How to Generate Hundreds of Content Ideas to Support Your Business with Melanie Deziel: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. are brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like the Gold Digger Podcast. Today, we're pulling a timeless EO Fire episode from the archives so the giveaway may not be active. And we'll be breaking down how to generate hundreds of content ideas to support your business to drop these value bombs. We are brought to Melanie Denziel and the EO Fire Studios. Melanie is a keynote speaker, award-winning branded content creator, the chief content officer of StoryFuel, and the author of the content fuel framework, how to generate unlimited story ideas.

0:39And today, Fire Nation will talk about how your content is an excellent way to showcase your expertise and keep your customers engaged and that you are creative. You have it within you to create excellent content. You just need to know when to activate it and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Melanie and our sponsors. Online Marketing Made Easy podcast hosted by Amy Porterfield is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with a focus on online business, including digital courses, list building content, and more.

1:11Online Marketing Made Easy breaks down big ideas and strategies into actionable step-by-step processes. A recent episode that will help you get more results with a whole lot less stress is on four ways to avoid burnout. Listen to Online Marketing Made Easy wherever you get your podcasts. Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business. Get started today with an exclusive offer from Belay. Download their latest resource, The Power of Productivity, for free. Just text FIRE to 55123. That's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started. Melanie, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know.

1:55What's up, Fire Nation? I am super excited to be here. And let's see, a little fact about me that not too many people know is probably that when I was in high school, I was one of the top five ranked javelin throwers in my state. This has not proved to be a useful life skill beyond track and field, but definitely a fun little claim to fame. Man, you know, we all have those claims of fame. I always share some like state accolades that I have, but I always conveniently don't share that I'm from Maine, which makes everything so much easier to be like all state and the best in the state when you only have like a million odd people or so.

2:31So great stuff, great share in Fire Nation. As I shared in the introduction, we'll be talking all about how to generate hundreds of content ideas to support your business. And Melanie is a wonderful person to talk about this with. So Melanie, why? Why do entrepreneurs need content for their business? Break it down. One of the things that we realize in our human life, our interpersonal life, is that we tell stories all the time. You know, when you're catching up with friends or talking to family, it's all about sharing information and telling stories. And I think what happens is when we put ourselves in our business mode, we forget that sometimes those human natural stories are what really connects best with people.

3:16And so it's a really important tool for us to be able to attract consumers who can attract customers who will have a better understanding of what it is that we stand for and what we do. It's a way to showcase your expertise, to show what it is that you are so good at that you actually went out and created a business around that skill. It's also a really good way to keep that customer engaged because for a lot of our businesses, it's not something people are buying every single day. There might be weeks or months or maybe even years between each time that they engage with us. So we need something worth saying in the interim.

3:51So content can be a really powerful tool for attracting, retaining, engaging your audience, and making sure that you're still top of mind. They're still thinking of you, still learning from you and engaging with you when it comes time to make a purchase decision down the line. Do all businesses need content? Do every way, shape, and form, every type of business need content? I think absolutely. You know, one of the things that's kind of tough is content is a bit of a buzzword, right? And so maybe some of your listeners are thinking that content means a YouTube channel or a podcast like yours. But content also includes, you know, emails that you're sending to your audience.

4:27It includes the copy and the imagery on your website. So, you know, it's everything you're doing on social media. And so I don't think there are too many businesses out there that are thriving without a website, without a social presence, without any email list. they're generally doing at least a couple of those things, you know? So we definitely have to be more aware of how we're communicating with our audience in all those different ways. So back in 2012, I looked in the mirror and I said, John, if you're being honest with yourself, you're just not a super creative, quote unquote, type. And I was honest with myself.

5:00I just wasn't. So I decided to go down the path of encouraging and asking and then having other individuals provide the content for me. And that was going to be in the form of these interviews. And I've now done over 2 ,700 interviews in the past eight years. And guess what? Like I'm relying on other people's creativity, other people's content for my content distribution channel, which is this podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire. So that's my question. Like, what if we're not creative types? What if somebody in Fire Nation is like, I'm kind of more like JLD, like I'm not super creative. How can we still come up with content ideas?

5:36I have a confession, JLD. When you said back in 2012, I wasn't creative, I got a pit in my stomach and I held my breath. I was like, no, no, we can't have that. I think it's so sad because so many of us, and the studies prove this out, you know, when we're young, when we're kids, we have so many creative ideas. We are really uninhibited with sharing all the crazy things we think of. You know, you're telling stories about dinosaur aliens that become zombies and take over your middle school, you know, like you are totally uninhibited. and as we get older we sort of learn to ignore those things to suppress it we're afraid of being made fun of or making a mistake or failing or whatever that that fear is for you so we all have that innate innate creative ability and the the way I convince everyone that you are in fact creative is think of all the creative ways you have imagined that things would go wrong you you there is absolutely no end to the creative solutions you can come up with for all the reasons why something won't work or, or why it's going to be difficult.

