Strategy in blogging is so crucial to your longevity as a blogger. There’s absolutely no way that any successful blog has been able to function for any length of time without its creator formulating a method to function in the ever-changing blogging madness we can find ourselves in.
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it again — blogging is more than the writing. There are so many interior and exterior aspects to a successful blog (from the technical details of running a website to the customer service provided to your readership to the marketing that gets your blog in front of content consumers). Oh, and there are other blogging-related activities that come to mind, but I’ll stop here with the overwhelm.
I just wanted to give you some perspective on how important it is to have a blogging plan as early on in your content creation journey as possible. Now, I’ll admit that you’re probably not going to come out of the gate with a plan when you first start your blog. You’re going to be busy with figuring out your message, your target audience, and what will and won’t attract your target audience. You’ll naturally begin to make inventory of your personal and professional characteristics as a content creator and note where there are gaps between where you are and where you want to be. Then, you’ll spend time formulating a plan on what you need to do to close that gap. Here’s where you start cooking up THE PLAN — your strategy.
And believe me when I say, your strategy is going to change over time and will look somewhat (maybe even substantially) different at the beginning of your blogging journey than it will as you progress throughout the various stages of your blogging career. It has to. Why? Well, because things move fast in the blogosphere; and even the seasoned blogger can struggle to keep up sometimes.
But, none of this negates the fact that you need to be the man or the ma’am with the blogging plan. Even from the onset of your blog. Strategic mindsetting is the only way to survive in this online world.
And here’s what I mean.
As a newbie or seasoned blogger (it doesn’t even matter), learn to repurpose your content, a strategic mindsetting tactic ALL THE WAY.
And you might have to trick your mind into looking at repurposing in a different light than you viewed it at first glance. Case in point: I’m currently focusing on expanding Degrees of Maternity through repurposing my content on different platforms. And here’s the mindset that I’ve developed around the whole business of getting your content out into the online world — the more places you put your stuff out there, the more likely it will be seen.
You have to keep in mind that there are multiple online audiences at any given time. And those audiences aren’t hanging out at only one information dissemination location. They are everywhere and looking for content in all the right places . . . for them. So, you have to go where the people are.
And you could run yourself ragged trying to be everything for everyone on every online platform where your target audience may be. But you’re not going to do that. You’re going to be strategic. You’re going to find a few platforms (less than a handful starting out) where your people are, and you’re going to give them what they want and need — your content. (You can expand into more platforms once you have a good handle on the ones currently in your portfolio.)
Not only are you going to give your people what they want and need on these platforms, but you’re not going to content deplete yourself by recreating the wheel on each of these platforms. You’re going to repurpose your existing content, where you can. You’re going to take your content and place it on the different platforms where the consumers of your content tend to hang out. Now, you may have to tweak this existing content to cater to the specific platform at hand, but the amount of rework should be little-to-none. If it becomes more than that, then you’re actually creating new content and not repurposing.
Let me give you a living example of what I mean.
While participating in my recent 30-day challenge, known as the “Creative Movement” Goal-Setting Challenge, I learned that I can expand my Degrees of Maternity reach by simply placing my existing information and product offerings on additional platforms that align with my outreach goals and target audience.
Here’s what I did during the challenge and right after the challenge ended (while I still had some challenge momentum left in me) . . .
Created a New Store
Since I create handmade reading and writing tools for children and adults as well as educational incentives for children, I decided to find a place where I could bring my resources to this group of individuals. I had an Etsy shop that I started a year ago for this very reason. I knew Etsy as a reputable online marketplace for handmade creators and individuals looking for handmade goods, so I took the necessary steps to become a part of that community.
However, during the 30-day challenge, I further honed in on where my ideal customer would actually be residing (even more so than on Etsy), and I thought of the Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) online marketplace. (Actually, someone recommended that I look into TpT, because she was aware of what I do in my business and thought I’d be a great fit. Unfortunately, I didn’t do anything several months ago when she stated the obvious. But, I did decide to take her up on that advice during the challenge. Better late than never.)
