March 24, 2022

Creation vs. Distribution with Justin Simon

In this episode, Benji talks to Justin Simon, Head of Content Marketing at Metadata.io.

If you struggle to get the most out of your content, Justin is here to help. Today, Justin shares how to spread out content so you get more pipeline, traffic, and attention.

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:17.320 Conversations from the front lines of marketing. This is be tob growth. Hey 2 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.480 friends, welcome back to be to be growth. Today I am joined by 3 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:26.719 Justin Simon. He is in charge of content marketing at Metadata and Justin, 4 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.440 we are so glad to have you here with us on B Tob Growth. 5 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:31.640 Man, awesome. Yeah, I have to be here. Okay. So, 6 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:36.200 Justin as it pertains to content marketing, particularly in the beat to be 7 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:39.679 space that you and I are in, I wondered if there was something right 8 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:43.399 off the top that you wish you saw less of. That's going to be 9 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.039 my first question to you. Is there something you wish you saw less of 10 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:51.799 than the beat to be space, in the content space? I wish I 11 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:59.799 saw less direct posting of content and like selfserving content. So the you know, 12 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:03.880 the idea of like we have a Webinar, we have a you know, 13 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.640 a even a podcast episode, or we have, you know, here's 14 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:10.319 our thing, here's our newest you know, this is our stuff. I'd 15 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:15.079 much rather prefer you pull the content out of what that thing is and just 16 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.920 share that content on the platform. I would agree. If you follow Hashtags, 17 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:25.040 man, on Linkedin and you go for the whole it is like just 18 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:29.319 you reposted your company's thing again, didn't you, and you didn't add anything 19 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.560 to it. You just posted that graphic for that that Webinar. Huh, 20 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:38.159 Hashtag Webinar. Hello, okay, cool. Well, today I actually I 21 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.439 think it's the first way I ever really became aware of the work you're doing 22 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:46.920 around repurposing, which I think is a great conversation to have. But there 23 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.760 was a specific post that I saw on Linkedin, your content right, not 24 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:53.879 about some Webinar or anything, and I'm going to read it for us here 25 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.480 to set up where I want to want to take my questions and this conversation. 26 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:04.000 But you said that it's really easy to say that you are repurposing content, 27 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:07.879 but it's harder to do because most people don't know what's holding them back 28 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.280 and the problem is the wrong mindset, which here at be to be growth 29 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:14.159 just and we talked about mindset all the time, so it lined up so 30 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:19.360 perfectly with with the conversations we're having. You said you're creating too much content 31 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.719 with no plan to actually get it in front of people. I bet you 32 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:28.439 have no shortage of content being created, but it's probably not being distributed and 33 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.560 repurpose so you need to shift your mindset from a creation mindset to a distribution 34 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:36.800 mindset. And you went on from there and that's where you know we're going 35 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:42.120 to jump off that conversation. So, okay, I hear repurpose content and 36 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:45.120 that phrase is tossed out a lot. So I want to start with giving 37 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:47.960 you an opportunity to just define it for us. And what does it mean 38 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.800 to you? Yeah, I mean, the reason it's defined different ways because 39 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.520 it truly can mean different things to different people. Out of that is base 40 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:04.000 core form. repurposing contents nothing more than taking one thing and remixing it, 41 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:10.400 reusing it, chopping it into either another thing or many other things. So 42 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:15.080 repurpose content for one person might mean taking a blog post and turning that into 43 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:19.639 social for another person that might mean taking a youtube video and turning that into 44 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.360 tick tock. Another person that might be, you know, shooting a whole 45 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:28.199 bunch of shorts videos, merging them all together and putting them as a long 46 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:32.360 form youtube video. It's all repurposed, it's all readone in different ways. 47 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:37.280 It's just kind of taking one thing and yeah, I kind of like to 48 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.599 think of it as like you're just taking one thing and remixing into another. 49 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.719 Right. I think what's interesting is that the history of repurpose content in the 50 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:53.159 lexicon of content marketing has had these ebbs and flows. Right. So I 51 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:59.120 remember like maybe two thousand and eighteen when it when repurpose meant basically like well, 52 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.240 we need to get five tweets out of this and we need just like 53 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.759 more, more and more, like get is like the maximount you can and 54 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:09.919 get in front of people as often as possible. But we aren't really going 55 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:13.080 exactly in that same stream here in two thousand and twenty two. That was 56 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.680 great maybe back then, but you see sort of an evolution and you often 57 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:20.519 speak to that, talk about how the mindset of what you're talking about when 58 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:26.839 talk about repurposes may be slightly different than that. Yeah, it's not necessarily. 