Every month we do an exclusive “Fire Side Chat” with our Elite Mastermind Tribe, Fire Nation Elite.
The purpose is to get everyone together in one place for a solid hour where we can make announcements and talk about what’s coming up for the Tribe, in addition to giving our Tribe full access to us to ask questions, bounce ideas off from one another and to just hang out!
We recently started inviting folks on the “hot seat”, where we breakdown their business or something they’re struggling with right now and give them targeted, actionable advice they can take and implement right away.
During our last Fire Side Chat, one of our Elites asked about her podcast idea. She knew she wanted to start a podcast, but she was really struggling with the actual content – what would she talk about?
She already has an existing business, a website, and a blog, but she wasn’t really sure how to translate what she has to offer her audience into an audio episode format that would be of value. She was wondering if her podcast might take the route of another topic entirely, or if maybe it somehow could be related to her existing business.
My wheels started spinning, and I jumped in to offer my advice.
“Why not leverage your podcast in order to take some of your best content and repurpose that into an audio format so that your audience members who might not watch videos or read blog posts can access that content as well?”
How to repurpose your content in a meaningful way
Repurposing content can be very powerful if you do it in a meaningful way. The power of repurposing your content comes from taking your best work and then leveraging multiple mediums in order to share that content with a wider audience.
With how easy it is for content consumers to get a hold of what they want, how they want it, we, as content creators, need to start putting our content out there through multiple mediums so that our audience can decide how they consume it.
Making repurposing your content meaningful for both you and your audience requires checking these 3 things off your list before doing it.
1. Review
Just because you put a piece of content out there doesn’t necessarily mean it should be repurposed. I like to do a review of my best work that I know resonates well with my audience based on the feedback they give me and then use that to repurpose.
It’s like getting a thumbs up, or a green light: if I know my readers on the blog like it, then chances are my listeners on the podcast will like it, too.
2. Plan
Repurposing your content in a meaningful way takes a lot of planning. I’ve been writing on the blog for over a year and a half, and I only just recently decided to launch Kate’s Take: The EntrepreneurOnFire Audio Blog in order to start repurposing my blog content and publishing it as a podcast episode.
In order to bring my readers and my listeners the most value, I planned out what creating an audio blog was going to look like. Things like frequency and format were big factors and both important things for me to sit down and plan out prior to launching.
Another important part of planning is to understand your desired outcomes each time you decide to repurpose a piece of content. This will also help you understand which mediums or channels you want to leverage.
Don’t just repurpose something to repurpose it, repurpose it because it’s going to drive people to a specific page, or encourage them to take a certain action that’s going to help you reach your goals – whether that be list-building, website traffic, or podcast downloads, it should be something.
3. Connect
Once you’ve done your review and laid out some sort of plan for repurposing a piece of content, the last step is to make sure that it’s connected. This is the power behind repurposing and leveraging multiple mediums: if you can connect that content by making it work together, then you’ll be directing your target audience exactly where you want them to go.
An example
Let’s say you publish a blog post that really resonates with your audience. You’re receiving a lot of social shares, comments and emails from those who really appreciate the value you provided within.
Because you’re getting such great feedback, you decide to take that same blog post content create a plan to:
– Expand it into an opt-in giveaway with added resources, which will help you grow your email list;
– Record a free video tutorial that walks people through how to use the resources you recommended in your opt-in;
– Create an infographic that gives people a visual look at the content;
– Add it to your “Top 10 Blog Posts” feature on your site that people can visit to see what your content is all about.
Now the power lies in you being able to connect these pieces through a call to action, which is what will ensure you’ve repurposed your content in a meaningful way.
Let’s say your #1 goal in creating this particular blog post was to get people to opt-in to your email list. So, at the end of the post, you tell people that:
If you enjoyed the content in this post, then you’re going to love this free giveaway I created for you on the Top 5 ways to do what I just shared with you, resources included. Because you’re working on repurposing that content and adding resources, there’s your connection between the post and the opt-in giveaway.
Then, comes the free video tutorial, which you could post on your YouTube channel or on social media as a teaser video to join your newsletter list. The video will talk about those resources you added to the opt-in giveaway, and end by directing people to an opt-in page where they can download the actual giveaway itself as a guide to do whatever it is you’re teaching them to do.
The infographic is a great piece to add to the blog post itself, and also for use on social media to promote your post. The infographic will lead people directly back to the blog post, which will be giving them the call to action to opt-in to your email list.
By adding this post to your “Top 10 Blog Posts” list, you’ll be catching those website visitor who might be brand new, and who may not be familiar with your blog content just yet. When they see this post at the top of your list, they’ll check it out, and again see that call to action to opt-in to your email list.
So from just 1 blog post that resonated with your audience, you’ve repurposed the same content in order to reach people on 3 separate mediums that will all be working towards a common goal, and that’s growing your email list (your website, your YouTube channel, and social media).
The power of repurposing and leveraging multiple mediums
Repurposing your content can be very powerful if you do it in a meaningful way. It should not only be for your own benefit (in order to reach a wider audience), it should always make sense for those who are consuming your content, as well. If you’re just repurposing something to repurpose it, then that’s not a good enough reason to do it.
Also, always make sure your content is working together so that you’re fully leveraging the multiple mediums you’re publishing on in order to achieve your goals. When repurposing, your content should carry the same message and the same call to action for maximum benefit.
Your turn! Do you repurpose your content and then leverage multiple mediums in order to reach a wider audience? If so, let us know what’s been working for you in the comments section below!
