writing Archives - Denise Riches

8 Ways to Repurpose Your Content

Most of us, at some point, have heard of the term “repurpose content“. It sounds fabulous, doesn’t it? “You mean I only have to do the work ONCE and then just recycle it?” – you may think excitedly. Can it be that simple?

Yes and no – the bulk of the work is done first. And the starting point is usually a blog post or a newsletter you’ve written. It’s the extensive work you’ve done by putting most of your thought and research into. Once it’s been edited, proofread and polished, that’s when it’s sent out to be adored and remembered by all.

If only!

In reality, there is more you can do to guarantee your content will be seen and remembered, and it’s by repurposing it. Here are some ways you can do that:

Design social media posts

If you’ve written a long piece of content, chances are, it’s full of tips, helpful hints and useful information. That means you should have the ability to break it up into at LEAST 5 social media posts. Each post should have a CTA (call to action) telling your reader to check out the full post back on your website, or where they can read the newsletter (with a link, of course). This is usually the easiest way to repurpose content.

Keep in mind, you don’t want to put all five of these posts out at the same time! You’ll want to spread them out over at least a month. A good rule of thumb is to share a post the same day your content is published, and once a week thereafter.

You can choose to use the same image for each post, or create additional images and cycle through those the same way you’re cycling through the captions.

Be sure to use relevant hashtags and a few relevant emojis.

Create a carousel

Maybe you use Instagram as one of your platforms (remembering to be where your ideal clients are). If so, a carousel is a great way to get a lot of information into one, singular post.

A carousel is a series of images that the audience can swipe through, and Canva is a great way to accomplish this.

An example would be: you have 5 important tips that your audience shouldn’t be without. Create 7 ‘slides’ – an eye-catching intro slide, then 5 slides with your various tips. Lastly, a CTA with contact information on the last slide. Always remember to tell your audience what you’d like them to do next.

If you choose to create a carousel, note that numbers work well here. Also, it’s not always blatantly obvious to people that they need to swipe, so be sure to include the word ‘swipe‘ with an arrow.

Share it as an article on LinkedIn

If you’re on LinkedIn, you’re probably already familiar with creating articles.

There are two ways you can repurpose content here, and the first one can be hit or miss, so choose carefully!

One, you can share the first portion of your content, and include a link at the bottom to tell the reader where they can read the rest (this would be a link to your blog post or the public version of your newsletter).

This may not work all the time because people aren’t motivated enough or are simply too busy to click that link.

The second way you could approach it is to just include the content in its entirety. Still link back to your blog post or newsletter article, for sure, but this way you’re not playing hide-and-seek with your audience.

Design infographics

This is a fantastic way to present a lot of information in a small but eye-catching way. It’s also great for Pinterest because infographics are usually tall images, which are ideal for that platform.

If you’ve never created an infographic to repurpose content, there are many awesome templates on Canva. You can change out the colours to match your brand, and add/delete elements as you go, swapping the text with information from your blog/newsletter.

Create video content

I’ve talked about Lumen5 before. It can be perfect for video creation, especially if you’re a bit camera-shy (like me, lol!)

With both free and paid plans, it’s a great way to take the most important information and make it into video content that you can then share on all your social media channels (and store on YouTube, as well).

Produce audio content

I must admit, I don’t work with it, but there is an audio recording feature within Canva that you can use to record yourself speaking. You would just record yourself reading your content aloud, and add some interesting images and/or some light music (if you wish).

A client of mine uses Canva to record meditations, which she then sends out to her audience!

Transform similar content into an e-book

If you have a blog or newsletter series that you’re working with, another idea is to take all of that and combine it into an e-book.

E-books are simple to make, again, using Canva, and make for great digital gifts or lead magnets (think newsletter opt-ins!).

You could even go a step further and self-publish on Amazon if you want to.

Or a PDF

In a similar fashion, if you don’t want to create an actual e-book, you could just create a PDF (which, by the way, can also be used as a free gift or lead magnet).

There you have it: 8 ways to repurpose content!

Love the idea of repurposing your stuff but are not keen on spending the time doing it? Let’s talk about how I can help you with that! Book a free consultation call with me.

Product Review – The Rocketbook Fusion

I’ll start this blog post by saying – *I KNOW* how ironic it is that I sell printable planners and I’m about to talk to you about a reusable planner.

Yup, but I’ve just gotta talk about this amazing product because it’s saving me a TON of paper!

I received a Rocketbook Fusion as an early Christmas gift from my husband and I couldn’t be more thrilled…

So what IS a Rocketbook?

In short, it’s a reusable notebook.

The long answer? It’s a planner with various types of pages that can be written on with Frixion erasable pens (one is supplied). The notes are scanned and sent to your favourite cloud service via the app. Then the pages can be wiped clean with a little water and a microfiber cloth (supplied).

I’ve been using it since early November and I swear by it because I take a LOT of notes by hand while I’m in client meetings

How it works

The Rocketbook comes in many formats, so be sure to view them before purchasing if you’re considering buying one. You will want one that is best suited for your individual needs.

It only works with Frixion erasable pens. You can find these at most stationery stores or on Amazon.

You may have to wait a few moments for the ink to dry before closing the book.

There are several icons along the bottom, and QR codes on each page. The icons are used to tell the Rocketbook smartphone app where to send your page scans. When setting up your Rocketbook, you’ll also set up scan destinations. These could be Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. You can even set up a destination as an email address. So if you want to email your scans, you simply designate one of the icons to be your (or someone else’s) email address.

