If there’s one thing authors and business owners often feel short on, it’s time.
That’s why creating long-form content is such a powerful tool—you can turn one piece of long-form content into multiple short-form pieces, extending the value of the work you put in. Repurposing is literally the bees knees!
Today, I’ll share with you how you can create long-form content and then break it down into bite-sized pieces that will serve your business for weeks, or even months!
Why Long-Form Content is Essential
You need to focus on content that works for you even when you’re not actively promoting it on social media. Long-form content, such as blog posts, podcasts, YouTube videos, or even longer Instagram captions, gives your audience the chance to learn from you in-depth. It also gives people the opportunity to find you no matter how they’re consuming content.
It’s also fantastic for SEO—search engines love well-written, long-form content. The more quality information you provide, the more likely your content is to be found by potential clients. The reasons I love long-form content are many but here are the reasons that should SELL you on why you should be creating long form content.
Pretend with me for a minute.
You record a video training for a community – whether it’s paid or it’s free, whether it’s for your audience specifically, or you’re a guest in an event. You’ve recorded this training yourself on your computer, so you don’t have to worry about having the files. You already have them.
You’re going to take that video and you’re going to pop it into two places.
One, a transcription service, like Rev.com so that you can pull a text file. I love Rev because you can use AI to transcribe, or you can pay a little more and a real person will do the transcription.
Two, you’re going to pop it into a video editor and extract the audio from it.
Now, you can upload that audio file to a podcast syndicate – you can literally create a podcast for free, btw!
From that podcast, you can create show notes, which gets your text out there. They can be as robust or as minimal as you want.
You can also upload that text file from Rev.com into ChatGPT and ask it to break it into several blog posts. (I’m literally doing this right now! The content from this blog post and the one last week were literally a part of a summit I did a few years back!)
How to Choose Your Long-Form Content Focus
So, where do you start with the planning process? Well, this is what I show you how to do with my Roadmap to Unicorn Content.
The short of it is that you begin by picking a focus for the quarter. Yes, the whole quarter. Choose one topic or product that you’ll focus on for the next three months. This helps you streamline your content, ensuring everything points in the same direction.
Once you have your quarterly focus, break it into smaller categories. For each month, create one long-form content piece around that focus.
For example, if your quarterly focus is selling a course, one month’s content could be “How this course saves you time.” Another could be “Why this course is perfect for beginners.”
The Content Mapping Process: Breaking Down Long-Form into Short-Form
Once you’ve created your long-form content (such as a blog post or YouTube video), it’s time to turn it into short-form content for social media, email newsletters, and more. Here’s how:
- Pull quotes from your blog post to use as social media captions.
- Use the headings in your long-form content as topics for your email newsletters.
- Turn key points into an infographic, carousel, or quick tip video for Instagram or TikTok.
Again, this is what I show you in the Roadmap to Unicorn Content!
Example: From Blog Post to Social Media
Let’s say your blog post is about saving time with content marketing. Here’s how you can repurpose it:
- Blog Post Title: “5 Ways to Save Time Creating Content as a Busy Entrepreneur”
- Newsletter Ideas: 1. A case study on time-saving content strategies. 2. Your favorite content planning tools.
- Social Media Ideas: Create a carousel post with the 5 tips from your blog. Share a testimonial or success story on Instagram Stories. Turn one tip into a quick Reel.
Long-form content is your best friend—it’s rich, SEO-friendly, and easily repurposed into endless amounts of short-form content. By creating just one piece of long-form content each month, you’ll have more than enough material to stay active across platforms, all while connecting with your audience on a deeper level.
