3 Must-Have Categories for Organizing Story Content in Business

When I founded my business way back in 2016, I struggled for a really long time to figure out who I was, the impact that I wanted to make, how I wanted to support my clients and ultimately created a brand that wasn't a true representation of me and my personality. 

After a lot of discovery work and a lot of ups and downs, having a website, scraping the website, trying to sign clients, not being able to sign clients, literally all the things, I got back to my story.

I started doing story work around who I was and the impact that I wanted to carry out into the world. And that is what has led to the brand that you see today. 

Almost instantly from doing that work and making some small changes with my messaging and my copy and incorporating more storytelling into my actual content, I started to sign clients and have sustainably grown my business consistently over the past four, almost five years.

If you were to say there was a secret weapon to being a business owner, I truly believe that it is storytelling. 

Especially if you have a personal brand because this is how we build connections. And we build trust, which as we all know is why people buy, invest and continue coming back time after time, year after year, investing over and over in courses and programs and referring their friends and family.

SHARING STORIES IN BUSINESS

Many people create their brand story and think they're done. They don't think about storytelling anymore in their content and their videos and their blogs and their marketing. 

And if you're paying attention, I already shared a story with you! 

Storytelling in marketing is really powerful. And today, I want to share with you three categories that you can group your stories into and then recycle through as you share your content and your marketing in your business. 

Each of these three categories, as you will notice, will help not only in the client attraction process but also in moving your potential clients through the buying process.

Now storytelling really is about the effect that it has on your ideal customers' brain. The neural coupling, the dopamine, the connection that it creates.

As we know, this connection and ultimately trust is why people choose to invest. 

One of my favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar says, "If they like you, they'll listen. If they trust you, they'll do business with you," they'll ultimately buy from you. That really is the key and storytelling is one of the fastest ways to build trust with your community.

However, people tend to think that storytelling has to be this long-drawn-out process and that if you're going to share a story, then the whole entire social media post or the whole entire email has to be one great story. 

But that's not the case. One of the things that I teach my clients is called micro-stories. And I gave you an example of a micro-story at the beginning of this blog where I shared how I started my business just five years ago. And for the first eight months, I struggled to figure out who I was and what I wanted to offer.

I painted that picture for you, ultimately sharing with you that once I sat down and got back in touch with my story, I scraped my entire website, redid it, changed my messaging, started showing up, incorporating more story and then signed my very first client and continued to sign clients to create a multiple six-figure a year business over the past five years. 

That was just a tiny bit of story woven into a larger piece of content. 

So when we're thinking about storytelling and when we're starting to dive into these three categories of storytelling, I want you to remember that storytelling doesn’t have to be this long-drawn-out process. It can be presented in very, very small micro pieces that move the relationship along and build that know, like, trust factor.

BRAND AWARENESS STORIES

The first category is really focused on the brand awareness stage, attracting new people to your brand, which is key when it comes to marketing. 

In order to create a sustainable and profitable business, you’ve got to make sure new people are finding you regularly. And these brand awareness stories are a great way to not only bring in your ideal customer but then start building that trust right away, almost right out of the gate. 

This type of story is really powerful and tends to gravitate a little bit more towards educational content.

But it doesn't mean that we can't work storytelling into it. As I mentioned before, a story can be a single sentence and this post is actually a great example of a brand awareness story. 

I'm teaching you something. You probably clicked on this blog because you wanted to read about storytelling and business, and specifically, the three must-have categories. 

But of course, through this process, I've shared a story, I've connected with you and hopefully, you'll stick around for more. 

Think of cold audiences, people who aren't already aware of your brand, that might be seeing you for the first time. They're most likely searching for tips and tricks and tools, and you can support them in creating content around that. And then of course incorporating your authentic story into the process.

One example could be you sharing your top five resources and why. A great way to incorporate storytelling here is to not only share those resources that are going to benefit them but also share how you came to find those resources. And a need that might've been happening in your life or your business. A great opportunity for storytelling, and then ultimately giving them those resources as a key takeaway.

Another one that you could share is three myths about something that happens in your industry. I love this one, it's one of my favorite categories to talk about. I like to talk about the three myths that happened in branding and marketing and repurposing and content creation. 

