1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,879 Knowing what you need to post and when or what you need to create and 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:09,000 when, you're so much more likely to stick with it than if you just 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,279 share content when you feel like it, or when you have time or when 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,239 you feel inspired. Because unless it's a priority, you're probably not going to 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,399 do that, and you're not going to feel consistently inspired, you're not going 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,359 to consistently have time, you're not going to consistently feel like doing it. 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,760 So then the only way to be consistent with it is to make it a 8 00:00:25,839 --> 00:00:31,039 priority. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. For years, I 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,880 read all the books, downloaded all the freebees, and did all the courses, 10 00:00:35,679 --> 00:00:39,520 but it wasn't until I started taking imperfect action that my business had its 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:45,479 first million dollar year. Imperfect action is about doing things before you're ready, 12 00:00:45,799 --> 00:00:51,479 prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward even when you're not sure 13 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,640 you're doing it right. On this show, you can expect mindset advice, 14 00:00:55,759 --> 00:01:00,320 actionable marketing tips and strategies to build a business that brings you more profit, 15 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:06,000 more freedom, and even more joy. You on the list to get my 16 00:01:06,079 --> 00:01:08,959 daily businesses. Every day, I'll send you a bite sized prompt designed to 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,079 help you grow your business in a more intentional way. Sign up at Steph 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,879 Taylor dot co, forward slash DBB, or at the link in the short 19 00:01:17,879 --> 00:01:23,799 notes. Hey, welcome back to Imperfect Action. This is episode seven hundred 20 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:30,079 and eleven. Today I'm sharing five tools that have helped me and my team 21 00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:36,200 as well now to be a bit more consistent with content and with marketing, 22 00:01:36,239 --> 00:01:40,280 because, honestly, I can't say this enough. Consistency is one of the 23 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:46,239 biggest factors in growing your audience, in nurturing them, in growing your business, 24 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,280 and if you can't be consistent, then you're really going to struggle with 25 00:01:51,319 --> 00:01:53,519 all three of those. But the good news is that there are a lot 26 00:01:53,519 --> 00:01:59,959 of tools out there that you can implement to make the whole process a lot 27 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,079 smoother. Regardless of whether you are podcasting, or whether you're on YouTube, 28 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,319 or whatever kind of content you are creating. There are tools that you can 29 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:13,000 apply and systems you can apply to make it a lot smoother. Now, 30 00:02:13,039 --> 00:02:16,000 when I talk about consistency, this is going to vary from person to person. 31 00:02:16,319 --> 00:02:21,840 For me, consistency is three podcast episodes every single week. I have 32 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,479 done that for five and a half years and there have only been a handful 33 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,800 of weeks where I haven't put out all three podcast episodes. But for you, 34 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,319 that consistency might be one piece of longer form content, whether that's a 35 00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:38,199 blog post or a YouTube video or even a long email to your list. 36 00:02:38,199 --> 00:02:45,280 Whatever you can stick to consistently is the goal. It's not about doing all 37 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,080 of the things. It's not about quantity. It's about showing up over and 38 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,560 over and over again. So this episode, I'm sharing a couple of the 39 00:02:52,599 --> 00:02:58,240 tools that have been game changes for me in being consistent with my own content 40 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,960 and with my own marketing. Number one, and this one is the most 41 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,960 boring one on the list. The notes app on my phone, I know, 42 00:03:06,319 --> 00:03:09,360 just the plain old notes app. And in the notes app, I 43 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:15,719 have a folder called content Ideas. I am constantly adding to this content ideas 44 00:03:15,759 --> 00:03:20,560 folder from anything in my life that gives me a little spark of inspiration or 45 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,719 even just like the little stem of an idea where I'm like, cool, 46 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:25,400 I don't know what this is going to be, but they could potentially be 47 00:03:25,439 --> 00:03:29,280 a little idea. Here, I write it down, I make a note 48 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,360 of it, because then when I go back and look at it months from 49 00:03:31,439 --> 00:03:36,039 now, I might be able to turn that little stem of an idea into 50 00:03:36,479 --> 00:03:42,159 a big, full podcast episode or a post for Instagram or wherever. So 51 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,759 for example, I recently was in Vanuatu, which is a beautiful island in 52 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,800 French Polynesia, surprisingly not that far from where I live in Brisbane, and 53 00:03:51,919 --> 00:03:58,560 they have Evanuatu has one jet plane, one international plane that they fly between 54 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,599 Sydney and Vanua to Melbourne and Vanowatu, Brisbane and Vanuatu and Auckland and Vanuatu. 55 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,560 So one plane is servicing all four of those destinations. And while I 56 00:04:06,599 --> 00:04:12,000 was over there, that one plane broke down. They had to ground it 57 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,240 and they were waiting for a new part for its engine. Now, that 58 00:04:15,639 --> 00:04:20,519 for me was a content idea, even though it's not even related remotely to 59 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,680 what I do or what I talk about. That was a content idea because 60 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,959 I could instantly relate that relying on that one plane to relying on one income 61 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,160 stream in your business. It's really risky that one income stream, for whatever 62 00:04:35,199 --> 00:04:40,439 reason, stops working, then you don't really have a business anymore. So 63 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,480 notice how I took something that happened in my everyday life and used that to 64 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,120 come up with an analogy for a piece of content, you know, and 65 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:55,240 another one like a friend and I went to speed dating ones and there we 66 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,120 met this guy who just talked about himself NonStop, and that gave me the 67 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,040 content idea of well, you can't just talk at your clients NonStop. You 68 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,879 can't just talk at your audience and expect them to be interested in your business. 69 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,000 You need to have a conversation with them. You need to listen to 70 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,079 their pain points, you need to listen to what they want. That was 71 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,480 a piece of content that came from a real life situation. So then whenever 72 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,519 my ideas, my inspiration runs a little bit dry, I can just hop 73 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:26,240 back into the notes app on my phone and I can see if there's anything 74 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,439 in there that I can use or anything that I can re use. Sometimes, 75 00:05:29,439 --> 00:05:31,160 you know, I might have an idea two years ago, and then 76 00:05:31,319 --> 00:05:35,920 two years later I can use it again, because I don't always have endless 77 00:05:35,959 --> 00:05:40,800 ideas popping up all of the time. But I still need to be consistent 78 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,160 with this episode. So I need to be consistent with those ideas. Okay. 79 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,079 Tool number two is click up. Click up is a project management tool, 80 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:53,360 and in my business, it's like the command center for all of our 81 00:05:53,399 --> 00:05:57,319 content right all of the content that is going out, We have it mapped 82 00:05:57,319 --> 00:06:00,959 out in a calendar. We use it as a team so everyone knows what 83 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,279 they need to be working on, when they need to be working on, 84 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:08,759 what content is getting published on what day, and everything is just in that 85 00:06:08,879 --> 00:06:12,839 one place. We don't have millions of spreadsheets for content calendars, we don't 86 00:06:12,879 --> 00:06:15,680 have all of these different things floating around. We just have it in one 87 00:06:15,879 --> 00:06:18,480 place. And even if it is just you in your team right now, 88 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:24,199 starting to use click up or some kind of similar project management tool means that 89 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,560 you can start to build out that content calendar. It means that you can 90 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,519 fill that content calendar with your pieces of content, your plan content, and 91 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,839 it means you can fill each piece of plan content with the processes and the 92 00:06:33,879 --> 00:06:39,399 tasks required to make that piece of content happen. And then when you're ready, 93 00:06:39,439 --> 00:06:42,839 you can start to easily delegate parts of that process to others because now 94 00:06:42,879 --> 00:06:46,319 you've documented it within that task and now you can just add new people to 95 00:06:46,319 --> 00:06:49,560 your click up workspace as you hire them, and you can delegate to them 96 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:55,319 without having to do a huge amount of training because it's already documented there. 