82: The Business Owner's Guide to Sustainable Content Creation
Remember that moment when you figured something out and thought, "Wait, that's it? That's all there is to it?" That burst of excitement, that urge to share your discovery – that's not just a fleeting moment of pride. It's actually a goldmine for creating content that resonates with your audience and establishes you as an expert in your field.
Here's the thing: what feels obvious to you right now probably felt impossible just a few steps back in your journey. Those "oh, that was easy" moments? They're exactly what someone else is struggling with right now. Your expertise isn't just about the big, complex solutions you provide – it's in all those little discoveries and workflows you've developed along the way.
But let's bust a myth right now: you don't need to become an influencer or full-time content creator to share your expertise effectively. You just need to show up consistently with solutions that actually help people. Think about it – when was the last time you solved a problem and immediately knew how to explain it to someone else? That's your content right there.
The internet might be crowded with experts, but no one else has your unique perspective. Maybe you've developed a creative workflow that saves time and stress. Perhaps you've made mistakes and figured out how to turn them into solutions. Or maybe you just have a knack for explaining complex ideas in a way that finally makes sense to people. That's your superpower.
Your audience isn't looking for perfection – they're looking for guidance from someone who's been there before. Someone who found a way forward and is willing to share the journey. Every piece of content you create is an opportunity to show them that you understand their challenges and have real, tested solutions to share.
The magic happens when you share these insights consistently. Not necessarily daily or even weekly, but reliably. Most audiences would rather have one thorough, helpful post a month than four rushed, surface-level pieces. They want the details, the action steps, and the solutions that worked for you – delivered consistently.
Ready to Turn Your Expertise Into Valuable Content? Here's Your Action Plan:
Start Your Content Collection (Week 1)
Grab a notebook or open your phone's notes app
Document every client question you answer
Write down processes you explain more than once
Note those "that was easy!" moments when they happen
Create Your First Content Pieces
Review your notes and select your top three insights
Choose topics that are specific and actionable
Focus on problems you've solved multiple times
Create three pieces of content in your preferred format (blog, video, social post)
Set Your Rhythm
Time how long it takes to create each piece
Decide how often you can realistically create content
Start small – even once a month is fine if it's valuable
Choose a schedule you can maintain for at least three months
Make It Sustainable
Focus on quality over quantity
Create content batches when inspiration strikes
Keep your idea log going
Document new solutions as you discover them
Remember, your expertise is valuable, and your future audience is out there waiting for exactly what you know, delivered in your unique way. Start small, stay consistent, and watch how your audience grows with each piece of genuine, helpful content you share.
The best part? This approach to content creation isn't just about growing your audience – it's about building trust and establishing yourself as the go-to expert in your field. And it all starts with those simple "aha!" moments that you might be taking for granted right now.
Ready to get started? Grab that notebook and begin capturing your expertise today. Your future audience will thank you for it.
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[00:00:00] Have you ever learned something that made you think, wait, that's it. That's all there is to it. And then you immediately wanted to share that discovery with everyone, you know, that moment of excitement, that urge to share what you've learned. That's exactly what can help you build a dedicated, engaged audience for your business.
[00:00:22] And that's exactly what we're talking about in this episode. How to consistently create content that builds an engaged audience for your business. Welcome to Think Inside the Square, a podcast full of tips and tricks to help you create a website and a business that you're proud of. I'm your host, Becca Harpain, Squarespace expert and educator and creator of InsideTheSquare.
[00:00:40] co. And in this episode, we're talking about something that I find really exciting. How to turn your everyday expertise into valuable content that builds trust with your audience and sets you apart as the expert in your industry. For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit insidethesquare.
[00:00:57] co forward slash podcast. [00:01:00] You know that excited feeling that you get when you figure something out. You thought it was complicated and then you have that exciting moment where all of a sudden it all makes sense. That moment of, oh my gosh, this is so much simpler than I thought. Well that is exactly how I felt when I figured out how to change the button color on a hover in Squarespace.
[00:01:19] Now it seems like such a simple code right now, but at the time, I felt like I had unlocked a secret. And here's the thing, that excitement is telling you something important. You've just discovered content gold. Today we're going to talk about how to recognize these moments in your own business and how to turn them into valuable content that builds real connections with your audience and demonstrates your expertise.
[00:01:42] Not because you're trying to become an influencer or full time content creator. but because consistent sharing of your expertise is one of the most powerful ways to build trust and grow your audience organically. Now, this isn't about creating content just to stay active online. It's about showing up consistently for your audience with [00:02:00] solutions that they need, even if, especially if, those solutions seem simple to you now.
[00:02:06] I want to start by talking about something that I see all the time when I'm coaching other experts in our Squarespace community. The assumption that if something feels easy to you, It must be easy for everyone. But here's the truth. What's obvious to you is exactly what makes you an expert in your field.
