0 (3s):
Shake their room, Fire Nation, JLD here with an amazing conversation about creating a content production plan to drop these value bombs. I am bringing none other than Katelyn Erickson on the mic. She is the engine and I mean the engine at Entrepreneurs On Fire and the co-author of the Podcast Journal Idea to launch in 50 days, her goal is to help entrepreneurs achieve financial and lifestyle freedom. And today foundation will be going through Kate's seven step content production plan, which is so baller. She's also going to get specific advice for someone that's looking to create their content production plan right now. And that actually pull out my favorite quote from her part in The Common Path to Uncommon Success.

0 (48s):
It's an amazing contribution, and I give you a little sneak peek of that, and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors, would you be fired up with an e-commerce business generating 10K per month? Well, today's sponsor Qwantify wants to help you get there. Qwantify provides end-to-end e-commerce training and support, and if you're accepted into their partner program, your success and revenue is guaranteed apply today at Qwantify.com. That's Q W A N T I F Y.com. Kate say what's up the Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1 (1m 29s):
Fire Nation is so excited to be on the mic with you today, John, thanks for inviting me on the show. Super happy to be here. And one thing that I believe about being successful that I think a lot of people would probably disagree with is the fact that you do not have to even have like ever experienced anything entrepreneurial in your life up until the point that you decide to commit to becoming a successful entrepreneur. I don't think you have to have that experience or like have grown up working lemonade stands or any of that stuff that I typically hear from entrepreneurs was their childhood. I'm like, man, I never did any of that stuff.

0 (2m 9s):
That's you and me both. By the way, I was in fact what I consider quite lazy as a child growing up, I was like, as long as I have 20 bucks in my pocket, that's all I need a dollar more, will be a waste of my time and energy. So let's just go to the movies or something. So definitely with you on that, not born an entrepreneur, but it is possible for anybody who wants it in fire nation. Speaking of wanting, it's part of wanting, it's going to be creating a content production plan because that's going to be part of succeeding in that want. And of course I am brought, I have brought the engine of entrepreneurs on fire to rock the mic on this topic. We're going to be getting into her insanely awesome.

0 (2m 50s):
Seven step content production plan. But before we do, let's give people a little context because you went from account executive at an advertising and marketing agency to being the engine and entrepreneurs on fire. So let's kind of just chat about those first few months in the business and what it was like finding your way as an entrepreneur.

1 (3m 10s):
Yeah. I mean, this is super on topic, I guess, with my belief that, you know, I didn't really know a ton about entrepreneurship when I left my job and joined you on team. And so those first few months were like drinking from a fire hose. My eyes were popping out of my head half the time. There was so much terminology and things that I was learning that I had just, I didn't even know that they existed. So those first few months were a little, I guess I would say maybe a little overwhelming just from the respect of, I wanted to be quote unquote caught up so fast and like so badly to where, like I just wanted to understand everything.

1 (3m 52s):
And so really had to take a step back and, and kind of coach myself through which John, you helped me with many times. It's like I wanted to be at step 100, but I needed to be okay with the fact that I was at step one and really taking a step back and appreciating like the little steps in the little lessons that I was learning, knowing that those would all add up and bring me to step 100. Eventually that was really key in helping me one enjoy the journey. And two, I just feel like I was able to absorb things a lot better. I feel like it served me really well to take the time to learn those things, even though I was anxious and wanted to skip ahead, but to really take the time to learn those things.

1 (4m 35s):
Because then when I did get to step 50, I mean, very few times do I feel I've had to like reverse engineer my, myself, like back to a lesson that I quote unquote skipped because I really didn't skip much. I took the time to learn the things to, you know, make myself better and learn how to be a great entrepreneur.

0 (4m 56s):
Well, you figured things out. And to be honest, we were both figuring things out of that timeframe. And as we sit here now, you know, almost a decade later, you developed an amazing content production plan that consists of seven steps. So walk us through these steps.

