How to Make Content Creation a Priority for Your Personal Brand
Entrepreneurs often ask me how I find time to do, “all the things”.
Maintain a blog.
Start a podcast.
Post to social media regularly.
You know, all the things.
When you’re trying to keep a full pipeline of clients, serve the clients you already have, and also squeeze in time for half of a social life and an ounce of self-care, it can be difficult to justify spending precious time on content creation (especially when it’s for your personal brand).
When I first started my business, I was constantly triaging my tasks according to their priority (I use ToDoist for this) and I told myself from the very beginning that I would not put content creation down at the very bottom. After all, as a personal brand strategist, I have to practice what I preach to my clients.
But honestly, I remember feeling the heat. Suzie’s website was due at the end of the week, Joe’s logo still needed the finishing touches, and I still had to prep for my coaching call with Lisa. And while all of those things felt extremely important and time-sensitive, I also knew in my heart-of-hearts that content creation needed to be labeled “just as important”.
So I never let it slip.
I kept chipping away at the ice cube, over and over and over again. And eventually, I started seeing a return. Today I’m breaking down just how I was able to prioritize content creation for my personal brand.
Find your zone of genius
So much of content creation is about perfecting the written word. When I first started building my brand, I remember feeling like I was back in school. Whether you’re writing a blog post, Instagram caption, or LinkedIn status, your writing skills will constantly be put to the test.
I knew that in order to be great, I had to carve out time in each day to perfect my writing skills and produce quality content for my audience. So I assessed which time of day that my mind was the freshest and I was the least distractable. I tested the evening, mid-day, morning, and early morning and found that I was able to accomplish the most early in the morning, first thing.
I began waking up at 5 AM each day to write content for two hours. I didn’t check my email, go on Instagram, or work on anything for my clients. I focused solely on writing content. It slowly became the favorite part of my day.
While some people may be more productive in the evenings, I found my zone of genius in the early mornings. Once I discovered this, content creation became much easier for me. I was able to produce more value-rich blog posts and see the benefits of writing in other areas of my life. What time of the day is your zone of genius? Test the waters to find out.
*Also, side note: did you know that writing regularly can actually improve your speaking skills? I felt I was able to speak more clearly and articulate my thoughts in a more concise way. As entrepreneurs, we are constantly selling ourselves and our business, so this is a great skill to have in the back pocket!
Follow the 50-20-50 rule.
Someone once told me that I should follow the 50-20-50 rule.
The rule goes like this:
Work in 50-minute increments that are laser-focused. This means that you only focus on a specific task for 50 minutes with zero distractions. Put your phone on airplane mode and don’t complete any other tasks until that 50-minute timer has gone off.
If you happen to think of something during this 50-minute time period, don’t attend to it. Instead, keep a pen and a piece of paper handy and write it down. Once the timer has gone off, you can take a 20-minute break to check your phone, use the bathroom, and walk around.
You can practice this method for as many times as you need to. However, I try to keep it at a minimum of 3x per day because it honestly takes so much willpower to complete effectively.
Get organized with a content calendar.
Some people find that creating a content calendar helps them to stay organized and become more efficient. I would agree! Organizing your thoughts ahead of time will ensure that your content becomes more purposeful and helpful to your target audience. I use Google calendar to create my content calendar. However, if you want a more robust software, I recommend Co-Schedule.
Co-Schedule also has a great headline analyzer tool that will help you to write more engaging headlines. I use to create all of my headlines for my blog posts and Instagram captions. This is a free resource that will help you to write headlines that drive traffic, shares, and search results.
Re-shape your idea of what it means to create content.
I always encourage my clients to re-shape the way they view content creation as a whole. Creating content for your personal brand is something that needs to be incorporated into your lifestyle in order for it to be effective. This isn’t something that you have to do as a chore, it’s something that you get to do as an entrepreneur. It should feel less like “creation” and more like “documentation”. Your audience is hungry to see the behind-the-scenes, your everyday life, the parts of yourself that are personal and relatable. This kind of content can’t always be planned. It’s something that you will have to document on a whim.
So while using a content calendar can be helpful, it’s important to highlight that truly great personal brands are built on this idea of documentation vs. creation. When you get in the habit of documenting regularly, your content will become truly unique and authentic, something that’s totally different from anything else on the internet.
This is what separates you from the competition.
As an entrepreneur, it can be hard to prioritize content creation for your personal brand.
I get it.
But you should know this, it pays off. I’ve seen unparalleled results from content marketing. It doesn’t happen overnight, but eventually, you will reap lifelong benefits. It goes beyond your business, I’m convinced that content marketing actually makes you a better learner, listener, and speaker.
It’s good for your bank account.
It’s good for your soul.
Have you seen results from content creation? Tell me what has worked the best for you.
