How to create free content when you’re worried everything’s already been done before?

Hello, I’m Laura from Worditude, and I have an intentionally comfy business that makes the money I need while squishing in around my other life priorities, responsibilities, challenges and adventures.

This is the Ask Laura podcast. where, in 10 minutes or less, I answer your questions, using my 15 + years of experience in copywriting, marketing, and making money online.

Today’s question is inspired by a request I had during January’s Monthly Q&A Day for All Access Passholders. I’m summarizing. They asked:

‘How can I motivate myself to create free content when I feel like it’s all been done before and I’m just adding to the noise?’

I know the feeling.

Every idea you come up with feels boring, like it’s all been done before, and you can’t find the enthusiasm to create anything – but you know it needs to be done – email, social media post, blog post, podcast episode…even a lead magnet – you need to create it but you can’t find the motivation because what’s the point. Someone else has probably already done it, and they probably did it better.

I’ve got 5 questions to help pull you out of this creative funk any time you fall into it:

1. Do you have something you’ve already created you can share?

Do you need to create something new or do you have something already that can be optimized and re-shared?

2. Why not share someone else’s content?

If someone has created something that exactly does the job you want to help people with – why wouldn’t you just share that?

This is often the reason I create new things…. because I look at the things I would share – and there might be 3 or 4 of them but they’re not quite right – they don’t really reflect what I believe, how I do things, how I want to teach or encourage people. And that gives me the motivation to create something new.

And equally, if you do find something you’d love to share with your audience – you can do that.

Or you can contact the business owner and look for an opportunity to collaborate to grow your audience and make sales. More on this in The Connection Project

3. Have you got Content Churn Out Burn Out?

How much content are you asking yourself to create?

Does it all feel a bit samey?

Why are you creating so much?

Why are you creating this piece particular of content?

Please don’t Do Social Media? Or Do Email Marketing? Have a clear purpose for all of your marketing activity.

Social Media Obligation Buster blog post – you could use that perspective on other pieces of content you feel obligated to create

And my course Marketing Gameplan helps with this.

4. Are you a Humble Mumbler?

You might be giving up on your content ideas because you doubt that people want to hear from you.

Do you find it hard to let people know you exist?

Do you mumble about your expertise, and generally keep your amazingness to yourself because anything that looks like marketing, selling, or self-promotion feels awful and is if you’re screaming Look At Me, Look At Me.

There are people that need what you have. They need your services. Your products.

whatever you were about to put into that free content that you’re now hesitating about creating….someone out there needs that.

But you can’t help them if you stay quiet and they don’t know you exist.

More on that in my shortish free video – The Humble Mumble Cure.

5. Do you wish I didn’t bother making this podcast episode?

How many pieces of free content are out there right now, that answer the question, I am answering right now on this Ask Laura episode?

How many Instagram posts, YouTube videos, answers on Reddit threads…. hundreds? Thousands?

Hundreds of Thousands?

Would you have preferred that I didn’t bother creating this, or has it been helpful?

And that’s a wrap.

You’ve been listening to Ask Laura.

You can ask me a question by going to worditude.co.uk/ask-laura

Thanks for listening, Goodbye

Useful Links:

Persuasion Power-Ups

Social Media Obligation Buster

Marketing Gameplan