1 (5m 13s):
Oh my goodness. These seven steps, like when I was coming up with kind of, well, I mean, I had been doing the content creation plan for such a long time, that to take a step back and really look at the steps that go into it. It really reminds you that it's really getting yourself back to the basics, right? It's just like The Common Path to Uncommon Success. John, these are, these are very common steps that if you take the time to let yourself go through these exercises and these two to follow this path, then it comes together as like this beautiful plan in this beautiful journey and this beautiful strategy for creating, not uncommon success.

1 (5m 56s):
And I feel that way a lot about the content production plan too, because these steps are really not like individually revolutionary per se, but when you put them together, you create something so incredibly powerful. So that first step, which, you know, again, you're like, duh, it's knowing your topic. It's knowing what you want to talk about. Write about, do a video on like, what is that topic that you're going to be creating content around no matter what platform it's on or where it ends up, what is the topic that, you know, your avatar wants and needs you to be teaching them about once you know your topic? It's all about setting a goal.

1 (6m 37s):
I learned this very early on that I was creating so much content, but I was kind of creating content for content's sake, which is a big no-no right. It's just kind of you spinning your wheels. And in all, honesty can be a bit of a waste of a time, a waste of time, because if you don't have a goal where you're leading people to something to a next step, whether that be opting in for an email list or downloading a PDF, or maybe taking an introductory offer, signing up to do a discovery call with you, whatever that goal for your content is. And this is sometimes the goal for your content is just like, I want brand visibility.

1 (7m 19s):
I want to expand my reach. Like I'm hoping maybe your goal for a piece that you create is like, I want this to get picked up in Forbes or entrepreneur or something like that, but really making sure that step number two, really making sure that every single piece of content you create has a goal associated with that is going to allow you to actually track your progress and measure results. Super, super important. Number three is choosing your medium or the platform that you're going to use to get your content out there. Now I love repurposing just as much as probably every other entrepreneur does. I think it's an awesome strategy, but when you're putting together your content production plan, it's really important that you just choose one medium to start.

1 (8m 1s):
That's going to be your main focus. You can repurpose on a bunch of different platforms and, you know, get yourself in on social media and all these other things. But when you think about the main platform that your content is going to go out on, is it going to be a written blog? Is it going to be a podcast? Is it going to be videos? So choosing your medium, that step number three, okay. Number four is establishing frequency and length. So if you're say doing a blog, like, do you want to be publishing that once a week, twice a week, or maybe you're doing a podcast and you're trying to decide, should I do three times a week or every daily? I mean, when that'd be crazy, you want to figure this out in the beginning because once you establish a frequency and then the length of your content, like how long your posts are going to be, or how long your podcast episodes are going to be, how long your videos are going to be.

1 (8m 53s):
And I'm giving these all as multiple examples, right? You just choose one of these. Once you have your frequency and your length, it's going to be much easier for you to create a schedule around it, because then you can commit to it. Then you have certainty, not like, Oh, I have some extra time so I can create some content right now. No, like I am going to schedule a time because I know that every Monday I'm going to be publishing a podcast episode. So the frequency and the length is a really important to determine upfront. And Hey, all of this can change. Like you don't need to feel stressed out or pressured into making decisions like this because if you try it out for a month and it's not working for you, change it up, just make sure that you let your audience know what to expect.

1 (9m 39s):
Number five is creating a format. So now that you know your topic, you have set a goal and these goals can rotate, right? Not every piece of content is going to have the same exact goal. You've chosen your medium, the platform. You're going to put your content on. You've established frequency in a length. Now you want to create a format or an outline that you can use every single time you create a piece of content. So this might be an outline. It might be a checklist that you use it for me, this looks like for my podcast episodes. What I do is I have the exact same intro and I'll share on every single episode, I have the exact same way that I set up my content. So it's always presenting a problem, walking through a set of steps to solve that problem, and then reiterating what you're supposed to do to solve the problem and then have a call to action.

