7 Steps to Repurpose Your Weekly Content and Work Less

If you’d like to watch the full video, you can do that here.

When I started my business I had no other choice but to be efficient with my time.

I started my business while working at a 9 to 5, raising a new baby (my first by the way), commuting, taking care of my home and launching this business.

Despite having no idea what I was doing, which definitely took time, I also had a bunch of other things to do.

No team.
Just me.
Content to create.

That’s when I fell in love with repurposing and over the past 4 years, I’ve freaking mastered it!

Today, I’m excited to share with you what repurposing looks like in my 6-figure business and how you can apply a similar workflow to your own business.

Why Should Online Entrepreneurs Repurpose Their Content

As an online entrepreneur, you should be focused on 4 tasks daily.

1. Growing your email list

2. Nurturing your email list

3. Making a sale

4. Serving your existing clients and customers

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the majority of your time goes to creating some form of content. What if you could streamline your entire content creation process with the art of repurposing and save yourself so much time every single week?

Are you intrigued yet?

Let’s pretend you spend…
1 hour writing an email every week
30 minutes to write a single social media post with photo
1 hour to write a blog post
30 minutes to record a Facebook live or record a video

This means you’re spending 3 hours minimum, for many of you this might be a hell of a lot more, to create 4 pieces of content for the week.

If this is your current strategy, spending a few hours every day writing content then you need repurposing more than you know.

The idea of repurposing is that you create one core piece of content and then break it down into multiple pieces to support the larger piece, show up and spread your message.

This means the time you’re spending to create a piece of content isn’t in vain...that one hour you spend to write a blog becomes 7 days’ worth of content or possibly more.

Repurposing provides you with 3 incredible benefits:

1. Saves you time every single week and day

2. Extends the life of your content. I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending an hour writing a piece of content I want to make sure it lasts more and an hour on social media.

3. Reaches your audience. Remember the rule of 7 in marketing? Well, your audience is most likely NOT seeing your single piece of content, so why not create a few more pieces to make sure they actually see your hard work in action.
   
   

There are so many different ways to repurpose your content, but today I want to share with you the exact method we use inside of my business and give you a simple workflow to set yourself up for success.

I’ve got some bonus videos below if you prefer to watch.

The Repurpose Strategy of a Multi 6-Figure Entrepreneur

I’ve always been a fan of repurposing content because, in the beginning, I didn’t really have a choice. I was working a 9 to 5, building my business and had a newborn baby strapped to my back, on my hip, on my boob...you get the picture.

I needed a way to maximize my time and my content in order to grow my business from the ground up.

In the beginning, I started simple. I would write a blog and send it to my list and then I’d share it on social media, but I was still writing more emails every week and scheduling social media felt exhausting.

If we’re being honest social media hasn’t always been my favorite way to attract new leads, I much prefer SEO, Pinterest and video for that and teach this inside of my membership Brandmerry Academy.

But, year after year I would fine-tune my process. I’d remove things that weren’t yielding results and I’d amplify the stuff that was.

In 2020, I was determined to create a workflow that would once again allow me to show up live for my audience, post on IGTV, show up on social media, improve my SEO and attract quality leads through Pinterest.

It’s been 4+ months of this strategy and I’m SO IN LOVE. 

Seriously, content is so flipping easy now, and I know that at the bare minimum I’m showing up and delivering quality content for my audience every single week.

Want a look inside of my workflow?

Here is my 2020 Content Workflow featuring my dear friend repurposing.

Step 1: Determine a topic for my weekly show Mondays With Michelle

Step 2: Email my community on Monday about my live stream topic and how to watch

Step 3: Write my script for the live video

Step 4: Share the live video on social media (Facebook and Instagram)

Step 5: Deliver the live video

**This all usually happens on Monday, the topics are outlined about 3 months in advance**

Step 6: Take the script or transcript (either works depending on your preference) and format it for a blog, this includes SEO research.

Step 7: Turn the video content into a blog (hint: this blog started the exact same way)

Step 8: Pull quotes and information from the script to create graphics (typically 2-3)

Step 9: Schedule the graphics for Facebook and Instagram

Step 10: Publish the blog post and share on Pinterest

Step 11: Turn the video (sometimes broken down into multiple pieces) into a video for IGTV

Step 12: Share on IGTV

Repeat every freaking week!

