Instantly you start to feel inadequate because you can’t figure out how in the world they do it! Where are they finding the time? Do they have some superhero gene that you don’t and never will possess? Or, what if they’ve just figured out the secret to getting as much done as possible and being their most productive selves? I’ll go with the latter and I’ll say that this “secret” is two-fold and it consists of batching and repurposing content.
Batching Like a Boss
Have you ever thought of batching your social media content? Pause…rewind! First, let me ask you, do you know what it means to batch content? The art of batching your content means to simply create a significant amount of content in one sitting. Let’s say you’d like to post across your social media platforms every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but sitting down daily to create this content is something you just don’t have the time for and the focused-energy. Why not schedule a time during a day of the week specifically for that?
I don’t know about you, but one of my most productive times is 6am-9am, so I set this time aside every Friday morning to knock out some butt-kicking content. Batching also helps me stay in a flow and form a consistent, streamlined message for whatever I happen to be working on at the moment. This is very helpful because it can be hard to begin working on a project and step away for a day or two. Those two days away can break the flow of your creativity but with batching, you don’t have to do worry about that because everything is being done in one sitting. Can I get a “yessss” if you’re picking up what I typing out.
*Live footage of me batching content on Friday mornings*
Repurposing From Collateral You Already Have
Now, I know what you’re thinking…“Batching content sounds fantastic but who can come up with that many new ideas in one sitting and have time to write them?” This is where you’re going to love me! Virtual hugs all around. As I mentioned earlier, knowing how to repurpose content is a part of the secret (and most under-utilized strategy by small teams and solopreneurs alike). Thinking of ways to repurpose content for your potential clients is just as much of a creative feat as coming up with brand new ideas and you can do it. It just takes a little bit of practice and before you know it, you’ll have a system down that flows so well for you that this no longer seems like work.
So, here’s the bottom line: it’s not about being some creative genius who has an endless amount of ideas. It’s about pinpointing the time of day when you’re the most productive and setting aside that time to batch as much content as possible. It’s also about possessing the ability to see all of the hard work you’ve previously done with fresh eyes and saying to yourself, “Hmm, how can I re-introduce this great information I’ve already created to the world?” Try this: take some time to look over your content hall of fame (preferably a time of day when you’re running on a full tank, but not on the same morning you’ve designated for batching) and see if you can turn them into 3 new pieces during your batch session. And hey, if you want to get a jump start on repurposing your content and get ahead of your competition, I invite you to my encore workshop – “Rinse and Repurpose Content.”