PP 255: How I Come Up with Content

Inspirational Quotes:

04:51 “Stop forcing it. Take a step back and wait to be inspired. Don’t worry about what other people are expecting from you, but instead produce from your heart.” -Kim Sutton

 Kim Sutton: Welcome back to another episode of the Positive Productivity Podcast. As promised in Episode 253, today, I’m going to be talking a little bit about how I develop content for my blog and for the podcast, including this podcast episode. When I started my business in 2012, I was writing a lot of content for my first blog, which was actually at suttoncreativestudios.com, that I thought people wanted to read. I didn’t have any passion for what I was writing, there was even one article about why it was so important to have insurance. And I have to tell you, writing those articles was like pulling my own teeth, it couldn’t have been any more painful to come up with a 400-word blog article. Eventually, I stopped writing because I had no passion for what I was doing. And I had no spiritual connection to the schedule I was setting for myself. So I completely abandoned it. This is the same as some of the products that I’ve produced over the last five years. I was creating programs and services and products that I thought other people wanted, and also to be more like people in the online communities that I was in that were teaching you how to excel on different social media platforms in their content marketing and their digital marketing. And I thought that that’s what I needed to do, especially because of my Infusionsoft certified partner status. Before I go any further, I just want to say that I love what I do as an Infusionsoft certified partner. I love getting into building campaigns and getting systems going for my clients but it’s not what I dream about at night. While I do enjoy helping people get out of their businesses and into their personal life by setting up systems that continue to run for them behind the scenes. The subject of the dreams that I have at night is not how to build monumental campaigns that will rock the world and take me to all-star status. I know that might be somebody’s ambition and dream, but it’s not mine. So as I’ve been going through the positive productivity journey, I’ve been doing a lot of inner reflection. I’ve stopped writing articles, just to stick to my schedule and just because I had told myself I would get something out on a specific date. Pressure does not work well for me in podcasting, and blog writing, in writing my book. So the new approach that I’ve been taking is to write when I feel extremely inspired. Now I’m very fortunate because Chronic Idea Disorder is a double-edged sword. I get a lot of ideas. I get them in the shower. I get them while I’m driving. I get them while I’m cooking. Or let me be more accurate while I’m burning dinner. So I very rarely have an idea of drought. But when I do find those droughts to be more present is when I’m forcing myself to sit there and write. I make it a habit to have my smartphone or a notebook with me at all times, so when I do get those ideas, I can jot them down. And what most often happens is that I will get a whole bunch of ideas all at the same time. Sometimes it’s four or five ideas all at the same time. So when I go to record a solo episode of the podcast, I can usually record a whole batch at once.

Just yesterday, I was feeling a little bit drained so I laid down in bed to take a quick nap, and wouldn’t you know it, bang, right then I figured out a major portion of the book Chronic Idea Disorder. So I had to get out of bed right away and jot it down. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to miss anything. But for days and days before that, I had my Chronic Idea Disorder document open on my computer and ready to take new ideas. But it felt like every time I opened it, just for the sake of opening it and hoping I would be inspired, my mind would go blank. If you’re struggling with finding ideas for a podcast episode or a blog, article, a book or any other type of online content, or even not online content, maybe offline. I want to encourage you to stop forcing it. Take a step back and wait to be inspired. Don’t worry about what other people are expecting from you, but instead produce from your heart. Share the content that you feel most compelled to share, and not with the sole intention of seeing what you can get out of it. Think more about what you can give from your content, what insights can you give, what advice and what good. And when you start approaching it from that side, I believe that you’ll find more inspiration. I would love to hear what techniques you use to come up with content. If you do make yourself sit down and write even when you don’t have any ideas in your head already, or if you just wait for the ideas to flow to you. So if you wouldn’t mind sharing, head on over to thekimsutton.com/pp255 and share your tools and techniques in the comments below the show notes. Now with all the said, go forth and make it a positive and productive day.

Today’s episode of the Positive Productivity Podcast is brought to you by the Positive Productivity Pod created to empower entrepreneurs to achieve and appreciate personal and professional success without burnout. The pod offers weekly group coaching sessions, online courses, a private member community and tons more. To learn more about the pod and to sign up, visit PositiveProductivityPod.com. See you on the inside.