It looks a little something like this.

This might look like a lot, but the majority of these steps are just formatting and scheduling, which I now have a freaking amazing team to support me, but I did it myself for years.

The idea here is that I really only need to show up once to create the content, which I do on live video, and I’m set for the entire week!

7 Steps to Repurpose Your Blog, Video and Social Media Content

I don’t want you to mimic my workflow unless it works for you and the vision of your brand, but I do want to give you 7 steps to follow to create your own workflow. Follow these steps and you’ll find content creation becomes a freaking breeze.

I teach this entire strategy, plus how to utilize advanced marketing platforms inside my program Brandmerry Academy.

Step 1: DETERMINE YOUR PLATFORMS
You can’t design this unless you know exactly where you want to be showing up. As you saw from my example above I’m showing up on:

• Facebook and Instagram Live

• Facebook and Instagram Stories

• Facebook and Instagram Feed

• IGTV

• My blog

• Pinterest

• and Email

You can expand on this or shorten it down even further depending on your needs.

Step 2: DECIDE ON YOUR LONG-FORM CONTENT
Here is where so many entrepreneurs get it wrong! You want to make your life easier and start with the longest piece of content first. That will most likely be your blog or a video.

I highly recommend you have a blog for your website in order to improve your SEO and to give you the tools to grow on Pinterest, my favorite platform to be on (seriously, we’ve got 1 million viewers on there are you one of them?)

Once you’ve decided on your long-form content you can map out your 30-day calendar for that piece. Inside, the Academy we focus on 90 days, but you have to start somewhere, right?

Step 3: DESIGN YOUR WORKFLOW
For this step, I suggest using Trello or Asana. I use Asana to easily assign deadlines and tasks to my team and I like it because we can see where each other is in the process.

Set up a sample card in Asana with your workflow. List out every step and use this as a template moving forward. You can just duplicate the task every week for new content.

Remember, the goal here is to list out where you’ll be posting the content and every task you have. See my sample below.

**The first 3 steps only need to be done once!

Step 4: MAP OUT AT LEAST 30 DAYS OF CONTENT
For my business, this is my weekly video on Monday. I have a spreadsheet inside of Google Sheets that list out my schedule and topic for each episode.

This allows me to see the big picture of my content and I can start brainstorming my ideas far in advance.

**You’ll repeat this step every 30 days

Step 5: CREATE YOUR LONG-FORM PIECE OF CONTENT
Either sit down and write your blog post, record your video or record your podcast. Get this final piece 100% complete before moving on, it’s going to save you a lot of time. Remember, everything in your workflow stems from this single piece of content.

Step 6: BREAK DOWN YOUR CONTENT
Here’s the fun part. 

Now go through your long-form content and pull out the pieces you need. Create your graphics (use a template in Canva to make this easy), write your emails, draft your social media posts, etc.

If you’re repurposing a video, I love VEED.io.

Whatever you need to write, do that now! You basically want to have everything ready to post without actually posting it.

Step 7: SCHEDULE IT
You know I love a good scheduling tool. If you’re repurposing and not taking the time to schedule it what are you even doing? It takes like 30 minutes once everything is ready to go and will save you hours in the long run!

Use a tool like Later to schedule your Instagram and Facebook posts.
Use Tailwind to schedule your Pinterest images.
You can even schedule your blog post in your web provider.
Upload your IGTV and save it as a draft (watch the video below for my secret on this).
Schedule your email for delivery.
Schedule your podcasts in LIbsyn.
Schedule your videos for Youtube.

EVERYTHING can be scheduled in advance, and if you take this chunk of time at the beginning of the week or even month to do it, you’ll find you’ve got more time every single week.

CONCLUSION

If you implement even just 3 of these steps you’re going to start to streamline your content which will save you so much time.

I can’t stress that enough. Remember you started this business to live a life of freedom and make an impact, you can’t do that if you’re spending hours every single day creating content.

Marketing is necessary to grow your business, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. I believe in a simplified and minimalist approach to marketing that works to consistently grow your brand and business. Learn more at BrandmerryAcademy.com

P.S. Planning and creating your content doesn't have to be a constant struggle. There is a better way to research, plan, and create your content as an entrepreneur and it's all inside the Content Planning Blueprint!

The Content Planning Blueprint is perfect for online business owners who know the power of content creation but are tired of spending all of their time coming up with ideas, organizing their content, and wondering what will attract their dream clients.

In just a few hours, you'll have 90 days of content planned, a repeatable workflow to save you hours on creating and distributing your content every week, and content topics that will keep performing for your brand for years to come! Get your blueprint now >>

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

How to Pivot Your Business Without Losing Momentum

How to Pivot Your Business
Without Losing Momentum

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

If you prefer to watch a video version of this post, which is highly recommended, you can do so below.

Last week on the blog, I did a special post on Branding and Messaging Your Business During a Crisis, you can check it out here.

And so many community members asked about a very specific part of that post and video, which was all about pivoting your business.

It makes so much sense that this would be a concern right now as we navigate this Global Pandemic (also known as Coronavirus). It’s got so many businesses thinking, “How do we make money during this time?”

But, to be honest, this isn’t something we should just be prepared for as it applies to a pandemic like this, many business owners might need to pivot their offer, messaging or business due to life changes.

Maybe you’re wondering…
...if now is the right time to sell anything.
...how you should be supporting people.
...what to offer since what you typically do is not possible.
...if your offers or services need to change.
...what you should be charging.

And, that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg with questions running through your head.

I highly suggest writing these prompts and questions down to dive into on your own. Carve out 15 minutes a day to answering these questions to gain clarity on your next steps. 

PHASE ONE: DETERMINE WHAT STAGE YOU ARE IN

The first step is to figure out what stage you are in because every single business is going to be at a different stage, which is going to mean that your pivot is going to look different. 

Nobody's pivot is going to look the same.

Because of this, it can be really easy to get overwhelmed when pivoting because we’ll see other business owners doing something in our niche or similar and we think to ourselves, “I should be doing that! Or should I be doing something different?”

But, we don’t know their story - we might think we know where they are at in their business, but the reality is we probably have no clue.

It’s times like these we need to go inward, worry about our own business, our own progress and our own current stage.

STAGE ONE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS TAKEN A MAJOR HIT

If you’re in this stage, you’re most likely struggling a lot. If you’re a photographer during this particular season of the Coronavirus you’ve had to cancel a lot of your business.

A sign that you are in this stage could be that you’ve taken a major hit financially.

POSSIBILITIES: You can drive more online traffic. You’re going to want to put more time and energy into building an online presence and offering incentives. While you might not be able to physically do your job if you’re a photographer, you could offer gift certificates or coupons if they book now. Think of restaurants around the holidays when they sell a $50 gift card and give you $15 to use on your next visit - same principle.

You might also consider offering something new, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE TWO: YOUR BUSINESS IS CLOSED

If you’re in this stage, you might have a physical business that is now closed, so your options are to close or move online.

POSSIBILITIES: Move your business online so you can continue to sell. Think about what technology systems you need and how to manage the ins and outs. Every business needs an online presence and you have a chance to build that now. Think of ways to sell gift cards even if it’s not physical products right now. Incorporate incentives as I mentioned above. 

Also, this is a great time to build brand awareness and educate your audience on your product so they can purchase at a later date. Use different tools and resources to drive traffic to your new site like Search Engine Optimization and Pinterest.

This might also be a good time to consider a new offer, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE THREE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS BEEN FORCED TO SHIFT

This stage could look like a lot of different things. Maybe you’ve experienced a hit, but you have money in savings so you don’t have to actively sell right now. It might also mean that what you sell doesn’t feel good and you want to make some adjustments to your offer or how you message it.

The majority of online businesses typically find themselves in this stage.

POSSIBILITIES: If you’re in this stage it’s about heightening your brand awareness. If what you sell or offer is still valid it’s less about what you offer and how you’re offering it. A big shift during this stage might be a pivot or adjustment in your messaging, along with adjusting the price of your offer.

During this brand awareness phase, it’s also important to explore other avenues. For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a drop in people spending their money on marketing. That means ad costs have gone down drastically, so if it’s available to you investing in this aspect now can really pay off in the long run.

SPEAKING OF LONG RUN

When pivoting, or navigating a time of great change, it’s so important to focus on the long game. I hate to be the one to say, but even if you're not making money right now, which is scary, you can set yourself up for massive growth later on.