6:39So we still have that skill. Usually what's lacking is a prompt or an ability to activate it when you need it. So when we say we're not creative, it's usually more that you you're sitting down to achieve some goal, like come up with a content idea, you know, figure out what to say in your next YouTube episode or email. And you can't come up with anything on the spot. And you convince yourself if it's because you have no creative abilities deep in your soul anywhere. So really what it is, is we often lack a system. And that's what's really important is understanding that you do have that creative ability, everyone does.

7:14And it's more about figuring out how to activate it when you need it. It's sort of like if you think someone woke you up in the middle of the night and said, arm wrestle me, and you lost. And then you're like, well, I have no strength. I am a I'm a complete useless noodle arm human being, you know, and that's often how we treat our creativity. We give it no warning. We give our brains this challenge to come up with some huge solution out of nowhere, no warning. And then we count ourselves out, you know? And that's one thing as well that I think that a lot of people don't realize is that being creative doesn't mean you have to come up with a great idea every single day or just this stroke of brilliance every week or so.

7:51It's like I can look back over my eight year career where I've generated over$20 million in my business. And I've come up with like three or four good ideas. Like I've been creative, like with these ideas, like just a handful of times, but they've made all the difference. Like those two or three or four or five things, again, over eight years, Fire Nation are been what has been responsible for the bulk of my success, of my financial success, of my brand success, et cetera, et cetera. So one thing that I want to talk about next, Melanie, is you break down a really impressive content system in your book.

8:26So first off, give us a little background about this book and then expound upon this system. Yeah. So the book is called The Content Fuel Framework, How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas. And I wrote this book because of statements like you made before saying that you're not creative. It breaks my heart. So what I wanted to do is really break down what it is that I do in my head when I'm trying to come up with content ideas. I know that that's kind of my superpower is to come off with ideas off the cuff. And so I wanted to put as much of that process into the book as possible so people could adopt that for themselves if it's helpful for coming up with ideas.

8:59So at the core, it really just means understanding that while we think of content and ideas and creativity as this amorphous thing, you know, a muse or a lightning strike or a light bulb moment, it's really just two things. There's a focus. So it's about something, right? There's a perspective or a lens through which we're telling our story. And then there's a format. We're bringing it to life in some way, you know, like audio here or video, map, infographic, whatever else. So if you understand that formula that every piece of content is just a focus plus a format, all you need is sort of a laundry list of focuses and formats at your disposal, and you can create combinations at the drop of a hat.

9:41So that's really the goal with the book is to kind of prompt people to think about content ideas in that way. and once you have that shared language to talk about it, it becomes a lot easier to say, okay, I wanna tell a history-focused story about this particular topic. What's the best way to bring that story to life? Maybe a timeline would be really helpful. It kind of gives you a step-by-step process to activate that creativity so that you're not just sitting at a blank whiteboard or a blank Google Doc and hoping a miracle happens. Fire Nation, we're not hoping for miracles. What we're hoping for is having a system that we can trust, that we know, that we like, and that we can act upon.

10:19I mean, systems, automations, and this is also part about building a team as well. This is going to make your content system unbreakable. So we have so many things we're gonna be talking about, Fire Nation, about this and about the systems and about so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Expectations are at an all-time high these days for sales leaders and sales teams. Beyond your daily cold calls, the relationship building, and actually closing deals. You're also expected to leverage a slew of different tech to-dos. If you're not digging into the numbers, monitoring the best strategies, and switching it up when things aren't working and collaborating across other teams within your company, then you're not on your A game.

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11:36Successful entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to maximize efficiency and increase productivity, especially in a startup environment. Maybe you've taken a few steps towards this goal by automating tasks with AI or finally nailing down a morning routine that gives you energy to crush your day. While these things definitely help, the best way to increase efficiency and productivity is to work on what you're best at and delegate the rest. Belay has been helping entrepreneurs increase productivity and scale their businesses for over a decade. Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business.

12:06Belay has the help you need in so many areas, including virtual assistants, bookkeepers, social media managers, and more. Stop wasting time on tedious tasks that are better done by someone else. Delegate with Belay and watch your productivity soar. To help get you started, Belay is exclusively offering Fire Nation their latest resource, The Power of Productivity for free. It's full of practical tips and tools to help you increase your productivity and make the most of your time to grow your business. Text FIRE to 55123. that's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started. So Melanie, we're back. And I would say that most of Fire Nation is in one of two boats.

