Content Repurposing: Who Not How

There are many situations in life when you ask yourself, “How can I do this?” when the question should actually be, “Who can help me do this?”

Who Not How is a concept developed by strategic coach and entrepreneur, Dan Sullivan, and organizational psychologist, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and is the subject of their book, Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork.

This book introduces the idea of always asking, “who can do this for me?” when you want to accomplish something, instead of reverting to the more natural inclination to ask, “how can I do this?”

So how does this mindset apply to content marketing and, in particular, content repurposing?

In this podcast episode and blog post, we look deeper into the Who Not How framework and the many ways in which it can positively impact our businesses and personal lives. And even how to put it into practice when repurposing content.

Press ‘play’ below to listen…

…or read on for more.

What is the Who Not How approach?

The whole concept of Who Not How is, “as simple as changing the core question you ask yourself”, the book’s official site explains. Basically, when we want to accomplish something, we shouldn’t be asking, “How can I do this?”

Instead, we should be asking, “Who can help me do this?”

Making this mindset shift involves, “retraining your brain to stop limiting your potential based on what you can do on your own and instead focus on the infinite and endless connections between yourself and other people, as well as the limitless transformation possible through those connections.”

It’s a simple but brilliant framework and one that we work hard to practice at Content 10x. As well as delegating tasks among our team of experts, we call on external experts when necessary, to help us produce the very best end results.

Who vs. How

A ‘how’ approach can be slow and stressful.

When you are pressuring yourself to learn new skills, while juggling a dozen other necessary jobs, you can end up stressed, procrastinating and not producing the best end result.

While it’s obviously necessary and desirable to learn new skills, nobody can be an expert at everything, and if that is where you find yourself, then answer this question, “Do I want to increase my effort, or improve my results?”

The ‘who’ mindset is about collaboration. It’s about finding the right people to do the job, freeing you up to concentrate on what you do best. Think about the people who help you in your life.

Perhaps you have a gardener, or someone who looks after your children, or you outsource your window cleaning. These “whos” mean you can commit that time elsewhere. Similarly, at work, your ‘whos’ are the ones who help to keep your workload in a manageable state and are known to get the best results…

Who are your ‘Whos’?

We should all have ‘whos’. For example, at Content 10x, we decided we’d like to run a number of LinkedIn ads. Initially, we went down the ‘how’ route, exploring what training is out there and how we could slot it into someone’s workload.

But ultimately, we turned the whole process on its head and asked ‘who’ can help us achieve this goal and provide the best possible result. Now, we are working with experts at the LinkedIn ad agency, StraightIn. They run our ads and provide us with the expertise we required to get it done effectively.

We can’t be experts at everything! And neither can you.

Do you know who you ‘whos’ are? The answer might be obvious, or it might require a little deeper thinking…

‘Whos’ in content repurposing

If you were building a house, you wouldn’t expect one person to design the plans, lay the foundations, build it and paint the walls. The same applies to content repurposing. There are different skillsets required for a successful repurposing strategy and no one person can be responsible for everything. Not when you want the very best strategy, content planning, writing, designing, editing and publishing knowledge.

So, here are some examples of ways to utilize the Who Not How approach when it comes to content repurposing:

Your team – who are the repurposing “whos’ in your existing team?

Employees, teammates and colleagues are proof that ‘who’ works!

Content repurposing takes a lot of different skills, which are seldom, if ever, found in one individual! Look at the different skills in your team and work out how best to distribute the repurposing tasks, so everyone is doing what they do best. Having someone to oversee this from a project management perspective is also a great way to ensure that the whole process runs smoothly.

Freelancers

There’s obvious benefits to having an in-house team. But you may not have all content repurposing skills in-house, when that’s the case of course you can recruit.

However, the cost of recruitment, training, benefits, pensions, insurance, healthcare etc, might not be right for you and your business. Also, your recruitment needs may only be short-term. So when considering your content repurposing ‘whos’, freelancers are an option. Hiring experts on a flexible ‘as and when’ understanding can help you achieve specific short-term goals, or complete projects effectively and efficiently.

Freelancers can often add a new element to your team too, fresh energy and a different outlook.

We spoke about ways to get the most out of the freelance option in Content Repurposing, How to Use Paid Help Effectively, so if you would like more tips on that, do give it a read.

Agencies

Another option is to outsource to an agency (like ours!)

We are a ‘who’ for all of our clients and are extremely proud to be so.

Clients outsource every aspect of their content repurposing and distribution to us.

The majority provide episodic content to be repurposed, but we are also involved in repurposing projects. And when projects come to an end, it’s not uncommon for these clients to come back because they need support with repurposing again. They recognize it’s time to call a trusted ‘who’ rather than work out how they will do it themselves.

Of course, we recognize that all of these decisions are influenced by budget. The motto in the Who Not How book is: “If you have the money to solve a problem, then you don’t have a problem.”

So with budget, it comes down to how important it is to you, to get the most out of your content marketing efforts. If it’s really important, and you have a budget, it should be a case of ‘Who Not How’!

Our founder Amy Woods recommends the book, so here it is again if you want to grab a copy.

If you need a ‘who’ to support with content repurposing, get in touch.

We offer end-to-end, done-for-you services, aligning with your content marketing strategy to help you maximize and prolong the life of your content. To read more, click here.

For further advice, look through our library of blog posts and podcast episodes. Plus, why not get your hands on Content 10x: More Content, Less Time, Maximum Results – the ultimate guide to content repurposing?