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Date:
March 3, 2022

Author:
Ashlyn Carter

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Hey! Ashlyn here, OG copywriter for creatives—reporting for duty. 

Let's get you a message so tight you can bounce a quarter off of it. Around here, we serve up science-based storytelling strategies the creative set.  Even while raking in more than 1.26M in agency work since I've been at it, I firmly believe working from a place of rest (not hustle) IS possible—and I want the same for you. Words matter. Best be sure they work (and oui, with math) ... and know how to party while they're at it. 

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Reading time: 7 min.

Anyone who has had access to the internet since they were a teenager has probably heard, “Nothing goes away on the internet.” 

But in the world of online business, that’s just not true. Especially as it relates to our content.

The truth, my friend? No piece of content lasts forever. 

Unless… you’re on YouTube.

YouTube content has become one of the best tools for business owners because it helps businesses get found through content with a long shelf life. You can have a YouTube video that’s several years old that still drives traffic to your website. 

* GASPS * Instagram could never!

But make no mistake, YouTube wasn’t always in my wheelhouse as a writer and an introvert. It took me a while to get over my fear of being in front of the camera. 

Once I saw how impactful it had been for others, I knew that stepping into the world of video content was what I needed to do to build authority and promote my content. 

And once I did, I felt more confident in showing up online because I knew that with just one video I was able to pump out content without it burning me out. 

I was much more willing to put in the hours it took to create video content if I knew it meant I would be getting double that time back.

Fancy a chat about how YouTube can help you do this, too? Let’s dig in.


Why YouTube?

At the end of 2017, I started my channel with zero clue about what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to educate my audience beyond just my freebies and blog posts. 

I wanted to meet my audience where they were — and that meant turning on a camera and showering so I could do my hair (I’m all about working in sweat pants or leggings, so that definitely felt like a sacrifice at the time). 

I knew if I didn’t switch to a more video-friendly content format, I’d be doing them a major disservice.

So why YouTube when there are other social media platforms out there? 

It helps build authority

If you want to make money in your business, you have to build some credit. Most people aren’t going to buy from a stranger that has little to no proof that they know what they’re doing — especially when it comes to high-ticket service offerings like one-on-one coaching or developing a brand voice.

On YouTube, you have the opportunity to go in-depth about your offers and to show your audience how they can benefit them. 

You can give more detail about your process and more insight into the value of your business — something you’re limited on with other platforms due to character counts and video time limits. 

It helps you stay visible

Not only will a YouTube channel help establish you as an expert in your niche, but it can also help get you in front of more people in your niche. YouTube has more than two billion users and at least 30 million daily visits

Holy smokes — that’s a lot of people!

That’s great news for you, especially considering YouTube doesn’t have complex algorithms like Instagram or Facebook. There is still one at play, but it’s based on the watching behavior of your target audience. 

Once a viewer starts binge-watching several videos in your niche, it’s going to pull up your videos to recommend next. That means it’s MUCH EASIER to get in touch with your target audience. 

And the more YouTube views you have by the right audience,  the more eyes you get on your offers, which means more income for you! Yay!

It allows you to share social proof

YouTube gives you the chance to go into more detail about the transformative value of what you offer. When I share social proof on YouTube, it’s usually client work or student examples/testimonials. 

Plus having views, likes, and positive comments shows a viewer that your video is worth watching! And while these metrics aren’t everything, they do play a role in whether or not people click to watch your video or watch to the end. It plays into your subconscious whether you like it or not, so best to make sure you’re doing enough to provide value in your videos. 


How I repurpose my YouTube videos

One of the biggest challenges for small business owners today is a time shortage — especially when it comes to planning out their content creation process. It can take up so much of your precious time, which means it falls further and further down the list.

But with social media making the largest portion of the advertising space, not showing up kinda isn’t an option anymore. You need to create content to stand out in your field, but again… Who has the time??

I’ve got some tips for you, my friend. And it all starts with the old adage, “Work smarter, not harder.”