[00:02:22] Your expertise isn't just in the big, complex solutions or doing things for other people. It's in all of those little, oh, that was easy, kind of moments. These moments that could be game changing for someone else. So every time you think, oh, this is so simple, or everyone must know this already, I want you to pause And I want you to write it down because somewhere out there, someone is struggling with exactly that problem and they need your expertise.
[00:02:48] Let me give you a very practical way to capture these content opportunities. Now you can grab a notebook or you can do what I do and open up the Notes app on your phone. And over the next, let's just say the next week, [00:03:00] I want you to write down every single time a client asks you how to do something, every single time you solve a problem in your own business.
[00:03:08] Every single time you find a shortcut or a better way to do something, or when you catch yourself saying, Oh, that's easy. These are content gold mines. Each one is an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and build trust with your audience. Not because you're trying to build a massive following, but because you're consistently sharing what you know and helping others see you as their go to resource.
[00:03:32] Now, one of the biggest myths in content creation is that everything worth saying has already been said. Yes, the internet is saturated with experts and so is every social media platform out there. But here's the truth. No one else has your unique perspective. No one else has solved problems in the exact same way that you have.
[00:03:51] Your experiences, your approach, your way of explaining things. That's what makes your content valuable and keeps your audience coming back for more. Let's [00:04:00] go back in time to when I was just about to create the tutorial video for changing the color of a button on hover in Squarespace. Yeah, there were other tutorials out there.
[00:04:09] There were other blog posts and other videos on YouTube, but most of them were not for Squarespace users. Some of these super text heavy blog posts didn't have any visuals, others were filled with complicated tech jargon that just made my eyes glaze over. As a college dropout who learned a code through trial and error, I needed someone to explain this concept to me in plain English.
[00:04:30] I know that I would have understood this concept a lot faster if someone out there had just recorded their screen while they added this code and explained it to me in simple Easy to understand terms. And that was the light bulb moment for me. If I found all of those other tutorials confusing, there are a lot of other do it yourself designers in the Squarespace community that were probably confused by it too.
[00:04:53] So I created the tutorial video that I wish I had found when I first started researching how to change the color of [00:05:00] a button on a hover. I created one that was visual, straightforward, concise, specifically for Squarespace, and not full of complicated tech jargon that was difficult to understand. And you know what?
[00:05:11] That one piece of content still brings people to my community years later because it solved a real problem in a way that actually helped, and in a way that was unique to me. This brings me to something really important. If you take away anything from this episode, I want it to be this. You need to identify what makes your knowledge special.
[00:05:30] Maybe the way that you break down complex ideas into bite sized pieces can be really helpful to someone who's struggling with exactly what you've already figured out how to do. Maybe you've designed a creative workflow that saves you time and stress and other people in your industry could find it really helpful.
[00:05:46] Maybe your clients could. Maybe you've developed a deeper understanding of what people are really struggling with in your industry and the way you explain it makes a lot more sense than the other content that's already out there. Maybe you've discovered a really cool [00:06:00] tool or created a process that makes your work better for your specific audience.
[00:06:04] Or maybe you made a few mistakes and you figured out how to turn them into solutions. Your unique value comes from your perspective. So what unique perspective do you bring? Now, I plugged part of this transcript or concept idea for this episode into Claude, and I asked Claude to give me a few examples.
[00:06:21] Claude is an AI language model developed by Anthropic, and I thought it would be really interesting to see some AI generated examples of how unique perspective could come from different types of businesses. So stick with me here, I thought it'd be kind of fun to share these. The first example that Claude created for this episode was for a photographer.
[00:06:40] who developed a unique way of organizing family photo sessions that keeps kids engaged and happy. That process, the one that feels totally natural to you now, could be exactly what a new family photographer needs to hear to transform their sessions. Think about all the little tricks you use, how you get genuine smiles instead of forced ones, or how you handle [00:07:00] tired toddlers, or how you structure the timeline to catch the best light while keeping everyone's energy up.
[00:07:06] Now another example I got from AI was her virtual assistant, so here we go. Perhaps you've created a system for managing multiple client calendars that prevents double booking. You figured out the perfect mix of buffer time between meetings, or you developed a foolproof way to handle time zone differences.
[00:07:21] Those details can be a unique perspective other people need to hear. Now, one last example from AI. Stick with me here. I had a lot of fun with this chat. This last example was for wellness coaches. You've discovered a way that helps your clients stay on track for their progress and actually keeps them motivated.
[00:07:39] You've learned that weekly check ins are better than monthly ones and you structure these weekly check ins around creative questions that you've written. These questions that get to the heart of what's really holding clients back. You turn that into a system that keeps your clients engaged. Now those were some examples from Claude that I thought were kind of cool, but again, I want you to think about your [00:08:00] unique perspective.
