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how to create content you actually feel excited about
Published 9 days ago • 4 min read
ISSUE #115
Spring back as a college senior.
That sentence alone may trigger memories of long nights and rough mornings, the smell of UV Blue and Coconut Rum.
Unless you are a painting major, in which case Spring Break smelled like - paint.
As part of my uber-classical fine arts training, we were often assigned to copy works from the past as homework. So a couple of weeks before spring break - my figure painting professor assigned me my spring break project - to reproduce a painting from one of my favorite painters John William Waterhouse.
Now to my professor's defense - he knew this was an artist I liked, and although it needed his final approval, I got to choose my piece.
In the snowy weeks leading up to spring break that followed - I submitted my initial sketches and got started on the piece.
I even bought (aka charged to my credit card) a $100 tube of Williamsburg Cadmium Red Light Paint to get myself pumped.
But then I got stuck. It just wasn’t my style.
Every time I put brush to canvas, it felt like pulling teeth.
No matter how much I wanted to - I didn’t feel excited about the piece.
At the very last minute, before campus turned into a snow-covered ghost town (this is Buffalo in March we’re talking about) - I sorted through a pile of reference books in the library, desperate to convince my professor to let me switch my painting before I was shit out of luck.
Bogged down by snow boots, a knee-length North Face Parka, and the added weight of three library books in my already too-heavy backpack - I squeezed into my professor's office hours with hours to spare before classes were out for the session - desperate for his approval to change my assignment.
Our new choice was a Euan Uglow figure study.
With two weeks of my timeline already burned up, I carefully covered our dining room table in newspaper, set up my makeshift studio, and spent the next two weeks painting my little heart out.
By the time it was done - it was arguably my best painting to date (so good that someone stole it - but that’s a story for another day).
The point is that if you aren’t excited about what you are creating, you will probably not be very successful at creating it.
Being creative, thinking, producing, and making decisions creatively is different from other jobs.
It’s one thing to show up and swing a hammer when you’re having a bad day or not super excited about the job at hand - it’s another to tap into the piece of your brand that is responsible for abstract thought if you aren’t feeling positive, inspired, or excited about it.
And that my friend is where most entrepreneurs get stuck especially when it comes to creating content to market their brand.
You try to copy the strategies and content other people use and it just doesn’t feel quite like you.
You aren’t excited about it - and it feels like pulling teeth just getting pen to paper.
Is it really a surprise when that content flops? You didn’t care all that much. You were just trying to cross something off your list.
How did you expect your audience to respond?
Keep Reading For...
😁 how to create content you actually feel excited about
💻 inside my Notion content dashboard
📝 quarterly brand reflection
you once you start creating content you are actually excited about
How to create content you actually feel excited about
I’ve spent the last 6-8 weeks completely switching up how i’m creating & planning my content for social, newsletters, and more.
I don’t claim to have a perfect system nailed down yet (and i’ve honestly let go of the expectation that I ever will - I think it will continue to shift through the seasons of my business).
Being excited and inspired about a piece of content means a newsletter taking an hour to create instead of three, an instagram post getting 10 saves, instead of only 10 likes.
Instead of filling up a content calendar with ideas, I feel just eh about & then stressing the ef out to actually get them done, I’ve been.
Listening to my audience (more on this next week i pinky promise)
Ranking content based on how inspired I feel about it
Batching content creation tasks
And teaching my 1:1 clients how to do the same.
And since #s don’t lie & data makes my brain happy - here’s a breakdown of how that’s paid off
a 370% increase in accounts reach on IG in the last 90 days
a 176% increase in accounts engaged on IG in the last 90 days
a 9.4% increase in total followers on IG
a thread, that turned into an instagram post, that turned directly into a dream client
and a 23% increase in Newsletter subscribers
Click the link below for a quick breakdown of how I plan content for me and my 1:1 clients based on how excited we are feeling about the idea.
Okay Catie - cool - working on ideas you are excited about, got it.
But what if - I have 0 ideas.
Like idk wtf to talk about.
Whether you are confused on:
how you should be creating content to promote your offers
how to talk about my offers in my content
the kind of content people are going to resonate with and respond to - that works for my brand instead of just taking up all of my time.
I can help you create a cross-platform content strategy (meaning more than just IG) for your brand that you feel excited about, puts your audience first, and keeps your time and resources top of mind.
Click the link below to book a 60-minute strategy session and get 1:1 help clarifying how to create content you are excited about for your brand.
Get clear on what's next for your brand. Book a 1:1 strategy session to connect the dots between your brand, content, strategy, and how to manage it all as a solopreneur.
Share your thoughts, feedback, or even suggestions for future topics. I value your input and can't wait to hear from you. Please email me at catie@cedarjunestudio.com, and let's keep the conversation going!
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