How to Repurpose Content For Your Business Blog
As an entrepreneur, there’s going to come a time when you realize that you can’t be everywhere at once - and that having a podcast, blog, YouTube channel, AND an social media presence can quickly become overwhelming.
How can you possibly come up with different content for each different platform every single month?
I hate to break it to you, but you can’t. At least, not if you don’t want your entire waking life to become consumed by generating ideas for content creation (and eventually losing track of your business’s true purpose.)
The good news? You don’t have to.
One of the best tools in your pocket as an entrepreneur is the ability to repurpose content for your business blog from material you’ve already published on other platforms.
What is content repurposing?
Content repurposing involves taking a piece of content you’ve created and changing it to fit to another platform and/or format.
It may seem like content repurposing would make your content on different platforms repetitive, but here’s the thing - most people who find your content are only going to find content on that topic once. The odds of them finding the blog post you developed from the exact same YouTube video they just watched on your channel before moving on are slim - and you can use this to your advantage. Plus, people need to hear your message multiple times to take action - the more, the better,
In addition, everyone learns differently - so the people digesting your material via podcast likely won’t be reading your blog, too. This means it can actually be seriously beneficial to repurpose content for your blog, ensuring your expertise is found on all platforms.
Why content repurposing for your business blog is the right move for you
There are two main reasons why repurposing content is a great practice to take on.
Save time
First, when you repurpose content, you save time. As I said before, there is no need to reinvent the wheel - i.e. draft new topics for content for each different platform.
Once you have a great idea, go with it, and make sure it’s visible on all of your avenues of publication. Make sure it’s seen no matter where your viewer is coming from!
You own the content on your website
Second, you don’t own your social media or podcast platform, meaning it could be taken down at any moment. If Instagram or Facebook were to be removed from the market and you didn’t have your own website loaded up with blog posts, your entire library of content could be deleted forever.
Remember Periscope and Vine? They shut down overnight and those users that built their entire brand on the platform lost everything. Not to mention that not too long ago there was talk of Tiktok being banned in the U.S….
You own your website and the content on it, meaning it’s a good idea to put any content you want to protect on your blog. This way, no matter what happens to other platforms, you will always have a hub where your information can be shared safely and kept for your audience to read.
You’ll know that you have an actual backup plan - one that still brings in leads and sales in the backend.
Get found in Google
The crazy sad thing about social media is that Google can’t read ANY of the content. That means all those precious hours spent crafting your captions and drafting video outlines is gated behind a platform. By repurposing that content into blog posts, it gives you the chance to increase your visibility and get seen by ideal clients and customers.
How to repurpose content - the details
If you’re feeling a little lost here, don’t worry!
I’ve broken down the steps for repurposing content by type so you can confidently turn your podcasts, videos, and social media captions into thoughtful blog posts that will bring expertise and personality to your business website.
Note: While you shouldn’t just use the exact transcription of any material you’ve already published as a blog post, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Rephrasing your copy to sound great written down and incorporating good SEO practices goes a long way - believe me!
Video
If you are utilizing video in your business, that’s GREAT news. Not only are you connecting with potential audience members on a fun and interactive platform, but you’re likely regularly generating content that can easily be repurposed into blog posts for your business - and it doesn’t have to be difficult.
First, you want to transcribe your video with a tool like Temi or Rev. If you are repurposing YouTube videos, chances are that you’ve already done this for the platform specifically.
However, many times a Facebook live or Instagram IGTV may need some cleanup and organization before the post can go live. You want to use the transcription to help you pinpoint important ideas! This is an excellent first step in transforming your videos into blog posts because it bridges the awkward gap between your voice and the written word for you - no typing it out necessary.
Once you’ve highlighted the main points that you made in your video in the transcription text, use these points as headings for your blog post (cleaned up for SEO, of course!)
From there, build up each heading’s content using a mixture of content from your video and extra words, photos, and links that distinguish it as a blog post and add value.
Be sure to highlight or start key points from your video when transforming it into a blog post.
Note that since Google can read YouTube videos, you want to paraphrase this content so it’s not verbatim. This is because Google doesn’t like duplicate content.
Audio
Surprise! Using a transcription service works wonders for transforming podcasts into blog posts, too!
Many times, podcasters will just include show notes made up bullet point summaries and links to resources. But if you want these posts to actually make an impact on your visibility and show up in Google, you need to be ditching the show notes for full blown blog posts.
Similarly to turning videos into blog material, you should ensure the main points from your podcast are highlighted and then incorporated into the blog post as headings. (This can be a little more difficult when dealing with podcasts because they aren’t always as rehearsed or organized as YouTube videos - meaning important points may come up out of the blue and be revisited later.)
However, the key to repurposing content from podcasts into great content for your business blog is taking the spontaneity out of the material and reworking it into logical, flowing information.
Review all the information and topics you cover in your podcast episode and group it by category. Then, take these bits of info and put similar points/ideas under the same headings in your blog post. Of course, you’ll need to go through and ensure it flows, but most of your content is likely already there.
You don’t need to think of completely new topics for discussion!
One of my absolute favorite examples is Jenna Kutcher! If you take a look at Jenna’s podcast (here’s an example episode), you won’t find show notes. Instead, you’ll find an amazing blog post that includes summaries of what was discussed as well as direct quotes. Her headings give the reader a snippet of what the section is about, and it flows perfectly. She includes the audio file up top so people who still would rather listen to the episode can do so! Use Jenna for inspiration during this process because she is doin it right.
Captions
Captions are arguably one of the easiest types of content to repurpose for your blog because they’re:
Already in written format, and
Already written in your “blogger” voice
All you have to do when transforming this material is take the main point of your caption and EXPAND, EXPAND, EXPAND!
You can do this easily by using the main point of your caption as your title (think: How to Connect With Clients Through Social Media) and then using the tips from your caption as headings. In each of those sections, you can dive much deeper into detail that explains your ideas. (If you don’t list tips that can be readily used for headings in your blog post, that’s okay! You can always add them while writing.)
Keep in mind that many captions are 200-300 words, which won’t work for a blog post. You want to aim for 1,000+ words. So although you can’t just copy/paste your caption into a blog, it gives you the framework you need to build off to create an amazing post.
Remember this: If your caption is a snippet, you want your blog post to be a blueprint. Keep the same ideas, but explain them like you would to a friend!
Using these tips to repurpose content for your blog will not only save you time and energy, but allow your content to be seen by allllll different types of learners and consumers. Smart entrepreneurs don’t constantly generate new ideas, after all - they emphasize the ideas that work!
Comment down below if you’re planning to incorporate content repurposing into your creation process - I’d love to hear how it goes.
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