Trying to keep up with the content creation machine can be extremely overwhelming.
Mix that with running your business, delivering your services, and (IF you can get to it) working on your business and you have a recipe for hating the thing that you once loved.
Evolving how you produce content and ultimately run your business could be the difference between burning out in the next 12 months, or growing a 6 on the way to 7-figure business you can step away from long enough to enjoy a long holiday.
And it’s not just about structure and scheduling.
It’s about training.
I’m not talking about consuming information or courses.
I’m talking about treating the skill of content creation like training for a race.
Mastering your chosen medium in a way that puts you at the top of your field.
I used to think that building my personal brand and creating content was just something you do in the moment when inspiration strikes.
I quickly found out that wasn’t an effective way to build a brand.
In this article I’m going to break down the exact process you can use to create more, better content, in less time so you can free yourself up to work on other parts of your business that move the needle.
Now, there are two things we need to look at before we go any further.
#1 – What you consume
#2 – How you view your personal brand
Garbage in garbage out
About 6 months ago I had a simple yet profound realization.
Short-form content is destroying my brain.
Over the years I’ve built up a pretty strict practice of having a singular focus no matter what I’m doing in my day.
But I started to notice something. Between consuming and creating short-form content, I was getting distracted way more than I cared to admit.
It was destroying my ability to focus.
As business owners, it’s our job to identify and solve problems.
This was starting to become a real problem.
I was…
- Randomly picking up my phone when I was in a focus block to check Instagram and getting lost in my feed
- Getting on my phone right when I woke up as if I needed to check something
- Losing interest in conversations and thinking about other things I needed to be doing
- Compulsively checking my phone throughout the day and a lot of times, picking it up only 5 minutes after putting it down
You may look at this and think…
“Well isn’t that just normal?!”
It’s not for me.
And even though it is for many, it’s a primary reason why so many of us feel disconnected.
I knew something needed to change and change fast.
I stopped creating everything in a short format and shifted gears to creating more long-form content. That’s actually where these articles started.
At first, I thought I was going to cut out short form altogether but here’s what I discovered.
I lacked depth.
Content isn’t just a way to provide value and market.
- It’s a way for you to think through how to solve your ideal client’s problems and put that into a format that helps them solve those problems.
- Creating content helps you see where your insecurities are and if you choose to improve in those areas, to systematically improve them. Video for instance. I haven’t met too many people who were like… I love my videos and I love the way I look on video. It’s usually the opposite.
- It’s a natural extension of what you’re learning and how you’re growing.
- It’s a glimpse into who you are and what you value.
Truly valuable content arises from depth, not surface-level bullshit.
Depth (or lack thereof) is directly related to what you consume and your habits around consumption.
What I didn’t realize is that going for depth allowed me to batch more content, create better content, and flush ideas out ahead of time, making the content creation process infinitely easier.
What started as a way to reel my focus back in turned into an efficient machine that fueled my business and personal brand.
Consume more long-form content, books, and quality sources of information to create better short-form content.
What a personal brand is and is not
It’s useful to have a context for what kind of business you’re running.
As a coach and creator, most of us fall under the umbrella of a personal brand. Knowing that is important because it gives you a set of rules or principles to operate within.
It is not…
- A place for you to just share everything and anything that is going on in your life in a haphazard way
- Where you go to vent because something happened and you’re upset about it
- A vehicle for you to talk about everything that piques your interest
- A way to become famous
- An opportunity to brag about yourself and all the great things going on in your life
It is…
- Where you talk about and share value around your expertise
- Talk about what you value and stand for
- Authentically relate with your audience and engage them in thought-provoking discussions
- A place you go to share stories that have made you who you are today
- How you relate what you’ve been through and how you’ve overcome those challenges in a way that your audience can gain insight and practical knowledge from
At the core, it’s about building these things…
- trust
- authority
- connection
- value
- generosity
But something interesting happens when you’re caught up in the slow drip of short-form content. It’s hard to truly relax into who you are long enough to establish these core qualities.
What I started to shift
Once I realized that I wasn’t getting into the flow long enough to settle into my content creation process, I shifted a few key things.
- I emphasized reading more books.
- I spent less time-consuming snack content (short-form)
- I started creating more long-form pieces of content (like this article) and soon-to-be YouTube videos
- I dove more into the process of deeply understanding ideas and concepts and less into “just creating content”
Great content is built on a foundation of depth, understanding, and insight.
If you’re consuming quality content in the form of books, articles, and podcasts (in long format) you’re giving your mind a chance to settle into the information, draw connections, and have more quality thoughts.
As opposed to just scrolling through your Instagram feed without even knowing what the frick you’re looking for.
These insights, distinctions, and processes have worked great for me and have also been what tipped the scales for my clients.
Now that we’ve got a solid understanding of what to consume so your output is of higher quality and what that output needs to look like to build a personal brand, let’s move on to the stages of growth.
Because when you can see where you’re going, it’s easier to settle into where you are.
Creating content is a skill that needs to be trained
Creating content is NOT just sharing in the moment when inspiration strikes. It’s a skill that needs to be trained.
Acquiring a skill takes deliberate practice and repetition.
It also takes feedback.
If you can increase the frequency of practice and feedback, you will create better content in less time.
Creating better content is synonymous with becoming a stronger creator.
The process I’m about to outline is kind of like progressive overload in weight lifting.
You get stronger by adding on more weight.
You gain definition by doing more specific and targeted exercises.
These stages are what I progressed through and it’s also what I train my 1:1 clients on.
