It happens to all of us.  We sit at our computers feeling completely blank, uninspired, unmotivated for what to put out into the world.  Days turn into weeks and the pressure mounts.  Now it’s been so long you feel you HAVE TO put out something amazing!!

I know this cycle all too well!  Which is why I’m working on changing things up around here. With the end of the year quickly approaching I’ve been reviewing and reflecting to see what’s been working and what definitely needs some tweaking in my business.

Content creation is definitely one of those areas!  My goal is to be more consistent, streamlined, organized and purposeful with the content I create whether it’s for blog posts, Instagram, Facebook or my emails.

Sometimes all you need to get the creative juices flowing is a little trigger which is why I did my research and created a calendar for January with some fun offbeat holidays that we can use to jump start our content creation.

I’m more than happy to share this calendar with you so it will hopefully make your biz life a bit easier too.  As you look through the holidays, see which ones resonate with both you and your audience.  Start looking through your photos to see which ones you can use for the posts.

Let’s go through some as examples to see how you can relate these holidays to content creation:

January 2 – Motivation & Inspiration Day

• Post your favorite inspirational quote
• Photographers – What inspires you to come up with creative photo shoots?  What are you inspired by outside your industry?
• Health & Fitness – Tips for staying motivated to stick to a workout schedule or healthy eating plan.

January 12 – Kiss A Ginger Day

• I would post an image of my daughter! 🙂
• Photographers – post images of sessions you shot with redheads
• Makeup Artist – Makeup tips for redheads
• Stylist – Clothing tips for redheads

January 24 – Peanut Butter Day

• Post your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe
• Compare different brands of peanut butter – what you like and dislike about each
• Creative peanut butter and jelly recipes

Make your life easier, download the calendar and start planning your content for January.

If you need some suggestions, tell me in the comments what you do and we can brainstorm how to relate a particular holiday to fit to your industry.

 

Do you love scrolling through Instagram but struggle with creating content of your own?  I know – it can definitely be frustrating and overwhelming but if you have a plan it makes it so much easier!  Here are my top tips for creating amazing content for your business account on Instagram.

1 – Know who you’re speaking to

This is the starting point for everything – not just Instagram!!  How will you know what to post if you don’t even know who you’re speaking to?  First figure out who your ideal client is.  A few things to think about…  What are you selling?  Whether it’s a product or service, who will benefit most from it?  What solution are you providing for their problem?

2 – What makes you you?

What are things that light you up and get you excited? What takes up most of your thoughts?  What can you do all day if you could?  What brings you joy?  What are some key areas in your life?  You don’t only have to post about business!  Let your clients get a peak into your world.

3 – Days of the Year

There’s always something to celebrate!  National Doughnut Day, Guacamole Day and Talk Like A Pirate Day are a few “holidays” that you can create posts around.    I head over to the Days Of The Year website to find these offbeat funky days to get ideas for my posts.  I choose things that are both of interest to me, and what I think would resonate with my audience.

4 – Mix it up

To make things more interesting, try mixing up the type of content you create – that way your account doesn’t look like  a flat one note.  Instagram is visual so make it visually appealing.  Photographs, videos, graphics and short blocks of text like an inspirational quote can all be used o create a dynamic looking grid.

5 – What’s happening in your own life?

Are you learning something new and interesting from a course you’re taking or a book you’re reading?  Did something happen in your day that your audience could relate to?

6 – Snap happy!

As a photographer, taking photos throughout the day is second nature to me but if you’re not, it’ s something you can make a habit.  Pay attention to what seems interesting whether you’re at home or out and about.  Use your phone or whatever camera you have on hand at the time.  If it inspires you, take a pic!  You can create a library of images to have on hand when you’re getting ready to create your posts.

7 – Plan it out

Now that you have the different elements to a post, plan it all out on a calendar.  For each day write in the type of post you’ll create and the general theme for the caption.  Set a block of time to create the visuals and write the captions.  And don’t forget to research the best time of the day to post along with the relevant hashtags.

8 – Feature others

One way to create other content is to feature your clients, colleagues  or someone that inspires you.  You can also repost an image from another account but make sure you give photo credit in your post.

As an example, this is my thought process for my @life.happens.now account:

1 – I’m speaking to female creatives and mothers that need help starting their business.  A few of their struggles include not knowing where to start, not having an action plan, feeling like they don’t have time and juggling the demands of motherhood.

2 – I’m passionate about photography, love to read mindset and success books, do a lot of cooking for my family, love potato chips, I’m both creative and technical (constant battle of left and right brain), I live in NYC. This is some of what makes me me and I choose elements of these things that can relate to my audience.

3 – Since I read a lot, it was relevant for me to do a post on National Read A Book Day

4 – I mostly switch between photographs and graphics.  The graphics  include blank colorful background with short blocks of text – usually an inspirational quote.  Don’t forget to include photos of yourself.  It’s a great way to connect with your followers!

5 – I may post about something I learned from a book I’m reading or a new recipe that’s easy to make that my girls really like

6 – I take photos wherever I go – on my morning walk, in a store, at home when the light is right, when I see a beautiful sunset, etc.

7 – I look at my stats to see when the best times are to post and I use Later.com to plan it out.

8 – I love doing shout outs to other creatives that inspire me – like my brother-in-law and his handmade soaps.

Are you feeling better now about creating your own content?

To make things even easier, I created this worksheet to help you map things out.  Just click below to download iand start creating!

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I decided to do something new in my Life Happens Now facebook group – Help Desk Tuesdays!

Back in my 20’s when I was doing techie work as a programmer then systems analyst, I decided to start a gift basket business.  I needed something creative to offset that left brained techie job and I also knew I wanted a more flexible schedule, make more money and work for myself.  I wanted my business to be my full time gig but also needed an income while I got it going.

I quit my full time job and did flexible freelance tech work including software training, website design and something called Help Desk.

I set up my schedule perfect for my life at that time – single and living in the city.  I worked on my basket business during the day from 9am to 3pm then headed to my help desk gig from 4 to midnight.  In NYC there are law firms that work 24 hours around the clock and need tech support .   This was great because even though it was still tech- I was surrounded by other creatives and making more money than at my previous job.  People that did this shift work focused on their main passion during the day.   I worked with an opera singer and a Broadway actress just to name a few.

We were there to answer any tech questions from the attorneys and support staff – and believe me there were plenty!!

When I was journaling this morning I got the idea to offer Help Desk in my facebook group.  My plan is to go live on Tuesdays at 12:30pm NYC time, have a different topic each week and hopefully answer those questions that you’re spending way too much time trying to figure out on your own.  I know what it feels like – so frustrating!!

My group is for female creatives so if that’s you and you need some help, come and join us!

We’re starting off this week with Instagram so get your IG questions ready.  There’s a post in the group to ask your questions ahead of time and I’ll answer them live.  If you can’t make it live, you can still post your questions then watch the replay for the answers!

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