And, there’s no time like the present. I’m just thrilled I finally jumped on this opportunity. And do you think I recreated the wheel here? Nope, not at all. I simply took the majority of the products that I had on my Etsy shop and also placed them over on my TpT store. (The products I left out were the ones that I didn’t think customers would be searching for on the TpT platform.) And while I was creating my new store and adding products to it, I decided to take my product bundles (both on Etsy and TpT) and break them down into individual items, therefore, creating more Degrees of Maternity product offerings. Smart, huh? It’s the whole repurposing effect. I didn’t create any new products, I just placed current ones on a new platform, did a little bit of bundle disbanding, and there you go.
Started a Podcast
Yes, I started a podcast. And, here’s another platform that someone suggested I look into, but I never bit on that piece of advice until NOW. It was bound to naturally happen, though. Reason being: I’ve become increasingly interested in audio work lately. Well, some lately and others over a period of time. In A Podcast for the Content Creator, I talk about my experiences with creating audio clips for this blog and for my email subscribers, audio recording the books of the Bible for my family’s personal use, and reading out loud with my son for his bedtime routine.
So, podcasting seemed like something I could sink my voice into, because I was already doing voice work. And when I started noticing WordPress’ announcements about Anchor by Spotify and how easy it would be to turn my blog posts into podcasts, that was all she wrote. I was in.
Truthfully, I just started my podcast this past Wednesday, June 30th, so I’m pretty green. But I’m seriously all in. It just makes sense for me to do the podcasting thing. I already have the content in my previously-created blog posts just waiting to be put on audio (repurposing only — no recreating allowed!). And, I’m constantly seeking opportunities to build up my voice for audio work now and into the future.
Furthermore, my overall goal with Degrees of Maternity is “to reach people where they’re at with the information, products, and services that they need.” I would venture to say that taking on a Podcast seems like a WIN-WIN to me.
Returned to YouTube
Okay. Okay. Never say never. I did say that, you know — regarding YouTube and all. I took a lengthy hiatus from YouTube because it didn’t seem to be in my realm of genius. And it’s still not, but I’m baaaaaack. Not so I can make myself busier, but because I have another opportunity to repurpose my content and resuscitate my YouTube channel.
From previous blog posts, I made it perfectly clear that I’m not a camera person and don’t like to put my face in front of it. So, YouTube would kind of be an on-going struggle for me in that respect. But, I tried making videos that replaced my face with images, which was the only way that I could see YouTube working for me. Basically, you were getting my voice in the background with a lot of visual content (none of me) to view.
Okay, so I did that for awhile, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere and I just didn’t have the time (as a solopreneur) to devote to a platform that wasn’t taking off for me and that I wasn’t totally comfortable in being vulnerable in. So, I nixed my involvement . . . for a whole year! But here I am again, trying my hand at YouTube once more.
However, this time around, I’m not going to recreate the wheel. I’m just going to ride on it. Meaning . . . I’m putting my podcasts on YouTube. Whoo hoo! More audience reach. The way I see it, the folks that may not go to podcasts to get their information may be hanging out on YouTube. So, I’d like to see if I can catch up with them there. And minimal work is involved in this endeavor. Nothing like the work that was involved with my channel before, when I spent hours upon hours working on the audio, images, and video editing components of my videos.
No, I already have my podcast episode recorded. I just need to create a thumbnail for it and do 5 minutes worth of video editing in Final Cut Pro; and then, I have a video ready for publishing on YouTube. I love it.
I’m utilizing a strategy, fondly known as “repurposing”, in a BIG way. And, I’m not ashamed of it. You shouldn’t be either. I used to look at repurposing as cheating in a way, but I’ve learned to shift that mindset right out the door. It’s not cheating when you’re taking the content that YOU create, YOUR own intellectual property, and you’re simply putting it out in various places throughout the online world where people can get to it.
The way I look at it: you’re doing your target audience member a disservice by NOT getting your stuff out there if you know it can help him or her. So, I say spread the love and repurpose your content strategically where it makes the most sense. Streamline your process for repurposing and create a schedule for doing so, so you’ll stay consistent.
Here’s what my content schedule looks like:
Monday – no content going out
Tuesday – blog post published here
Wednesday – podcast published here
Thursday – YouTube video published here
Friday – blog post published here
Saturday – Sabbath observance (not a work day)
Sunday (2nd and 4th) – my newsletter, highlighting all of my online platforms, distributed by going here.
And of course, my Etsy and TpT stores (here and here) have constant content out there for your use.
Enough of that. Now, get going on your blogging strategy and don’t forget to include “repurposing” as part of it.
degreesofmaternity.com 