Content Organization Hacks to Streamline Your Small Business
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Are you a small business owner juggling files and captions across all your devices? Content organization is a huge struggle and stressor creators face, but it doesn't need to be complicated. In this post, you'll learn content organization hacks and helpful tools and resources for streamlining your small business.
How do content creators stay organized?
Content creators are constantly posting on all the platforms—but how do they do it? Here are some tricks of the trade for content management and organization.
Systems and Workflows
Established content creators have systems and workflows for their content process. They may even have formal SOPs, or standard operating procedures—and likely do if they work with a team.
These systems and workflows keep their content publishing on a consistent basis, which helps build trust with their audience. We'll cover some content systems you can adopt in your own small business in the next section.
Content Planning and Repurposing
Creators who post high-quality consistently are likely not flying by the seat of their pants. They don't post on a whim and create in the moment. Instead, they plan out their content in advance and repurpose frequently.
This means that they map out which posts are coming next in a weekly or monthly basis. They have that content prepped and ready to go long before it's actually published. By repurposing old content, they don't need to always start from a blank slate. More on content planning and repurposing is coming up as well.
Content Organization Hacks to Implement
As a marketing strategist, part of my job is helping my clients master their content organization. Now, I'm sharing my content organization hacks with you! Here are a few to try and implement.
1. Use an editorial calendar to manage content.
If you've never used an editorial calendar or content calendar to manage your content, it's going to change your LIFE. Using an editorial calendar is the thing that ensures I never miss a post or email I set out to share. It keeps my clients' content super consistent. Most of all, it helps with batching and repurposing content.
The way an editorial calendar works is it stores every single piece of content for all your platforms and tracks their due dates. Each day, you know exactly which pieces of content are going live. You can now plan your content in advance and keep everything in one place—hello super organized, streamline system! Click here to download the editorial calendar template I use myself and with all my clients.
2. Have a file management system.
Is your camera roll a black hole? Do you have captions saved in a Google Doc, Notes app, planner, and 2am text messages to yourself? Friend, it's time to create a file management system for yourself.
This does not need to be complex. Here's what I do. Once a week on Fridays, I clean up my laptop and phone files. I delete any graphics/photos/video clips from clients and my own business that I used and won't need again. On my iPhone, I have a folder for b-roll footage where I'll drop clips I filmed of myself that week. I also have a story graphic folder where I'll move any graphics (typically for freebies or offers) that I'll share on stories again in the future.
3. Generate a workflow for coming up with and storing ideas.
Keeping your ideas in one place will make your life so much easier. For you, you may like using the Notes app on your phone, so you can always drop your ideas as they hit you.
My process for storing ideas is using my Notes app, but then I'll add all of those ideas to my ClickUp content calendar the next time I'm planning out content. Remember to actually use those ideas that you came up with; don't just leave them in a notebook or sticky note to die!
4. Utilize a task management platform.
Speaking of ClickUp, it's the task management platform I recommend for small business owners. Here is a blog post I wrote all about ClickUp, but I find it especially useful for planning out launches, assigning due dates, and tracking all of my content.
A task management platform is better than a notebook because you can assign your content due dates and track what stage you're at with it. Do you only have the content filmed, or is it edited with the caption written, ready to publish? A task management platform like ClickUp can also help you plan content for repurposing, which brings us to the next content organization hack.
5. Repurpose content frequently.
Repurposing content means that instead of starting from scratch, you're pulling from content you've already created. Doesn't that sound nice?!
There are a few different ways to repurpose content. One way is repurposing across multiple platforms. This would look like writing a blog post, then sharing that blog post on LinkedIn and Facebook, pulling a point from it for an Instagram graphic, and pulling another point from it for a reel.
Another way to repurpose is take an old concept from a piece of content and say it in a different way. For example, one post might be "social media trends in 2024", and another post could be "what's working on social media right now". You can reword the captions and share these posts in different formats, but the same overall concept is there.
How to Get Started Managing Content Efficiently
We've covered quite a few content organization hacks that I hope inspired you. If you're ready to get started managing content efficiently, these are the 3 things I'd focus on first.
Create a ClickUp Account.
Seriously, you know by now that I'm a systems nerd and ClickUp is where it's at! You'll be amazed by your boosted productivity and newfound organization once you start using a task management platform. Click here to sign up for a ClickUp account.
Use a content calendar.
Using a content calendar will save you so much time and help you feel comfortable posting consistently. Here's a link to the content calendar template I use myself and with all my clients. It comes with a set-up tutorial, so don't worry if you're new to ClickUp!
Book a 60-minute strategy session.
Lastly, if you feel like you need some additional support as you create, organize, and manage your content, a 60-minute strategy session is for you. This call is tailored to exactly what you need—pick my brain and ask me all your burning marketing questions, brainstorm content ideas, or dive deep into your overall marketing strategy. Click here to book your session!