59 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.519 I think it's being strategic at the end of the day and being realistic. 60 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:34.639 So yeah, that two thousand and eighteen. That that classic Gary v 61 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.879 Slide Deck. The you know, I'll take one thing and cut it up 62 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:44.839 into a thousand things. Super Inspirational and I think in I'd be lying if 63 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.240 I said that wasn't actually an inspiration. Probably at the you know, very 64 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.160 beginning. For me and a lot of and for a lot of this right, 65 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:54.439 but I think the the react when the rubber meets the road in the 66 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:58.319 reality sets in as a as a content marketer who's got to actually get it 67 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:02.000 done, and a lot of times at orgs where their support needed to actually 68 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:08.040 make that happen. So, like m brand guidelines need to be followed and 69 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.639 you know, especially if you're talking about doing this for a company like there, 70 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.160 it's very easy on a personal brand for instance, to kind of just 71 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.319 say, okay, I'm going to go crazy and just post a bunch of 72 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:19.959 stuff and try a bunch of different meanings. It's not always as easy when 73 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:25.240 you're trying to do it for corporate brand. And so yeah, I think 74 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.600 thinking through the strategy of that, though, I'm always asking the question of 75 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:33.160 like why, what's the purpose? What's the function? How do we maximize 76 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:39.480 what we're doing? I'm a classic maximizer in that form of of like strengths 77 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:44.639 finder, if you're familiar with any of that stuff. Like my what what 78 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:46.959 drives me is to get the most out of what we have and especially as 79 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.519 a content leader, we're creating stuff all the time. That's what we're being 80 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.000 tasked with. Hey, you are the content leader, you have the content 81 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.079 team, or you're working freelance or you're figuring this out like we, thankfully 82 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.199 company. He's now understand the importance of content marketing and the value and it's 83 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.959 actually becoming more and more valuable in a more sought out position at companies. 84 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.600 So like that's awesome, but then the spotlight gets turned and so, okay, 85 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.360 you gotta, you gotta perform now, like what does that look like? 86 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.240 In for a lot of people, that's that's run in the hamster wheel 87 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.079 of content creation and just we're going to create its output. It's we're going 88 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.040 to create as much stuff as we humanly possibly can as a team, and 89 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:29.879 that's where it stops. One thing I want to follow up with is is 90 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:33.040 team. You mentioned it. Their team size is eat a real thing. 91 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:38.120 You came from a larger team, now you work with a smaller team and 92 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:43.680 you've seen this strategy of repurposing really provide like a ton of reward. It's 93 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.319 not just about and we did like new content, new content, new content, 94 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:50.480 but there's went, like you said, strategy in a small team setting. 95 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.879 Obviously now you're seeing tons of reward. They're right. Totally. Yeah, 96 00:06:55.079 --> 00:07:00.160 at my last company, if you included like our interns who were who 97 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.319 were worked throughout the year, I had a larger content team than I we 98 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:08.920 have a marketing team at Metadata, and so this is just interesting how those 99 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.639 things work out. And that was, honestly, the other a huge thing 100 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:18.279 for me and in my evolution of this was going from having a full on 101 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:23.759 content team with full time video people, full time social people, full time 102 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:27.759 writers, and they each had their own jobs and I sort of played the 103 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.360 coach role of like getting them and play and understanding what you know, what 104 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.560 plays we were going to run and what we're going to do and help. 105 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.040 You know, I really played that role. Come over to Metadata, it's 106 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:41.480 content team of one, it's marketing team of three, it's we gotta get 107 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.839 stuff out, and so for me that I was like, oh shoot, 108 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.240 I'm only one person here. Now I've really got to think about maximizing right, 109 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.160 you've got I've really got to think about getting the most out of what 110 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.639 we have. And so that's where my mindset started as far as like, 111 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:01.720 okay, we can actually create less original stuff, because when I came in, 112 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.319 we are creating multiple original pieces of content every single week at metadata and 113 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.600 it was it was just the constant of like all right, what's next? 114 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:11.439 All right, what's next? All right, what are we creating next? 115 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.480 What's the what's the next thing? And so being able to kind of pump 116 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.199 the brakes there and say like that's awesome, we've got all the stuff. 