Those are categories that I specialize in and I like to share three things that I truly believe are misconceptions or myths or beliefs that people have that aren't in alignment with my brand and my values. 

So this is a great opportunity to not only educate your audience because everyone wants to know what myths or mistakes they might be making in their business or in their life. Then you can interweave a story into that as well. 

So as you're sharing these three mistakes or myths, you could share that you've made them maybe, or when you first heard them or how avoiding making this mistake ultimately helped you in your business. Again, another opportunity for storytelling.

Finally, in this category, you could also share three lessons from your experience. This one's pretty much a no brainer, right? If you have three lessons, it's a great opportunity to share the story aspect of that. 

What happened and how you learned those lessons. People are always looking for other people's experiences and lessons learned that help them either avoid mistakes or really accelerate their growth or their progress based on what other people have experienced. 

Those are three examples that take more of an educational approach, but again are perfect for sharing a story.

BRAND AUTHORITY STORIES

Brand authority is kind of the next phase in the process of client onboarding. You think about a new client coming in, not knowing you, that's the whole brand awareness stage.

Then we're really focused on positioning you as the expert so that they know that they should invest in whatever it is that you're selling or you're offering. This is where brand authority comes into play. 

One of the key pieces of storytelling is making sure that you are positioning yourself as the authority or as the expert. 

Otherwise, people won't see why they should invest in you or how you're ultimately going to help guide them to their desire, to their pleasure point, to the finish line, whatever that might be for your ideal customer. 

So these stories are really important and can focus more on solving a specific problem as well as what I like to call an industry disrupt. As we mentioned before about those myths in the brand awareness stage, this is another opportunity to go deeper and really share why you do what you do in your business. The framework that you follow, how you support your clients and why you're different from somebody else.

So I'll give you a couple of examples of these stories as well. 

Number one is to expose a lie or a truth about something in your industry. Maybe you're catching on here. I really like these stories because there are a lot of people talking about the same thing in every industry. It doesn't matter what you're focused on. 

So your consumer has a lot of choices but they're going to gravitate to the people that resonate most with them, share the same values as them, as we'll talk about in the next category. One of the ways to really kind of separate yourself from others is offering this industry disrupt. 

If there's something that's happening in your industry that you believe is misleading people, or isn't in alignment with your values or your core framework, you can share that. It’s also a great opportunity to share a story.

One of the things that I love to talk about is how content creation is actually a branding problem. If you struggle with content creation, the odds of you missing key pieces of your brand is incredibly high. Not knowing who you are, not knowing who you want to attract, not understanding your offer, not understanding the emotional connection. Those are all part of the branding process. 

So I love to share this industry disrupt because we often think that content creation is like a copywriting issue or an engagement issue when really it could be a branding issue. Again, it's an opportunity to share more about why I have that belief and why I believe that this is something that is misleading to my ideal customer, a great opportunity for story. 

Another opportunity here is to share your brand story and your founder’s story. Everybody writes their brand story and then puts it on their About Me page, and then they forget about it.

But this is an opportunity for you to work that into your content, to share little pieces of it, little phases of it, to highlight very specific parts of your brand story, to highlight your mission. 

As a way to again, share with your ideal customer that you know what you're talking about and you've created this business to help solve this problem that they are ultimately experiencing. That's a great way to position yourself as the guide and as the authority in their journey. 

Finally, another way to build that brand authority is by sharing client stories and testimonials. 

The stories that we share in business are not just our stories. They are also the stories of our clients and our community members. And by sharing these client stories, you clearly are showing your expertise and your authority and your knowledge on the area in which you are supporting your clients. 

So this is a great way to not only share that but also again, incorporate storytelling.

CREATE BRAND AFFINITY

Brand affinity is the shared values between a brand and a consumer. This is that deep, deep stuff. This is that deep trust connection that many brands miss out on because they aren't sharing these key stories. 

I don't want that to be the case for you. 

This is the area where client retention lives and radiates. Because when you have brand affinity, you keep coming back for more. You keep referring your friends and your family and the people who trust you. You buy courses and programs and move up to one on one coaching and so on and so on, even though the investments get higher, because of the strong brand affinity.

This is a beautiful opportunity for you to start building that deeper connection with your audience. So some of the things that I love to share in this category are your brand values. 

Brand values are so important and in 2021 they are going to be more important than ever. People have said that they will buy based on a brand's values and they will also boycott or not buy because of those same values if they aren't in alignment with theirs.

So one of the best things that you can do is openly share your brand values with your audience. 

Now, this doesn't mean I want you to just create a post and list all your brand values, that's incredibly boring.

You could share a story about each of those values. Why are those valuable to you? Why are they values for your brand? Is there something that happened in your life? Share those through the art of storytelling. 

Another thing that you can do is share your mission. We did already talk about this in the brand authority section, but this is also something that can live in this area as well. You can not only build brand authority but brand affinity with your brand mission. 

Sharing the real purpose behind why you started your business, how you want to make a difference in the world, the impact that you want to make, and who you want to serve. That is a great thing to communicate to your audience, get them on board with what is happening, and build that brand affinity. 

Finally, you can also share some life lessons. In the lesson section that I shared before, when we were talking more about brand awareness, those might be lessons within your industry. And those are absolutely amazing as you can guess, but they're more educational. 

What I'm talking about here are life lessons. This section of brand affinity is a great place to share those more personal stories and those mistakes that you've made just in your life and what that's taught you, how you've transformed or transitioned through your life. The focus here is transformation or inspiration. 

One of the things I love sharing are these life lessons, things that you've learned just in your everyday life. Maybe they're not directly connected to what you offer, but they are connected to your brand because they're connected to your mission, to your values and who you are as a person. 

And again, it's just another opportunity to form that deeper level of connection with your audience.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, there are three categories that you can start to put your brand stories into. I love creating these categories with my clients so that they always can just go back and cycle through and say, "Hey, I haven't shared a story on brand affinity in a while, let me go grab something from that category."

One of the coolest places to organize all of this could be a spreadsheet, or if you're visual like me, you can use Trello to actually create these columns with brand affinity at the top, brand authority, brand awareness. And as you think of stories, you can add them in there and then schedule them in your content for the next 30, 60, or 90 days. 

Remember every story, even your own, needs to connect with your audience. So Ideal Customer work is so important and is one of the core pieces taught in all of my programs.

It’s important to think outside of the box when it comes to storytelling in business. If you’re a business owner, don't forget to get signed up for the Tell Better Stories Workshop that's happening on March 3rd.

Tickets are now on sale and you can go to brandmerry.com/stories to grab yours.

This class only happens once, maybe twice a year. So don't miss it. 

You definitely want to jump into this class if you want to learn more about how to craft a better brand story, how to tell stories on social media, how to actually use storytelling to sell. And I'm going to be sharing more of these categories with you to make your content creation that much easier.

Get your ticket at brandmerry.com/stories.

Watch the full video below!

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.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.

4 Steps to Create Consistent Content for Your Business

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

Content creation, you either love it or hate. I freaking love it and over the past four years of running my online business, I’ve shown up every single week with content for my audience.

I have over 200 blogs on my website, I’ve emailed my list at least once a week and the number of videos I’ve created is crazy. I do it because I love it, but I’ve also found a way to do it without spending all my time on it.

And content has gotten a bad wrap, people are talking about how you don’t need it, but in this blog, I’m going to share why it’s important and how to consistently show up for your audience without feeling stressed and overwhelmed with the process. 

3 LEVELS OF CONTENT CREATION

There are three levels your audience passes through, that you need to be aware of when creating content.

LEVEL ONE IS AWARENESS.
It’s the level in which people learn about you, your brand and maybe your service for the first time. Suddenly you’re on their radar and their awareness is heightened.

LEVEL TWO IS ATTRACTION.
After someone has an awareness of your brand, we then move our attention to attracting them to our inner circle/ or tribe. The goal here is to get people to sign up for your email list. Attracting them with a signature piece of content or, as I prefer, a lead magnet where they have to join your list to get it.

LEVEL THREE IS CONNECTION.
At this phase, we are putting the emphasis on nurturing your growing audience. The goal is to show up for them, connect with them and ultimately lead them to the sale.

Now, of course, someone could see your brand and go straight to the sale.