12:45They're either just getting started in the content creation game, or they're just not super comfortable creating that content. So with either one of those boats, like what should our initial focus be? One of the things that is really helpful when you're starting out and you're trying to get comfortable is actually curating other people's resources. And it's not unlike what you did with your podcast, right? You weren't feeling necessarily comfortable being able to put that content out on your own. So you brought in outside experts and curated their expertise. So you can really take a curated approach to your content when you're starting out to help you build that confidence, you know, build your systems up and provide a lot of value to your audience.

13:25So my suggestion is always that when you're in a position, you know, you're running a business or you're an expert, a thought leader in some way, you have a lot of resources at your disposal that you may not realize your audience doesn't know about. So curating lists of resources is a really good place to start. That might mean you collect, you know, 10 podcasts that everyone in our industry should listen to or books that are helpful for people who are pursuing the career we help with or events you should attend that will help you network with other people who are professionals in this same field.

13:59By collecting all these different resources, you're creating content without having a heavy creation lift on your end, but you're also providing a real service to your audience. You're really demonstrating that you're here to give them value. And that's something they're going to notice and really appreciate. So that really brings me back to my early days when I was really struggling for content and the ideas to create content is I came up with this email subject line that said, the one email you must read each week. And what I did was in that email, I would list out these five really awesome entrepreneurial slash small business articles that I thought were super fascinating.

14:36And, you know, a lot of people thought I was taking a ton of time to curate these articles because they were all spectacular. But what I was doing is I was going to one of a couple services. I don't remember what it was called now, but where it was like upvoted and ranked all of these articles that came out about entrepreneurship each week. So it was so easy for me just to go to this one place, look at like the top 20 articles and kind of handpick five of those that I thought would really make sense for my audience from that list of 20. And I knew that they were all high quality and I knew that they were all really good meaty content because, you know, they wouldn't be on this list otherwise, because it was a really highly respected and valuable list.

15:14And then I would just put that into my newsletter and I would be linking to those articles and people would come back, you know, my, my readers and be like, wow, John, like, this is so helpful. Like, thank you for curating this. And, you know, cause they thought that I was maybe just scouring like hundreds or thousands of websites and blogs, you know, every single week to get this list going on. So, you know, it was always just like, yep, you're welcome. So, I mean, Fire Nation, you don't have to make it super hard on yourself. There's already great content out there as you're developing your own systems, your own content, your own voice and brand.

15:45So Melanie, how do we know which formats that we should be starting with as content creators? So one of the things I talk about is everyone has what I would call like a first content language. It's like a type of content that you're most comfortable creating. For you, I'm guessing JLD, it's probably audio. for me, my background is in journalism. So it's always writing for me. That's where I, that's my sweet spot. I feel most comfortable. I can create most efficiently in that format. So that's one thing you definitely want to consider. Obviously, if there's a type of content that you're really comfortable creating, that you have the skills and the technology and the tools to create, that's probably going to be high up on your list.

16:25But the other thing you want to think about is, is that the way your audience also likes to consume content? Because JLD, if you were creating an amazing podcast every day, but for whatever reason, entrepreneurs don't listen to podcasts, like you'd be in trouble, right? Like you're creating something epic, but your audience isn't consuming it. So you also want to look at the flip side. What's the type of content your audience likes to consume? You know, the good example of this is so many brands have hopped onto TikTok and started creating TikTok content and their audience isn't Gen Z. So it's not really hitting exactly the tone that they're hoping for.

16:58It's kind of getting made fun of instead of reaching their ideal audience, right? So you want to think about that. What do I like to create? Where am I most comfortable from a format perspective? And what does my audience like to consume? Now, sometimes you'll get super lucky and those things will line up and you can create awesome content that you're super comfortable with, that you know is high quality, that your audience is going to really value. But sometimes those things won't line up and you'll maybe feel hopeless for a minute and realize first that there are talent and tools that can help you fill that gap.

17:30So for me, like I said, I'm a writer. That's my sweet spot. I could write like there's no tomorrow. If I know my audience wants a podcast, then what I can do is write script and either me or someone else can read that and turn it into audio. Or if I know my audience really wants video, but I'm a writer, I can write that script and get someone who's better on video to help me turn it into that through B-roll or hire a talking head who's going to be the face of the company in those videos. There's all kinds of ways you can close that gap between your first content language and your audience's first content language.

18:03So you're creating something that they're going to value and engage with, but you're also not pushing yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you can't live up to the quality you want. Fire Nation, a lot of major takeaways here. And remember, I am a big believer in the fact that you need to get out of your comfort zone because that's where all the magic happens. But when you're creating content for your audience to consume, it's got to be within your realm of comfort, within your realm of expertise. And you are hopefully continuing to push that ball forward and to push that envelope every day in a structured and meaningful way.

