Content is the buzzword now in the digital age. Celebrities create content. Businesses create content. Influencers create content. Everyone is creating content.
There is a lot of pressure for creators to make new content constantly because people are always online and looking for new ways to be entertained and informed.
In an effort to create new things, your old content can find its way into the internet graveyard. Content you’ve spent hours or days making shouldn’t be cast aside. In fact, it can play an important role in your business. Old content can be repurposed into entirely new offerings. Here are a few ways to use old content:
Turn it into a challenge or course
Sometimes people need content packaged in a sequential way to get the most from it. For instance, you could have created a bunch of very valuable blog posts or videos, but it’s not set up in a step-by-step manner.
You can pull the content and set it up in a free email optin challenge or course. People enjoy packaging and this is an opportunity to grow your list.
Link to it and promote it
Linking and promoting your content may sound like something you’re already doing, but think about it carefully.
When was the last time you promoted a resource or project you created last year or the year before? Are you adding links or referring to your old content regularly?
Get into the habit of speaking about your old projects to inform new customers and remind old customers that you may already have a solution to their problem.
Turn it into a paid product
You don’t need to create paid offerings from scratch. I took one of the most popular blog posts on my blog and expanded it into a paid ebook. Fast forward a few years, and now I’m turning that workbook into a printed book.
I’ve also personally bought products that fitness experts created by compiling a bunch of videos and information they talk about into one program. Packaging in this case is very important.
Take a look at your most popular pieces of content. Is there a product in there somewhere? Can you expand it into a paid product or service?
Update it and repost it
Amy Lynn Andrews does a fabulous job of reusing her old content. She has many cornerstone posts on her site and updates them frequently instead of writing blogs posts from scratch.
Her posts are mostly long-form reviews and guides that stand the test of time so she doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, she’ll go back every so often and make adjustments to the post and repost it. This could be a strategy that works for you if you have posts in excess of 1,500 to 2,000 words that are full of information that viewers still need.
How to offer the most value
I’m in no way a supporter of taking free content, putting a price tag on it, and then trying to sell it to people who’ve already consumed it unless they are fully aware of what they’re getting. Customers won’t be happy and their dissatisfaction would be understandable.
What you can do is make tweaks, expand upon the topic further, and increase the value for the paid addition. The information in the blog post that I turned into a book didn’t have the workbook section. I added workbook pages and beefed it up with a bit more storytelling and instructions. Add more value to old content and you can turn it into something brand new.