1 (10m 26s):
So I know every time I go to create content that all I have to do is kind of plug and play. Once you have that format, it can really help you when it comes to batching content and creating content at scale, because you're not having to start over at square one every single time.

0 (10m 41s):
Kate, I hate to break in because you were on such a roll right now, but I want fire nation to listen to all of these steps in consecutive order, if possible, but we have to take a quick minute to thank our sponsors. E-commerce is on fire and it isn't slowing down anytime soon. And I'm willing to bet you've at least considered e-commerce at one point on your entrepreneurial journey, but there's a lot that goes into it. The market research drop ship product and supplier sourcing, website design and development, marketing automation, advertising, campaign development. The list goes on. Enter, Qwantify with Qwantified Partner Program. You benefit from their years of experience and success Qwantify takes away the guesswork and your success is guaranteed. If you're accepted into their partner program, Qwantified guarantees 10K a month in revenue at minimum with quantify your success equals their success.

0 (11m 29s):
So they work tirelessly to meet and exceed your expectations. How do they do this? Qwantify provides comprehensive training and support a dedicated full-time partner, success manager, proven profitable, and guaranteed results in so much more. If you're ready to rock a real business, that guarantee success in revenue apply to become a Qwantify partner today. The Qwantified Partner Program is not for everyone to see if you qualify, visit Qwantify.com and click the apply button. If you qualify, Qwantify, we'll reach out with next steps. That's Q W A N T I F Y.com. So K we're back and nobody laughs because let's be honest, they need to get the rest of these steps. They are here, they're pens or pencils or poise, right above that piece of paper, you are on such a roll.

0 (12m 13s):
Keep the fire alive.

1 (12m 16s):
Okay. Hundred percent. We're on step number six, which is to get feedback. So this is such a critical part of your content production plan, because this is where you start to understand is my content resonating with my audience. Is it helpful for them? Is it what they want and need? And this is so critical because when you get that feedback, not only is it going to help you pivot or make changes, if you need to, it's also going to help you figure out what it is that you can create in the future that might lead to paid products or services. And we all want that in our business, right? So getting that feedback could be as easy as sometimes. My contents goal was to get my listeners to reply to me.

1 (12m 56s):
So in some podcasts episodes, I would say if today's episode resonated with you, I would love to hear from you. What was your number one takeaway from today's content hit me up on Instagram. I'm @katelerickson, or shoot me an email. kate@eofire.com. I can't wait to hear from you. So very direct requests for feedback can go a really long way. That's what I do on podcast episodes. But you could do similar things in videos, on social media, in your blog posts. Of course. So, however you're asking for feedback, make sure you ask repetitively. And I also want you to consider that feedback could be non-verbal and it could be unsolicited.

1 (13m 37s):
So every time you receive an email from it, when someone in your audience, every time somebody replies to your tweet or your Instagram posts, that's always feedback. So if I post a quote on Instagram and it has, you know, a hundred percent more comments than I usually get that's feedback for me, that people really resonated with that quote. So maybe I should do more of that. So that feedback from your audience is really, really important to helping you move forward and step number seven, finally, the grand finale drum roll. This is when you take everything that you put into place and you actually create a plan around it. This is when you start actually scheduling in your calendar, setting aside specific time to record your podcast episodes, to edit your podcast episodes, to write your blog posts, to do research on the different ideas and topics that you have for different posts or episodes or videos.

1 (14m 35s):
So putting that plan in place takes everything that you've learned, and it actually puts things in motion so that you have an exact schedule to follow. You have something to hold you accountable for putting everything that you've just spent all this time creating into a plan that you can use moving forward.

0 (14m 54s):
Okay. Talk about value bombs. I mean fire nation, all of your heads is just popped off. So just take a second walk over to the corner, pick up your head, put it back on your shoulders because Kate still has some specific advice for you because Kate, what would you say to somebody in fire nation right now who is looking to create a content production plan?

