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.

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.

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.

I don't know about you, but questions provide the best value when it comes to creating organic core content. If you’ve thought: What exactly is a content system, and why is it helpful this is for you? Understanding content systems is key to efficient content creation. A system at its core ensures that you never miss a task. 

I know what my jargon means, but not everybody does. Let me explain what a content system is to me and my business and what it's all about. A system is consistent. Having one place where you are consistent will help you with the other areas of your health and wellness business.

Understanding Content Systems

First, what do I mean when I say content system? We'll think of this as everything inside your content bucket. When you tip that bucket over, it spreads the word about you and your wellness business everywhere. But what's really in that content bucket? It is all the before and after you push the record on your next podcast episode. That’s just one item on the checklist for your content creation.

Your content system includes all the steps involved in creating one piece of content, promoting it online, and what you do once a new client says yes to working with you. 

It contains all your checklists, processes, templates, and workflows—all the things that ensure the content creation stays smooth and easy. 

If you're still unsure what I'm talking about, here are the pieces that I considered to be a content system.

The Key Pieces to an Efficient Content Creation System

The key piece in your content system begins with your core content, let’s say you have a podcast. It will contain all those processes, workflows, and checklists that go under your podcast workflow. 

Can you see a long list of to-do items? Or would that make you feel overwhelmed? 

It is important to understand how you work best. Are you able to see one super long podcast workflow? If not, you can break it down into individual tasks on separate cards in your project management software. 

We all think differently, so some entrepreneurs need to break it down into bite-sized chunks so they don't get overwhelmed. Others can have the whole list, and it does not bother them. 

You will need to decide that for yourself, but these are the things that are potentially in your podcast workflow.

Podcast Workflow

What is your podcast pre-work? 

The pre-work is all the tasks that happen before you press record on your latest episode. These would be tasks like ideation, outline, and all the steps before you record. 

Do you need to script things out? Or do you thrive with only an outline?

It’s funny; I need to have a full script. Do I repeat it word for word? Nope. But it will keep me more on track. I’ve tried the outline approach, and I’ve found in the long run, the process will be much longer. I am not efficient; if I don't have a script, I am a squirrel chasing a nut. Who the heck even knows what I’ll end up talking about? It gets worse; the editing becomes a complete time suck for my Content VA. Live and learn, am I right?

A key to efficient content creation is to understand how you work best.

Podcast After The Recording

The bulk of the work is after you record the episode. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir on this one.

If it's more than one step, it needs to be a process. So, how would you like it edited? Your content VA or Podcast Editor needs to understand this. 

What are your personal criteria or values around how you want your podcasts edited. Are you okay with filler words and gaps, or do you want those removed from the edit version? Are you okay when you flub up the words like I do? Words are hard 95% of the time for me, that’s real life.

Are you okay with having these in your podcast? How do you want your podcast to sound? 

Other items that may be part of your podcast editing process are the transcription and show notes. 

Would having a template make this simpler for you? What most people don’t realize is that templates reduce your decisions, which helps you be consistent with content creation. 

What are the repeated steps to exporting, uploading, and scheduling? 

You see all those different pieces that go along with that podcasting workflow—so many steps. Am I right?

What Are Other Pieces of A Content System

Where else are you able to create templates that you use in your content creation—think about your social media graphics—this falls into your content system. 

What are those things that you use repeatedly in the same format? 

How about your email marketing? Do you have a simple, repeatable process and template you use for the weekly emails that you send out to your list?

Launch Process

Your launch processes are 100% part of your content system. Here is why I think this way. 

All the emails that you have in your launch, social media. This is all content that will be created. 

That is all content creation so it falls into your content system.

Email Marketing

Your lead magnet? Again content you will be creating to grow your business to your email list.

The checklist for creating a new lead magnet. I'm guessing you have multiple lead magnets. The process to create and launch a new lead magnet is the same. Why not create your workflow in a project management system, that way you don't have to try and remember every single stinking step. 

Digital Products

Is one of your streams of revenue digital products? 

If so, this is content you’ll need to create. It falls in your content systems bucket. 

Digital products and launching courses are easier to do when you’re not reinventing the wheel each time. 

Have the process set up as a template so that you won’t miss a task and have to double back! 

Think about all the things. The first time you do something is the most difficult; however, if you document what you do along the way, you’ll know what worked and did not work for you. 

Your process for a live launch and cash injection launches all have processes that you need to follow step by step. In order to bring them out into the world.

Client Onboarding

Let’s not forget, why your create all the content to begin with it is for your clients. All of your content leads up to your client onboarding process. What's all the content that you create for them client onboarding?

Do you have a coaching doc? Do you use a certain template in Asana or your project management system? 

Are you picking up what I'm laying down? Understanding content system in it’s simpliyity is anything that is content.

Your content helps the right people to transform from being lurkers to clients. Come on Friend, I cannot be the only one that lurks before they buy. 

So, I've used the content bucket analogy, but here's another way that I want you to think about your content system, if you want to visualize it. So want you to imagine that content system is like a mind map.

The Power of a Content System

I know the list may seem endless, but it's crucial to take one piece of content and multiply it for the most impact on your business. A content system ensures that you don't miss a task; every action, task, template, and process supports creating content for your business. And what does your content do? It drives the right people to you at the right time.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the components of a content system, don't worry! That's where my content creation team comes in. We specialize in taking the load off your shoulders with our done-for-you content repurposing services. We can transform a single podcast episode into eight distinct pieces of content, helping you grow your audience and impact with less effort on your part.

It’s Time To Wrap This Up

A content system includes all the processes, checklists, and templates you need to make content creation easier and ensure that every piece of content works harder for you so you can focus on what you do best.

I hope you found this valuable. Remember, with the right system and mindset, you can achieve the success you desire. Thank you for reading. I appreciate you, and I hope you have a great week!