create. So, advance planning is crucial.
I record content one week and work on ideas the following week, I then record the week after and so on. You could do this in a monthly cycle if you prefer, it’s all about finding what works for you.
The great thing about content is that it is always there and delivering value into your business, the more you create the better and doing content frequently over time creates a compounding effect.
This process ensures that when it’s time to create content, I have a clear plan and know exactly what I’m going to produce.
Step 4: Creating the content
This is the part I really enjoy: I have my camera ready and set. You might not feel as enthusiastic. You might need a few takes, mess up your lines, or feel awkward at first. But keep going! Try to forget you’re speaking to a camera and pretend you’re having a one-on-one conversation.
Step 5: Breaking down your content
Now, I’ve focused on video creation, but clearly, I’m not creating 25 original videos every week. So, how do I transform one video filmed every Thursday or Friday into over 25 pieces of content each week?
The answer lies in pillar content and micro content. My videos and podcasts are the main event, the pillar content. However, each one serves as a starting point for numerous other micro content pieces.
You can extract two or three snippets from the original video and transform them into separate videos. We usually use them to create humorous content, such as blooper reels or awkward moments. Additionally, I appreciate a couple of other parts that can be repurposed as standalone two-minute micro-videos. In essence, this process generates three additional pieces of content from just one 10-minute video.
You can post the videos on FB, IG, TT, LI, YT, etc.
You can then transform these videos into blog posts and creates social content based on each video.
The key to creating multiple pieces of content weekly lies in collaboration. While I film videos, the rest of the process requires minimal effort. We all know that content creation is time-consuming, but we often overlook the option to hire professionals to assist. For me, I enjoy creating pillar content, writing scripts, filming videos, and interviewing guests for my podcasts and social media. The other tasks, such as editing and content promotion, don’t excite me as much. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to outsource these tasks to individuals who genuinely enjoy and excel at them.
Now, let’s address the challenge of content creation. Here’s a process to follow:
1. Idea Generation: Create a content ideas bank and set aside dedicated time to brainstorm and develop content concepts.
2. Filming: Film the content you’ve chosen.
3. Editing: Hire professionals to edit the content to enhance its quality and consistency.
4. Promotion: Hire experts to promote the content across various platforms to reach a wider audience.
5. Expansion: Take the content you’ve created and expand it into multiple versions, such as different formats or content types.
By following this process, you’ll notice a significant increase in your audience engagement and impact. You’ll finally crack the age-old conundrum of balancing quality and quantity.
Got a burning question? Reach out on our social channels or email michael@purpleyak.co.uk
Thanks so much for your time today, and I'll catch you on the next blog.
I'll see you then.
Take care.
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