117 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:22.720 What if we got more out of what we did and then spread that calendar 118 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:28.879 out a little bit to allow us to really give ourselves breathing room to do 119 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:33.399 more important work like strategy, creativity, saying through how to make this land 120 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:39.840 the best possible way, because when you're just constantly creating and constantly turning out 121 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.960 content, all of those other things kind of falls to the wayside. Before 122 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.320 we get to like an example of how you would do this, I want 123 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.840 to ask a couple follow up questions there. So, for Metadata specifically, 124 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.840 what were those pieces of content that you guys were churning out often when you 125 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:56.440 first came on the team? Justin yeah, at the time it was really 126 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:01.679 blog heavy. We were writing post, we were getting post written for us. 127 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:05.960 We had a series going at the time, an nofluffs given series, 128 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:11.320 where we were working with other awesome marketers to have them essentially guest post and 129 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:15.679 write on our blog and being able to do stuff like that. So it 130 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:20.320 was a really blog heavy strategy to start, which for me made it easy 131 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:22.559 because I had come from that world. But yeah, just trying to figure 132 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:28.279 out how best to utilize what we had, but then also kind of plan 133 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.639 and figure out what kind of what came next. So I guess in a 134 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.279 real world example, before we just throw out hypotheticals, as you re evaluate, 135 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:39.559 what was the change in mindset in maybe if there was a change in 136 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:43.840 distribution, what did you what did you kind of hone in on? Yeah, 137 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.080 for me, the the honing in not so I had I had set 138 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:52.440 up some of these particular frameworks before I came to Metadata, and so we 139 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.879 were I was already kind of set up with these ideas of like distribution doc 140 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.320 so like you have a post and you're actually figure out what you want and 141 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:03.840 where you want to post at and try to come up with the the end 142 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.720 game plan for it. So I kind of already knew how I wanted to 143 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.600 set that was up and come up with the distribution for it. But it 144 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:16.000 was just a it didn't take much work, but a convincing the other people 145 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.120 on the team like hey, let's like pause this down, like I know 146 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:22.440 it's worth it, this is worth it. We don't have to do you 147 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.480 know, we don't have to do this, and then be able to this 148 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:28.360 is the other reality and the other side of coin is being able to prove 149 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.600 it out and show reason volts. And so that was the next step. 150 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.600 was like, okay, we're going to take a break, we're going to 151 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:37.240 try to reassess what we're doing on the on the content, that distribution side, 152 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:41.000 but then it's got to prove itself out. If it didn't work, 153 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.279 I'd be at the same point I was at for and maybe I would have 154 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.600 had a reassess. Thankfully it worked and we're able to kind of get traction 155 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.559 on it and make that work. For I find that we don't have to 156 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:54.360 do this, like take a break, is so rough. That conversation for 157 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:00.200 marketers who are especially in something that is seemingly working, like in your guys 158 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:03.399 situation, where you have guest bloggers writing and you have a system down, 159 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:05.519 it's like, well, we don't really need to take a break, can 160 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:11.279 we like evolved it as we go, but sometimes in that taking a step 161 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:13.960 back, you see things that you don't you literally just don't have time for, 162 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:18.000 like it's there. So I love that you said that we don't have 163 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.879 to do this, we can, we can take a quick pause. We 164 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.120 want a better outcome and obviously that's what we're going to be judged on ultimately. 165 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.200 But that strategy pieces is so huge and all this. Okay, so 166 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.360 let me do this. I'm going to hit you with like let's say I 167 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.759 work at a company and we have an original research piece and I'm coming to 168 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.080 you and I'm going, how should I be thinking about repurposing this? Justin 169 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:43.840 like break it down for me. Yeah, the first thing, the I 170 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:48.200 mean at the tippy top, as the content person, you have to be 171 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:54.639 super familiar with what that research is, who it's for, why it matters, 172 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:56.919 because maybe you're not the one who initiated that even the first place. 