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CG #029 - How To Never Run Out of Content Ideas

CG #029 - How To Never Run Out of Content Ideas

I wish I knew this when I started creating

October 28, 2023

Hello 👋🏾

Welcome to edition #029 of the Chase Growth Newsletter!

One letter goes out each Saturday encompassing but not confined to:

Thought Provoking Visuals To Inspire Your Growth
Useful Gems To Build Your Brand/Business Online
Curated Expert Tips For Health Optimization

Today's edition will be a 2-minute read.

Let's dive into it.

How To Never Run Out of Content Ideas

It is everywhere you look, constant content

You know you need to participate

Or maybe you should not

Regardless, you know it can be beneficial

So you sit down to create some content

The camera is on, but nothing seems to come out

You made it to the computer, but the screen is blank

“No motivation today,” you think to yourself

Then a slow panic starts to arise inside you

The clock is ticking and you haven't gotten anything done

Is this you?

It used to be me

Here’s how I fixed it

1. Create a swipe file

A swipe file is a place to store any ideas you come across in your day-to-day

You can use:

Microsoft word
Google docs
Notion

Where you store the information is not that important

What is important is that you can access it quickly

Every time you come across a post that inspires you, save it

See something you would love to write about? Drop the link

Pro Tip: Utilize Bookmarks

I utilize this feature heavily

My bookmarks on X and IG are all labeled

It is key to staying organized

Otherwise, you will spend more time avoiding the chaos than accessing info

Create your swipe file today, just do it

2. Create a treasure chest email

I recently implemented this and it’s working like a dream

The idea is simple

Create a new email address that is solely for newsletters

When I find a creator or brand I like, I sign up with that email

I do this as liberally as I want

No longer afraid of a cluttered inbox

I simply let the emails flow in

On Wednesday afternoons, I set aside one hour to take a look

Most of the emails will be useless sales junk

But every now and then, you strike gold

I favorite these emails for future use

Or go one step more and save screenshots to my swipe file

A neat little productive workflow

You should test it out

Onward.

3. Set aside time to ideate

Like any muscle, I believe creativity can be grown through practice

Blocking off time to be creative is important

You might say that you can not force your creativity

But have you ever tried to force your creativity?

You would be surprised by the results that can be achieved

Pro tip

Only set aside 10-15 minutes to ideate concepts

Set a timer and write as many things as possible

Just write, do not overanalyze

Get as much down as possible

80% will be trash when you analyze

But you will get the bare bones of 2-3 amazing ideas

Give it a try

4. Market research

Every good creator/business owner knows the power of market research

Here is how I streamline my process

Write down the @’s of accounts to research

I split these accounts into three categories:

Direct competitors in my niche
Brands that inspire me in similar niches
Brands I think are doing a great job in general

Set aside 1 hour per week to creep their accounts

Save any concepts that inspire you and analyze:

What they did well
What they could improve
What they are doing that you would never

This 1 hour will help you keep a pulse of the market

If you want to win, you need to know the game and your opponents

5. Leverage AI

AI can be a great tool to help come up with content ideas

The tool I use? Chat GPT

Even the free version can help you with your ideas

The prompts that you use are the most important part

Take a look at this ONE prompt that I used to make 30 content ideas

(Feel free to steal it and alter it to suit your needs)

Prompt:

I need your help to generate content ideas.

My name is Carl, I was born in Barbados and I'm an Athlete (soccer) and Freelance Digital Media Buyer who likes to discuss growth-oriented topics and I'm great at ideating compelling content. I currently live in Barbados and have struggled with depression in the past. My background is in sports and have been known to build Instagram theme pages.

I like to create content that is unique, edgy, and insightful to people. I've been creating content and sharing my journey online since 2017.

To generate ideas, I want you to imagine a "Content matrix" table. In this table, the X axis contains types of content, meaning ways to expand on a topic. The Y axis contains content topics to be matched with the X axis.

The X axis has these content types, formatted like this: [NAME] (explanation on how to use it)

[Actionable] (Ultra-specific guide teaching readers HOW to do something)
[Motivational] (Inspirational personal or industry stories about people who did something extraordinary)
[Analytical] (Informational breakdown of a topic, explaining to the reader WHY something is/works the way it does)
[Contrarian] (Go against the common advice and say something contrarian to the common beliefs on the topic, and explain why)
[Observation] (Observe a hidden, secret, or silent but IMPORTANT trend in the topic/industry)
[X vs. Y] (Compare two entities, styles, frameworks, companies, apps, or something else within the topic)
[Present vs Future] (Compare the status quo with a prediction about the future, and explain to the reader why that is)
[Listicle] (Provide a useful list of resources, tips, mistakes, lessons, steps, insights, frameworks, or something else about the topic)

[Y AXIS]

The Y axis contains the following topics:

Social Media Marketing
Working out (Fitness)
World Football
Meditation

Now, I want you to write out this table and write out a content idea at the intersections of the X and Y axes. You match each topic with a content type.

For example, a content idea matching the topic "Content Strategy" with the content type "How can people do it?" would be "7 things you need to know to create your content strategy"]

Here is a sample of the results: