Three ways to create content that connects

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Me: “Yes, you can create content.”

Advisor: “But I can’t write. I could spend six hours trying to perfect a 1000-word blog post and it would be horrible. It would be awful!”

A recent audience member said this to me yesterday. I had just finished up speaking about LinkedIn and my perspective on creating, curating and connecting.

It was the creating content bit that obviously concerned this advisor.

I can understand. Writing didn’t used to be my favorite way of generating content either. My high school English teacher’s ghost would come back to haunt me every time I opened an empty Word document. It felt as if she was there, looking over my shoulder, tapping her toe on the floor, waiting for me to misuse a semicolon.

Interestingly, the gremlins don’t seem to show up as often these days. The more I write, the more comfortable it becomes. It’s like anything, the more you practice it, the better you get. (If you never start, you never improve.)

And, I hear you. Sometimes the thought of sitting down to write, is enough to keep you from creating content. Sadly, that keeps you from building a thought leadership platform – which is THE most essential and meaningful type of marketing you can do; it taps into The Law of Preeminence.

How’s about if I offer a few other ways for you to create content?

Launch a podcast guest strategy. When you’re on someone else’s podcast they do a significant portion of the heavy lifting. You obviously must have a compelling message as a starting point. And do the work of reaching out. But, after that, you simply show up and participate.

Once the recording is complete, you can recap the conversation, point out why folks should listen, and then distribute to your audience. (Tip: Here’s an example of how I did that recently.)

Offer a monthly webinar. Partner with a few of your amazing industry partners and map out a strategy for a monthly webinar series. You’ll need to navigate compliance, sending out the invitations, managing the virtual platform, and being a gracious and engaging host. But, after that? They’ll do most of the heavy lifting on the content creation side. (Tip: Have your guests write the invitation blurb.)

Extra credit? Repurpose the sessions by transcribing them into an article (just the highlights); editing and reusing as a video series on your website; or splicing into shorter segments for distribution on social media platforms. (Tip: You can find many talented people to help you do this on Upwork.)

Read more. You know this. Want to be a better writer? Read more. And while you’re waiting to start writing? Start a book club. First: Find a freelance writer to help. Second: Read a book. Third: Have that writer interview you about your thoughts and write a brief article. Voila. You have a book club series. (You could do this with some of your favorite podcasts as well.)

Get started on something. Anything. The act of building your voice and putting your thoughts on paper is a superpower. Once you start to do it, you’ll begin to see metaphors for your ideas all over the place; articles will just find way their way to you. (It’s a fact. Creative ideas are all around hunting for a home.)

Experiment and find your way. Perhaps you notice other folks on social media and you’re comparing yourself and your abilities to their platform. (Trust me, they were newbies too. They’ve experimented too. They’re likely still experimenting.)

You don’t have look and sound like every other advisor. (You work hard daily to differentiate yourself. Why be the same now?) You simply need to find an avenue that works with your innate talents and do it.

 

 

 

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