I’ll give you my biggest tip: I repurpose my YouTube videos into smaller bits of content that I can use elsewhere (for me that means Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest). 

We call this microcontent. Long-form content (aka your YouTube videos) exists to build that know, like, trust factor with your audience, and microcontent nourishes that relationship.

I don’t have time to conceptualize and create brand new pieces of content for every single post on every single social media platform. Between being a business owner, wife, and mom…it’s just not going to happen. 

Creating a content strategy that utilizes both long-form and microcontent allows me to advertise my business in a way that’s effective but also feels light on the workload. 

Plus, not everyone is seeing every single piece of content (thanks a lot, IG algorithms…), so having an efficient, solid, social media workflow in place can help you have a more efficient content strategy.

Want a few examples to help you get started? I got you!

Get outside eyes on your content to gather key takeaways

I think it helps to have someone on the outside look at your video and get some juicy “a-ha!” moments that you may overlook because you’re so involved with the content from start to finish. 

When we’re in the thick of what we’re creating, it can be easy to miss something important that someone who doesn’t speak the industry lingo would find valuable. 

Even if it means paying someone on your team to take a second pass at your video, doing this gives you easy content for social media, blogs, etc.  

Create infographics

Taking your videos and breaking them down into infographics gives you a landmine of social media gold. 

People don’t love giant confusing blocks of text or hard-to-understand phrases you might be tempted to slap on an IG graphic. They do, however, LOVE visuals.

Infographics give your audience a way to understand the information you’re giving them, making it easier to remember, understand, and digest for future reference. 

And when they understand what you’re telling them, they’re more likely to buy from or work with you. 

Test a new idea

If you’re starting to see that a particular topic you’ve been talking about is going over well with your audience, your next thought is probably going to be, “Huh, there might be something to this.”

And you’d be right!

Anytime your audience is responding well to the things you’re sharing, whether on your Stories or on your feed posts, take note of that! It’s a great indicator of what they want to see, even if it’s not something you’ve ever done before. 

There’s no harm in trying something out. You don’t want to just do anything and everything, but if your idea has some thought and solid support behind it, I say go for it!


My secret for creating money-making content

It’s one thing to have a great content strategy, but if the content involved isn’t getting people to click… no amount of content is going to help. 

You’ve got to be able to show your audience what you have to say has value, and that starts with grabbing their attention. You’ve got to hook them! 

My secret for getting click-worthy content, no matter the platform? Content pillars. 

With content pillars, your audience gets a clearer picture of what you offer and shows the bigger picture of your business. 

But figuring out what those pillars are can be a drag, so let’s make it fun again!

My Pillar Piece Content Writing Template gives you weekly pillar content templates to start writing long-form content that drives into your sales funnels. 

This is the exact formula I use to create 52 pillar pieces of content every year — and that’s it! It allows me to recycle them from year to year and update them to fit my business needs and audience interest at the time. 

With this template, you’ll get:

  • Access to the Over-the-Shoulder Copy Crafting™ tutorial to help you understand how to use your voice and style
  • The 6 pre-writing questions to ask yourself before diving into your pillar piece of content, formatted in ready-to-go cells
  • Space for Research/Fact-Finding Notes, so you can outline your blog post content GOLD before you start writing 
  • My content outline script, for educational, how-to, and list articles, video scripts, or podcast scripts
  • Tips for writing blog headlines, social media posts, and more

Get ahead of the game and create content pillars that you can use over and over, whether it’s for social media or your next launch…because who doesn’t want to make business a little bit easier?

Get the PIllar Piece Content Writing Template here!

Reading Time: 6 Minutes Reading time: 7 min. Anyone who has had access to the internet since they were a teenager has probably heard, “Nothing goes away on the internet.”  But in the world of online business, that’s just not true. Especially as it relates to our content. The truth, my friend? No piece of content lasts forever.  Unless… […]

3/03/22

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