287: How to create a content strategy and stick to it

I struggle to be consistent… 

Yep - I get it. And also, you might have some type of strategy, posting plan. But how do you actually bring it to life? It is no good sitting on your computer if you don’t use it. 

I am going to share with you the 3 things I do to stay consistent in my own business while also helping my clients stay consistent as well. 

If you LOVED this episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah.

⁠⁠⁠⁠LEARN THE DETAILS OF A CONTENT STRATEGY WITH MY FREE AUDIO GUIDE⁠⁠⁠⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨ The 3 ways you can stick to your content strategy 

✨ How to build the habit to be consistent 

✨ For those who love a plan and those who don’t  

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

This is episode 287, and I'm talking about how to create a content strategy. Content plan and actually stick to it. Welcome to the Content Queen podcast. I'm your host Mariah, entrepreneur storyteller, digital nomad, creative of content bootcamp, and founder of Content Queen. I'm here to teach you how to share your unique story, create content, and market your business with strategy through the channels that work for you.

Each week I'll deliver a story, tell you connect to a powerful strategy around marketing, business, and content creation. I'll also be joined by amazing souls and entrepreneurs who are here to share their own journey. Along with actionable steps help you take your business to a whole new level, to amazing storytelling, powerful and marketing and content strategy.

Let's do it. Hello gang. Alright. We're doing a series, a series of content where it's just me, so that's fun for everyone. Um, I like these. I like these series. And as I talk more about content strategy versus content plan, I feel like it's resonated. So we're gonna continue on this journey. I actually got a really.

Awesome comment. Um, that I just wanna share 'cause I think it's, yeah. It highlights that sometimes we think of these from a different lens, so I'm not gonna read the whole, um, review. But basically the person that left the review sort of spoke about how they felt like they had been looking at things the wrong way.

So back to front. And now they, I have been able to generate from my advice and create the strategy that then infiltrates the plan. And they said there was a. Gentle sisterly care. So think of me as your content queen sister. So I'm here to help you like a big sister. Actually, to be fair, we're gonna call that title 'cause a lot of people I've had in my team over the years and things like that have always said I'm like a big sister, which is funny 'cause I've always been the youngest in my age group.

So I've never, uh, youngest in my friendship group. So I've never felt like a big sister, but like that I'm a little sister to my older brother, who definitely makes me feel like a little sister. Um. But anyway, so of course we spoke last week about how a content plan is not a strategy and a plan is basically what am I gonna post on what days and what does that look like?

Versus a strategy, which is like, what are the goals? Who's the person, what are all the things that I need to put in place to then help me build a plan of how I'm going to communicate with that group of people in alignment with my goals on the right channels? So then as we move into this, we are talking about, okay, well if we've got a strategy, how do we actually make sure we stick to it?

And that is what comes down to how do I stick to a content plan, but how do I stick to the fact that I have put these goals in place? I have thought about this target audience. Like sometimes we can get so lost in the noise. We forget, right? I've had clients that have decided, okay, Instagram is a platform because I wanna run ads, I want to connect with business owners.

And then they go a couple months later, oh my God, why are we on Instagram? The reach is so annoying. Rah, rah, rah. And then I remind 'em of their goal, which is the strategy, and they, oh, yeah. So it's not just about sticking to a content plan, it's also sticking to why am I here and what am I trying to do, and who am I trying to speak to?

Because we can get lost the noise on social media of like, be here, be here, do this, do that, post this type of content, post that type of content. You should be here, you should be doing that. Like there's so many shoulds, so much noise out there that we can get lost along the way. So I think of it like we're going to the gym, right?

We decide, all right, I'm going to the gym. I want to, whatever you want to. Lots of people go to the gym for so many different reasons. So many different reasons, right? Not everyone has the one goal that is weight loss or strength training. It could be 'cause it makes me feel good. It could be because I am recovering from something, surgery, anything.

It could be because it actually, you meet people there and you wanna meet your partner and. You think you like gym people, so maybe you meet your partner gym. I know people that have met their soulmate at the gym, like everyone has a different goal and a reason why they go to the gym. So when you create that plan of what you wanna do and why, and that strategy, then it is easier to stick to it.

But just like the gym, we have to create a habit and there's sort of a process of how we go through that. So. The first thing that we do is we get a program or a plan. So we work out why I wanna go to the gym, what am I trying to achieve? And maybe, you know, at any gym when you sign up, usually you have a PT that gives you a bit of a program.

And I really like that. 'cause then it just allows you to understand what you're doing. So you've got this plan and that plan is in alignment to how. You operate and your goals that PT has made that based on your goals. Or maybe you did, maybe you went, oh, well I know a little bit. Um, or I've gotten some support.

