The Content Blueprint: Goal Mapping for Consistent Content Creation
Have you ever wondered why some content creators seem to have an endless stream of ideas and consistently publish high-quality content each and every week? They make the whole thing seem effortless, am I right? Friend, you’re not alone! Maintaining consistent content is one of the biggest hurdles that I had to overcome in my business. I tease you not, when I say I went over a year without putting out one single piece of content on my website. Of course, this was long before I dip my toe into YouTube only to discover that podcasting was the right platform for me.
I stopped because the whole process of creating content week after week with seeing little to no traction, felt overwhelming. However, I knew that long game marketing would get me further than social media. I was not until I dug in my heels and decided I had to find an easier way. That is when I began the trial and error of figuring out what worked for me.
Discovering My Content Blueprint
Then, I set a goal. I was determined to be a consistent content creator; no more excuses. That became my goal: to be a consistent content creator and figure out how I could love creating content.
Goal Mapping for Consistent Content Creation
This is where goal mapping came into the picture. Goal mapping, for me, is creating a mind map of all the actions that need to happen to reach the goal. You can do this on paper, or I’ll map things out in MindMeister as well.
No two days are the same for me if I’m chasing a lot of shiny objects that day. Paper, pen, and the sofa are my go-to. If I’m laser-focused, it is my office and MindMeister.
Making It Easy
Goal mapping is a powerful tool that helps you stay focused and motivated on your path to consistency. Friend, capture every thought; do not disqualify anything. Keep writing out every idea and thought that will make consistent content creation easy for you.
Keep asking yourself: What else would make content creation easier?
Let your mind come up with ways to make content creation feel simple to you. Often, we try to fit the process that works best for someone else and not for us. Don’t get me wrong; starting with something is better than starting from scratch. The key is to take that process as a starting point and make it work for you.
Continue to write down everything—until you have zero ideas popping into your head. Remember, at this point, no idea is too small or too ambitious.
You’re simply getting all out of your head.
What’s Your Easy Button?
For me, the easy button was creating a checklist of everything I needed to do to create one piece of content. That checklist would be used time and time again and refined as my process changed. That one thing made it feel easier to me. What is your easy button?
When you’re unsure, remember all you need to do is ask yourself, “If I did know, what would it be?”
Maybe creating a system is right for you, too.
Perhaps you need to have structured creation days or even creation retreats to batch create and get the content done.
I know that there are times when content pours out of me really easily, and other times, I’d spend hours forcing myself to write content.
Do you know the days when creating content is simple? If not, tracking this would be one of the pieces on your goal map. That would be an action because it is in your best interest to figure out how you create content easily.
Be Realistic
How often are you able to be consistent?
This is not a go-big or go-home. Nothing good comes from setting an unrealistic goal. It's about setting realistic; I’m a busy person who dislikes creating content expectations.
You see, my transition from being an inconsistent content creator to creating content on the regular took a hot minute.
When I say a hot minute, it means a good couple of years of dread mixed in with tears of overwhelm, mainly because I did not take this advice.
Of course, I did not set a realistic and achievable content creation goal. Quite the opposite, I set the once-a-week goal because that is what you should do, right? Wrong, looking back if I had given myself grace with a realistic goal I would have started to enjoy the process quicker.
What can you commit to? Does monthly content, sound like your sweetspot? Be honest and give yourself grace. Guess what? Creating one core piece of content consistently is better than creating content sporatically.
As you build up your consistency muscle, you can change your schedule. Nothing is forever. Figure out what you can commit to. Also, figure out if you need outside accountability or if you able to hold yourself accountable.
What else needs to be on your goal mapping for consistent content creation?
Where will you be saving all of your content ideas? An action on your goal map will be to create an idea bank. Along those same line, how do you determine what is a good content idea?
Oh my goodness, I have a very long list of ideas in my idea bank. Likely, about half of them will see the outline column in my workflow.
You see, making the decision on what is a good idea for content and what is a squirrel idea is always a good thing. When you’re scrambling to pick an idea for a piece of content to create. A good first question is, does it fit into my content pillars?
If the answer is no, it's probably not a good content idea.
We all have dreams and aspirations in life, but oftentimes, we struggle to turn them into reality. We get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of our goals. If you do not enjoy the process of creating content, this will be the first thing that falls off the to-do list.
This is where goal mapping comes in. Goal mapping is a powerful tool that can help you stay focused and motivated on your journey towards consistency.
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Using Goal Mapping Effectively
You can create a clear roadmap for achieving your goals by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps.
With goal mapping, you'll be able to visualize all the actions needed to achieve your goal. When you check off actions, you can see your progress, track your achievements, and stay on track even when faced with obstacles.
Creating consistent content is hard work, and goal mapping is an alternative approach to making your dreams a reality.
All The Actions To Get To Your End Goal
When you have your goal map, it is time to set dates and milestones. Since this was created with a mind map, actions are already grouped together.
Next, it is about figuring out what comes first. You can do this by creating cards in Asana or Trello with each mind map branch and moving them around. Or if you’re a paper and pen gal, write these out on index cards and rearrange them to the right action order.
Your mind map contains all the actions you need to take to achieve your end goal, which is to be a consistent content creator. It’s okay if you missed an action or two; you can still ask yourself, “What else do I need to do to accomplish this goal?”
While they may seem silly, these are really things you need to decide on or do in order to become the person you want to be. We all have dreams and aspirations, but often, we get caught up in the daily grind and use that as an excuse to lose sight of them.
Often times we use it as an excuse to put our goals on the back burner. You’ll tell yourself, I just don't have time for that. You do. You have time for whatever you make time for, but if you don't enjoy the process of creating content, I can guarantee you that's a hurdle that you need to overcome. In order to not put creating content on the back burner.
Remember, you are not a consistent content creator yet—the “yet” that's so important to grasp. This is why goal mapping is essential—it's a powerful tool that helps you stay focused and motivated on your path to consistency.
When You Break Down Your Goal
By breaking down your goals into small, manageable steps, you understand that little actions make huge progress. Even when things arise, and you feel overwhelmed, when your old thoughts begin to kick in, you are able to quiet that voice.
You'll know exactly what you need to do because you've have dates assigned to those tasks. You have to decide on your timeframe.
This is important, the timeframe is what is reasonable for you in order to make it achievable.
Hopefully, you picked up, but I was laying down.
Time To Wrap This Up
I think I've said enough here today. I hope that you found this to be insightful and helpful in your goal mapping for consistent content creation. I hope that you leave with a newfound energy to tackle that content creation challenge that you're probably experiencing.
Please remember you’re not alone. Creating organic content to drive traffic to your website can feel like a grind. Consistency is the hardest thing when you do not know if all your efforts are worth it. I know from my own experience that it's something that you can overcome. It comes from a little mindset shift and taking small, repeatable action steps week after week.
Because, friend, remember you are not a consistent content creator yet, but you will be. I know you will be. The key to success is starting small and building from there.
Happy goal mapping and I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you and I hope you have a wonderful week.
