346: I am feeling exhausted over creating content - HELP?!

"Content is exhausting. I don't have time." If you're throwing something up at 5pm just to have posted, and it still drains you, this one is for you.

I hear this over and over, and it's the exact reason people come to us for help. This week I'm walking through a few ways to make content feel lighter and more sustainable, so you're not stuck on the hamster wheel or ghosting your audience the second you go on holiday. I'm also doing a free 90-minute live masterclass with Lucy Shrimpton on Thursday 15 October (12pm to 1:30pm UK time), where we'll build your aligned content plan together. Link below.

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 👇

✨ Work out which part of content is actually draining you (video, writing, planning or ideas) and ask whether it can be outsourced, to a person or to AI

✨ It's often the admin around content that exhausts us, not the creating. Map the process into an SOP and batch tasks on set days

✨ Look at where you're showing up. Posting less, or choosing a channel that energises you, can give you more return for effort

✨ Pull from what you already have: old newsletters, webinars, client calls and everyday stories

✨ Build a bank of content in your quieter periods so you're never scrambling at 5pm or going silent when you need a break

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

Mariah: [00:00:00] This is episode 346, and we're talking all about feeling exhausted over content creation and what we need to do about it. Welcome to the Content Queen podcast. I'm your host, Mariah, entrepreneur, storyteller, digital nomad, creator of Content Bootcamp, and founder of Content Queen, with over 10 years experience in marketing.

This podcast is here to help you create your own aligned content marketing strategy by blending strategy and storytelling. So let's get into it. All right. Before we start the episode, I wanna let you know that I am doing a free 90-minute masterclass with the amazing Lucy Shrimpson, who came on the podcast in February this year, talking all about recalibration, episode 319.

I'll put the link in the show notes. But anyway, we're joining forces to create a masterclass really to help her e-school, as well as all of you, with content, right? So [00:01:00] with the exhaustion, the hamster wheel, all the things. So I haven't done many... a masterclass, a live one, in a really long time. So we're going through three different stages of strategy and how to create that sort of aligned plan, and it's free.

So I'll put the link in the show notes. If you wanna join, you can check out the times if it works for you. Love to see you there. Really excited about this. Really excited to collaborate with Lucy, because she's really about recalibrating your business to suit your lifestyle, and that's what I do with the marketing side of things.

So very keen to talk to her audience and you guys if you wanna join, 'cause we're giving you access to this. So check out the link in the show notes. So I hear this over and over and over again. "Content is exhausting. I don't have time." And most of the time it's like, "Oh, I've gotta post something, so I'll throw something up because I don't have the time and the energy.

And when I do have the time, it feels really exhausting. It feels like a [00:02:00] lot of work." Now, if that is you, you are not alone, because I've ran lots of online masterclasses, like the one I'm doing with Lucy. I've done in-person workshops. I've done... served loads of business owners. The reason why people hire us to help them is because of this specific pain point.

It is exhausting. It is tiring. However We don't want that to happen. We don't want it to be exhausting. It shouldn't be exhausting. It should be helping you connect with the people on the other end of their computer, phone, iPad, however they're consuming, right? So what I wanna do is go through sort of three valuable things that are going to help you put the motions in place to help it not be so exhausting, to help you feel like you are on top of things.

Because what ends up happening, we don't feel like we're on top of our marketing. We feel like it's always sporadic, it's always last minute, it's always in the moment, rather than it being calculated and done in alignment with what you're doing in your business, what you're [00:03:00] doing in your life, and all the things.

So, like, as soon as you go on holidays to actually have a break, all of a sudden your audience is ghosted, right? So this is what we wanna do. We wanna create those aligned plans. So the first thing is, what I want you to look at is reassess what you're currently doing. What is actually exhausting you? What part of it?

Is it video? Is it writing? Is it the planning process? Is it thinking of ideas? So where do you feel like most of your time is going? Reassess that. Have a look at it. Then ask yourself, "Are these things that aren't energizing, can they be outsourced? Is there another way in which I can do it?" And really, it's about reflecting on investing in time.

I remember I used to do my own Canva graphics because I was trying to save money And I remember someone said to me, "Okay, well, if you charge $100 an hour and it's taking you two hours or more to do the graphics, that's $200 per week," [00:04:00] right? I don't like Canva graphics. I don't like doing graphics at all. I actually...

It, it, it makes me feel really overwhelmed. So for me, I was like, "Well, that makes sense to invest my time into something else to help me grow the business." So if someone else is doing that, I can be over here doing this, which may be a more revenue-generating activity. So whilst ov- outsourcing... Or it could be to AI as well.

It doesn't have to be to a VA, or a content manager, or a social media manager, or a content marketer, whatever it is. Could be to AI. But if you're saying, "Oh, well, investing in someone feels overwhelming. I feel like I'm not there yet," all those things, you're never gonna feel ready, to be honest. But also, the time and energy in which it takes you to do the thing, someone else could be doing it for you.

Even for me, I actually outsourced cooking when I was living in a share house. I started buying new foods because I thought my time was better spent in my [00:05:00] business. So things like that, right? Doesn't always have to be... Could be generally what doesn't light you up. So then maybe the marketing doesn't feel as exhausting 'cause you don't have a million other things on your to-do list, right?

So think about that, yeah. What is not lighting me up? What is... What am I finding exhausting? Can I outsource it? If I can't, can I change? Can I redirect that in some way? If it is video content, can I do it in a different way in which is more energizing? So it's about reinventing and reinvigorating how you are spending your time.

The second thing is looking at where you're actually showing up. So if it's social media specifically, are there other places that give you more return for effort? Is recording a video or a podcast for 20 minutes per week and utilizing the key themes of that in your social media feel like a more energizing activity, feel more like you're getting more bang for your buck than trying to think of X amount of posts per week for social media?[00:06:00] 

If you like talking or you like writing, can you utilize that in content that energizes you rather makes you feel exhausted? And I get it. I don't know that it's necessarily the creation of the content that is exhausting. I do believe it's the admin that goes around it. So where you're showing up, look at the processes.

What needs to happen to make that social media post go live or that blog or that podcast? Map it out. Map it out into a project management or a SOP so that when you are doing it, you know exactly what needs to happen, and then you can align it to different days. Maybe on a Friday with a good playlist, you could schedule all of your social media posts.

You know, I try to batch tasks as well. So maybe on one day it's more of an admin day or a planning day versus a planning day having to be every day. So then my energy is directed at that one thing, [00:07:00] and it doesn't feel so exhausting. Of course, because I have clients and I do content for them, sometimes I get pulled in different directions, so maybe not every day is perfect, but it's looking at where I'm showing up and what that looks like, right?

Then if it is social media, is it a frequency thing? Are you actually posting too much and you need to scale it back so that you can get some energy back? You know, so you don't just ghost your audience. You're still showing up in some capacity. It just may look a little different while you are regaining momentum and energy And really, it's, it's not about just like shutting the platform and never doing it again and just going, "Okay, I'm done with this.

I'm so tired." 'Cause you don't wanna get to the point where you're burnt out, then you don't post on those channels or platforms at all, and then you have to get the energy to get back on them. So how, if you are feeling exhausted right now, how can we create a plan that is sustainable for you while you regain momentum?

I just wanna hijack this episode to tell you about something that is generally [00:08:00] helping and changing the game for business owners that I work with. So if you're sitting there at 5:00 PM scrambling, not sure what to do, what to post, you are not alone. And I have in fact been there along with many other businesses that I've worked with, getting to my laptop, throwing something together, pushing it out there, throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Now, this is not strategy and it really feels like survival. That is why I created Content Boot Camp. It is my signature program that takes you through the seven steps to create a really intentional and aligned content strategy for your business, one that is actually documented, is actually for you, and actually gets results.

So there's no more guessing, no more winging it, and no more content hamster wheel. By the end of your journey in Content Boot Camp, you'll have a clear plan on what to post, where to post it, and why, plus the confidence to actually execute it. And you're not doing it alone because I do live calls all the time, so you'll get access to me.

I can help you with your strategy and a community of other business owners that are doing the same thing. [00:09:00] You'll also get lifetime access, so if your business evolves and grows and changes, it will grow and evolve and change with you. So if you are ready to stop winging it and start being intentional with your marketing, get a strategy behind you, head to contentqueenmoriah.com, check out boot camp, Content Boot Camp.

I would love to see you there. And then the third point is what do you already have? Do you have newsletters or pieces of content that you've written somewhere in archives? Have you done masterclasses, webinars, all these things where you've got all of this content? You know, how can you pull from things you already have to keep things going, to keep your mind sort of energized in other places so you're not having to think about all the content and all the things?

Also, if it's new ideas or fresh things coming into your mind, what do you have around you? Stories from your every day that you could pull into your content so that you aren't having to think all the time, think of [00:10:00] new things. Always be, you know, you're reading books, listening to podcasts. There'd be so much in all those things that you can utilize in your content, so you feel like you're not having to reinvent the wheel every day when you have to post something.

So really, content creation, you can reframe it in a way of com- having to come up with something to, like, how can I notice what's around me or use what's already there? How many client calls do you have per week, or how many times are you chatting with your clients and you can utilize that in your content, right?

And then it is about finding the platforms that do energize you. So looking at what, where you're already creating and what is it about that that you may like and not like. So going back to point one where you're reassessing, and how can that give you some insight into places that maybe will energize you a little bit more and you won't feel as exhausted.

So if you really like Instagram because you love reading people's captions, like long form, or you like writing captions, maybe that's an indicator of the content in which you could focus on. [00:11:00] If you really like talking on camera or you like sharing your voice in some way, like voiceover and video, trying to find those things.

I actually have a quiz. I'll put it in the show notes. It's about asking you some questions to find out what channels may work for you, not the ones that everyone else is saying. Not Mary, who you went to coffee with, that said, "Oh, you should start a YouTube because YouTube is really popular at the moment, and I'm seeing all this stuff happening on YouTube, so you should do that."

It's about aligning to the channels that work for you, obviously in alignment with where your audience is as well. But pulling from that, on the channels I'm currently on, what is it that lights me up and energizes me, right? So assess what you're currently doing, look at where you're showing up, and can you just cut back a little bit to power forward?

And also, where, how can you pull from what you already have around you? It's not always about creating new, new, new. It's just being sustainable with what you have. And as I said, making a process and a plan is really [00:12:00] important for helping you not get exhausted with your content. So as I said, processes, project management, outsourcing, having the operations in place because marketing is part of your ov- overall operations, and if you're not streamlining that, it can be really challenging.

So when you do wanna go away on holidays or you just need a break, you can't do that. So when you have more quiet periods in your business or things like that, also, how can you batch things for later on when you are busy? I have a client that does lots of markets, and they wanna stay consistent while those markets are sort of happening and making all the product for the markets.

So it's like, okay, well, in the off-season of markets or the times that you don't have them, how can you create a bank of content? Because what she found was happening is She would get to 5:00 PM and have to post something, and then post something. And then, yeah, it may do well. Like, she had a post that did really well over the weekend, but it wasn't necessarily aligned to her business.

Does that always matter? [00:13:00] No. But we can't keep that up because then eventually people will go, "What is this page for?" So that's why we're creating her strategy and her plan. But really, it is about having those... So I said to her, "If we have those things in the bank and you go, 'Oh, I do need to post something...'"

I mean, ideally she'll have it scheduled after she's done bootcamp, but then it's like, "Oh, I have stuff in the bank that I can use." So at the end of the day, I, we all get exhausted by content. Sometimes it is okay to just shut the app and have a break, but if we can create these sustainable plans, first by reviewing and then creating a plan moving forward, we can eliminate this from happening before it gets too much and too overwhelming.

So start thinking about being a bit more strategic, having that plan, having that focus, and that's why th- we, we built this workshop, essentially. People are feeling exhausted, they're overwhelmed, they don't know where to start, and having a content marketing strategy is the place to start. It's just sitting down and getting it happening.

So all you have to do is commit to a, the [00:14:00] calendar invite. So you just sign up, calendar invite, and then you can join us and we'll take you through it, and then you already... That's, like, the first step is showing up. It's like going to the gym, right? You just gotta get there. Once you're there, it's fine. So signing up is the first step, and then we will take it from there when I see you on the workshop.

It is on October 15th, so if you're not listening to this in this period of time, then click on the link in the show notes. Anyway, we'll get it updated with... You can join her, uh, Lucy's E. School, and it'll be there available for everyone. So I will make a mental note to update that if you're not listening to this live.

But definitely I've got other resources that could help you. My, uh, audio guide, which is taking you through strategy. Just make one commitment to getting this sorted, 'cause it won't happen without that commitment. 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 tagging [00:15:00] me, @contentqueendomaria, or just tell them about it. If you do rate and review on whatever platform you're listening to this on, it does help me get this message out there and share more wisdom, but also get more amazing guests on the show moving forward.

So if you love the guests, keep rate and review. If you have any topics you want me to talk about in the future, please let me know. You can follow me, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, all the places. I'd love to hear from you, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

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