Whether you're an influencer, a social media marketer, or another type of content creator, you need to know how to scale your operation once it becomes too much for you to handle.
So with that in mind, what should you consider when scaling your content creation? Who do you need to hire? What does the workflow look like? When do you know that it's time to grow in the first place? The questions may feel overwhelming, but once you have a solid plan in place, taking your game to the next level is a cinch.
The simple answer is—when you can't manage your content yourself anymore!
You may be at a point where you're posting multiple pieces of content across several platforms, and as you get more creative or have new ideas to incorporate, you'll need more help to execute them. However, you also have to be in a position where it makes financial sense to hire additional help. For instance, ensuring that your content is ranking for SEO, as well as it generating income through clicks and ads is imperative for you to afford the right assistance.
So, the two indicators for you to scale your content are...
If you're at a place where those two factors are present, then scaling your content team can be a good idea.
The same reasons as to why you scale your content are the same benefits that come as a result—a wider reach to new audiences and more revenue from additional streams and visibility.
Along with those two benefits, you will have the support of a team of other creatives who can help grow your content strategy. One person working alone can only do so much, but with a team of people—those with a strong work ethic and fresh, creative ideas—you can be more efficient and remove limitations on how much revenue you can earn.
You may also be surprised by what other opportunities will find you as you take risks and continue to grow your content strategy. Remaining complacent in your work only leads to one thing—stagnation. In order to further your success, it requires risk. What are you going to give of yourself to receive what you want? If your content creation is booming, and the next best step is to hire a team, then take that next step and don't be afraid of the growth that you want.
So now that you're ready to take that next step, you may be wondering how you start to grow your content creation team in the first place?
First off, it's best to look at what areas of your current strategy need support. For example, are you struggling to write copy on a consistent basis for blog posts and social captions? Do you find yourself lacking original, high-quality images for your posts and other campaigns? Are you finding that you need additional assets for your brand—a website, e-commerce store, Amazon profile, newsletters?
Once you can figure out what assistance you need or what area of your content strategy is lacking, you can pinpoint professionals who can fulfill those roles. The best part is that you don't need to shell out tons of money for talented creators. Fiverr offers a wide variety of freelancers who have exceptional skills in all areas of content creation that you can think of. Whether it's a copywriter you need or a social media manager to plan and post your ideas, you can select workers for a vetted applicant pool, check their credentials, and hire them on the spot if they're a good fit.
Build out your team with trusted workers and then design a new plan that everyone can follow moving forward.
Now with the right team in place, it's time to develop a content creation strategy that everyone can follow.
This means that you delegate what assets you need to the team members you brought on board. You work with your new team to develop ideas and set deadlines for them to follow. You have clear communication about what you need, and what details you have for your projects so that everyone can execute things accordingly. With a new team in place, of course, it will take some time to adjust to a streamlined process, but the more you discuss everything and check in with each other, the better your progress will be.
PRO-TIP
Remember, you can't fall back on your usual way of doing things. Scaling your content operation is all about change. It's about advancement and doing more work at a higher volume with an efficient process. With that in mind, be sure to have the flexibility to try new things. Be open-minded with your team and look for opportunities to improve.
With your new strategy in place and fresh ideas coming to fruition, your next step is to create a shared content calendar that everyone can follow.
Keeping your team on track with deliverables is an important factor in ensuring your success. Don't try to maintain everything through emails and random messages. Your best option is to sign up for some kind of calendar service that everyone has access to, as well as granting everyone visibility of what projects are due. Below is a list of several content calendar platforms that teams can use to maintain efficiency:
There are lots of great options for you to choose from, but in any case, make sure that your team is on board with the process. No matter how tedious the calendar may seem or how challenging it may be to onboard everyone at the onset, be sure to treat your content calendar as the main foundation of your productivity.
And by putting more attention on your content calendar, you and your team can use it to schedule content for months ahead.
When doing content just by yourself, you may have gotten into a routine of posting or sharing something you've created all on the same day—a hustler mentality of immediate work. But now that you have a whole team at your disposal, you can transition that rapid workflow into one that almost becomes passive. You want to think of your content strategy as an automated machine that runs itself. This means that you have ideas and content assets mapped out weeks, even months in advance (your content calendar/scheduler allows you to do that). You already have images attached that accompany each piece of copy. When a post goes live, you already have the corresponding hashtags written for the caption, and as the date for a post approaches, your calendar or scheduler even submits the post for you so that it operates while you're asleep or out making new connections.
The idea is to work smarter, not harder. So by transforming your one-man show into an automated content powerhouse, you can easily scale your content creation and make way for more opportunities in the future.
PRO-TIP
Many content schedulers can be used on desktop and on mobile, so if you do need to make any updates or changes for your upcoming posts, you can easily log in on your smartphone, update what you need, and then communicate that to your team! Download your scheduler on all of your devices so that you're always in the loop wherever you go.
Taking things to the next level can be scary, but growth won't happen unless you're willing to embrace the changes in front of you.
Use this time to hone in on what direction you really want your content to go. If you've been thinking of incorporating new elements into your brand, give them a try and see how they do. If you need help designing something or improving some aspect of your workflow, then ask for it—don't feel like you have to do everything yourself or that you can't find the right people to assist you. Talented creators and freelancers are out there who want to see you succeed, and all you have to do is look for them in the right place.
Fiverr is the ultimate marketplace for creative freelancers. Start building out your team and learn other valuable skills that you can use to boost your success.