How to Unlock the Power of Repurposing Content
Online content is not always one and done, sometimes it has a longer shelf life.
If you have been writing online for any time, you have built up a content catalog. Your content might be here on Substack, Medium, or a personal blog.
Heck, it could be Tweets, LinkedIn posts, or Instagram reels. No matter where you are creating online, the content is available.
Since 2017, I have probably written over 3,000 articles, posts, and stories between my numerous platforms. If the average article is about 750 words, that would be 225,000 words.
That’s a lot of words. And considering the average book is about 60,000 words long, that turns out to be 3.75 books. Yet, in that same time frame, I have self-published seven books.
Here’s the thing about all this content:
It can be reused to make more content or to create products and services that can help you make money.
Repurposing Content isn’t Lazy
About a year ago, I shared a similar message, and someone told me that repurposing content is being a lazy creator. And in some ways, I see their point.
It could be seen as lazy if you take a 2,000-word blog post and turn it into a book without making changes.
However, that isn't lazy when you take ten 1,000-word posts, make edits, and bring them together into one cohesive book. It’s smart.
Repurposed content, especially content that has done well in the past, can make you some money and be crazy valuable to you and your audience.
Let me share an example.
Transform Your Medium Stories
About two years ago, I wrote a long blog post about how to take your stories from Medium and transform them into a book. I outlined the process I have used with all of my books.
The post did wildly well. People commented and wanted more. They were curious about the rest of the process, and it gave me an idea. What if I took that information, expanded on it, and turned it into a book on Amazon?
That is precisely what I did.
Since then, it has gained over 1,500 downloads and over 20 reviews. Most of all, it has helped people write and self-publish books. And I have earned a few bucks along the way, too.
The previous post was a 15-minute read. The book was longer, about 30 minutes. And people expect that for a short, helpful book. So, in the places where I couldn’t expand in the blog post, I could do so in the book, too.
Other Ways You Can Repurpose Content
Now, there are lots of ways you can repurpose content. You can repurpose it into paid products or break it down into shorter posts on different platforms.
Here are ten ways you can do it, five that go up and five that go down:
Create a Lead Magnet
Write a book
Create a short course or a masterclass
Build a service
Create a subscription product
Turn a long post into social media content
Expand on sections in new blog posts
Create bite-sized, helpful chunks
Start a podcast
Create YouTube content
These are just ten ideas that you could take something and repurpose into many products or ideas.
Final Thoughts
I recently did this with a long post that you can read if you are a paid subscriber here on Substack. I recently wrote a longer post that details how I have turned content here on Substack into a book.
I took that long post, just like the Medium one, and turned it into a book you can get on Amazon for 99 cents!
That is only one way I have taken content here on Substack and repurposed it. What are some other ways we could repurpose our Substack content?
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Christian Author on Amazon who writes about faith, family, and writing books. Join his Substack community and learn more about self-publishing and faith today!
I would love to take my Bible studies and turn them into a book. It's on the to do list for sometime in the future. Thanks for the ideas!