Tag: productivity

3 Ways to Make Content Better, Stronger, Faster

Anna PengLeave a comment

When you are deep into your content marketing game, you develop processes that work for your own brand. 

Your processes help you make content better, stronger, and faster each time. 

Here are 3 things I do that help with my content creation process:

  1. Go from inspiration to distribution ASAP. I tend to execute on ideas as soon as I can, because I find that trending songs or filters move on pretty quickly. I don’t want to jump into trends after they’re gone.
  1. Minimize the amount of equipment you need. For me, I almost exclusively keep production and distribution on my phone. This helps with speed and efficiency. 
  1. Always learn from previous posts. If the same kind of post doesn’t do well for the 7th time… well, maybe it just sucks and you should move on. Likewise, if a type of post does exceptionally well compared to your average posts, do more. Mimic new pieces of content off of previous successful ones. 

Everyone has slightly differing processes. The only way to find yours (if you haven’t already) is to post frequently and get into your own rhythm. 

What does climbing a mountain have anything to do with social media?

Anna PengLeave a comment

Earlier this week, I climbed the first peak of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish.

We got to the top sweating, panting, and legs completely sore from the ascent.

I sat  on the rock to catch my breath.

What happens next comes straight out of a fairy tale.

A man with long brown hair comes dashing through 15km/h to the top. Dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers as if he gracefully galloped up the entire 1.5 hour climb without a sweat.

He disappeared just as fast as he arrived.

He was a regular. 

What does this have anything to do with social media? 

It’s a practice. 

If you want to build an engaged community and grow your brand, you have to put in the work for it to be successful.

It can take months or years. 

Either way, nobody starts off dashing up the mountains at 15 km/h in shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers so gracefully without putting in the work.

3 years ago, I wanted to help my parents build their restaurant business

Anna PengLeave a comment

So I created an Instagram account, and started posting something every day. 

2900+ posts later, we get multiple customers from Instagram on a daily basis (and it still works). 

The key takeaway is this: if you want to build your brand online, start by posting something every day. 

It’ll be slow to start, but so worth it. 

Every personal brand expert tells you to “tell your story” but none of them ever tell you how. 

Anna PengLeave a comment

If they won’t do it, I will. 

If you feel like “telling your story” is a vague term, here’s how to do it. 

It’s actually straightforward when you rephrase it into a different question, which is:

Why do you do what you do? Tell me everything.

People are curious. People want to know what motivates you. They want to hear about what led you to this point in your life that has led you to cross paths with them. 

Everyone has a why. 

Most people just don’t know how to talk about it unless asked the right questions.

How might freelancers brand on social media in a way that they love?

Anna PengLeave a comment

This is the question I’ve been trying to answer for the past few months. 

And finally, we’re onto something that might work.

But, in all honesty, it still is an experiment because we haven’t done it before. 

Our team at the Habit Factory is hosting a 21 day Content Club, designed just for freelancers to build their brand while growing with others. 

The first run is totally free, and starts this Monday. 

Sign ups are here.

We’d love to see you join if you’re up for the challenge. 

If you want to create content that performs, here’s the secret

Anna PengLeave a comment

Take a look at your posts up to 2 months ago, and see which got the most shares/comments/likes. 

If those select posts are constructive for your brand, do more of it. 

If it resonated with your specific audience, do more of it. 

That’s all.

Want to 10x your Content Writing Game?

Anna PengLeave a comment

Here are 2 books to help you understand what you can do to improve:

1. A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters: A Resource for Writing Headlines and Building Creative Confidence by Dan Nelken.

A practical read with exercises, examples, sprinkled with personal experience. 

  1. Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks.
  2. Learn how to craft your words in a way that makes people lean in. 

However, reading books will only get you so far.

The real key to 10xing your content writing is to practice your writing and get feedback on it. 

Our team at the Habit Factory is launching a 21 day Content Club this month.

Check it out and sign up for the list here

Frequency helps with improvement

Anna PengLeave a comment

The other day I found myself making jelly for the first time with agar agar. 

The results were a little different from what I expected. 

It was too soft for a jelly, and broke down into tiny pieces that made up a jelly-like slush.

Eventually I found out that I didn’t add enough agar agar. 

But the point of this post isn’t about jelly desserts.

Instead, it’s this.

The trick with frequency is that the more times you try something, the better you’ll get at recognizing patterns.

You’ll learn to see what works, and what doesn’t. 

Alternatively, whatever you don’t try you’ll never learn from.