I've watched some videos. I've had a mentor or PT before. I know these are the certain exercises that I want do. So then you learn how you work, right? And everyone is different. So when it comes to creating your strategy, so you've created your strategy, you know. Your audience, the goals, you know what channels you need to be on.

You've got your posting plan, and then you, you know, you've built up all your ideas, your stories, all that fun stuff. Then it comes down to, I guess, building a process. So if you've ever done my content bootcamp or if you've listened to my free audio podcast on content strategy, this is all about navigating the process, working out a way of how you can get things out there, your plan, your, your content plan, but also how you stick to your strategy.

So, as I said, the first thing you gotta do is learn how you work. Are you a super organized person? Like are you the person that needs the actual program at the gym? You need it on a bit of paper and you need to follow it to the absolute tea? Or are you someone that's like, okay, I've got it's loose idea.

I know that my person, I know this, I know that. Like when I mentioned in one of the episodes that is you don't, you, you know, you have a posting plan, you don't have a strategy. The story that I told there was a guy had jumped on social media and he said, oh, I don't do content strategy. I post when I feel like it.

And from intuition, he still has a strategy 'cause he still knows who he wants to talk to. He still knows. Anyway, I had that argument so that if you are that type, maybe you have a loose idea of what you wanna do when you get to the gym. Okay? A loose idea of what you wanna do with your content. And this is a difference between having it in your calendar as a habit versus, okay, I have the whole week to create my content when I feel inspired.

Could this mean that you do it in the last minute? Absolutely. This also means that you should be working a little bit ahead of time. So if you did it on a Friday and the content was set to go out on a Monday, you're still semi-organized, right? But you could be the type of person you need to break up your tasks.

Okay, I need to write on one day. I need to create videos on another day. So this is up to you. How do you work? And this is very similar to how you work on your other tasks. How do you keep your business going? How do you manage your finances? How do you manage your team? How do you manage your admin tasks?

Like have you got a process for that? And try and replicate it with your content. So, again, this can be dependent on the person. I can't tell you, but what works for me In the beginning, I needed to have it in my calendar. I needed to have, okay, I'm blocked out this amount of time on this date to do write my captions.

And once I built that habit, like gym, it's like having a gym bag at the door. Then I morphed into, okay, I just do it on a Tuesday, whatever time of day that I like. And that's sort of where I'm at now. I have the task in my Clickup project management tool, and I know on that day I create the captions or I do the videos.

It does leave room for when I don't necessarily have time or I'm not feeling inspired and I can, I do push that task sometimes. Hence recording my podcast on Monday when it should be done on a Wednesday, the week before. So obviously I'm in this little bit of, um, habit. I've now kind of built a habit where I'm doing it on a Monday, I probably should be doing it on another day.

So I need to work out, okay, how can I undo that habit? So the first one is again, learning how you work. What do you need to succeed? And that is a question for yourself. The second one is processes and super toolkits. So it doesn't matter if you are an intuitive person or super organized person, or a mixture of the two, you need to have something.

That keeps you focused. So if you're someone that gets really easily distracted like me, if you're someone who feels like everything's chaotic. Chaotic NMS. I did a program years ago when I first started bringing on more clients in my kind of agency, and I was building, wanted more people in my team. I needed a way to keep track of everything.

I was using Trello. I found it really hard to. Navigate what my VA was doing, what the girl that was helping me with marketing was doing, like I was just a mess. So I did this program and she called them super toolkits. So basically she helped me find a platform that worked for me, which ended up being Clickup.

Lots of people use Notion monday.com, Asana, Trello. Still people use Trello and it works for them. And then basically I had to create a process for what I did. So when I knew about, so what I was doing for social media, I knew everything that needed to be done. To create social media content. Then I could have my clickup task, and then I had everything that I needed in there, the link to where I write my captions.

The folder to where my images were like it was all in one place because they say you can lose at least 20 minutes task switching, and you can lose so much time just trying to find links to things and it seems ridiculous. But as someone that creates content for 16 businesses at the moment, I spend a lot of time looking for things.

Wow. So I had to create something that kept the documents somewhere. So creating a process, creating a super toolkit as it's called, so that when you go to work on that task, or you know, you go to work on the captions, you go to work in Canberra, it is there for you because you know what happens? Oh, I'll just go find that link, and then next minute you've been scrolling Instagram for 10 minutes because you had to go to Instagram for something and then you forgot why you were there, and the next minute you're like, what was I doing again?

That happens to me on the daily. I'll literally go to go, oh, I just wanted to grab that sound from Instagram for that reel, and then I, something catches my attention and then I've spent five minutes and I've forgotten what's going on here. So this happens to a lot of us with distraction. So basically it's making sure you can eliminate distraction and go, okay, this is what needs to be done now.

