113: “How do you continually come up with content ideas?” {Pick My Brain!}
In this episode, I’m introducing an exciting new segment of the podcast called "Pick My Brain," where I answer your burning questions about copywriting, messaging, marketing, and sales.
To kick this segment off, I'm tackling a question that many content creators struggle with: How to consistently come up with fresh ideas for podcasts, emails, and other content.
I’m sharing the 12 ways I come up with content even when I feel like I’m fresh out of ideas and inspiration. From my secret weapon (the Joy of Copy Cards) to leveraging tools like AnswerThePublic and ChatGPT, I'm giving you a peek into my content creation toolkit. But it's not just about the tools – I also dive into mindset shifts and habits that can transform your approach to content ideation.
If you've ever found yourself spinning wheels when it comes to content ideas, this episode is for you!
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The tool I use to spark creativity when I'm feeling stuck
How to turn your clients' challenges into compelling content
A ninja marketing strategy that provides an endless stream of ideas directly from your audience
The surprising place I look for inspiration that you probably haven't considered
The mindset shift that's crucial for consistent content creation
How to leverage AI without sacrificing your unique voice
Thank you to the anonymous person who wanted to Pick My Brain about this topic. I hope you find these 12 strategies for coming up with content ideas helpful. Now, I’d love to know, how do YOU come up with content ideas?
Or which of these tips did you find most helpful?
Come find me on social media and share your takeaways!
Wanna pick my brain? Here are two ways you can:
Visit https://www.speakpipe.com/kimkiel to record a voice note with your question or suggestion. Include your name, email, and background info for context.
Send me a text. When you click this link, it’ll open up your text messenger, where you can text your question directly to me. Leave all the weird numbers that pop up and add your name and email or mobile number so I can keep in touch.
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[00:00:03] Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hello! Welcome back to the Ill Communication Podcast. So when I was growing up, my dad always had this saying, and I'm sure you've heard it too. You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. And while I'm not going to discuss whether or not that is completely true, one thing you can absolutely do is pick my brain. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been gathering listener questions for a new segment I'm launching on the podcast called Pick My Brain. It's a chance for you to ask me anything about copywriting, messaging, marketing, or sales, and it's a way for you to pick my brain and get my take on your particular situation or challenge. And today, we're kicking off this segment with a question I got from an anonymous member of my community.
[00:01:41] The question is, is it hard to think of content for your podcast? You've been very consistent with it. How do you keep coming up with ideas? Thank you so much for this question. And it is true. I've been creating and sharing content every week here on the podcast for 113 episodes over two years. And if I'm honest, it hasn't been all that tough to come up with content ideas. When I first launched, I had a constant stream of ideas, and after the first year I would say yes, the idea flow was a lot slower. But anytime I can't think of an episode or what I want to talk about, I practice what I preach inside the Joy of Copy Club and here on the podcast, I'm constantly giving tips and strategies for how to find content ideas, and so I'm just going to share a lot of those ideas again here, because this is actually what I use when I'm feeling tapped out first. I use my joy of copy cards. Now, this is a collection of recipe cards, writing prompts and content ideas sales formulas that I've created. It's kind of like a recipe box. The old school recipe box, where you have the individual recipe cards inside, and each card has a writing prompt, a sales formula, or a content idea on it. And if I'm sitting here at my desk looking at the deadline, wondering what the heck I'm going to write about or speak about, I will actually pull out this deck of cards and shuffle through it.
[00:03:22] Maybe I'll pull 3 or 4 cards and see which one feels most inspiring to me, or which one is really speaking to me, and I'll just use that as my content prompt and record an episode or write an email about it. I love these cards. I gift them to my clients. I think I should sell them. I haven't figured that out yet, but it's a gold mine of constant ideas. So a little plug for future selling of my Joy of copy cards. But that's exactly what I do when I'm sitting down to record a podcast is I pull one of my cards. Second thing I do is I look at the monthly writing prompts I share inside the Joy of Copy Club Now members every month get four fresh writing prompts. Some of them are from the recipe box, but many of them are fresh, brand new content prompts. So if I'm wondering what the heck to write about, I open that monthly prompt document and find inspiration that way. Number three, I pay attention to the repeating questions or challenges that come up with my clients. And episode 111 about simplicity in your business is a great example of how I used something that was happening in real life with one of my clients to inspire some content. Number four sometimes I just get random ideas about topics and I keep a running list on my whiteboard.
