This is always my most popular training, so I thought I’d put it all together in a little easy to digest two part podcast. This is the first instalment which is all about stepping into your shiny new role of Editor in Chief of you Brand.
Sound good?
You can listen below, scroll down for the transcript, or subscribe via Apple podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.
Love, Cate
Transcript
Welcome to this 2 part episode, which is all about how to plan your content like a glossy magazine.
Before I start I just want to say, please can we reflect on just how incredible this age is for us as women entrepreneurs. All we need is a smart phone and social media account and through the content we create we can:
-find
-connect with
– and serve
our soulmate customers every single day. FOR FREE.
I mean really, there has never been a more golden age to be a woman entrepreneur with something to shout about.
Now even so if you’re struggling with your content you might find that you fall into one of two camps.
- “ugh, I never know what to say in my content
- I know exactly what I should say, but the saying of it is such an effort and time drain.
And I just want to say here, I know it’s tough. Because, as entrepreneurs, as online businesses, coaches, teachers, changemakers, lightworkers, whatever you are… you also need to be
- Skilled communicators
- Prolific creators,
- Writers
- Storytellers.
- Publisher
- Video production expert
And that can be pretty exhausting.
And then someone like me says to you – right you’ve got to be show up on social every day and every week you’ve gotta create one piece of signature content (so by that I mean a blog post, a video or a podcast) EVERY week!
And you’re like: Are you serious?! That facebook post I just typed took me 2 whole hours to write!
But here’s the thing and I know you know this:
If you’re not creating content, if you’re not being visible, no-one’s seeing you.
As Seth Godin, the father of modern marketing says, Content marketing is the only marketing left.
So before get started: If you’re not already there yet I want you to do a quick reframe with this. It’s no longer i never know what to say, it takes up too much time ,it’s the bane of my life
It is now:
CONTENT IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO MY BUSINESS BECAUSE IT LETS ME FIND, CONNECT WITH, SERVE AND SELL TO MY SOULMATE CUSTOMERS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Ok so. We’ve done. That. Now lets get down to the nitty gritty of what we are going to talk about today. How to create content like it’s your very own glossy magazine.
So, I’ve been a writer for many years, I started in magazines as an assistant on the features desk worked my way up to commissioning editor and then went freelance in 2011. But back in 2017 i needed a change. I needed more money. I absolutel did not value my skills. I was part of a women in business group teach copy. Then I realised that content creation now that i could get on board with. It just felt so at home for me. So natural. It’s what i did.
And i began teaching my clients how I did this and how they could apply those techniques of approaching your content both creatively and from a business POV to their content. And I found that they actually got really excited about it. And finally got it.
Because showing up and sharing content from your heart is so important. But you do need to make sure that you’re covering all the bases that need to be covered to nurture your audience, to educate your audience, to serve your audience and to make sure that you are getting what you need back out of all that too.
But there is another step in the process. That is going back to my magazine days. I would find the story i would fall in love with the story. But i had to take my story ideas to my editor in chief and i had to ask her which one she would choose.
And i had to know that she was going to say yes.
They were based on her business goals. Her brand. How that magazine was going to be showing up in the world.
CLEAR CONTENT STRATEGY
What did they want to achieve in terms of position in market
What was their brand voice
What were their sales goals
Collaboration goals
Where did they want to be in 3 months, 6 months a year?
What did their IC want right now?
How was this specifically serving that IC?
What did their IC need to understand about the brand or the topics that they are covering?
These were all the things that she was weighing up when she said yes or no.
And that’s what you’ve got to start doing with how you are showing up.
So yes heart, soul and storytelling and know like and trust.
It’s about being really clear and intentional about what your content is for and what it’s going to achieve.
Because what i see is you’re told you have to show up and be out there. You’ve got to be visible every day. So there are all these small businesses with limited time and resources scrabbling around to show up and put stuff out there and doing all the things and all they’re getting is crickets.
And that’s demoralising. And that’s when you start to say – content doesn’t work for me.
But it does. If you take this creative and strategic approach.
And that is being the editor in chief of your brand.
Being the Editor in chief of your brand means you know things like:
What is your brand voice?
What is your position in the market
What do you talk about and what don’t you talk about?
And even if you get down to the stage where someone else is creating content for you – it’s still has to come from you. Because you are your brand.
It’s also about knowing your numbers.
Consistency
Knowing your numbers – financially and audience
Because that matters.
Conversion rates are around 1-2%. So if you’re trying to sell a low price course and your audience is tiny you’re going to struggle.
Monthly income goal
Monthly business expenses
Because then you can figure things out like – how much and how many.
FINALLY WANT YOU TO STOP SEEING YOUR CONTENT AS A CHORE. It’s a must – do. Sharing your value about something you’re hugely passion about. And when the engagement comes. What is there not to love about that?
Action – create space in your diary for your content creation. I do this with a skeleton calendar. So I know what gets created when. But I also do this by keeping it simple. So this podcast I batched and created over a three week period. A planned a years worth of episodes and I’m currently recording them quarterly.
So that’s it! Tune in next week for the second part of this little mini series on How to Plan Your Content Like a Glossy Magazine, where we are going to dig into the nitty gritty of how to create your very own content framework.
Big love,
Cate