[00:08:01] The way you break down complex ideas, the workflows you developed, the processes that you've adapted to make your work a little bit easier, and again, the mistakes that you've made. Those are powerful examples. Especially the mistake ones, because they're not just theory. They're real solutions born from experience.
[00:08:19] Now hopefully by this point you've got a few ideas, but I don't want you to get started with sharing these immediately, because the magic happens when you share these insights consistently. If you start sharing all of your ideas the second that you have them, There's a lot less of a strategy there and it can become so randomized that people might hear from you for two weeks and then not again for two months.
[00:08:40] That's something we want to avoid. So again, what I want you to do is grab a notebook or start a notes app on your phone and start making a note of these game changing situations that you're in, these insights that you have for your unique business model. Each one of these ideas needs to come from real expertise.
[00:08:56] The kind of expertise that only comes from doing the work. That's what [00:09:00] makes them powerful. These need to be specific enough to be immediately useful, but broad enough to showcase your deeper knowledge about whatever topic you happen to be sharing. I want you to remember that there is no audience out there looking for perfection.
[00:09:14] Most of us are just looking for guidance from someone who's been there before. Someone who found a way forward. So every piece of content that you create is a chance to show someone that you understand their challenges and have a real tested solution to share. Alright, you understand the writing this stuff down.
[00:09:30] You understand why it's important to share it with your audience, but let's get into the action plan side of this. Over the next week, I want you to start taking notes. Again, grab a fresh notebook or use the notes app on your phone. And I want you to write down every single question that a client or a customer asks you for the next week.
[00:09:49] Jot down a note for any process that you explain more than once. Or any process that you take that you realize has saved you a lot of time or made things a little bit easier. And I definitely want you [00:10:00] to write down those, Oh wow, that was easy, kind of moments when they happen. And if you learn something new that you're excited to share, write down that moment too.
[00:10:08] Now after that week is up, it's time for you to pick your top three pieces. I want you to select something specific from this list that is actionable, that you can explain in detail without a bunch of research, and focuses on a problem that you've solved more than once. Once you have three of these ready, I want you to create three pieces of content.
[00:10:29] Now, these could be a blog post, it could be a reel that you record, it could just be something you share as a quick example on a blue sky post. What I want you to do is literally create the content for all three pieces and think about how long it takes you to do that. Then set your consistency goal.
[00:10:47] Decide how often you can realistically follow this same process. How often you'll come up with new ideas, and how easy it is for you to create content for it. If what you're explaining is really complicated, and you've got to make [00:11:00] a video for it, and a blog post for it, and make sure you edit both of those and explain them in detail, that's gonna take a lot of work.
[00:11:07] That's what I do for my own business, and that's why I only publish one or two a week. So again, take a look at what you've created, and think about how often you can realistically create that quality of content. Start small. Even if it's once a month, that's fine if it's valuable. Now this final step is where the magic happens, my friend.
[00:11:27] You need to commit to this schedule for at least three months. That's how I started Inside the Square. I shared a tutorial video, and I said, I don't have a lot of clients right now. That was a lot of fun to create and my audience loved it I can realistically release one of these every week every single tuesday for the next three months and see what happens Well, fast forward five years and that's my full time job.
[00:11:51] I'm a content creator and Squarespace educator. And it all started because of that one light bulb moment where I went, wow, this is actually a lot easier [00:12:00] than I thought it would be. Let me share with my community in my unique way. When my community responded to it so well, I realized I had a bank of content, a collection of codes, and I could start sharing them regularly.
[00:12:11] But again, I had to realize how consistent I could be. If I had pushed myself to share a brand new tutorial Every single day for three months, I would have been burnt out years ago. For me, producing content once a week, maybe twice if I felt like it, that was where the magic happened. So again, create a schedule for the next three months and see if you can stick with it.
[00:12:32] This consistency doesn't mean daily, it doesn't even have to be weekly like me. It just means showing up reliably with valuable content when you say you will. Most audiences out there would rather have one thorough, helpful post a month than four rushed surface level pieces. We want the details, we want the action steps, we want the solutions that worked for you, and we want those consistently.
[00:12:54] So again, three month schedule, my friend. Alright, we covered a lot in this episode today, and you [00:13:00] better believe I wrote it all down for you. For a list of these action steps, head on over to the show notes at insidethesquare. co forward slash podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in to Think Inside the Square.
[00:13:10] If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe wherever you happen to be listening, and you can sign up for my newsletter at insidethesquare. co forward slash email. Remember, your expertise is valuable. Your future audience is out there waiting for exactly what you know with your unique spin on it.
[00:13:26] Thanks again for tuning in. And most importantly, have fun with your website and your business. Bye for now.
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Note app alternatives:
Notion - Great for organizing content ideas
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