"If your content is good, you should be able to ride it until the wheels fall off." - Ted Rubin
Ever feel like you’ve turned into a one-person production company when it comes to content creation?
Or maybe you’ve been avoiding doing the damn thing because you’re worried it will take over your life?
My clients come to me all the time stuck in either extreme: pushing themselves to near burnout or stuck in procrastination not daring to look at the looming content mountain in front of them.
I get it. It can feel like a lot, especially when you’ve got an actual business to run.
I’m not about to tell you how to crank out original content in 15 minutes like a machine. I’ve found some of our content does seem to come together in what feels like minutes and other times we have to work at a little more.
If you’re consistently showing up with new, original content, there are bound to be times when it just takes a little more effort, and that’s ok! Don’t let the snazzy posts online promising you otherwise make you feel like you’re doing it all wrong.
What I DO want to talk about are some ways to stretch your content and get more bang for your content buck. AKA repurposing your content.
Repurposing content isn’t a new idea, and it’s most likely something you’ve heard about before. But if you’re falling into either of the content camps we just talked about, I’m guessing you’re not utilizing the magic of repurposing to its full effect. And let me tell you, a little repurposing fairy dust can get you out of overwhelm and free up some space and time.
But so many of us resist repurposing. It can feel like cheating; we worry we’ll bore our audience. There seems to be an unwritten rule somewhere that seems to say we must always share something new.
And, for my driven, high achievers out there, it can go against our very nature - we’re conditioned to get our esteem from our achievements and efforts, and repurposing content can feel a little like we’re falling short.
Let’s break the stories down and talk repurposing benefits. Like anything, mining the gold of repurposing starts with our mindset around it!
For the resisters out there, let me ask you a few Qs:
Mainly, how’s trying to do all the things working out for you? If you’re rocking and rolling and loving life, rock on. If it’s feeling more and more like being stuck on a treadmill, perhaps it’s worth considering a different way.
Repurposing our content allows us to make something once and continue to reap the benefits.
It’s sort of like making a giant pot of chili that feeds you for a week with frozen leftovers that save you when you’re starving with nothing in the fridge a month later.
When we strategically and effectively repurpose our content, we can feed a larger audience in more than one place, then show up and feed them again later when we feel like there’s nothing fresh in the mental cabinets.
Another question I often ask my clients that I’ll throw your way, “What was my blog about seven weeks ago? What about six months ago? What did I share on Instagram three weeks ago?”
As much as you obviously love my content (right!?), I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you don’t really remember what I talked about over a month ago. Heck, for some of us, we don’t even remember what we did last weekend!
We’re so close to our work that we forget everyone else isn’t. Even the die-hard fans of ours have entire lives that have nothing to do with the content we stayed up late and woke up early to pour our sweat and tears into.
As much as it might sting to think about it, there’s a good chance your audience didn’t even SEE your content the first time around, or that they caught it in the middle of doing something else.
Repurposing our content is a great way to get more eyes onto the work we’ve already created.
Why should something of value only get a shelf life of a week? If we’re repurposing on different platforms or with different mediums, it also gives our tribe a different way to consume our awesome content.
Some more questions I love to ask my clients when repurposing gets the hand: “What’s your favorite topic to consume content around? And how many books, blogs, podcasts, courses, etc. do you ingest about the same topic? How many ways do you need to hear something for it to click?”
Most of us not only enjoy hearing about the same topic more than once, we often need to hear it multiple times and in multiple ways for it to click and resonate.
That’s because this is how our brain works! It’s through repetition and association (which happens when we’ve already heard an idea before) that we solidify memories and learn!
Brain talk aside, this points to not only the benefits for us as content creators but also the benefits for our audience…it isn’t just about us.
Repurposing also allows us to pollinate different platforms and use different modalities to connect, which is a powerful thing when it comes to visibility. And visibility, my friend, is key if we want to UPLEVEL our businesses.
For those of you worried that repurposing will make you look lazy or like you copped out, I’ll not only assure you that isn’t true, but I’d invite you to look more closely at the content you enjoy. Take a look at what others share across platforms, and you’ll often notice some things look pretty darn similar. Many of the books I’ve enjoyed are a repurposed compilation of the author’s blog or podcasts.
I’m ALL about creating new, original content and know the value in it, but repurposing our work is one way we can effectively do less and achieve MORE.
This week, I’d invite you to take a look at the repetitive nature of content all around you. Then, take a look at your body of work and see how you can maximize it by reusing and recycling.
Next week, I’ll be back and we’ll talk about the art of repurposing because it’s more than just cutting and pasting!
Wishing you your version of success!
P.S. Ready to UPLEVEL your content game, so you can connect with your dream clients and make more money doing your thing? Content strategy and all the mindset games that come out to play when it comes to sharing our work is something I LOVE supporting my clients with! Click here to learn more about working together and book a free consultation!
