An Earthy Content Creation Hack
Oak trees have a special place in my heart. They're gargantuan and ancient and stable. They can live up to a thousand years and hold thousands of pounds in their branches.
If you've ever taken a class or course with me, you know I use a lot of plant and gardening analogies.
When it comes to content strategy, I'm all about organic and sustainable—growing and executing on ideas at a pace that fits into our natural cycles and in a way that is built to last.
Sometimes creating content can feel less like organic gardening and more like factory farming: soul-crushing, depleting, repetitive, creatively erosive.
Here's a little trick that I like to use to make the process more generative and enjoyable.
I call it the Content Tree.
Step #1 | The Seed
Write down a belief you have about your work, your field, or your audiences' struggles.
Example: Posting on social media doesn't have to suck.
Step #2 | The Branches
Set a timer for 3 minutes and free write a list of subtopics that could fit under this belief.
Example: Posting on social media doesn't have to suck.
There are a lot of structures and systems that can make the process easier, such as...
A lot of times, people don't want to post because being visible is so scary. There are a few ways to address this....
And if you really think about it, business is art and art is a vulnerable thing to share. I have a personal story that relates to this....
Making a content tree is a great way to come up with a bunch of content ideas in a very short period of time. Here's how…
But in the end, consistency is key and here are a bunch of reasons why that's true...
Step #3 | The Leaves
Flesh out each of these ideas into various forms of content. Each one could be used several times in several ways: an email, a blog post, a social media post, a video.
Don't worry about repeating yourself in different formats. People need to see/hear/read something several times before it actually sinks in.
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