If you are looking for ways to streamline your wellness business, then batching content is a place to start. Batching content is kind of like meal preparation. It takes a lot of work to get everything done, but it makes the rest of the month a breeze.
Why you should batch content
There are several reasons for batching content:
- you can work on one thing at a time for multiple pieces of content. This means you are not content switching (changing from one thing to another)
- It means you have the rest of the month to spend on other projects. You are not spending all your time on the content creation hamster wheel.
- It makes it easier to have content ready ahead of time.
- It is easier to delegate parts of the process if you batch content. You could hire a VA to publish and create graphics and social media posts for multiple pieces of content each month.
- You can create related pieces of content more easily
Ways to batch content
There is more than one way to batch content. Part of it depends on how you work best. You need to start by dividing your content creation process into the task needed for producing the content. My blog post tasks include:
- Generating ideas
- Outlining
- Researching
- Writing the first draft
- Editing
- Creating graphics
- Publishing on WordPress
- Sharing on social media, in newsletters
You can work on these tasks on more than one post at once. For January I created 4 posts using this checklist.
Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these areas so you can get an idea of the process.
Generating ideas
I’m constantly coming up with blog post ideas. I read a new article in the news, or hear someone complaining about something. I keep a list in a note taking app where I quickly jot down any ideas.
Once a month I review these ideas and decide what topics to cover for the next month. And is there anything else I’ve already covered that needs to be updated? This is a short part of the process and can be fit in when I have some spare time.
Outlining
Once you have an idea of your blog topics You can spend some time outlining all of the posts at once. If you do these together, it helps to keep the format of your posts consistent.
Researching
If you need to do some up front research, you can have a web surfing research session. This may also help you generate new ideas for your brainstorming list.
First draft writing
This is probably the longest time you will need for the entire process. You won’t likely be able to get all the monthly content done in one sitting. But do set aside time for just writing.
Editing
Editing is where your posts come alive. But when you are writing blog posts to go out tomorrow, there often isn’t enough time for editing. This is where you check for spelling and grammar mistakes and make sure that the post flows. Don’t try to do this at the same time you are writing your first drafts. Editing is a different process and requires a different type of thinking.
Creating images
Creating images is definitely a context switch from writing and editing. But once you get started it’s far easier to create several images at once. You can create social media images as well as blog post images all at the same time. You can find some ideas for using stock images in this blog post.
If you are doing your own photography then you’ll want to schedule a session for this as well each month.
Publishing on Your Website
Here is another context switch. Creating several posts at once is easier and more efficient than just one at a time. And it allows you to keep the posts consistent. If you don’t want them all published on the same day, then keep them as drafts until you are ready to publish.
Sharing on social media and in newsletters
Having content done early allows you to create a monthly content plan for social media and for your newsletters. If the content is still in the draft stage, you can still create draft posts and newsletters and fill in the links at the appropriate time.
Find what works for you
How you decide to batch content depends on how your brain works. You need to find a routine that works for you. Each of the stages of content creation uses a different mindset. You might easily and actually work best when you flip between the different mindsets.
And you can set aside times each day, each week, or each month that are dedicated to content creation. You will probably want to set aside different times for draft creation, than editing or planning.
Summary
I hope this post has helped you see the advantages of creating content in batches. And it should provide you with a framework that you can use to develop your content creation plan. This plan mainly focuses on blog posts, but could be easily adapted to other content types like podcasts and video content.
References:
https://www.craftyourcontent.com/why-create-content-in-batches/