Somebody could join your list and go straight to the sale, but the majority of the people (think 90% need a little more nurturing and trust building).

Each of the levels shared above relies on content.

You can't really bring people to your brand, make them aware of your brand and what you have to offer if you're not showing up.

You can’t attract the right people and get them ready to join your email list if you’re not creating the quality content they want.

And, we can't really connect with people and build that relationship if we're not showing up and connecting with them consistently. 

So everything that we do as an online entrepreneur is really centered around content.

CONSISTENT CONTENT DOESN’T MEAN POSTING DAILY

When I talk about consistent content people’s immediate reaction is that I’m asking them to post every day, when the truth is far from that.

I actually hate this strategy and don’t use it in my business. I teach a very, very different method inside of Brandmerry Academy that relies on the art of repurposing.

But, what I want to drive home is the element of consistency. Consistency doesn’t mean daily, it means being consistent in your scheduling.

If you decide that you want to show up twice a week, consistently show up twice a week

If you decide you want to show three, four, whatever it is times a week, consistently do that. 

One of the worst things you can do is break your consistency, yet so many entrepreneurs fall off the wagon once or twice and then stop. Rather than hoping back on, it becomes this whole thing of, “Do I hop back on? How do I get back into it? Where do I start again?”

We put too much pressure on ourselves that if something happens, and we don't show up, or you know, we don't write a blog that week that we have to start over from the beginning and that is so not the case. 

That’s why so much of consistently showing up online and sharing content is reliant on our mindset. 

The tips below will only work if you understand that life will happen, you might fall off the schedule a few times, but the best thing you can do is get back up and work on your content creation habits.

Remember the more that you show up, the more consistent you are, the more your audience hears from you. 

The less you show up, the less consistent you are, the less your audience hears from you.

It’s not science.

Ok, on to the 4 Tips to Create Consistent Content in Your Business.

1. STAY INSPIRED TO CREATE CONTENT

You have to stay inspired and motivated. The key to being excited about creating content is to always look for ways to be inspired.

Let me give you an example. 

I know that if I need to create content, my butt goes outside.

If I know that I need to create content, let’s say I want to brainstorm and map out 90 days of topics I head to Starbucks.

I know the type of environments and resources that get me inspired and motivated. What are yours?

We have to put ourselves in places that inspire us if we ever hope to be inspired.

If you're sitting In bed, on your laptop, you're probably not feeling very inspired. 

So not only do we need to put ourselves in situations where we're feeling inspired, but we also have to get excited about what it is we are doing.

So much of getting excited ties back to the purpose of your business. 

Why are you doing this? 
Why should you show up and create content?
Who is it for?

If you haven't figured out the real purpose and mission behind your business, today would be a great day to write that down.

When I tap into my purpose of empowering women to own their story and show up and share that with the world through their brand that keeps me motivated. So, even if I am tired or don’t feel 100% in it, I root myself in my purpose and excitement hits.

The core part of consistently thinking of content topics, consistently showing up and delivering that content and consistently engaging comes from being inspired and being motivated. 

2. LOOK AROUND FOR CONTENT IDEAS

When we start thinking about creating content we sit down with a notepad, in a quiet room and write our ideas.

I'm telling you, I've had the best content ideas in the shower, or walking through the grocery store, listening to podcasts, or scrolling on Instagram, which is not in a dark room with a notepad.

I’m using the everyday moments around me to think of ideas. For instance, when I hop on Instagram I won’t just do it to waste some time, but I’ll set the intention to see if anything inspires me outside of my industry.

Then I use that inspiration to create a piece of content.

This is why I’m a big fan of using Trello or Google Docs as a way to organize a content idea bank because as I’m going about my day, with the intention to look for ideas, I can pause and add my idea to my Trello board and then go back about my day.

What I’m doing is I’m creating a resource of content ideas every single day, rather than sitting down to “try and write” and feeling incredibly lost and stuck.

The biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs make is feeling like it's 100% up to them to come up with topics for their content.

Look around you.
Get inspired.
Don’t be afraid to Google topics and see what comes up.
Search on Pinterest for a topic and see what comes to your mind.
Look in a Facebook Group and search for topics to see what people ask.