We do want it, right? Then of course there's things like, okay, tomorrow is a filming day for my content, so how can I set myself up again? Like the gym bag, having it ready for you? Is it, you know, when you get to your desk, everything's there for you. How can you set yourself up for success so it's not, I'm gonna film videos tomorrow, and then you go to sit at your desk to do the filming.

And your camera's not charged, for example, or, or your phone, or you don't know what you're filming 'cause you haven't planned that. So that's why you have to have a day for that as well. So again, setting up the processes, setting you up for success. And the third one is accountability. How do you reach accountability?

What helps you stay accountable? For me, it's literally my project management tool because I'm very good. At my own inner accountability, I'm my worst enemy because I'm so hard on myself when things don't get done. So I'm my own accountability tool. For others, they need mentors, guides, coaches. That's why a lot of clients end up hiring people to help them like me, because actually they can write content, they can post a video.

They know how to film a video. But when it comes to doing it consistently. They don't have the accountability, so they hire someone to support them in that accountability. Yep. No, I just need someone, so it's like, again, understanding yourself. Maybe right now you're not in the position to hire someone, but can you get that support?

That's why I do content bootcamp as a live round as well, which is kicking off August 25, because I can give you, you can buy the course whenever you want, but some people need that accountability, that call to get their questions answered. But also so that gets done. Like I get it. I buy stuff all the time.

I don't finish them. That's why I created this live round, because I know people want to have that accountability to their gym. Exactly like going to the gym. Right. Some people need to hire a pt, some people need to go to the gym with someone. Like for me to go to the gym now. I used to be really good at going to the gym.

Loved it. Now I really struggle. So who's my accountability partner? Mitch? He is always at me about exercise because it's something that I'm really can't build the habit. So sometimes you just gotta admit that I need help. I can't do this alone. And that is totally okay. It could even be your audience. Oh, well, I've told my audience that I'm gonna post a weekly email, so if I don't do that email, I'm letting them down.

Even though would they know you didn't do it? Probably not. But you've also said you're gonna do it. So in bootcamp, I actually have a link to this really cool quiz and it's helping you work out how you reach accountability. It's not my quiz, but it's very cool and it helps you understand so. How are you gonna reach your accountability?

Can you do it yourself? Can you do it with a calendar reminder and a project management tool? Do you need someone else to help you? Could be a friend, could be us in content bootcamp. It is a vibe, I'm telling you. And just get the help, even if it's an investment. 'cause I'll never forget that same coach that they did the super tool kits with, said to me.

You need help with your Canva graphics. I'm like, I can do them. I hate Canva, but I can do them. She's like, how long does it take you per week? And I'm like, probably like two hours on a good week. And she's like, and what if you charge yourself a hundred dollars an hour? That's $200. You could pay someone less to do that.

'cause no one, you are not gonna pay someone a hundred dollars now do your can graphics. Yeah. Good point. Good point. Sometimes it is just worth paying the money. Like I, when I started my side hustle, I had no time to cook food. I don't really enjoy cooking unless I need, I do it with love and I've got time.

So I bought the Yu Foods, was it whatever we know about Yu Foods now, I don't actually know to be honest about health and whatever they use in their ingredients, but it saved me time and it allowed me to work on something that I really loved. So if content strategy or content marketing. You know, one day you wanna outsource it or you enjoy it, but you're just not consistent with it.

Just get the help. Just get the support, whether it's me or not, I don't care. Just get help. You can't join bootcamp though. I'll put the link in the show notes. We are kicking off August 25 with the live round. We have one. The first week is a homework week. The second week is a live call. We do three live calls and it'll just, you can just smash it out and just get started straight away.

So I'm gonna leave you with that. So to create a content strategy and stick to it, learn how you work, create your super tool kits and your processes, and help yourself with accountability. It, it sounds simple, but it can be, we can, it can definitely be simple. And thank you to the person that left the review.

I absolutely loved it. Please continue to leave a rating and review. I know people do the five stars on. Spotify, but if you also leave a comment that would be amazing and be a content queen or king, and remember that developing your strategy and story develops your business. Thank you so much for joining me today, and please don't forget to share this with all your business and entrepreneurial friends.

You can do this by adding it to your Insta Stories and taking me at content Queen Mariah, or just tell 'em about it. If you do rate and review on whatever platform you listen to this on, it does help me get this message out there and we get more amazing guests, which are coming up very soon. Follow us on Instagram or TikTok and if you want me to talk about a certain topic in the future, I'll be planning more content soon.

So please do and I'll talk you soon. Bye.

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment