My Go-To Guide to Recycle Content

Not everyone can be Walt Disney in meetings.

Not everyone can be J.K. Rowling on the laptop.?

But there is a creative rhythm I swear by that has a well of great ideas just waiting to be tapped into.

The hack? Recycling Content.?

Aka: repurposing content you’ve worked hard on in the past.

It helps you breathe life into your old content and make it more relevant to your current scenario.

Repurposing has some major health benefits for you and your brand:

• Be present on more than 1 platform without tiring yourself out
• Maintain a publishing cadence even when you aren’t at your creative best
• Make wise use of the efforts you’ve already put in and take them in front of new eyes
• Challenge yourself by trying to find ways to say 1 thing a 1000 different ways

I can’t take credit for this idea. Gary’s been chiming this bell for years. So today I’ll break down how he and others multiply their content.?

Pause your Spotify jam and let’s dig in.

Playing (Platform) Dress-Up

What works on Twitter doesn’t work on LinkedIn.

What works on Instagram doesn’t work on YouTube.

Each platform has its own quirks.

So dress your content the way people like to see it.

Show up at Cannes in a T-shirt and blue jeans, you’re not gonna land a meeting. and?

Show up to TED’s Flagship Conference with the latest apple watch, black t-shirt, and allbirds, you’ll get some head nods and smiles.

Below is a framework that you can use to position your brand voice on different platforms:

Make sure your tone of voice and positioning isn’t too different across platforms. Aim for adjectives that are closer to each other.

You cannot be cheerful on Twitter and very matter-of-fact on LinkedIn.

But you can be playful on Twitter and conversational on LinkedIn.

1 Content ~ 10 pieces of content

1 blog post/article can be transformed into 10 different pieces. How?

• Break down the themes/subheadings of the blog into separate pieces.
• Use the juiciest stuff in videos and tweets as these are highly inflammable content types.
• The most insightful ideas can be created into carousels on Instagram or LinkedIn.
• The examples in the blog posts can be separate posts that explain your case.

Some content types you can create:

• How-to guides (videos, carousels)
• Feature clips (give folks a sneak peek into what’s coming)
• Lead magnets (combine your top ideas into checklists or cheat sheets and grow your email list)
• Quotes (create hype by sharing wisdom nuggets)
• Short podcasts (10 minutes pods that your audience can listen on the go)
• Q&A’s (ask your audience’s troubles and respond with existing content)
• Free workshop (take your best performing content and put it in a workshop, drive more leads)
• Make it a GIF (funny is the new cool)

This article by Justin Welsh will help you convert 1 bomb idea into 5 different ones.

This article by Sprout Social does a chef's kiss-worthy breakdown of repurposing Instagram content.

Tools that help you repurpose faster

Here are 5 tools that make repurposing easy peasy:

HubSpot Downloadable Ebook Templates: Great base to start creating lead magnets out of long-form content (written or video).

Create Visual Content On Canva: Make infographics, carousels, quotes, GIPHYs, and video clips all on Canva using thousands of pre-existing templates.

Different Types Of Videos Using Kapwing: Resize, trim, generate memes, and convert video into audio all on one dashboard.

Merch-It With Spreadshirt: Take a step ahead and turn your ideas into tangible things. Create and sell personalized mugs, tote bags, and shirts.

BuzzSumo Supercharges Your Content: Stay updated with what’s trending so you know what to create.

Take this playbook and run with it

If you enjoyed today’s breakdown, share it with a friend.

And if you want a laugh of the day: you can click this link to last year’s blog that I recycled to make this entire newsletter. Don’t tell anyone…

?? Riff of the Day

Reminder:?

Thanks for reading. Got feedback? Let me know.

Stay outta’ trouble.

??? Joel

Wanna learn more about storytelling? Check out my class in October.

You can also hit me up on n my Website, Twitter or LinkedIn.