Shift the way you go about getting ideas away from sitting down and brainstorming, to setting the intention to always look for ideas.

3. MAKE CONTENT CREATION A PRIORITY

Your content creation and your business in general, shouldn't just fit in where it fits in your schedule. Make it a priority and move the other things to fit around it.

You will get results if you’re carving out a dedicated chunk of time at least once a week to create your content if you’re not then you're doing yourself a disservice.

You don’t need to create every single day, many of my clients have one designated content creation/ writing day a week. And if you do it, for let’s say two weeks, and still don’t find you’re able to create the amount of content you want in that time frame then cut back on the content or master your repurposing workflow.

Do what you can in that time frame and then as your business grows, as you hire more team members, as you get faster and faster writing content and blog posts, then you can start to create more and show up on more platforms.

So many people fall off because they're trying to do way too much when it comes to content creation, they can't keep up with it. 

I am a big fan of bulk scheduling. I bulk create and write my content on Monday’s.

I don't do calls on Mondays and pretty much my entire day is carved out to create my content.

I use this time to write my notes for my weekly live stream, Mondays With Michelle, schedule my social media posts and choose the graphics.

4. CHOOSE YOUR CONTENT PLATFORMS WISELY

When you’re starting your online business you’re thinking, “Ok, I’m going to create a website and hope someone comes to it and then I’ll show up on social media. I’ll create a Facebook group or I'll join some Facebook groups, and I'll show up on Instagram.”

Sound familiar? I know it was exactly what I did in the beginning.

This is why so many entrepreneurs get overwhelmed because in order for your stuff to really get seen on those platforms you need to consistently post, which means daily on Facebook and Instagram.

I used to do this and found myself overwhelmed with the amount of content I needed to create, so I don’t do it anymore and that's because social media is no longer my top tier platform.

Remember back to the beginning where we talked about Awareness, Attraction and Connection? Another way to look at this is through Cold, Warm and Hot Leads.

The majority of people in the Awareness phase are a cold lead, so you’re creating content that pulls them into your brand, if this is social media you’re going to feel like you’re constantly climbing a steep hill.

In my business, I pull in cold leads through my blog, which I optimize for Google and share on Pinterest. Another alternative is Youtube and podcasting. The reason these platforms work so well is because they are Search Engines; your audience is going to them with specific questions and looking for answers, this is not the same for social media.

In addition, your content lives longer on these platforms than say a post on social media, which might last 24 hours if you’re lucky.

If you're not already considering things like optimizing your website for SEO, and you aren't blogging, and you are not using Pinterest or you’re not using YouTube (if you like videos), really consider switching up where you are showing up, it will make a huge difference and will allow you to consistently show up with less content.

Again, if you want more of a deep dive in how to repurpose your weekly video or blog post, check out this blog.

CONCLUSION

Consistently showing up in your brand is important, but it doesn’t mean you have to post daily. Consistently showing up is about having smart marketing in place with systems and workflows that allow you to create content in a shorter amount of time and optimize your content so it lasts longer.

Brandmerry Academy is where I teach my clients how to improve their marketing without relying on social media. To learn more and join the waitlist visit brandmerryacademy.com

If these tips were helpful let me know over on Instagram. I’m hanging out at @michelleknightco.

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.

3 Tips to Repurpose Content

PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

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Ever wonder how so many people can take a single piece of content and spread it around like hot cakes?

It’s all about repurposing and understanding the art of repurposing. 

Ultimately, you want a way to quickly repurpose your content so you can reach more people on more platforms, without sacrificing the quality of your content. 

In this blog you’ll learn my exact process I use in my business to repurpose one single video + my top tips to extend the life of your content through the art of repurposing. 

I get the pain of creating a piece of content and then watching it wilt away online. I mean you go through a lot of trouble to decide on a topic, write the post, pick a picture and more just to what, have it disappear in less than 24 hours?

Sure, if you’re using an evergreen platform like your blog, Pinterest or Youtube then great, that content lives there and is searchable, BUT how can use that content to increase the odds that more people will actually consume it?

That’s where repurposing comes in.

Before I dive into my three tips, I want to let you know that in the video below I’m sharing the same three tips + my exact 9-step process for repurposing a single video and how it allows me to show up 7 times on social media.

