How to Create Fresh Content Ideas for Your Blog/Social Media...by Stealing*

*I don’t really mean that.

Well, I do mean it a little…(I’ll explain further below.)

Worrying about ‘being original’ is one of the classic barriers to consistent content creation. Coaches trying to generate new blog, video or social media ideas can get paralyzed because they tend to feel, well...

“What I want to say has already been said a million times.”

Of course it has! We are ALL writing stuff that’s ‘already been written.’ But also, no one has said it the way YOU will say it. Nobody’s put the exact information together and articulated it in the exact same way you will with your perspective, your particular words, images, etc.

And here’s another thing: Go ahead and steal. That is, after all, how art is made. Picasso once said: “Good artists copy; great artists steal.”

Beethoven “stole” from Mozart, Brahms “stole” from Beethoven, and so on. Brahms famously said, after a critic pointed out that a piece of his music sounded like Beethoven, “Of course it does. Any horse’s ass knows that it sounds like Beethoven.”

Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean plagiarize. What I mean is, if you see a piece of content you think your Tribe would love, you can:

• ONE: Riff on it. Play around with the same idea, take inspiration from it – maybe even paraphrase part of it. (But never quote without attribution.)
• TWO: Just SHARE it, adding a few of your own thoughts on it. Or even easier...
• THREE: Share it and just add a question to it: “Is this true for YOU?” or “Do you agree with this?”

If you love the subject or quote, then steal like an artist and share it with your Tribe. To quote one artist who specializes in repurposing other’s art, “Bottom line, nothing is original. All creative work comes from what came before.”

So… “Rip off everyone you know, follow or admire; bring that stuff back to your desk, combine it with your own ideas and thoughts, transform it into something completely new, and then put it out into the world so others can steal from you.”

[And if you’d like to steal some know-how on improving your website’s conversion of visitors to subscribers and clients, keep reading to find out how to get my 10 Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make on Their Homepage -- link at bottom of page.]

A similar barrier to fresh content creation is the thought that...

"Anyone can find similar info online."

“HEY ­– it’s all available for free with a quick Google search, so why should I bother?”

OK. But here’s the thing: going out on the internet and searching all over for various bits of information versus having that information packaged for you in a certain way and brought TO you in your email or social media feed – c’mon!

This is the value of paying for a course where someone has curated the information and made it more understandable, easier to find, and easier to put into action.

I just got a book from Amazon. It’s a used book: What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School. And I think it cost me like seven bucks. When I got the book, there was a little price sticker on it for $1.50. It occurred to me that this popular book, I could have found it at a garage sale somewhere for a buck or buck-fifty, right?

But I paid more than four times that much because Amazon and their associated booksellers have done me the favor of making it easier to find it and gazillions of other books in one place. And for that benefit, I happily pay five, six, seven times the price that I might have paid had I somehow found it at a garage sale.

And so...

This is the value of your solid blog; of a good webinar; even a smart social media post. You’re delivering a package of value right to them so they don’t have to go out and find it.

In sum…

Be a collector, curator, and even a (respectful) copier...

Share others’ great content that educates, inspires, or entertains your Tribe. And don’t make the classic coach mistake of thinking, “It’s already been said” or, “They can just Google my solutions.”

And speaking of mistakes coaches make, CLICK HERE to grab my complimentary checklist, The 10 Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make on Their Homepage. It’s likely you’re making one or more of these (very fixable) mistakes that impact your business.

What are your thoughts on this topic? I'd love to know. Shoot me an email at [email protected] or DM me on Instagram @alanpbrown.

Until next time, remember: Whatever’s in your way is yours to CRUSH!

 APB

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P.S. Do you find writing new content for your blogs, videos or social media posts um, hard? You're not alone. It is indeed hard. And yet new content is critical in building your awareness and reputation.

That's why I created my 7 Hacks for Faster and Easier Writing cheat sheet, sharing some of my best writing tricks from 30 years of making a living creating content (despite a few learning disabilities – so if they work for me, they’ll work even better for YOU).

Click here to grab this indispensable cheat sheet.