For a term that gets thrown around a lot, Content isn’t easily defined. At its most basic, it’s the information you’re trying to communicate, but it’s more than just data. Good content needs to be fresh, readable, relevant, and useful information that is clearly presented. Content can start with an idea, phrase, or outline that can be built upon until it’s a useful message that clearly states what you want to communicate. How can you create meaningful content?
Format
How do you communicate the best? Figuring out your strongest communication style will give you insight into the best ways to create content. Do people love to hear you speak? Are you a visual artist? Can you demonstrate ideas so people can easily understand them? Do your fingers fly across the keyboard when you feel inspiration? Take your strengths to create content in any of the following categories and formats:
Video
- Vlog
- Keynote Speech
- Q & A
- Tutorial/How-To/Course
- Sketch/Entertainment
Audio
- Podcast
- Song/Jingle/Remix
Text
- Blog
- Email Subscription
- Ebook
- Cheat Sheet
- Checklist
- Guide/Instructions
- Research
Image
- Shareable Image (Social Media)
- Slideshow
- Infographic
- Template
- Meme/GIF
Getting the Most from Your Content
Don’t limit yourself to one item from the list above, do as many as you can, and get your team involved. Find someone with strengths in different areas to expand your content. If you’re not comfortable in front of the camera, but can write well, create an article and put it in a blog, then find the person who can make that into a video. Take the video and extract key quotes for shareable images, expand on details to create infographics, send an email with an enticing introduction and link to the video and blog, use the audio for a podcast, and keep going! This can be done in any arrangement. If you’re a naturally talented speaker and like having conversations with people that could provide value for listeners, start a podcast. Video record the podcast, create a blog post from it, shareable images, infographics, an so on!
One large piece of content can be used to generate many smaller bits of content to easily share. This way you don’t have to keep coming up small pieces of original content, you’ll have a massive resource to create content from. And it also works in reverse, once you’ve got enough content, you can compile it all into a book or guide.
Use the things you’re interested in and your communication strengths to create content to expand your message to your audience. For more ideas of how to get started, check out our article, Now’s the Time to Start a Blog. You’ll find some suggestions on how to come up with topics in the Getting Started section. Now it’s time to make some content and share it with the world!
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