173 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.879 Like, so at the top, and the reason I sin that seems super 174 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.399 fundamental, because it is, but the reason you need to be able to 175 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.480 do that as so then you can understand what can come out of that, 176 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:11.759 because I think that's what you're trying to figure out. What can I take 177 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:16.240 out of this research or out of this you know, let's say, if 178 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.200 it's original research, you probably put together some sort of document, Ebook, 179 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:26.279 PDF, slide deck, whatever, where it breaks the actual the the data 180 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.759 down, and then what I would do is I would go through it and 181 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:33.799 find the best subtopics, the best you know, if you I did this 182 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.279 at text mess we had, and they still do it, had an original 183 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:46.120 research piece on video research and essentially it was taking that and figuring out what 184 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:48.840 are the best pieces that are coming out of it. Video length, of 185 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.200 the he was a huge part, or video titles or thumbnails, anything you 186 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:56.000 can pull out, and so then you can take those subtopics and you can 187 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:01.519 create other pieces of content around that. So, for instance, we had 188 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:05.639 a blog post around video length or we had a podcast episode around video length. 189 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:07.080 There were, you know, and then we had tweets pointing to the 190 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:11.279 podcast and put so you can start to see how that stuff starts to formulate. 191 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:16.759 But for me it really starts at the you know I call it like 192 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:22.039 the cornerstone piece of that content and then breaking that down into subtopics and sub 193 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.000 pieces of content from there. HMM, okay, so that's with original research. 194 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.799 I'm going to just throw out like another piece that people might have. 195 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:33.399 So if we play this game again, I'm at a company. We hold 196 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:39.039 a monthly Webinar and it's already something that we're pulling off. It's in our 197 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:46.000 regular rotation. How would you be strategically thinking about repurposing that content? Yep, 198 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:50.039 it's literally this is the best part. It's the almost the exact same 199 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:54.720 format. You're just thinking through different maybe channels. So the format for a 200 00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:00.000 Webinar. You're getting that in video, you're getting that in audio. So 201 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:01.120 now I'm starting to think through. Okay, what are the up? Maybe 202 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:05.039 there's some audio stuff we could do. Maybe definitely video stuff we can do. 203 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:09.200 Maybe it's as simple as housing it on our website or housing it on 204 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:13.240 Youtube. We're cutting up those best parts out of the Webinar. It could 205 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.360 be taking any it. A lot of webinars have q and a attached to 206 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.480 him. So taking the questions that came out of that and maybe we're going 207 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:26.159 to create more content off of those questions to answer those. Maybe there are 208 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:31.320 questions I got answered in the Webinar that we knew ahead of time, very 209 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.879 specific. So if we're going to cover X, Y and Z thing, 210 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:39.159 if I know I have this very maybe it's a ten minute clip that I 211 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.279 know and that's in that Webinar. I know I can take that ten minute 212 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.080 clip ahead of time, answer the question and then post that on Youtube. 213 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.360 That might be able to answer a question that somebody searching. And that's where 214 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:54.759 it's really become cyclical, because if you're thinking about the distribution ahead of time, 215 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:58.440 it impacts your planning before you even do the thing. Yeah, that's 216 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:03.679 what's so crucial about this one. Honestly, just in this is what has 217 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.440 made your content so helpful for me. Is Because, when you think about 218 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.879 distribution, this almost should be a no brainer for marketing. But like, 219 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:15.440 because there's so many distribution channels and the tendency is to go well, if 220 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:18.039 we just create more content, that's some sort of strategy, right, like 221 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.600 just push out good content or like push out content that ranks only valuable. 222 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.960 Whatever valuable means. That that shifting target, but I love that. Okay, 223 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.279 and the part that you said that I wanted to focus in on for 224 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.639 a second was know the content, which sounds so practical, but in a 225 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.840 sense, like with a Webinar, you don't have to know anything about the 226 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:43.000 Webinar if all you do is just repost the whole thing on Linkedin. So 227 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.320 it's it's an easy cop outlook, we shared a piece of content. Here's 228 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.600 the Webinar. Versus, if I go hey, there's a forty five second 229 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.320 clip in here that speaks to some specific problem our customers are having and we 230 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:58.559 just focused on that little bit. We're going to add value. We're not. 231 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:03.159 We're no longer just promoting the Webinar, which is a frustration you and 232 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.320 I both feel, and it you start to see how this obviously repurposing content 233 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.919 becomes highly valuable. But knowing the content man like it takes time to write. 