This has been a crazy busy week. I keep thinking that we will fall into a flow with this quarantine thing, but I still manage to find ways to get my days out of whack. Can you relate?
My Quarterly Content Strategy call was on Monday. It was a smashing success! I was so pleased to share ideas with 26 entrepreneurs for how they can show up in a really big way in Quarter 2. And I can’t wait to see how they do it.
During the middle of the call, my computer froze. Thankfully everyone stuck around until I could get another computer up and running. The recording didn’t work either, so I get to record it next week. So, needless to say, I was a little bit overwhelmed the rest of the day.
Tuesday I sat down to write my blog and record a video. I just couldn’t think.
Then the same thing on Wednesday.
Well now here we are on Thursday and the words are finally spilling out of me to write this blog post.
I realized that there are a few reasons that I get delayed in putting up content. And they really don’t apply to just content creators, I think it’s for ALL entrepreneurs at some point in their business.
Struggle #1: Perfection
I realized that the reason I wasn’t getting my content done wasn’t overwhelm. It was perfection.
I didn’t have the perfect topic to talk about. What could I say that is a great follow up to the class I just hosted, but then also talks about how I’m re-recording it Live again on Monday for anyone that missed the first one?
Most content creators, and a lot of entrepreneurs for that matter, get stuck in a cycle of perfection. We do something over and over again until it’s perfect OR we never start because we don’t have the perfect idea formulated in our minds.
Do you ever do that? Get stuck in the mode of perfection?
I hate the phrase done is better than perfect. I can’t wrap my mind around it. Instead, I like to say done follows the strategy. Because you all know I’m a strategy girl and if I know I’m following my strategy, I know that I’m on track to reach my goals. So, no. It may not be perfect, but I’m following my plan.
It’s fairly simple to write a blog post or just get your thoughts down on paper, but it takes more time to create a piece of content that has references, graphics, relatable stories, and reads well.
It takes time to create unique and valuable content. But it shouldn’t take so much time that you are never sharing it.
Struggle #2: Distribution
Does your work ever get pushed off because you have too much client work to do? You think, well my clients are the ones that pay the bills, so I have to get theirs done first?
Yep. Me too.
But I have to remember that my content is the top of my funnel and keeps connecting me with amazing people, so I have to spend doing that too.
I have a quote hanging on my computer that I look at no less than 1,700x day. It’s something my business coach told me that struck a chord. “I am my own multi-million dollar client.”
Basically, if I am not treating myself like a multi-million dollar client, then I will never be one. I have to put myself on the schedule.
So you get that blog post written or video recorded, but then what do you do with it? Are you taking the time to figure out a repurposing process with your team? Are you promoting it on the correct channels? Or are you just letting it sit on your YouTube channel and hope someone finds it?
I have been guilty of all those things at one time or another!
Content is your key to attracting visitors. Right now, content isn’t optional if you are trying to make money. So you need to be sharing your message with the world. So even if it’s not perfect, it’s time to share your message.
The more you share it, the more you will understand your audience and what they are looking to you for. You will understand their thoughts and needs and emotions. No one knows those things about their ideal client when they first start marketing. Those are things you figure out as you go along. So if you aren’t sharing, how else will you get market research done about your ideal client?
Struggle #3: Celebration
Something that I have had to constantly remind myself about is to celebrate. Sometimes I get in the mode of create, create, create, that I forget to celebrate!
Celebration is such a HUGE part of content creation. Really, it’s a huge part of life and owning a business. Especially right now where it may seem like there are few things to celebrate.
I posted on my Facebook page the other day asking people to take a minute to celebrate their day. I had so much interaction! Turns out on that particular day, everyone was struggling and needed to have a moment to ponder.
We all need those moments to remember the good things. After my class on Monday, I went to get an ice cream cone with my family and I ate the ice cream all by myself. The whole thing. Do you know how long it’s been since I have done that? A really long time. And it was freaking good.
Celebration is actually known to boost our well-being – whether it’s for major milestones or your daily wins. It allows us to focus on what we have instead of what we want or are missing out on.
So for my class on Monday, I could have been upset that my computer shut down. I could have thought it was a total failure, but guess what? All 26 of those people stayed on the call all the way through. They gave me amazing feedback and some already signed up for the next one. When I choose to focus on those things that were amazing, it makes the computer shut down seem relatively small.
So what are you celebrating today?
No matter where you are in the content creation process, know that we all have struggles. We all have those moments where we struggle with perfection or we don’t feel like sharing our message or we forget to celebrate. But the important thing is that you don’t let that hold you back and you keep on plugging away.
If you are interested in the Quarterly Content Call on Monday, I would be thrilled to have your join us!
You will learn 5 strategies that you should be focusing on for the next quarter to help you show up in a really big way for your audience.