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EPISODE 16: How to Create Content That Gets Shared on Social Media
December 06, 2020

SHOW NOTES:

Do you find yourself stuck when it comes to creating shareable content? In this episode, I’m highlighting four things that you need to consider in order to strategize your content creation. Listen in as I highlight the importance of relatable and valuable content for your audience.

4 Things You Need to Think About (2:06)
1. Decide What You Want to be Known For
2. What’s the value you want to provide people?
3. Does my content fall into one of these two buckets: relatable or valuable?
– Relatable Content (5:07)
– Valuable Content (5:24)
4. Make it short. (5:47)

“As Don Draper said, make it simple, yet significant.” (6:41)

How to Create One Liners (8:00)

One Liner: Don’t get caught up in the external metrics of likes and followers—aim for the connection metrics of shares and engagement. (10:02)

Links
Bright Pages
One Line Wonder Workshop

Review the Transcript:

Hey everyone. So in this episode of Business on the Bright Side, we’re going to talk about how to create content that gets shared on social media. That’s how I’ve been able to grow my followers, is by creating content that has been shared across different platforms. So I want to help you do the same thing. So let’s get to it.

What’s up, everybody. It is Jess Ekstrom and welcome to Business on the Bright Side. The podcast where you can learn how to make a living and make a difference at the same time. Life is short and so is my attention span. So let’s get started.

So tell me if this sounds familiar. You work so hard and you create this post and you read through it, you share it with someone else, they love it, you hit posts on social media and then crickets. I know the feeling and it is not a good feeling. And sometimes you’re like, “Why do I even bother if no one’s going to read this or see it? What am I even doing here?” And it’s so tough with social media, where the algorithm is constantly changing and you’re trying to adapt and stay up with the times and you can just get so bogged down in wondering if anyone’s hearing you or wondering if what you’re creating is valuable.

So in this episode, let’s chat about how we can create content that actually gets shared on social media, because likes and followers are one thing, but shares really show that, “Hey, I really like what you said or what you put here and I want the people that are following me to hear it too.” That’s how I’ve grown my social media, is really through shares. People sharing my tweets or my quotes or any of these super short one-liners that I create. And it’s been shared by Create and Cultivate, Britain Co., Boss Babes, and all these different channels with millions of followers that then go over to me.

So I want to help you do the same thing. So the first thing that you need to think about when you want to create content that gets shared, decide what you want to be known for. So instead of thinking about what should I post or what’s the content that I want to create? Think about yourself as like a restaurant. What do you want to be known for at that restaurant? Because people love consistency. They want to show up and know exactly what they’re getting, or at least the cuisine.

You don’t want to show up to Taco Bell one day and they offer you sushi. You want to be that person that’s like, “Yep. This is what I’m serving. This is my specialty. This is why you show up here.” Because when people hit that share or follow or any kind of engagement, they want to know that this is what you’re known for. This is what you’re good at because that’s the way that they’ll engage with you, is when you can start to develop some sort of brand or expectation when they show up on your profile.

That second thing that I want you to think about is, what’s the value that you want to provide people? So it’s the answer to the question, what’s in it for me? Why should I come here and spend my time looking at your stuff? Now I know that sounds snobby, but it’s also the reality that we’re living in right now, where there is such a fight for attention. Everywhere you look, there is something that is trying to get your attention, whether it’s on your phone or on your computer, or you’re listening to a podcast, or there’s a billboard across the street or an advertisement somewhere. Literally everywhere you look something or someone is trying to get your attention.

So for someone to stop, read or share, you have to have something that is pretty dang good that’s in it for them. So when I first started sharing stuff on social media, I would just kind of share stories or snapshots of my life and it was very much a one-way street of, this is what I’m doing. This is the food I like. This is the music I’m listening to, which is fine. But when I really started to gain followers and kind of hit that traction was, I started to think, what is the value that I can provide in here?

So instead of just saying like, “Hey, sometimes I get nervous when I speak.” I would say, “Sometimes I get nervous when I speak, but then I remember that excitement can feel the same thing as nerves.” And so that is changing from a story that’s one sided to a two-way street of value. So someone can come and know what they’re getting, and they know that there’s value on the other side of this post. So now I want to be known for people coming to me for these positive mindset reframes and having that relatable tone, and just kind of knowing that we’re all in this together, so we might as well just keep chasing the bright side. Shameless plug right there.

