4 Tools To Improve Your Content Creation
PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO. WATCH The QUICK 11 MINUTE VIDEO here!
It is no freaking secret that if you want to create a strong personal brand, you need to be showing up consistently online.
There's a lot of information out there on what type of content to create, but we very rarely talk about how you can show up consistently for your audience and I can't stress enough how important this is.
If you currently have no content strategy and you're showing up periodically, if at all, then this blog is going to support you with my four tools that I use to create consistent content.
I absolutely love content creation and I really don't think that you can have a strong social media presence without it. I don't think that you can create a strong bond with your community if you aren’t consistently showing up for them.
Not to mention when you are showing up and delivering amazing content, you are positioning yourself as the expert that you are.
Therefore they know what you offer, why you will be great for them and they want to take advantage of the product or the service that you're laying out for them on the table.
If you aren't showing up for them regularly, how do they know who you are and therefore they probably don't trust you? A really strong content strategy is needed to build trust with your audience.
One of my favorite quotes, you'll probably hear me say it in about a hundred different times, is from Zig Ziglar and he says, “If they like you, they will listen to you. If they trust you, they will do business with you.”
Consistent content is one of the key pieces that you need to build trust with your audience.
If you want more content on content creation, just let me know in the comments below by typing “content please”.
Today we are going to talk about four tools that will help you create consistent content in your business.
1. ORGANIZATION
All right, I'm a Virgo. I get it. We're not all amazing and organization and planning and strategizing and all of that, but I'm telling you, if you are flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to content creation, you're going to keep struggling uphill and not in a good way.
Creating content on the fly is always going to feel like you can't come up with content ideas and you're going to be stressed out in the moment and writing emails. It's going to take like an hour as opposed to eight minutes because you do not have a clear plan in place.
Now I have a big fan of using a content planner and there's a lot of word on the street that planning out your content isn't great because you cannot be inspired. And I say, no, I do not believe that.
When you have a clear plan of when you are showing up for your audience, where you are showing up for your audience, and if you already know the topic, fantastic pencil that in there too, then guess what?
You're less stressed, you're less overwhelmed and it allows for inspiration to come more easily. Here's the beautiful thing about a content calendar.
You are in control of your content calendar so you can move things around as inspiration strikes, but there's not going to be any room for inspiration if you're constantly stressed out about what you're going to say to your community and how you're going to show up.
When creating a content calendar, having that clear organization really is key to a strong content strategy and therefore a strong personal brand.
One of my favorite ways to organize content is using my signature brand containers. Now you might be like, was that Michelle? So I made you a free gift. I have a free downloadable content planner for you, which includes a training video on the core brand container strategy that I use. It shows you how to use that to create content, how to organize content, and I've created, let me just say a very, very cool content planner for you.
You can get your hands on that with the link below or by going to brandmerry.com/contentcalendar.
So the first thing you have to do again is organize your content, have a very clear idea of what you want to say to your audience when you're going to say it, and where you're going to be showing up to relieve that stress and that constant overwhelm of, “oh my gosh, what am I doing today?”
2. GET A SCHEDULER
The second tool that you need to have as an online entrepreneur is some sort of scheduler. This is where you would input to your content and it would push it out onto your social media platforms.
Now I also understand there's a lot of, “oh my gosh, do schedulers work?. Do they not work? Oh my gosh, does it not give me the biggest reach?”
But here's the thing, if you're currently not showing up at all or you're showing up so sporadically that your audience has no idea who you are, then your reach is kinda sucks anyways.
So you need to be using a scheduler, especially in the beginning to get yourself into that routine to regularly show up for your audience and build trust.
Later on if you notice your reach isn't as great or whatever, you can stop using the scheduler if you want.
If you are starting out in your business, and even today I still use schedulers in my business and my reach pretty good. It saves my but time and time again.
My favorite schedule that for this is actually SmarterQueue. We're going to go ahead and link it in the comments below. I love SmarterQueue for a few reasons.
It allows me to post content on multiple platforms.
I particularly use it for my Facebook page and my various Facebook groups, my free one and my one to actually evergreen content.
I can create monthly posts that recycle in each of these groups.
So while there are a ton of schedulers out there, I personally love SmarterQueue because of the evergreen option. And so if I have a really great piece of content, I love to extend the life of it. So why not have a scheduler that does that for me and SmarterQueue is my top pick at the end of the day.
You just need to choose one. There are a ton of options out there. Play with them a little bit. It started with one and start scheduling your content. So you're showing up consistently for your audience.
3. CANVA
Can we, can we get an amen for Canva? Can we just for a second think about what it was like before Canva and how hard it was? I love Canva. I remember one of the very first blog post I wrote was all about Canva cause it was like all the only thing I knew how to do it in my business at the time.
I love Canva for several purposes. Here's the thing. Creating content needs to have a visual component to it. It's just going to make it stand out even better than if you were just to post something blab that just like everyone wants to scroll through. So having some sort of visual component that grabs the attention of your audience and then keeps them really engaged with the actual content, it’s key.
Canva is going to be your best friend there as well. The free option and a paid option. So you can take your pick. I use the paid option because it allows me to seamlessly create branded content, which is so important for me in my business. But y'all, most of my clients use the free version.
Here's why Canva’s so cool. You can create templates for all your different pieces and I'm such a big fan of bulk scheduling, which is why we just talked about the scheduler as tip number two.
But bulk scheduling allows you to sit down for a chunk of time, get in your zone of genius, right out your content, create your graphics and schedule so the rest of the week you can focus on building relationships and nurturing that audience, not coming up with the content, scheduling it and trying to do all of that while running a business.
So I love Canva because as I'm creating my content can go into Canva, find my favorite templates because they have them all laid out for you, customize them and add them to my scheduler. It is so very cool.
If you are not using Canva now, I highly, highly recommend that you check them out. I’m not even affiliated, just obsessed.
4. BULK SCHEDULING
If you struggle with creativity, if you struggle with getting your head in that space, into that zone where you can write and create that beautiful copy that resonates with your audience, you need to embrace bulk scheduling.
Bulk scheduling was a game changer for me at the beginning of my business because I had no other choice while working a nine to five having a new baby and trying to build this business from scratch, I didn't have a ton of time to actually create content, but I knew how important it was.
So along with a scheduler and the use of Canva and obviously the organization told that I made for you for free below, I use bulk scheduling to my advantage.
Back in the old days, I used to book schedule on Sundays. I would carve out three hours of time on a Sunday. I would sit down, I would write out all my content, design it and schedule it, and now I actually do that on Mondays.
Get into the habit of blocking out time in your schedule. You can do this. Whether you work a nine to five have children or full time entrepreneur. It does not matter if you can make it the same time every week even better because it will get your brain kind of in that routine of, “Ooh, tomorrow's content day. I've gotta be on my a game to write amazing content for my community.“
These four tools are so basic, they're so easy to start implementing in your business. I highly recommend you start tomorrow. Creating content is a non-negotiable.
If you want to create a strong personal brand and therefore a profitable brand through your content.
Don't forget to grab your lifesaver tool, the free content planner and my training video on brand containers. You can get that at brandmerry.com/contentcalendar.
Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!
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 >>
