How to fall back in love with content creation
How to fall back in love with content creation
As content creators, we’re constantly falling in and out of love with our podcast, videos, blog, and social media strategy. This love/hate relationship we have with our creative process and output has a lot to do with feeling burned out and overwhelmed. There have been many times in my journey as a digital creator when I’ve subscribed to the “if I don’t see it” it’s not happening mode of operating. What? It’s been five months since my last blog post? I just won’t go on the website and it will feel like it’s not actually been that long.
I know that previous sentence reads crazy, because it is. It’s wild to think that with this methodology I would actually be able to trick myself. But I have, and the consequences of avoiding my content are reduced lead generation and lower conversions. AKA less $$$. Not exactly what anyone wants. That is why I’m here to testify, that avoidance isn’t the way to fix how we approach our content creation strategy. Whether you’re a podcaster, video creator, social media maven, or badass blogger, the tips I’ve written below are here to help you fall back in love with your content creation process.
I hope that you continue creating, and most of all, that you continue to fall in love with this journey!
STEP ONE - Rekindle the passion
The first step in rekindling the passion with your content creation process is to revisit what you already created and get some data lessons. Follow the steps below and write down your answers. You will use these answers at the end of step one.
Go through your social media posts, on the platform that you have the most engagement, and pick out the top 5 best-performing ones from the last six months. Ask yourself, what do these posts have in common? What specific things of value do they offer your audience?
Look at posts from your blog and do the same thing. Also follow up with more questions, like: Which blog post were you most excited about writing? Which one took the longest, and why?
If you have a podcast, answer the following questions. Filter the last six months of episodes and compare stats. Pick out the five episodes with the most downloads and look at each episode’s listen-through rate. Sometimes you have to get this information directly from either your Apple Podcasts or Spotify dashboards. List your listen-through rates for the top five episodes. Lastly, compare these five episodes to any spike in ratings, reviews, or social media engagement with that same content, but only for the week that the episode came out. Write down any patterns or interesting correlations you find. Are there certain topics that had listeners more excited over others? Which ones?
Now look at your video content in the platform where you post videos most frequently. Pick out the top 5 best-performing clips, Reels, Tiktoks or Shorts from the last six months. Ask yourself, what do these videos have in common? What specific topics of value do they offer your audience?
STEP TWO - Make a date with your content
To get more intimate with your audience and learn new things about your creative process. Take a little bit of time give your content the attention it deserves. Like friendships, your podcast, blog, videos, etc give you all kinds of rewards when you’re consistently paying attention to them. Don’t they deserve your love and affection as well? Here are six things to get you feeling more excited about creating content.
Invite yourself out on a coffee date at your favorite place where you can take the time to review your content (back to step one).
Introduce your content to one of your hobbies. For example, if you’re book lover, pick a read that inspires you to create! Or if you’re a fan of shopping, invite your audience to “unbox” something you purchased that has to do with your content. Here’s a great example.
Take a day for a solo date so you can have time to reflect and think about your content creation goals.
Survey your audience about your content. Ask them to tell you what piece of content you’ve created recently has been their favorite. You could create a giveaway to help motivate them to answer.
Jazz up your creative space with flowers, buy yourself a new notepad, and if you can, treat yourself to a more comfortable chair or desk.
Entice your inner creative juices by treating your taste buds with a special beverage or snack when you work on your content.
STEP THREE - Stay curious
You can stay curious about your content creation process by learning new things and connecting with others.
Search for relevant questions in your niche. This will help you focus on what type of answers your type of audience is looking for.
Watch some of your competitors videos, listen to their podcast episodes, stay abreast of what is out and resonating with your ideal audience.
Stay spontaneous by booking a photoshoot to freshen up your headshots.
Network more frequently and sign up for one or two free workshops available online. You can also invest some money of your learning and attend a conference that you haven’t tried before. Take a colleague you admire out to lunch and ask if you can get their inout on your latest video, podcast episode or Short. If you want to save money you can volunteer to help at an event of that matches your industry best. Examples, movie festivals, podcasting conferences, Masterminds.
Try a new place once in a while! Maybe you can write your next podcast episode from the new pizzeria down the road. Or you can strategize about your next set of social media videos with a colleague during a round of golf. Getting out of your usual work area will re-energize you to create more.
STEP FOUR - Spice things up!
Sometimes all we need is a little heat behind our content strategy to light up the inspiration and keep things interesting!
Upgrade your equipment or rent something new to test out. Try a different microphone, play around with new cameras, add a pop of color to your background with LED lights or put a fresh coat of paint on your background wall.
Try some role-play. As I’m writing my romance novel, I use things to help me get into the main character’s frame of mind. If I’m writing a sexy scene I might put on some knee-high boots. If I’m writing a fun and fast-paced scene I turn on music to give me energy. And I regularly make my favorite tea to relax and I light an “inspiration” candle.
Celebrate your milestones. It’s not all work and no play! Stop to relish in the payoff that all of your hard work creating podcasts, videos or other social media content brings. Let your audience know when you reach milestones like certain follower counts, number of downloads or awards!
Show your team and the people around you who help make your content possible some love and appreciation! Send a hand-written note, take them out to lunch, or just saying, “Thank you!” also works. And while you’re at it, thank your audience too for sticking with you and supporting your hard work in keeping them entertained, educated or just inspired with your podcast or video content.
For more content creation strategy tips like this, make sure you’re on my email list. And if you’re looking to create meaningful standout content, you can learn more about my video and podcast production services here.
HAPPY CREATING!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Maribel Quezada Smith is a bilingual video and podcast producer who’s passionate about creating meaningful standout content for global audiences.