Have you ever thrown around the idea of starting a blog, podcast, or video channel for your spiritual business? These are all different types of long-form content, and they are all excellent. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing one!
If you wonder which type of long-form content is best for you, what it can do for your business, and how to get started, you are in the right place. Let’s dive in.
Choosing the Right Type of Long-Form Content
You’ll see tons of opinions about what type of long-form content you should have. Some people will tell you that you HAVE to have a YouTube channel, while others will claim podcasts are the up-and-coming thing. Remember, OPINIONS are all they are!
Don’t sweat it! The key to choosing the right type of long-form content is thinking about how you can create an excellent experience for your soulmate clients while tapping into your creative flow.
Start with the client experience. What is the goal of your long-form content? Are you going to teach basic mindfulness techniques? Help people with ADHD organize their homes in a way that makes sense to them? Inspire people to grow a beautiful garden?
Some things (like content marketing for example) can be understood in any form of content. You can read about it, watch me talk about it on video, or listen to me on a podcast, and as long as I don’t blabber on and on, you’ll get the information I’m trying to give you.
However, if you do something more visual, let’s use the organization coach as an example, you may need to go with a video channel or blog with lots of photos. I would have a hard time learning how to organize my closet via a podcast. Show me a video of you doing the actual organizing or before and after photos, and I’m totally on board!
So, take a moment to think about your soulmate client experience. What do you want them to learn, and how can they best learn that? How have you had success communicating what you do and how you do it in the past?
Find Your Flow
Content that is hard to create is hard to consume. You don’t want your content to be hard to consume! You want it to be enjoyable, educational, and inspirational. It’s so dang important to set yourself up to tap into your creative flow when you create your content.
If the thought of operating video equipment makes you cringe, go for a Blog or Podcast. If you can’t imagine writing for hours every week, go for YouTube!
When I write these blog posts, the words fly out of my fingers. I can barely type fast enough to keep up with my excitement in sharing my knowledge and ideas with you (that’s why you probably see the occasional typo).
Your long-form content should be the same, and the number one reason people can’t find their creative flow is that they choose a format that they think they “have” to use instead of one they enjoy.
Release yourself of those opinions and ask your guides, “how do I create best?” Once you receive a clear answer, you will be free to go forth and start creating.
Commit Long-Term
You must be consistent with posting long-form content, but that consistency needs to be sustainable long-term. I’m planning on running this blog for the next 15-20 years.
If I miss a week here or there, I’m not going to panic. It’s more important that I find a way to get re-inspired and keep publishing good quality content than it is for me to force myself to post every single week.
Posting 40 ish times a year for ten years will be a LOT more effective than posting every week for 12 weeks and then burning out.
Remember, your long-form content lives as long as you leave it up! Google will look for recent content, a popular post, podcast, or video that can show in search results for many years – especially if you are smart about using SEO (something we cover in Own Your Impact).
When I read a blog post that’s 3-5 years old, I typically check out the blogger and read some of their more recent content. If they have current posts up, I’ll bookmark their website or subscribe, making a note to come back and keep reading their stuff.
However, if it’s a dead blog that hasn’t been added to in the last six months I’ll move on without making a note to come back. You want your people to keep coming back!
This Isn’t a Get Rich Quick Strategy
There are a million different ways you can make money from your long-form content—affiliate marketing, sponsorships, selling courses, attracting 1:1 clients, etc. BUT don’t expect it to happen overnight.
Social media algorithms are fast. They pick up your content almost instantly and drop it within a few hours. Long-form content is the polar opposite. It can take a few days for Google to recognize that you posted anything new, and sometimes your content won’t reach its highest rank for months.
Don’t panic if this happens. Just keep maintaining whatever consistency means to you, and using the best SEO practices for your content type, and providing a ton of value to your soulmate clients.
Suppose you go 90-days without seeing a significant increase in your email subscribers, traffic (website traffic, podcast downloads, or video views), or revenue. In that case, it’s time to have a professional (like us) take a look and give you some guidance, but be aware that it takes time, and don’t get discouraged.
Before you go....
Do you know who your soulmate client is yet?
Download the Soulmate Client Questions to find out.
