We’ve all heard that we should be creating more content for our business. Blog posts, videos, podcasts, and social media content have all become a requirement of marketing and growth in just about every industry.
But creating content is definitely time-consuming, and can be the last thing on your list of things to get done on an already busy day. So here’s a six-step process for creating more content even when you’re really busy.
1. Create an Outline
The first step is to create an outline. Simply outline the core ideas for your content on a notepad. You don’t want or need a ton of detail, just enough to give structure to your thinking as you do your content creation.
2. Record a Video
Step number two is to then record a video. I know you may not be comfortable on video – many people aren’t – but it’s something that you’ll get used to over time, and the value of video in marketing today is tremendous. So record a video of you speaking to the outline that you just put down on the notepad. You’ve got your first piece of content!
3. Create a Podcast
The third step is to then have the audio exported and edited as a podcast. \Podcasts are one of the fastest growing forms of content in terms of consumer consumption because they can be listened to while doing other things, like driving, working out, walking on the treadmill, or running on the beach.
For these reasons, podcasts are experiencing incredible growth, and many people consider them to be the most important form of marketing now. So you definitely want to make sure that you’re getting your podcast created. A simple way to do that is to record your video first, and then export the audio content.
4. Transcribe the Audio into a Blog Post
Next, you’re going to take that audio content and have it transcribed into a post. I like to use an app called Rev for this. You simply upload your audio file or- even a video file – and the app will extract the audio and transcribe it for approximately $1 per minute of audio. I found that a typical blog post is five to 10 minutes long, so I can get the transcription done for $5 to $10.
The service is fantastic and creates a transcript that is very easy for me to put some final editing polish on, and use it as a blog post or use it as content for my social media posts and my YouTube video.
5. Have a Designer Create Images
Next is to have a graphic designer create images for every place that you want to post your content. Images are very important to go along with your content, regardless of whether it’s going up on YouTube, a podcast, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform.
Images help sell the content and get the attention of your audience in the first place. Hire graphic designers from affordable services like UpWork or Design Pickle and you can quickly get a custom-designed image – often within 24 hours.
6. Let Outsourced Editors Put a Finishing Touch on Things
Finally, a very effective and affordable way to save time in your content creation process is to hire outsourced video, podcast, and blog editors to put the finishing touches on your content. Our favorite place to find really qualified talent at very affordable rates is a site called Upwork.
You’ll see that you can find really high-quality talent on Upwork that is globally sourced, giving you access to much, much more affordable hourly costs than you may expect. You can use the platform to create your own virtual Content Marketing team that doesn’t have the expectation of a salary or even monthly commitment so that your costs are completely variable and you only get charged when you create new pieces of content.
Your Turn!
There you go, that’s six steps for creating content even when you’re really busy. Use this process for creating content quickly and affordably, and getting it to market fast!