234 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:17.200 Yeah, and I think even going back to the mindset shift piece of 235 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:19.679 it like that really is the core foundation. And and a huge part of 236 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:26.000 that is you aren't doing the Webin are for the Webin are sake, HMM, 237 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:30.799 as a team. You're doing the Webin are so that you can cut 238 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:33.960 it up and share it and have content that you can put emails and reach 239 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.399 out to customers about. And you know what I mean. That's that's why 240 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.000 you're doing it. You have a hundred people show up, that's awesome. 241 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.759 Yeah, but that's a hundred people. And so if in what companies end 242 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:48.480 up doing is I say, okay, sweet, next shot, especially in 243 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.679 the monthly cadence of that. It's awesome, we got a hundred next month. 244 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:55.840 Can we get a hundred and ten or a hundred and twenty? But 245 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:59.960 you're only focused on that singular thing and so you're constantly having to come up 246 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.319 with new ideas, new ways, new how to. It's only on that. 247 00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:07.400 At the same time, you have another probably if it's a larger or 248 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.680 you have another group or a person that's focused on the blog and they're trying 249 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.480 to do the same thing in the blog. You have another group people focused 250 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.599 on the podcast and trying to do the same thing on the podcast. Yep, 251 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.799 when they're all trying to do the exact same thing, hit the exact 252 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:25.759 same topics and reach the exact same audience through different mediums, but they're all 253 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.400 just churning, churning, turning, churning versus working together and trying to create 254 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.160 a cohesive, actual system to make it work. Yeah, when I think 255 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:37.559 of our like distribution plans, there's a couple projects a year where I think 256 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:41.000 we operate at a very high level. We do it what you're saying because, 257 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:44.640 like the stakes are raised. So of course we're going to do it. 258 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.400 This is a no brainer project to do it on. But it's when 259 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:52.279 we get to like that monthly cadence where it almost feels easier to pump out 260 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.640 new content consistently because all you just worry about that over there you just were 261 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.359 about, and it feels to me this might not be everybody situation, but 262 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.960 like that's we lack some of the strategy where there could be. Hey, 263 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:07.359 focus lesson just create new stuff, focus more on how do we distribute this 264 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:15.119 and get maximum return for the efforts here. You provide context around how you 265 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.640 think about all this in a framework kind of like three pillars. So we 266 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:22.279 have a cornerstone, core and cut content. Break that down for US Justin 267 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.480 to give us that how you're thinking about it. Yeah, so I call 268 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:32.640 it the the C method, and really what it is it's trying to group 269 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:36.200 your content. And again there's nuance to all this. So but of course, 270 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:38.400 in at least it as as a base level, group your content and 271 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:45.960 to both a timing and a size and importance kind of level. So cornerstone 272 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:48.960 content at the top of the pyramid, this is the stuff you should be 273 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:56.880 creating at least, probably once a year, bare minimum twice a year. 274 00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:03.279 Great, every quarter even better. This. These are the digital events, 275 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.920 these are the original research pieces, these are the big, you know, 276 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:12.799 core things that you have going out, cornerstone things that you have going out 277 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:18.880 every every single quarter or beyond. These are the things that every if you 278 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:26.240 do it right, every single thing you do for that quarter or that half 279 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.640 could come off of it. okayretically, so even on a personal level. 