97 00:06:55,759 --> 00:07:00,360 Now, if you have an actual calendar as well in click up, you 98 00:07:00,399 --> 00:07:05,079 can knowing what you need to post and when or what you need to create 99 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:10,279 and when, you're so much more likely to stick with it than if you 100 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,439 just share content when you feel like it, or when you have time, 101 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,480 or when you feel inspired, Because unless it's a priority, you're probably not 102 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,680 going to do that, and you're not going to feel consistently inspired, you're 103 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,680 not going to consistently have time, you're not going to consistently feel like doing 104 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,000 it. So then the only way to be consistent with it is to make 105 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,720 it a priority. May tell yourself it is a priority for me that my 106 00:07:30,759 --> 00:07:33,800 content is consistent and stick to that. So if you want to try out 107 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,959 click up, head to Steph Taylor dot co slash click Up. I've popped 108 00:07:36,959 --> 00:07:42,639 a link to it in the show notes as well. Number three Sun Sarma 109 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,120 So this one is also a like a task management tool, so it's a 110 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,079 different to click up click ups, more of like the Big Picture command center 111 00:07:49,079 --> 00:07:54,279 for the business. Some Sarma is my own personal task management tool that I 112 00:07:54,399 --> 00:07:57,560 use to plan out my day. I use it to plan out my week 113 00:07:58,079 --> 00:08:03,199 and because you know, time management is essential in staying consistent with your content, 114 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,360 I need to make sure that I'm batching or blocking out time in my 115 00:08:07,439 --> 00:08:11,959 calendar where I can outline two or three episodes at once record two or three 116 00:08:11,959 --> 00:08:16,319 episodes at once. Now ssama integrates with click up. It also integrates with 117 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,160 Google Calendar, which is what I love about it. I use it to 118 00:08:20,199 --> 00:08:24,399 map out my tasks for the day in my calendar so that I know exactly 119 00:08:24,399 --> 00:08:26,199 what I need to be working on at any given point in the day, 120 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,120 but also so that I don't overload my to do list each day because I'm 121 00:08:31,159 --> 00:08:35,000 blocking the tasks in my calendar, and I have to estimate how long each 122 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,960 task is going to take me, so I then can't put ten hours worth 123 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,960 of work into a five hour day. I have to be a little bit 124 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,879 more realistic about how much I am putting on my to do list. And 125 00:08:46,879 --> 00:08:50,320 then each week, when I plan out my week, I can set my 126 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,279 objectives for the week, so I might have something like outline and record podcast 127 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,960 episodes to the end of next week, so then I know that's a priority 128 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,039 I need to be working towards that. During the week, I can align 129 00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:05,559 my tasks with those objectives, and I know what I need to be focusing 130 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,320 on at any given point. I have used all of the planners, all 131 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,480 of the to do list apps, all of the different things. This is 132 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:15,720 the only one that I've stuck with consistently for nearly a year now, so 133 00:09:16,159 --> 00:09:20,519 it really works. It's really simple, it's easy to use, and it's 134 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,799 friendly for other types of brains like mine, which it does not like. 135 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,919 Structure, it does not like the systems, does not like the plan right, 136 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,480 So you can grab a thirty day free trial for that one at Steph 137 00:09:31,519 --> 00:09:37,039 Taylor dot Co. Slash sun Sama sunsam a. I'll pop a link for 138 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:41,720 that one in the show notes as well. Number four descript or descript if 139 00:09:41,759 --> 00:09:46,159 you want to call it that. Descript is a piece of recording software for 140 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,960 audio for video content and I love it because it transcribes as you speak, 141 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,039 so you can edit it really easily, like as if you were editing a 142 00:09:54,039 --> 00:09:56,320 Google doc. You can edit it as if it was text. And they 143 00:09:56,399 --> 00:10:01,799 have some pretty great AI feature is that they're adding now like overdub where there's 144 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,720 an AI version of my voice. So if I mess up a word and 145 00:10:05,919 --> 00:10:09,679 my team needs to go and edit the word so that it's correct. I 146 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,159 don't need to rerecord that word or that sentence. They can just type it 147 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,039 and it automatically fills in in my voice, which is pretty cool. Saves 148 00:10:18,039 --> 00:10:22,080 a bit of time. There's also a feature called studio Sound where they use 149 00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:24,600 like an AI tool to make your audio sound like it's been recorded in a 150 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:31,000 professional studio. That is awesome as well. It's where I record these podcast 151 00:10:31,039 --> 00:10:33,799 episodes. It's where my team edits them. It's where my team turns them 152 00:10:33,919 --> 00:10:39,080 into YouTube videos now, and where we extract snippets for short form video, 153 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,840 for reels and TikTok and YouTube shorts. It's