Content Creation - How to Find Endless Sources and Never Run Out of Ideas

Ray Higdon is doing a series called Leadership Mastery and it only makes sense for me to write this article about content creation and where to find ideas because that's a topic he covered and one of my main motives for being on the training to begin with. It's a match made in heaven. Here's a big paradigm shift for anyone astute enough to recognize it for what it is and to apply it to their own content creation: From here on out, evaluate every piece of content - CD, conference, webinar, ebook, interview, podcast any and all content that ever comes into your mind - not as a consumer, but as a marketer. I'm thinking a lot of people will skip right over this idea and miss the absolutely life-changing possibilities it holds. Too many of us think of content that we come across as something for us to learn and use. That's true, but very limited. It's the consumer mentality. "I bought this and now I hope it was worth it". Most people fail to go to the next step - to think like a marketer - and apply what they've learned to their own content creation. A marketer already knows it's worth it. A marketer is attending a conference, reading a book, listening to a podcast and watching every webinar with notebook in hand recording ideas for how they're going to use what they're learning, put their own perspective into it and turn it into their own content creation. There are a couple of questions you can ask yourself every time you evaluate a piece of content to help you figure out how you can use it for your own content creation. Content Creation - The First Question to Ask Yourself "What can I take from this and go teach someone else?" For example, if you're listening to a webinar, like this one of Ray's, jot down notes about what you're thinking while the speaker is talking. Your thoughts, impressions, the emotional responses it brought up in you whatever goes through your mind in that moment. Content Creation - The Second Question to Ask Yourself "How can I use this knowledge and put it out there in my own way?" Continuing with the example above, share what the speaker said then talk about your thoughts and feelings about it. The idea may be coming from the speaker, but the perspective on it is uniquely yours, so it's your content creation and an original piece of thought. I could go on for many more blog posts - and I'm certain I will with all the content creation ideas I got from just this 1 part of the 4 part series, but this is such a fundamentally important concept that I want to give it it's own space. Reread this if you need to and really allow yourself time to think about how incredibly powerful an idea this is: Content Creation - Think like a marketer, not like a consumer. And here's the kicker: this is just one idea that Ray Higdon spent only a few minutes on. You've got to hear the rest of it for yourself. And use it for your own content creation so you can have an endless source and never run out of ideas. Here's my end of the deal, Ray. And by the way, I'm definitely getting the better end of the bargain because I was on the webinar to get content ideas for new blog content creation to begin with. It's like getting a free gift with purchase. Very fun, exciting and way, way cool. Mary and Dean R Black