The Simple Key to Effortless Content Creation
Needing to create content carries a significant weight.
A lot goes into coming up with new ideas, planning posts and videos, and finding the time to shoot videos or write posts.
Not to mention all the internal chatter...
Does this make sense?
Are people going to like it?
Is this going to make me look stupid?
After years of content creation, I've had to find ways to make this process easier and more sustainable.
On one side, content creation should be something you can put on automatic.
And on the other, something you're constantly testing and iterating.
Over the past five years, I’ve supported hundreds of coaches to create content that converts.
They get hung up the most in one area.
And it happens long before they start writing the post or shooting the video.
To sum it up in one statement they usually start with…
"I don't know what to post"
For a variety of different reasons, which I’ll dive into here shortly, creators get way too hung up on what to post.
They struggle to come up with ideas.
And the longer they’re in the game, the harder it gets.
I'm always surprised by how many coaches and creators treat content creation as an in-the-moment reaction of "I need to post."
Trying to come up with ideas on the spot significantly slows down creation.
In this article, I’m going to break down the basics of good idea hygiene. That means capturing, generating, and expanding on them. I’m also going to walk you through having a system that when used consistently will give you more than enough ideas to draw from.
Content creation happens in steps
Most coaches and creators I’ve worked with create in one fell swoop.
When it’s time to post they come up with the idea, create the piece of content, then post that piece of content.
This works okay for short sprints but it’s not sustainable in the long run.
It may help to develop the muscle in the short term. But in the long run, it will likely take you away from working on the business and keep you working in the business.
At the end of the day, if you’re just generating ideas on the fly, you’re selling yourself short. They will be shallow and half-baked. They likely won't be more than a transient piece of content.
One of your content goals is to connect with potential customers for your coaching or consulting. So, the idea-generation process is key to crafting messages that convert.
Some of those ideas you’ll spend more time with than others.
Some will come when you’re looking for topics to create. And others will come when you least expect it.
You'll need a system that lets you do both.
A place where you can sit down and log ideas and capture them on the fly when you’re not actively sitting down to generate them.
Breaking the creation process into steps is key if you want to create great content.
It lets you be with an idea long enough to give it substance, instead of the fast food-like method of coming up with ideas on the fly.
There are only 3 steps in the creation process you need to focus on.
- Generate
- Expand
- Create
Let’s first look at what you can do to make idea generation a practice.
The practice of idea generation
One thing will speed up your content creation the most. It is the habit of deliberate idea generation.
This is where you actively block time to generate ideas.
In this block, you’re sitting down to come up with a set number of ideas. Or, you're blocking time to make as many ideas as you can in one hour (as an example).
You’re not actually creating the post or video yet.
Just ideation.
This could mean just using your creator dashboard to log ideas. Or, it could be using other sources of inspiration to come up with ideas like…
- Medium.com
- YouTube
- Instagram
- Newsletters and articles
- Books
- Podcasts
If your goal is also to connect with potential clients for your coaching, you’ll also want to generate ideas that help your ideal customer solve their problems.
The concept in this first step is to just come up with the ideas.
When I started this practice I blocked an hour every Monday to generate ideas.
I’d suggest starting there.
Now, not all of your ideas are going to make it to the next two steps. Some may seem good at first. But, when you go back to review and expand them, they don't resonate for you anymore.
And that’s 100% ok.
That’s where the next step comes in.
Expanding on your ideas
Imagine you have a list of 20 ideas.
You sit down to write a piece of content or script a video.
This is where you start to expand on your ideas.
Maybe you’re going to follow a traditional framework like Problem - Agitate - Solve (PAS).
So, you start to outline the problem. You explain how it shows up in your ideal customer's life. Then, you suggest a potential micro solution to help them.
But for whatever reason, it’s just not clicking.
Guess what?
That’s okay because you have 19 other ideas you can expand on.
This is the beauty of idea generation.
You can expand on the ones that you feel connected to and craft a message around them, then ditch the rest.
Sometimes you can go right into creating. Other times, you'll sort through your list and expand a few to get them ready to batch film reels or shorts.
Which brings me to the last step.
Creating the final piece
Once you’ve expanded on the ideas that you connect with it’s time to create the final piece.
Sit down and write the post, shoot the video, or create the meme.
You've done the past two steps. You've put time into building your ideas. So, making the thing will be much faster and less painful than before.
You've already done a lot of the work. It doesn't matter what you're making. It could be a simple Instagram post with an image and a long-form style caption. Or it could be a 60 to 90-second video. Or even a longer video or newsletter.
The only thing left is a place to keep this all. Then, you're not juggling journals and scraps of paper. You're also not juggling notes on your phone and random musings in random places.
The Creator Dashboard
When I started to work strategically on content, I tried some of the most common project management systems like Asana and Clickup.
I even tried Trello. I thought it would be better because I’m so visual. Being able to move cards from one column to another seemed like a great solution.
None of those things worked for me. The process was meant to save time but it just made things more complicated.
And then I discovered Notion.
Since then I’ve managed everything in my business with it.
A big part of that is content creation.
This dashboard is part of the larger template I use to capture, create, and manage my content.
It’s saved me a lot of time. I can’t remember the last time I sat down to create content and didn’t have an idea to craft around.
I took everything that I loved about other templates and added some key features that make this as simple and effective as possible.
And it’s completely free.
​You can grab that here.​
Splitting your content creation into steps will save you a ton of time. It will also save you the frustration that comes with the territory.
Carve out time to generate ideas. This will give you more inspiration and you'll feel more connected to your work.
Do this well and you may just fall back in love with creating because you’re giving yourself more space to create.
When you have more space, you inevitably remove the pressure to create.
And when you remove that pressure, you just may enjoy this process like you did when you started.
The key to making content creation feel more effortless comes down to having plenty of ideas to draw from and the space to make something you would want to consume yourself.
Until next time,
Jeff Agostinelli
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P.S. Here are a few additional ways I can help:
#1 - Ready to go pro and create systems for predictable cash flow? Working with me 1:1 is the fastest way to do that. Book a time to explore working together here.
#2 - Master the art of telling your story - Personal Story Prompts and Posts​
#3 - Follow me on Instagram and YouTube for more marketing tips, personal growth, and how to get more clients from social.
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