You can skip straight to the video below to hear all the goodies or keep reading!

Tip #1: Repurpose your long form post

What I mean by this is that it's easier to take a video, blog or email and break that up into various social media posts than it is say an Instagram post. So you always want to create your primary piece of content first. 

For instance, I’m wanting to grow my Youtube channel so I create a piece of content native to that channel. I’m taking into consideration what works best on that platform.

Let’s say you write an email to your list every single Tuesday. You could take that email and turn it into a blog on Thursday and share that blog post on Facebook and Instagram on Thursday as well in order to drive more traffic. You could then take the same email and create a social media post on Sunday.

Let’s say right now, you’re just focused on social media, well you could take a Facebook post and two days later take the same exact post and share it on Instagram. Then two days later take the same concept of that content and create an Instagram story. So you’re taking a single social media post and showing up three different ways. 

Tip #2: Get over your fear of bugging people

Seriously, it’s not going to happen. We’re always so worried about sharing our content more than once; that we’re going to annoy someone if they see our content on multiple platforms or twice in one week. But the reality of someone seeing it the first time is already super slim. 

You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t repurpose your content. It’s taken you time and energy to create that peace don’t you want to extend the life of your content?

Tip #3 Think of the long-term brand strategy

Thinking long term isn’t about creating content for this week alone, it’s about thinking of the next 30 days, six months or even a year from now. Start paying attention to what’s doing really well. If you have a social media post that gets great engagement, you can copy that same copy and switch out the photo to share it 30 days later.

If something is really in alignment for you, on brand, part of your brand containers, why not keep that content alive for longer and allow new people to discover some of your core content.

Another example is if you write a blog. I see this too often in the online space where someone writes a blog post and just waits for people to find it. This strategy is not working. If you’re writing a blog post, put that post out into the world. Take that same post and email your list, share it on social media, create a pin image and share on Pinterest.

And don’t stop there - take it even further. Use a tool like Smarterqueue to recycle your content. This means you can take that blog post and add them to Smarterqueue and set a schedule to post a blog every Thursday. Smarterqueue will cycle through your blogs, posting a different one every Thursday. That means a post you share this week could be shared three or six months from now, just increasing the views of your content.

Let’s do one more, shall we? If you have a podcast, which I hope you are emailing your list and posting on social media when that podcast goes live, but then what? Why not do a monthly roundup of episodes in case someone missed them. You could even do the Smarterqueue strategy here as well!

Like, I said I absolutely love repurposing because it has saved my business time and time again. If you’re a busy mom like me, working a 9 to 5 or just have a jam-packed schedule and TRYING to build your brand you want to embrace this practice. 

Don’t forget to watch the video below where I’m sharing the exact steps I follow to repurpose a single video on Youtube, Facebook, Facebook Group, Instagram, Insta Stories, IGTV, Pinterest and my website.

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 >>

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How to Create Consistent Content for Your Brand (Especially as a Beginner)

PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO. WATCH THE QUICK 10 minute video here!

So you know you want to create consistent content in your business, but you really struggle with the consistency part well in order to build a community of people who truly trust you and the work that you do kind gotta be showing up on a regular basis.

So in today's blog I'm going to share with you how you can improve your consistency when it comes to content creation.

If you read my recent blog where I shared my 4 Tools for Better Content Creation, then you’ll know I believe strong content is essential when growing a brand and business.

It’s ultimately how you build trust with your audience. And I made it a goal to do this from the very beginning. Over the course of 3 years, I’ve focused on creating content for my community that they want to see content that converts and consistently showing up for them, and as a result, I went from zero subscribers to over 5,000 people in my online community. So let's get into it. Let's talk about my top tips for you today to improve consistency.

1. You Have to Have a Plan

Now, if you read my most recent blog where I talked about focus as an entrepreneur, I talk about the idea of having a clear plan and getting all of those ideas out of your head into some sort of organization. The same goes for content creation.

If you're constantly flying by the seat of your pants, you won't be able to consistently show up online. This is why I'm a big fan of using a content planner and I know there's a lot of blah blah out there about should you use a planner, should you not use a planner?