Each icon represents one of those destinations, and your scan will magically appear in the destination you’ve set up when you hit SEND.

How to erase a page

Rocketbook suggests keeping a small spray bottle filled with water close by so that you can erase as necessary. Just spray the microfiber cloth with a little water, wipe the page clean, then wipe with a dry area of the same cloth. The microfiber cloths are machine washable.

But wait, there’s more

Yes-sirree, there’s more. You can set up your scans to automatically be transcribed, so that when your notes reach their destination, you will have a copy of what you’ve written, exactly as you’ve written it, PLUS a transcribed version that is fully editable online. Handy!

Organizing your notes

While Rocketbook is always working to improve their product, this is something that’s pretty cool. While you could manually title your notes just before you send it to your destination, you can also use the double hashtag trick.

If you sandwich the title of your note between two sets of two hashtags, your note will be titled whatever is in between the double hashtags. The hashtags disappear when the scan reaches its destination! For example: ##This is my awesome title##

Some of the downsides

I read a lot of reviews before deciding to ask Santa for this notebook. One of the major complaints folks had was the length of time it takes for the ink to dry. I haven’t personally been bothered by this but I can see how it could be a problem if you’re taking a lot of notes in one sitting..

Other complaints were about having no way to conveniently tote the pen and cloth with the notebook. I think this is a simple fix – just buy a small pencil case and water bottle at the dollar store and toss the items into your bag or computer carrying case.

I am very happy with this notebook. It suits my needs and has already saved a lot of paper.

I hope you’ve found this blog post helpful – and I’d love to hear if you purchase one for yourself!

Need some help with your admin? Book a free consultation call with me and we can talk about your business needs.

4 Steps to Creating a Supply of Blog Content

When it comes to writing blog posts, do you often find yourself with writer’s block?

It’s not uncommon! Here are four easy steps to creating a wealth of blog content!

Determine Who Your Client Is

It’s an important but sometimes overlooked step – figuring out who your ideal client is. If you don’t know WHO you’re speaking to through your blog, how can you possibly come up with something they will want to read?

Let’s assume you’re a wellness coach, and you specialize in helping busy women to take care of themselves. Now let’s grab a piece of paper, and create 4 columns:

General

Specific

Pain Points

Needs

Use this simple chart to get a feel for who your ideal client is. Under “General”, you might put, “Female”, “Married”, or “Kids”.

Under “Specific”, you want to delve into this person a bit more. Let’s give our client the name “Janet”, and the age of “40”. Going beyond that, she “Owns her own business”.

Next comes your client’s “Pain Points”. Janet is B-U-S-Y. Between juggling family life and her business, she’s got her hands full. There’s one pain point: “Busy Schedule”. What’s keeping Janet awake at night? There’s one more pain point right there – “Can’t sleep”.

Last, but certainly not least, what does Janet need? Some help, obviously. Janet knows that self-care is important, but she often puts herself last. It’s important for Janet’s business that she takes care of herself too, because if she doesn’t, how can she teach them to take care of themselves? So your chart may look something like this:

General	Specific	Pain Points	Needs
Female	Janet/40	Busy schedule	Extra time
30-50 yrs.	Lives local to me	Can’t sleep	Help
Runs own business	Has kids		Self-care

Step one is complete – now what? Well, let’s delve into Janet’s lifestyle a bit more.

Lifestyle

Under your chart, write Janet’s name in the center, in a circle, and have 4-5 “spokes” coming out of the circle.

One “spoke” could lead to the words “wants to help other families”.

Another could be “wants to do it all”.

Another could be “runs both her home and business”.

Let’s not forget that she has children of her own.

What is your ideal client Googling?

Poor Janet. Time-strapped. Has a successful business, which could be more successful, if she had the right help. She’s like many moms and runs her household on top of that.

She’s likely Googling time-saving ideas. These could be from getting help with housework or household projects, to finding a productivity tool to help her manage her time. She could also be searching for ways she can apply self-care to her own life. Let’s be honest, sometimes the pros don’t take their own advice, right?

So, let’s turn to Google and see what search phrases come up, and we’re paying close attention to the phrases that come up in auto-fill:

Create blog headlines from these examples

If you’re writing blog posts based on these search phrases, both Google AND Janet are going to love you! Google’s going to rank you pretty high, and Janet’s going to find what she’s looking for.

I hope you’ve found this post helpful 🙂

Need some help with social media? Book a free consultation call with me and we can talk about your business needs.

My Newsletter Services

Throughout my VA career, I’ve worked with a variety of email marketing platforms:

MailChimp
Constant Contact
Drip
Active Campaign

While the platforms have differences, they generally all work the same way. (more…)

Using Online Document Templates

Most of us have used Microsoft Word at some point. Some might use it daily, while others only need it once in a while. Either way, it’s important to be aware of Word’s many built-in templates for document creation.

Have you ever noticed? Check it out: open Word on your computer, click New. A window will open with all the many templates that are free to use. From Christmas letters to marketing materials, Word has quite the selection. The best part? They are all editable. (more…)

5 Awesome (and FREE) Proofreading Tools

Spelling comes easily to some and not to others.

I cringe every time I see something online written by someone who’s unsure of they’re, their and there. It’s a common slip-up. I believe that if you’re writing something to share publicly, it should be near-perfect. Does it really matter that much? (more…)

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