By Georgia Kirke
We can all agree that creating high-quality regular content is important for growing our personal brands and our businesses – you wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t think that was the case.
But what if the thought of creating content makes you want to run in the opposite direction? Do you find your mind goes blank as soon as you’re faced by an empty document and a blinking cursor?
If so, you’re far from alone. But what can you do about it if you find creating content for your business stressful? How can you destress content creation?
I offered some advice on precisely this topic a few weeks ago when I spoke to Airmanual Co-founder Alexis Kingsbury on his podcast, De-stress Your Business. It all comes down to three main things:
- Understand your thinking style (and use it to your advantage)
- Know that writing something is always better than writing nothing
- Treat content creation like an iterative process
Understand your thinking style
Often people will tell me that one of the reasons they procrastinate over content creation is because they “over-think”.
But what I’ve discovered from working with entrepreneurs and thought leaders from a multitude of backgrounds is that we all think differently. What you might describe as “over-thinking” could just be the natural way in which your brain processes information.
People who think less analytically and learn by doing may appear hasty or slap dash to an analytical thinker. But of course the quick-start types argue they get things don quicker.
There’s no right or wrong thinking style with content creation. However, understanding your natural strengths and preferences will help you to find a process that works well for you. And of course, it’ll affect the type of content you create. Short, snappy sentences anyone? Or longer, more formatted paragraphs? And whilst that is your preference, how does your ideal client prefer to consume content? It’s another thing to take into consideration.
Either way, don’t force yourself to operate in a zone of weakness. Rather, play to your natural strengths when creating and if it needs a polish later, iterate or delegate!
There is time in the content creation process for you to focus on the details if that’s what you like to do, but your first iteration of that content isn’t the final version. Before you can polish and structure your content, you need some content in the first place, which brings me to point number two…
Know that writing something is always better than writing nothing
If you don’t write anything, you won’t be able to share your unique perspective and knowledge with the world. You won’t have those words to hone and polish.
So, if you find you often stall because you want your content to be “perfect”, it’s time to let go of the idea of perfection. Instead, set some more realistic expectations. Having goals for your content is important, but they need to be achievable.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to write a LinkedIn post that will generate 20 incoming leads per month. Instead, give yourself a broader goal like, “I’m going to write content to help me find my voice”.
By broadening your goal, you can release the pressure to write “perfect” content and instead have the freedom to become more comfortable with the content creation process.
Treat content creation like an iterative process
As with anything in business, you won’t get it right the first time – we rarely do! Content creation is an iterative process, just like product development, or building the right-fit team in your business.
If you’re not sure how much personal information you should share in your social media content, for instance, test the waters with some posts that reveal what you’re comfortable with. Then look at the responses you get from your network and ideal audience, and adjust your strategy and content accordingly.
A great place to begin if you’re nervous about this side of content creation is a post explaining why you set up your business and why you love it so much on an individual level. Or you could share something about a time of adversity in your life that will speak to one of the challenges facing your ideal audience.
Not sure what those challenges are? Take a look at the exercise I shared in an earlier blog about how to create six months of content that your ideal audience will love in just 60 minutes.
The point is this: what you start with isn’t what you have to continue with. If you try something and it doesn’t get the level of response you’re looking for, take a different direction. Work out what you are comfortable with when it comes to content creation and gradually push your boundaries.
Just like any other part of your business, content creation is an iterative, evolving process. The content you share as your business grows will change, as it should.
One final tip is to be consistent. Once you start creating content, make sure you stick to a schedule and share with your audience regularly because this is what will help you build long-term relationships and keep your audience coming back for more.
Hopefully, these content creation tips will help make the process relatively easier for you. If you’d like some support to get started on your content creation journey, or to take some of the stress and overwhelm out of the process, book a free Clarity Call to find out how our team of experts can help.