In our house, our whole week revolves around what we’re going to eat for Sunday lunch. *British obsession klaxon*

In case you don’t know this, Sunday lunch in the UK is sacred. It includes some kind of roast meat or veggie centrepiece, all the vegetables, roast potatoes (no other method of cooking is acceptable) and home-made gravy. Yorkshire puddings are optional. 

We start planning the next Sunday lunch before we’ve even eaten the previous one. 

This is a whole family obsession by the way – even the dog probably has an opinion. The debate can be lively but as soon as the food hits the table, silence falls. The ritual begins.

Sunday just wouldn’t be Sunday without that lunch. And once we’ve finished, we use the leftovers to create meals for the rest of the week.

We plan it, we savour it and discuss what works and what doesn’t and then we re-use every last tasty morsel.

And here comes the lunch-shaped lesson.

Creating content consistently is all about planning your topics in advance, setting aside time to enjoy the ritual of creating and then repurposing everything. 

In this post, I’m going to be talking about what you should be writing about, how to be present in your business and document your process, and how to streamline your system so that you squeeze every last drop of value out of the content you create.

By the way, the best roast dinner is chicken with stuffing and bread sauce and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees.

Know Your Content Pillars

One of the things I hear most often from business owners is that they don’t know what on earth to write about and wonder if anyone would even want to read it. Because surely everything original has already been said, right? Wrong. 

If your audience is going to buy from you, they want to know that YOU can address their deepest wants because you are an expert at doing the thing they need.

That’s why every single piece of content you create needs to relate back to a key content pillar. A content pillar  is a topic that solves your audience’s principle pain points. 

You will probably know what these are already (eg. if you’re a photographer you will know that many people feel uncomfortable in front of the camera).

But if you’re struggling, you’ll need to do some emotion-based research, which I’ve written about here. Analysing your results will give you your content pillars – usually 3-5 topics, which you can then use to spark dozens of ideas for each pillar.

And wouldn’t it be awesome to never be stuck for content ideas again?

Document Your Process 

One of the biggest missed opportunities I see when it comes to content creation is failing to show the sheer amount of work and talent that goes into creating a finished product, whether that’s a website, a piece of art, a photo or some well-written copy. 

I get it. Everyone is excited to show off their work in its most perfect form, and you should of course do this. But if that’s all you’re doing, then it’s not going to be enough to position you as an expert. 

Next time you’re doing a piece of work, ask yourself, “What do I do consistently to make sure there is an excellent outcome every time, which people wouldn’t necessarily realise?

For example, when I’m creating a website, I export every page, post or asset into a spreadsheet so I know what needs to be re-directed when the new site goes live, so that my clients don’t take a hit on their SEO. 

It’s the kind of professional detail that prospective clients love. And the reason I create content like that? It’s because it’s the number one question I get asked before a website client books. “Will redesigning my site affect my SEO?”.

Boom, content pillar in action! 

BTW, if you want to see me makeover an Instagram caption to connect with a content pillar, go here.

Block Writing Time

If you’d have told me a few years ago that I’d LOVE sitting down to create content every week or even every day, I’d have laughed at you.

But I do. Because it gives me the opportunity to refocus on the topics (content pillars) that my audience needs to connect with, it makes me feel productive and it gives a shape to my week. 

I sit down every Monday to create a blog post. Sometimes I have enough time to write the whole blog post, and sometimes I only have time to create the blog intro, knowing that I can still spend 15 mins every day to create the rest of the blog post. 

I also take the time, in that first session, to bullet point out my content into paragraphs, so that I can easily get back into the flow each day, instead of staring at a blank page. 

With my topics mapped out in advance, all relating to key content pillars, and regular content creation time blocked out in my diary, the process becomes an enjoyable, purposeful habit rather than a chore.

Repurpose Everything

Here’s a myth. Most people think that you have to create different content for all of your social channels, from Facebook to Instagram and LinkedIn to Twitter. Oh, and don’t forget about your blog! Sounds exhausting, but it’s also totally untrue. 

The genius part when it comes to content creation is that everything you create can be used and re-used again and again. 

If you’re reading this on Instagram, then every post this week will be combined to create a blog post. Some captions get sent out via email. Some get shared in Facebook groups and linked in. Some become a quote on Pinterest linking back to the blog post. 

The point is that you can use the same content everywhere if you’re savvy about it, which supercharges your productivity.

If you’d really like to hone your content creation workflow, then I have a really cool Content Creation Workshop, which you can check out here.

So go forth and create!