One of my favorite content creation techniques is to repurpose blog content in order to get more mileage out of my work. More importantly, it allows me to reach a wider audience. Not everyone likes to read (GASP!) and some people learn better by listening or watching a video or actually doing.
You can repurpose blog content by putting it into a different format. You can expand your reach by using different platforms and get more bang for your creative buck.
Ways You can Repurpose Blog Content
#1: Make it into an audio or podcast.
You’ve got it written out… all you need to do is record it! So, turn on your computer’s voice recorder and use either an external or the built-in mic (sound quality is important but built-ins have become better and better over the years). Read your podcast. Try not to rush through it and more fun, you get to emphasize the stuff you want to emphasize that sometimes doesn’t come through with the written word. (THINK BOLD CAPS!)
#2: Make it into a video.
There are several ways to do this.
- Record yourself on or off camera reading the post or (better), jot down bullet points from the blog post and speak extemporaneously. If you know your subject matter, the bullet points will keep you on track and you won’t sound as stiff as you might if you read it straight from a page.
- Take the blog post and make a PowerPoint presentation from it. Then record it, using a screen capture program such as Camtasia, Screencastomatic (best deal on the internet at $15 a year), Zoom.us (another great deal), or if you are doing a very short video, Jing.org.
- Really cool version (yeah, I’m a geek): Use Lumen5.com (again, it’s FREE!). Upload your blog post. Then drag and drop video clips to create a video. Lumen breaks your post up into short sentences so you will probably want to edit as you go. List-style blog posts work really well with this. Here’s a video I did using Lumen5: How Do I Write a Book?
#3: Make it into a Worksheet
This won’t work for every blog post, of course, but when you have a how-to post, it is fairly easy to turn it into a worksheet or checklist. You can then use the worksheet as a handout at a live event or offer it as a free download and collect names and email addresses to build your list.
#4: Create a Webinar or Live Coaching
This will probably entail using more than one blog post, but if you have related blog posts, think about putting them together and building a live training from them. A webinar can be anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes long; most are around 45 minutes of content (with up to another 45 minutes of sell job). A webinar is a great way to showcase your expertise as well as help people on your list. Win/Win. And no, you don’t have to do a sell job on every webinar! Or any, for that matter. If you have products or services and you’d like to mention them, do so, of course. Just try to create a positive ratio of content to sales talk.
#5: Create an Email Series
Use your blog content to do an email series, either splitting one post up into a series or combining posts to create a series. For instance, if you have a post on 7 Ways to Do Whatever, you can send a series of 7 emails, each with one of the ways. If you have several short blog posts that would make a good series, then take material from them, put them in a logical order and send them out. This works both ways: If you have an email series, you may be able to create a string of blog posts from it.
I had a “Tip of the Week” that I sent out for over a year. I took that series of email tips and turned it into a short book to use as a lead generator. (See “The Best Way to Repurpose Blog Content” below.)
#6: Create a Mini-Course
Take that 7 Ways to Do Whatever post and go deep on each of the ways. Add details, examples, etc. and create a mini-course from your blog post. You can sell it or use it as a freebie to add to your list. Or just give it to people on your list as a thank you for following you.
#7: Do a Facebook Live or Instagram Video
Take the top three (or however many) points or ideas from your blog post and use them to do a Facebook live. You can go into one or more in detail if you wish or use the post as a jumping off point to spark ideas. Ask your live audience for their ideas on the subject. At the end of your live broadcast, don’t forget to invite people to read the original post and put an easy link to it. Or, you can record a short (under 60 seconds) video talking about one or two points of the post, put it on Instagram and link it back to your blog.
The Best Way to Repurpose Blog Content
#8: Make a Book
If you have 25 posts or more, you have the basic material for a book. It won’t be the great American novel but it could be a great lead generator or introduction to you and your services. You will need to “massage” the material a bit and I recommend adding some material that people can’t get for free on your blog, but this is an easy-peasy way to put out a book. (And yes, stay tuned: I have a coaching program coming soon to help you do just this.)
Sometimes the sheer amount of content we need to write in order to please the content marketing gods can be overwhelming. How do we manage to put out a blog post a week (or more), a podcast, YouTube videos, social media posts, stay-in-touch emails, and the list goes on and on. Very few people are following everything you do across all platforms. (Those that do follow everything you do are probably stalkers—be very afraid!) If you repurpose blog content, you have a second, third, or even fourth chance to engage someone who may have either missed the material the first time around or who didn’t quite “get it” the first time around. Everyone learns differently. I do best when I read AND take notes. Some people learn best by listening. When you repurpose your content into various formats, you are ensuring that more of your people have access to your wisdom.
Have you re-purposed any of your blog content? How? Let me know in the comments below.
