This week on my podcast, and in this post, I talk about getting started with content repurposing when you are going it alone, i.e. when you don’t have a person or team of people to help you.
What you can achieve with content repurposing does depend to a large extent on the time and resources that you have at your disposal.
Content repurposing can be time consuming!
I’m always sharing lots and lots of different and awesome ways that you can repurpose your content. One thing is for sure, whilst it’s a great thing to do, it can be time consuming. No doubt about it.
Obviously, it depends how much content you have, and how much repurposing you do, but nonetheless, it takes time.
Not long ago I was delighted to be invited onto the Soulful PR Podcast with Janet Murray (episode 203). We had a really good conversation about how you can boost your website traffic through content repurposing (I really recommend you go check that episode out - click here)
When Janet and I were talking she told me that she was starting to feel overwhelmed and quite stressed at the very thought of how much time it would take to execute on many of the ideas that I had!
Quite often, content repurposing sounds SO good that people feel they must immediately do everything they can to repurpose their content…but realistically that’s not possible. I wouldn't want to cause any stress by making out that it is!
Here are some tips for getting started
I'm going to assume that you don't have the budget/desire to hire somebody and that your time is quite limited. Here are my step-by-step tips:
1. Decide on your primary content method
Firstly, I would decide what your primary content is that you want to focus on. Whether that is a podcast, video, live-streaming, blogging…etc. Decide what you are going to focus on as your core content – this is what you’ll repurpose.
2. Get consistent!
Consistency is key. Commit to creating your primary content and I would advise that you draw up a schedule and plan in advance.
Recently, I attended the Youpreneur Summit in London. One of the speakers was vlogger, author and content marketing coach Amy Landino (nee Schmittauer). Something that she said made a lot of sense, which is that you should always show up in order to become somebody's favourite. Your schedule should suit you and what you know you can stick to. For example daily, weekly, bi-weekly…whatever you deem realistic. Amy likened it to a favourite TV show. For example, the The Bing Bang Theory is on every weekday at 7pm (I made that up and poor example since in the UK it seems to be on every hour of the day…I can’t even think of a good example here as these days I pretty much watch all of my TV on-demand, on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but nonetheless I totally get the point!).
3. Create processes / standard operating procedures
There will surely be some processes that you follow in order to create and publish your content. As you become more consistent, those processes will become more evident.
For example, if you have a podcast, the process most likely includes planning your episode, recording it and then editing it, writing show notes, creating artwork, uploading to your podcast host…etc.
Think about what your processes are. Standardise them and document them.
4. Add one new step to your process – a content repurposing step!
Quick video of me talking about this step
Take your content repurposing one step at a time. That’s why I recommend just adding one extra step to your existing processes where you repurpose your content.
For example, if you have a podcast you could edit your podcast into short audio clips and share them on social media.
Or, you could create a blog post based on your podcast episode, or you could create an infographic, an email...etc
There are lots of things that you could do to squeeze more value from the content that you have already created.
You may want to consider the way that you are connecting with your audience via your primary content, and explore the different ways that you can connect with your audience through factoring in the different learning styles. A podcast is great for the aural learners, but with your extra repurposing step what kind of learners do you want to reach out and connect with as well as aural learners?
5. Get consistent with your new step before adding the next
Once you have added a new repurposing step to your regular processes it comes back to Step 2 again. Get Consistent. Maybe continue doing that for a couple of months or even longer, so that your content repurposing step isn't a ‘new’ step at the end of the process, it's actually just a part of the process.
Then, consider adding your next content repurposing step. Assess how much time you have, stay within your skillset or look to develop new skills, in order to implement your next step.
To Conclude
My main point is to take one step at a time. Don’t try to do everything at once, and don’t get frustrated if you aren’t making the most of every possible content repurposing opportunity. It’s far better to acknowledge your time and resource limitations and get consistent with what you are comfortable with.
In my next post, I’m going to focus on tips for getting started when you have a small budget to invest in getting help with content repurposing.