Too often we think about content creators as only that. But the fact is, most content creators are also business owners! And like with any business, having a content strategy in place can make all the difference. 

In this video, we’re going over 4 example SOPs that content creators should implement today in order to make the most out of their content strategy. 

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🤔 What is an SOP? Check out this video.

⏩ Want to write your SOPs faster? Learn how here.

Content creators are more than just creators

Often, content creators run a whole separate business in the background of their public content. Just to produce the content alone, there’s creating content, keeping track of ideas, editing the content, scheduling it, and so on. While most of us just see the content they publish publicly, there’s often a whole behind-the-scenes business operating behind the scenes.

In this video, we look at how content creators can use SOPs — or standard operating procedures — to streamline their work (and save keep your sanity in the process).

Now sure what an SOP is? We have you covered: What is an SOP?

SOP #1: How to Proof

The first SOP we suggest for content creators starts with documenting how to proof your content. This could be proofreading a blog, or proof watching a video post-edit. Whether it’s podcasts, YouTube videos, or blogs, what are you doing to make sure they’re edited correctly and truly ready to be scheduled or published.?

We’re asking ourselves one big question here: What do you need to double-check your work before you hit publish? Do you make some common mistakes time and time again that need to be triple-checked? Are there certain tones you want to use? Do you have rules about affiliate links? Do you need CTA’s in every video?

Take everything that comes to mind and put it into your SOP here or document it in some way. Even if it’s just you and you don’t have a team, this will keep you from publishing something sloppier than what you normally post.

If you don’t have a fancy system to keep your SOPs inside of, just start putting them in a plain document and every time you proof, open that document and add some details each time. Before you know it, you’ll be able to take a few bullet points on a Word doc to a full-blown SOP. (Keep in mind: even a full SOP should read like a Buzzfeed article. See how to structure even the most complex SOPs and write them faster than ever here.)

Layla dives into this SOP and how she uses it starting at 01:03.

SOP #2: How to schedule

Now that your content is proofed and ready to go, it’s time to schedule it. Scheduling your content can be time-consuming, so documenting this process can make putting your content out into the world that much easier.

As with all SOPs, you need to define your beginning and ending steps. For most of your scheduling, you start with a proofed piece of content and it ends with your content being scheduled. Now, it’s time to fill in the gaps in between.

If you do start to outsource the work in your business, this is a great place to start.

Learn more about this SOP at 02:42.

SOP #3: How to Post-Publish Review

While this one is mainly YouTube-focused, it could still apply to other types of content. This includes all the actions steps you would do after your content is published.

Do you respond to comments? Do you share it on certain platforms? Write it all down.

To once again use the start and stop points — this SOP would start when the piece of content is published and stop once you complete all of your post-publishing steps.

Layla discusses the importance of this SOP at 04:50.

SOP #4: How to Repurpose

Every start point for this will be different based on your business. You might start it when you’re creating content, or you might start it when it’s already published.

This sounds a little vague, so let’s go through an example.

If you start republishing your content when you create your YouTube video, you could write down your next steps. Create and schedule five tweets from that piece of content, write a newsletter about that video, schedule an event inside your Facebook group to remind them about the video.

Layla dives into this SOP at 06:22.

Recap

SOPs are documents that are always, always evolving and growing as your business does. You need to make sure you’re updating them regularly and also scheduling the steps you add as you come up with them.

Want to take a look at our own repurposing process? Watch it: here.