10 Content Pieces You Can Create in 10 Minutes

I’ve been working in digital marketing long enough that I can easily sit down and come up with tons of epic content ideas that take days to research, craft and design.

But despite how many enlightening brainstorm sessions I have, there are only so many hours in the day. Epic content becomes an even loftier goal when you consider looming deadlines on my editorial calendar, a never-ending to-do list, and clients that need attention.

With all this conspiring against me, sometimes I just need some simple, effective content that I can quickly create and publish - and I imagine you need the same thing.

That’s why I created this list of 10 content pieces you can create in 10 minutes (or less). Share it, bookmark it, print it out. Do whatever necessary to make sure you don’t lose this list.

Then next time you need some quick wins for content, refer back to it. It’ll get something out the door and in front of your audience.

You need to keep showing up - day after day, week after week, and month after month. That, combined with strong marketing, will win the content game.

These quick, easy-to-create content pieces will help you do just that.

Livestream an Insightful Conversation

Now, it’s easier than ever to get your message in front of a live, engaged audience. The goal of any good content creation program is capturing an audience’s attention. And with live streaming, that’s exactly what you can do.

Even better? It’s insanely easy to get started. Here’s everything you need to do:

1. Come up with a topic

2. Open live streaming app

3. Start streaming

Voila! You just created some awesome content in a few minutes.

Answer Questions in a Quick Video

We really psych ourselves out about producing a video, as if it’s some elusive content that only Hollywood producers create. But it’s not. In fact, it’s one of the easiest ways to get a message out to your audience.

Think of your video as a social media update. It doesn’t need to feel polished, poised or perfect. Answer a question while you’re walking down the street with your iPhone headphones. Record it and upload it to social media. You can even bump up your production quality using some easy-to-use apps.

It’s as easy as point, shoot, and upload.

Share an Album of Interesting Photos

People love behind-the-scenes looks - especially when it comes to brands. And the great thing? You can make this happen with content you already have sitting on your smartphone (or, worst case scenario, you can take five minutes and get it).

Look through your camera and find some great visual representations of your brand. Then, upload and share them with your audience for an easy content win.

Create a Quote Image

People love quotes.

That’s why you can’t scroll through your social media streams without at least one inspirational quote image popping up (which, let’s face it, Einstein probably didn’t say).

You can leverage this demand to supply some great, brand-building content.

Use an app like Canva or Pablo to create beautiful quote images from a royalty-free stock image. Share quotes from others in your industry or kick it up a notch by sharing something insightful that you said.

If your quote picture is good enough, you might get surprised by the number of shares a simple image can receive.

Do a Roundup of Relevant Links

Sarah Von Bargen, a veteran blogger, accidentally stumbled on the power of this quick content strategy. In her experience, writing link roundup posts have not only brought in new traffic to her website - it’s actually landed her new clients as well.

She points out 5 main benefits of this tactic:

• It’s a great, non-sleazy way to network

• It’s good karma

• It’s a non-annoying way to incorporate affiliate links

• Link roundups reinforce your brand

• It establishes you as an expert and a curator of awesome stuff

The idea is simple: Go through your social media updates and find the links that generated the most social media engagement with your audience.

Take those links and create a roundup post for the blog. Then reach out to owners of the sites you linked to and let them know you shared their content, and encourage them to share yours with their audience. Also, don’t forget to promote it on social media. These steps will allow you to reap all the benefits that this little piece of content can offer.

Update an Outdated Piece of Content

This one is as simple as it sounds:

1. Find an outdated piece of skyscraper content. (e.g. “The Best XYZ of 2015”)

2. Update it with any new developments (or additional facts, greater detail, better designs, more in-depth information, etc.) you have on the topic.

3. Republish it as a more relevant post for the current year.

Alternatively, you could remove the year marking and turn your original content into an “ultimate guide” that you constantly update.

Just make sure to let your audience know that you’ll keep the content piece updated. Otherwise, they may see your metadata and leave the post - assuming it’s full of outdated information.

Dictate One of Your Posts as a Podcast

You’ve heard of the three different types of learning styles (i.e. visual, auditory, kinesthetic). Basically, the premise states that we all learn differently - some by seeing, some through hearing and some by doing.

As publishers, we often cater to the visual learners. Things like blog posts, infographics and social media streams all resonate with those that learn by seeing.

But what about the auditory learners?

They get left out all the time.

Reach out to this different learning style by repurposing an old post into a podcast. It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3:

1. Record yourself reading an old blog post.

2. Publish the recording on SoundCloud.

3. Embed the recording into your post.

This quick, simple idea helps put a new spin on old content. By reusing something you’ve already created, you can reach a new audience without much additional work.

Send a Candid Email to Your Mailing List

Send your subscribers a quick, candid email about something insightful you discovered, an experience you recently had, or a challenge you encountered (and overcame). This type of storytelling can engage your subscribers in a new way.

And if you’re concerned about the amount of time designing the email would take, stop.

Send a plain-text email. That’s right. No frills or fluff. Just you, your thoughts and the email. Nothing more, nothing less. (Some studies suggest that these types of messages may even be more effective than fancy HTML blasts.)

Finish the email with an engaging, relevant question. You might be surprised by what a little bit of email content can do for your business.

Transform Your Blog Post Into a Slideshow

Now, if you get too technical about this process, you could spend hours tweaking, designing and perfecting your slideshow. That’s not what this is about. You need to get something out the door, which means you need to lay aside the perfectionism for now.

Content Marketing Institute does a good job for this. In fact, you can find quite a bit of the documents on their site uploaded directly to the Slideshare platform.

But that doesn’t mean that you have to create a sub-standard piece of content. To get the most out of this quick piece of content, here’s what you need to do:

1. Find an old list post that performed well.

2. Choose a slideshow template.

3. Fit your list headings into the template layout.

4. Upload to SlideShare.

Instead of using the standard templates provided by your slideshow program, I’d advise making a small investment in a professional template that enhances your brand’s image. You can find some pretty good ones on GraphicRiver.

Make a Helpful PDF Checklist

Great bloggers get into the minds of their audience members, striving to understand the challenges, struggles, and pains they face on a daily basis. This type of empathy is great for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it provides you with new insights into the content topics your readers need most.

As a publisher, you should use this empathy to understand some of the basic workflows your audience performs regularly. For example, if you’re writing a blog for bloggers, you could create the Ultimate Blog Marketing Checklist. Or, if you write a blog geared toward beginning gardeners, you could craft a checklist about starting your first garden.

Get the idea?

Which Will You Use First?

You need epic content that converts readers, boosts traffic and builds your audience. But sometimes, you also need quick, simple content.

The great thing? If you repurpose content the right way, you can show a side of your brand that people have yet to see - increasing your brand’s strength in a way that long, in-depth content pieces can’t.

Have another strategy for creating bite-sized content pieces? Share your suggestions by leaving a comment below!