If you're always planning, how can you be inspired? But here's my theory. If you could have a set plan for your content over the next 30, 60, or 90 days, then you will actually be able to be inspired because you're not constantly stressed out.

So my favorite tool that I encourage all my clients to use, is a content planner. That's why I created a free one and it is my top downloaded resource on my website to date.

If you want to go ahead and get your hands on this intense, content planner and extensive free resource, where I'm actually teaching you how to use it, how to organize your content every single month, how to come up with brand containers and how to keep track of where your content is in the creation process. Then you can go to brandmerry.com/contentcalendar.

The reality is you have to start planning. If you're new to the whole planning thing, just aim for a week of planning out content and there's another myth that I actually want to break right now. Content planning doesn't mean writing your posts for an entire 30 days.

Content planning means understanding what you're going to be sharing and how you want to deliver that. Then you can write the content in the moment if that feels best to you. One of the worst things that you can do when it comes to content creation is not plan because here's what happens and might be happening to you.

You know you need to post that day, but you get really stressed out because you don't know what to post about and then you whip up some content that ends up being mediocre. Content in isn't effective and doesn't convert, and if you keep doing that over and over again, then you're going to come to me to another mentor and say my contents not working, why not?

And sometimes it's as simple as having a clear plan.

2. Create a Theme for Your Content

In the beginning of my business, the idea of coming up with a new theme, a new topic every single day for my content was not going to happen. I had a baby, I was working a nine to five and I was building this business. So I had to come up with a different strategy, enter themes.

In the beginning of my business, every single week I would choose a theme based on my core brand messages. Now, core brand messages are a signature thing that I teach inside my program Roadmap to Freedom, but they are essentially linear messages that hold true for your brand as a whole. So let's say one of my core brand messages is around storytelling. So the theme that could be around story, every single post, piece of content, live video, email that I sent, blog posts that I wrote that week, would revolve around story and this seriously saved my butt.

Not only did it allow me to consistently show up online, but it allowed me to position myself as an expert because every single week I was talking about something that I knew a lot about. I was showcasing that.

And bonus tip if you want content that converts. Every single thing that I was talking about led back to my offer. The idea of weekly themes has evolved in my business and now I use a formula called brand containers. This is something that I teach in my free resource that I've talked to you about already; the content planner.

I'm giving you my top tips for coming up with your brand containers and how to organize your content in that way. So just another reminder to grab that free content planner at brandmerry.com/contentcalendar.

The idea of themes, whether it is theming out pillars for your brand or theming out your week based on what you offer is going to save you when it comes to coming up with content because you're not having to recreate the wheel every single day, which can be really exhausting.

3. Repurpose Your Content

If you want to know how I became the queen of content right out of the gate and have stayed that way for three years, it all comes back to repurposing. Here is the thing I don't know about you, but the idea of creating a piece of content that I love, putting it on social media and knowing that in 24 hours it's basically gone really pisses me off. So the idea of repurposing allows you to stretch the life of your content.

It means that you can post that piece of content on social media. You can email it to your list, you can post it on a blog post, you can do an Insta story about it and IGTV, video, a youtube video all around the same piece of content. And again, this is not only saving you time, it is not only saving your sanity, it is allowing you to consistently show up for your community, build trust, and really position yourself as the expert.

If you have this fear that you might be just saying the same thing over and over again to the same people, please remember the algorithm. This is the time when the algorithm is actually kind of working in your favor and they are making it so that you need to consistently be showing up. So if you post something on Facebook, the odds of someone seeing that on Instagram and in your email and maybe on your blog are super slim, so if you're not repurposing, you're actually doing yourself and your audience a disservice.

At the beginning of my business, I would really focus on just taking a piece of content, writing a piece of content for my email, breaking it down into smaller bite size pieces for Facebook or Instagram and repurposing that same content onto my blog. Now I'm more strategic with the way that I do it and have a clear posting schedule, but just to get you started, it can be as simple as copying and pasting seriously.

I know this tip was last, but one of my number one suggestions for you is to embrace re-purposing. It's going to save you so much time and energy in the long run and really simplify your content creation process.

There you have it - my top three tips to create consistent content in your business.