The Principles
- Train from general to specific
- Done is better than perfect
- Add more before you’re ready
- Master one stage then stack the next
The Stages
Stage 1 – Just create consistently
The objective here is to establish a rhythm. If you’re serious about growing your social media then this should be to post daily. If that’s too much to start, that’s okay. Pick a number of days you can manage and start there. As you stay on track with 3 or 4 days, add more in as you can. Start with 1 or 2 platforms to consistently post on. Patience is key here.
At this stage, you will likely hate your content. This is part of the process. Embrace the suck and be willing to be a beginner and a student. The only way you’ll get better is by doing.
Stage 2 – Improve the quality of your content
As you get consistent the next stage to stack is quality. This could be working on your hooks, your delivery of the core message in your posts, the call to action (CTA), the video quality, etc. You start training specific aspects of your videos and posts to improve the overall quality of your content.
At this stage, if you’re drawing inspiration from other creators, it can be easy to fall into the comparison trap. Keep things in perspective, stay in your lane, and use those accounts as inspiration, not a standard to hold yourself up to.
Stage 3 – Produce more content in a more efficient way
Once you’ve consistently produced content and you’ve gotten better at producing content, now is the time to start shrinking time and batch content. Holding off on batching till this stage allows you to tweak your content as you’re getting feedback. Here you’ll start creating 3,5, or 10 videos (or posts) at a time and/or shrinking the amount of time it takes you to create. You’re improving the process of creation independent of the quality.
At this stage, whether it’s shrinking time or batching, you will start to experience fatigue that comes with the training effect. Prioritize rest and recovery so you can come back strong the next day.
Stage 4 – Test and iterate
The final stage is to test and iterate. It’s one thing to produce content. It’s another thing altogether to produce content that converts. As you’re releasing your creations into the world, play with different styles and formats to see what generates engagement. Adjust until you see what works for your audience.
At this stage, it can be easy to look at the gap between where you are and a full roster of clients. Remember to keep things in perspective. Focus on how far you’ve come instead of how far you have to go to get to your goal.
What this journey looked like for me
When I started writing more consistently for social it took me about 2 hours to write a post.
Especially personal story posts like this.
It was excruciating.
There were many times I wanted to quit.
But I also knew that writing was a necessary evil that I had to learn.
So I kept at it.
As I did it more I aimed to decrease that time and get more efficient.
Now it takes me about 30 minutes (45 max) to create posts like this.
This was done objectively.
To know how long it takes you to create, you’re going to need a tool to track your time.
Something like Toggl. (The free plan is all you need for this.)
Track how much time it takes you to write and as the weeks and months go by, shrink that time.
You can also grab this resource with 10 Personal Story Prompts and Posts to help you get things going.
I also used to believe that I couldn’t batch written posts.
So I would wake up every day, write the post for that day, and post it.
I knew it wasn’t sustainable to create that way, but it worked to train the skill.
Then as I progressed through the stages
I’ve done this with video as well.
At first, I would just take out my phone, shoot a video, and use the captions app on IG.
It wasn’t until I committed to getting really good at video that I started to improve the quality and the content of what I was saying in the video.
Here’s what my videos looked like in March of 2022 and what they look like now.
This was done intentionally and systematically.
Here are some of the things that brought me from where I was to where I am now.
- I picked up a Cannon R camera and started geeking out on how to create great looking video
- I invested in a bunch of lighting over time and learned how to create depth and perspective
- I trained generating ideas so I had a library of content topics
- I practiced saying what I wanted to say in under 60 seconds literally hundreds if not over 1000 times
- I played with hundreds of different frames (how objects appear in the view to create perspective)
- I improved the hooks in my videos to capture the viewers attention
- I tried and tested tons of different formats
- I spoke only to the positive in some and in others only the negative
- I designed and built out a studio space (my office) so I have at least 3 angles ready to go where I can shoot video with very little effort
I tackled very specific aspects of the process and trained them.
Diligently.
Quite frankly, this process is never-ending.
And the moment you realize that you will always be improving and that it’s not some destination, that’s when you’ll relax into the process and what it takes to create great content.
The problem arises when we look at how far we have to go instead of how far we’ve come.
Where to start
Start with the end in mind.
What are you training for?
- Do you want to be a great writer?
- Do you eventually want to write books?
- Do you want to get really good at video?
- Does podcasting and audio as the primary channel sound appealing?
Identify the medium you want to master.
Realistically, you’re going to have to be well-rounded in all of these but picking which one to start with will help you narrow your focus and bring clarity to your training.
Answer these questions to where to start first:
- If I had to pick one skill to master (writing, video, or audio) which one would it be?
- How many days a week can I commit to posting?
- What do I need to do or how do I need to shift my schedule to make creating a top priority?
One way to completely shortcut this process is to work with a coach. I support my clients in finding their unique style, generating content that connects with their ideal clients, and having a system to consistently create content that works. If you’re into making it easier and leveraging your time, let’s chat.
Content creation is a necessary skill that you must acquire if you want to reach people you can support with what you offer.
There is no way around it if you want to build a successful and profitable personal brand.
By shifting what you consume from just short form content to content that delivers more depth you’ll create from a more solid foundation.
From there, approach content creation as if you’re training.
Treating it like training will make you stronger.
And if you’re already an athlete, then you already have the necessary mindset and discipline to forge this new skill.
All you have to do is graft your approach to sport onto your business.
It is the same thing.
Simply a transfer of something you already know how to do.
One thing that will guarantee you do not grow is to continue to do the same thing and expect a different outcome.
That’s an unrealistic expectation that too many people have.
Pick your target, create your plan, and get to work.
You can thank me later.
Until next time,
Jeff Agostinelli
Get these articles delivered right to your inbox plus additional insights I only share in email
For coaches and creators who want to master their message and take their business to the next level