Habits for Content Creators: Build a System for Consistency & Growth

1. Welcome: The key for taking your content creation from a hobby to a business is being consistent. It's easy to say post consistently, but how exactly do you do that? That's what we're going to cover today. Hey, I'm Katie Sekley, a content creator and entrepreneur that teaches other creators how to turn social media into their career. I've always loved creating, and I personally get so much joy and satisfaction out of making videos for the Internet. And I feel so grateful that I get to make a living doing this. And I want to be able to share that with other creators, too. This class dives deep into the backbone of my business. The habits, systems, and organizational strategies that helped me generate over $500,000 in revenue through my content creation business last year. And all you need is a desire to make content and a willingness to build a schedule around it. I'm going to show you how to go from posting when you feel like it and seeing little growth to actually having a consistent content schedule that's going to get you results. When you implement this, you're going to feel proud of your progress, and you're going to actually see your community grow. The truth is the secret to success as a content creator isn't about any specific software or fancy camera or special strategy. It's about making a plan and sticking to it, even when no one is watching yet. It's through this commitment and consistency that you will eventually grow thriving community in a successful business that's based on it. So, come along, as I teach you the best methods for consistency that are actually going to help you grow as a content creator. 2. What You Need to Know: The beautiful thing about being consistent as a content creator is that it doesn't require any fancy software or specific camera gear. It just requires a mindset of commitment. The biggest reason why a lot of beginner content creators struggle with being consistent with their posting is because unfortunately, they don't see their content creation as something worth prioritizing. Often, this is due to impostor syndrome. So to start us off, I just want to encourage you that your content is something worth committing to. Whether you want to start a YouTube channel, grow a community on Instagram or start posting on TikTok, you can do this. You are totally capable of it. And when you start to treat this like a job, you'll be one step closer to actually turning it into a job. So, for this class, I want you to pull up your Google calendar, get out a notebook, and get ready to start thinking about content creation as your part time job. But, like, a really fun part time job. So don't stress too much. Let's dive in. 3. Decide on Your Deliverables : The first step to posting consistently is actually deciding on what you're going to be posting. So, let's decide on your deliverables. First, you got to pick what platform you're going to be posting on? I recommend beginners start with just one or two platforms maximum. Often, we feel the pressure to post everywhere all the time. But that's just going to lead to burnout or at the very least a content strategy that's spread too thin. Consider choosing just one evergreen platform such as YouTube, a podcast, or a blog, and one timely platform. Like, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or X. This will provide a good balance between content that's SEO optimized and we continue to drive traffic for you and content that's more timely and optimized for community connection. And trust me, it'll feel a lot less overwhelming if you're just focused on two. Second, ask yourself, how often do you want to be posting there? This will, of course, look different on different platforms. On Instagram, for instance, you might want to commit to posting three reels per week and one carousel post per week. Plus a few stories every other day. On YouTube, it's pretty standard to post one video per week. And with a podcast, you'll probably want to post weekly as well. Or you can schedule a season and intentionally have breaks between posting series of episodes. As you choose the deliverables that you're going to be incorporating into your content calendar, always remember to take into consideration your current lifestyle and other commitments that you have going on. One of the biggest factors that leads to creators burning out and ultimately giving up on posting is committing to a way to demanding content schedule. You can always increase your posting frequency in the future if you feel like you've got it all under control. But it's hard to move through that feeling of disappointment if you commit to way too much and end up not being able to deliver on it. For the sake of our example today, let's say that my deliverables are going to be one YouTube video per week, and then three Instagram reels per week Next, we'll dive into breaking down these deliverables and developing a routine around all of the separate tasks required to actually create this content and make sure that it gets published on time. 4. Breakdown Your Process : The next crucial step in building your content creation routine is taking each of those deliverables that we just decided on and breaking them down into individual tasks. So we're going to go through each of the example items that I mentioned and talk about all of the various steps involved in taking a YouTube video, for example, from idea to actually published on your channel. So first, we'll talk about all the steps involved in creating a YouTube video, and then all the steps involved in posting three Instagram reels per week. And we are going to write down each of those individual steps. So obviously, in order to publish a YouTube video every week, you need to come up with an idea. So let's start by adding that to our list. Next, I'll need to script the video, actually go ahead and film it. Of course, that I'll need to edit the video. Every good YouTube video has a thumb nail. So I'm going to design the thumbnail. I need to write the description that will go with my video. And finally, upload and actually schedule the video. In YouTube studio. So now let's do that same process, but for my three reels. So obviously, I've got to come up with three ideas. The next step is going to be scripting slash planning the visuals for these reels. Next step, I need to film or at least gather the clips that I'm going to use in the reels. And, of course, the natural next step is to edit the reels. Then I need to write my captions for each of them. I also like to make specific cover images for my reels so that my feed looks nice and on brand. And then finally, I need to schedule those reels, or what I like to do is upload them as drafts in Instagram so that I can post them later. Okay, after going through this, you should now have a complete list of all the individual tasks required to actually get your content posted. This process might kind of feel like stating the obvious, but chances are when you sit down to think about this, you'll realize that there are actually some steps involved that you might not have been thinking about. Writing them all like this helps you to identify exactly what you need to do on a weekly basis in order to post your content consistently. And it might even prompt you to reconsider those deliverables that you decided on if doing this makes you realize that It's actually maybe more work than you realistically have time for. Overall, this is a really crucial process because it helps you get realistic about what your recurring tasks are going to be when it comes to being consistent with whatever deliverables you decided on. Now that we know everything that's required in posting the content that you want to post on a weekly basis, next up, we're going to address some of the obstacles that you might face in actually making this happen. This way, we can anticipate them, prepare for them, and help to mitigate them so that you can keep your content creation routine, up and running even in less than ideal circumstances. 5. Identify Obstacles : So let's talk about some of the things that might come between you and posting consistently online. That way, we'll be able to schedule around them and ensure that we craft a content creation routine that's actually compatible with you and your life. So, our next step is to lay out your typical week on a calendar so that we can figure out what time blocks are currently unavailable for content creation. And through this process of elimination, figure out your ideal times for working on that task list that we just developed. So obviously, you're going to want to add your work schedule. But make sure that you add any other life commitments as well. Like maybe your weekly workout classes or times that you regularly hang out with friends. Whatever it might be that currently fills your life, make sure that you're realistic about it and you add it all to your calendar. To be successful in the long term, it's really important that you have work life balance. I don't want you to give up all of your hobbies and social time in order to make room for content creation in your schedule because if you do that, you may only last like two months, and then you'll quickly be ready to give up on that YouTube channel in favor of going back to this. Once we have all of our necessary commitments covered. Next, you want to start to block off any times that you just know you would dread using for content creation. Here's the thing. Beginners often get very optimistic about this and think, Yeah, of course, I'll wake up at 6:00 A.M. On a Saturday in order to film my YouTube video. But chances are, this is not something that you can commit to in the long term. So go ahead and block off those times that you need for self care or that you just realistically know you are not going to want to put towards filming and editing videos. It's so important to be realistic when you're setting up your content creation schedule. If you overcommit, this will just lead to burnout and probably giving up. Now, in addition to just the general fullness of your schedule, it's also important to think about the specific factors that might make content creation difficult for you. For example, when it comes to making YouTube videos, it's important to film at a time when you've got good natural light and when your surroundings are quiet. So, as a personal example, for me, I live in a 500 square foot basically studio apartment with my husband. Also works from home full time, and his job requires a lot of Zoom meetings. So something that I take into account with my own content creation schedule is when he tends to have the most meetings. Because obviously, if he's over there talking on Zoom, I can't be sitting here recording a video 'cause you'll hear him talking in the background. Therefore, I'm going to go ahead and block off times on my schedule when I know that he tends to have the most Zoom meetings. So think about what that might look like for you. Maybe there's a certain time of day when your dog is always really restless and barking a lot. Or there's times maybe when your kids are busting in the door on their way home from school, and there's a lot of chatter in your house. Or if you live on a busy street, like I do, there's times of day when there's more traffic and therefore more traffic noise. Try to avoid these times if you can, because it'll just make content creation feel so much easier for you. So consider all of these things that might not really impact you in your, day to day living. Like, I don't notice the traffic noise outside unless I'm actually filming. So think about all those small details and consider them when you're building out your schedule. Now, all the space that is left on your calendar after this process should be fair game for scheduling in those content creation tasks that we were just talking about. So, with this in hand in our next lesson, we're going to finally build out your content creation routine. 6. Lock Down Your Schedule : So now that we know what you want to post, what tasks are required in posting that stuff, and what your weekly schedule looks like, we can put it all together and build out your own custom content creation routine. So first, we're going to want to label each of those tasks that we identified with a time estimate. How long do you think each of these individual tasks are going to take you? It's important to figure this out so that we can put down the correct length of time block in our calendar. So, for creating a YouTube video, I think brainstorming an idea will probably take about 1 hour. Scripting will probably take 1 hour as well. Filming probably 1.5 hours. Editing, including all of the post production, like doing the thumbnail and writing the description. All of that usually takes me about 5 hours. Now, of course, for big tasks like filming and editing, you can break these down as much as you'd like. I know, for me, I personally love being in the creative flow of editing something from start to finish all in one session. So that's why I've blocked it together as one, five hour day. But if you know that's not going to fit into your schedule, you can break that down into smaller chunks. It's really going to depend on your personal availability and preference. Now, let's talk about the reals creative process. Coming up with ideas and scripting can happen at the same time for me, and I think that'll probably take about 1 hour. Filming or gathering clips will take another hour and editing, again, including all the post production, like writing captions and creating cover images. I think will take about 3 hours. Now that I have this sorted out, let's take our list of tasks and go through our calendar and start slotting these in where we have time. So, let's add 1 hour for YouTube brainstorming to my calendar on Tuesday afternoon. 1 hour for scripting the video on Wednesday morning. I'm going to put 1.5 hours down on Friday morning for filming. And then wrapping around to the next week, I'm going to put a big chunk of 5 hours of editing and post production on Monday. Next, we'll fill in the blanks with our remaining reels content creation tasks. Idas in scripting can happen on Tuesday morning. Filming or collecting clips. I'll add that to my calendar on Wednesday afternoon. And finally, we'll slot the 3 hours of editing in on Thursday afternoon. Once you have your weekly routine sketched out, I highly recommend putting this into something like a Google calendar. Where you can add event notifications to each time block so that you don't forget to do your task at the time that you plan to. And obviously, this is just an example. Everyone's schedule is going to look different. This is just what mine looks like based on my existing commitments and my life circumstances. But I would love to see what your schedule looks like. Once you build it out on Google calendar or even on paper like this, feel free to take a photo or a screenshot and upload it to the class project section. This will also serve as inspiration for fellow learners who are looking for examples of what different content creation routines can look like. I can't wait to check yours out. 7. Final Thoughts : Thank you so much for joining me for my skill share class. It's been an absolute pleasure sharing my nerdy love for scheduling and organization with you. And I really hope that it's been helpful for you in formulating your own content creation routine. And, of course, congrats to making it to the end of this class. The most important thing to remember is that everyone's processes are going to look different. And you need to design yours to fit your own life. That is truly the key to finding consistency with content creation and eventually seeing real growth. It really needs to be unique and customized to you for it to work in the long term. And once again, remember to leave a photo or a screenshot of your new content creation schedule in the project gallery below so we can all take a look and get inspired. Thanks again for watching. Bye.