In the run up to launching my podcast, which focusses on the wonderful world of content repurposing, I received quite a concerning letter from a piece of content.
The piece of content is very annoyed at their creator, and wished to remain anonymous. I cannot confirm whether it was a blog post, a video, a podcast episode, or something else.
I think anyone who creates content should read this letter, because the truth is, it could have been written about you.
Ask yourself, could my content feel this way too?
(I actually managed to get the piece of content onto the podcast, so if you'd rather listen to what he has to say, just hit play in the podcast player at the top of this post!).
An open letter from a piece of content...
Dear Amy,
I write to you to express my extreme concern and frustration with my creator.
I’m in a very tricky situation and I wonder if you can talk some sense into her please.
The problem that I have is that I’m not being used to my full potential. I’m being neglected. Put aside to wither in the content archives.
Whilst my feelings of neglect are certainly not nice, it’s a sorry situation for my creator too. She’s creating too much work for herself. We need your help.
Just to provide some context, I’m really grateful that my creator made me.
Without her I simply wouldn’t exist.
We’re like J.K Rowling and Harry Potter, Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse…you get the idea!
I’ll never forget all of the hard work that she put into creating me. Her focus on quality and serving her audience is commendable. I’m lucky to have her as my creator as opposed to some ‘fly by night’ content creator who focuses far more on quantity than quality.
The result – a wonderful, quality, amazing piece of content – me! Ta da! Even if I do say so myself.
But, right now, I am NOT happy.
I’m really disappointed with her actions ever since she created me.
Once I was published, it felt very quickly like I didn’t exist to her anymore.
I don’t know. The thoughts that keep going around in my head. Was it something I said? Something I did?
Before you ask…we definitely weren’t on a break!
Firstly, she seems to have moved on pretty quickly. The ink was barely dry from creating me and she was moving onto the next piece of content.
Rumour has it, she’s spending a lot of time with newer, younger pieces of content. So cliché.
Secondly, ever since she created me I’ve seen her spending her time trying to work out what to post on social media. What graphics to post on Instagram. What tips to tweet out. What video to create and share on Facebook and YouTube. How to take on LinkedIn.
All of the answers lie within me! She neglects to see my potential.
I’m more than just a ‘piece of content’.
I’m a concept that she created. I represent her ideas. Her thoughts. Her tips, advice and so much more.
So why, oh why, does she just put me in the background, leaving me to gather dust?
I feel like Baby in Dirty Dancing but I AM being put in the corner!
It makes no sense and I just want her to realize how I can be used more effectively AND how that would save her more time to focus on other things. To focus on other aspects of her business, or even more personal time.
We might need to be creative. We might even need to bring in some help. We can’t do it all ourselves. Even Batman and Robin had Alfred.
It would feel so good to reinforce the messages within me to new and different audiences.
It’s such a wasted opportunity to not take my message and break it down into formats that different people resonate with. Then, meet them in their preferred online location.
Please, please, please can you convince my creator not to just move onto the next piece of content and to make the most of me.
She’s published me. I’d love for us to see that as the the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.
Anything that you can do would be greatly appreciated. I know that I’m not the only piece of content out there that feels like this.
Yours sincerely,
A disgruntled piece of content
Wow. Quite a letter right?
It's interesting to look at things from the perspective of content, and this letter certainly provides food-for-thought for all you content creators out there!
Thankfully, I'm here to help!
My podcast is all about how to repurpose your content. It's about how to get the maximum return on investment from everything that you create.
After-all, creating high quality content is a huge investment in your time, and therefore it makes sense to ensure that your content gets in front of any many people as possible.
And...you really don't want an unhappy piece of content!
All my repurposing advice is covered in great detail in my book, Content 10x, More Content, Less Time, Maximum Results and when you're ready to implement, my toolkit shows you how to repurpose like a pro.