Content creation is the process through which you can educate potential customers, showcase your expertise, and build credibility. It can take different shapes like blog posts, audio content (like podcasts), or video content (like Youtube). No matter what the medium, creating consistent content that’s directly applicable to the people you hope to serve with your paid offers is a part of a healthy and sustainable long-term strategy. Bottom line: If you want to be a go-to expert in something, you have to create content.

I hear concerns from our community about creating consistent content and the biggest concern most people have is why and how to continue to create it.

Why do it

Imagine this. If you were looking at hiring somebody and you were looking at the website of two people with the same title but one of them had a library of displayed knowledge and the other had posted an article here an article there and the last one was posted about four months ago. Which one would you pick? All things being equal, my guess is that you’d choose the one who had more information out there. Why is that?

Content allows you to connect with your audience and build brand awareness. It also builds authority and trust with those who come into contact with you. Finally, when you display your knowledge, you’re more likely to be seen as an expert.

Maybe you’re already convinced that you should be creating content but something is getting in your way of actually creating it… read on, friend!

Where you might be getting stuck

Scenario 1: You haven’t gotten much traction so you feel like you’re creating stuff and yelling into the void.

It feels like a huge mountain to climb when you’re creating content and you’re not hearing much back. Your page views might be low, the feedback is non-existent and it can feel defeating. You might think “what’s the point!?” For you, I suggest, think of this time as the “library creation” time. You can create content for future you’s potential clients. IF you concentrate on consistent content creation, in a year, you’ll have a huge library of content to reference (in the form of content: blog, podcast, etc.). Creating content is a key tool in building credibility. Keep creating even when it feels like a waste of time. It’s definitely an investment of your time.

Scenario 2: You’re moving along and creating content but you struggle with keeping up with it.

If you’re on a roll and have your own version of a content library, sometimes it can feel overwhelming to have to continue to create content. You might feel like you’re saying the same thing over and over again (I’ve felt like this too). The beautiful thing when you feel this way is that you’re really honing your message and my guess is that you’re getting better and better and solving your ideal clients’ challenges. So if you look back on your library of content, while the message is probably consistent, what you know now is actually more articulate, have more evidence, or have more helpful examples that you can share. Even if you feel repetitive, know that your content is making an impact. It’s also a great opportunity to start repurposing some of the content you’ve already created!

Scenario 3: You struggle with “owning” that you’re an expert.

I GET IT. n the beginning, it’s hard to believe in your expertise. It’s easy to think of others as being an expert and downplay what you know. But here’s the flipside of your way of thinking. There’s somebody out there who needs your skills and knowledge and by not owning it, you’re not able to share that with the person (and likely lots of people) who need what you have.

Remember: What’s DUH to you is mindblowing to others. Share your gift of knowledge and create consistent content. While you might not feel like an expert now, my guess is that you know more than most in the topic where you’re knowledgeable and you have something valuable to share that others don’t have! So get sharing!

Trying to figure out what you want to be known for? Gain access to our Verticals Trello Board and learn how to organize each topic you are the go-to expert in.

Grab your Verticals Board here!

How to do it

1. Listen – if you have one person who is your ideal client type, ask or just listen to what questions they have about your work. What are they saying they want to understand better?
2. Get in the habit – making room to produce content is the biggest mindset shift – to decide to sit down to write or create content is akin to John Grisham’s practice of writing every morning long before becoming an acclaimed writer.
3. Talk to your buddy (aka your dreamy) – Writing or creating content can be a doozy because you might feel like you’re trying to speak to all the people. Instead, I recommend you look at the content as just a conversation with your BFF or your ideal client as though she were sitting in front of you. How would you help her through the situation (which you just happen to be creating content around)?
4. Editorial Calendar – Don’t get too crazy with this. Spend a little time planning what themes or topics you’d like to be creating content around (and what logically leads to a product or service you offer) and break it down to bite size pieces for your audience to be able to consume! Having a plan is sometimes half the battle. You already know what the topic is so you can start thinking about the content that might go into it.
5. Create time – Creating a block of time each week or each month to create content can be a valuable practice. There are a few ways that I’ve seen people create consistent content successfully. You might sit down one month and map out all your content for the quarter (just the topics) in one sitting then schedule a weekly writing session. Alternatively you can create a day during the month when you crank out four pieces of content in one sitting. It’s up to you and depends on your workflow, but creating dedicated time (and not scheduling over it with other commitments) is the key!
6. Make Distribution a non-negotiable – If you say you’re going to publish an article each week on Tuesday at 10am, not only will you be more accountable because you know people will be paying attention, but also your audience will learn to expect content from you at that time. And to avoid last minute scrambles, you’ll want to double down on batching your content and creating it ahead of schedule.

An extra layer of accountability

I asked the Fueled with Heart Group about their concerns about content and the most prevalent challenge the people faced was that they know content is important but making it a priority and actually making time to do it is a challenge.

As with any project, we have to know that self-discipline and making something in our strategy non-negotiable is the best tactic in getting something done. We have to complete something like content creation because there’s somebody who needs the content that you have.

When there are people involved, there are is so much more accountability to get stuff done! Here are three ways that you can have others help you be accountable toward your content goals.

1. Accountability buddy check-in – pick a buddy who understands your business and commit to them each week or month how much content you want to create. Have them check in with you and create the content that you committed to!
2. Co-working date – Sometimes you need somebody to hold you accountable in order to create the content. A Co-work date can be an in person or virtual (like zoom or google hangouts) date where you say what you’ll work on and work in silence “in the same room” and after an hour, check in with each other about how much you accomplished!
3. Train your community to expect content on a certain day! – This is the ultimate accountability. If you show your community that they should expect content from you at the same interval, they will be cued up for the next installment. So when you’re feeling slack-tastic and don’t want to create content, you’ll remember that these people will be waiting for you!

Creating content doesn’t have to be difficult. It takes commitment and dedication to the long term game. But when you have the right frame of mind and how you want to show up for your community, you’ll be able to make an impact with the knowledge you can share!