a lot. I know, 154 00:10:43,919 --> 00:10:46,480 we do a lot with it. I've been doing this show for five and 155 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,600 a half years now. If you are just starting out, I would usually 156 00:10:50,639 --> 00:10:54,879 suggest that you start out with audio only, and then once you've got the 157 00:10:54,919 --> 00:10:58,720 process for audio sorted, you're comfortable with that, you're being consistent with that, 158 00:10:58,919 --> 00:11:03,159 then add video right because for me, the biggest barrier now we're having 159 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,919 video is, oh, my hair has to look nice, right. I 160 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,440 can't just hit record in my pajamas with my hair in a messy bun, 161 00:11:11,519 --> 00:11:15,799 because now the camera is on as well, and just a reminder you don't 162 00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:18,799 need to be showing up on all of the platforms. Choose what you can 163 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,639 for being consistent. I have a team who now helped me with all of 164 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,120 the production. Like when I first started podcasting, it was just me. 165 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,320 But now that my team are on board and we use descript, it's made 166 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:35,639 the whole process just so much more streamlined than it was in the past when 167 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,879 I was recording and editing in garage band on my computer. So if you 168 00:11:39,919 --> 00:11:43,279 want to get a free trial of descript, head on over to stephtaylor dot 169 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,159 com slash descript d script. We'll put a link to that one in the 170 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,200 show notes as well. And then number five, the fifth and final one 171 00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:58,840 is my webcam, which is called the Lumina four K webcam. Now I 172 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,519 have started recording video versions of this show and sharing them to YouTube, as 173 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,080 I know that that is where a lot of people consume their podcast content. 174 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:13,559 And I'm really serious now about taking this podcast to that next level of growth, 175 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,000 Like we've had awesome growth over the last five and a half years audio 176 00:12:16,159 --> 00:12:20,480 only, but now it's how can we take it to that next level. 177 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:22,600 But I didn't really want to muck around, especially Now, at the start, 178 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,360 I didn't want to muck around with a full studio set up, fancy 179 00:12:26,399 --> 00:12:30,159 camera, all of that. It just adds so many layers of complication into 180 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,679 something where I really just want it to be simple. So for now, 181 00:12:33,879 --> 00:12:39,519 I'm using the Lumina webcam, which can record in four K quality, and 182 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,879 I like it. I'm really impressed with it. I use it from all 183 00:12:41,919 --> 00:12:46,240 my Zoom calls and all of that as well now. And the only thing 184 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,679 that's really had to change when I'm recording podcast episodes now to turn them into 185 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,159 YouTube content is I just switched the webcam on when I'm recording an episode, 186 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,519 and then I get video for each one as well as audio, and we 187 00:12:56,639 --> 00:13:00,519 use that video for YouTube. We use it for sure, we use it 188 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,639 for reels, we use it for TikTok. The only extra step involved is 189 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:05,799 making sure that my hair looks nice. So I'll pop a link to that 190 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:11,519 one as well. Steph Taylor dot Co slash Lumina l U M I n 191 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,039 A, and there'll be a link for that in the show notes too. 192 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,639 So there you have it. Five really simple tools. The notes app on 193 00:13:16,639 --> 00:13:22,480 my phone, click up Sun Sama descript, and the Luminar webcam. The 194 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,679 all five of these play a really huge important role in how consistent I've been 195 00:13:26,879 --> 00:13:31,399 with my content, not just recently, but over the last couple of years. 196 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,320 That is, if for today's episode, if you haven't already left a 197 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,240 rating and a review, please take thirty seconds to do so. In Apple 198 00:13:37,279 --> 00:13:41,879 Podcasts, I read every single one of them. I've been seeing so many 199 00:13:41,879 --> 00:13:43,679 new ones coming through lately, and it really means a lot to me and 200 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:48,399 to my team because a lot of work goes into producing this show. And 201 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,159 if you're not already following the show, hit subscribe on YouTube, hit follow 202 00:13:52,279 --> 00:13:56,279 in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and it just means you'll get each new episode 203 00:13:56,399 --> 00:14:00,759 straight to your podcast app every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. H Thanks 204 00:14:00,799 --> 00:14:01,480 so much for listening, and catch you next time.