280 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:37.359 So like for me, if you go Super Meta, my course is cornerstone 281 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.839 content every I can create blogs, I can create videos, I can create 282 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.319 I could have a Webinar, I could have a series, I could have 283 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.920 so much stuff that comes off of the information inside that course, and so 284 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:55.359 that's kind of how and then from there you can eat and that stuff would 285 00:19:55.359 --> 00:20:00.000 be kind of the core content. So if you have, if you plan 286 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.000 out a piece of original research, something that could come off of that would 287 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:07.839 be very clearly a blog post that might talk about it. So you have 288 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:11.440 a written format, you might do a podcast episode where you go over some 289 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:18.079 of the interesting ideas around that particular data set and what you have and the 290 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:22.160 report, and so that's kind of your core level. Is the things that 291 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.200 the initial things that really drive a typical content strategy, Lebon ours event, 292 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:33.359 you know, smaller events, smaller blog posts and stuff like that, and 293 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:37.759 then underneath that as the cut content, and so that is, at its 294 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:41.599 base level, social content. I think it could be pulled for like email 295 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:47.359 newsletters or email content as well, youtube shorts, Tick Tock, any of 296 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:51.920 those type of things where you're pulling and you're just taking this corner stone and 297 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.279 core level content and bringing it down to a level where people don't even need 298 00:20:56.359 --> 00:21:02.799 to know that those other things exist to see the content. HMM. Okay, 299 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:07.559 so maybe walks are an example. You kind of gave us a little 300 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:11.640 Meta example there for a second, but is there a cornerstone piece right now 301 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:15.440 that comes to mind that you could show us how that breaks down into core 302 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.759 and cut content for you? Sure, absolutely so. A good example. 303 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:26.559 We did this with our digital event demand last fall for METADATA. So we 304 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.559 had a digital event. Typically, what most people do when they have a 305 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:34.680 digital event is they push at sort of like we're talking about, with like 306 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.759 a monthly Webinar, and you can see where this really like. It fits. 307 00:21:38.839 --> 00:21:41.720 It just fits regardless of what you're doing. But typically, when people 308 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.880 have a digital event. They spend all this time, effort, energy, 309 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.400 months. I know because we've worked on them month. I Live Wanning, 310 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:56.160 getting speakers, getting, you know, all this stuff figured out. They 311 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.880 have the event, it's awesome, everybody feels great, event ends, that 312 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:03.680 content is no longer good. They don't even think. It's not even content, 313 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:08.240 it's just a event. It's done and so and then they send out 314 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:14.160 the recordings after word, like or House Amana on a landing page. Why 315 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.960 do we do it? Really, that's typically what happens, but we're all 316 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.960 we do that. What we did at Metadata was say I saw it as 317 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:29.559 a an amazing opportunity to take this. We had twelve sessions that were tied 318 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:33.680 like directly into like be to be, into our market, bb marketing, 319 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:38.319 like content we knew people wanted and would be interested in. And so what 320 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:44.759 we did was we took that content and planned out, literally before we even 321 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.920 had the event, I had all the content planned out into January what was 322 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.319 going to launch and how it was going to launch and where it was going 323 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:55.680 to launch and really just having a plan to be able to cut that up. 324 00:22:55.720 --> 00:22:57.920 And so for us we decided, hey, we're going to post we're 325 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:02.720 going to get out of each video, because that's what they were. They 326 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:04.559 were sessions, but at the core of their medium there were videos, and 327 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.599 it was like, okay, we're going to get cornerstone, maybe even a 328 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:11.720 session, and then we're going to get out of that session. We're going 329 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:14.759 to we're going to be able to have written content, we're going to take 330 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.400 the top highlights out of that section and we're going to be able to put 331 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.960 it on there so that people can read it and read through it if they 332 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:25.480 want to. Traditionally maybe people would do a blog post. We just thought 333 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.519 that was going to be a more consumable way to do it and then from 334 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:32.680 there, and then from there we're going to take and literally I watched probably 335 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:37.519 thousands of hours worth of these sessions. I could probably repeat them before they 336 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.519 even launched at certain points because I had watched them so much, because I 337 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:45.519 was pulling the clips and I was pulling the best clips out of those posts. 