[00:04:43] If I'm out of ideas, I'll look at my whiteboard for topic inspiration. Number five I look at days of the year. Com which will sometimes spark a great idea for a social post or an email or even the podcast. Now go back to episode 90 for an example of how I related blah blah blah day on April 17th to a business related topic. So you can use this tip too. Number six, when I'm tapped out of ideas for coming up with content for my email list or for my podcast, I go to answer the public.com to remind myself about the questions people are googling about copywriting, marketing, entrepreneurship, or sales. Go to episode 25 if you want a deeper dive and a real live example of this in action. Number seven, I review my thank you page survey. I talked about this ninja marketing strategy in episode 40, how the one question survey gives you a constant flow of creative ideas directly from your customers. And for example, I just looked at mine and I see all kinds of people saying they struggle with getting started writing copy. I see a lot of responses that say I don't know where to start, so I should probably create some content around that. Go and check out that episode for how to set this up in your business. Number eight of course, I've used ChatGPT to help me brainstorm topics, and to be honest, I find most of the suggestions pretty generic, but sometimes it provides a stepping stone that leads me to the right idea.
[00:06:28] So use ChatGPT as much or as little as you want. Number nine should be obvious to you, but I pay attention to other content creators and see what they're doing. And if a piece of content that they shared attracts me or gets my attention, then I might consider using a similar approach for me and my audience. For example, my client Rose, recently did a YouTube video on the 20 Tiny Habits That Made Her Rich, and I loved the content. It was awesome. It was short, snappy, easy to consume, and super valuable. So watch for a future episode of the Ill Communication podcast to swipe that idea. Number ten. I ask people in my community for ideas. I've asked my assistant Hannah. I've asked my podcast editor. I ask members of the Joy of Copy Club. I post question stickers on IG to give me some fresh ideas when I'm feeling tapped out. Number 11. It's probably pretty obvious, but I'm using this new pick my Brain segment to help me come up with fresh content. And number 12, my final tip for coming up with content for my email or podcast is that I trust the ideas I get. I don't overthink them because the reality is I do get dozens and dozens of ideas and you're probably the same, but then you probably talk yourself out of it.
[00:07:55] You might tell yourself it's a dumb idea, or somebody else has talked about it that one time. Or maybe you just shrug it off and forget about it altogether. Stop doing that. Those ideas that come to you are coming to you for a reason. And now this is a skill and practice I've had to develop over time. It's very tough in the beginning to trust your own ideas and just sit down and write that email or article or record that podcast episode without overthinking it or trying to be perfect about it. But this is truly the tip that's helped me consistently share content week after week after week. Don't overthink it. Don't judge the ideas and just sit down and do it. So my friend, those are the 12 ways I come up with content. Even when I feel like I'm fresh out of ideas and inspiration. Thank you to the anonymous person who wanted to pick my brain about this topic. I'd love to know how do you come up with content, ideas, or which of these tips you found most helpful. Please come and find me on social media and share your takeaways. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you want to pick my brain, keep listening to find out how you can ask me your questions. Bye for now. Hey my sweet friend, I want to thank you for joining me today.
[00:09:23] I just love creating and sharing content to make your business, and especially writing for your business, a little bit easier, so I'd love to know what your biggest copywriting or marketing questions are. What have you been struggling with, or do you want to pick my brain about a copywriting strategy or a tactic? I'm starting a new Ask Me Anything segment here on the pod. If you have a burning question about business, copywriting or marketing, or if you want to make an episode suggestion, I'm all ears. You can participate in two ways. Number one visit speakpipe.com/kim Keel. There you'll be able to record a voice note with your question or suggestion. Make sure you include your name and your email and maybe a little background info for context. Number two, you can send me a text. In the show notes of this episode. You'll see a link to text me a question or comment. When you click that link, it'll open up your text messenger where you can text me your question directly. Make sure you leave all the weird numbers that pop up, and please add your name and email address or mobile number so I can keep in touch. I can't wait to create these. Ask me anything or pick my brain episode, so please play along. I can't wait to help you solve whatever's blocking you from getting your message out there. Find the links to ask me your questions in the show notes.
Resources Mentioned
To find simplicity in your business listen to Episode 111
Learn how to use days of the year to inspire content by listening to Episode 90
Learn how to use Answer the Public by listening to Episode 25
Listen to Episode 40 to learn how to use a thank you page survey
Additional Resources
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