FAQs about content creation
Content creation is one of those things where you feel like it should be really easy, but then you get way too into your head and suddenly all your experience and know-how go out the window.
It's a story I've heard time and time again. It's the reason everyone wants to know the magic formula for creating killer content.
My take?
There is none.
But there are a few things I've picked up along my journey as a freelance content creator and copywriter that are helpful to know when approaching content creation, which I'm sharing with you right now.
How do I come up with content?
In my experience, there are 3 excellent ways to come up with content.
1. From your own experience
This means that you take the lessons you learned on your own journey and create content that speaks directly to what your ideal client is going through as well.
An important note here... Share it in your own words.
How you say something may be exactly how someone else needs to hear it.
Stop recycling others' words and ways of presenting information and expecting it to work out for you.
Your community needs to hear it from YOU, in YOUR words.
2. Listen to the stories of your ideal clients
The other option that works well for me -- and why I'm writing this blog right now -- is this one.
This is where feedback comes in. Ask them:
What are they struggling with?
Where do you want to be in 3 months, 1 year, or 5 years?
What's one Q you still haven't found the answer to?
And then get curious -- read their posts, watch their Stories, and pay attention to what they talk about needing help with.
3. Get outside yourself
I wrote an Instagram post about this, so please check it out for a more in-depth discussion of this.
It goes over in detail why creativity is found when you're not looking for it. Pretty meta, but a good read.
How often am I supposed to post?
In my experience, this question depends on a few things:
The platform.
Your community's expectations.
What's realistic for you long-term.
You can easily Google "how often to post on *insert social media platform here* so, instead, I'll get to the good stuff.
View your insights
Stop looking outside yourself and your business for the answers.
Your insights will tell you nearly everything you need to know about how often your community is online, when they're online, (and more importantly, when they're NOT).
Just because Sally Sue posts at 12 PM, 7 days a week doesn't mean you should be too.
This brings me to an important point about taking care of your CURRENT community before trying to please the masses.
I know you want growth.
I know you want reach.
But honeyyyy, that comes with patience.
Nothing great was built overnight. Take your time. Cultivate your community. Give 'em what they want.
Remember that quality > quantity
Speaking of giving your community what they want, high-quality content is better than more shitty posts.
If you let your community know what they can expect of you, you avoid the need to post every single day.
And more importantly, you avoid burnout.
Tell them, "I want to provide only the best value to you. And as a human being, posting 1x a day, 7 days a week while also trying to freelance is a recipe for disaster.
So knock it off with your feed posts every single day of the week (INCLUDING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY). In fact, more people than ever are watching Stories and looking for less curated, more BTS content.
What kind of content should I be posting?
First step: Stop looking at trends.
You're a trailblazer. When a trend pops up, that means it's viral and everyone is doing it. But you're not like everyone, are you?
You know that the most important thing of all is to share content for YOUR COMMUNITY, not Sally Sue's.
Here's my advice for figuring out what kind of content to post.
Mix it up
Instagram (and Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) LOVE when you utilize all the bells and whistles of the app.
And honestly, experimenting with the kind of posts and content you share online is underrated.
Try out using some of the stickers and options that Instagram Stories has to offer -- boomerangs, polls, the Q sticker, hashtags, mentions, tag people, time-lapses, etc.).
Go LIVE and do a mini-training or have your community ask Q's and do a Q&A.
Utilize IGTV and its series option.
Post photo carousels or short 1-minute videos on your feed.
Experiment with graphics, memes, text, photos, videos, etc. based on your insights to see what your community is positively responding to.
This should be a good jumping-off point for you now that you have my answers to the 3 Q's I'm asked most about content creation.
Stay tuned for upcoming blogs in this FAQ series. There are 2 more I have plans to write: writing captions and engaging with clients!
If you have Q's of your own that I haven't answered yet, let me know by commenting below or reaching out to me on Instagram.