How can you set yourself up so that you can sell later in the year or next year really, really strong? 

Those are the things that we need to consider because that is the reality. So how do we do that? Let's talk about some questions that I want you to think about around pivoting your offer. 

PHASE TWO: PIVOTING YOUR OFFER OR SERVICE

Let's say that you have an existing offer that's not working, or you have an existing offer that you want to modify. Here are some questions to consider.

What does your audience need right now?

I’m a big fan of market research because I know it changes the game of how we show up, run our businesses and ultimately make sales. If you show up and you ask your audience in this time where they're needing support, they will most likely tell you.

If you don't have an audience already look at other people's threads in your industry, look at what people are Googling, or look and see what people are asking in Facebook groups or threads.

What are people needing right now? 

Let me make this clear, I do not mean everyone. I specifically mean what does your target market need and what would support them in this season of life?

How can you show up and give that to them in a way that is an extension of your brand? 

Is this something existing? Or do you need to create something new? 

For many of you, you are going to have to create something new. You've probably had ideas for things that you can launch or build in the background, but maybe life was too busy so I'm going to challenge you to look back at those ideas that have maybe been sitting on the back burner, on a post-it note on your desk, and start to think, “Is that something that I could create now?”

FEELING STUCK? A NOTE ABOUT BRAND CONTAINERS

Brand Containers are a concept that I teach to all of my clients on the idea that what you sell cannot be your business and brand. If it is you are probably running into a problem right now. 

It’s not about having 75 different offers, it’s about having a brand and having variety, allowing for more flexibility, creation and community building.

When you create a business around a single offer and then want to pivot, it will feel like starting over, but when you create a brand first and foremost it’s much easier.

Imagine 5-7 brand containers of things you love talking about. For my business branding, business coaching and marketing are definitely the main ones, but I also love to talk about travel and could offer a blog or course on how to travel full time.

If you’re interested in learning more about Brand Containers and my branding process, check out youbrandedcourse.com.

The key here is you want to first look for a pivot that is of value to your audience and already connected to your brand as a whole, your Brand Containers can help with this. 

When it comes to pivoting the hardest thing you can do is burn it all down in the hopes to build something new. I encourage you to look more for opportunities or gaps in which you can make small adjustments.

Ask yourself: How can I show up, that's going to be a value to my audience and is already connected to my brand as a whole?

Then it will feel more of like a shift or extension than it does a complete starting over from scratch. 

Pricing Your Offer

If you don’t feel like you need to create something new, just adjust something existing, it’s time to think about how to shift it.

Is there a new pricing structure? 
How can you modify an existing offer to launch something smaller?
Can you take a bigger program or something that you've created and sell it separately as a lower-priced offer? 
How can you repurpose some of the things that you've talked about in the past? 

Think of how you can get creative with what you have. For instance, if you’re a photographer and can’t photograph clients, you don’t necessarily have to declare you’re no longer a photographer. You might be able to adjust your offer to something along the lines of selling a style guide on how to prepare for brand photoshoots or teaching other photographers how to edit their pics.

TO RECAP

What does your audience need?
What can you support them with?
Is there something that you can create that as an extension of your existing brand, think about your brand containers, rather than starting completely over? 
And if you have an existing offer that works, how can you modify it or change the pricing structure? 

PHASE THREE: AWARENESS AND EDUCATION

Phase three is what every single business should still remain focused on during a pivot or crisis. 

The brands and businesses that continue to persevere are the ones that continue to show up, build trust and community. These are the businesses that will experience sales later.  

Pivoting isn’t just about the offer it’s also in your messaging and how you show up.

How can you build brand awareness?
How can you create educational components for your audience?
What does this look like for you? 

Get ready for the questions because here they come. Some things to consider are:

Does your content need to shift during this transition? 
How is your overall brand messaging, is it in alignment with your new direction
Do you need to adjust the platform you are showing up on and reaching your target audience? Do you have SEO on your website? Are you using Pinterest to drive traffic? 
Can you start reaching your new target market with advertisements? 
Do you have a sales funnel set up for onboarding new community members and leading them to a sale on evergreen?

When you’re pivoting it can be really easy to not show up, to not build an audience because you feel like you don’t have it all figured out. Take some time to get clear on your pivot offer and audience and keep showing up. 