1 (15m 13s):
I would say right now, please open up your calendar. Or however you schedule time for specific things. I'm guessing this probably like your Google calendar, your Apple calendar, whatever you use to schedule time. I want you to set aside one hour and go through these seven steps and write out your plan. Just one hour that scheduling is making this real for you. That is making this a priority for you as it should be. And once you schedule that one hour and you have answers to all the seven steps that we've just reviewed, then it's going to be all ready for you to implement.

1 (15m 53s):
Like you'll have everything you need, which is one hour of your time

0 (15m 57s):
Fire nation take action. Don't wait till next week to do this follow Kate's advice. Do it, do it. Now, in case, speaking of advice, you were an amazing contributor to the common path to uncommon success, which if you're listening to this before March 23rd is available for pre-order with those five amazing bonuses that do disappear our March 23rd. And if it's after March 23rd, no big deal. The book is fantastic by itself. So go order the book and you were the contributor to step seven, chapter seven, design your content production plan. The average chapter in the book.

0 (16m 37s):
I don't even think, you know, this case, but the average chapter in the book was 3,550 words. That was the average words in each chapter, chapter seven, step seven, design your content production plan, 13,500. This chapter could be a business book in and of itself, but it's not. It's just one chapter of the 17 several map to your financial freedom and fulfillment. And this is the chapter that Kate contributed to. And it was amazing. Like if you think this podcast episode was great, the contribution that she gave within that, it's one of the reasons why it's 13,500 words. I mean, she dropped so much value in there and I promise you fire nation, your heads will pop off once again for the second time.

0 (17m 22s):
And you will say, I need to figure this out. And for maybe the first time of my life actually designed a content production plan that is going to change my life forever. So Kate, within this chapter, step seven, chapter seven, I pulled out one of my favorite quotes. I'm going to share it. And then I want you to expound upon it. You wrote our content production plan has ensured that EOFire's audience has consistently grown over the years with very little paid advertising, which has allowed us to increase the level of freedom and fulfillment. We have an, our life in business. So bring this home for us. How can fire nation use those words of inspiration in their life?

0 (18m 5s):
Right now, all of us

1 (18m 7s):
Have a message and a mission and an impact that we're looking to create through our business. How do we share that with people? We share it with them through our content. That's how we grow our audience. That's how we attract a following who resonates with our message, who needs our mission and our inspiration to help them on their journey and without your content production plan is going to be very difficult for you to spread that mission, that message, that inspiration, that impact with the world. So if you do one thing for your business in the next day, week, month, please let it be creating a content production plan.

1 (18m 48s):
I know that that sounds huge that this has changed the level of freedom and fulfillment that we have in our life and our business, but it is absolutely true. We would not be where we are today without our content production plan. So if you want to know how we grew our business, how we ended up where we are today, I can definitely assure you that our content production plan has played a massive role in that. So fire nation, I know you can do this. I know that you want that financial freedom that fulfillment in your life. And I know that a content production plan can help

0 (19m 22s):
Nation. What are you waiting for? If you haven't already head over to uncommon success, book.com either pre-order or just order this book of it's outright. Now get this book in your life. This is just one step of the 17 several map to your financial freedom and fulfillment. This is 480 hours that I wrote over 2020 to get my blood, my sweat, my tears, my experience, my decade of interviewing over 3000 successful entrepreneurs comprised down into 273 words. And you're going to get contributions from Katelyn Erickson, Russell Brunson, Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, Jeff Walker, Stu McLaren, Remy Satie.

0 (20m 7s):
I mean, the list goes on. What are you waiting for? uncommonsuccessbook.com. Kate, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with fire nation today, for that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Would you be fired up with an e-commerce business generating 10K per month? Well, today's sponsor Qwantify wants to help you get there. Qwantify provides end to end e-commerce training and support. And if you're accepted into their partner program, your success and revenue is guaranteed apply today at Qwantify.com. That's Q W A N T I F Y.com.