Revise and tweak your old stuff
Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE #163
If you’ve ever wondered if it’s OK to breathe new life into old content the answer is yes. Absolutely!
Take this article as an example.
It originally debuted in July 2023.
Then it ran again in the early part of 2024.
And now, here it is again, slightly adjusted, renewed and refreshed, and all dressed up in its Sunday best for another outing.
And about six months from now, I’ll probably run it again … in a slightly different form, of course. But the message: that it’s OK to recycle your old material, will be the same.
So, why repurpose your old stuff? Well, it helps you:
save time and effort: so you spend ess time creating, more time distributing.
expand your reach: letting you connect with a wider audience across various platforms.
boost your SEO: by increasing your website's visibility, you attract more visitors.
How do you go about repurposing?
You could chop longer articles into smaller, bite-sized social media posts.
You can adjust bullet lists by turning them into visually appealing infographics.
And you can adapt long form ideas into short videos or podcasts.
You might try transcribing the audio from a video into a blog post or into social media content.
And you could create a series of Instagram images or Facebook posts from a podcast.
You do all this by adjusting the format and style of your material to suit each platform. Once you’ve done that, you can optimize your content for specific keywords to improve search engine rankings.
The benefits of repurposing your material are that you:
Reinforce your message, which strengthens your brand while solidify your message.
Maximize your efforts, by giving you the chance to create multiple pieces of content from a single source.
Free up your time, allowing you to focus on other important tasks like research, planning, and promotion.
The nifty thing about reusing your material is its flexibility: social media posts become infographics; videos and podcasts can become an e-book; an e-book can turn into an online course; video scripts can turn into email newsletters. And so on. The possibilities are endless.
Contrary to what many people might think, repurposing content isn’t cheating: it’s a smart strategy to boost your online presence. It helps you reach a wider audience, improve your SEO, and save valuable time and effort.
So, don't be afraid to give it a try.
You might be surprised at the results.
As always, thanks for reading.
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree … Where were you a year ago?