How to get ideas for your next post.

Because this one almost didn't get published.

Committing to a newsletter is harder work than I realized. In fact, the same can be said for any marketing platform you choose to commit to.

These last few weeks have been really hectic. Client work, in the process of launching my new website audit offer (hopefully by the end of the month), said website audit calls, scheduling two podcast conversations - my first ever - along with planning out for this conference I’m jetting off to at the end of October - again, my very first one and something I’m VERY nervous about although, shall we leave that for another post?

And well, I left the writing of this week’s newsletter until Wednesday - which is very atypical of me.

I’m a pretty organized person. I have excel sheets for everything (you should see my vacation excel sheet) and this is usually how my newsletter writng process usually goes:

1. Previous Thursday - tear my hair out and figure out the topic for next week’s edition

2. Sunday - write down a rough outline

3. Monday - second-guess this topic and rewrite the outline before going on to write a very bad draft (I say bad - so that I don’t have to look at it again that day.)

4. Tuesday - correct the bad draft with some editing. See if I can scrounge up some pictures or videos to add and I typically overthink this so I end up going with a gif.

5. Wednesday - format it so that a human being can actually read it. And schedule it for Friday.

6. Repeat.

As you can see, I left a task I should’ve completed last week to the very last minute and well, we’re now here. In fact, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m still adding stuff.

This isn’t the first time and will certainly, not be the last.

But, I’m not left entirely helpless. The thing about marketing is that it should be easy - but it’s mostly easy only in the beginning.

When you decide that, "This platform looks fun, let me try it out,”then you show up week after week until the idea of showing up week after week becomes a bit of a chore.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s still fun. But committing to fun can be not so fun?

Especially when you open up a new draft and the cursor blinks on the screen, the distant ‘publish’ button taunting you.

When I’m lost for what my next post should be, here’s what I do (I’ll expand on these in a bit):

1. Remind myself of why I’m sticking to Substack.

2. Read through the content pillars I’ve set up for this newsletter.

3. Freehand - write a couple of random rubbish on a yellow notepad until something sticks.

4. Look through my Asana where I may or may not have 3000 random ideas I’d like to expand on?

5. Have a glance at the marketing idea-bank on my phone.

6. Check all the posts I’ve uploaded on LinkedIn and Substack in the last six months (I have links in my Asana, along with dates so that I can access the post almost immediately).

   

   Here’s what two weeks of posts in April look like (each colour responds to a content pillar).

7. Read through transcripts of client calls to see if there’s a question they might have asked - one I can answer. Especially because I’ve been doing a ton of website audits in the last few weeks.

And as I was doing this, I realized that perhaps, I can and should talk about this.

The easy route is, honestly, just skipping a week. I’m tired and have so much to do. But in all the marketing I do, I’ve committed to uploading this newsletter every Friday.

No. Matter. What.

I’m actually psyched about the fact that this will be the tenth post of this newsletter.

Look at me, trying to make room for marketing it - no matter what 😉. Because marketing is all about you showing up, time and time again, something I talked about in this LinkedIn post from three months ago.

EVERYTHING can be an idea. It’s up to you on how you want to talk about said idea.

I mean, saying, “I have no idea what to write this week” is a boring complaint.
But talking about the process, a project that led to the delay and maybe, incorporating a story?

Now, that could become interesting.

So before you do end up in the same position as me, do this to discover an idea for your next post.

And remember, this can be applied to any marketing platform you’re on.

1. Have an idea bank you can keep adding to on a daily/weekly basis - one that’s easy to access. Either in a tiny journal you carry around or on the notes app in your phone.

2. Study the content pillars for your newsletter (maybe I’ll talk about this in a future edition?) but it’s essentially a venn diagram of content topics you should stick to for your marketing to stick - it could inspire your next post.

3. Look at previous editions of your newsletter, from months prior. Is there a topic you briefly touched upon - a topic that can make up for with its very own newsletter? Well, write about it!

4. Think about client meetings you’ve had in the last week. Can you talk about the project or maybe, a question you answered for your client?

5. Rinse and repeat. You’re not going to remember this post for more than a few minutes - and it’s the same thing for your newsletter readers. See if there’s a post topic you haven’t talked about in a while, edit for relevancy and then post it again.

Liked reading this post, even if it’s filled with grammatical errors I will cringe at on the re-read?

Perhaps you’ll enjoy this.

The embarrassment of showing up

Happy marketing,
Maria John

Ps: If you don’t remember, hi - I’m a website copywriter who positions coaches and creatives as go-to experts through their website and brand story.

You’ve subscribed to my weekly newsletter, ‘Room for Marketing’ where I help creative entrepreneurs learn how to make room for marketing in their business (cheesy, I know) by making the idea of it less overwhelming.

If you’d like to connect, here’s my Website & LinkedIn.