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5 Tips For Combating Online Content Creation Burnout

Guest Post from Jay Fleischman

The beginning of your online content creation endeavor is like any journey – filled with excitement, expectations and a sense of energy.  What happens next is a common stumbling block you’ve got to get over if you want to ensure your long-term success.

The other day I was waiting for my morning coffee when I overheard two woman talking to one another.  It was clear that they hadn’t seen each other in awhile, and were catching up.

The younger woman, probably in her mid-20s, was telling the older one about her new internship.  It was “crazy busy,” but apparently pretty exciting.

“That’s terrific,” replied the older woman.  “Are you still dancing?”

The response was decidedly less upbeat.  “No, not anymore.”

“That’s alright, it gets harder as you go on.”

At that point I got my coffee and couldn’t think of a good reason to keep on eavesdropping.  But it left me to wonder what that young woman would have been able to accomplish if she had kept dancing.  Would she be happier?  In better shape?  More fulfilled?

What experiences had she foregone because she stopped because “it gets harder as you go on”?

We all have that moment when we lose steam.  Getting the inspiration and motivation to continue pushing on – to keep dancing – is where we separate the winners from the losers in the Darwinian contest of online content creation.

I’ve created content for the past 6 years in one form or another.  I was (and still am) an active blogger.  I podcasted.  I do guest posts.  I’ve got irons in the fire.  And from time to time, it gets difficult – the words and ideas don’t come easily, I’m tired, busy, whatever.  When I think about hanging up my dancing shoes I reflect on these 5 tips for continued content creation:

1. Read.  A Lot. Sometimes the well runs dry, and you need to get inspiration.  My inspiration comes from autobiographies and science fiction, but yours could be anything from English literature to gossip magazines.  The more you read, the more ideas seep into your brain.  From there, they magically turn into blogging inspiration.
2. Get Out From Behind The Computer. There’s a whole world going on outside – and I’m not talking about using Foursquare to get new badges.  People are sitting in cafes, walking their dogs, riding bicycles, going to and from work, and just living.  Each one of them tells a story.  Become an active part in the world around you by calling up a friend or colleague and going to lunch or coffee.  All you need to do is ask how things are going; the conversation that follows will let you connect and recharge.
3. Change Gears. My content creation is centered around legal marketing and consumer bankruptcy law, two topics that I’m passionate about.  But once in awhile it’s good to create something different.  I’ll tinker with a pencil and paper, write a letter to a friend about my day (if it’s boring I won’t send it – but getting snail mail makes a friend or loved one feel special), or even just copy a recipe from a website to an index card.  This lets me exercise my writing muscles, engage my brain, and keep me in the habit of moving words from my head to a piece of paper.
4. Stream Of Consciousness. I’m notoriously paper-free in my life, but I walk around with a Moleskine notebook and a pen in my pocket.  It never leaves my bag, in fact.  When I hear something (such as, “Are you still dancing?”) I write it down.  Not because it’s going to make a good quote or blog post title, but because I can look at it later free of outside stimuli and see what comes up.  Remember, great content creation involves remarkable storytelling; giving yourself license to tell those stories is critical to your success.
5. Everything Old Is New Again. You’ve probably written a thing or two in the past.  I’m going to bet good money that there’s a blog post that didn’t fully and exhaustively cover the topic at hand.  Because if you were able to distill a subject from every angle in a 500-word blog post then you’re the best, most succinct writer that ever lived.  Seriously, though – look at something you wrote more than 6 months ago and see if there’s another story you can tell on the same general topic.  Inspiration for content creation comes from all places, including the past.

With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to break through the times when your motivation level ebbs.  The music doesn’t ever need to end, and you’ll never be disappointed when someone asks if you’re still dancing.

Jay S. Fleischman is a consumer bankruptcy attorney who teaches other lawyers how to effectively market their law firms online.

 

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on May 28, 2010 (boomark / email).