Don't forget to grab that content planner. This is really going to help you when it comes to not just planning out your content, but also coming up with ideas and understanding and kind of documenting where you're at in the content creation process. You can grab yours 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 >>

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PART TWO: 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019

PART TWO: 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019

January 17, 2019

Welcome back lady for Part Two of 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019. Today we are diving right into the final three marketing trends we are seeing for brands in 2019. If you missed Part One you can check it out here.

To recap we chatted about the importance of Story, Video and Consistency in marketing your brand online. The focus in 2019 us all about building trust and making that the main focus for your brand in the New Year.

Now, we’re going a step further with an emphasis on that exact community. How can you show up in 2019, market your business and build a mission-driven brand?

Check out the final three marketing trends below.

#4 Giving Back

This one is HUGE!! A movement has been happening over the past couple of years with online businesses and now entrepreneurs adding in a community-giving component. One of my predictions for 2019 is that this is going to only be heightened, as more and more brand collaborations become popular, your audience is going to want to see how you are giving back.

Again, it all comes back to building trust with your audience and they want to see more of what you’re doing with the success of your business and the impact you’re making. With a focus on mission-driven work and businesses, you’ll only be able to engage your audience on a deeper level. We’re continuing our partnership with CJ’s Journey to raise money for childhood-cancer research.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Start finding nonprofits you want to collaborate with and build a relationship with them. Invite your audience in and share why you’ve chosen this particular organization and movement. Aside from donating profits from your business at the end of the year, consider donating a portion of sales of a particular program to the mission as well.

TIP: Don’t be shy about talking about the work and impact you are doing. Remember this is a marketing trend, after all, if you don’t share that you do this kind of work then your audience won’t know.

#5 Community

I’m most excited about this because I’ve seen how powerful creating a community has been for my own profitable brand. The focus in 2019 is all about community and building not only a community of “right-now” buyers but also potential buyers. One of the best things brands can do this year is focusing on the bigger picture and mission of their brand and how they can use that to create a community.

This exact community, through trust, nurturing and consistency, is the community that will engage and buy from you. Building community is not just about the place in which you connect, but HOW you connect, which is why story and vulnerability are important.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Focus on building community through your social media profiles and lead generation. You should always have the next step for your audience on social media (think Instagram, Facebook and Youtube) for people who are interested in being part of your inner circle. Creating Facebook Groups, consistently emailing your list and opening your DM’s are just a few of my favorite ways.

TIP: Community is about YOU showing up, just as much as it is about the size. In fact, I’m going to argue that I’d rather you have an engaged community rather than a BIG community. Focus on showing up for the people you have and building trust there without obsessing over the vanity metrics.

#6 Collaborate

For too long online entrepreneurs have been living in their own little bubble, and I’m 100% guilty of this as anyone else. So often when we get started we are afraid of the “competition,” you know those women online that do what feels like EXACTLY what you do? Well, we’ve entered an exciting time where collaborations are going to move our business forward.

It’s not just about the community you create around your brand, but also the community you create with collaborators. Focusing more on supporting one another in 2019 is where it’s at and once again, you probably see a theme here, it’s all about building trust.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Start looking for friends! Seriously, stop living in your own little bubble and start reaching out to other entrepreneurs and brands you love and look for opportunities to collaborate. If someone you admire is launching a program, think of how you can come in as a guest expert. If someone you admire is amazing at an area of business you don’t feel 100% confident in or isn’t your niche, reach out to see if they will provide a guest training. The possibilities are endless here.

TIP: We’re going a step further at Brandmerry and just simply shouting out women we love. Every Friday I’m sharing women I truly admire on Insta Stories as a way to build deeper relationships and introduce my audience to some really cool women. Think of ways you can create collaborations and community without getting anything in return.

As you can see with Part One and Part Two, there’s a clear underlying theme around building trust online. Your brand is a beautiful way for you to do just that, but it has to be focused on the brand and mission and not just the business.

What do I mean by this? Focusing on the mission and message of your brand is different than the programs and services/products you offer. When you build a brand over just a business, you get to the heart of your audience and therefore build a deeper connection.

Did you love these tips? Head over to Instagram and let me know if you loved this post and which of these tips you’re most interested in integrating.

Find me on Instagram at @brandmerrycoaching.

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