338 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:51.599 It's not glamorous work by any means, but it's better too. I 339 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:53.480 feel like it's going to be better if you do it in house and if 340 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:59.480 you off shoot it, because you know your audience best, and so cut 341 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:04.039 those up into social videos and then also made longer cut so if we expanded 342 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:08.279 on a topic, made longer cuts and put those videos out on Youtube to 343 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:15.279 where somebody wouldn't have to necessarily watch the forty minute session or the twenty minute 344 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.839 session to get a good chunk of information there and and then we'd literally would 345 00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:23.480 drip those out, the social videos, the youtube videos, every single week, 346 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:27.000 multiple times a week, for four months. And we're still putting that 347 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:32.759 content out and recycling it and putting it back into our onto social. This 348 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:36.279 is a hit, a non beat of B example. But one thing I 349 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:41.039 have paid a lot of attention to because I love sports, is ESPN, 350 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.960 over time, has totally learned this model where now, once I say this, 351 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.319 you won't be able to UNSEE it, but watch the stuff that they 352 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:55.400 share. They are so good now at baking in old clips, things that 353 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.440 are memorable from like years back in sports, and they never used to do 354 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:03.000 it. It always used to be what's the event that's happening today that everybody's 355 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:07.640 thinking about, and now they're going we have an archive that is justin you 356 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:12.079 and I would kill for that amount of plant that they can post for infinity 357 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:15.160 right, but they're like strategically going back and just say, Oh no, 358 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.720 people would love to watch that play again. And I love how you're breaking 359 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:23.559 that down, because you're right, four months of content sitting there and I 360 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.319 can think of all sorts of events from the last ten years where we could 361 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:32.799 have use that in marketing and we didn't. We literally let it die as 362 00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:36.480 soon as that event was passed. Yeah, it's it felt silly to me 363 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:41.240 and a lot of it like literally silly not to do it, like foolish 364 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.559 not to do it. So but some people feel silly and foolish for doing 365 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:48.640 it. That's like one of the hurdles. Yeah, I think it's intra 366 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:53.119 that's when you're internally focusing and I externally focus if I'm focused on my audience, 367 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:56.599 my audience, as long as the content is still relevant, solid, 368 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.759 beneficial, useful. You know, we had Dave gearhart on as a speaker. 369 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:04.559 We had kyle like, if they say something useful on October, why 370 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:10.400 is that not useful in March, like, why is that not useful in 371 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.799 July? That is still awesome. You know, unless it's like talking about 372 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:18.640 a current event or or something happening, the advice is probably going to be 373 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:23.559 beneficial, especially in marketing, for I mean six months minium. Yeah, 374 00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:29.000 wow. Okay. So, as we start to wrap this this up, 375 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:33.960 any sort of just challenge you would give us sort of on a practical how 376 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.400 do we go out and do this? Is it identify a corner stone piece, 377 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.880 like where would you tell people to sort of take action? which we're 378 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.000 all going to be in different places. So you don't have to make a 379 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:48.240 blanket statement. I'll take that out, but like you get what I'm saying. 380 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:51.480 Yeah, yeah, no, I think. Yeah, everybody's in a 381 00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:57.279 different spot. I think to start it's pause and assess. So basically what 382 00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:00.720 I did when I started at meditate it. You can do this if you 383 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.400 you know, I would almost advised doing this every quarter. You know, 384 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.200 pause where you're at, look at what you got going out, look at 385 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:11.680 your content calendar, quote unquote, or whatever you have kind of you're publishing 386 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.440 schedule, and just ask the question, are we getting the most out of 387 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:22.160 this content? The question the answers probably know, and so then you start 388 00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:23.400 to ask more questions. Okay, what is it? What does it mean 389 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:26.039 to get the most out of this content? And then just plan that out 390 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:30.720 and then, yeah, so and then the next quae. Okay, what 391 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:33.359 channels are we active on? Do we have a newsletter? Do we have 392 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:38.119 a social channel that we're active on? Do we have a couple? And 393 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:42.200 then think about how you can maximize those pieces throughout that. So okay, 394 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:45.960 cool, we do have a newsletter. All right. Well, let's mention 395 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:48.240 this piece of content and our next newsletter. Okay, we are. We're 396 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.920 active on twitter. Okay, cool. While then we should be talking, 397 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.960 we should be putting a thread that lists everything out from this, you know, 398 00:27:56.440 --> 00:28:00.519 the two or three things out of this Webinar we should put the can 399 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:03.039 we create twitter threats out of those, or can we create linkedin posts and 400 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:06.200 then, and then just give it a number. I think that's the other 401 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:11.240 thing that people get hung up on is like repurposing unlimited amounts of content. 