18:34And I want to finish our chat today, Melanie, by diving back into your book. So again, the title of Fire Nation, the content fuel framework, how to generate unlimited story ideas. Why should Fire Nation read or of course, listen to your book. So the wonderful thing about this book is it doesn't matter what industry you're in. It doesn't matter who your audience is. As we talked about when we first started our conversation, content is a vital part of the way we engage with our audience, of the way we convert consumers, of the way we spread awareness for the awesome work that we're all doing. And this system is designed so that you can learn it and adapt it to your needs.

19:13So you'll learn the skills that you need to set up a system that works for you. I'm not trying to get you to use my system. I'm trying to get you to figure out the version of it that works best for you. So it doesn't matter, again, what industry you're in. It doesn't matter if you have a background in content. I actually think it's better if you don't have a background in content, because I think that's really what happens with a lot of entrepreneurs. We're really good at our one thing, like the thing that drives us, that we're passionate about, that we want to create or teach to others. And we usually weren't trained to be marketers or to be podcasters or video producers.

19:47And that's been sort of thrust upon us as just a virtue of the world that we live in now. And so it's really helpful to kind of fill those gaps and help you feel confident that you can share those skills and that passion in a lot of different ways. I really just want to empower people to feel as passionate about telling their story as I do, because I see the power of storytelling, especially for entrepreneurs, startups, small business owners, this could really be a game changer for the way that you engage with your audience. And I hope that the book can give you that skill. Fire Nation, I just want to share that Melanie was kind enough to ask for, and I was very honored and excited to give a blurb on this book.

20:25And I'm just going to read it for you real quick. The content fuel framework delivers on its promise. Melanie's system will ignite new ideas for getting your message out and get you fired up to create content in ways you've never considered. So Fire Nation, you can see I'm all about staying on brand myself when I create content. Ignite, Fired Up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you get it. And that's exactly how I feel about this book. So if that resonates with you, I hope you do check it out. So Melanie, give us the biggest takeaway you want to make sure we walk away with from our chat today. The best way Fire Nation can follow you, consume your content, get your book, and then we'll say goodbye.

21:01The one thing I want you all to take away, if nothing else, is that you absolutely are creative. You have it within you to create amazing content. You just need to know how to activate it. So find a system that works for you, mine or someone else's, that lets you turn that sort of creative struggle into a creative system. So you could activate that creativity whenever you need it to make a serious difference in your business. If you want to learn more about me and my team at StoryFuel and how we help people tell their stories, just check out storyfuel.co. And you can find the book, as I said, The Content Fuel Framework, How to Generate Unlimited story ideas on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and soon on Audible as well.

21:41And I do have some goodies for Fire Nation. So if you visit, I know we love it, right? If you visit contentfuelframework.com slash fire, and you use the code fire, you'll actually get a discount on the content fuel framework workbook. So we have a PDF workbook that goes along with the book. You don't even need the book to use the workbook. And it's full of 80 plus pages of prompts that are going to walk you through creating literally thousands of content ideas for your business. So there's a really great active, you know, turn this learning into action. That's what we want to do with this workbook.

22:14So contentfuelframework.com slash fire and use the code fire. All the details are on that page for you. And as an added little bonus, if you guys do get the book and you share a photo of yourself with the book on social media and tag me, so I see it, I'm going to randomly give out some other fun prizes. We'll do some one-on-one strategy sessions. I've got a content-fueled game I can send out to people. We've got stickers. I mean, all kinds of fun stuff. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with MD and JLD today. So keep up that heat and head over to eofire.com.

22:51Type Melanie in the search bar and her show notes page will pop up with everything that we've talking about today. Best show notes in the biz, links to all that jazz. Storyfuel.co, check that out, but your direct call to action. Contentfuelframework.com slash fire. And then of course, use code fire to get those awesome goodies. And once again, the content fuel framework is Melanie's book. So Melanie, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, today's value bomb content was brought to you by Melanie.

23:28And by the way, if you've had your big idea, you're already ready to ignite. But if you don't, I have a free training for you that's going to get you to your big idea in less than an hour. So visit yourbigidea.io today and I'll catch you there, Fire Nation, or I'll catch you on the flip side. Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, hosted by Amy Porterfield is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with a focus on online business, including digital courses, list building content, and more. Online Marketing Made Easy breaks down big ideas and strategies into actionable step-by-step processes.

24:05A recent episode that will help you get more results with a whole lot less stress is on four ways to avoid burnout. Listen to Online Marketing Made Easy wherever you get your podcasts. Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business. Get started today with an exclusive offer from Belay. Download their latest resource, The Power of Productivity, for free. Just text FIRE to 55123. That's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started.