People are waiting for your message, even when you’re “figuring it out” keep showing up and building trust.

MISSION-DRIVEN BUSINESS GOALS

When you’re going through a pivot or transition it might feel like you need to create something RIGHT NOW. You might think, “I’m just going to put this out there!”

I'm going to encourage you to slow down just a minute to ask yourself this overarching brand question…

“What’s the purpose behind your business? Why are you doing this in the first place?”

Because the reality is if you run your business just for money, you will run into problems. It has to be more fulfilling. What do you do, when in one season of life you don’t have the money coming in? What continues to drive you?

Questions to consider.

What is your purpose behind your business? 
What is your mission? 
How can you create content and offers and all those things that are in alignment with that? 

And if you don't know this, it’s time to dive deep into your brand.

CONCLUSION + PLANNING

MAKING PLANS

With the info that you have collected from above, I want you to start mapping out and planning your next steps.

I know in times of uncertainty and change, there is power in knowing what direction you're going.

Think of where you are headed, there’s that purpose, mission and long-term thinking again, so you can start taking small steps every single day. Start mapping out what that looks like, but be open to adjusting.

Think about…
How does your content look with these new plans?
What offers are you going to put out there? 
What do you need to create?
How can you start rolling out these changes?

Having a plan is really powerful, even if it needs to change and adjust at least you know which direction you’re headed.

If after you dive into these questions you still feel lost and a little overwhelmed. I always encourage people to get a step-by-step plan. My course You! Branded gives you the pieces to finalize your purpose, mission and so much more to build a strong brand and business upon.

You can learn more about You! Branded and the work we do around niching down, ideal client, messaging, offers and emotional branding at youbrandedcourse.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Why We Decided to Go Tiny

why we decided to go tiny

November 22, 2018

Hey there, we’re the Knights. I know we’ve met before, but I’m so excited to formally introduce you to my husband Ben and my son Cal!

In 2019 we are setting off on a really exciting adventure, and we want to tell you more about it and bring you along for the ride.

What are we doing?

Beginning in 2019, we are setting out for a year-long adventure in a travel trailer. That's right. We're moving into a travel trailer and going tiny.

We're downsizing.

We're embracing the minimalist life, and we are going to travel the U.S., and work from anywhere.

Why are we doing this?

This was originally a five-year plan for us, but some things have happened this year that have accelerated the process.

In January, I lost my grandma to cancer and Ben lost his mother at the end of September to cancer as well. So we've kind of realigned our priorities because we have one life to live and we really want to make the most of it.

And this isn’t the first time our lives have shifted after the loss of someone, which is another reason why we know that now is the time to take action.

We both lost someone, my brother and Ben’s best friend about 10 years ago to cancer. So knowing these moments happen, we just look at what we're currently doing, what doesn't light us up, and we make a change.

How are you able to do this?

So this is the question we get asked a lot. We're very fortunate because three years ago, when Cal was born, I set out to create my own business.

I’ve worked really hard to create a profitable business that is going to allow Ben to retire from his retail life and for him to come on, work with me at the company and do some freelancing and editing, but ultimately without having the mortgage, without having all of the bills that come with the house and multiple car payments, we're able to live off of one paycheck, which we're excited about.

What’s the plan?

Yeah. So, we bought a travel trailer in October and it was a fixer upper. We've been renovating it for the past month, and the plan is to have it completely finished by the end of January. Then we're going to hit the road, and we're going to travel all of North America, hopefully get up into Canada, see family and friends and beyond.

Our ultimate goal with all of this is that five year plan. We really want to find land, and we are in such a cool situation, that we get to just travel all over and see where we kind of want to find land, put our roots down, and build our dream, probably not big, home.

Follow the journey!

So, we created this platform so that we can bring you along for the journey. It's going to be a really exciting time, and Ben and I are going to be hosting the Free to Be Podcast together starting in January. We’ll be sharing what we're doing, what it's like to be entrepreneurs on the road, how we've adopted a minimalist lifestyle, how we are raising a child in such close quarters, and our relationship.

So be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast listening platform and to also catch us on Instagram and YouTube.

Be sure to join us on the adventure by following along on Instagram and subscribing to the Free to Be Podcast.

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