402 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.400 I could get unlimited amounts of content out of this blog, Yep, but 403 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:21.079 what if you just boxed it to five? What what if you got five 404 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:25.160 linkedin post out of that blog post? Because once you get five, you 405 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:26.519 might say I could squeeze to more out, and then you write the two 406 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:30.000 more, but at least gives you a goal to say we're going to get 407 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.319 five out of each of these blog posts and then maybe you can make a 408 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.200 note and say, like, and there's a lot in here. I could 409 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:37.880 probably get double that, but you know, just set yourself a number there, 410 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:42.319 because otherwise it's like it's too overwhelming to look at a blog and say, 411 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:45.039 like, what are all the what are all the content piece I get 412 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:48.799 out of here? So and then just set a number and figure it out. 413 00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:52.319 So, yeah, just reassess your situation, kind of audit your content, 414 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:56.119 figure out what's a working at us, honestly, for a super, 415 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:00.480 super easy first level. Start what is your best content? What's your bet? 416 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.960 What's your like number one bet? It could be a blog, it 417 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:07.480 could be a podcast episode, like what is the piece of content that resonates 418 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:11.640 with your audience? And then figure out how to remix and recut that one 419 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:15.680 piece of content for your audience. That's what I was suggest doing, because 420 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.240 then you're going to get the bug and you're going to do it for everything. 421 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:23.240 Yeah, starting there with what's best is is definitely going to give you 422 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.000 highest Roi. And then, for sure, when there's like that thing, 423 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:30.000 I guess we could repurpose this, but you've already seen it work, so 424 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:33.480 you got the results. Okay, I love the question. What does it 425 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.039 mean to get the most out of this content as well? So I think 426 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:41.519 that's something I'm walking away with. The practical remix. What's best? Give 427 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:45.480 it a number, as you just said, and then earlier just to kind 428 00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:49.519 of Ping this back at the end so that everybody remembers we're talking about breaking 429 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:55.319 it down and Justin said, to know the content in think through like what 430 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:59.480 can I get out of this and those subtopics. I love that as well, 431 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:03.480 just going making a list right from the beginning subtopics, and then where 432 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.839 is this actually getting distributed? What channels? So so much here that people 433 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:14.400 can go back to. But you also have obviously far more content around repurposing 434 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:18.559 that you've already created Justin so tell us where we can connect with you metadata 435 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:23.400 and also the course and things on repurposing as well. Yeah, absolutely. 436 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:29.359 So I would say if you're interested in learning more about kind of be to 437 00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:34.279 be marketing and paid ads and kind of the future of of where be tob 438 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:37.920 is headed, I would definitely say follow metadata. That's my metadata plug. 439 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:44.359 You can follow me on Linkedin as well, and I'm posting there regularly every 440 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:48.599 single week. About content marketing, content repurposing and trying to get help people 441 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:52.160 get the most out of their content. And then, yeah, if you're 442 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:57.000 interested in actually figuring out how to put together a plan and really set this 443 00:30:57.079 --> 00:31:02.440 up for your company, especially if you're on smaller teams, these super helpful 444 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:06.200 is. I did put together a course content repurposing road map and you can 445 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:11.039 find it at content repurposing road Mapcom and everything's laid out there. You can 446 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.240 actually try it for free if you're interested. There's a section in there to 447 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:15.640 where you can preview one of the lessons, to get one of the spreadsheets 448 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:18.880 and kind of start to audit and pull your stuff out for yourself. But 449 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:23.640 Yeah, love Adjustin. Thanks for spending time here with us on B Tob 450 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:26.480 Growth. It's been an honor to have you here. Awesome. Thanks, 451 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:32.000 beggie. Well, we're having conversations like this all the time on BB growth 452 00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:36.720 helping fuel your growth, your innovation. So if you aren't subscribed to the 453 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.400 show, we would love for you to do that on whatever your favorite podcast 454 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:44.119 platform is, and you can connect with me on Linkedin as well. I'm 455 00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:48.640 always talking about business marketing life over there and would love to hear from you 456 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:52.440 so just search Benjie Block on Linkedin. Keep doing work that matters. Will 457 00:31:52.480 --> 00:32:28.599 be back rous soon with another episode of BB growth. Cheers.