Repurposing content is an efficient way to increase your reach and potential audience. Its efficient because, instead of creating new pieces of content for each platform you use, you take then one lead piece of content and repurpose this into multiple platforms. Here’s how I am attempting to do this. 

How I repurpose content 

My lead content type is writing. It is what is natural for me, I’ve always written and it was what I excelled at, at school. I’m not a natural presenter, although I have worked at this during my career in sales. I’m laid back as well, as you will see from my YouTube channel. 

My first step is the concept. I first get an idea of what to write about. At this stage I don’t know how long the piece will be. I will produce an outline using a mind map and then transform this into a linear outline, with section headings and subheadings.  

I will then start writing in free form around this outline. At the end of this process, I will then decide what the format will be. If the piece is over 10,000 words, it will become a book. Anything below this and it will be a series of blog posts or single posts. 

This is an honest approach and gives the reader more value. If the piece is not long enough to be a book, why bother padding it out? Just give the reader the essentials. 

Books

Once I’ve decided that the piece will be a book, I then go through a different process as to that which I go through for blogs.  

First the book needs a title and subtitle. I will produce about ten titles and then whittle this down to the best one. Next, I then find a great cover. I now use Fiverr for this. You can get a professionally looking cover for a few quid. I’m not a graphic designer, so I’m not serving myself by toiling over this chore. 

My editing process is different for books compared to blogs. I will edit each chapter as it is done and then if changes are made, they are re-edited at the end. I will also make sure that each chapter flows into the next. 

Blog posts 

Books can be split down into blog series. Each blog post should already flow to the next, but it is also important to make sure that each blog post can stand alone as a separate message. The reader can then decide whether to explore the rest of the series. 

Single blog posts are easier to manage. There is one message in the text, that I need to keep in mind. The single blog post, whether standalone or part of a series, then becomes the basis of my repurposing. 

YouTube 

The single blog post, if around 700 words, is an ideal length to be repurposed into a short video of around 5 minutes. I will record myself reading out the blog post on my phone and then use Camtasia to edit this video. Camtasia also allows you to add incidental background music, annotations and splice in other video and photos.  

I go through a multi-step editing process to get these videos out. 

What I plan to do 

I’m aware that there is much more I can do around repurposing, for instance I am planning to breakdown these shortform videos into even shorter forms that can be uploaded to twitter/X or Facebook. Camtasia will allow me to do just that.  

With the text itself, this can also be repurposed. I am planning to set up a Facebook page and dedicated twitter/X account, so that individual blogs can be split into shorter soundbites and pieces. Other platforms that I use such as LinkedIn are also opportunities for me to expand my reach. 

The one thing I am clear on, however, is that I will concentrate on maximising one platform at a time before I add a new one. There is too much to learn, to start trying to do everything at once. That is why I am concentrating on building up this blog first. 

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