The third thing I want you to do is, I want you to ask yourself before you post something or when you’re creating content, does it fall into one of these two buckets? Is it relatable or is it valuable? When I say relatable, I mean can someone read this and say, “Yes, she gets me,” or “This sounds just like me.” We’ve all come across those gifs or those memes that you’re just like, “How is this person reading my mind right now?” So that’s one way to really get to people.

The other way is valuable. So what’s a tip, a trick, a quote, a reframe that you can give someone that can enhance their life after having read it. So when you’re creating content, step one, decide what you want to be known for. Step two, discover the value that you want to provide people. Step three, decide if this thing that you’re about to post is relatable or valuable. So this last step might seem difficult, but it’s important. The thing that I want you to do next is, I want you to make this short.

So whatever it is that you want to create, whatever thought that you want to get across to people, how can you condense it? Because people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and shorter. Squirrel. Now you know what I mean? Think about how you scroll on social media. Are you more inclined to stop and read a block of text or are you more inclined to read a one-line quote? Something that is easily consumed will likely get consumed more. So when we talk about creating this short one-liner content, I want you to think about what is this thing that people need to know?

How can I condense what I want to say in something that is digestible, punchy and powerful. As Don Draper said, “Make it simple, yet significant.” And when you can create a powerful one-liner, you can use that one-liner as the image, by either making it look like a tweet or a graphic or a text or anything like that, and then use the caption for your supporting story. So for more of the long form content, maybe the story in which you discovered this or any of the other details that you want people to know. One-liners are great for so many reasons. One being they’re easy to create. It’s a lot easier to create a one-liner than it is to write an entire article.

It’s not just easier to create, but it’s also easier for people to consume. And also one-liner quotes trigger an emotional response in people. And a study in the Harvard business review showed that posts that trigger an emotional response are much more likely to get shared. We’ve all been scrolling and have that one-liner that pops up that just kind of stops you in your tracks. Makes you think. Maybe you hit the save button. Maybe you hit the share button. Maybe you tagged someone specifically who needs to hear it. It’s way easier to digest that one line of text, than it is an entire article.

That’s why one-liners are one of the most shared forms of content on social media. So I know what you’re thinking. That’s great Jess, but how do I create one-liners? I find that whenever I’m journaling on Bright Pages in the morning, there’s usually something that comes out of this journal entry, that’s one line, that I can extract and tweak into something powerful. So usually you might not sit down at the keyboard and just start busting out one-liners. Instead it might come from when you’re writing about something and then all of a sudden one sentence gives you clarity about this idea.

So instead of pressuring yourself to just start spitting out one-liners, just show up on Bright Pages every morning, look at the daily prompt, start writing it, and then see what comes to you. Chances are there’s going to be some line in a paragraph that you can extract and make a one-liner tweet out of. But I also developed a resource to make one-liners way easier to craft. So introducing One Line Wonder Workshop. One Line Wonder Workshop is a short mini course about how to create powerful one-liners that get shared.

You get videos to kind of get that idea of what you want to be known for, how to hone your message, different topics that can spark inspiration. But one of my favorite parts of the course is in your workbook, you get 100 Mad Lib one-liners to fill in and start using on your social media. You can use these one-liners when you’re writing a book. You’ll see in Chasing the Bright Side, in-between each chapter, I have a standalone one-liner. Those are always the pages that get tagged on social media. You can use one-liners for speeches. You can use one-liners and print them on products, or just drop them at parties and watch people’s heads nod. So if you want help creating your one-liners head to onewonder.com and sign up today.

So just to recap, to create content that gets shared, decide what you want to be known for, figure out what value you want to bring, AKA, answer the question, what’s in it for me? And then condense it into something short, like a one-liner. So I’ll leave you with this. Don’t get caught up in the external metrics of likes and followers. Aim for the connection metrics of shares and engagement.

Thanks for listening to Business on the Bright Side. I’m your host, Jess Ekstrom. For all the show notes, head to businessonthebrightside.com and be sure to tell me what you thought of this episode on Instagram. And if you’re picking up what I’m putting down, subscribe and write a review wherever you consume podcasts. See you next time and keep chasing the bright side.

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